GA Russell

Back in May I received a promo of the new album by a western swing singer named Retta Christie called With David Evans and Dave Frishberg, vol.2. I didn't think that anyone here would be interested, so I haven't mentioned it. But darned if I don't keep listening to it three months later. It's infectious! The album combines the western swing of the singer and the song selection with the cabaret piano playing of Frishberg and sax playing of Evans. Here's the link to the CDBaby site, so you can listen to it and make up your own mind. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/RettaChristie1

OK guys, thanks for all of your input. Here's the situation: 1) I signed up with Gevalia with the six dollar deal mentioned above. 2) Shortly after I did that, I found the better deal: 3 boxes for $3 with free shipping. With your third order they send you the free coffeemaker. http://www.gevalia.com/continuity/quick-enroll.aspx?keycode=125167&vd=15-000&cm_mmc_o=W4-%20REkbEwCjCZYpyzCjCniDvCjCvnDvxI 3) If that deal is tempting to you, let me know, because I can probably get you an even better deal through their "refer a friend" program. 4) Now I have found a local roaster who is only six miles from my home! I was aware of various cafes, but I don't think that this place serves coffee. http://roastofthetownnc.com/

LOL! I signed up, and now I have found a better deal: 3 boxes (1.5 pounds total) for $3.00 with free shipping! Then with your third order they send you the free coffee maker.

Actually, I just bought a new small coffee maker which I am pleased with, so I don't need a new one. The Gevalia offer is two boxes of coffee (one pound total) and a steel travel mug for free plus the $6.00 shipping. No further obligation.

An old girl friend of mine used to give me Gevalia coffee for Christmas. I enjoyed it. I am thinking about becoming a subscriber. I thought that they sent you four boxes (two pounds) a month, and the boxes just kept piling up until you have bought your obligation. But I now learn that you are free to quit at any time. You can have the shipments sent at an interval of your choosing, such as once every six months. You need not get two pounds at a time, or even two boxes of the same blend. It appears that the shipping charge is $6.00 no matter what you order. It looks like most of the coffees are $15 a pound. So if you order two pounds, that comes out to $18 a pound including shipping. So my questions for all of you coffee aficionadoes are...Is Gevalia overpriced? Do its competitors sell comparable coffee for less? Who are its competitors? I know of an Atlanta mail order coffeehouse that is highly regarded called J. Martinez, and I know of green bean places like Sweet Maria's, but in terms of price and selection and service, who compares favorably with Gevalia?

Thanks, Sonny!

I'd like to try a couple of slices!

John Scofield has a new album with Vince Mendoza's Metropole Orchestra called 54. The title comes from the number of musicians on the album. It's an interesting meld of Scofield's jazz-rock with a big band. I like each of the songs. However, the album is 64 minutes long, and that's too much Scofield for me by about 15 minutes. I may burn two cd's of the first and second halves of the album, so that I can enjoy it all in smaller doses.

I don't think I understand. Do you need a router?

Happy Birthday micha!

Happy Birthday 2010 Ham, wherever you are!

Happy Birthday 2010 Tom!

Welcome back BM! I'm jealous that you went to Argentina!

I have somewhere a Lloyd album from '72 that the Beach Boys appeared on called Warm Waters. It was an interesting experiment, but not a great record.

And here are the dates for Lloyd's two upcoming US tours to promote the album: September 22 and 23 in Oakland, CA at Yoshi’s September 24 in Santa Barbara, CA at the Lobero Theatre September 25 in Los Angeles, CA at the Nate Holden Center Perf Arts September 30 in Minneapolis, MN at the Dakota October 2 in Quebec City, PQ at the Quebec City Jazz Festival And in 2011 January 19 n Hanover, NH at Dartmouth College January 21 and 22 in Boston, MA at the Regattabar January 23 in Burlington, VT at the Flynn Center January 26 in Amherst, MA at U Mass January 28 in Middletown, CT at Wesleyan Univ. January 29 in New York, NY at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall January 30 in Buffalo, NY at the Albright-Knox Gallery

