Dan Gould

On the subject of Lockjaw pairings, Lock & Sweets was another great combination. In addition to Jawbreakers which is available on OJC, there're a couple of nice dates on Black & Blue, which turned out to be done in a single monster session-I guess they just split up the tunes and said, OK, on these, you're the leader, Lock, and on these, its you, Sweets! Another nice one is Sonny, Sweets and Jaws on the Who's Who label, recorded in Fort Lauderdale, FL at Bubba's, Lockjaw, Sweets and Sonny Stitt, backed by Eddie Higgins.

That's a very low-key recommendation, Dan I'd say, buy with the utmost confidence. I stand corrected. Actually, I've come to admire Simon Weil's gift for pithiness and felt that a qualifier was unnecessary.

I think its obvious that the biggest chance they recently took was signing Norah. It might not be the artistic risk you are looking for, but it was risky in its own way.

Buy with confidence.

EDIT: When I checked, Brad, the Times hadn't posted the obit but I guess it has now. Anyway, the MJT+3 was a fine band (and we can mostly thank that group for a good portion of the Frank Strozier that we have to enjoy) and I also recall that Eddie Higgins told me that the "first truly world-class rhythm section he ever worked with" was Walter Perkins and Bob Cranshaw. RIP.

That's OK, Jim, you've got my work address, so its safe, and we won't be in residence til March 14 anyway.

Damn-another one to scratch off my BFT list.

I snagged a Freshsounds reissue from the Groove (The BASTARDS) recently. Pretty nice, but not a blowaway album. Nice and mellow. (Hope I got that Dusty Groove interjection correct

Dave, She's already said she will handle the yardwork. She likes it. I got over that as a child. No wonder I love her so. Vajerzy, I don't plan to start watching those shows anytime soon, though we are getting DirectTV so God only knows what she will find off the satelite. But while I may be abducted into working on the projects, heaven knows I won't start watching those shows.

Tell me about it, Mark! Yesterday was spent stripping the wallpaper out of the bathrooms, a truly horrid job. I think that's what Bob Villa will spend eternity doing if he ends up on the express elevator south when his time comes. And to top it off, I went home to take care of the dog and left my wife with the last bathroom to work on, and she called to say that the sheetrock near the toilet was black with mildew, so now we've got our first repair job to deal with and we haven't even moved in yet! B3-er, I saw your tile thread but I have stuidously avoided it and intend to continue to studiously avoid it. Seriously, thanks for the good wishes, everyone!

Don't know if its in print, but yes, it has.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

I tried to give a hint that something was up by changing my profile "Location" to "We're Closing On Wednesday, so watch this space!", just to see if anyone noticed, but ... I guess I'll have to be a bit more direct! My wife and I just closed on a Townhome in the lovely city of Delray Beach, Florida. Here's the front (if you can't guess, we're on the left): And here's one of the best features, the actual backyard (most townhomes have less than a postage stamp spot to call a "backyard," this one, being built in the mid-80s when builders weren't quite so greedy, so they included a backyard instead of building a second unit!) That's a star fruit tree on the left, there're also papaya, mango and banana trees. Now we're going to have a Media Room with TT, Changer, all the CDs and LPs and a big comfy leather recliner. I may never leave! (my wife gets Direct TV, so she may not even notice that I'm upstairs

David, Its a great CD, with superior versions of Just In Time, You Make Me Feel So Young and the title track. Great find!

Sorry for missing your birthday, Jim! Guess I'll have to add on to that upcoming shipments to assuage my guilt.

Sorry I missed my cue I first traded for a cassette copy of this, purely as a favor to Bill Fenohr and his search for every BN issue up to the relaunch of the label in the 80s. But once I gave it a listen, I decided to track down an LP copy for maximum fidelity. Its not your original Sounds. There are strings and orchestra involved, and some vocals, though of the "ooh aah" variety, and hardly that noteworthy. What you do get is an enormous amount of funky, soulful Gene Harris piano. The "Soul Symphony" takes up all of Side 1 and was written by Monk Higgins, who actually started the composition while in college, and ultimately expanded it and adopted it for Gene specifically. It is an excellent piece, in my opinion, as it goes through various themes to capture the "Negro Experience": Soul Overture, Lonesome and Blue, Red Light District, Saturday Night, Sunday Night Program, Down Home. The music holds attention, and as I said, there's just a load of premium Gene funk and soul here. In fact, I am seriously considering taking a esson from Jim Dye and including a second disc in my next Blindfold Test to include tunes that just won't fit on the disc but that I'd like people to hear. At 26 minutes, there was no way I'd include Soul Symphony on a BFT, but I would like people to hear it. So, if you can't tell, that's a definite thumbs up for this album, assuming you are willing to hear something quite different from the original Sounds conception.

UP Cause the birthday is 9 days away, so we might as well start refreshing memories now: Saturday March 6, 12 PM EST (GMT-5), log on and look for a new thread, "Happy Birthday, Organissimo BB!" and hopefully we'll have a nice big cyber-gathering.

Gibson's stated purpose is to show Christ's suffering. That is apparently the basis of his faith and its all he wants to concentrate on, so why make a movie about his sermons and his message? The whole message is "How Christ Suffered for YOU" Wiz Bang special effects of miracles isn't what Gibson cares about. I don't even think it has a lot to do with what he believes.

I hope the person who's getting it digs it more than the second and third owners! (I know Jazzbo digs the music, I'm sure he sold it cause he upgraded to a Japanese pressing

There's no sermon, Alex. It deals almost exclusively with the last hours of his life. But I might join you in singing "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" during the last 90 minutes.

Thanks Brownie, I think I saw this one on ebay once but hesitated because I feared it might be Benny with a vocal group or something weird like that. If you believe AMG, Yanow makes it out as if Carter recorded no jazz whatsoever between the Granz dates and Further Definitions, then took another decade off before recording again ...

Amazing that one of those covers is for an LP that spawned a huge top 40 hit, Still The One. What the hell were the members of Orleans thinking?

Would I be wrong in assuming that the Grover Mitchell Big Band gets into a Basie bag, considering that Mitchell took over for the Count a short time later?

If you're interested in Timeless Records and are in the States, Peter Crawford of Stateside Distributors is the man to contact: 888-776-0436. And you won't have to argue about EUR/Dollar conversion rates.

Oh, and one more big question mark for the Yanks: What happens with the steroid case? What happens if someone turns state's evidence and implicates Giambi or Sheffield, or praise be, both of them????