GA Russell

I guess no one wants to be known and remembered as the guy who fired Dick Clark. Doesn't he have family members who would tell him that it's time to retire? Since 9/11, the Times Square New Year's Eve on all the networks seems to be about the NYPD. I could do without that, as it seems to be an agenda other than celebrating the new year. I started (at 11:50 pm, which is when I turned on the television) to watch the Country New Year's Eve on Fox, but when the host stripped down to his boxer shorts, I knew that I had had enough!

Congratulations!

That's great Allen! Is the list in the mag, or just online?

Happy New Year everyone! My New Year's resolution is to write a book. I've got a lot to learn.

Looks great, TTK!

For a long while I opened up a Charlie Parker cd on New Year's. In recent years it's been a Julie London album. I have a couple of London cd's to choose from on Sunday.

Anybody watch the Alamo Bowl tonight?

Happy Birthday 2011 Tony!

This looks interesting - a trombone organ trio. Are any of you Brits familiar with Rollins? Dennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio: “11th Gate” "This three piece is the latest of many projects by talented trombonist Dennis Rollins, and what a triumph it is. Ross Stanley, on organ, and young Portuguese drummer Pedro Segundo, formed a stonking base on which Rollins could weave his nimble magic." Eastern Daily Press - Norwich, UK October 2010 "Funkily danceable, but with enough subtlety and elegance to reward repeated (seated) listening," – London Jazz, November 2011 For 25 years British trombonist Dennis Rollins has played at the forefront of the UK jazz, funk and pop scene as an ‘impossibly virtuosic’ sideman to such stars as Maceo Parker, Courtney Pine, The Brand New Heavies, Blur, Tom Jones and as an award-winning leader in his own right. Rollins is best known on the British and international jazz scene and is celebrated for his versatility and muscular approach on the trombone. A British musician with Jamaican roots and a top-class jazz/funk pedigree, Rollins’ diverse musical influences are at the heart of his crowd-pleasing compositions, which consistently elicit high praise. Among his accolades are winning the 2006 BBC Jazz 'Best Band' award in 2006, the Parliamentary Jazz Education' Award, and Ronnie Scott's 'Best Trombone' Award. Obviously Rollins is considered a national musical treasure in the UK, and the buzz already surrounding his first international release, The 11th Gate, is setting the stage for him to rise to the rightful place as one of the world’s most formidable performer–leader–composers in his genre. Alongside Rollins in the Velocity Trio are organist Ross Stanley (The Steve Howe Trio, Mark McKnight, Dylan Howe) and the fiery young drummer Pedro Segundo. The three cast a spellbinding sound as a charmed collective of musical prowess and muscular virtuosity that almost telepathically creates refined contemporary jazz arrangements marked by deep simmering grooves, attracting multiple generations of jazz, funk and world music fans. The 'electric' energy of Rollins’ Velocity Trio morphs seamlessly from atmospheric ethereal melodies generated by Rollins’ multi-harmonised horn to cinematic washes of Segundo's cymbals spilling over Stanley's growling organ grooves, to choral gospel riffs in praise of nature's inherent vibrational divinity. The Trio’s collaborative energy illuminates each of The 11th Gate’s eleven tracks. The CD’s opening track,“Samba Galactica,” provides a first taste of the group’s imaginative artistry as they embellish samba rhythms with the interplay of Rollins’ steady trombone and Stanley’s roaring organ. On “Emergence,” Stanley’s organ sets an almost ethereal mood, echoed by Segundo’s mellow touch, laying a smooth foundation over which Rollins can move in to up the intensity. The same level of energy propels “Ujamma,” on which a musical tension builds until it is steadied, supported by the trombone’s slow sombre groove and a swinging drumbeat. On“The Other Side,” Segundo’s rhythmic contributions add a dash of delight, as if to transport listeners to that “other side” for which the track is titled. As Motéma’s first British signing, Rollins brings more than just his charismatic trio to the states. The album’s title, The 11th Gate, is uniquely poised to gain attention due to this year’s widely publicized 11-11-11 phenomenon. Already the subject of a movie and many web posts (clocking millions of views), the date is attributed by some to be ushering in an Age of Aquarius-like shift towards a positive collective consciousness, and by others to be the gateway to the end of the world. Hopefully the latter prophecy will not come true, as The 11th Gate will be released digitally in the US and in both digital and CD formats in the UK and Europe on November 11. The title of the CD also references Rollins’ 47th (4 + 7 = 11) birthday, emphasizing the positive numerical significance of this extraordinary musical leader and his unique musical vision.

