MartyJazz

Add the fact that Jeter is striking out more often than I'm customarily used to - see the way he totally failed to at least move Gardiner to 3rd with no outs last night - and this series is becoming an exercise in total Yankee bat futility. Also, I love the way Tex plays 1st base, but when, if ever, is he going to learn to hit a two strike curve ball? He's become an automatic out with two strikes as long as the pitcher can get an off speed pitch over any part of the plate.

As bad as tonight's game was and that the Yanks are now down 2-1, I think Girardi should still go with AJ tomorrow night as much as I can't stand to see him pitch. One, JG already stated the guy is to start Game 4. Two, AJ is being paid royally to be a Yankee. Three, see if AJ can regain his past effectiveness in a clutch game. Four, if he screws up (as I expect), do everything you can to get rid of him prior to next season. Five, a loss and the Yanks are still alive having to win 3 straight in order to advance, but at least they have their top three starters going with full rest.

Jim, I understand the troubled-Texas-legacy issue, but still, I’d rather lose the way they did last night than the way the Yankees did today. Last night Texas lost because of one abysmal half-inning. NY lost today because they were dominated inning after inning…pretty much the way they were last night, with the exception of that 8th inning. Texas has outhit and outpitched us, and we’re extremely lucky to be leaving town tied 1-1. I don’t like losing close games, but I hate like hell just getting beat up for several hours straight. The only thing the Yankees can be proud of is their bullpen performance--and they got their workout because NY's starters were so awful. Gutcheck time for NY on Monday night the way it was for Texas today. Pettitte on the mound, at Yankee Stadium—they have got to beat Cliff Lee. Screw this “win four around Lee’s starts” notion (and anyway, by those lights we’ve now given away our one non-Lee loss). And congratulations again to the Rangers for showing up in a big way today. Well, at least it’ll be a pleasure to watch Lincecum-Halladay, after two such embarrassing outings from the Yankee starters. I don't understand your thinking at all. It's much better psychologically for players as well as fans to get blown out like the Yanks did today, than to lose like the Rangers did last night, blowing a five run lead. Today, I saw that Hughes didn't have it and that the Yanks could hardly get a clutch hit, and I was out of there after four or five innings. Just a forgettable game, we'll get 'em next time (I hope). But to be up by five and to watch your team melt in the late innings, that truly is aggravating for any fan and very disheartening to the players on the losing team.

With all the heat the umps have been taking during these playoffs, I'd just like to point out two bang-bang calls they got right during the Yanks' thrilling win last night. 1) Sabathia's wild pitch with the bases loaded that hit the wall and then caromed back to Posada enabling him to flip the ball to CC just in time to tag Cruz on the left shoulder just as his feet were about to slide across the plate. 2) Gardner's hustle play where his slide into first just beat Wilson's foot to the bag. The umps mess either one of those up and the Yanks are most likely down a game. And unfortunately, they have erred on easier calls than those two during these playoffs.

As I've said before - send him home for the rest of the post season. AJ has been officially been named game four starter by the Yankees -- good luck on that one, Ghostie, David, and Paul. I wonder if the Yanks are down in games 3-0 to the Rangers, or even 2-1, if Girardi will stick with A.J. in Game 4. He's not only completely unreliable and frequently simply awful this year, but the batting order is also hurt by having Cervelli in place of Posada. Guess Posada can always DH in place of Berkman or Thames, but that's a bit risky.

One of the hits was Austin Kearns. Too bad he wasn't hurt enough to be knocked out of the ALCS. If I see him once more take two perfect strikes and then swing at a lousy pitch for strike 3, I just might lose it.

Last night watched the DVD of A SINGLE MAN with Colin Firth in an Oscar nomination role, and my wife and I were startled at one point in the film by the power of James singing "Stormy Weather" on the soundtrack.

Michael Weiss could probably answer that money question. I recall seeing Michael lead a quartet that included Pepper Adams at the Angry Squire sometime in the late '80s. (Memorable night, Mel Lewis came in with a friend and asked if he could sit down with me and my wife since we were seated in a booth that could fit four).

THE Gerald Wilson!!!! In 1939, no less. Wow, again. As for my impressions of the Lunceford band as not being "clean" or "precise", I stand corrected and have some re-listening to do. In any event, "Belgium's Stomp" is a marvelous track.

I'll be damned! As I said, I thought Lunceford initially but again, I thought it was too clean and beyond swing era to be him. Wow, definitely would like to know the title and the date of this track.

OK, Michael, track #7 is "Personage - Wes" from Buddy Montgomery's THE TWO-SIDED ALBUM (Milestone LP), with Joe Farrell (ts), Harold Mabern (p), Ron Carter (b), Billy Hart (d) and Montego Joe (congas). And you're right, it is a very good album. Has it been released on CD?

Wish the timing could have been better for me. I was in NYC two weekends ago (my dear father's death but that would not have deterred me from taking a break to dig excellent piano trio jazz). I was wondering however if you got to meet or reacquaint yourself with Ms. Merrill. Always wondered about what she's like, for she is not known at all outside of the jazz world and even among jazz lovers, she's very much an acquired taste.

Same here, 'cause Grif is usually very readily identifiable, he really had his own sound whereas Grossman was more derivative (Trane early, Newk later). Am also chagrined because there is simply no excuse - I own the damn CD!

Second track driving me crazy also. At first, I thought Lunceford, but much too clean and beyond big band swing to be that. Boyd Raeburn? Track #3: Very Bud Powell-esque, but totally unfamiliar with this track which makes me suspect otherwise. But I'm stuck at Bud. Track #5: I think I should know this pianist, I hear a bit of a Jamal influence, but it's not him and I just cannot guess with any confidence. Track #6: Chart sounds very Sun Ra-like but I don't think Ra himself could ever play with that kind of facility. Track #7: Sounds somewhat familiar, Buddy Montgomery on vibes? Can't place the tenor. OK, will listen some more next time I get in the car.

