Dan Gould

You didn't ask me but I don't think this carries any importance. Looks like an internal restructuring that happens to use the "Blue Note" name because of its cachet. Now if they shuffled off some of the marginal to non-jazz acts to a new label Lifestyle Music For Lifestyle Folks, that would be good news.

I presume this would be the Golson-Morgan-Timmons-Merritt Messengers, right? Mike Fitzgerald's Blakey chronology isn't entirely clear.

I'm afraid to ask how Marxism informs his music criticism. But that's only because our friends Alex and the Red Menace have managed to keep their politics from their music commentary.

Hey Big Al What do you think should be done with that pitcher of yours for getting a bases loaded comebacker and not even glancing at home (or his catcher yelling for the ball) but just calmly turning to first for the "sure out"? What a maroon. Should I take the easy out and give up a run or get the force at home and maybe a double play? Whatever happened to what I was taught in little league: Before every pitch, think to yourself what you're going to do if the ball is hit to you?

Oohhh Man, how was the sound check!? Used sound technique on the check. Introduced him firmly to the (sound) board and like any good engineer, made sure that the band didn't want to go anywhere near the board again.

Although the Braves won't admit it, I don't think they're trying to win the Division, Brad. They'll be plenty happy to make the playoffs the other way. Heck, maybe it will even change their post-season luck to be the wildcard! In the meantime, you Met fans have to hope and pray that you can pull of a deal for a starter or two, and that Pedro comes back strong and manages to stay strong through October. And the beat goes on in the Bronx, thanks to an unbelievable and stunningly bad call in the ninth. I hope that MF of an ump spent that rain delay looking at the tape, knowing that if he had called it right, as any a-hole with eyes would have, Damon's sac fly would have been out number three, and everyone's heading out for a late dinner instead of waiting for the rain to stop. What, the Yankees aren't playing well enough, they get the *&#$ umps help too?

You completely missed the campaign to have him included in the special negro league HoF group? I am afraid you are going to have to turn in your baseball fan membership card at once.

Don't think I mentioned him by name but youngster Jon Lester may have "arrived" today. He goes to 5-0 with eight innings of one hit, shutout ball, and did it while nursing a one run lead for the last three innings. About the only thing you can criticize is that he walked 4 -and maybe that it happened against the Royals. The only thing keeping him from being more impressive has been his overall command - he gets batters out but seems to throw a lot of pitches to do it. That's what was so impressive about tonite, the fact that he went a career high eight innings in 99 pitches. I honestly was hoping Francona would let him try to finish it out and have Papelbon come in if he allowed a baserunner, but with that slim a lead, it was the smart thing to go to Paps. So the kid is now 5-0 with an ERA of just 2.38. No, he's not Liriano, but its still exciting to see him pitch like this! Dave, I don't know if the Yanks will pull it out but you can't say that Ponson pitched himself out of a job.

PM incoming!

Don't forget that A-Rod has a full no trade clause, and I seriously doubt that he'd approve a trade to the Cubs. I do think it would be a great move for the Cubs, giving them two excellent players in the infield (with Derrick Lee) and might give them a chance to start building a winner. But there's just no way. A-Rod is a Yankee to stay, and when all is said and done, I doubt that his numbers will look anywhere as "bad" as they do now.

different people take different approaches to BFT, and you ought to know that if you've participated in even a few (and I know you have). I frankly have more important things to deal with right now than in depth commentary on the songs you selected, or spending a few more hours trying to "get it". I listened; much of the music didn't grab me. BFD. These discs get a wide variety of responses. Hell, nine times out of ten, Evan gives some sort of variation on "I can't identify anyone, but I liked it. Thanks a lot". The fact is that you shouldn't be seeking validation by expecting universal acclaim for the songs you selected. I appreciate what you are saying, but isn't part of the point of this whole exercise to comment on who you honestly respond to the music? IMO it should not simply be an identification test. It takes a lot of thought and time to compile one of these discs and I can understand how it would be frustrating to go through all that work and then have participants not even take the time to comment. It is not a matter of seeking validation or acclaim. Regardless of whether the response is positive or negative I think the preparer of a BFT would appreciate a little more than a simple two line dismissal of an entire disc. This issue has been discussed before. The fact is that different people approach this differently, and they always will. Some are uncomfortable making musical comments. Some can't be bothered. There was even one person who objected to the entire idea that everyone should feel obligated to comment, and told us that he just wants to see what other people put on a BFT prior to assembling his own. You get whatever responses you get. Some are going to go in depth, some aren't. Now, after this diverting discussion, I can't wait to hear the responses I get on my BFT in August. Fair warning: I didn't pick songs I especially love. Some are just meant to make people say "WTF?"

