DTMX

Last Saturday I had tickets to both the Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins concerts in Atlanta. Unfortunately the respective venues were miles apart so I had to pick one. I chose the Shorter and gave my Rollins ticket to a friend (haven't heard from him since). On to the show. The rhythm section kicked things off with nice groove. Shorter seemed tentative at first, starting on tenor, but was back in form before long ("form" being defined as "Footsteps Shorter" as opposed to "Free For All Shorter"). John Patitucci and Brian Blade were absolutely phenomenal, especially Blade who was the most hyperactive person I saw all night (except for the guy in seat C104). Danílo Perez played harmonics on his piano strings and used his water bottle to do some prepared piano effects. In fact, Perez started channeling John Cage at one point - crumpling said water bottle under the microphone and raking the crushed plastic across the piano strings while JP and BB played some abstract music/sounds in the background. Shorter joined this piece by whistling something that sounded a little like Jobim's "Cocovado" but probably wasn't. The musicians were constantly cracking each other up - which made the performance more fun. The poor Steinway on the stage was used as locker, what with the bandmembers keeping their water bottles, bows, and (maybe) charts in its interior. Shorter seemed to have a bad spring on the G# key of his soprano - he was constantly adjusting and picking at it during the performance. Didn't affect the quality of the music though - all of the non-waterbottle-related music was first rate. But here's the deal: Although there was much acknowledgement of the audience throughout the show, Shorter never spoke to announce song titles or anything. Now I've got a shitload of Shorter on CD, but I couldn't recognize a single theme at the show that night. Given this quartet's penchant for turning Shorter's Bluenote classics inside out I could see why I wouldn't hear anything familiar - plus this quartet's been together for so many years now they've probably got their own book of unrecorded stuff that they play in concert. So here's the question: has anyone seen Wayne Shorter on his most recent tour and did they recognize any of the set? As exciting as it was to hear some unfamiliar material, I'm curious as to whether any of it was revamped old stuff.

Art Blakey thought so.

eh-yep.

The Tower Records in Shibuya and Virgin Megastore in Shinjuku are my two favorite brick and mortars in the whole world. I can spend all day in either one.

I'll think of another one in a minuet.

Same here. Used to have that dream a lot. It always involved not taking a particular class, resulting in no diploma, nullification of college degree, and so on. Sounds stupid, but in the dream it makes sense. Must have something to do with unfinished business. The strange thing is, whenever I dream about high school or college the buildings and campus are nothing like where I went or have ever been. But it's always the same buildings no matter what the dream - like the dream buildings are my subconscious image of the real ones. Add airport, hotel, railway station and movie theater to that list too. It's the Reincarnation of Peter Proud all over again.

I keep having dreams about suddenly realizing that I'm supposed to be on a plane to Japan (or America) and that I have to make a mad dash to get things in order (passports, prepaying utilities/paying hotel bill, etc...) before leaving. I think it has to do with guilt over procrastination regarding household duties (yeah, my house looks like a house on COPS). The reason the destination is Japan (or vice-versa) is that I used to travel to Japan for months at a time and being on my own, if I didn't have my ducks in a row before I left I could come home to a foreclosed house, shut off utilities, etc... As a kid, I would classify a nightmare as a dream that involved monsters . But now they involve something like losing my job, letting a Mosaic slip by me - the real stuff of nightmares.

They'd have found it sooner, but it was "Haydn".

Got my copy today. Probably listen to it in the car driving over to the Wayne Shorter concert tonight. Sometimes it just all comes together.

The Jazz -> Free Jazz -> ANDY MCWAIN QUARTET: Starfish is great - been listening to it in the car all week.

Elvin Jones played guitar on Elvin's Guitar Blues from the Heavy Sounds album. Just doubling up in case the drum gig didn't work out.

Most Happy Funtime Retail Crime Device! Not shitting: When I was in Japan I saw a toolbox and underneath the manufacturer's logo was stamped "For Your Luxurious Life" in cursive script.

