papsrus

Have a happy birthday! Eat cake!

Here's what's currently on order, or on the way via trades, at my house: Mary Lou Williams -- Zoning Thelonious Monk - Genius of Modern Music Vol. 2 Clifford Brown - The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings Herb Robertson - Certified Evan Parker/Phillipp Wachsmann/Hugh Davies/Eddie Provost - 888 Al Cohn, Zoot Sims – You ‘n’ Me Art Farmer – Sing Me Softly of the Blues Ike Quebec – Blue and Sentimental Sonny Rollins – Freedom Suite Stanley Turrentine – Salt Song Anthony Braxton -- Complete Arista Recordings (Mosaic) Lee Konitz -- Lee Konitz With Warne Marsh Lee Konitz -- Spirits Carla Bley and her Remarkable Big Band - Appearing Nightly Miles Davis - Round Midnight John Coltrane - Blue Trane Excited about all of these, but particularly eager to listen to the Williams, and the Monk of course. Very much looking forward the the Brown box set as well. Getting that in a trade. And finally, aside from the Braxton Mosaic, the thing I'm probably most looking forward to listening to is this new Carla Bley big band album. That'll be a whole new thing for me.

That will be a great disc. I have a live recording of this: and they're a truly great band. Yes, I went on a bit of a binge and got that one as well. A very creative and unique band. My introduction to them was Jazz Trash, which I have on MP3 but need to get a CD copy of. Great set of muisc. I was a bit nonplussed by Quiet Music on the whole, frankly, although it does sparkle in spots. The vocalizations of Jessica Constable take some getting used to on that one. Anyways, I wanted to dig into some of the earlier stuff by these three simply because I found the instrument combination so intriguing -- risky, in a way; uncharted. And Eskelin is one of the most creative tenor saxophone players around, IMO.

Doubt we'll see him again this year. At the time of the surgery they were saying at best he'd be able to come back as a pinch runner in the playoffs. No way he gets his swing back in time now, I don't think. Not after hand surgery. My question is, why didn't they bring this Fernando Perez guy up sooner -- like, as soon as Crawford went down. And, they coulda used this kid to put a little more pressure on Upton when he was lollygagging in August.

Actually, I have some qued up for the car tomorrow: Live in Seattle Transition Expression Be sure to fasten your seatbelt. I will, because I'm taking the Sun Ship to Interstellar Space next!

Actually, I have some qued up for the car tomorrow: Live in Seattle Transition Expression Be sure to fasten your seatbelt.

BoSox clinch, and eliminate Yankees

Nice. Think I'll fire up Crescent when I get home.

Aw, I know. As the kids like to say, It's all good.

Goo Gone. I'm gonna git me some!! Thanks.

It's a sculpture by Australian artist Ron Mueck. He's got other big sculptures besides this one. It is creepy, isn't it? He should rig it so the eyes pop open every now and then. ... or some little facial twitches. Now THAT would be frightening!

And those stickers plastered all over Columbia/Legacy's cd's. Those big square yellow ones in particular (those gold Miles stickers are ok to get off) whose glue comes right off the sticker and stays on the jewel case-WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS TO GET THAT FRICKIN' GLUE OFF THE CASE I've stopped trying to peel those stickers off. Easier just to buy a box full of empty jewel cases and move the booklets, covers, disc, etc., into those.

What happened? ... Where am I?

Hey now! ... See Diamondbacks (entered MLB with Rays), and Marlins. We gave you Josh Hamilton, for cryin' out loud. You're on your own after that. ... Seriously now, I really like the Rangers. If they could get a couple of stud starters, some long relief, some middle relief, a lights-out closer and sprinkle a lefty or two the mix, they might be dangerous.

I'll have what he's having.

I'm ready to go stick my head in a vat of fudge.

Hah! Doesn't take much for you guys to get a hard-core jones going. My wimpy cinnamon toast recipe never stood a chance ...