Sean Bonniwell, the lead singer of The Music Machine, died Dec. 20. Rock critics treat The Music Machine as an important proto-punk band. Their only hit was Talk, Talk. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sean-bonniwell-20111229,0,5675254.story

Happy Birthday 2011 LWayne!

Happy Birthday 2011 Alexander!

His album Sizzle for Impulse! in the mid-70s is the only free jazz album I've truly enjoyed. RIP.

Happy Birthday 2011 jmjk!

Pete, my bill is $29.95 a month. I think it's the least expensive from them that I can get, so I'm not complaining! But I think the service is being wasted on my old computer. Maybe I should ask...Considering I'm getting the service I am, what's the least expensive computer I should get that can take advantage of it?

Here is a list of the players who will become free agents February 16. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?id=54713

Leeway, my internet service is cable modem. My download speed is 22896 kbps, and my upload speed is 965 kbps.

Leeway, my TimeWarner RoadRunner internet connection is called "turbo speed", and I believe that it is much faster than what most people have. I believe that it is going to waste on my old computer.

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I forgot to say that I would like to watch streaming television. Not much, really, but for example...Since I don't get cable television, I have been unable to watch the Republican debates. Some of them have been streamed live on the internet by Fox and I believe CNN. I would have liked to have watched them, but my computer can't handle it. Wouldn't I need a minimum quality video card? What about a sound card? I don't listen to much through my computer, but I suppose I might as well get a decent sound card while I'm at it.

I guess I forgot to say that I'm thinking of a desktop. When I got the desktop nine years ago, I also got a used IBM laptop. I never took it anywhere. It quit working maybe five years ago, and I've never missed it.

Well, not to get into an argument, TTK, but I think that Frank on that album is too leaden for Jobim - both his compositions and his arrangements.

Here's another question. I don't have wi-fi. Should I get a router? (That's the same thing, right?)

Thanks, Pete! Yes, I did mean that my external hard drive is 650 gig.

I think of a stylist as someone who has a unique and consistent interpretation of the music. Am I wrong? For that reason, I would consider Lee Wiley to be a stylist. I have a cassette made up of three 10 inch Columbia albums she did that I like very much. But I haven't been looking to buy any more. A favorite stylist of mine is Mose Allison. Not blessed with a great voice, not a great singer, but IMO a great stylist. I love Frank's Capitol recordings of the 50s, and I enjoy hearing on Sirius his Columbia recordings of the 40s. But I don't care if I never hear his post-'64 Reprise recordings again. I think he aged a great deal very quickly, and not for the better, shortly after he founded Reprise. Tony Bennett, on the other hand, is the opposite for me. I can do without his early work - much too Italian ethnic for me. I don't mind his 60s work. But I love his 90s recordings. Somewhere along the line I got tired abruptly of both Nat Cole and Mark Murphy. Not a criticism. I just don't need to buy any more of them ever again. A very pleasant surprise for me at the 1991 New Orleans Jazzfest was Charles Brown. He was much better than I expected. It's time for me to get another of his. I'm sorry I didn't get the Mosaic. I got four Julie London albums for my birthday last month, so evidently I'm still enjoying her after all these years.

There is a small chance that I will be given for Christmas tomorrow enough to buy an inexpensive computer. My current computer is nine years old, and the repairman told me two years ago that it is not worth fixing. I have recently had problems. The screen once said that the Windows XP was corrupted, whatever that means. I use my computer to surf the web and for the Office Suite type applications. It seems like the internet sites become more developed over time, expecting you to have a new computer to handle what they offer. Are there brands to avoid? I think I've read that Dell computers are not as good as they used to be. I've also read that HP is not as solid a company as it used to be. True? How much memory should I get if I plan to keep it for five years? 4 gig? Is a single DVD read/write drive sufficient? I have a 650 meg Toshiba external hard drive that has never been opened to use as a backup. How large a hard drive would be appropriate? Any suggestions welcome! Please keep in mind that I don't expect more than four or five hundred dollars, if that much. My monitor is fine and doesn't need to be replaced. Thanks!