I bumped a deer with my car. I was driving home during daylight hours, there was a song on the radio that I wanted to hear to its conclusion so I was just coasting along, letting gravity move the car - maybe 20 mph (home was over the next hill). A deer bounded out of a kudzu patch and ran along side me. I thought he might cut in front of me so I locked it down, when I had all but stopped, he jumped in front of me and sat his whitetailed ass right down on my front bumper doing a nice job of interlacing the bumper and grill in ways they were not meant to mesh. Then he sprayed green shit all over my bumper which went through the grill and onto my engine block (said shit turned to vapor upon contact with the block and was sucked into in interior of the car). Then he ran off, leaving a handful of flank hair between the bumper and grill and me about to puke. There's a herd of deer living in the woods on the edge of my property - Mr. Greenshit was probably one of them. And he's still out there. Mocking me.

So very, very true.

Ornette Coleman - strong, recognizable themes (Ornettian themes, if you will). Same with Monk's themes.

They still tour, but Maurice White isn't with them. Serpentine Fire rules, though. And a guy named Azar Lawrence played keyboards with them - don't know if it's the same guy that was with Miles Davis (Dark Magus) and McCoy Tyner - just how common is the name Azar?

Double ditto. Plus, my new seating assignment puts my boss directly behind me so he can read my computer screen over my shoulder. Time to cut back on the Mosaic impulse buying...

Ditto.

My sax teacher is a huge Gary Thomas fan so when HH brought his quartet to town in 2002 I picked up some fourth row seats to pay him back for putting up with my do-it-when-I-have-time approach to practicing. Great show; GT was low-key but amazing. GT only played tenor - he didn't bless us with any of his incredible flutework. Terry Lynne Carrington stole the show. They didn't play Canteloupe Island (disappointment), but did play Rockit. They (whoever they are) really need to document this band - live or in the studio.

No history-of-jazz book can be all things to all people but this one's pretty good. It's been on my coffee table for years and I still crack it open to read my favorite sections now and then.

Let It Bleed. My favorite part is during the title track where the rest of the band moves to the E7th but one of the guitarists stays on the C for an extra two beats - OUTRAGEOUS!! Must have been one of those things they could 'fix in the mix' and forgot to.

Hell no. I'd rather burn a $0.50 CDR and forget about it than to have to wonder whether I'd ever see it again. Or in the case of Elvin Jones, $4.00. As far as liner notes and booklets go, I just tell them there aren't any.

I'm not sure what I do anymore. February 27th: I work for Company A as an engineer. Company A builds widgets for Company B, which sells them to Company C. Company C did not renew the contract with Company B so Company A has no need to build mass quantity widgets. Company A sold all of its equipment to Company B to build small quantities of widgets. Company A sold its building to Company D which builds watchamacallits for Company C. Company D is moving its equipment and management into Company A's building. About two-thirds of Company A's workforce will be working for Company D building watchamacallits for Company C. These employees no longer work for Company A - they work for Company D. Company A has manufactured thingamabobs in the past for Company E. Company E is currently renting officespace with Company A. Company E is now buying manufacturing space elsewhere. What is left of Company A is moving into Company E's new office. Company A is still called Company A. Some employees of Company A are being transfered to Company E. Some employees of Company A do not go to Company C or Company E and are laid off. In the month of March I will install Company A's equipment at Company B. [Done] In the month of March I will prepare Company A's facility for the arrival of Company D. [Done] In the month of March I will install Company A's equipment at Company B. [Ongoing] In the month of March I will move Company E's equipment from Company A's facility to the new facility of Company E. [Upcoming] In the month of March I will move Company A's offices and lab from Company A's facility to the new facility of Company E. April 1st: Company B will be manufacturing Company C's widgets using Company A's equipment at Company B. Company D will be manufacturing Company C's watchamacallits using Company A's workforce at Company A's old facility. Company A will be manufacturing Company E's thingamabobs using Company E's equipment at Company E's new facility. I will work for Company A - I think.

When I was younger and thought I could conquer the world I was partial to all-powerful meglomaniacs like Doctor Doom. But as the years passed I learned that being a world-beater is too much work so I set my sights lower - a lot lower.

Amish Heat brings you only the HOTTEST Amish on the Web!