SGUD missile

I voted "other" ..because I voted for my own band! The Northwest Prevailing Winds ( CONVERGENCE ZONE _ Origin 82417 ) two Grammy nominations : large jazz ensemble and arrangement aside from that ..I'd vote for The Brookmeyer NAO, Bill Holman, the Jim Mc Neely 10tet, and for more experimental stuff, the Instabile Orchestra .. Maria Schneiders latest CD is her best one so far, IMO ..

Jazz Alley is very nice and features mainly name acts ..and is also quite pricey. For good local stuff, check out Tulas on 2nd Ave and the Triple Door on University and 3rd .. both have websites that show whos playing and good food as well ..

Be sure to check the websites for Tulas, the Triple Door, and All About Jazz/Seattle in addition to the Jazz Alley site.. Buds records in Pioneer Square is a must see place! the food @ Tulas is pretty good ..the food @ the Wild Ginger ( above the Triple Door ) is wonderful! ( if you like Thai /Pan-Oriental stuff )

Good luck with your endeavors! There is no thrill like hearing a big group of musicians play your stuff back atyou the first time! That's one of the main reasons that after almost 40 years as a writer in thecommercial TV/ film business ..I took up writing big band stuff again as a "retiremnt " project ..a hobby actually and also why I recorded ( and paid for ) a CD as well!! as long as there are guys like you that get enjoyment out of the process, the medium will never die, IMO phil kelly www.philkellymusic.com

JS: Approach Farnon a bit differently that as a "pure" jazz arranger ..what Bob has done has covered a very wide span through his 86 years ( and he's just finished his 3rd Symphony ) What Bob is is simply the finest arranger of pop orchestral music in the world ..He's been "stolen " from by all of the best: John Mandel, John Williams, Marion Evans, Torrie Zito, Ogermann, Pat Williams, Morton Stevens, Sandy Courage,plus many many more ( including my self ) NO ONE writes for strings like Farnon ..we all stole from him ..and yes, he can write jazz as well: ( check out TANGENCE w/ J.J. Johnson if you can find it ) For more info, google the Robert Farnon Society for lots of info, recordings , and news !!

One reason I omitted Quincy Jones ( who was an excellent arranger on his own in the 50s/60s for Basie and his own bands ), is that for the bulk of his career, he's become a producer /executive farming out the actual arranging work to guys like Billy Byers ( his main man for years ) , Don Sebesky, Thad Jones, and more recently, Rod Temnperton, Marvin Kibble,Jerry Hey and others .. JS covered the other guys quite throughly ... also: Don't forget the English and other European tradional guys in addition to todays experimentalists: Bob Farnon, Johnny Keating, Laurie Johnson, Claus Ogermann, Rob Pronk ..and again, many others

I think Don Sickler and Sy Johnson are among the writers ( Maybe Bill Kirschner as well ) I'm sure there are others

Having been an arranger my whole working life, I could list many of myfavorites, and all for differing qualities: Certainly Gil Evans and Bill Holman rank very high on my list as well (especially Willis ) Some of my other favorites ( in no particular order ) include: Billy Byers, Marion Evans, Manny Albam, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, John Mandel, Gerry Mulligan, George Handy, Bob Florence, Frank Foster, Rob McConnell, Sam Nestico, Carla Bley,the list is endless .. Of the newer generation : Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, Vince Mendoza, John Fedchock, Gordon Goodwin among them .. then there are the experimentalists: next post ...

actually, since I'm retired and just cut my first big band CD last summer, I found myself actually doing the occasional live gig with the recording crew ..( my first ones in over thirty years , in fact ..) I'd say the best thing is just hearing the band ROAR back at everyone ..and hearing the music LIVE again .. that and (hopefully) an appreciative crowd!

that would go for me as well ..indifference and apathy are high on the list .. also ( as a drummer) continually being told to tone it down ..so we can hear the raging drunks better .. schlepping gear is very on my list of ass pains as well.. might as well toss in sleaze bag clubowners who screw you over about bread ..

