GA Russell

Here is the AP report. I had no idea that he was the king for 70 years. This is the same King Herod who met with the three Wise Men, and ordered all the children of Bethlehem to be killed. JERUSALEM — An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Hebrew University said late Monday. The tomb is at a site called Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert, clearly visible from southern Jerusalem. Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there, the university said. The university had hoped to keep the find a secret until Tuesday, when it planned a news conference to disclose the find in detail, but the Haaretz newspaper found out about the discovery and published an article on its Web site. Herod became the ruler of the Holy Land under the Romans around 74 B.C. The wall he built around the Old City of Jerusalem still stands, and he also ordered big construction projects in Caesaria, Jericho, the hilltop fortress of Massada and other sites. It has long been assumed Herod was buried at Herodium, but decades of excavations had failed to turn up the site. The 1st century historian Josephus Flavius described the tomb and Herod's funeral procession. Haaretz said the tomb was found by archaeologist Ehud Netzer, a Hebrew University professor who has been working at Herodium since 1972. The paper said the tomb was in a previously unexplored area between the two palaces Herod built on the site. Herod died in 4 B.C. in Jericho. Herodium was one of the last strong points held by Jewish rebels fighting against the Romans, and it was conquered and destroyed by Roman troops in A.D. 71, a year after they destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

Lani Hall - Hello It's Me (A&M DJ copy) 1973? Larry Coryell - Offering (Vanguard) 1972 Janis Siegel - At Home (Atlantic) 1987 Jack Jones - The Look of Love (Br. RCA Camden) 1967 Don Ellis - Shock Treatment (Columbia)

Me too. I made the mistake of letting her live outside while I was at work. Apparently she lost a fight and got feline HIV. I've since moved, and they won't allow pets here. Like 7/4, when I move again I'll get another.

Thanks, SS! I'll try listening to it with that in mind.

A lucky guess! (PS - re Sonny, Please)

My pick this month is Gerry Mulligan - Jeru. In the 70s Columbia re-released a few of its best jazz albums under the banner "Jazz Odyssey" series. This was one of them. Tommy Flanagan is on it, and I've never heard an album with him that I didn't like. So I thought I would give it a try. I discovered this two weeks ago while looking for something to give a friend. I think I'm going to have to revisit the website to reacquaint myself with their selection.

Here's a review of the new McCartney album from a gossip columnist (!) on the Fox News website: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270434,00.html Masterful McCartney I told you last week in my exclusive first review that Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full," due on June 6 from Starbucks' new Hear Music label, is better than anyone could have expected. Here are a couple of other thoughts about a song called "The End of the End," the penultimate track on the album. I think McCartney's written a lyric here that stands up to anything during his time with the Beatles or since. It's a sad song, for sure, maybe a result of Paul's bad year and marriage break-up. But it's also so lovely that I think people are going to be using it as an elegy for years to come. Here's a verse: "On the day that I die / I'd like jokes to be told / And stories of old / To be rolled out like carpets / That children have played on / And laid on while listening / To stories of old." There's really nothing like "Memory Almost Full" available right now from a contemporary singer-songwriter. It's quite amazing that we're depending on artists in their late 50s and early 60s to fill an artistic void. Amazing, and sad. Last year, Paul Simon's wonderful "Surprise" album was totally ignored, however, even though it was the best CD of the year by miles. I hope that doesn't happen this time around to McCartney. "Memory Almost Full" is too good.

When I first got it I burned a copy for the car, and over the past year I have listened to it a great deal. I never warmed up to it quite the way so many of you have, and it finally dawned on me that I don't like the first song and the second song I prefer to hear last. So I may burn another copy omitting the first song and placing the second song last. I enjoy it when I listen to it that way.

I saw Benny Goodman on with Carson once. I remember that Benny cracked a joke about Selmer, but I don't remember what they were talking about.

