Shawn

When I first started "experimenting" with grass as a teenager (before I earned my Masters degree in it)...my Mother had a very interesting reaction. She told me that if I HAD to do something, she would much prefer me to smoke pot than drink alchohol. She was scared to death of drunk drivers and believed that pot not being physically adictive made it the safer choice. Of course she was a hippy...but I think if I ever had kids I would present the same view. My Mother allowed me the freedom to make my own decisions..and my own mistakes. I'll always be thankful that she had that attitude.

While I was never really a fan of the music...the Butthole Surfers had some great album titles... Cream Corn From the Socket of Davis Rembrandt Pussyhorse Locust Abortion Technician Hairway to Steven Pioughd Independent Worm Saloon Electriclarryland Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac

I agree with Jim.... I'm 33, been a smoker since I was 14, I'm about 40 pounds overweight, I have almost no teeth left (inherited gum disease), high cholesterol (diabetes not far away, it runs in my family), bipolar disorder...etc, etc, etc, In other words, I'm screwed.....

Right now I'm spinning We Remember You (Fresh Sounds)...next up is Live At The Lighthouse...

If we're talking about Lateef...shouldn't the thread be called "How to ENHANCE a Curtis Fuller song...".

Well, I've been asleep at the wheel...cause I didn't get this album until just this weekend. For some reason, despite the stellar lineup, I had never gotten the urge to buy this. Boy, was I dumb! Excellent session as far as I'm concerned. The originals are engaging, arrangements are top notch and the performances are inspired (Lee's solo on Twice Around!!!). Dig that trumpet/alto/trombone frontline as well. Plus it's very cool to have Tyner & Blakey playing together. Opinions on this one? Not released till 1980, any reason (aside from not being The Sidewinder Part 2) that this should have been passed over originally?

CDR's of OOP or never released on CD: These shouldn't make ANYONE feel guilty. After all, there aren't any available new to purchase (so the artist isn't making any money off it) and you're getting a copy from somebody that DID buy the thing at some point. Plus - There's no difference between buying a used CD and getting a friend to make you a CDR copy. Nobody but the used CD store makes any money from that sale. Radio broadcasts? - The artists are getting paid for the broadcast (well, they should be anyway)...if they are sending the music out into the universe...of course people are going to record it...that will never change...and it shouldn't. Unless they figure out a way to copy-protect broadcast!

Well I can sympathize with you. I get in moods sometimes where it seems like I don't want to do anything. I'll put on a CD, then change it, then change it again...then decide to watch TV and I can't concentrate..then I'll put in a movie, get distracted, put in a different movie, get distracted..turn off the TV, try to read a book, can't concentrate...then go back to the stereo, repeat... As far as just music goes though, I hit a jazz dry spell a couple months ago. At first I just realized that I wasn't really in the mood for music that often, so I found myself either watching the tube...or going out for walks and stuff. When I did turn on the stereo it was usually something other than jazz, went back and started re-listening to some old classic rock stuff that I hadn't heard in years, also was spinning a fair amount of folk, blues, etc. Then I discovered a jazz radio station on the way to work one morning, just flipping through the channels and all of a sudden heard Pharoah Sanders! So I started listening and then found myself grabbing for jazz CDs when I got home (car CD player died). Dry spell over. I'm sure it will come back, it always does...but it always goes away...

I use Zone Alarm Pro at home and so far haven't been "hit" with any of these nasty little spyware programs, the pop up blocker seems to get almost everything. I was over at my Uncle's house this weekend, and his computer is just rampant with these...you can hardly even use the internet at all because the spyware is taking up all the resources.

Really glad to see Black Fire & Serenade To A Soul Sister on that list! But....Night of the Cookers???? I could think of MANY other titles that should've come before that one....

Well, I can't improve or elaborate on what Jim already said. I'll just suffice to say that Ray Charles was REAL..REALLY REAL! One of the most original, influential and joyous musicians this country ever produced. If there's a special wing in music heaven for the "Masters", then Ray is enjoying a nice meal with Ellington right now....

Well I just pulled this session back out and gave it another spin. Funny, I had never really paid close attention to what Wayne was doing on this date...but he's going for it! Kind of like "fuck'n hell, you're GONNA pay attention to me on this date...cause I ain't gettin' paid shit!". Good stuff indeed. I also see what Jim was talking about with the "Johnny Griffin on helium" thing...

I think this album could be an exception...I've had some "difficulties" with some of the Cecil recordings that I've run across...some I've liked fairly quickly...others I still haven't "gotten my head around" yet. This one however I clicked with right away and the first time I listened to it I just started it over and listened to it straight through again. I think it's a fairly accesible listen. On the subject of "not for beginners"...I don't totally agree with that philosophy either. I mean, on one hand you could put on Coltrane's Meditations and scare the living shit out of somebody who wasn't "ready" for it...but on the same token you could play Brubeck's Time Out for some people who would probably find it equally offensive. I remember the first time I ever heard Eric Dolphy, it was one of the alternate takes from the Village Vanguard recordings with Trane (on some old Impulse compilation, can't remember the title)...anyway, after a few minutes of Dolphy's bass clarinet I turned to my friend and said "So, who's strangling the goose?" But 6 months later I heard the same exact CD again and thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world....didn't even realize it was the same recording until I looked at the CD...

