ghost of miles

My faves for the politics forum: and Of course, this one is sometimes appropriate too:

He supposedly recorded about 30 songs for FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL. I'd like to hear them all, of course, but his family may decide to put out only the most finished tracks. (But word is that most of them are indeed "finished.") Plus there were a number of tracks & B-sides that he recorded for labels like Kill Rock Stars that are quite good and deserve to be more widely circulated (songs like "Angel in the Snow," which is an outtake from the ELLIOTT SMITH CD, or "The Enemy Is You," a very good B-side). I imagine that most of this material will be made more readily available, for reasons both good & bad. (Bad in that dead musicians with cult followings always get their vaults emptied... again, I'm grateful in a perverse way, because I really want to hear all of this stuff--but some may view it purely as an unseemly practice.) Here's a picture of the memorial at Sound Solutions (a stereo shop in L.A.'s Silverlake Neighborhood, used on the front of the FIGURE 8 cover): photo

Gotta be the Four Freshmen. I don't dislike it, per se... just rarely play it.

To quote a great Yankee of the past (and still much with us): It's deja vu all over again.

The album has been turned over to the family by Dreamworks. Supposedly it will come out in 2004, either as a single or double-disc. Whenever news comes, I'll definitely post it here. Sounds like you & I went through the exact same sort of phase. I was an extremely passionate indie-rock fan for years, and then fell in love with jazz & didn't look back much, although I continued to listen to a few things that came out. Elliott Smith, in fact, was the first & only indie obsession I ever had after getting into jazz. (Well, Nick Drake, too--I discovered them around the same time.) I'd say my jazz-to-other-music listening ratio has gone back down to about 80% jazz, 20% other, after being about 95% jazz for awhile (I'm not kidding!). There were times when Elliott Smith took up all of that 20 percent. I'm hesitant to post the rumors/speculation because that's what it still is at this point. One thing's for sure: in his unreleased song "King's Crossing" there's a line, "Give me one good reason not to do it." At his shows this year his girlfriend would call out something in response to him. After he died she wrote it on the memorial wall at Sound Solutions in L.A.: "Because I love you."

My two younger brothers are talking about running in an Indianapolis mini-marathon come next May and have invited me to join them. I run sporadically, about 3-4 times a week, generally two miles a day. Is 5 months enough time to get in shape for a 13-mile marathon? Just curious to know if anybody else here runs & what their advice might be regarding training, etc.

More discussion here: PercyTangerine

Spending any amount of time on the Sweet Adeline board will yield mostly rumors, an odd detail here or there, and a rather bizarre case of Internet neurosis. That community is obviously still going through some pretty heavy trauma--a lot of rage/denial/grief, and will for some time. The toxicology report should come back any day now, but all that will reveal is whether or not he had used drugs recently. And that alone (if yes) will provide only a reductive answer. There are many crazy stories/theories spinning around out there (and yes, inevitably, some people think he may have been murdered). Hopefully some magazine like Mojo will do a lengthy article about him that sheds a little more light on his final days... in the meantime, here's a link to an article about him in Time Out: Mr.Misery

Here's a link I found today to a bunch of Elliott Smith shows from the past year. Sound is pretty good--a lot of songs here that will probably turn up on the new album, as well as many from the past: Elliottlive

Not a fan these days, but thought you guys might be interested in this proposal to broadcast two Monday night football games.

Hmmm....., Chicago... Hmmm, indeed! The Jazz Record Mart... hmmm. My sister-in-law is the GM of the four-story Borders there on Michigan Ave.... but what can I say, I'm a slut for any of these places, given that they're all only several hours away. It would be cool to congregate during the Jazz Festival & cheer on Organissimo, too, if they get the gig.

Excellent idea. Here's a couple from the recent True Blue list (don't have it w/me--will try to bring it in tomorrow & post the whole thing): Clark Terry/Paul Gonsalves, DAYLIGHT EXPRESS Ornette Coleman, LOVE CALL

Why a duck? Well, I don't know. You try to post there, and you'll find out why-a-duck. When I was driving my Dad home a few weeks ago from a post-op checkup at the VA Hospital, we drove across the Elizabeth viaduct. (here in NJ). He said something about a viaduct and I said "Why a duck?". He responded: "Because it doesn't go over water." Took the wind out of my sails! Glad to know there are more Marxians about. Have you noticed Joe Milazzo's "location" in his avatar? My parents came down here for my birthday the other night, and we began to recite some of our favorite lines (they've become family jokes over the years, uttered at opportune moments): "Ace of spades!" "You omitted them, ay?" "Is this your picture, Chicolini?" "I no think so... it no looka like me." "Upstart!" "Your friend does better asleep than I do awake." Etc., etc.

