Dan Gould

Considering who those two guys beat to reach the finals, she'd be lucky to win three or four games a set against either one of them. Serena is a woman who hits like a man, she never faces anyone who hits back as hard as she does. She'd lose in straights.

I still can't I thought about Horace a long time before deciding no. Not because he was more a hard bop player than a soul jazz man - because I think he's both at the same time - but because I'm really not sure that the line of influence leads through him. In December 1953, Ray Charles recorded 'Don't cha know', which was a small hit in '54, and the first of Ray's hits in his 'new' style, quickly followed up by stuff like 'I got a woman', and the rest is history, as they say. When you listen to that first hit, you can hear the same horn voicing that Horace used for Messrs Mobley & Dorham, in '54. So, did Horace get it from Ray? Well, possibly, possibly not. But soul jazz follows (and leads) black popular music. Most of the artists who've made big changes in black pop music were soul jazz musicians - honking saxes (Illinois), gospel concepts (Ray), funk (JB), Smooth soul (George Benson). Another way of looking at soul jazz is that it was the jazz thread of black pop music (or R&B) during a period when jazz was an important element of R&B. So, if you try to think on the sources of inspiration for the soul jazz musicians who followed on, the influence that was THERE and HUGE was Ray's, and Horace was by comparison a minor detail. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of something by Horace Silver not belonging on this list. Furthermore we're talking about soul jazz. While Ray Charles may be "beyond category" if we really try we can see that blues/R&B/gospel were his first influences and jazz - as easily as he fit into that genre - comes after those. Did not Riverside or Prestige put out a compilation of covers of Silver tunes by their artists? Did not Shirley Scott make an album of Silver compositions? Horace a "minor detail" is beyond laughable, IMO. Finally I also have to question the absence of any Messengers albums, particularly those with Bobby Timmons in the piano chair.

If anyone in south Florida cares, tickets are now available: http://southfloridajazz.org/cms.php?id=168 Rhythm section is George Cables, Peter Washington and Willie Jones III.

I won't make any claims for any of the trio albums vis-à-vis "Soul Jazz" - I'll leave that to Ramsey Lewis who must have been the more significant piano trio leader in the 'soul jazz' field. But I certainly do have a problem with your inclusion of Stanley Turrentine's That's Where It's At, when a much better Turrentine + soulful pianist collaboration exists in the form of Blue Hour. You already included Les McCann's In New York, why two collaborations with Mr. T? As much as I enjoy That's Where It's At, it pales in comparison to the original Blue Hour release. YMMV, but it really shouldn't.

:party:

I wouldn't eat that but I prefer Arby's to other fast food options, certainly McDonalds or Burger King or Wendy's. Best fries for my money, and there are decent sandwich options that won't give you a coronary.

:party: :party:

I once overpaid for a Lou Donaldson 70s two-fer - Ha' Mercy was the title IIRC - just because it had two tracks from the Musty Rusty album, with Grant Green. Then a friend found a copy of Musty Rusty and sent me a transfer, so it sort of evened out.

Larry, the Yankee roster is littered with aging free agents, and has been since the "last night of the Yankee Dynasty" which ended in Arizona in 2001. The only Yankee trade of note I can think of was Soriano to Texas for A-Rod. That resulted in zero championships (A-Rod re-signed as a free agent with the Yankees after 2007, before the 2009 championship run). Other prospects were failures in NY (the trio of pitchers led by Joba Chamberlain) and traded for no impact players or allowed to leave via free agency. I can only name David Robertson and Brett Gardiner as players of note developed by the team and on the major league roster and being better than league-average. As for Lester/Scherzer, you can't time free agency to when the team is ready to compete. They have fantastic position prospects some of whom are already performing at the major league level. Who knows what 2015 will bring? What we do know is that two excellent starters will be free agents and I am quite sure Theo will be bidding on both. Should they really wait until the next season to try to acquire an ace? The only ace I know of who will hit the market then is David Price and whose to say that the Tigers, if they lose Scherzer, don't lock him up before he hits the market? Theo needs to act when he has the chance. So what if they aren't ready to contend for a season or two with Scherzer/Lester? They'll be much more likely to contend with them than without them. They are better bets than any pitching prospects.

