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I didn't see people as much as I thought I might. The seating was a little more restricted than in the past, though that's good that attendance seemed up (to me anyway). But I really enjoy the Fest (guess I would say I thought Vijay was best by a very slender margin), as well as the two Osby sets I caught at the Green Mill.

I'm sure that's fine, though I agree with medjuck that a paragraph or two is often nice just to make sure it is worthwhile clicking through. I mean how many times do you want to get Rick-rolled?

Well, DG had a bunch of late 1980s/early 1990s Muse CDs for sale for $5 each, so I picked up a few. Johnny Lytle's Possum Grease and Jack Walrath's Gut Feelings are probably the two most notable. I also picked up Bossa Tres Bottles, which is what I am listening to right now. What great stuff. It turns out this is an Andorran compilation of their 1963 album with 7 cuts from "Jazz Tempo Latin Accents" from 1965. It looks like they took the "purist" route and only put on the tracks that were Bossa Tres by themselves, while the other 5 tracks had Sonny Simmons, Prince Lasha and Clifford Jordan! It would be nice to hear this as well of course. As far as I can tell, Jazz Tempo has never come out on CD, though the LP is reasonably available. (Bossa Tres 1963 is available as a CD import.)

Well, DG still has a few left.

A smaller tribute will be at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago tomorrow (Wed.) Ira Sullivan and Benny Golson will play. There will also be videos of Griffin. Joe says that the part of Griffin's family that stayed local will cater, but I have no idea what that means. I probably won't be able to make it though.

Weird, well I still don't like it, though it is a less offensive request than the Spanish basketball team went along with, but I won't go there.

Well, I used up my downloads and am already jonesin' for more. I'll probably break down and buy a booster pack. Can't seem to find any of these cards at Best Buy though. Damn. Anyway, I picked up Amir ElSaffar Two Rivers -- much more a world music vibe but still good Nairobe City Ensemble - KaBoum boum Fantastic Frank Strozier Here's Lee Morgan Cecil Payne Chick Boom Phil Woods - Woodlore Phil Woods - Rights of Swing Steve Roach - very very long ambient/electronica tracks To help ease the wait until next month (or until I score a booster pack), I looked over the free tracks. There are definitely a lot there, though mostly in the indy music category. Probably the most interesting was a series of singles by The Postmarks.

I got to Grant Park a little late yesterday, but still caught the set by 8 Bold Souls, which was quite good. I think I will search out some of their new recordings. The bassist is Harrison Bankhead, who I've seen in a few settings, and he is always quite interesting. For one piece, they had quite a bit of interaction between bass and cello. The trumpet player has a bit of a gimmick where he sometimes plays two trumpets at the same time, but it generally works. Dee Alexander joined them for two numbers. Then Ornette Coleman came on. I always have this feeling that I should like him a lot more than I actually do (the creamed spinach of jazz perhaps). I really do like his early work, but I find that he is in a creative rut (not so different from Sonny) but he's ended at a place I find generally unappealing. There were three pieces where he starts on violin, then moves to trumpet for a bit (he really seems to be wasting his time on this instrument) and then ends with saxophone. It's so predictable. That said, I liked this much more than the show at Chicago Symphony Center back in 2003, not least of which because it was free. But seriously, I found aspects of roughly half of the pieces that I enjoyed. The third piece in had a kind of Middle Eastern groove that I liked and was the only time for me that Ornette's violin playing worked. Still didn't like the trumpet playing but it was only for a few bars. Perhaps the single most interesting part of the show was when the acoustic bassist started playing Bach's Cello Suite #1 (alone of course) and then after a while the electric bass and drums joined. I liked this a lot, and honestly I kind of wish Ornette had completely sat out on this. Anyway, fireworks started at 9:30 and as he wrapped up at 9:45 they reached their crescendo. That did seem fitting. All in all, I think it was a great Jazz Fest, and I can't wait to see what next year brings. Edit on 8 Bold Souls. They certainly made it seem as though they had a new album, but the latest is from 2000 on Thrill Jockey (also on emusic so will grab it soon). They have new material they performed, so here's hoping they record this as well.

Maybe it's just me, but I find this whole athletes biting on the gold medal (as an allusion to old ways of testing for gold apparently) quite distasteful. I've seen pictures of 4 or 5 Americans doing this. Is this unique to US athletes, or do other athletes do it too?

Sorry to hear that, Sal. I was pretty beat. I did stay through the entire Gerald Wilson set (ending at 10) but then was too tired and too hungry! to make it down to the Velvet. Maybe next year. I agree. Vijay's set was great. Probably slightly the best, though pretty much all the Sat. shows on the Petrillo stage (after the very first one) were quite good. Dave Douglas did this all brass (and one drummer) tribute to Lester Bowie. His tuba player did some really unusual things and even had a hip-hop thing going with the drummer for a while. The Gerald Wilson set was fun as well, particularly when the violinist took her solos. And I thought Kenny Burrell was terrific. Definitely an amazing night. I should be able to make Ornette tomorrow and perhaps the set before him.