Actually, for its' relative size , the Seattle /Tacoma /Portland axis is home to an inordinate number of excellent jazz artists living up here .. BTW: the bulk of the CZ CD was recorded and mixed at a great studio in Redmond WA ( Triad Studios ) that literally backs right up to the main Microsoft campus ..

Heads up to all NW jazz fans! As a fitting postscript to this years Centrum Jazz Festival, Origin Records artists THE NORTHWEST PREVAILING WINDS will appear at the TRIPLE DOOR in SEATTLE on Monday August 2nd . First set is slated for 7:30 PM ( check with the Triple Doorfor any schedule changes ) The NWPW is an all star large jazz ensemble comprised of the A-team of northwest jazz all stars under the direction of Bellingham composer /arranger PHIL KELLY and featuring PETE CHRISTLIEB ( of the Tonight Show band ) on tenor sax , along with NW stalwarts like Jay Thomas, Bill Ramsay, Chuck Deardorf, Garry Hobbs along with many others .. This concert celebrates the first anniversary of the recording of the NWPWs debut CD: CONVERGENCE ZONE ( Origin 82417 ). If you're anywhere in the NW ,and a fan of swinging powerful modern big band jazz along the lines of Woody Herman and Count Basie , you're in for a rare treat hearing these guys LIVE!. (Also, If you so desire, you can check out the sound clips at : www.philkellymusic.com to hear whats in store for you ! ) or for that matter, you COULD pick up the CD there as well! ( plug )

This is right on: what you have along with the "passing chord" is an implied descending countermelody descending chromatically from the D to the B.. try just playing the melody with the descending chromatic line .. then try playing the melody with the descending line altered to: D C# A ( F) G you've just created first species counterpoint!!! some hot shit eh ???

For a short spell about ten years ago, there was a small Thai restaurant in a far north Dallas strip mall named: SUK MUK DIK ..and I once played in a mickey mouse society band led by a Russian violinist named; YUBIN VAKINOV ( and yes, he DID pronounce the first V like a W ..) and in Europe, there IS a soft drink named PSCHYYTT .and pronounced just as you might expect

Any C*********er who's survived a college English lit course ( thereby being exposed to Chaucer and the like ) is well acquainted with terms like: c**t f**k f**t and other dlights that have somehow fallen by the wayside .. a veritable middle english "Deadwood "

When I was on the road many years ago, we had several guys on the band who were chronically late to calls to get on the" iron lung "for the next gig ( usualy due to gross overserving of themselves the night before with one or more substances ) The way we eventually cured this was: When one of the offenders roomates informed us of such a continued stupor thus delaying departure ..we would quietly go upstairs, have the roomie unlock the door, ..and we would sneak in ... .. while I was removing a trashed out cymbal from my bag .. ..which would get summarily get thrown into either the shower or bath tub ..(once heard, a sound never forgotten ) ..an we'd run like hell ( usually with the offender in close pursuit, call us many colorful names ..and usually not fully dressed .. we then would run onto the bus ...and slam the door on the late sleeper .. who upon arriving at the bus , discovering he was locked out of the bus .. ..semi naked .. ..and without a key to get back into his crib ... worked every time!

I'd like to add my welcomto THE Pillar of Flame as well .. ( or if I may be so informal, may I call you POF?? ) and I too, am a drummer ( emeritus: due to Arthur I tizz ) so I now consider my own self sort of a vat of Sterno .. a veritable globule of slowly simmering heat . ( alas, my days of pillaring and flaming are behind me ,but I recall them fondly ..). ...I do think the blow up devices rule howsomeever ..lose the dwarves .. so POF : in what stylistic musical arenae do you prefer to perfornicate your thrashing? jazz? thrash metal surrounded by a rotating drum riser spouting all manner of pyro? funk? chicken wire greasy blues? polkas? Retro Schwing Bands wearing 40s haberdashery? in choiring minds wanna know ..... and do not attempt the BLUE FLAME ..except in a tile bathroom ..with a fire extingusher close by ...

