fasstrack

I think players hit certain peaks and recede to certain valleys. When they're the greats-as Phil at his best deserves to be called-it's never less than interesting. I believe Phil plays as he is: a very emotional guy. I think he's at his best bringing out that million-dollar sound (which as one of the great lead players alone can be heard on more recordings than most realize). He was less enjoyable IMO indulging in Hodges-like swoops (in that wonderful band w/Tom Harrell, et al). Too much 'apple jack', I guess (; . For me as soloist Phil from '57-'61 (esp. in '61) was magical: compositional, swung his tail off, found unexpected bends in the road a la Pres. The romanticism of the '70s playing laid it on more-but it was put to good use w/for instance Michel Legrand (a composer I have mixed feelings about). Don't forget he was mired in studio work and dying to play jazz-hence came charging out like a bull when he did. Let's not forget the great stuff inbetween with Art Farmer and Sergio Mendes. His 'heat' is real

I think GW was also the artist for that bit where they changed channels (using a photo of a human hand) in mid-sentence which was then completed by the new speaker , resulting in great joyful idiocy. Or was the entire thing photos? I'm old and annoying...

Yes, Pete-and talking back to Prozac is Lillyferous. And grounds for being put in Happy Farm. Thanks for the info on the 2 zines, lads. Was unfamiliar w/either. Arnold Roth I thought was that Meyer Lansky guy who wouldn't croak in Godfather II (;

Any other George Woodbridge fans?

Is 'vociferous reader' a malapropism? Or a potential horrifying cliche? Or should I just have you kiss my Spooner? I guess I meant voracious-and I hope that passes muster. I love that 'incurable romantic' and may adopt it for my ongoing Calling All Romantics song cycle project (coming soon to a tip jar near you) unless I can get a good illustrator to do Miniver Cheevey, subject of a song and humorous poem. Hey, that was a run-on sentence for Pete to parse. Here's a short one: kish mein tuchas... Lighten up, I kid Pete-and myself. And, Pete, my favorite Horrifying Cliche was Nursing a Grudge-wherein a buxom angel of mercy in nurse's uniform ministered to the wounds of the hairy little furball Grudge. In other news I just went online and saw covers from the last decade-and not bad at all. Can't vouch for what you get when you crack 'em. There was also an auction site not hawking directly but discussing all manner of memorabilia item for sale-at prices that were, well, Mad.

I guess I did-after the fact. The comic was in color I would think, right? But I grew up in the B&W era (come to think of it w/TV too) so 'out of sight, out of mind'. I came to love that B&W-THAT was Mad to me. The reissues of the color originals were in B&W too. And it doubtless kept costs down and the need for advertisers away-until The Fall. I pick it up occasionally, with a glimmer hope that something will amuse me-never expecting the 'glory days'-and and I'm always disappointed. I read it and throw it in the trash.

I think we're misspelling it. (; Wasn't it Crack'd? So many brain cells ago...Then the 'lost decades'. I'm sure you can relate!

Genrge Woodbridge! He was the genius of them all. He could draw idiots, clods, the over-rated like no one. He made the face of idiocy like drooling, grinning succabi that gave little hope for human redemption or evolution. Remember the college fight song bit? Those fur coats with faces creeping out of the fur or leather helmets a la Eric Idle (as that simp sentry guarding the prince in the tower that kept repeating the kings instructions wrong while bobbing his head with the idiot grin moving). No one did dolts like Woodbridge. He was the king. Even Don Martin's clods had a few scams and conceits-which backfired of course, that was the joke. Woodbridge's creations just stared at you like the monsters of Greek myth.

I don't know that the illustrations declined-or the satire, until maybe the past 20 years. Or maybe the bar was set so high early on a comedown seemed inevitable. But Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Dave Berg, Don Martin, et al? Come on! How wrong can you go? They were there for most of the journey. People said on here that Mad declined when Bill Gaines died. When was that? If that was when the color pages and the ads started I agree. Mad fell, and hard then. On another matter, does anyone remember Sick or Cracked? Should we, or were they pretenders? The artwork seemed derivitave when I bought an issue of one or both, and I have no memory of the content. I know they didn't last-never a good sign.

I was searching for lyrics to East Side Story (which BTW I never did find) and this thread popped up and was great fun to revisit. Hope you agree.

'Guess who I saw today? I saw you...' 'This will make you laugh...but it's not funny to me' 'You're young and healthy-so let's be bold...in a year or 2 or 3...we may really be too old'

These rules are becoming labyrinthian and not really making sense. I applaud the banning of copy-protected material but IMO permitting a link is sort of winking and saying it's cool-so long as they don't sue us. And somehow excluding song lyrics both defies logic and is an insult to lyricists-if the issue is indeed protecting intellectual property. Where-HOW-does one decide? What about a copy-protected poem? Is this different? I'm sorry to seem cranky or contrary, and was not planning any pranks. Just seeking to understand. Rules are needed and I welcome them-when they are common sense-based.