CINNAMON TOAST 1 c. sugar 1-2 tbsp. cinnamon Buttered toast Mix cinnamon and sugar in small container with perforated top. Mixture keeps well indefinitely if wax paper is tied over top. Sprinkle mixture over hot buttered toast. Place under oven broiler. Heat until sugar bubbles and browns. I think the 1 c. sugar means 1 cup sugar? Seems like a lot. I'd always just mixed the cinnamon, sugar and butter together to make a paste, tasting along the way to make sure it's ok.

I'm going to stand by that gutsy choice! Congrats Paps! Now, get some fans in those seats, will ya??? Going to see some games???? Oh, I see searching for this post, that It Should be You predicted they would get in the playoffs via the wildcard, so pretty good to be that close to the truth! I was trying to decode the playoff schedule at CBSportsline last night. ALDS A and ALDS B ... not sure which is which, and have to see where the Rays finish first (did I say finish first? ... heh heh). I'll do my darndest to get to at least one game. I remember reading your third-place prediction at the start of the year and thinking you were being optimistic, which you were, actually. It Should Be You should be commended, and all future wagering funds should be sent to him. ...

Nice writeup GA. I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm sure it'll kick me into investigating Bley with an eye toward her big band efforts, especially. But I'll check back in here after I've given this one a listen or two. Sound samples were really nice! Thanks again!

Here you go, paps! http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=46561 Thanks GA

I stumbled across this one today -- Carla Bley and Her Remarkable Big Band "Appearing Nightly" The sound samples from this apparent new release are tremendous. Having no familiarity with Bley or her big band work at all, I did not hesitate to grab this one immediately after listening.

Thanks for posting that Bev. I'd be curious to know how your students might react to Dixon's recollections, if you use them in class. I got a kick out of these quotes near the end:

They haven't yet. They will, but they only clinched a spot in the playoffs. Anyone else hoping that if Boston wins today, then if Baltimore comes through, we could see the final out at Yankee Stadium coincide with the final out of their season as post-season competitors? I couldn't think of a better way to see the old building out. I'm with you there. ... and yeah, Rays in the postseason, who'd-u-thunk? Despite the fact that they've shown they can handle the big dogs, I have no feeling one way or the other how they might perform with the heat turned up in the playoffs. They could just as easily run the table as tank right out of the gate. But with Maddon at the wheel, the optimism is pretty high. Slam-dunk manager of the year, yes? Anyways, they sure have been a fun team to watch all season. Will that same aggressiveness serve them well in the postseason? That's a big question. And you have to have some real concerns about their young starting pitching as well -- Kazmir in particular has just really struggled all season with his focus, and seems to have gotten worse rather than corrected things as the season's gone along. Still can't get out of the fifth inning -- and that's a GOOD outing for him now. And Garza can be easily rattled at times, too. But they're young, basically, like most of the rest of the team, so you just don't know. As far as Percival goes, I can barely watch the guy "close" anymore. That is one area they are going to have to address in the off-season. And one area where, even if everything else falls into place, they could get bitten in the ass in the playoffs. The ride continues for now ...

As a general rule, I've given up on general rules when it comes to listening. But I would assume that I'm not alone when I say that I don't listen to Chet Baker, for instance, because I want to push the boundaries of my listening. I listen to Baker because I want to be warmly comforted. Nothing wrong in that. I'm not reaching for Anthony Braxton as after-dinner music while I curl up with my lady, that's for sure. At the same time, listening to more challenging music does open up doors that allow the listener to hear and appreciate things "within" the music in new and (we might say) more meaningful ways. Something as simple as understanding and recognizing polyrhythm, for example, allows the listener to perhaps understand the conversations taking place among the musicians in a new and deeper way. This sort of thing is not something that happens without paying a certain degree of "attention" to the music, a degree of attention that goes beyond pure enjoyment. We might even call it "study" (gasp!). I don't think it simply happens by osmosis, although I could be completely wrong there. Then again, it seems obvious that once you come to understand certain complexities or details of anything, including music, you do simply "enjoy" it on a base level without having to think about it -- a more pure pleasure, in other words. ...