I just took a cursory listen in the car after retrieving the disc from the mailbox and wow this isn't easy. I did spot Lucky Thompson (was it track 4?) doing "Why Do I Love You?" from an early '60s Prestige session, I think Hank was on piano. Re the opening "Tiger Rag" track, I'll take a stab at Buster Bailey. OK, will listen some more and hopefully come up with more definitive answers or at least, educated guesses.

Does any Yankee fan here seriously think that this team is going all the way this year? I don't see how. Aside from CC, starting pitching is practically at the nightmare stage. Pettite is not quite back, Hughes is a 5-6 inning starter at best and by no means a lock to even do that, AJ stands for "absolute joke", Vasquez should only be used in mop-up duty along with that other wonderful reliable, Chad Gaudin, and Ivan Nova is aptly named, i.e., "no go" after the first go-around with an opposing line-up. I know it's easy to simply pick teams with the best records, but I really think that the Rays and the Phils are the class of their respective leagues so I expect a repeat pairing of the 2008 Series.

I recall reading David Mamet's BAMBI VS. GODZILLA, a collection of essays about the movie business, wherein Mamet has the temerity to make the case that, in his view, Tony Curtis was a better actor than Lawrence Olivier. He wasn't kidding and it makes for highly enjoyable reading. For myself I always enjoyed Curtis (aside from "Some Like it Hot", I loved him with Lemmon in "The Great Race") and it didn't hurt that he, formerly known as Bernie Schwartz, came from my neighborhood, the lower East Side of NYC.

Excellent suggestion, I listen to this stuff repeatedly and never tire of the magnificent trumpet "battle" between Fats and McGhee on "Double Talk". Fabulous two disc set. I would add, of course, master take CD sets of all the Bird Savoy and Dial material.

About the RISP situation, if I see Austin Kearns come up in that context again, I just might turn off the set. He looks at legit strikes, swings futilely at balls out of the strike zone and never gets pinch hit for. And how often does he attempt to check his swing and fail to do so? Just awful. Hopefully, he'll be gone next year.

A disc would be great!

I recall first seeing a Chabrol film over 30 years ago, Une partie de plaisir ("A Piece of Pleasure" since retitled "The Pleasure Party", I believe) and was haunted by it for days afterwards. Always found his films challenging, occasionally enigmatic, and certainly one does not seek out a Chabrol film in order to feel comfortable. And of course, having occasion to view Stephane Audran in many of his films was always a treat. RIP.

I don't know about "left field apesh*t", but definitely his ability to take it out and come right back in is most indicative of quite a few of his great solos. I'm running over in my head now a couple of pieces of his that have always killed me, "Jinrikisha" from his very first Blue Note-led session, PAGE ONE, and the version of "Blue Bossa" from LIVE IN JAPAN. He was great, and I think despite all the recognition he received during his later Verve period, still somewhat under-rated.

I was fortunate to know Joe Henderson back in the early '70s when I lived scarcely two blocks from him in Brooklyn Heights, NY, the period before he permanently moved to the west coast. I ran into him on Montague Street one day, recognized him, introduced myself as a fan, and invited him to dinner at my apartment, a 4th floor walkup nearby. Fortunately I was living at the time with a dynamite Italian young woman who cooked exceptionally well. Joe, for some strange reason that he couldn't adequately explain (but that I could later guess at having become aware of his personal demons), showed up quite late, stating that he had trouble finding the apartment, but he did bring a copy of his most recent LP, "Black is the Color" which he autographed "To Marty and Karen, Musically Yours, Joe Henderson", which of course I still own. I recall that I played a few of his sides and that he particularly asked to hear "Search for Peace" from McCoy's THE REAL McCOY album, noting that it was his favorite ballad performance. I then played his take on "It's a Lazy Afternoon" from Steve Kuhn's BASRA LP, stating that it was my favorite Henderson ballad. He also expressed interest in hearing two of his compositions that Pepper Adams played on the latter's ENCOUNTER LP. Obviously, it was a great evening. Thereafter I did get to visit his apartment on one occasion as he was interested in copping a cassette copy of the privately recorded Horace Silver broadcasts that he was featured on (since issued on both LP and later, CD). Another personal highlight of Joe occurred around '74 at the defunct "JazzBoat" club on Avenue A on the lower east side in Manhattan when I went to see him and he invited me to sit down with him between sets so that he could introduce me to McCoy Tyner who had stopped in. My only negative recollection of Henderson concerns the fact that of the only two times that I've ever showed up to a club in which the featured attraction did not show up, it was Henderson both times. Once at Slug's around '72 or so when he had a group that included Pete Yellin, Curtis Fuller, Hal Galper, etc. who played the gig without him and later around '79 or so at 7th Avenue South when his rhythm section that featured JoAnne Brackeen would not play at all. I remember that Mal Waldron was in town and sat at his table nursing a drink just like the rest of us who were stood up. Memories.......

I've got a bottle of this:

Glad you said that. I recall an evening around '91 or so at the Village Vanguard where Connick appeared with a trio, did not sing at all (disappointing more than a few present who evidently had come to hear him sing), and played convincingly in a style that reflected a few pianistic influences, including chiefly, Monk. I was sitting with Sue Mingus (that's another story) and we both enjoyed two sets. But to get back to the topic, while not a big fan of male jazz vocalists (certainly NOT Elling, and I've never really dug Jon Hendricks), I did attend a Kevin Mahogany concert a few years back which was convincingly good.