Here's his obituary from the Washington Post via the LA Times: Alvin Batiste, 74; veteran jazz clarinetist By Adam Bernstein, Washington Post May 7, 2007 Alvin Batiste, a widely respected jazz clarinetist, composer and educator who played across the musical spectrum, from traditional to avant-garde styles, and was a prolific figure on the jazz festival circuit, died Sunday at his home in New Orleans after an apparent heart attack. He was 74. He played Saturday at FestForAll, a celebration in Baton Rouge, La., and died hours before he was scheduled to perform with pianist and singer Harry Connick Jr. and saxophonist Branford Marsalis at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Batiste recorded sparingly but performed with saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Cannonball Adderley, considered modern jazz greats, as well as musicians as diverse as drummer Billy Cobham and pianist Dr. John. Never a household name but always admired among musicians, Batiste received broader recognition in the 1980s, touring and recording with Clarinet Summit, a quartet that included John Carter, David Murray and Jimmy Hamilton. Batiste was born Nov. 7, 1932, in New Orleans, where his father, a railroad worker, played traditional jazz clarinet on the side. Outside home, Batiste grew immersed in the city's music offerings. "I remember following a parade when I was 3 years old," he told a Baton Rouge reporter last year. "It was Easter Sunday. I had on a little white suit and, all over New Orleans, the people fed me. When I got home, after they expressed the happiness for me being there, then they almost killed me." Batiste received extensive musical training through the school system and, as a college student, was a guest soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic, playing a Mozart clarinet concerto. He was a 1955 music education graduate of Southern University and later earned a master's degree in clarinet performance and composition at Louisiana State University. Batiste was increasingly influenced by bebop jazz pioneers such as saxophonist Charlie Parker. In 1956, he helped start the American Jazz Quintet in New Orleans with drummer Ed Blackwell, pianist Ellis Marsalis, saxophonist Nat Perrilliat and bass player Chuck Badie. Batiste considered the American Jazz Quintet an experiment in a modern chamber-jazz sound, and it resulted in an early album, "In the Beginning." Competent on piano and saxophone, Batiste was called on for his multi-instrumental skills while touring with rhythm-and-blues artists such as Ray Charles, Guitar Slim and Little Willie John. He also was a studio musician for the AFO ("all for one") label in New Orleans and toured regionally with his band, the Jazztronauts. That group included many of his music students at Southern University, where he helped create the jazz studies program in the late 1960s. As an educator, Batiste influenced several generations of performers, including Branford Marsalis (son of Ellis, brother of Wynton) and pianist Henry Butler. Though retired from Southern University, he continued to teach at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a conservatory for young adults. His first major-label release was 1993's "Late" for Columbia Records, which included several of his compositions and a trio led by pianist Kenny Barron. This year, Branford Marsalis produced "Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste," which showcased Batiste's compositions. Batiste is survived by his wife of 53 years, Edith Chatters Batiste of New Orleans and Baton Rouge; three children, Alvin Batiste Jr. of Plaquemine, La., Marcia Wilson and pianist Maynard Batiste, both of Baton Rouge; a sister; and 12 grandchildren.

Happy Belated Birthday ASNL!

Today (Sunday) was the 70th anniversary of the Hindenburg crash. This morning I heard on NPR (I think the show was Weekend Edition) the tape of Herb Morrison announcing the event. All these years, the playback of the Morrison tape has been too fast (and therefore too high). It was pitch-corrected for today's show, and Morrison sounded like a professional radio announcer, not like a geeky accountant.

I'm stunned. I'll put on his new CD. RIP.

Tonight in the car I was listening to AM740 Toronto, an adult pop station, and they played Chet Baker singing There is No Greater Love. Last month I heard an interview with Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the MGs on Fresh Air. He made some interesting points: His middle name is Taliaferro. He played piano on a number of Stax songs, including Otis Redding's Dock of the Bay. The MGs really were named after the car. The name was suggested by one of the guys in the studio who owned one. I have often read that they were not named for the car, but that MG stood for Memphis Group. I suspect that this was an effort by the record company to avoid paying the car company for the use of the name.

Today is the 25th anniversary of Cal's passing. This evening I have listened to my two recent Tjader acquisitions, Soul Sauce and Sounds Out Burt Bacharach.

The Way-Out Voices of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (Columbia Jazz Odyssey) 1961 Elton Dean's Ninesense - Happy Daze (Ogun) 1977

Doug Ramsey in his Rifftides blog highly recommends the OK reissue of Cannonball in San Francisco.

Your post spurred me to visit my queue to see where I stand, but none of mine are in danger. Nothing in my queue particularly excites me, but I'm going to stick around because I frequently give a CD as thanks when a friend does me a favor; so I figure it makes more sense to give someone something from Your Music than to pay twice as much somewhere else, even if once a month I get a CD I don't need.

Miles Smiles is widely considered that group's best album, but my favorite is ESP.

I have a number of the Miles boxes, not every one. I pull out a new CD once every three months. I keep them in their own jewel cases. I wasn't particularly enamored with CD1 of the Jack Johnson box, but it is what it is. In February I opened up CD2, and liked it even less. I've played it very little. This evening I took CD2 off the shelf to see if I would like it any more, not having heard it in many weeks, and it broke as I was removing it from the jewel case! Bummer. Cracked all the way from the edge to the center hole. On the one hand, I'm sorry I can't replace it. On the other hand, I didn't like it, so maybe that is the best one of my collection to break!

I received this notice today. With the price of postage going up, the Shipping & Handling charge will be going up effective May 14. First CD: $2.99 Second CD: $2.89 CDs #3-6: $2.69 each CD 7 and after: $0.99 each An extra charge of $.99 is added to each additional unit in multi-unit sets.

Thanks for that, Duke City. Best wishes on one day finding a new one just right for the family.

Great record! I have the CD on Alligator. I assume it's the same material.

I saw Joe Henderson on when Branford was the band leader.

It's been decades since I've watched an NBA game. I'm surprised to read that they call fouls now. Didn't used to. Do they still ignore travelling?