Shawn

Lack of virtuosity? Maybe...but who cares really? Memorable? Definitely. Fripp may not be a technical "God" on the guitar, but most technical players annoy the living shit out of me. I'll take attitude and passion over chops any day of the week. Plus I'll always consider "no Jan Hammer" a really GOOD thing!

Agree with you on Rough House Blues...but not Lush Life which I find to be gorgeous and Lou's tone on ballads is a pure joy.

This was the first one I heard, in fact the vinyl is probably somewhere in storage at my Grandmother's house. For the life of me I can't remember anything about it! I'll have to admit that I'm really not very familiar with Todd's music.

Just listened to Juba-Lee this evening, Maupin sounds great with this band and has some ferocious solo spots.

Coltrane - 1954. He's on the following disc (though does not solo). For answer to Cecil Taylor, see post #13.

I hate to ask this question...but how is the sound on the new issue? I've got the Milestone box (and I hate to re-purchase things) but this session IS exceptionally nice and sounds a little "flat" to me in the box set.

I can't change the damn avatar now...Big Al would find me and kick my ass!

deja vu...my Saturday evenings at my grandparents were often spent the same way. Then to make matters worse...my Grandfather became a big fan of Sha Na Na...so I had to watch that as well...

Great news that The Big Steal is coming to DVD! Although I'm not sure if I would classify it as a "film noir"...it's more like a fun little action flick. Jane Greer...man oh man, I could watch her all day. Another tasty little film noir with Jane is "They Won't Believe Me" with Robert Young & Susan Hayward. Jane Greer & Susan Hayward are 2 points of a love triangle I could deal with!

In regards to the Eddie Van Halen -Holdsworth connection, maybe I could have phrased it a little better. It was more the overall approach I was referring to, the attitude more than the technique. Later Holdsworth sounds nothing like EVH, but he was quite a bit rawer during this period with Lifetime. There are quite a few moments on that record where you can hear flashes of the Satriani, Vai, Morse, etc school of savvy guitarists to come. I don't consider Van Halen to be metal either.

The company I work for deals with Iron Mountain for offsite data storage, I asked around and nobody remembers having any problems getting items back when needed.

I'm pretty sure that the catalog has been digitally archived (at least the already released material).

Personally, I find "Believe It" to be a great session...and one that frequently hits my stereo. Tony is friggin' unbelievable (bad pun) and I really like Holdsworth's playing (a little too much wad shooting sometimes, but overall smokin'). It was reissued domestically in a twofer with MDL...I always stop the disc after Believe It is over.

Well it's seems like a perfect picture of our corrupt, inept legal system at work...

I've always assumed they went for whatever picture they could acquire the cheapest....without really giving two shits about whether it fit the album or not.

"Let's use a picture that's 30 years out of date, shall we?"

Agreed! At His Best is one of my absolute favorite Papa Lou recordings. "Gimme back that 100% skunk hair wig I bought you baby, I don't love you no more..."

Road House - This is one seriously scummy little film (that's a compliment). Ida is at her radiant-trashy best and Widmark is a full-blown LOON (not a big stretch, but worthwhile anyway). Beware, My Lovely. This is a crackerjack thriller with Ryan as a mentally disturbed serial killer who holds Lupino hostage in her own boarding house.

The 2 shows that made me think my childhood was NEVER going to end...Lawrence Welk...and Hee Haw...both seen regularly at my Grandmother's house when I was a kid. I still have nightmares.

Not sure about Emergency...but I'm positive that Eddie Van Halen heard Lifetime's Believe It and copped as many Holdsworth licks as he could. As far as the "roots of metal" are concerned, I think Classical is the more obvious influence. Deep Purple is probably the best example with Lord's symphonic aspirations and Blackmore's neo-classical guitar licks. An album like Fireball is much more of a progressive rock album than actual metal...but it was still "heavy". Sabbath grabbed onto the whole tri-tone, sturm und drang, Berlioz influenced thing (Iommi was a jazz fan though and lists Django Rheinhardt as one of his biggest influences). Then there's Zeppelin of course...who were busy copping the entire American blues book. Don't shoot me...but I think avante-garde, free-jazz has more in common with Metal than the fusion guys. More for style of attack than the actual structure (or lack thereof).

Coltrane playing soprano on the cover...but he didn't start recording on soprano until after he left Prestige.

That Prestige Coltrane set is a treasure trove! Picked that set up shortly after beginning my jazz fascination and it was quite a learning experience. Between that set and the Miles Prestige box...everything branched out from there for me...

That Moodsville Volume 1 with Garland/Lockjaw is one of my favorite albums. Not only do you get Lockjaw in peak form but there's also Garland's transcendent reading of Stella By Starlight, one of my favorite Red performances.

I must admit that I haven't connected with Corea yet. I appreciate his playing, like his tunes...but I just don't "feel it". I've gone through this with other players before and later it clicked, so I haven't given up on him.