Guy Berger

I'm surprised neither of them pointed out that we're all brains in vats, anyway.

Brilliant.

I have this one in the "yet-to-listen-to" pile, but I would think Wayne's tenor playing would almost make it worth hearing even if everyone else was just playing fart noises.

Yes, no doubt. Disaster porn.

I've had difficulty determining why this is going to be a particularly horrendous storm. In NYC it looks like it will pound us with ridiculous amounts of rain and some intense, though most likely sub-hurricane force winds. I Obviously people who are in areas vulnerable to flooding are in much bigger danger (lots of leaves clogging gutters given the time of year). Power could get knocked out in lots of places. My perspective as an economic forecaster... as human beings we tend to focus on the mean/median scenario, and that's what forecasters usually emphasize. Unfortunately, we have a "nonlinear loss function" here - the extra damage if things turn out (a lot) worse than expected will be (many) orders of magnitude worse than if they turn out in line with the most likely scenario. So it makes a lot of sense to warn people about bad, or REALLY bad, scenarios, even if relatively unlikely.

RIP. I saw him live once (or maybe twice) with Matthew Shipp, William Parker and (I think) Guillermo Brown. Really enjoyed it. I also have three albums, one of which I think is fantastic (Dao). Anyway, I liked his playing. I checked him out right after going on a major late Coltrane kick and noticing his name mentioned in this context. He had a very striking tone - it was big, harsh, and brittle - without the softness that Coltrane retained in his final music. Reminds me a little of Hawk, now that I think about it. I also enjoyed the "rigor" of his playing. Condolences to his family.

I remember reading this and really enjoying it. My only miniquibble was the ratings scale which I thought was silly.

I may eventually upgrade to the Mosaic, but the 4cd columbia set is fantastic.

When I first started listening to jazz in the late 90s, I read this kind of commentary on a regular basis. And I still think it's out there, unfortunately.

Great article. Shifting tastes amd demographics are doing the same thing to smooth jazz that they previously did to other jazz subgenres.

I haven't heard Sleeper but this seems like an accurate description of the other two live albums, Personal Mountains and Nude Ants. In general Jarrett's 70s music had pop sensibilities (among many other sensibilities). I don't think this is a bad thing and it wasn't unique to the European quartet, but it does seem like it worked less well with them than it did with Redman/Haden/Motian. I think the grit that made it previously worthwhile was missing. (That is also my beef with "Mandala" on the My Song album.) Anyway, I still like a lot of the 1979 live material, even though Garbarek's playing on " Oasis" from Nude Ants reminds me of a dentist drill.

This is a quaintly outdated warning.

ok i take back my earlier more generous comments, that is so stupid

Agreed. It's a fan's list. That said, if I were to guess this is a guy who has listened to only a little pre-WW2 jazz (obligatory mentions of CH, BW and LY), owns a ton of Blue Note and Impulse reissues covering the 50s and 60s, and whose tastes after that period run mostly to free jazz. You provide that kind of input and you'll get this kind of list.

The CL is great - DISCOVERY is heads and shoulder above almost all of the Atlantic albums, including Forest Flower.

It's funny you mention the sides vs CDs. I routinely use that terminology despite not being around for the LP era. I also agree that it's too bad that Miles lingered so briefly in the transitional music of 1968. Listening to the music on the In a Silent Way sessions box (which includes side 2 of WB), you realize this was a massive road not taken. Musical history could have been very different if we'd first heard the unedited "shhhh... peaceful"

Fasstrack, I like what you wrote here. My initial reaction was also that side 1 was more about blowing than compositions relative to the group's "core 6" albums, but I have changed my mind since. Maybe it is true compared to something like "Footprints" or "Masqualero", but generally speaking these performances would fit right im with the Sorcerer and Nefertiti albums. Speaking of side 2, I think "Two Faced" is one of Wayne's best and most underrated compositions. Are there any other interpretations?

Except that when I read Tingen's book which was a couple of years ago, I was surprised at how critical he is of Miles's electric period. For a guy who supposedly champions this era, read what he says in the details about a number of the electric works and you will note how unflattering his descriptions are. There is a thread about this which I started I believe. He is critical in parts* and that's what makes it a worthwhile book rather than a hagiography. But unlike Crouch, he actually attempts to engage with and understand this music. There's nothing wrong with being a critic, but maybe they should do their homework first. *And made me question his sanity when he said bad things about "Mademoiselle Mabry" and "Pharoah's Dance".

I'm glad you ended up getting Head On, which is outside of this period and absolutely brilliant. I like it as much as (almost?) all of the more acclaimed 60s titles.

Like him or hate him, silly is as silly does. Why should anyone spill so much ink and blow so much hot air about Miles's motives? Why not follow Dizzy's advice and just let the music speak for itself?

By the way, aside from purely practical reasons, why does Miles's 80s music need to be "defended"? And from Stanley Crouch, of all people? If anything, it should be the reverse. The onus should be on SC to defend his silly assertions about the music.

Let me also add that every minute wasted reading Chambers's commentary on the 80s music would be better reading Paul Tingen's writing on the same subject.

Chambers was the first Miles bio I read and turned me onto some great music as a budding listener (especially Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants). But it has serious shortcomings has a biography: 1) His judgment about Miles's music becomes dicier and dicier once you move past 1963. His cluelessness on the electric music is well-known but he does not really get the 60s quintet either. 2) No primary sources!!!! This is a real shame because a lot more of the principals were still alive when he wrote this book. Later biographers would not be as lucky. 3) Lots of factual errors. I haven't read every Miles bio out there. I thought Carr was, if anything, more problematic. Szwed may be better but I am waiting for it to come out on ebook. But even if there is no acceptable substitute, this would be a very shaky bedrock on which to construct an understanding of the man and his music.

But it does demolish any legal logic used to justify this board policy. The point of the policy, I presume, is to immunize Jim from lawsuits lodged by copyright holders. But if the world's largest online retailer is selling the product, arguing that linking to such products will amount to likely lawsuits for Jim makes no sense. The point of a lawsuit is to obtain relief from harm; if nobody is bothering to sue Amazon, which is causing about 1,000,000x the harm Jim is in such a case...then why does Jim have anything to fear? It's asinine. I agree with Big Wheel here. Applying this rule in a way that forbids amazon links just doesn't make sense. Out of curiosity, can people just type the text "this recording is available via amazon.com" instead of linking it? Seems like this rule can be easily evaded.

I already have everything on F's A list except Absolutely Free (which I should pick up)... I guess I'm done!