Kari S

Or how about "Seinfeld"??

CALIFORNIA GAMES... B3-er, are you familiar with emulators? Basically every single console, arcade and computer imaginable has an emulator these days with almost every game released available on the internet. The problem is, that at least those C64 emulators I've tried are a bit hard to use. For arcade games, that M.A.M.E thing somebody mentioned is the best, it emulates probably hundreds of games, some even up to this day. Two great C64 sites, the best IMO: - Lemon64 - has info on all the games, plus screenshots, adverts and the best of all, music! - C64.com - download the games here

Yes, that was pretty funny. I bought that new record and like it--well, Andre's side anyways--but doesn't anyone else think it sounds too much like a Pro Tools/synth record? I miss the days of dusty soul samples. [sigh...] Yeah, I do. And why do they have to use the cheesiest and corniest of all the synth patches? Like that tune "Ghettomusic" on Big Boi's disc - hideous. What do think of Andre's vocal and instrumental harmonies? I feel they're sometimes quite off the mark. I'll say again what I said earlier in this thread, 'Dre's disc was obviously influenced by Prince, with the exception that Prince did it better. IMHO.

Dude, you gotta change your avatar, man...

I highly, highly recommend this movie: "Shaolin Soccer", a comedy from Hong Kong starring Stephen Chow. Miramax has the rights to it and plans to release in the States this year, although probably cut, maybe even dubbed. In fact, even the American trailer was quite silly. Since it was released already back in 2001, it's been available on DVD for quite a long time. Do yourself a favor and buy it directly from Hong Kong: DDDHouse.com. The cost? About $14 including airmail shipping. A lot of people are probably selling it on eBay as well, but don't pay more than that, it's a brand new copy. It's BTW illegal to buy it in the States (!) because Disney has the rights to the movie...

Whatever is that most recent disc by Outkast, it seems to be on EVERYBODY'S year-end list. I mean, the Kansas City Star just did a "year in music" feature in last Friday's entertainment section, and they talked to 15 or 20 local music officiandos, and I think 75% of them had the Outkast disc on their lists. It's a double cd called "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below". Talk about being one of the most hyped cds of the year. Outkast consists of two people, Big Boi and Andre Benjamin aka Andre 3000 (...these rap names, sheesh ). The first disc is quite straightforward hip hop and the second cd is a mix of psychedelic rock/pop and soul. There's even a version of "My Favorite Things", kind of like the Trane version but with a drum'n'bass beat. And with crappy solos, naturally. I've listened to both cds once, and quite frankly don't get what all the fuss is about. There's maybe a couple of ok tracks on both cds. That Andre Benjamin guy has been compared to Prince. An obvious inspiration for him, with the exception that Prince can sing and write great songs (or at least he used to.)... But as far as originality and creativity go, Outkast are definitely one of the tops, no doubt about it. For Tjazz I'd suggest that you start with these following; these artists are some of the most high praised and creative. "Old school": - A Tribe Called Quest (disbanded, recommended!) - Guru & DJ Premier - Mos Def More recent - Nas - Tupac Shakur - Outkast - Common - The Roots (recommended!)

Well, I'd say that Guru and the guy who makes his beats (Dj Premier) are one of the more creative artists in hip hop. Plus there's people like Donald Byrd, Hancock and Branford in there. --- Back to the topic... In mainstream hip hop today, the current trend seems to be - instead of samples - that very scarse and basic production style of "The Neptunes" (Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo), who have produced that Kelis track in question (it sounds like it anyway, I'm not sure). But I think that has also gone a bit too simple for its own good - there weren't even any chords in that track, just a drum beat, the vocal and some synth riff. And to comment to that what B3-er said, I thoroughly agree. Like you said, it requires no craft what-so-ever, and the worst thing is - that stuff sells like ice cream in hell and the guys producing/rapping over it are millionares overnight. Well - I'm glad it now seems that the era of mainstream pop-hip hop is winding down a bit. There's only so much you can say about pimps, the booty and ho's. (Or so I thought!) By the way B3-er and others who are fed up with mainstream-R&B, you should check out this young guy called Donnie (website here). The guy sings like that another Donny and Stevie combined, but he also writes proper songs. I bought his debut cd, "Colored Section" and was glad I did.