I have some bad news to pass on .. I just got a call from Bill Ramsay to tell me that the great Kenton /Herman bassist Red Kelly died last evening in a Tacoma WA nursing facility after a short battle with cancer. There are as yet no plans for any actual memorial service, however, a benefit to start a jazz scholarship in Reds name is tentatively going to be held at JazzBones in TAcoma WA on Sunday , August 1 ..from 3 to nine PM ..I'm sure many of Reds' friends will show up to send him off musically in great style. Red was a great guy, and a great storyteller ..I'm just glad I got to meet him before he got terribly ill. RIP, Red ..you'll be missed Phil Kelly

Thats a very dangerous malinformed comment, D .. Before my late wife passed on three years back, we were paying about $450 p/m for 1.5K deductible ( each ) insurance in WA state now that I'm over 65, I STILL have to keep a Medicare Supplemnt policy that costs me $212 p/m on TOP of the $66 Medicare takes out ..

:g :tup :g :tup

the TYLENOL ad!!! ..with that absolutely HIDEOUS Philip Glass string quartet screeching away on the audio full blast ( no v/o ).. every time it comes on the toob ( and that's very often ), I almost kill myself trying to mute the TV sound!! OTOH, I must admire the ad people for tying such an excreable piece of musical feces into a headache ad ..its perfect ..but I STILL hate it! any other nomin..ARRRRGHHH ..there it is AGAIN!!!

If anyone out there still has a vinyl LP by the Baird Hersey Big band called "Year of the Ear" ...destroy it immediately before it infects your collection! This is possibly the WORST ROTTEN ASS PUTRID UGLY big band side ever made !!! ...bar none !!! ( IMO , of course ) One listening could cause severe tinnitus ..no shit! Fortunately, I don't think this musical gomer was ever re-released on CD, ..

I just found this thread ,so this is my first contribution: Jim, I just wanted to thank you for the great re-mix you did recently on Terry Gibbs new Mack Avenue project. I was one of the arrangers on the project ( I did the ballads ), and I was wondering what combination of reverb you used to put some much needed perspective and imaging in to the string section overdubs ? ..were the background elements given their own chambers ? I'm sure you are familiar with the initial mix and what you achieved was noticibly better ( there are still several wrong notes here and there, but I realize you cant fix everything ..especially notes buried in a given track) Thanks! Phil Kelly

Big up on the Pres, Hawk, and Bean stuff .. ( Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins , and Ben Webster ..for you younger types ) Also, you might check out some of the Artie Shaw Gramercy Five things, as well as the John Kirby Sextette ..

Being one of the more senior types here i guess, ( 66 ) my experiences and tastes in music are faily wider ranging from so called classical music through jazz and a large portion of R&B (and it's gospel offshoots as well ..) In addition , being a professional musician my entire working life, I've had to learn to at least undertand, perform, and create a lot of music not exactly to my personal taste for financial reasons .. including the many forms rock and roll and country music have taken over the year ..some of which I found I was able to relate to and accept at some level. In addition to the fact that each generation will automatically want to stake out a new aesthetic claim for itself as a part of human nature ..we have to realize the reality that technology has increased the rate of these changes by a logarithmic rate ..in probably another generation ( or less ), the notion of acoustic music and live performances may be a matter for the museums and/or hard core preservationalists in all of the current genres : classical , folk,rock, and jazz. To make matters even more bleak, this same technology has enabled the entertainment BUSINESS ( which doe not operate from any aesthetic mandate ) is accellaterating the gross amount of "stuff" out there ..while the educational system ( by removing almost all education in all the arts and humanities ) is grinding out flotillas of young people with absolutely no experience in determining the actual artistic worth of anything. They accept the ever increasing pile of swill punped out by the BUSINESS gleefully and with shorter and shorter attention spans. Whats my point in all this old fart screed , you ask? It's simply that music , drama, literature and art WILL continue to exist because of the types of people on these boards ..the small minoriity that chooses to think for itself and recognizes the beauty and value in these things .. I'm done now