Is that a Mosaic CD opener you're holding in your left hand, Lon?

Can I just say, in regards to GROOVIN' BLUE, which takes up the first 5 cuts of the Amy Select Disc 2--DAMN!! Carmell Jones, Frank Strazzeri, Bobby Hutcherson--youngsters here & taking no prisoners, not to mention the leader. Disc 1 was all right, but disc 2 just keeps smokin'! And to think that this is leading up to KATANGA...

I've been wondering about this too--some of their sets lately seem to be following closely on the heels of Mosaic sets (Venuti/Lang, Bix & Tram, now the Berigan). I've had a great deal of respect for them in the past, and Clem is right about those Cab boxes, both quite worthy of being picked up. I guess the issue is, are they re-mastering off their own 78s, or are they simply dubbing from the Mosaics? If it's the former, then they're merely guilty of thematically following in Mosaic's footsteps... if it's the latter, then they're stealing Mosaic's work, aren't they?

Yeah, replacing Pettite with Kevin Brown loses them what, 7 years, in terms of an ace pitcher's age? I haven't heard the details of what went down w/Pettite yet, but a big blow... And this rampage to acquire aging, overpriced, past-their-prime stars does remind me of the Boss's track record during the 80's and early 90's... 2004 could be your year indeed, Dan. One thing I'm betting on: it will definitely be Joe Torre's last. Surely he'll be ready to retire. Will Willie Randolph then get the nod?

Kind of goofy article that just came out today in the L.A. Weekly 25th anniversary issue, but thought I'd post it anyway--wish he'd said more about Tapscott!

FINNEGANS WAKE is best read aloud, IMO. There is an amazing musicality to it... (BTW, not trying to claim that I've read it all the way through! My grandfather spent about 10 years delving into it--had a whole bookshelf devoted solely to books about Joyce. And any time that I find myself lacking inspiration in the short-story department, I like to return to DUBLINERS, which is still a classic for me in that regard.)

I voted for Lansing, but either city would work for me--I think I'm about halfway between them.

Hey, that's great, Chris! Yeah, I think it was a novel (his first); I remember it coming out, but I haven't read it yet either, even though I'm a fan. Maybe this thread will motivate me to seek it out the next time I'm at the bookstore.

Chrome, yeah, it was CITY OF GLASS, put out by a sadly shortly-lived press called Neon Lit. I wouldn't have thought that something as tricky as that trilogy could be rendered so well in a graphic narrative, but they pulled it off... It's still floating around used, if at a rather high price: They had another project, long-delayed, which recently surfaced elsewhere: a graphic novel version of William Gresham's 1947 book NIGHTMARE ALLEY. I bought it but haven't read it yet. (The original is very good, now collected in a Library of America volume of 1930s/40s crime stories.) Re: Gaitskill, have you read her last (1997) book, BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO? That had some good stuff in it... Another, even-less prolific writer I like is Marilynn Robinson, who's published only one novel, HOUSEKEEPING (1980). I keep hoping she'll bring something else out as well.

I like 'em too, especially when Daniel Clowes is drawin' 'em!

Not as much of a fiction reader as I used to be, but it still makes the literary charts--right now I'm reading Melville's "Benito Cereno" and Alan Furst's NIGHT SOLDIERS, a historical spy novel (all of Furst's books are set in late 1930s/early 1940s WWII Europe). Also read a lot about 20th century American radicalism and history (esp. 1930s), jazz (of course ), the civil-rights movement... I've developed a penchant for detective fiction in recent years as well. And we have way too many periodical subscriptions at my house--Cadence, the Nation, the New York Review of Books, Newsweek, Poets & Writers, Men's Health--enough already! There's always some stack of half-read magazines/papers sliding around on my study floor or the kitchen table. Thinking about modern writers, I like Paul Auster (haven't kept up with him, though), David Long (BLUE SPRUCE is a wonderful collection of short stories), Jonathan Lethem (just kind of getting into him now--read MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN & would like to read his new one, THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE), and Adam Haslett, whose debut, YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE, really blew me away. And Alice Munro still seems to be going strong. One contemporary fiction author whom I really like, Mary Gaitskill (BAD BEHAVIOR, TWO GIRLS FAT & THIN) has been very quiet for the past few years. She got a Guggenheim last year, so I'm hoping something will be forthcoming...

This came out earlier this year on the Quicksilver label. The line-up features Joe Henderson on tenor (though not on every track), David Friesen on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Very moody, dark-sounding Waldron for the most part, and it's great--I think many here would dig it. He does a solo version of "Chazz Jazz," a nice Golson tribute called "Golden Golson," good cover of "How Deep Is the Ocean" (the only standard--everything else written by Mal, I believe). More proof that jazz was certainly not dead in the 80's, Young Lions aside!