Some quotes from his website biography: "He simply drew from artists he admired - from Herbie Hancock, Tower of Power, Miles Davis, to The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - combined those influences, simmered slowly and somehow discovered a sound that has withstood the test of time." "My group, Grover Washington, Jr. and Spyro Gyra crafted more of a synthesis of jazz, R&B and latin rhythms where melody was as, if not more, important than wailing solos and hardcore chops."

Happy B-Day! Here's a special treat for your peculiar sense of humor: Movie clips of Japanese ads with western celebrities...

Of himself or the dolls?

Link There's something seriously frightening about that guys facial expression on the second picture...

Don't forget the Stonehenge stage set! B) ...yeah, and the whole show is performed on ice. But seriously folks, have I've been listening to the wrong Santana records (probably...), or am I alone in saying that Santana hasn't really been...such a good guitar player? I mean he seems to play the same (limited) solo on every tune and always ends up playing those bended high notes. OK, so does every other rock guitarist... I hear what y'all are saying about reinterpreting "classic" works and all that, but to me, "revisiting" ALS seems pointless. Especially for a man of such limited imagination, musical vocabulary and, well, technique. Branford Marsalis has studied/listened to that album for years, yet I felt his take on it didn't bring anything substantially new to it. Granted, some of the earlier Santana records like Lotus are great, but for example that McLaughligh/Santana collaboration where they played the title track to ALS was quite horrific IMO. Especially Carlos' part...

Whoa! Settle down - so many questions, so little time... The VSOP double-cd gets my thumbs up. To me, every band there plays great. I especially dig the Mwandishi part because they play "Toys" - great tune. The only problem with the concert is that Hancock plays that crappy Yamaha Electric Grand instead of an acoustic one. It sounds so bland. I just can't help but smile everytime they kick off "Hang Up Your Hang Ups", though... I also think that the Tempest In The Colosseum album is a bit better than L.U.t.S. (!). I especially dig the version of "Red Clay" they play. Furious! Where did you read that the trio date will be reissued? I have actually heard only a few tunes from those. I haven't yet imported them, so this is great news. In addition to Third Plane, there's also a Carter album called 1+3 featuring also Hancock and Williams. I'd like to hear that as well, it's on Milestone also.

The horns theme in clips 2 & 3 is not from Sextant, it's re-used in the tune "Actual Proof" from Thrust (1974). At least parts of it. Although Herbie sure is pounding that Clavinet, I'll have to agree with CJ on this that there's too much sound effects and dialogue cluttering the music. But being the HH completist and enthusiast that I am, I'll probably get this anyway... The "Death Wish" ost JSngry mentioned is IMO rather poor - besides the title track which is a seriously grooving piece of music. BTW, here's some more info on the movie.

Hey what's that Blakey's Anthenagin like?

TDK issued this in Europe in 2002, I bought it then, it's the same disc with a different cover (picture here). It's a great gig, everybody seems to be enjoying themselves. The songs, L's Bop, Why Wait and Guernica (+Corea's 500 Miles High), are actually from an album called "Griffith Park Collection" which was apparently finished just before this performance (Lenny White mentions this). Hubbard is on that album. Chaka is featured on "Echoes Of An Era".

Jimmy Smith: "Sit On It" Cheesy or sexy? You decide... Also features (a great life anthem) "Give Up The Booty"...

If you want to record the interview on your computer's hard drive, you need to find somewhere an audio recording software like Cool Edit Pro or Soundforge. The latter one is commercial, though, but I'm sure free ones exist that do the job. My computer records all audio when I just press "record" in Soundforge. So if I'm listening to an audio stream for example, I can record it with the software by just pressing the record button. Don't ask me why/how it does this, though...