I agree with Lon! This is by far my favorite album of Ike's as a leader. As far as single performances, I'll take that breathtaking tenor/bass duet of Nature Boy from Heavy Soul...GORGEOUS! But, then again, I like ALL of Ike's stuff...easily one of my favorites and a player that I never tire of hearing.

To me it's always sounded like he was playing in a completely different dimension than the rest of the band on this date....the space time continuim was out of sync or something!!!

This is GREAT news...thanks to Joe I've become a serious Nick Drake junkie....

Haven't really pulled the Mosaic's out for awhile (aside from the Giuffre)..but it's getting close to that time again. For some reason I tend to shy away from listening to these for long periods of time...then I'll get on a "Mosaic kick" and start playing them a bunch. I'm still not the biggest fan of box sets in the world, I prefer small bite size meals to 17 course dinners... Been hankering to hear the early 50's Hodges set and the Quebec 45 Sessions...so another binge is probably getting ready to begin.

The Cure was one of those bands that I initially was forced to listen...girlfriend was a big fan. (I wonder how many guys at Cure shows were dragged there by their girlfriends?). Anyway, she also listened to alot of crap like The Smiths and that other weepy, 80's post new wave garbage...anyway, I digress. The Cure was one of the only bands that she listened to that I could stomach...and then some of their stuff started to grow on me a little. I then went through a short phase of appreciating them...but they never really "clicked" with me...and once the girl was gone...so were The Cure. Anyway, looking back now (and I haven't heard this stuff in years mind you) I like the earlier recordings the best. All the pre-keyboards material...favorites were probably Pornography and The Head On The Door. Also liked some of the bootleg live stuff from really early in their career when they were still rather punky in nature. I never liked Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me...thought it was overblown and saccharine. After that I totally lost interest. So unless they do a "return to their roots" album and go back to doing quirky guitar, bass, drums pop tunes...I'll most likely stay away.

Thank GOD!!!!!! Creed was hands down one of the worst bands that I've heard in years...just can't understand why anybody ever fell for this crap. What an awful singer! Anyway, at least it's one less EMO band....now if Pearl Jam would just call it quits...

Well, according to Billboard it's still in the top 20 and it's sold over 4 million copies....so it's got quite a few legs evidently.

I have the Kelly/Chambers set but really wish I could have grabbed the other one, as I don't have any of the recordings contained in that set (other than The Young Lions). Oh well, sometimes food & shelter is more important than Mosaic sets!

I guess my post came off as a little "bitchy", I was at work when I posted so it just goes with the territory. I guess the point I was trying to make was that as a young man (okay, I was a kid, I admit it) in the late 70's/early 80's who primarily listened to FM Rock radio...Rush sounded pretty darn good to me. But then in that time period I was always listening to music that the "critics" and "hip" people strayed away from like the plague. Lots of Rush, Queen, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Black Sabbath, ELO, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, CSN&Y, ZZ Top, Heart, AC/DC (Bon Scott era) etc. These were staples of FM radio at the time (well, not Black Sabbath obviously, even though they ended up being one of the most influential bands in history). The radio stations that I was tuned into didn't play much in the way of "alternative' (back when that meant something)...so you can't know if you'd dig it if you'd never heard it. But then again, let's look at the places that I lived during that period of time. From 1976-1978 I lived in southern Virginia, from 1980-1983 I lived in Kansas. So we're not exactly talking about areas where Joni Mitchell or Bob Marley are going to be heard ANYWHERE. You had to listen through HOURS of southern rock drek and "pop rock" bands like Foreigner & Styx before you'd get a chance to hear Money or Stone Free, etc. So to someone that was surrounded by the mediocre alot on the radio, bands like Rush were a breath of fresh air. Excellent musicians, interesting arrangements, a sound like no other band...and they still managed to kick ass. I remember feeling like an "intelligent" rock fan because of listening to bands like them and Queen. So it's a matter of perspective, where you came from and what you were exposed to. Even if I don't listen to alot of those bands anymore...I respect them, because they had an impact on my life and meant something to me at a time when my family life was such hell that I didn't know if I would get through each day without hanging myself from the nearest tree. So maybe songs like Free Will or The Analog Kid or whatever, helped me to get through those tough times. So when I hear them now...I still feel like I owe a debt of gratitude to Rush for making that music that kept me going. Sorry for the rant...

I like the album myself, have only spun it a couple times but it's got a nice vibe to it. It ain't jazz...just well produced folk-pop, but she's got a killer voice and a "presence" that you don't hear in many singers her age....

If Rush was part of the "lowest common denominator" at that time in history...what perchance was the alternative? Disco? Mid-late 70's pop music?

What has 9 arms and sucks? --Def Leppard!