I received today this press release regarding the new Charles Lloyd album called Mirror. Charles Lloyd Quartet Mirror Charles Lloyd: tenor and alto saxophones Jason Moran: piano Reuben Rogers: double-bass Eric Harland: drums U.S. Release date: September 14, 2010 Many critics have opined that Lloyd’s “New Quartet”, with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland may be the best of all his groups. The quartet’s previous release in this line-up, the live-recorded Rabo de Nube, met with across-the-board approval and was voted #1 album of the year in both the Critics and Readers Polls of JazzTimes. Mirror is the first studio album by the Lloyd-Moran-Rogers-Harland unit and it features beautiful, transformed versions of favorites including both Lloyd originals and tunes Charles has made his own over the years. There is a pair of Thelonious Monk tunes, “Ruby, My Dear” and “Monk’s Mood”, as well as hymns and traditionals including “Go Down Moses”, “Lift Every Voice And Sing”, and “The Water Is Wide”. Lloyd covers Brian Wilson’s’ “Caroline, No” (the saxophonist guested on several Beach Boys albums in the 70s, including the classic “Surf’s Up”), and plays an achingly lovely version of the the standard “I Fall In Love Too Easily”. Lloyd originals include “Desolation Sound”, “Mirror”, “Tagi” (which includes a Bhagavad Gita inspired spoken-word meditation by Lloyd) and “Being and Becoming”. The band plays superbly. Interaction between Jason Moran and the elastic rhythm section of Harland and Rogers is agile and alert in every moment. While each of these three players is completely in tune with Lloyd's way of working, none of them had yet been born when Charles had his idiomatic breakthrough with "Forest Flower" in 1967. Moran recalls that his father encouraged him to listen to Forest Flower when he was just starting to check out jazz, and the album was part of the soundtrack of his childhood. There is plenty of Lloyd’s graceful, mellifluous and poetic tenor sax: We also get to hear some of his rarely-showcased alto saxophone, the instrument that Billy Higgins called Charles’s “secret weapon”. “Charles is playing really beautiful,” Ornette Coleman says, in the documentary film The Monk and the Mermaid. “He’s expressing the qualities of what we experience. Trying to make a contribution to the quality of life, to do with knowledge.” The knowledge, experience, and wisdom conveyed through Lloyd’s tender saxophone soliloquies have drawn great musicians to him over the decades, and contributed to a reputation as one of the most insightful band leaders in all of jazz. Those qualities are reflected once more in Mirror, which is perhaps as succinct a portrait of Charles’ music as can be embraced by a single disc. “Charles approaches the music with such openness”, pianist Jason Moran said recently “I like playing with leaders who let you bring what you’ve got to the table, and interpret the music however you’d like. Charles is a great promoter of free-thinking music, and letting it develop on the spot.” Reuben Rogers was born in the Virgin Islands and grew up listening to calypso and reggae as well as jazz, exposure that seems to have impacted on the lyrical dancing swing of his bass playing. He works exceptionally well with Harland, exploring loose grooves behind Lloyd’s solos, and speaks of the joy of “being in the music in the moment,” when the Lloyd band is improvising collectively, “without any worries, just giving it all.” A much sought after sideman, Reuben has also worked extensively with Nicholas Payton, Joshua Redman, Dianne Reeves and more. Eric Harland is increasingly regarded as one of the most important contemporary jazz drummers. In addition to his work with Lloyd in the quartet and in the Sangam trio (with Zakir Hussain) he has played and recorded with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Greg Osby, Dave Holland and many others.

Gregg Xenakes Week 8 picks http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=/cfl/news/AJN4335355.htm ***** David Naylor Week 8 picks http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/cfl-week-8-preview/article1677904/

The Eskimos fired their OL coach, Jeff Bleamer, today. When a CFL coach is sacked in mid-season, I wonder if the paychecks stop. I remember a few years ago, I think when he was coaching the Als at the Grey Cup game, Don Matthews made the point at a press conference that he felt something needed to be done regarding the payment of coaches. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/eskimos-woes-continue/article1677224/

Happy Birthday 2010 Laurie! I'll listen to Stuttgart today in your honor.

Danny Kepley resigned as Eskimos linebacker coach today. A real shame. I met him at the '78 Grey Cup. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=330850

Hearing loss among American teens jumped from 14.9% to 19.5%, and ear buds are blamed. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-17/one-in-five-u-s-adolescents-has-hearing-loss-researchers-find.html

The headquarters of personalized online music provider Pandora remained in a state of chaos Thursday as frantic workers struggled to find a song that 32-year-old Boston subscriber Dave Lipton would enjoy. http://www.theonion.com/articles/desperate-pandora-employees-scrambling-to-find-son,17905/

Bobby Thomson has died. I've been to Cooperstown a couple of times, and I've found his bat to be the most memorable item on display! IMO, it wasn't what he did, it was Russ Hodges' call, that made him famous. http://www.latimes.com/news/la-mew-bobby-thomson18-20100818,0,7687136.story

I remember well watching Saturday morning cartoons when I was two and three years old. Remember Bosco and Cookie, the monkeys? My recollection is that the music for those cartoons was Ellington jungle music. I still think of Bosco and Cookie when I hear Ellington of that era.

Calgary Stampeders 56....Edmonton Eskimos 15 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=/cfl/news/AJN4334735.htm http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/stamps-trounce-struggling-esks/article1673909/ The Eskimos were unusually inept, with enough unforced errors to lose the game against anybody. The Eskimos have a bye this coming week, so they will have time to decide whom to fire next.