Free For All

And all this time I just thought you weren't home.

A very happy birthday to you SS! Glad to hear you're gigging! Have a great day today, and keep 'em comin'!

Me neither. No salt on any of the melons, including canteloupe and honeydew. My dad always used to put sugar on raw tomatoes. I never really got into that either. I have been enjoying some great watermelon this summer.

Capt. Parmenter Sgt. O'Rourke Cpl. Agarn

Patty Metheenday!

At this point I'm predicting this will never happen, so I'll recuse myself from the discussion. Have a nice day fellas.

The Real Book is a good collection of titles for those who want to learn some common standards. The old version of the real book had many, many mistakes- wrong changes, wrong keys, wrong forms etc. (actually, I assign my students to research what I know to be a wrong transcription and fix it). I never use the RB as my only source for learning a tune- I always search for as many recordings as I can find to check the accuracy of the fake book. The ears are the best resource. Even the new, legal version has some mistakes, not nearly as many as the old one though. I see nothing wrong with using a fake book as source material. What I perceive as the problem is when that fake book becomes a crutch. I tell all my students to continually learn tunes and be able to play them WITHOUT having to read out of a fake book. Typically their first experience in a new city is to go to a jam session and if they a)don't know any tunes or b)have to drag out a book in order to play, they won't make much of an impression. I think fake books have a place in the educational process, but dependence on them should ultimately be minimized.

I love that cover, although it makes me think of.........

Goodness ... Gizmo certainly seems "excited" about his new wheels ...

I used to carry on my trombone, no problem (it was in a gig bag that fit easily in the overhead- until they started partitioning them). Then it got very inconsistent- you were at the mercy of the whims of the gate attendant. Once they made me check it in the soft case- "We'll "hand-deliver" it, "We'll be extra careful", etc. This was along time ago, and I naively believed the person. They then lost the horn for several days, and when they found it and returned it to me, it was totally demolished- it looked like it had been in a cartoon. Of course, I had signed a release, so they were only liable for loss. I was very mad (and no longer naive) for a while, but it was a Yamaha trombone, so it turned out to be a fortuitous thing after all. That Yamaha sucked eggs. I still have it- I should "lamp it". Now I check my horn all the time- I have a hard plastic golf bag case that my gig bag fits into. I also wrap it in bubble wrap and stuff towels in the spaces. The only way they can really hurt the horn is to actually run over it. That day may come yet. It's a drag to check your horn (although a trombone can be replaced a lot cheaper than most other instruments), but it seems that soon there will be no option. It's also nice to board in a leisurely manner and not have to knock over little old ladies to get the primo overhead space. People always think I've got golf clubs. One guy asked me about my handicap and I said "Giant Steps". He of course had no idea what I was talking about and looked confused.

Happy Birth Canal!

In the process of packing, I came across a couple LPs I haven't listened to for a long time. So tonight I'm enjoying Blue Montreaux I and II, which I've only seen on CD in partial form. Good Brecker-style funkiness.

Oh, great. Here we go. "You were in the One? High five, dude!" Secret handshake, "Rocky" doorknock and all that.

I listen to a lot of types of music and always try to keep an open mind, and will investigate it further if it contains some of the elements I look for in any type of music, such as interesting melody, harmony and rhythm. Now my criteria for what is "interesting" is based primarily on my experience listening to jazz, so I tend to be attracted to music that contains at least one of those three elements. If all three are present, so much the better, but sometimes the existence of one on its own can be sufficient to keep me interested. If there is some effort at breaking free from formula, or a strong groove, or a harmonic progression that breaks out of the usual I-IV-V patterns, or an interesting melody that is rendered with at least a minimal level of skill and sincerity, well, those things usually get my attention. I guess the point is that I tend to focus more on the instrumental aspects than the lyrics. But that's me. So I don't think of myself as a jazz snob, but I've listened to a lot of music (ATTENTIVELY) in my life and I think I'm entitled to be selective. That being said, I never want to overlook something because I'm too locked in to my preferences. Playing music requires constant growth, and I think listening and appreciating music also requires a mind that's open at least to the potential for change. I'm a discerning listener inasmuch as I know what pleases and interests me, but using the term "snob" implies a sense of being close-minded, which to me is the worst thing that can happen to a music fan (or musician, for that matter).

Remember the Swamp Rats?

I also used to be a fan. Never have been to an actual event, but I still watch it on TV from time to time. I used to build model cars like a maniac, too. I probably suffered more brain damage from all that glue and paint than from everything I did in college....... "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, Connie Kalitta- these were the stars when I was most into the sport. I still have my drag racing sound effects record "The Big Sounds Of The Drags".

I'd heard The Descent is a decent horror movie..........

Amen Greg! Thanks for remembering this! This was my first Urbie record: Yes, he did have a green trombone. That recording is pretty dated sounding now, but contains some great trombone playing. He uses the "Varitone" octave-doubling effect, the same thing Sonny Stitt dabbled with. That I could've done without, especially considering his beautiful sound. I've always liked this one a lot: Urbie was the first trombonist I heard who really blew me away. Happy Birthday Urbie!

"No pick! No pick!"

And picking is only the beginning of his problems.

That's a shame. I would liked to have seen that.

Hey, I'm a big fan of the Thornhill band, and the main reason is the chance to hear some of Gil's early work. His arrangements of the Bird tunes (Anthropology, Donna Lee and Yardbird Suite) show a remarkable assimilation of the bebop language, right on the heels of the debut of these tunes. Most importantly, they bear the stamp of Gil's own personality. Kind of like hearing Thad's Basie charts before Thad started his own band. Buster's Last Stand, There's A Small Hotel, Arab Dance, La Poloma, The Song Is You and others. All great stuff. Very "visionary" IMHO. I did a slightly skewed version of Snowfall on my CD. My dad requested that I include that tune. I then kind of screwed with it a bit (harmony, meter; as arrangers are wont to do ), and when I played it for him he was a bit perplexed. But he eventually warmed to it. The fact that this post came about on a thread about Martha Stewart is a bit embarrassing.

Count me in as a Vic fan, Barak! I think we'll be hearing from Lon as well. I love that side you pictured.

If it is indeed coming to an end it's a shame. I have fond memories of seeking out Tower Record stores in pretty much any major city when I was on the road. For example, I remember buying the Miles side Aura at a Tower in Sacramento the day of the big earthquake in San Francisco. If it's true, it's the end of an era.

Here's what's on it: 1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Chris Botti 2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Tony Bennett 3. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Tuck Andress 4. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas - Wynton Marsalis 5. Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy) - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 6. O Come All Ye Faithful - Terence Blanchard Listen Listen Listen 7. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Grover Washington, Jr. 8. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Steve Tyrell 9. Snowfall - Tex Beneke 10. Deck The Halls - Chick Corea 11. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Dexter Gordon Quartet 12. O Christmas Tree - Russell Malone 13. Winter Weather - Peggy Lee 14. Shake Hands With Santa Claus - Louis Prima 15. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt 16. Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong