Guy Berger

Aren't some of the Birdland 1962 recordings on the Pablo "European Tours" box?

Check out Edmunds as well. What about the Ford Escape Hybrid? Probably has solid mileage... not sure about the quality since it's an American car but Ford usually gets good reviews. The Prius someone suggested sounds like it might be up your alley. Don't like the look of the car myself but it is much larger than it seems.

Just listening to this on CD (picked it up as an import from amazon). Wow. The earlier pieces will probably require some more time for absorption but Cyrille and Taylor are out of frickin control (in a good way) in the last two pieces. A masterpiece.

My only comment is that today's airplanes are designed around an era of cheap, plentiful energy - something that is not coming back anytime soon. For short flights I think this would be bearable.

I'll certainly back you on that! Majestc! Definitely one of his greatest. Perhaps its un-memorable title causes it to be overlooked. I've always been of two minds on this record. "Out of This World" is without a doubt magnificent, one of the best things Coltrane ever recorded. The rest of the record just pales in comparison, and some of it ("The Inch Worm", "Big Nick") feels almost trivial. I do like "Soul Eyes" and "Tunji" quite a bit. And since I'm already blaspheming against classic Trane, when I went back and listened to "Ole" (the track), it struck me how Hubbard, Dolphy and Tyner sound kind of lost during much of their solos. To be fair this kind of music was super-new, I'm not sure how much rehearsal time they got if at all, but... the track only REALLY takes off during the bass solos, and then Trane takes that monster soprano solo (the best he ever played? At the very least it deserves honorable mention) which pretty much makes us forget everything that happened before. And maybe unfairly I've always shrugged off the rest of the album. Am I making a poor judgment? Convince me! In the liner notes to Ole Trane actually discusses how around this time (the album was released in 1962, I believe) he decided to cut down the length of his solos. You can hear it - this performance, and also some of the longer tunes recorded in Europe during the fall of 1961, are pretty diffuse. By the time of the 1962 fall tour, the performances tend to be shorter and Trane's playing much more concentrated. By the time you get to the 1963 concerts, the solos are getting longer again, but there's much more meat than there had been two years earlier.

Pap - there was some pretty heavy discussion regarding this album when it was first released so I recommend checking that out. My first thought is, I'm surprised that anyone who is at least somewhat receptive to this kind of music would suggest it's not "great" or "listenable". I mean, this is a recording that shows that even a "typical" Coltrane performance from this period was at a level that only a few musicians have reached at their best. The second is that fans of this album need to check out the other two nights from the Half Note, particularly the one that includes the untitled original "Creation". It's easily the best performance from the Half Note - better than anything on the two officially released discs. And you can listen to it on youtube. Guy

What's sad is, there may be people in that hospital who are no threat to anybody, and they might get this privilege revoked because of this stupid f'up. Guy

I listened to this for the first time today - great music. Kenny Clarke is just fantastic - what's that tune where he plays with brushes but extremely fast. Awesome.

Hey all - is there a list of the deleted titles anywhere? Sorry if I missed it.

While I like the 60s recordings I've heard, I don't find them as bracing as the best of the 50s stuff. Probably need to check more unofficial stuff. My fave (of what I've heard) is probably Sonny Meets Hawk. The Bridge just kind of gets a shrug out of me.

Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West, A Night at the Village Vanguard

Thesis: Hank Mobley cannot be described as underrated these days. In some quarters he may even be overrated. Discuss.

Well, after this string of bad news I pulled the trigger on the Braxton and Turrentine Mosaics as well as the Blakey Hard Bop single. And if the Hill group sessions ever return I'll get those immediately. I'm also eyeing the Zeitlin...

I was listening to "Summertime" off My Favorite Things today. He would get better over the next five years, of course, but he was already awesome in 1960.

Crossing my fingers that the Hill will still return to print... regardless I am going to sift through the wreckage and buy some in-print boxes this weekend. In the worst case, there's always downloading.

Well, smooth jazz has pretty clear roots in soul jazz - some of Stanley's late 60s albums have music that prefigures smooth. Yeah but is that formally reflected in Pandora's methods of choosing music? Does a Roy Eldredge station play some Dizzy, because one was a significant influence on the other? Whenever I listen to Pandora and I click on the "why was this played" link (or whatever its called) I get something about "saxophone solo" or "medium tempo" or some such shit, nothing about influences from the distant past. If anything, late 60s Stanley Turrentine might be played on a smooth jazz station. If that's the way Pandora works. The song reappeared and I checked why it was recommended to me. " Based on what you’ve told us so far, we’re playing this track because it features smooth jazz elements, a melodic piano solo, light drumming, muted trumpet playing and electric bass playing."

Just saw this. As a story/movie, abstracted completely from events that have actually transpired in our world, it was very good. Christoph Waltz was absolutely superb as Colonel Landa, as was the girl playing Shoshanna. But since this movie was based, even loosely, on a historical context, I felt extremely uncomfortable watching it. It's a movie that celebrates killing Nazis, but barely acknowledges what the Nazis did. (Aside from the opening scene, there's barely any acknowledgment that thousands of Jews were being murdered every day.) Some events in history should not be cheapened and trivialized in this way.

Well, smooth jazz has pretty clear roots in soul jazz - some of Stanley's late 60s albums have music that prefigures smooth. Yeah but is that formally reflected in Pandora's methods of choosing music? Does a Roy Eldredge station play some Dizzy, because one was a significant influence on the other? Whenever I listen to Pandora and I click on the "why was this played" link (or whatever its called) I get something about "saxophone solo" or "medium tempo" or some such shit, nothing about influences from the distant past. If anything, late 60s Stanley Turrentine might be played on a smooth jazz station. If that's the way Pandora works. Dan - on the Stanley Turrentine station, David Sanborn's lush version of "Come Rain or Come Shine" (which I wouldn't necessarily characterize as smooth jazz) just came up. Why was this played? "Based on what you've told us so far, we're playing this track because it features smooth jazz infleunces, a leisurely tempo, tenor sax head, a tenor sax solo and a horn ensemble." Similar songs: "You Are too Beautiful" (Lockjaw), "Don't Follow the Crowd" (Gary Smulyan), Stan's Mood (Getz)

Definitely true - it's on the Flipside album.

Well, smooth jazz has pretty clear roots in soul jazz - some of Stanley's late 60s albums have music that prefigures smooth.

I was listening to the "Stanley Turrentine" station on pandora.com and this tune from the Jeff Lorber album Flipside came up. Pleasant, lightweight, inoffensive smooth jazz. But the song title is bizarre - it sounded nothing like Mr. Blount, or at least like nothing *I've* heard from him. What's the genesis of the song title?

My hunch is that the "list" would be dominated by drummers and bassists. Anybody else think so?

Geri Allen's read of "Lonely Woman" is a classic and the rest of Etudes is great as well.

Great to have you aboard, Ethan - we will welcome your occasional (or more) dropping-in.

Why are you guys taking antibiotics? The flu is viral, antibiotics are useless against it. Guy