MartyJazz

The obit from the Associated Press: Saxophonist Michael Brecker dies at age 57 The Associated Press Saturday, January 13, 2007 NEW YORK Michael Brecker, a versatile and much-studied jazz saxophonist who won 11 Grammys over a career that spanned more than three decades, died Saturday at age 57. Brecker died in New York of leukemia, according to his longtime friend and agent, Darryl Pitt. In recent years, the saxophonist had struggled myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer in which the bone marrow stops producing enough healthy blood cells. The disease, known as MDS, often progresses to leukemia. Becker, who had a home in Hastings-on- Hudson, New York, was born in 1949 in Philadelphia and had won 11 Grammys for his work as a tenor saxophonist. He was inspired to study the tenor saxophone by the work of jazz legend John Coltrane, according to his Web site. He and his brothers led a successful jazz-rock fusion group called the Brecker Brothers. Throughout his career, he recorded and performed with numerous jazz and pop music leaders, including Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell, according to the site. His technique on the saxophone was widely emulated and taught. Jazziz magazine once called him "inarguably the most influential tenor stylist of the last 25 years." Though somewhat introverted, his struggle with the blood disease led him to publicly encourage people to enroll in marrow donor programs.

J R Monterose: "Welcome Back, J R"

Aside from "'Round Midnight", of which he did a few versions, e.g. TRIO '65 (Verve), what other Monk tunes did Evans do? I can't think of any and I own quite a few Evans albums.

Don't know but it will be interesting to see if they include the two released takes of "Will You Still be Mine" as per my post (#6) recently in the Discography forum: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=31208

Yeah, it was a "huge surprise" for me too when I acquired that DVD and watched it for the first time. Aside from the fact that this is rare bonus footage, all the other "Live at the Village Vanguard" series DVDs that I've either acquired or seen, e.g., Mal Waldron, Johnny Griffin, etc., don't have any additional earlier era footage. Footage from the '50s and '60s of modern jazz artists always grab me which is why I highly recommend the Jazz Icon DVD series that has recently been released. Great stuff!

Some very good '60s dates in which Pepper appears as a sideman include: Barry Harris: LUMINESCENCE (Prestige) Barry Harris: BULLS EYE! (Prestige) Donald Byrd: AT THE HALF NOTE (Vols. 1 & 2) (Blue Note) Donald Byrd: OFF TO THE RACES (Blue Note) Dizzy Gillespie: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (double CD) (Blue Note) And I highly second the recommendation of Mingus' BLUES AND ROOTS (Atlantic), an album that's a must for any serious collection.

Both discographies fail to note that on the ANGEL EYES session of July 2, 1962, two different takes of "Will You Still be Mine" were done. The mono LP (CL 2348) has a substantially longer and quite different take than the version on the stereo LP (CS 9148). Having owned the stereo LP for many years, I made this discovery when I found a clean mono discard copy at my local library, took it home, and was quite surprised to discover the equally excellent alternate take on the mono LP. The playing time listed in one of the discographies above is for the take on the stereo LP.

Robert Altman and John Sayles are my favorite directors, for different reasons. I think Altman's last great film, one for which he should have won a best director award instead of one of those "let's make up for past oversights" lifetime achievement awards, is "Gosford Park". I've seen it three times and am rewarded with more insight each time I see it. His ability to work with large casts to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts, similar to Sayles actually, is really manifested to full advantage in this whodunit classic. He'll most definitely be missed.

Well, yeah. It was Tony who got Sam the gig (I've heard that Tony & Herbie both were drug - at the time - w/Coleman's more inside approach), & Tony was definitely feelin' Sam on this gig, as was Herbie. But Miles, I don't think was ready yet for Sam. Sam was loose, like you say, and I get the feeling that he was, shall we say, "underwhelmed" to be playing beside Miles. The difference between Sam in this band & Wayne in this band is that with Sam, he came out and laid it all out, and that was that. With Wayne, there was always the sense that there was going to be something more to come (as there indeed would be). And for the way that Miles liked to present his bands (and his life in general...), that sense of more to come (vs. "this is it, deal with it") made Wayne the more fitting long-term choice. But I love hearing Sam on this date. Miles is still playing in a faintly residual "Blackhawk" style (which was in itself a residual '50s style), & then Sam comes in and essentially says get the phuck outta my way with that shit. Very disrespectful. I was very fortunate back in late '74 to have Sam and his wife Beatrice visit my apartment in Brooklyn Heights where we listened to a tape of Sam with Miles in Kyoto, recorded the night after the Tokyo date. At that time, Sam was unaware of the Kyoto tape existence so I was quite pleased to run off an open reel copy for him as we listened to the music. Anyway, to cut the story short, I asked why his stay with Miles was so short, not being at all aware at that time that Miles probably perceived their union as an incompatible one. Sam simply stated that he preferred to hook up with Andrew Hill after the gig with Miles. For myself, I love the music that Sam made with Miles and particularly love the versions of "So What" and the closing "All of You" cut on the Tokyo date.

