Free For All

I like beans in chili. I guess ground beef isn't really kosher either to purists. I would expect that comment from someone from Texas- but San Francisco?? Don't you, like, put salmon and sprouts in your chili out there?

Sounds like one of those Flonase- type products you see on TV. You know, the happy Stepford people going about their business and the voice-over saying "side effects may include explosive flatulence and extreme bleeding from the ears" and such.

Another favorite weekend activity is firing up the ol' smoker. I did a whole turkey once for Thanksgiving- that took a long time, but it was great. Pork roasts, marinated skirt steak and chicken for fajitas, cornish hens- these are a few favorites. I haven't had consistent success with brisket, which is what I'd really like to nail. I think the secret is to smoke it for a while and then wrap it in foil so it doesn't dry out. Wood-wise, I usually use hickory, but I like mesquite on occasion, and fruit woods like cherry or apple work great for pork. I would like to eventually get one of those big smokers w/the side firebox- I currently just have a little water smoker that looks like R2-D2. Works OK, though. Anyone ever done the fried turkey thing? It sounds nasty health-wise, but people who have tried it say it's great. I just can't see me with gallons of hot oil and not think: recipe for disaster!! Or "Honey, where's the cat?" .

Elgin sausage is one of the things I miss most from my Texas days!

OK, it gets to be this time of year and it's time to start whippin' up the football-watchin' weekend goodies. Here's a favorite of mine: Your basic chili recipe Browned ground beef Kidney beans, with can juice Onions, garlic and green/red peppers, sauteed in a little olive oil Black olives Crushed tomatoes Rotel green chili/tomato w/chili seasoning A little bit o' BBQ sauce Splash of Worcesister, or however you spell it Beer ( to put in chili and drink during prep- I like Shiner Bock for chili) Chili powder, cumin, pepper (black and red) I don't add salt 'cause the canned stuff has plenty Corn bread w/ jalapenos and corn added Tasty! Even better the second day. Anyone have a good chili or other comfort food recipe? I know we've done cooking threads before, I thought I'd start a new one. I never tire of discussing food .

I just got my copy from Rooster. Congratulations, guys, you've done a great job! Excellent recording quality, great tunes (and variety)- I love the way you did the 11/4- you guys do a great job of obscuring bar lines! And most importantly, GREAT playing by everyone! Nice touch to use Ron, too. BTW, where's the micobrewery that's on the cover? I'll have what Joe's having! You know, Jim, I did a similar dedication to my mother on my CD. She passed while I was working on the CD- that's certainly a tough loss. Anyway, Jim, Joe and Randy- keep up the good work! I look forward to hearing you live sometime. Can I sit in?

BTW, happy birthday Jack McDuff!

I love this time of year- the end of the baseball season coinciding with the beginning of football season. I'm not much of a gambler, though. I have, however, lost a lot of my enthusiasm for pro football and other pro sports in recent years. It seems like these days you root for a logo- the days of associating players with one team for multiple seasons are long gone. I remember growing up in the 70s with teams like the Steelers, Dolphins, Chiefs, etc.- you could count on the same guys showing up each season. Now you end up having to root for the guy you HATED last season .

Have you heard the Jimmy McGriff w/big band called Tribute to Basie (on the Sonny Lester label)? That one was arranged by Manny Albam. I thought there were some interesting moments on it. I agree, the density of the organ timbre makes for a difficult match w/big band. The orchestration has to be approached w/this in mind. That being said, I think there's a lot yet to be investigated regarding the power of the organ sound facing off w/the power of the big band. It just seems that they shouldn't get in the way of each other.

wesbed, I must say I envy you- you're in the process of discovering players and hearing things for the first time (and this board is a great place to further your education). I remember very specifically where I was when I first heard certain recordings, and I remember that big rush that came from realizing that you were hearing some important music or players for the first time. That first-time feeling gets more and more rare as you become familiar w/the music (at least for me it has). I mean, I still get a rush hearing something good for the first time, but after you've studied the music and learned to listen with more of an analytical ear, it gets harder to be objective. You can usually figure out pretty quickly WHY something sounds good, but there's less of that mystical sense of hearing something and liking it w/o knowing why. I miss those days. I miss flipping through the LPs at the record store and coming upon some BN or other session I'd never heard of. I remember the first time I went to Rose Records in Chicago. This was in the 70s and Rose was THE place- it was nirvana (I hadn't yet discovered Jazz Record Mart)! I remember buying a copy of JJ's Proof Positive- that's one of those moments I was talking about. I apologize for the nostalgic tangent .

I too would like to hear what others think about this session. I just received it with an order and haven't yet had an opportunity to listen to it. The reissue apparently contains additional material which brings the playing time to nearly 80 minutes.

