Guy Berger

So I've heard a bunch of Byrd's 50s/60s hard-bop albums, and while they're enjoyable, I don't think they're "better" than Electric Byrd or Ethiopian Knights.

That´s interesting, because I once read a statement done by Miles. When he was asked what he thinks about the "New Thing" "Avantgarde" (Free Jazz), he aswered something like that he doesn´t know what´s so revolutionary about it. He said "Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz" already did that stuff in the late 40´s, but then it did make sense.... Seems like both Miles and Lennie were inclined to make lots of absurd/stupid comments on this subject of free jazz, though hard to tell how much of this was just trolling.

I think it's both true that the late 60s / early 70s were a great time for jazz, and that by then BN output's centrality to jazz had diminished significantly.

Oh, wasn't Bobby Hutcherson's San Francisco released in the 1970s? I personally don't think this is one of his very best, but it's a good one and quite enjoyable.

McCoy's Extensions is probably my favorite by him, and Asante is fantastic as well. I also love Bobby Hutcherson's Head On, though I guess that was a bust for you. Donald Byrd's early electric stuff (Electric Byrd, Ethiopian Knights) is also good. I don't know if I have heard anything else that's relevant.

It's sooooo NYC that there would be a lengthy line at Murray's Cheese right before a big storm.

It's been a while since I've listened to them, but my recollection is the other live recordings of the post-OTC / fall 1972 band are better than In Concert.

Not sure if it's been discussed, but Recorded Fall 1961 is great. Getz and Brookmeyer were an outstanding combination.

I've been listening to X-75 vols 1 & 2 for the first time. Excellent stuff, and brings out dimensions of his music that were not fully apparent in Air. For those of you who heard this when it came out (i.e., before Henry expanded on these concepts during the 80s and 90s), was it a major ear-opening?

One of the biggest themes in this show is that any one of us could be one of those "stupid motherfuckers", given the right "opportunity".

The only show I've enjoyed as much as The Wire — I can't believe I watched it seven years ago! — is House of Cards. OK, and Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire, while not a bad show, pales in comparison. I haven't seen Breaking Bad yet and I never had much of an interest in The West Wing, but I don't think any of these other shows are as good as The Wire. Mad Men is probably the best of the rest, though overly self-important at times. House of Cards is a guilty pleasure. Boardwalk Empire had its moments but I lost interest after 2 or 3 seasons.

I ended up picking this up. Very enjoyable. My fave is still DEAF DUMB BLIND.

Love this show.

Obviously this won't be a unanimous sentiment but thanks to you and everyone else who tapes these gigs. And props for asking the musicians.

I forgot about PRoC! (He was also in the terrible remake of Don't Drink the Water.) But at least he got to oversee the completion of the Kabletown merger.

So I got around to the 2nd disc, the one recorded at Slugs. I think it's better than the Judson Hall performance.

Musicians are human beings. Some like chatting with strangers who approach them with the presumption of familiarity (and, to be fair, who help pay the musicians' rent), some do not.

Is the Antilles album available on cd, or LP only?

An underwhelming album.

Here's an easy answer without taking the quiz - all of us would have almost certainly been subsistence farmers, living a miserable life, producing lots of offspring, and dying an early death.

Is it a 2 disc set? Also, oddly, I'm seeing conflicting release dates - Amazon says January 27th, but the ECM press release posted elsewhere on Org says March.

Ha! Different strokes, I guess - I thought Lathe of Heaven was great, as was the live performance of this band that I saw shortly after the album's release.

Picked this up. So far have just listened to the first disc. I'm a big fan of pre-Atlantic Lloyd and this one doesn't disappoint (though I'd put it behind Discovery if I had to choose). Lloyd's less obviously influenced by Coltrane here than on some later recordings. I'm surprised nobody has yet commented on the hilarious Hugh Lawson ("Hugh Glover") anecdote in the liner notes!

More working through the backlog - over the past few weeks I've been listening to the CDs of Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka that I got about 6 years ago. Great stuff - at least, the instrumental sections.

Ah! Makes sense. Apparently some of the performances from the concert are online here.