I have this LP in near mint condition (polyethylene sleeve covering the jacket) with "MGM Records" listed on the bottom circumference of the Verve label and with a looseleaf hole punch in the bottom left corner of the jacket. It indeed is a wonderful record which is why I also have it on CD and would part with the LP for a good price. Another great recorded collaboration which I also have on a Verve LP release ("MGM" again on the bottom part of the label) is the one Tatum did with DeFranco and the same rhythm section as on the Webster. It's a terrific record, one I'm certain that DeFranco is proud to have done. What's that one going for these days?

One thing that was proved in this series is that a baseball team that sits out a whole week as the Tigers did waiting for the NL pennant winner to emerge, can certainly go stale in the process. Actually, the case should now be made that the opening playoff competition should be a best of seven as all the subsequent playoff series are. And that's not just sour grapes from a Yankee fan here who saw his team eliminated early. It makes no sense to play 162 games only to then play what is, in effect, a long weekend series. Hell, the Kansas City Royals proved they could win three games in a short series when they swept the Tigers the last weekend of the season. Winning four of a possible seven is more difficult and more indicative of true superiority. Regardless of whether the season should be shortened if there is fear of the baseball playoffs going into November, but a best of seven for each playoff series really should be instituted. I agree with Dan that the best teams were not represented in this series although I always did think that the Cards were a better all around team than the Tigers despite how poor the Cards' record was this year.

In the past few years when the Yanks were eliminated from World Series competition I could console myself with the thought that the team that beat them then went on to win the whole shebang. But this year, not even close. The Tigers, with the exception of Sean Casey (and I guess, Kenny Rogers if you could overlook the suspicion of pine tar use), were bloody awful in so many ways - at the plate, fielding their positions, running the bases, moving runners over, hitting in the clutch, you name it. Their young pitchers looked and acted as if they had trouble swallowing, more like choking I would say. How the hell couldn't the Yanks beat this team? And of all things, for Jeff Weaver to look like a real gamer! It's enough to make most Yank fans, and certainly this one, positively gag. Congrats to the Cards, they did what they had to do and took advantage of a truckload of mistakes by a team that played horribly.

For a close relative who regularly videotapes the Oscar award programs and who lacks online proficiency, I am seeking a copy of the last such show that Billy Crystal emceed. If nobody here has it, can one of you at least point me to a film buff site where I can make a similar request? Thanks.

Slo mo replay indicates the correct call was made.

With a starting pitching like that, you wonder why the team was barely above .500 that year unless they couldn't score much and relief was blowing games left and right.

I really dislike both teams, and have disliked the Mets for much longer (being a Cub fan will do that) but for the integrity of the game, I think you really have to hope the Mets pull it out. It was bad enough when the Twins went to the WS (and won) with 85 regular season wins, but the Cards going to the Series with 83 wins? There's something deeply wrong if that happens. Hey, stuff happens. Back in '54 before the advent of playoffs, the Giants won the NL pennant with, I believe it was, 88 wins (154 game season). They swept the Indians who had won 111 games. Go figure. BTW, the Yanks came in 2nd in the AL that year with 103 wins, a 667 winning percentage which entitled them to.........nothing.

That was definitely the case with Pepper Adams. I recall sharing a dining booth with Mel Lewis at "The Angry Squire" in NYC sometime during the late '80s at which time he divulged that information. For that gig, Pepper was appearing as the front line member of the Michael Weiss Quartet.

I'll just contribute my belief that Joe should stay. A-Rod should go. Get some young strong arms. Don't re-sign Sheffield and Mussina. Play Melky full time next year and perhaps convert Hideki to a first baseman.

that's exactly it. If Steinbrenner wants Lou, and truly believes that his worst mistake was firing him the last time, then its now or never. Lou will surely be managing somewhere next year, and while the obvious choice is the Yanks, Chicago and Seattle are supposed to be very interested. Might even be a bidding war. Lou says he wants to win a World Series, so who knows? Maybe he'll say "OK, but you gotta promise me A-Rod will be gone before spring training. That guy's the ultimate jinx!" Yeah, I do like Torre and think he should be credited with a terrific job during the regular season when the team lost two major players for most of the season and the pitching rotation was often in a state of shambles. Not to rub it in Dan, but the 5 game sweep at Fenway that catapulted the Yanks to the division win is the one highlight that will always be remembered when recalling this otherwise disappointing season. What could any manager do when celebrated hitters and all stars in the Yankee batting order go into the tank the way they did in Detroit? Second, Yankee pitching was always suspect during the year, the individual ERAs being high enough to warrant concern, especially 17 game winner Randy J's ERA of 5.00! Come the playoffs, that was sufficient for me to have cause for alarm knowing that the Tigers' pitching staff led the majors in team ERA. But George is only interested in the bottom line. Yet should Pinella replace Torre, I must disagree with Ghost of Miles' belief that Lou would want A-Rod gone. They were a good combo in Seattle so I believe Lou would want A-Rod on his team. Torre himself is so disappointed in this team's early demise, he just might welcome an unexpected early retirement.