Well, the (hybrid-)SACD version is the one to get if you decide to do so. I don't know about the US version, but the great bonus track I mentioned is included at least in the UK and Japanese versions. Jason Rebello's very "Kirkland-ish" piano solo on "Never Coming Home" can also be heard completely on the SACD version. It's faded out on the regular one.

Anyone heard this? Comments? I bought the UK version, which has one bonus track "Like A Beautiful Smile". It's the best track... It's some "vintage Sting" with a definite 80's "Dream Of The Blue Turtles"-ish vibe. Jazzy harmonies, but being very funky and catchy at the same time. The rest of the album feels like he's desperately needed to finish the album as quick as possible, and that he's run out of fresh ideas. At least half of the tracks either are literally based on some of his old songs or are reminiscent of songs on the previous album. He's even written a new melody on "Bring On The Night". That was the song the late Kenny Kirkland always played his piano solo on live (or the funky part, from another song). The first track, "Inside", is great. Although I'm not sure about the rant he has at the end of the song ("annihilate me, infiltrate me, incinerate me, accelerate me, mutilate me etc." - this goes on & on). And although I generally despise Mary J. Blige, the tune on which she sings is also quite good.

By the way, you can listen to a few full tracks from the album at http://www.sonictrance.com.

Well, I guess it was "due" for Payton's entry to the realms of elecric Miles. I'm using quotes because it seems that every trumpeter is obliged at some point in their career to make an electric Miles influenced album. In Payton's case, maybe it had something to do with [Payton] signing to Warner. Although hardly an original concept, I think I'll give this a go, since I did enjoy Dave Douglas' Freak In. From what I've heard, Hargrove's album is much more "commercial" than this, with an emphasis on soul more than jazz. But you'd think that by this time people like Payton or Hargrove would have a more original take on electric/electronic jazz/jazz-electronica, because what they're doing does not really differ that much from what Miles was doing on On The Corner. Hell, some of those drum patterns DeJohnette played could easily pass as today's drum'n'bass beats!

Hey sorry about the multiple threads I started :winky: - I kept getting this "mail error" or something, and just tried to re-post...

For some reason, the latest batch of non-Japanese CTi reissues are released only in the UK. I noticed that some of these titles have been previously issued (at least I think they were). Here's the list: - Stanley Turrentine - "Don't Mess With Mr. T" /w bonus tracks - Stanley Turrentine - "Salt Song" - Patti Austin - "Havana Candy" - Ray Barretto - "La Cuna" - Ron Carter - "Blues Farm" - Paul Desmond - "Pure Desmond" /w bonus tracks - Paul Desmond - "Skylark" - Astrud Gilberto - "Gilberto With Turrentine" /w bonus tracks - Hubert Laws - "In The Beginning" - Milt Jackson - "Sunflower" - Freddie Hubbard - "First Light" /w bonus tracks - Nina Simone - "Baltimore" - Jeremy Steig - "Firefly" - Esther Phillips - "Black-Eyed Blues" /w bonus tracks - Gabor Szabo - "Macho" /w bonus tracks

For some reason, the latest batch of non-Japanese CTi reissues are released only in the UK. I noticed that some of these titles have been previously issued (at least I think they were). Here's the list: - Stanley Turrentine - "Don't Mess With Mr. T" /w bonus tracks - Stanley Turrentine - "Salt Song" - Patti Austin - "Havana Candy" - Ray Barretto - "La Cuna" - Ron Carter - "Blues Farm" - Paul Desmond - "Pure Desmond" /w bonus tracks - Paul Desmond - "Skylark" - Astrud Gilberto - "Gilberto With Turrentine" /w bonus tracks - Hubert Laws - "In The Beginning" - Milt Jackson - "Sunflower" - Freddie Hubbard - "First Light" /w bonus tracks - Nina Simone - "Baltimore" - Jeremy Steig - "Firefly" - Esther Phillips - "Black-Eyed Blues" /w bonus tracks - Gabor Szabo "Macho" /w bonus tracks