Guy Berger

A serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, in my opinion. I'm genuinely surprised there's opposition to this... Guy

The live performance of A Love Supreme is among the most essential live Coltrane out there... I'd even put it ahead of the Vanguard box.

While the discographical snafus in the box were unfortunate, there's no denying there is plenty of amazing music here (particularly on the last 3 or 4 discs.) Guy

The Cannonball is awesome, one of my favorites among his pre-Yusef records. Note sure if I'd call it "essential", but it's always a very pleasant surprise. The Silvers are nice - not essential within his body of work.

Never knew that. Perhaps I should look for those. Is one of them "Symphony for improvisers"? MG Yes - classic album. He also played on the very good Where Is Brooklyn. Guy

Thanks Ubu.

I've been burning some live Cannonball onto CDs and noticed I have two broadcasts of the sextet from the Half Note (Feb. 1965), both downloaded from the site which must not be named - one supposedly from the 2nd of February and another from the 5th of February. Both have the same set list. I assume it's the same gig but haven't had the pleasure of listening yet - anybody able to verify? Guy

This is all pure speculation, but nobody says it can't be fun. I think Pete C's suggestion of greater Africanisms in Coltrane's music post-1967 is in the right direction - that was a major thread in avant-garde jazz. As far as going electric, we know that Trane owned (and endorsed in an ad!) a varitone and practiced with it, though it never appeared on record or live. Given Trane's interest in exploring new sounds and textures, I think there's a pretty good chance he would have played with electric instruments - plenty of avant-garde artists did after he died. And I think there's also a good chance that at least some of his music would have incorporated rhythms from popular music - another common thread in a lot of 70s avant-garde jazz. None of this is fusion, mind you. And finally, I think that some of the radical bent of his music may have faded over time. I don't mean that he would have reverted to playing hard bop, but simply that many other avant-garde artists of the 60s and early 70s de-edged their music as time went on. But of course, who knows.

"I'm not just saying this to be amusing: To be even as bad as I am, you do have to practice every day," says Allen, with a small, almost imperceptible chuckle. "I'm a strict hobby musician. I don't have a particularly good ear for music. I'm a very poor musician, like a Sunday tennis player." ... "If I don't practice for a day for any reason, which is really rare, I feel so guilty that it's not worth it to me," Allen says. "If I was able to practice a lot more, if I was able to practice five hours a day, I would never be great. It's not in me."

I like Misterioso a lot but thought One Time Out was a dud.

That was a very interesting thread, actually, despite generating some heated discussion. I've probably only heard about ten recordings with Murray (as either a sideman or leader), but have liked his playing on pretty much all of them. I don't really get the passionate hostility he seems to generate in some listeners, but we all have different ears. Guy

The LeBron propaganda machine is trying very hard to shift the blame away from him and toward the rest of the team.

The 1967 tape has decent sound (for a boot) and has the group's only known live recording of "Dolores" as well as its final live recording of "Stella by Starlight". Guy

Yeah seems like a waste. (Though I would be interested if they separately released an audio-only version - it's a great concert.) Sony isn't releasing worthy of my interest this time around. Guy

What an awesome dog, Dan. Props for taking care of him so well! Guy

Conrad, sorry about your loss. Guy

I'd have to pay more attention, but I've heard him quote quite a few times.

This is a nice album, but I think The Spoiler, with a similar though not identical lineup, is much better.

While I've read plenty of nonsense from Keith, this seemed fairly innocuous to me - I'm surprised at the strong reactions.

1. For All We Know 2. Where Can I Go Without You 3. No Moon At All 4. One Day I'll Fly Away 5. Intro - I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life 6. Body And Soul 7. Goodbye 8. Don't Ever Leave Me Jarrett's comments (published on amazon)

I'm not a big Al DiMeola fan -- I think that RtF really started going downhill when he joined -- but I don't mind listening to the one album I have by him (Elegant Gypsy). Nothing too substantial, but fun to hear once in a while. Especially "Racing the Devil on a Spanish Highway" or whatever it is called. I listened to Elegant Gypsy for the first time in I don't know how many years - very enjoyable. But I've also been digging 90125 recently so what do I know. Guy

Yes, there's a fairly long (almost 2 hr) concert from Berlin, September of 1971. Highly recommended, especially for the multi-horn arrangement on "Dr. Honoris Causa".

You get a hint, but listening to the flow of a full concert makes a big difference.

Some recs: Alpha Centauri, Atem, Phaedra and Rubycon. I thought Stratosfear was too cheesy.

The band on this album - and the one right after, that recorded Heavy Weather - had a live explosiveness that is usually not apparent on the albums. (I'm not talking about the plastic 8:30.) People who assume this was a "tame" band are mistaken.