Deep Groove

What were you doing shopping for cds on your honeymoon?! I'll be all about when that time rolls around!! (i'm just kidding, of course. hopefully that comes through in cyber-space)

These are, bar none, my favorite Shepp albums. I dig all of his more challenging dates a lot, too, but there's something about laying that searing tone over soft ballads--musical equivalent of sweet and sour pork?--that does it for me. Plus, just like all of the other Venus recordings I've heard, the recording quality is so good that you could hear a pin drop...

Kind of like what David said, there's a difference between what I've been hearing live and what I listen to at home right now. Maybe it's because there's a great organisation in town that brings in avant-garde/free jazz musicians--Ken Vandermark, Ab Baars, etc.--or maybe it's because there's a great bar that features local experimental musicians, but that's what I've been hearing live lately. At home I'm much more fond of music from the 60's that straddles the line between conventional funky hard-bop and the avant-garde music of the time. I'm especially fond of Mingus' albums from that period (who isn't?), or Archie Shepp's work, etc. Then there are the times when I just want to hear the Three Sounds or Oscar Peterson...I guess I'm all over the map.

It was in the bins at Amoeba Records in San Francisco last weekend for $ 15. You might call there and see if it's still available...

WRCU, Colgate University's Radio Station My local station already got mention, but I also listen to the jazz programming from my alma mater, in Hamilton, NY. They play a lot of 'out' jazz--could be the nearby CIMP influence. If you send one, send it to the attention of the Wednesday night DJ and based on what he normally plays, he'd probably spin it (it isn't me).