ghost of miles

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!

Roy Eldridge Mosaic, discs 1-4 Curtis Amy Mosaic, discs 1-2 Duke Pearson Mosaic, disc 1 Buddy Rich, LEGENDARY 47-48 ORCH. V. 1 (Hep) Sam Donahue, U.S. NAVY LIBERATION BAND (Hep) Claude Thornhill, SNOWFALL & AUTUMN NOCTURNE (Hep) Roy Campbell, NEW KINGDOM Mel Torme, SONGS FOR ANY TASTE Mal Waldron, ONE ENTRANCE, MANY EXITS

We used to have a psychology test that was run every year here at IU. You got paid 10 bucks to drink beer and listen to records for an hour. Never was I more well-qualified for a job!

Hey all, a friend of mine who's been getting into jazz for some time now asked me yesterday about good books on early jazz. I recommended Gunther Schuller's EARLY JAZZ & THE SWING ERA (said friend is a musician), as well as Richard Sudhalter's LOST CHORDS and Allen Lowe's THAT DEVILIN' TUNE. I'm sure I'm overlooking some titles--any others I should mention to him?

Why a duck? Well, I don't know. You try to post there, and you'll find out why-a-duck.

Are there missing tracks from the Eldridge, David? I know they overlooked a couple of tracks on the Hodges set... The reversed-photo business does seem needlessly sloppy, particularly when there were facing reversed-photo pages in the booklet, as I noted earlier. In the end, I'm not too irked--I'm grateful that a company like Mosaic exists to put this music out. But they do seem a bit careless of late. I also wonder if the anticipated "downward pressure" on CD prices will make some of the marginal/occasional buyers more reluctant to bite on a Mosaic.

I'd like to know what fountain-o'-youth products Deus is in the habit of using. Here's me a couple of months ago at the Indiana State Museum, trying to look authoritative during my long-distance-learning lecture on Indiana jazz:

May your vacations grow longer with age! You have the same birthday as my grandmother... Have a great one, Dmitry!

I haven't drunk out of a hat since my college days. Still, I'm game.

Wow, many thanks, Organissimo friends & colleagues! It's funny how much I've come to mention this board around people in my daily life, citing Jim Sangrey & many others on jazz, Weizen on politics, Dan Gould on baseball, etc. I really enjoy coming here every day, for the laffs, the learning, and the genuine affection (as well as the occasional genuine brawl!). I'm just glad that so many of us are still around after the collapse of the BNBB. Long life to Organissimo, the band & the board, and to all of you!

Mike, all joking aside about threads-run-amok, there were a number of valuable threads containing biographical/discographical information, etc.--I just don't know how much time & effort it would take to pick & choose the ones that might be worth importing.

I'm sure there are a number of threads Blue Note would not want to see archived--anywhere.

So we do have the spectacle of reversed photos (very obvious in the booklet, where pictures of Roy on facing pages 2 & 3 show him playing left-handed on 2, right-handed on 3, his watch on opposing wrists as well--wow, how did they miss that one? ), but I find the picture on pg. 9 pretty damned funny, too: Alvin Stoller sitting at a drum-set in a Ludwig publicity photo, grinning maniacally while he holds a gun in his right hand. Good fun to hear the alternate takes of "Dale's Wail" on disc 1. And disc 2, with Peterson/Ellis/Brown backing up Roy (with either Alvin Stoller or Buddy Rioh on drums) is some of the most warm, reflective jazz I've heard in awhile. I know "warm" is surely one of the most over-used adjectives when it comes to describing someone's playing, but I'll be damned if Roy Eldridge doesn't actually make me feel warmer, both emotionally and physically, when I listen to him. Hoping to listen to Disc 3 in a little while, but so far this set is living up to the expectations that my LITTLE JAZZ compilation CD had built up in me.

Good move, Jim. You're a very fair guy & you run a very fair board, and obviously a great many of us are grateful to you for your efforts. You've also gone out of your way to accommodate those who love the politics forum and those who loathe it. May your art always be stellar & your sales become multi-platinum!

Is Mosaic simultaneously shipping some of these out to retailers?

Ironically enough, Mencken, who is something of a conservative icon, was an early backer of a significant figure in American proletarian literature--Jack Conroy.