Well shiver me timbers! Just ordered it from the Jazz Record Center-for top dollar, I'm sure, but hey, it's Wes-and saints need to get paid. And now I deign to check out that thread (; Hop on the stick, Broomhilda. Let's go... (Cue exit music: Up up and Away performed by Jim Hall. Not the guitarist, silly, the disaster safety guy...ah, forget it)

...or something. Anyone have it? Amazingly, no record shop, in the Village at least, has it! Probably Jazz Records would. I'll go online as a last resort only, preferring to interact w/human people and to support small businesses-esp. brick-and-mortar record stores. Best part: in lieu of cash payments they will reportedly accept the reptilian scales off my T. Rex back.

On behalf of all us many musos working/bonding at Smalls I thank you for your support. I suggest you forward this thread to Spike Wilner. He'd be very grateful. And Ned Goold came w/the furniture. That's how we met: sewn to the same chair (w/o jewels inside, I'm afraid).

And in '08 John McCain aimed for his foot-and Bullwinkle Of the Tundra deflected the bullet. To his temple.

Money talks, Air Jordans walk (;

...by being treated as a demi-god prima facia (sp?). Every reasonable person just wants to be accepted for him or herself. The other danger is the feeding at the Jewish self-deprecation trough-where the water runs miles deep. This has nothing to do w/Nica, and Baraka is little more than a puckish flame-thrower here. But I hope this spurs further discussion. I think the topic important and one not to shrink from. I should mention some black-run jazz orgs. doing great work and quietly: in Brooklyn Sistah's Place; the Senior Center at 968 Fulton-and a cultural center in Jamaica. God bless the child that got its own...

I keep coming back to the tortured but endlessly fascinating theme of the Jewish-Afro symbiosis. Not only is Baraka awash in (and making a beautiful dollar from) it, the (potential for) accusational ammunition is tremendous-tiresome and BS though it be. In NY the Vanguard, the Blue Note (top-tier) and Smalls and Fat Cat (lower in the food chain but way more innovative, esp. Fat Cat)-all Jewish owned. From where I sit I regard Mitch Borden of Smalls and Noah Sipal of Fat Cat as real visionaries and supporters of the artist. But I always detected generally a desire among certain (esp. middle-class) Jews, perhaps in rebellion against a somewhat cloistered culture, a hero-worship of the black man and his culture-esp. in sports and music. The reasons are many and far-reaching-and worthy of sociological survey. The danger is in celebrating anything-regardless of quality-black. It opens the door for all manner of bad things-but mostly is an insult to any thinking black-whose sensibility would be rightfully offended

I just thought of 3 in the comic vein: (Tom Leher) 'and I'm learning Chinese' says Werner Von Braun; (Allan Sherman-a master player) 'Muddah Faddah, kindly disregard this lettah; 'last night I found the best cure yet:I broke my TV set. (the last one is a stretch- but too good to omit. Then there's Cole Porter's You're the Top-wherein after listing all the top things 'you' are he puts himself down: 'a flop. But if I'm the bottom, baby you're the top

Bravo for a great topic! That's the songwriting conundrum-finding a hook or twist to say freshly what's been said a million times before. And it definitely has NOT stopped. 2 things: The 'punchline' can be in the title (What's So Good about Goodbye?). And to really explore this in-depth I recommend these books: Max Wilk: They're Playing Our Song (interviews w/notables); Paul Zollo: Songwriters on Songwriting; and any of several workbooks by the superbly probing and analytical Sheila Davis-she really breaks it down.

Oh, that naughty Amiri... (; It's funny how Stan-uh-ley and he are in separate constellations politically but share a genius for bad boy behavior that keeps fanning the notoriety flames ad nauseum. I would bet any money that Baraka's probably something like a sweetheart when you meet him-as one board member has attested to. Shh...don't lets blow his cover (; I always loved that crazy MF's writing-even when I hated it. He's burnin', and no pansy. I also fully embrace Black Nationalism. Especially now that it's over (;

I wonder if it would be actual intellectual property theft to quote in toto w/proper citation? Larry?

Will comment after talking to Barry. Meanwhile, I'm very gratified to see Nica get the props-whatever the angle. We know about her support of Monk, Horace, et al. But by bankrolling the Jazz Cultural Theater (which I didn't know until Kastin's book-the investors I knew about were Larry Ridley and Frank Fuentes, possibly Jim Harrison) she made it possible for young musicians like myself, Rodney Kendrick, Kim Clarke, Sue Terry, many others to learn jazz the best way: the oral and bandstand tradition with the older cats. Then there was Barry, his class, and everything else he's about-including BTW going to Europe to work then coming back to empty his pockets paying the gig salaries for C. Sharpe, Junior Cook, Chris Anderson-on and on. The story of Nica and all she touched is a moving study of generosity. It should be placed in the bin with inspirational products IMO.

I understand that the cut and paste method of c material is against forum rules. I myself wouldn't. But, like Bob Hope, 'i gotta tell you' from the very narrow and selfish vantage point of a schlub so poor he doesn't own a PC (my laptop's hard drive went South-and is hopefully enjoying the weather...rim-f-ing-shot) I hope the rest of you don't have to endure trying to navigate the web via a ('stupid') cell phone. Following a link can be a hell of an adventure b/c one can only scroll so far in a given text. Also on any web page you might have to go to 5 or more pages-scrolling til your thumbs numb-to get to the main event. Many times I don't bother. So not everyone can boast certain luxuries, and while I do not encourge copyparight infringement (I am in fact one of it's most rabid opponents) I don't see the harm in pasting a paltry few jokes, properly credited.