ghost of miles

Yep. Although I'd love to see one from John Litweiler as well.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, Norah Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar? I'll be damned. Who would have thunk it? B) Where's MusikBoy for a comment when we need him? I hear tell that Musicboy is the illegitimate spawn of Ravi Shankar and Dr. Laura Schlesinger.

Green's GOIN' WEST & Smith's HOME COOKIN' for me, as I have neither one. I'll wait to see if some of the others turn up in BMG.

Sweet, sweet news! I remember being inexorably bummed when Joe Milazzo informed me that these titles had indeed gone OOP... saw 'em years ago when I was just getting into Giuffre, didn't bite, and have been kicking myself remorsefully ever since. Are these already out, Late, or do you have a street date?

The eagle has landed! I'm listening to "Sweet n' Slow" right now and it sounds gooooood.

That's exactly the camp my hunch tells me to fall into as well, Lon. I'll definitely pick it up in the next few months...

I've got Isaac Deutscher's three-volume bio of Trotsky and have dipped into it over the years, rather than reading it all at once. (And let me tell you, the long descriptions of the intraparty ideological battles that raged in the 20's--well, they can get a little soporific even for a history nerd such as myself.) Also meant, though, Conn, that anybody can talk about any historical personage who fascinates them--not just Trotsky. I guess another reason Trotsky fascinates me is the ultimate failure of Marxism in practice. It seems to me that we on the left have to confront that failure head-on. I know some will say--with accuracy--that what we saw in the 20th century was not Marxism, or certainly not Marxism as it was intended--but why, in that case, did it not evolve? I don't think you can blame Stalin alone. There's something inherently fatal in how it was put into practice. My belief is that it lacked a system of checks-and-balances; the Party had to be all-powerful to allow the revolution to survive, but this almost certainly ensured that corruption & tyranny would emerge. And the leader of that party then became, in effect, God (why is it that a cult of personality seemed to come about in almost every Communist state?). How do you practice benevolent restraint of forces & people that want to exploit capital and power to their advantage over others? I'll be the first to admit that I don't know, other than my general advocacy of nationalized sectors of public importance, which I suppose puts me squarely in the classic Western European socialist/liberal camp (the Stalinists and the Trotskyists would've hated me ). As I've stated elsewhere, capitalism isn't without its great historical sins as well--slavery, the slaughter of North American Indians, etc., etc. Nonetheless I think we leftists have to analyze the old ways & errors of revolutionary thought and action if we're ever going to propose new, more egalitarian systems for the 21st century.

You know you'll hook me with this one, Conn. I once started a thread about historical eras on the old BNBB. For topic 1, how about "Naval Strategies of WWII?" ar, ar. Conn500 vs. Weizen, Round 2. Well, some of the first topics that came to mind might belong in the "Politics" forum. For instance, I'd be interested to see a civil discussion about the ultimate reasons for the demise of the Cold War--was it Reagan's policies, as conservatives frequently attest? Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika, as liberals are inclined to argue? A combination, or something else? But it could turn partisan... I mean, the series that ran on CNN several years ago sparked protests from some on the right, and I notice that it still hasn't come out yet on DVD. So.... How about simply, name a favorite or compelling historical personage and discuss why he/she appeals to you? That should give everybody a chance to jump in, no matter what their particular knowledge or passion. For me, one such figure is Leon Trotsky (oops, back to the Cold War, ta da!). A brilliant thinker & strategist, he was nonetheless apparently clueless when it came to dealing with Stalin. One wonders how the course of history might have changed had he won his power struggle with Uncle Joe. I have no illusions that Trotsky would have proved to be the messiah of Marxism, but he was surely a less suspicious, paranoid & power-mad type than Stalin, and it's difficult, for example, to imagine him staging the show trials and purges of the 1930s (purges, I might add, that hurt Stalin immensely later on when the Germans invaded & his officer corps was still severely depleted). Trotsky wrote much on art and literature in his spare time, even as he was being hurled around the Soviet Union in a railroad car during the early, civil-war-torn years of the USSR; he was an astute cultural critic as well as a political leader and one of the great "what-ifs?" of history (prob. a good topic in itself some day).

