Free For All

My favorite Basie writers (in no specific order) Billy Byers Neal Hefti Thad Jones Frank Foster Ernie Wilkins .....did I say Billy Byers?

Thanks for the info Jim! Glad you're still there.

I tried to go over there when I thought this board went down today and it doesn't seem to be there now. What's up?

more to come....................

Agreed! Happy Birthday BM!!

Sorry I missed the hang- I'm in Texas doing my gig. I wish I'd have been there- I have great enthusiasm for Mingus Ah Um. ......and Wes is the poor man's Aric.

Damn! Hope everything is OK, or at least getting better.

Clare Daly is another. Sounds like it was a good hang BF!

Since most of the time the cuts on a recording are put in an order for a reason (usually the preference of the artist) it seems to take away from the overall impression of the recording to have the alts interrupt the order. This is also what IMHO is a problem with downloading single cuts from the internet- you get no sense of the overall recording. To me a tune can have an entirely different feeling when it's heard in the context of the entire side. The other problem is that frequently no one (I'm talking mostly about students) bothers to seek out the personnel and other pertinent info- they tell you the name of the tune they downloaded but can't tell you who played on it (other than the leader).

Less successful were the McDuff and the McGriff; both are very tasty but high in greeze.

Does she have a sister named "Mulva"?

It was "Hang Gliding".......that is a great composition.

On my current diet I'm not doing much fast food at all, although if I was going to stop at a chain it would probably be Wendy's. Once I read the nutritional info (which confirmed what I pretty much already knew) I once and for all realized that eating at these places is no longer an option. It always works the same way: I'm hungry, it seems like a good idea and I ALWAYS feel unsatisfied and generally crappy afterwards. I did like that McGriddle, however. And then I read about it. Check this out

HBO2L!!

Congrats guys! You certainly deserve some wider recognition. Keep up the good work!

HBBW!

Thanks a lot Guy, now I've got the Col. Bogey March stuck in my head.

Isn't it an opossum? I mean it WAS an opossum, wasn't it?

One of the swingin'-est charts in the Woody Herman book, Woody's Whistle, was written by Dusko.

I think anyone who knew or played with Woody would probably agree that: 1) He was a great bandleader first and foremost. He managed to keep a top notch band together with few interruptions for 50+ years. He had an ear for talent, both players and arrangers. He trusted people to a fault. 2) There's no argument that Woody was a great musician. No, he didn't have the technique on clarinet of Artie Shaw or Bennie Goodman or Buddy DeFranco, and he didn't posess the vocal skills of many other singers of the era (and he would be the first to admit these things) but he always had a deep love of the music, and played and sang with a soulful fervor that brought energy to the band and audience both. He had an alto sax sound that was gorgeous (he loved Hodges). And when he played Mood Indigo in the low end of the clarinet it was an amazingly beautiful sound. He busted his ASS to learn his part on Ebony Concerto! Many leaders would be afraid to surround themsleves with the talent that Woody sought out. He knew his sidemen were often outplaying him, and he loved that. His best advice to me was to "be yourself"- find your own voice in the music. He was totally comfortable with who he was, that's for sure. Woody needs no one to defend or apologize for him, and I know no one here (Jim especially) intended any disrespect. Before I joined the band I used to think "what a great band, too bad the leader's the weakest player" but after spending time with the group I became very aware of his strength, leadership and musicianship. He set an example for all, and pretty much everyone who ever played with him agrees. And towards the end (when he started missing some gigs) there was a huge difference in the energy level of the band when he wasn't on stage. It was hard to play without him, and even though he'd been playing the same thing on Woodchopper's Ball for years and years, when it wasn't there it left a gaping hole in the music.

Much as I enjoy Steve Martin's projects, I can't see how his version could possibly hold up to Sellers' Clouseau. "Being There" is an amazing film. I also love "The Party". The man was a genius.

So you did hear about it then?

For some inexplicable reason those collagen lips kind of creep me out.

Me too. Literally and figuratively.

My first car. '69 Galaxie. That car was AWESOME!