Free For All

Yeah, and that recording with "Graciela"- what was that one? Since he kind of morphed into Sonny I haven't been quite as interested, although he does the Sonny bit really well. Also Bob Berg is another one who changed quite a bit. Listen to him on the Silver'n'Brass, etc. sides and compare that to his later stuff. I kinda liked the old sound myself.

The Smurfs are here to help!

True. So she's spending a lot more to get it out, but she gets a much higher percentage of the profit, right? It sounds like she expects to recoup her investment and then some. That's a pretty good testimonial for the ArtistShare concept. I see that there are several other well-known artists using the AS method. I'm wondering if it would work as well for lesser known artists, for example, some of the Criss-Cross types who are known more by the hard-core jazz fans than by the "casual" listener.

I really enjoy the Lighthouse sessions. They have long been a favorite- I actually prefer Grossman from that era to the recent things he's done. There's a real reckless go-for-it attitude with the group and Elvin's killin'. I give it

Wow! A hefty tab to be sure! I know of many other big band projects that ran about 25K. That's a lot of bread. Must have been a lot of studio sessions.

That jacket is making me sleepy................... .....................................................must.......buy......all......three......volumes.......

Happy birthday, Matthew!

I'm staying out of this one.

"Soxs"?

I was afraid this would piss some people off. I apologize for ruffling any feathers. Regarding the "high acclaim", I was referring to the film "Wild Man Blues"; what I saw in the film was that promoters and concertgoers who were singing Woody's musical praises were motivated to do so more from being star-struck than for any actual musical reasons. IMHO. Also, they don't make too many documentaries about non-celebrity musical hobbyists. IMHO a music documentary does create a bit of a higher standard, especially with as much of the concert footage as they presented. Should I, who am a musician, watch those performances (especially with the high level of playing by the professional musicians who accompanied him) and refrain from making a musical assessment? It's hard to quiet the critic in ourselves sometimes. Sometimes I hate that. I'm glad he enjoys playing, of course he has a right to do as he pleases. And I love him as an actor and director. I guess if I hung out at Michael's Pub and watched him have fun it would be endearing and I'd probably not say anything bad. I usually cut friends more slack than strangers. I really think this was to me more of an issue of celebrity treatment by fans and media, and I'm sorry if I offended. I didn't mean this to be a big deal, just one person's opinion. I really try to keep my contributions on the positive side here, and I almost deleted that post. Now that I reread it, it was a little much. As I've said before, it's often too hard to make oneself understood through the written word alone. Damn, I don't want to be pissing off the New Yorkers!

With all due respect to you who are fans, if I never hear the tune "Moondance" again in my lifetime I'll die a happy man.

One thing I was wondering was why did the ump called Rodriguez "safe" when he hadn't even touched the bag yet?

I thought this was kind of strange. Why'd they copy the Cornbread cover?

You could have put it in Zora's room. Although that would most likely have been followed by a lifetime of therapy. Plus, it's really not from the future. It'll probably fall apart in a centon or two.

Hey, it put Laurence Fishburne and Phil Hartman on the map. Still creepy though. Willie-Wonka-creepy. I liked watching it, but I've always wondered why they presented it as a kid's show.

I remember thinking the Nike ads featuring "Revolution" were quite a sellout.

Let's see; trombone, clarinet, guitar, bass and drums. It's my dream band! Forgive the interruption- back to the topic!

Wyntonia! Wyntonia! What makes your big head so hard? B-)

A very happy 73rd birthday to you Chris! As far as I'm concerned, you are a definitely a big part of why this place is a good hang. I'll look forward to picking up a copy of your autobiography someday, hopefully sooner than later! Judging from the response to your "memories" thread it seems that many here are interested in a story-of-Christiern book........ Maybe hardbop will write a review on Amazon! B-) Have a great day!

H a P p Y b I r T h D a Y l e E w A y !!!

The only thing worse than that Rod Stewart Cover is what's undoubtedly on the disc inside. >GACK!<

You dig? B-)

"Secret Rhino Banga"? WTF? What I do in my spare time is MY business.

I saw this movie and while he may be have interest in the music, he's a pretty mediocre player. You know people go to see him out of celebrity curiousity. In the film people come out of his perfomances saying "he's a genius!". Genius filmmaker, yes. Genius musician, hardly; acceptable plaintive Bechet-like sound, not a great sense of time, little or no variation in his interpretation and improvisations, little or no interaction with the band (on or off the stand). The only guy he's comfortable talking to (if I remember correctly) is the banjo player who relays information to the other band members (obviously just hired for the tour- the trombonist is Dan Barrett, the trad-style player who records on Concord). The musicians seem visibly uncomfortable much of the time. We are interested because he's Woody. Any non-celebrity musician who played at that level would not even be on the radar, no doubt. And anyone who's spent time on the road must laugh at his high-maintenance lifestyle requirements and incessant whining. He's "roughing it" in luxury suites (not sure where the other players are staying) and he's still not happy. Sheesh. Believe me, I'm a big fan of his films, but I'm not impressed with him as a musician. It's the old "famous rich person dabbles in alternative art form" story that more often than not is a disappointment. I'm glad he loves the music, but his receiving high musical acclaim just because he's "Woody Allen" is kind of an insult to the musicians who have been in the trenches their whole life. But that's the way the "business" of music works, I guess.