1936-51, so it's early-to-mid Basie--"Old Testament," as those particular editions have usually been referred to. It's a fine set for Basie lovers old or new, but I'd also highly recommend THE COMPLETE DECCA RECORDINGS, a 3-CD set that covers Basie from 1937-39. I'm kinda eyeing the Pablo Basie box, as I have nothin', nothin' from that period. Any opinions regarding that era?

Hey, hey, hey! The Mulligan has shipped! And Tod is postin' in the Mosaic forum!

Me too.

Me too.

Hey jmjk, you ever check out Nick Heyward's solo album NORTH OF A MIRACLE? Great thread (I haven't even finished reading it and I'm already posting). I was a total Rush-head when I was 13 (2112, baby, 2112--"don't annoy us further!" didn't realize until Joe Milazzo hipped me that that whole trip was Rand-inspired) and actually saw 'em on the MOVING PICTURES tour (some Canadian band called Max Webster or something opened for them, and Geddy Lee came out in a Nixon mask and sang their one hit with them). I didn't follow them as much after 1982, although I liked the album with "New World Man" on it too. I kinda left 'em for the Police (still love GHOST IN THE MACHINE), then got obsessed w/U2 & R.E.M. and then into the American indie underground. SO many albums from that era--felt like I was discovering a band a week. (Discovered a band NAMED Felt, in fact.) To be continued in another post after I finish reading the thread...

Heh... thought I'd seen it all when it came to Monk tribute CDs, but jazz is the sound of surprise, n'est ce pas?

Isn't this always the dilemma? I usually go ahead and buy 'em just to be on the safe side, figuring that I can at least trade them in later on.

Had a chance to listen to the first two discs last night and this morning. Agreed that it would've been nice to add a couple of more tracks per disc, but man, is the sound great! Schoenberg's notes quite good as always too; it is indeed a revelation to hear classics like "Rock-a-bye Basie" with much-improved audio quality. I already have all of the octet sides, and I would've preferred several less of them and more of the big band (well, what I prefer is a COMPLETE set--but dream on, dream on! Maybe Mosaic in a few years). Overall, though, a really pleasing anthology so far.

I received it because I'm evidently still on the e-mail list of that certain label which once spawned a bulletin board from whence many of us came. I'd imagine you can still sign up for it via the website, and I do appreciate the heads-up, because I usually end up buying a couple of the things that are going OOP. I've already got a promo of the Byron, so I'll probably buy the Williams/Edison on general principles, since I like both of those performers.

Thanks for giving us would-be authors hope, David. I'm working on starting one soon myself (no publisher yet), so you've set a great example.

Pretty small list this time around. What about that Williams/Edison title?

GLAMOURED hits the streets next Tuesday. I'll be curious to hear it--have a very mixed opinion of her last two efforts for Blue Note. BLUE LIGHT TILL DAWN & NEW MOON DAUGHTER still rank as two of the best jazz vocal CDs of the 90's for me, and I keep hoping she'll deliver another that's as consistently strong as those two. Thoughts? Opinions? The last CD sounded like a great idea/concept that got a bit muddled in the execution--I found myself wishing that she'd gone full steam ahead on a blues approach, because for me that's one of her key strengths.

Count Basie, AMERICA'S #1 BAND (discs 1 and 2) Harry James, BANDSTAND MEMORIES 1938-48 (disc 1) Houston Person, TALK OF THE TOWN Carmen McRae, CARMEN MCRAE AND FRIENDS John Coltrane, CRESCENT Various, VERVE REMIXED 2

Musings of Miles? Ah well, guess I can't get too upset about them blowing a pseudonymn.

Dude, if that actually happens it will begin raining frogs shortly thereafter and then the plague of locusts will come.... Good reason to stay inside & watch some baseball! I'm with you, PhillyQ... and you know, a Cubs-Bosox series would be baseball at its best. No other sport has the kind of hallowed backstory that this one does. One of my favorite match-ups in recent times was the 2000 Subway Series. Man, I raced down to the corner bookstore to buy the Times every day while that one was going on. I forget--what were they going to call a Cubs-Chisox series if that had ever come about?

I hear ya, Brother Berigan. My Yanks are hurtin'... They better get it together fast. Happy for the Cubs, though, I have to say.