Dan Gould

Because certain networks know that if they weren't part of a Basic or Basic + package, they'd never survive on their own with people actually choosing to pay for their programming. There will never be ala carte cable or satellite service, no matter how much sense it may make to consumers.

For those who are interested, the B.B. King Sings Spirituals CD is now out. The Ace Records info page is here.

Well, Tony Bennett was busy and everyone else is already dead. Harry Connick has a better handle on the material and he ain't dead. But he also ain't Rod Stewart, so we are treated to the frightening image of him giving guidance on these songs.

What a f*cked up world we live in: Rod Stewart is the special guest for "American Songbook" week, like he's an expert because of those horrifying CDs, like he's an expert on the genre the way Kenny Rogers is an expert on country.

anyone, except perhaps Keanu Reeves. Cruise is still a better actor than him.

Huh? The only greater mismatch of actor and hack was Pacino and Keanu in "Devil's Advocate". And its not coincidental that both Nicholson and Pacino chewed the scenery in those films with greater gusto than anyone could have imagined.

I'm pretty sure Jazz Hour is a bootleg operation.

Oh MAN.

OK, April 1, I'm so hopped up by Jim S.'s review of the Gene Conners Black & Blue release, I start searching for the disc. Everywhere I look, its not in stock, long timeline to secure, then I find it in the Doubletime Jazz listings, supposedly in stock, so I pull the trigger. Now, two plus weeks later, I haven't seen the disc yet, and can't raise any response from the company. I sent an email to the address that sent the purchase receipt, and then I tried the contact email on the website, and still, nothing. I'd call their 800 number but if memory serves, its just a voicemail line, and it doesn't seem to make much sense, yelling at a machine when I want to talk to a human being. Does anyone have any recent experience with Doubletime? Can anyone offer any sort of reassurance that they will either provide the disc I purchased or finally get in touch with me? Thanks.

Do I read this correctly that she moved in with you three months after the wedding?

Funny, Jack, but I had the opposite reaction to the CD with the Phillip Morris Superband. Having loved Gene Harris' way with the blues for so long, I was so excited to see that CD hit the shelves, and so disappointed when I discovered that Gene didn't get a single chance to solo on the whole record. What a wasted opportunity. I got rid of that CD (the only Gene Harris recording I didn't keep (other than the 70s Blue Notes) and only returned to it after Harris died. At that point I knew what was in store, and I realized it did capture B.B. on a pretty good night. Still pissed about the way Gene was used, but I've since heard private recordings of the tour that B.B. and Ray Charles did with the Superband and they've demonstrated that the way it operated was that Gene would get one chance to solo when Ray and B.B. came out for the encore, and that was it. Thanks for the report on the other seventies stuff, I've had Live at the Regal and Blues is King much longer than I've had the Crown reissues.

Mostly I think you need the hitting to come around, particularly Ichiro and Beltre (not sure if Jurassic Carl has much left, though he hit a homer today) but I'd say the future is looking pretty good. Imagine what the Sox staff will look like if Foulke can return to closing and Papelbon goes into the rotation - or if Clemens returns - or if the Marlins really are willing to part with D-Train! In the meantime, I'm still worried about the offense, at least until Coco gets back and Manny becomes Manny again.

Tough loss Johnny. Must be tougher seeing as it comes after Everyday Eddie strikes out Pena and Mohr and goes 0-2 on Youklis.

Anyone?

Up for air, as this B.B. fanatic is dying to find out how he can secure these last six Bihari tracks!

This report isn't exactly completely accurate. In Great Britain specifically, "spaz" is considered deragatory for those with muscular dystrophy and similar afflictions. So Tiger was specifically reacting to the uproar there. FWIW, a friend who works in Special Ed is highly sensitive and critical to the term "retard" or "'tard" - is that "political correctness run amok"? I vote no.

Monday marks two weeks since the season started, and there are three starting pitchers who are 3-0. 2 of them pitch for Boston: Schilling, 3-0, 1.64 Beckett, 3-0, 1.29

The closest I've come to hearing Chuck Mangione play jazz was at a Roy Haynes concert. At the end of the first set, he stood by each member of the group and held the microphone as they introduced themselves. Nicolas Payton said, "Chuck Mangione"

I'm thinking specifically about the 70s-80s recordings (Blues Summit and Blues on the Bayou, among others, marked a strong return to form in the 90s, imo). What are the best of that era? Any comments on To Know You Is To Love You or Indianola Mississippi Seeds, the former features Stevie Wonder and the latter includes Carole King? I've recently acquired the Bobby Bland collaborations ( ) and of course we all know about Live at Cook County Jail. How about the Live in London set, which AMG suggests is a misconceived meeting of rock stars and blues royalty? And what about the collaborations with the Crusaders? I've just about exhausted the Modern/RPM/Kent/Crown stuff and am trying to pick my way through the post-Bluesway era, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Just do me a favor and beat Wang today, OK? Yanks in last place for at least another day would make an awfully nice Easter present.

I got a new question for the B.B. experts: I just finished "The B.B. King Reader" and learned that B.B. returned to the Bihari brothers in 1965 for one six song session, and that B.B. was saving his own material for his ABC albums so he didn't record any of his own compositions. "Ain't Nobody's Business" appeared on an Ace box set, I believe. But what I am left wondering is, how were these six songs released? On AMG there are several albums released around this time, but none show "Ain't Nobody's Business" on them which leaves me wondering if they used these six songs for the singles market, or what. Can anyone shed light as to how I might obtain these final Modern recordings by B.B.? Thanks!

the twinkies just came from one run down to defeat mariano! Kind of a confidence builder for the team when they take the first two games from the Yanks. Started out 1-5, now 6-5. If Johan could get back on track, maybe we could do something. Just do me a favor and beat Wang today, OK? Yanks in last place for at least another day would make an awfully nice Easter present. In the meantime, my Red Sox are getting killed with injuries. Crisp going down has really hurt the offense (he better be back in 10 days rather than a month); Manny can't even buy an extra base hit; and when Wakefield pitches, the combination of Josh Bard, Alex Gonzales, et. al, at the bottom of the order amounts to a freaking offensive black hole. At least Nixon is supposed to be back by Monday or Tuesday. But now Wells is out, and may very well be done. Personally, I think the team is greatly improved if Wells is out and Papelbon returns to the rotation. But That requires Foulke to get himself fully situated, and we haven't seen that yet. I do think that you're going to see Foulke getting more work, several two inning appearances, if possible, to get him in place to be the closer again. Then you'll know that despite their claims to the contrary ("we're not going to yank Papelbon around") that their long term solution is for Paps in the rotation. Then it will be look out, American League, because there is no top three that matches Schill, Beckett and Paps. None, and not in the National League either.

My nominee for intriguing stat of the season (so far) Last year, the Red Sox went 3-22 in games in which they scored two or fewer runs. This year, less than two weeks into the season, they are 3-0 in games in which they scored two or fewer runs.

After two dates with my wife, I told my closest friend that I believed I had met my future wife. It probably had something to do with the fact that at the end of the first date, she was moving my hands off her *ss but at the end of the second date, she was moving them towards her *ss. Oops, that was probably too much information. Seriously, I knew (and she knew) (and her family knew) where this was headed, however, being a cautious person, it went like this: First date, October 1999 (I didn't date multiple people at one time, so we were "exclusive" immediately thereafter) Became engaged, New Year's Eve 2000 Moved in together, Summer 2001 Marriage, September 2001

Sangrey stirred up some interest in this recording here.