Yankee fans can only hope and pray. If traded to an American League team, A-Rod may come back to haunt them, but there's no doubt anymore that he is not capable of handling the pressure that comes with playing for the Yanks. I laugh every time an announcer points out how any team would love to have him considering his 35 homers and 120 ribbys this year. I'd like to know how many of those stats came in the late innings of tight ball games. With the exception of one walkoff homer he hit against the Braves this year, whenever I saw him in so many of those situations he tanked.

it is when you beat the Yankees. starting with a come from behind win in NY, after being swept by the Royals and being declared the underdog when they won only two less games than the Yankees in the regular season. Oh, and when it's your first playoff win in 19 years! Totally agree. The Yanks were viewed by all the playoff teams in both leagues as the monster each team would least like to face. Combine the Yanks' formidable lineup with their storied history, and the Tigers have every right to celebrate their justly deserved victory to the max. But as a Yankee fan, I am genuinely shocked because while I know that good pitching will invariably defeat good hitting, the Yanks' performance at the plate was so woeful - three runs in their last 24 innings, all of which occurred after the last game was totally decided - that it appears it would not have mattered who pitched for the Yanks. No team can win with that kind of batting performance. Of course, Rodriguez epitomized their overall futility. And I for one, would be quite happy to see him go, hopefully for a couple of good young arms assuming any team is foolish enough to give up its future for a tremendously overpaid and clutchless (if that's a word) superstar.

Pedro's out for the post season with a bum left calf. Mets will have a rough post season but should still make the WS considering the competition in the NL. In the meantime, anyone catch Daniel Cabrera's gem against the Yanks tonight? He was terrific, not allowing a hit until one out in the ninth (Cano got it). He probably would have had the no-no had his fielders not forsaken him in the 7th, committing two errors compounded by two passed balls allowing the Yanks to score an unearned run. Never heard of Cabrera before but it was obvious that his stuff was electric tonight. He made Giambi, Melki Cabrera and others look very bad striking them out on nasty sliders in the dirt.

I've been buying quite a few commercial jazz DVDs as well as converting a sizable collection of jazz VHS tapes to DVD-R. So I would be interested in a forum that specifically addresses this topic.

Check out Denis Leary and another comic tearing into Mel Gibson while appearing as guests in the Red Sox announcers booth: HERE It's worth a few laughs.

It is the core of it, yes. Everything else builds upon that, including how I appraoch non-musical situations (of which lately there have been quite a few). It's affected who I fell in love with & married (and why), and I can't see that there's anything more "fundamental" than that. It's at the core of everything I believe morally, politically, you name it. Or I guess you could say that those other considerations affect my musical identity. But at this point it's probably a "chicken vs egg" thing. And every musician I've know who's worth a damn in my book is the same way. Not that they always act on their best impulses (Getz would probably be a prime example, as would Mingus, Max, and a gazillion others), but then again, I believe that when there's a "conflict" like that, it's almost always a result of somebody using the music as "therapy", of it being the one place where they can be who they truly want to be, and would be if only they could. In the beginning was The Word, Sound. Logos. Vibration, You name it. You betcha "sound" matters, and anybody who would treat it so cavalierly as to blatanly steal somebody else's and think it's "cool" is not somebody I want to get too close to, whether it's meeting them on the street or just listening to their records. That's some seriously weird shit right there, and I don't want any part of it. They may think it's perfectly innocent fun, but if an innocent child kills its parents because they think it's "fun", does that result in any less damage? Evil works in all kinds of ways and through all kinds of people. That's just me, though. We really probably don't want to pursue this too much further, because I don't want to give the impression that I think that anybody who enjoys this kind of thing is an accomplice to evil, or any shit like that. I don't think that at all. We take our fun where we find it, and lord knows I enjoy some pretty suspect crap myself. But I do think that anybody who regularly plays in a manner such as that is treading on very, very dangerous ground. I find myself understanding and agreeing with you on this master originality vs. slavish/sycophantic imitation subject which is why I expressed a negative reaction to the BFT cut that spawned this subthread. But then I put on a Supersax recording and can't help but thoroughly enjoy all those saxes playing Bird's solos note for note in unison. So what's the answer? (A rhetorical question to be sure which need not be answered).