Invitation is one of my personal favorite tunes to play on. What a beautifully structured masterpiece! And it works at a variety of tempos and grooves. There is a nice version of Invitation on a Jack Wilkins recording w/Mike and Randy Brecker, Jon Burr, Al Foster and Phil Markowitz. This is a straight ahead session originally released as You Can't Live Without It but has since been reissued (paired with another nice session) under the title Merge. This group recently released a "reunion" recording, which I thought wasn't as good as the original. Even people who aren't Brecker fans seem to like his playing on this one. Another Joe Henderson version can be found on In Pursuit Of Blackness, a live session that is part of the Milestone box (Woody Shaw is on that one as well ).

Belated b-day greetings from me too, Dan. Let me be the first to wish you a happy 39th for NEXT year. And we know what's coming the year after that, don't we?

Well, it's tough to get fired up about buying Mancini when you have to go to the dreaded "easy listening" section to find it. A lot of his discography consists of various "pops" orchestras playing medleys of his greatest hits arranged by someone who hasn't checked out Mancini's writing much. Not very enticing. I think you're better off trying to get the actual soundtracks (or the CDs I mentioned above), where you can hear HM's own settings of his tunes. Granted, there are some "pop" moments that can be a bit cloying, but there are also some great swinging cuts as well as subtle moments that are almost Gil Evans-ish. I think he had a real gift for melody- his tunes seem to have real staying power. Some other Mancini tributes were put out by his daughter Monica, James Moody, Dave Grusin and a real quirky group called Oranj Symphonette. Once at a gig some high roller came up to the stand and tipped the band $50 PER MAN to play Baby Elephant Walk. Normally, I try to maintain a modicum of dignity and artistic integrity, but for a $50-per man tip you can believe we were all over that shit. We played the first chorus or so (it's a blues) and then took it hard left. The guy looked moderately bewildered but seemed to be generally OK with it. Another satisfied customer!

McFarland did a recording w/Bill Evans and some kind of ensemble- I think it was on Verve. I assume it was included in the Evans Verve box, but has it ever been released by itself on CD? Evans and McFarland seem like they'd be a good match.

I think it's too bad that much of Mancini's stuff has been categorized as "Muzak" by many. He wrote some great tunes and IMHO was a master of orchestration. I always have liked the way he wrote for flutes, utilizing their low register, as well as writing for alto and bass flutes. What a great sound. There are also some great jazz moments in his scores- the Pink Panther series, Peter Gunn, Silver Streak, Breakfast at Tiffany's, to name a few. I've always thought Dreamsville was a great tune. I have a few Mancini recordings- Mancini '67 and Blues and the Beat on RCA are mostly big band-type affairs with some great moments (and some big names); some very atmospheric jazz, some of it kind of film-noir in style. Also there's some music from Peter Gunn on Fresh Sounds that has the Candolis, Rosolino, Bud Shank, Jimmy Rowles et al as featured soloists. The cuts aren't real long, not much stretching, but some interesting stuff nonetheless. I think we've heard so many lame versions of his tunes in elevators and grocery stores it's soiled his name for some, which I think is a shame.

I've passed on many of Carter's leader dates because, well, I've just never been overly impressed with too many of them. They seldom get repeated play; I don't really know why- they seem to me to often be very "studio-self conscious" and not particularly inspiring or spontaneous. You'd think that anyone who came out of one of the greatest Miles bands could be a sure thing as a leader, but for me, Carter is most effective as a sideman, a supporting player; no disrespect intended. It really has nothing to do w/him being a bass player-leader, and he often has great players on his sides (like Chet Baker, Art Farmer and J.J., to name a few). I do also like the duets w/Jim Hall. I recognize his high level of musicianship, I just don't run out to buy his new recordings. I would rate his post-Miles work as the least compelling of all the 60s band members (meaning WS, HH and TW). So regarding Ron Carter: am I missing something?

I always thought that the shoot-out scene on the steps in the "Untouchables" was a direct rip-off of the Odessa steps scene from Potemkin, mostly because of the presence of the baby carriage. I remember studying Potemkin in an Intro to Film course in college (a long time ago) and it always stuck w/me as a great film. What some of these early film makers did w/o the technology we have now (like story telling) is really amazing.

Two pages and no Rooster. Looks like someone's out of town and computerless.

I just got a bunch of stuff in the mail that included the McDuff big band CD, Prelude. I haven't checked it out yet- anyone have any comments on this one? It looks very interesting- Benny Golson arrangements, Joe Dukes, George Benson and Pat Martino, Red Holloway, and it clocks in at just under 80 minutes.

Please tell me what Carl and Frank you got!

Marry that woman! Yeah, the Holland is EXCELLENT. I read some remarks by Robin Eubanks (BTW, wasn't he great as host of the "Newlywed Game"?) at Jazz Corner where he said he wasn't happy w/his performance, but I hear nothing on the recording to support that claim. I think he and Chris play very well together, and the variety of textures the group achieves w/its instrumentation is really impressive. It's nice to hear some quintet playing that's more "organic" and not simply "horns vs. rhythm section" or "head/solos/trade/head". The integration and seamlessness of improvisation and ensemble playing makes for some inspired music, very different from much of what is out there currently.

It's doing the same thing that this site was doing (at least for me) for the last couple of days. What's the deal?

Thanks Hans!

Just noticed they're on the Mosaic site now.