papsrus

I've been going a bit bonkers with the Bird lately. Eagerly awaiting the arrival of those two titles.

Don't know if this has been linked before, but it seems worth mentioning. I was burrowing around for Uptown releases at the time I found it. Jazz Record Label Listings Also, linked from that page: Both Sides Now Figure you music hounds might be able to sniff something out here. PS -- Chewey, Crown is on here.

To the question of why report the details of his death: The information was publicly released by officials in Thailand, from what I understand. As such, it was in the public domain and arguably the responsibility of the press to report it accurately. The information about his death might even heighten awareness of the dangers of this practice. More information, in this case, as with most others, is probably better than less information. I think the fact that the discussion here is taking place in a reasonable and sympathetic manner should soothe (if that's the right word) any concerns about embarrassment. (Aside from the general proposition that accidentally killing yourself, no matter what the means, is, to say the least, embarrassing. And I don't mean to make light of that.) I'm not sure what laws govern the release of this kind of information in the United States. Are coroner's reports subject to the same public record laws that police reports are? Or do they fall under medical privacy laws? If it's the latter, and he had died in the U.S., and the information was subsequently released, the family would have pretty good grounds to sue, I'd think.

Charlie Parker -- "Boston 1952" (uptown) "Bird and Diz"

Now listening to the Complete Rockland set, which arrived today. Amazing, particularly disc 2. The extended version of "This Time the Dream's on Me" is a real treat. A wonderful set. Ordered the Boston '52 uptown and Bird and Diz discs earlier today. There are a fist full of used copies of the latter available at amazon that sellers are practically giving away.

Those things are nasty. Sting like lit match heads (or what I imagine lit match heads must feel like). The Amdro worked for me. We used to get 'em out in the yard. They seem to like hot, dry areas of the yard. I live in a well-shaded area now and haven't seen any at all. If the Amdro fails, consider getting an Aardvark.

Niemann throws complete-game, 2-hit shutout (vs. KC).

Any chance of organizing an expedition?

A wonderful lineup. Makes me want to head up there Friday. What's the weather like? (Not that it matters)

Indeed! Very nice. Thanks for the link.

Good to see you.

If you need a reason to get out of bed maybe you can pick up tennis again. I wish I could but since the end of last year I have had a right shoulder that regularly barks at me, particularly for all over-hand activity. I think that I may have injured the rotator cuff when I helped my wife move a pallet of bricks to the backyard, at least that was the most noteworthy physical activity that occurred before this pain developed. But unless it goes away, my tennis career is over, and while this is the time of year I think about looking for a softball league, I'd be worthless there too. Your mention of over-hand activity sounds similar to a condition I had some years ago -- what they call frozen shoulder. It lasted about a month to 6 weeks, but only because I went to rehab to fix it. Range motion exercises and some other treatments involving electrical stimulation. Without the treatments, it could have lasted as long as what you're describing, but I was assured it would eventually clear up on it's own over time. As I understand it, the condition arises when some fiber-like material in the shoulder socket basically seizes up and hardens, making even the lifting of your arm over your shoulder quite painful. I couldn't start a lawn mower, for example, because I could not pull my arm back that far. I would wake up in the night literally screaming in pain because I'd rolled over on my arm. Freaked my (then-) wife out. Not fun for either of us.

Charlie Parker, in a real sense. Sure I'd listened to him fairly attentively before, but on a limited selection. Peeling back more layers now, including a generous variety of live recordings. It seems with a figure like Parker it's helpful to listen to as much as you can from from early to late-period -- which, much like Coltrane, doesn't cover a large amount of time calendar-wise, but eons musically. Putting things in a little sharper context, hopefully, and enjoying the journey.

I think Braxton's cooking something up for that eventuality. ...

Was monitoring this one last night. Gave up after something like the 18th inning.

I received the ember Birdland 4-disc box that you have the other day (wonderful!) and did notice that it's subtitled "Vol. 1." Rest assured it contains all of the material on the two separate 2-disc Birdlands that are titled "Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2." Don't know about the additional ember release you refer to with more Birdland material and Cafe Society.

Anyone care to opine on these two: "Complete Live at the Cafe Society" "Complete Live at the Rockland Palace" CORRECTED: The first is a collection of 1950 live recordings at Cafe Society comprised of medium-tempo tunes and ballads that were somewhat rare for Parker to perform at this stage of his career. Band includes Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Al Haig on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.

I know what you're saying, but I think your general assumption about North Americans is incorrect. A 1-0 baseball game, or 0-0 hockey game can be highly entertaining, much more than a high-scoring game, oftentimes. People hang on the edge of their seats during a no-hitter in baseball. In either sport, the score doesn't reflect that nothing is happening. On the contrary. It takes great effort for both teams to keep the other from scoring in sports that I assume you would acknowledge are much more geared for offense -- I dare say more effort than it might in soccer, given the frequency of 0-0 contests there. There's no walking up the ice in hockey, that's for certain -- particularly in a championship game. And deliberately shooting the puck out of bounds is a tactic that earns a penalty. But, I don't want to make this a bash soccer thing. I've seen some great soccer matches. Even a world cup game live! (Mexico-Ireland ... not exactly an offensive display, but very exciting). I just didn't think the Barcelona-United match was (from what I saw) all that great. I'd be happy to learn why it was though. IMHO

Yes, yes. Have a great birthday! ... eat some cake ...

Listening to disc 1 this morning. I haven't had this set long and have listened probably just a half dozen times to one disc or the other. I don't know what I expected before hearing this music for the first time -- something undeveloped and simple, I think -- but the thing that struck me immediately, and continues to, are the wonderful melodies that emerge. I don't know if "sophisticated" is the right word to describe the way the instruments intertwine and play against one another harmonically, but it's a long way from "undeveloped" or "simple." It's interesting that there is no bass instrument (such as tuba) on the tracks on disc 1. The bass saxophone (Charlie Jackson ?) is introduced on disc 2. I had assumed tuba would be a standard instrument in such band, rather than stand-up bass, which, as you point out, was played by Bill Johnson in the band but not on these recordings.

Thanks for the comments on listening to this one. I'll be headed home later tonight and will give it a fresh listen with your suggestions in mind. And thanks Chuck for the Frog recommendation.

The Rays are in a funk, no doubt. They were almost set to get a few games over .500 for pretty much the first time this year before the mighty Indians smacked 'em down. As Dan says, here's hoping the Tribe streak continues.

Hm. Bad news indeed.

I watched the first half and part of the second. I don't follow the sport, but both teams seemed to be playing somewhat tentatively to me. A plodding pace with quick bursts here and there. I usually catch quite a bit of the World Cup when it's on, and those games seem to be a lot more wide open than this was. In the first 10 minutes or so, I figured Man U was going to roll. Then the Barcelona goal changed the entire tone of the game. But none of that is an informed observation by any stretch.