GA Russell

LOL! John, you're killing me! I don't suppose you watched the French debate. I haven't seen anything about it.

Happy Birthday Flurin!

I e-filed for the first time this year, with Turbo Tax. It was painless and I got a little bit back, I think eight days later, into my checking account.

It occurs to me that the British royal family has been the subject of a great deal of publicity in my lifetime, yet I can't think of anything good to say about any of them.

I don't watch television, so I am pretty much out of touch with what is happening in the US in this regard. However, I remember well how much hoopla was given to the Charles/Diana wedding, and how generally the British royal family was treated like they were special people. It used to bother me a great deal because we are descended from people who risked their lives to overthrow the British royals, in part denying that royalty were special.

Happy Birthday flat5!

Wasn't Dot Lawrence Welk's label for many years? I also think that Steve Allen recorded for them. PS - Now that I have taken the time to read the obit, which I should have done before posting, I can see about Welk. I remember Welk with Ranwood as well, but didn't know that that was another Randy Wood operation. I had also forgotten that Wipeout was on Dot.

I saw Buffy Ste. Marie sing that song. That was her song, wasn't it?

Yes, and I'm surprised we haven't seen support for my idea of issuing albums from out of print Mosaics which have never been released on CD individually.

Have any of these aftershocks resulted in any damage, the sort that would make the news under other circumstances?

The Rule cited was #7: "7) We do not allow sharing, trading, or linking copyrighted material that is being offered illegally, including bootlegs." If the Brubeck material is in the public domain in Europe, is it OK to link to a European retailer?

Japan's govt has decided to raise the rating of the nuclear disaster to a 7, the highest level, putting it on a par with Chernobyl. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_05.html

Hans says that the Brubeck box is unauthorized. I just assumed that everything carried by Amazon is legit.

Dave Brubeck - Eight Classic Albums (4 CDs) - $13.46 Eight albums on four CDs: Jazz At Oberlin, Brubeck Time, Brubeck Plays Brubeck, Jazz Impressions Of The USA, Plays And Plays And Plays, Dave Digs Disney, Time Out and Jazz Impressions Of Eurasia.

I recently received a promo that I have come to like a great deal once I started skipping the first track. It's called Inner State by a group of young guys called the Alex Pinto Quartet. The band is tenor sax, guitar, bass and drums. Pinto is the guitarist, and composer of the album's seven songs. Although the melodies would be difficult to sing, they are there to be recognized. The group is situated in San Francisco, but Pinto will appear with others of the same instruments at Twins Jazz in DC May 6 and 7. I recommend that you listen to the album at Pinto's website and see what you think: http://www.alexpintoguitar.com/#2aa/soundcloud

Happy Birthday Evan!

Happy Birthday save!

Here's an interesting website that keeps track of former pro football players. Mainly it lists when they died, but here is a link to the 1,000 oldest living former pros. http://www.oldestlivingprofootball.com/oldestlivingproplayers.htm

I loved Blossom when I first heard her (It was either I'm Following You or Peel me a Grape), but now I'm pretty tired of her. I guess that happens when you hear a singer often enough. By the way, I'm the only person I know who has her Christmas album. Lon, do you have it too? It's doesn't have a lot of Christmas spirit, with a lot of lusting for presents (!), but it's good music and I enjoy it.

The salary cap for 2011 has been set at $4.3 million. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=361244

Happy Birthday 2011 Alison!

The Bombers finished in last place last year, but they announced today that they made a profit of $400k. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/blue-bombers-manage-profit-from-miserable-2010-season/article1973553/

I've never heard the term "modern creative" before. Is that common?

The league's Scouting Bureau has released its final rankings of the top 15 prospects for this year's draft. Number one is OL Scott Mitchell from Rice. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?id=35048 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=360920

I think the OP is a legitimate question. Nowadays, not only are the majors not recording jazz, but there aren't that many minor jazz labels either. It seems like a lot of musicians are issuing their own records. I would rephrase the question, "What can those of us who play improvisational music do to make it more popular?" I would first ask myself, Who are the potential audience that matters? 1) Well, I think improvisational music is sophisticated, so I would go after sophisticated people. When I say sophisticated, I don't mean stuffy. I mean folks who take quality seriously. 2) Are we talking about getting paid for the gig? If so, what are people willing to pay for? I would say that most people pay for a good time. So I would ask myself, Is my music anybody's idea of a good time? I suggested earlier that jazz needs more songs with good melodies. I think that most people like good melodies. In fact, I would be surprised if I played music without good melodies and many people liked it anyway. Many people also like to dance. This suggests to me that songs with good rhythms will sell tickets. As Count Basie said, pat your foot music. Swing. People enjoy performers who are apparently enjoying themselves. This suggests to me that the musicians should show a little personality, and show the audience that they are glad to be there, and that they are damn glad that the audience paid money for tickets to come watch and listen. 3) If you want to be liked by the audience, you have to like them first. Speak to them. Be likeable. That's Wynton's biggest asset. 4) Finally, to return to the point about having a good time, if you want the paying audience to be happy, play some happy music every once in a while! Herbie Mann and Roland Kirk were great at that.