Two observations/corrections, Larry: 1. The Yankees have mostly not been "backstopped" by a productive farm system. Aside from key members of the group that won championships in the latter part of the 1990s (Jeter, Williams, Rivera, Pettitte) their farm system has been really quite barren with very few impact players. 2. Theo did not "put together" the team that won in 2004. He became GM after the 2002 season, when Pedro Martinez, Manny, Varitek, Lowe, Nixon and others were on the roster. Theo signed Foulke to close, after he learned in 2003 that "bullpen by committee" doesn't work, and of course Schilling was a key addition. He gets credit for Ortiz, too of course. But Dan Duquette had fingerprints all over that roster, too and never really gotten much credit. Theo doesn't even get all credit for 2007 because two of the biggest contributors on the roster, Beckett and Mikey Lowell, came in a trade made after Theo walked out of Fenway in a snit (and a gorilla suit). That being said I do think Theo is on the right track and the Cubs could contend a lot sooner than anyone thought after 2013. What they have to be willing to do is to pay for some impact starting pitching. Lester and Scherzer, maybe?

:party:

Very excited to see that Michael Cochrane release. Definitely a TDWR. I've enjoyed all of his recordings and this one comes out the day after my b-day.

:party:

Kinda interesting look at the company. I thought someone else would post this when it came out but since no one did, here it is: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/arts/music/cd-baby-a-company-for-the-niche-musician.html?ref=music&_r=0

Indeed! I really appreciate Mark's contributions, and not just for the links to his newest articles.

Just when you're certain cats don't give a shit about you, they go ahead and do you a solid.

Many years ago I picked up Big City for the personnel. I recall liking the album but not so much that I needed to find others.

:party:

Sorry to hear this, I remember how cool I thought it was that Kenny Drew had a son following in his footsteps. I learned pretty fast that I'd always prefer senior to junior but 56 is way too young. I did like his playing a lot on David "Bubba" Brooks' Smooth Sailing (TCB).

Happy birthday, Lon. Still can't believe how long it's been I've "known" you. :party:

Thanks Jeff - it's hard to imagine a 78 over 60 years old could sound that minty.

Oh and don't forget the two decent pitching prospects the Sox got for Peavey, including a 22 year old whose made it to AAA already. Could the Red Sox package their prospects plus Cespedes to pry Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins? Stanton is about to get very expensive for Miami, and they really wanted Cespedes when he came over from Cuba and ended up with Oakland. Lester and Gomes for Cespedes turning into Gomes plus prospects for Stanton almost sounds too good to imagine. But it's not impossible to see that outcome.

I don't think it's a question for the A's of keeping Lester, they aren't going to compete to re-sign him. It's all about what it does for them in the next two months and in October. Cespedes was going to be shopped this off-season because he's only under contract through 2015. So the A's didn't wait until the off-season to see what he might fetch for 2015, they are going for it all now. As a Sox fan, I'm intrigued by Cespedes but not knowing if he'll be in the heart of the lineup past 2015, the whole trade boils down to whether or not the Sox are ready to do what is necessary to get Lester back in a few months. If it's Jonny Gomes for Cespedes that's an incredible trade. If Lester ends up in the Bronx, it's an unmitigated disaster. But that's a worry for another day, right now I'm pleased with all of the moves and they feel a helluva lot better than 2012's stunning salary dump. For Lackey they got a strong 26 year old starter and a 29 year old OF/1B who until this year was a fine hitter; the Orioles third-best prospect for two months of Andrew Miller (another guy who could come back as a free agent), and Stephen Drew is the Yankee's problem now. And for the next year at least, as long as Victorino is healthy, the Sox will have the best OF defense in the game with Cespedes, Jackie Bradley and Victorino.

Exactly what Paul "said".

:party: