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Miguel Zenon keeps popping up on both of those discs - I could have sworn I heard him (Don Byron, too), but then said "Nah - I'm imagining things." Amos Hoffman: I've really liked his work with Avishai in the past and will have to see if this one is on emusic.com Despite my comments (how wrong was I?), I'd really like to hear the whole disc. Re. the William Cepeda, I could kick myself. (I have this one, too, but it's been a really long time since I last heard it - obviously.) William is a terrific player - check on YouTube for some live vids; also one with him and a Puerto Rican folkloric dance ensemble. Juan Pablo Torres: ! Gotta get that record! (fwiw, I liked his version of "Four.") Thanks for an interesting and challenging BFT - lots of good material - and for the intro. to Sonny Barbato's playing. (I *like* the accordion!) It's his tone, imo... plus he seems to be the 1st call for a lot of Cuban players who want a clarinetist.

I'll have a go - download, please.

J.A.W. - fwiw, I can understand why you locked that thread, even if only temporarily. Things like that are a very tough call. And: what Jim A. said about thinly veiled personal attacks! It's tedious and has little or nothing to do with the music, or even the historical context of the music, or... (And I am not now, nor have I ever been, fond of Elvis' music.)

I've never liked Elvis myself, but that said... the vitriol here is way, way overdone, imo. (As is the racial aspect, which becomes really ugly in comments like the one about Wagner and concentration camps.) Maybe this thread should be in the "politics" section? (Not that it should be there per se, but the insistence that Elvis = politics and all the stuff about Southern rednecks makes me think that the ax being ground has about zero to do with music.) I honestly have to say that I can understand why J.A.W. temporarily locked this thread...

I think I need to get a copy of "Django's Jungle." Very nice interpretation of the piece in question, and I'm interested in hearing more... (I have one of Guiducci's albums, but it's focused on his reinterpretation of Italian folk themes - this is the 1st I'd heard him play a standard.) Edsel Gomez: [slaps forehead] I have this CD, but it's been a long time since I last listened to it.

HP - no kidding!

the ducks are especially nice! thanks so much for the photos and the kind thoughts.

Disc 2, tk. 6 - is that Joseph Tawadros on oud, by any chance? (if so, I'll have to eat my words re. trendy New Yorkers...)

imo, it's OK, but certainly not essential.

I'm sure that would make all the difference. : )

You know, I've only just started to listen to him, and I like a lot of what I'm hearing, though sometimes I think (rightly or wrongly) that he gets a little gimmicky. I need to give his music some time and not rush to judgment.

I guess I see Brahem's music as being part of his culture - N. African Arabic music, for the most part, mixed sometimes with Turkish music, and sometimes with European as well. So... to me, it has jazz elements at times, but I think the predominant strain is Arabic. However, as you point out, it's possible to see (or should I say hear?) his work in more than one way, from more than one viewpoint. btw, are you familiar with Amir ElSaffar? He's an Iraqi American who plays both jazz and Arabic classical music (Iraqi style, of course ). I really like his piece "Blues in E Half-Flat." (He plays trumpet for his jazz pieces; for classical, he sings and plays santoor.) http://www.amirelsaffar.com/ Edited to add: I think a lot of Rabih Abou-Khalil's music is what I might call "Arabic with a jazz sensibility," or maybe a kind of Middle Eastern-European fusion. (And even South Asian, given some of the sidemen on his earlier CDs, like percussionist Ramesh Shotham.) I guess maybe I would put him a bit more in the "jazz" category due to the fact that he sometimes uses a very "jazz" lineup - saxes, brass, etc. But it's all new music, a kind of fusion - like a lot of Anouar Brahem's discs, though not all. Somehow I feel like he is closer to Arabic classical music, given his technique and the way he writes, though I am certainly no expert on this stuff - it's just how I hear it. But... I'm glad that these folks - and others - are doing what they;'re doing!

Tom, I used to write reviews. That's why some of these discs/cuts ring a bell. fwiw, I've heard Gene Bertonicini live several times and know that he likes to weave some pieces into and out of each other, as here. Kinda gives me an unfair advantage, though I didn't get "On a Misty Night." As for Matt Wilson's playing, I think there's rarely a wasted note, and he's very melodic. If I played kit myself, I'd want to go for a similar sound. (Am a hand percussionist who occasionally uses brushes and lightweight sticks for effects and/or when I'm playing some of the African drums that I like.)

Disc 2, tk 9: Damn - I used to have this album! It's "The Other Side of Ellington," with Matt Wilson on drums, Joel Frahm, ts; David Berkman, p; Ben Allison, bass; Pete McCann, g. I wish I hadn't traded this one away... at the time it came out, there were (it seemed) a kazillion tributes to both Ellington and Strayhorn flooding the record store browsers, and I guess I wasn't listening closely enough. I've heard Matt W. play live - only once, but there were some things on this cut that rang a distant bell. (His use of the toms was one.) Again, really nice cut!

