Scott Dolan

All three albums from that tour are outstanding. My favorite Zappa by far.

I have not. I'm trying to dig through all of the excellent suggestions I've received so far. I just noted that Angry Jim had been having fun with my admittedly ham-fisted description of what I was looking for, so I figured I'd chime in and try to amend. Everything I've heard so far is very good. I truly appreciate all the recs. There's a lot to take in. I'm feeling like a Jazz noob... And I'm not really minding it! God, if I could only hear Coltrane and Dolphy at the Vanguard again for the first time...

That's cool. I was simply trying to come up with a term that described how it felt to me. I suppose that "aggressive" does carry a negative connotation, but I most certain didn't mean it in a negative way at all. My intent was to describe the approach. Kind of like aggressively pursuing your goals. That kind of thing. in this case musicians squeezing every ounce of energy out of themselves and their music as possible. The results are simply exhilarating!

That floor standing unit is my favorite. That would make for one hell of a centerpiece.

That would probably get you a fancy plug and lead to power up some of these suckers ! In other words, a toilet bowl to flush your money down.

King Ubu, I think the final sequence of Diminuendo And Crescendo is incredibly aggressive. The energy the band played with after the Gonsalves solo was tremendous.

It is. But you're getting FAR better value at that price.

Gotta head to beddy bye, but checked out the first vid from Woody Herman. And, YES! That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm looking for! Thanks!

So Big Band was a sub genre that I dabbled in many moons ago when I first got into Jazz. And although I really enjoyed it, my listening habits were quickly sidetracked once I discovered the masterful smaller groups led by Miles, Monk, Diz & Bird, etc. Then I blasted off into the stratosphere via Coltrane, Ornette, Ayler, Dolphy, all th usual suspects. Suddenly like a craving for McDonalds fries after so many years of not having them, I hav a desire to revisit Big Band. But, here's the thing. I've always preferred the more aggressive stuff. It still swings, mind you, but I love when you've got an entire band blowing so hard that they sound like they are coming out of their shoes. I'll give three examples of what I'm talking about in hopes that you cats can steer me in the right direction. 1. Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue (the Newport version, naturally) - Duke 2. Things To Come (pretty much any version) - Diz 3. Calling Out The Indians - Marsalis (though the closing moments of God Don't Like Ugly is another good example) It doesn't have to be a break neck pace, or anything. I just love hearing large ensembles blowing the roof off the joint. Any suggestions? My Big Band catalog is almost nonexistent, so don't be afraid to mention anything you might feel is too obvious. Thanks!

There's always the Astros. Perhaps they're this years Royals.

Bizarre. I have a CD where the reflective surface has thinned in a certain spot which made it skip and/or stop playing right at a certain point in one tune. I played it a ton in my car, but have no idea if that contributed to the problem. I wonder if I rip it with my iMac if I'll get a clean read. Very interesting. I think I'll give it try.

Just wanted to pass this on from Dennis' Facebook page: "My dear friends and family: I've been home for a day-and-a-half, now; so overjoyed to be back after such a terrible ordeal. But with the love and care of my wife and boys, and the doctors and nurses who monitored all my internal and external workings, I have come this far. I still have a journey ahead of me, and a continued fight, but your collective spirit, love, and affection is the medicine."

Huh? If the original source is flawed, how can it be corrected by making a copy of it?

If I had to guess, I'd say at least $18,000 less than the least expensive on this list. Maybe more. Although your question reads like "how heavy does a stage coach have to be before six unicorns can no longer pull it?"

I can't recall ever hearing anything like that, and I have over a thousand CDs. I'd have to say you just got a bum burn. There's no way that would have been left in past the mastering phase.

Cool! I'll check that fight out later when I have some time. I think the last really great fight was Bowe/Holyfield 1. But, the Taylor/Chavez fight from years before that was one of the last classics. I thought Shannon Briggs would help resucitate the heavyweight division, but he never advanced past being a technique-free brawler... And I completely agree with you that many of the better fights I ever saw didn't include big names. We used to have Tuesday Night Fights on one of the cable networks back in the day, and they almost always had some really good quality matches.

I have seen Riddick Bowe's throwing the WBC belt in a trash can as the most telling point in the history of the sport. Because it was essentially done for all intents and purposes at that point. The heavyweight division, especially. Roy Jones Jr. was entertaining to watch, but he had no serious competition. But, I agree with you, it simply isn't worth the time and effort to wade through all the shit in order to find a lone pearl every now and then. I can't do MMA, though.

That Crispin Glover interview was one of the weirder things I've seen on tv.

That's a lot of jack for conversation pieces. But people pay a lot for certain artwork, which is essentially what those turntables are. Functionality isn't a primary concern.

Boxing died long ago, IMO.

Letterman has to be one of the most polarizing entertainers in the business. I always liked him, but being an early riser for the past decade I haven't seen his show in a long, long time. So, I'm not sad to see him go, but I did enjoy the nearly two decades I watched his show.

I highly suggest any date he had Tim Green on, all Yells At Eels albums, and the outstanding NY Midnight Suite with Ellery Eskelin. Dennis once sent me a live bootleg of a YAE date, and it remains one of my most cherished recordings, as he never released it publicly. Hey! The Professor makes a rare appearance! How's it going, brother? Stefan has posted on Facebook that his father is recovering and in good spirits. Whatever his health issue was, it didn't know who it was fucking with!

She's smoking hot, but I really don't care for her music. Though, as I confessed elsewhere, my wife got me to listen to Taylor Swift's latest, 1989, and I find it really enjoyable. Teen Pop pablum, but well written and executed. BTW Kevin, check out an artist named Sia. She's written a lot of tunes for some of these new Pop artists, and I discovered some of her latest solo work just a couple of days ago. Right around the 57 second mark she starts going into an almost full-blown Janis Joplin throat shredder. The gal has some pipes on her. And she's 39, but seems to hold her own pretty well within the genre:

Glad to hear it was a great B-day for you, Larry. And may there be many more! BTW, not to bring things down, but what ever became of that psycho who was threatening you last year? Did that ever get ironed out?

This one time? You are a fucking joke. And you can't fucking read for comprehension. No shocker. Please get an adult to read and explain my entire post to you.