Spontooneous

The other night, a piano player had me chuckling at his quotes from "Mean to Me," "Sunday" and "Love in Bloom." But the people around me weren't responding. Not much knowledge of pop tunes from those times, I guess. After the set, I mentioned to the piano player, who's a few years younger than I (I'm 45), that people didn't seem to be getting his quotes of tunes from the '20s and '30s. "Is that what those were?" he said. Turns out he doesn't know those tunes. He learned the phrases he quoted when they were quoted in other people's solos.

Sure, bad covers on bad records are fun... But let us not forget the most appalling cover ever placed around a damn fine record:

Coincidence: Yesterday, "Total Package" was the disc I pulled out of the great big stack of unplayed stuff. I was taken aback by the intensity of Ricky's playing. (And his intonation seemed to be better than I remembered from the Muse dates.) I'm thrilled with this disc.

Nothin' wacko about it. The man knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Hear his musical "Big River," based on "Huckleberry Finn." It has enough elegance, class and focus to be Richard Rodgers, but it's pure Miller.

"I'm a revisionist all right. I'll never let them forget it."

Another vote for those first two Ekaya discs. The Abdullah/Carlos Ward combination was magical, every time, all the time.

Dammit, I miss John Carter. One more vote for Perry Robinson here.

Me, I'm Sweet Skull Cruncha. Got that right, G.

I never meant to lie about my age, but three times since my recent 45th birthday I've caught myself telling people I'm 44. I'm in denial.

Say no to segregation.

Another fashion faux pas comes to us from Miroslav Vitous...

About 50 Classics for me. Want many more. Yes, I do carry a list of what I have.

OK, this inspires another question: How many times did Columbia commit live-album fraud, dubbing in applause between studio tracks? We know about this JJ album, Ellington at Newport '58, and for that matter the fake applause on Ellington's Jazz Party. Other examples? And what examples of this deception on other labels are out there?

Bu and the boys want in on that possum huntin' action...

(But they must not be as good as this "Paul McKee" guy, 'cause he gets TWO nights in October and they only get one.)

They're also coming to Kansas City. Blue Room, Oct. 16. Hint hint to all my KC friends.

Whatever happened to that thread where everybody was complaining about Ron McMaster's light bulbs?

Up, because I just heard this for the first time and I'm experiencing the same enthusiasm. Gotta go play it again.

So the paper printed something that pissed off the mayor, and he retaliated?

(Sooner or later I expect to hear somebody say 'asted.' And when they do, I will try to control my rage.)

('Ast' is rapidly becoming the standard pronunciation of 'ask' around Kansas City. Aren't you sorry you ast?)

Can I ast you a question?

I have recently crossed another line. I just discovered that I've mistakenly bought the same disc of chamber music by Erwin Schulhoff not twice, but three times.

I saw her first. She's mine.

The deeper I listen to this one, the bigger and badder it gets. What a set!