Disc 2 tk 8: is that from a Guillermo Klein album? Something about the way the horn chart is written makes me think that... although the piano solo and the rolls on snare seem like they should be on someone else's album. At any rate, there's some very interesting stuff happening there, although I don't care for those repeated snare rolls. Edited to add: checked my collection - not Klein. Hmmm... Disc 2 tk 6: definitely an oud being played there, although I think it's an American musician, not someone from the Middle East, if only because of the dissonant strumming. Probably someone from NYC; maybe one of the crowd that used to play at Tonic. ; ) Not crazy about the cut overall, but it has its moments.

Thanks for letting me know - it looks like a great deal!

Question: is anyone else short a track for Disc 2? I think tk 10 is missing from the DL, but...

I'm jumping in here very late - lovely sets, Tom! Haven't yet read anyone's replies (except for the one about the title of "Manoir de mes rêves"), but... I think I'm hearing some Enrico Rava and/or Paolo Fresu on disc one (maybe some playing by Richard Galliano as well?). Disc 1, tk 5 is Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, "Moliendo Cafe" (from the album of the same title). He's a favorite of mine - and somehow my iPod's "shuffle" setting coughed this one up a few days ago, or I wouldn't have known it for certain. I love the band (Larry Willis, piano; Andy Gonzalez, bass; Steve Berrios, drums and percussion; Carter Jefferson, ts; I think Jerry also played both congas and trumpet on this recording). My guess on Disc 2, tk. 5, is that the clarinetist is Paquito D'Rivera, but beyond that, am not sure of anything... the vocalist is very intriguing, and I feel like I should know who he is. Edited to add: is that possibly Rudy Calzado? (vcl) (Kind of a wild guess, as i'm not aware of him doing jazz singing before, just Cuban and salsa...) It can't be Rudy. Don't know what I was thinking earlier! Disc 2, tk 9 - is that a Horace Silver tune? D'oh! The tune is "Mount Harissa" from Ellington's Far East Suite, but I have no idea who's playing here. Really nice version; I like the way the percussion is handled. Disc 2, tk 11: "Giant Steps" on nylon-string guitar! Gene Bertoncini, maybe? Very, very nice! I'll be back later, when I've had a bit more time to listen!

Regarding Anouar Brahem... I like some of his albums very much, but I honestly don't consider him to be a jazz artist per se. His music is mostly through-composed, although some of the artists who collaborate with him (like Barbaros Erköse and John Surman) improvise, as does Lassad Hosni (percussionist on his 1st few ECM releases). I heard him live when he was touring on "Astrakhan Café," and I was kind of stunned - it was like sitting there listening to the recording. (I realize that the group may have been tired, but still...) Getting to hear Erköse live was nice, but he does so much more on his own albums (mainly of Turkish Gypsy music - that's his background). Rabih Abou-Khalil and Gilad Atzmon both seem to have much more "jazz" in their approaches, though they are both certainly rooted in Middle Eastern classical, folkloric and pop music. (As well as exploring other approaches, like Balkan brass band music.) As far as African jazz... the term can be very misleading when you start looking at bands with "jazz" in their names (like Ry-Co Jazz), because they're not playing jazz per se, but pop music from their own country/ies. But Guy Warren - a jazz player for sure, though he did many other things, along with other Ghanian musicians of his era. I love highlife music!

I've missed this thread 'til now - many thanks for this rec! I'm curious - do you know if there are 4 discs in this set, or only 3? Amazon lists it as a 3-disc set, and I really don't want to order until I'm certain that both discs from Vol. 3 are included... Ideas?

One more once... Leny Andrade, in a tribute to songwriter Durval Ferreira. The song is "Batida diferente." I love the way Leny puts some soul into it, and she's a terrific scat singer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ic4PNwT_qM

One of my favorite singers, Mônica Salmaso, with the Orquestra Popular de Câmara. (I think the 1st percussionist shown is Guello... he's very in-demand as a session player.) The piece is by a composer from Azerbaijan (Eldar Mansurov). It's called "Bayaty." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zqQeAyZMIw Note: the audio is a little bit weird at times; sounds like the DVR must have picked up some interference from a radio or even another TV show...

I haven't heard anything new that's grabbed me for a while (partly due to less $ available for import CDs), but I thought I might post some videos of a few old favorites... First up, one of the divas of samba during the 70s and 80s, Clara Nunes. The song is "Peixe com coco" (title refers to food) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7DBSr7oifg

Ogden Nash, and i tend to agree with you.

Just to wind this up... Do I think Sondheim is a "pop" songwriter/lyricist? Yes and no; it depends on which show is being referenced. I think some of his shows are a hybrid of opera and Broadway musical, while others are closer to opera. (IIRC, at least one major US opera company has staged "Sweeney Todd"; there are probably other things in his rep that will be taken on by opera companies, given time.) Do I like the song "I Remember" - as well as its companion piece, "Take Me to the World"? Yes, I do. The right kind of performance can make the objections about the lyrics pretty irrelevant. All that said, I can see why some people might not like the lyrics (and the melodies), but the "why" of that seems - to my mind - like a different discussion. (One about the merits or lack thereof of Sondheim's skill as a lyricist and, sometimes, composer - he still works with others on occasion.) If that discussion happens, I'd think it fairest to start with some of his earlier work, like the lyrics for "Gypsy."