Free For All

This happened to a dog belonging to a friend of mine. It's some serious shit- if I remember correctly those quills are barbed so you really can't just yank 'em out, they have to sort of work their way out. This isn't funny at all- if this is for real, this dog is in some serious trouble. My friend's dog didn't get hit nearly this bad and she almost didn't make it. That someone would flaunt this as a "funny photo for the internet" kind of pisses me off (I'm not talking about you hardbop, I'm referring to the dog's owners).

Just got it, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Good chemistry among the players, nice tunes. Not earthshaking perhaps, but a very good listen, worth the investment. And the recording quality is excellent- great sounding piano IMHO.

.....so to speak.....

Bat Masterson Manne, Shelly Robin Eubanks

"Nice artwork, PeeWee- you OK to drive home, man?"

I haven't heard it, but here's the cover.

See, these silly diversions get your mind off playing. I'll bet Troy's feeling better already. I, however, am feeling a little nauseous.

I tried that, but my slide keeps falling off.

Steve Grossman, Don Alias and Gene Perla. Check out: stonealliance.com EDIT: The personnel has changed from time to time (different sax and sometimes a keyboard added- Kenny Kirkland played with them for a while) but my favorite group was the one with Grossman.

Yeah! Stone Alliance! Graciela, baby!

Dick Dastardly Muttley Chet Brinkley

You dog you!

I agree inasmuch as I prefer the Blue Notes. But I don't find the Prestige dates boring at all, maybe just a little more predictable, although there are moments where Dex seems to "wake up" a bit and assert himself. Sometimes these "moments" are more a result of the supporting players than Dex himself. IMHO, I wouldn't call any of it "boring", though. EDIT: Dexter Gordon posesses an immediately indentifiable sound/style, something which seems to be increasingly rare with sax players (and horn players in general) these days. IMHO that in itself is quite an accomplishment; I couldn't EVER think of him as boring! I do understand that some don't dig him, and that's fine- different strokes and all that!

A very Happy Birthday to you James!

I'm so sorry. I'll stop now.

And of course the classic: She comes down from Yellow Mountain On a dark, flat land she rides On a pony she named Wildfire With a whirlwind by her side On a cold Nebraska night Oh, they say she died one winter When there came a killing frost And the pony she named Wildfire Busted down its stall In a blizzard he was lost She ran calling Wildfire By the dark of the moon I planted But there came an early snow There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now For six nights in a row She's coming for me, I know And on Wildfire we're both gonna go We'll be riding Wildfire On Wildfire we're gonna ride Gonna leave sodbustin' behind Get these hard times right on out of our minds Riding Wildfire

On deck: Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight gonna grab some afternoon delight. My motto's always been; when it's right, it's right. Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night. When everything's a little clearer in the light of day. And you know the night is always gonna be there any way. Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight. Thinkin' of you's workin' up my appetite looking forward to a little afternoon delight. Rubbin' sticks and stones together makes the sparks ingite and the thought of rubbin' you is getting so exciting. Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight. Started out this morning feeling so polite I always though a fish could not be caught who wouldn't bite But you've got some bait a waitin' and I think I might try nibbling a little afternoon delight. Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight. Please be waiting for me baby when I come around. We could make a lot of lovin' 'for the sun goes down. Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight.

Sometimes I just have to back off a bit. Put the horn down and do something else, walk away. I've learned a lot from reading the Inner Game books and the Kenny Werner book and things like that. I used to get so frustrated if I thought I was having a bad night- I'd get very self-critical and mentally hog-tie myself to the point that I couldn't do anything. I think it's important to not get too caught up in acknowledging the lows OR the highs. I've come to realize that there are cycles in the creative process, and sometimes you bottom out. And every time I've felt that I have bottomed out I eventually come out of it, so I tend not to get too freaked out if I feel I'm in a slump. I try not to struggle and force my way out- I just accept it, and this most often takes all the power away from those negative feelings. Dealing with performance anxiety is a similar process- you learn how to "cut off its legs" by not empowering it. Another thing is that when you learn some new vocabulary on your instrument, it takes some time to assimilate to the point that it comes out in a natural and spontaneous way. It usually feels contrived at first, you almost have to learn it, forget it and then rediscover it. Anyway, I'd say don't get too worried, this will pass. Know that you are not at all alone in having these feelings!

My hearing must be going from sitting in front of trumpets and next to drummers my whole life, 'cause the RVG sounds pretty good to me.

If I hadn't just pre-ordered the Oliver Nelson I'd be all over this.

"Kopelowicz"? What is that, Canadian? The next thing you know we'll find out your first name is really "Cosmo"!

Oh man, don't I know it! I'm a TOTAL Lee Morgan addict! Anything with his name on it................. I haven't really checked out The Gigolo for a while. What a great side! Wayne is totally Wayne-esque, Lee's chops are strong, Billy Higgins is a groove monster, the tunes are engaging. It's all there! How fortunate we are that this stuff continues to get sonically updated and re-released!

Randy, for my sake, could you explain specifically what you mean by this? Do you mean "no piano/keyboard"?