And as I've mentioned, Sheffield and Matsui may return after the minor league seasons are over, leaving them with no place to go for rehab. Will they be nearly as effective, trying to get their timing back against major leaguers in the middle of a pennant race?

different people take different approaches to BFT, and you ought to know that if you've participated in even a few (and I know you have). I frankly have more important things to deal with right now than in depth commentary on the songs you selected, or spending a few more hours trying to "get it". I listened; much of the music didn't grab me. BFD. These discs get a wide variety of responses. Hell, nine times out of ten, Evan gives some sort of variation on "I can't identify anyone, but I liked it. Thanks a lot". The fact is that you shouldn't be seeking validation by expecting universal acclaim for the songs you selected.

How the hell does anyone get out of college in this day and age without a credit card????

Well, if it happens you can say the odds weren't nearly as long as they were with Small, the career minor leaguer. The fact is that Fat Sid was 17-12 with a 3.75 ERA in 2003. Unfortunately he's 22-30 and since then, with an ERA around 5.75. Too bad the original Fat Sid already tried, and failed, in his comeback with the Yanks:

Can anyone explain to me why they let Lieber go in the first place? True, he had a so-so year during the year he was with them, but I seem to remember that when the games got very important towards the end of the season and into the playoffs, he pitched consistently well. I guess you don't remember, Marty. The Yankees actually held an option on Lieber for 2005, but they felt it was for too much money so they declined it, planning to sign him for less. Cashman totally misread the market for pitching and the final result was that the Phils jumped in with a three year offer that Lieber accepted. Bottom line, Lieber skipping off to Philadelphia made Carl Pavano that much more important to the Yankees (although perhaps they would have gone as hard for him regardless) so the argument can be made that in effect the Yankees swapped Lieber for the MIA Carl Pavano. And paid much more money for him, too. The lesson here is that if you have an option on a halfway decent pitcher, you need to think long and hard before declining it, because there are plenty of teams out there that will bid up the price for a starting pitcher and its not worth the risk.

For once, I get to be the one to say that this poll is defective, since I don't get the correct choice: ZERO.

Try to google your search terms along with "organissimo". That works best ever since the last upgrade which really screwed up the search function.

I think its safe to say that I am long past my Wynton phase. There was a time that I automatically picked up whatever he put out but at some point (sometime before he got dropped by Columbia) I stopped really caring and I've never even bothered with the BN titles. Now, I still generally agree with the message - blues and swing is still a prominent factor in what I dig the most - but I just don't care that much about the messenger.

Which is why I am really hoping that the upcoming live project will include several prime Arno tracks.

Livan has been atrocious pitching in a big park in a weak league. Lieber has declined too. Neither should be expected to excel in the AL. And they'd cost a lot, too. I am afraid that there will be no help for AL teams as far as pitching goes, unless Zito gets traded, and I doubt that the A's will trade him to a team they may face in the AL playoffs. The only pitcher in the NL who might be available and might actually succeed in the AL is John Smoltz, and I'm not convinced he'll be traded. The better move, Dave, may be to go for Abreu or Soriano and hope that the offense can overcome whatever eggs the back of the rotation lays.

How about you tell me why your team deserves the praise its gotten? Tell me why anyone should be afraid of your starting five? And there's talk that they are dangling two of those five to try to get bullpen help? Newflash: The only thing that may keep the White Sox from pulling an Indians-size collapse is all of those veterans probably won't let it happen. Probably. But this is a fundamentally flawed team without a prayer of catching the Tigers.

With the Giants in the thick of it, Schmidt isn't going anywhere. And I'm tired of trading away good young talent for a pitching rental. Given the market for pitching, it is inevitable that someone will overpay for a Schmidt or a Smoltz or whoever. I'd much rather stick with what we have and see where it takes us. There is too good talent both on the ML roster right now, and down in AA to make anymore stupid moves. I'd much rather add an effective David Wells at the deadline, and get rid of Seanez and Tavarez for a couple of mid-level prospects than give up our future for a modest upgrade now. Or how much do you want to bet that the move they make will go down with the Larry Andersen for Jeff Bagwell or Jeff Suppan for Freddie Sanchez deals? Yup, Sanchez was traded for Suppan, a worthless sack of garbage for a young infielder who is now hitting .350+.

I was going to post about this back when I first spotted it on Alan's site. It was originally titled Last Dance and my copy of the vinyl sounds pretty good to me, though I can't comment on the CD transfer, obviously. I second Jim's recommendation, aside from his final Concord recording, this is one of the few straightahead dates he did at this stage of his career. Jim, JAM put out a number of recordings, including several by Gene Harris, in the late 70s - early 80s.

it sounded "insightful" the first time I read it. That shocked the hell out of me as I've never heard Hawk say a single insightful thing.