So Greg Osby has his own label now and has released a new album 9 Levels. Probably most fans of his will want it. It does have a lot of wordless vocals, of which I am definitely not a fan. I liked the unit he performed with at the Green Mill considerably more, where he had vibes instead of the singer/vocalist. Anyway, $10 for the album in download form, which is sort of the going rate. At least it is bundled with artwork and so on. I'm a bit on the fence because of the vocals, but I'll probably get it. Osby's Level 9

I enjoyed the Rollins show. He kept the calypso towards the end and did a bit more straight-ahead jazz and even some Ellington material than I've seen in the past. But hardly ground-breaking. This was probably the second best show of the four or five times I've seen him. (I've only ever been able to see him in the 1990s and beyond, so I've never seen him in his prime.) Clifton Anderson, the trombonist, was on his game today, and I haven't always been able to say that. Anyway, I had to miss the Grant Park festivities Friday, but I did get to see Greg Osby's first two sets at the Green Mill. He's added vibes to his quartet (actually a new group). He really picked it up in the second set, though amusingly they had to bring out sheet music, since he was playing material from the brand new album. From my perspective, the alto and vibes were quite intertwined in a good way, while the piano had a prominent role but the piano solos did seem kind of disconnected from everything else. He said that the downloads are already available, but there had been a shipping problem with the CDs, so I couldn't buy one from him, which was too bad. I'll go off and see about ordering this now. While there is a lot of tradition gone, I was really glad not to smell like an ashtray at the end of the second set. The heavy smoking there was always one of my wife's pet peeves about the Green Mill. Maybe she'll go back now. I'll be looking for folks Sat. at Grant Park, and it looks like I will join the crowd to go to the Velvet for the after Fest music.

Sonny Rollins tonight -- rain or shine! Probably will see a few others there. Am going to have to skip Grant Park tomorrow (Fri) due to work issues, but will see Greg Osby at 9 at the Green Mill. Hope to see some of you there too! Eric

What point would that be? Seriously. Here's a case where the ideal is the enemy of the good. I don't think any of us would object to more money being spent on the Jazz Fest, and perhaps even coming up with more creative funding sources. However, what is the point of running down a festival that does quite a bit with the funding it has got? Going along with Reich and challenging the mayor in public is simply going to get the Jazz Fest shut down permanently. Period.

Just a suggestion for a book proposal! Or 1001 Opening Lines for Trolls

Sorry. Let's try again. 1 Thing I Have Already Done Before I Died - Visited Tokyo 1 Thing I Never Expected to Do Before I Died (but Did Anyway) - Visited the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel 1 Thing I'd Like to Do but Probably Won't - Go Hang gliding and/or Parasailing 1 Thing to Attempt Before I Die - Write a play and/or novel

Hey, thanks. If it goes well, I will definitely let people know. Putting the cart a bit before the horse, a professor and I have been working on a book proposal for an academic press, and there is definitely interest. That would be a pretty major thing to leverage in job interviews (which should happen this winter), that I already have a book contract with X Press.

Just saw the two shows at Andy's in Chicago in Oct. Unless something unforseen happens, I'll be there. Looking forward to it, guys.

I think a better comparison is Chicago and Detroit Jazz Fests. I've learned to my dismay that most years Detroit's Jazz Fest beats the Chicago one. This year looks to be an exception.

The story is quite sad. Far too many people have been dying too young. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/08/2...ref=mpstoryview (can't embed this -- will fix later) But the irony is too much to overlook. He died from a fall at home, having gotten through roughly half the things on his list. It does make you think. I wouldn't say that I live every day like it is my last, but I do try to live everywhere like a tourist. By this I try to take full advantage of the cultural and artistic events in my city as if I were a tourist or were showing people around. I can't count the number of people who live here who are amazed to find out that X was playing or that there was a cool exhibit on Y at the museum. Also, and more ambitiously, I have decided to change careers to one that is more meaningful to me, moving from the dreaded "consulting" into academia and becoming a professor. Not an easy transition, but I have kept a foot in both camps for a long time. I should know by the winter or early fall if I succeed.

I was able to test drive this a bit at DG. I hoped I would like it, but it left me really unmoved. For me, the vocals spoiled the jazz (which they almost always do on these projects) but it was nowhere near funky enough to compete with Ohio Players for example. But I also have felt that I have been buying too much lately and this was an easy one to cut back on, so take it with a grain of salt.

Ok, this is probably my favorite poem written during my undergrad years. It usually got a good reception and readings and was published in the poetry zine Gyst, so it isn't just all in my head. I Feel Like an Elizabeth (the first) Times like these I push my head deeper into the pillow Hope that tomorrow will be less treacherous That which must be done will be done That which may not be will not be And I squeeze my body tight so that it will not give it all away Ignore desire Press down until even my dreams have been driven away and I wake with bruises I, resigned, proceed through the routine Meet all with smiles, with a false heart Still waiting for that final release.

My wife won't even let me talk about the Cubs, since she thinks I'll jinx them. They do look good though. Damnit man! You just jinxed them!!! (or is that only if your wife hears you talking about them?) Dunno. I could ask her, but then she'd know I was talking about the Cubs. Guess I'll try to keep shtum from now on.

My wife won't even let me talk about the Cubs, since she thinks I'll jinx them. They do look good though. There's a little relief on the home front though, as she is one of the few Chicagoans who likes it when both teams are doing well (probably is 55-45 in favor of the White Sox if it came to that). Since the White Sox won the whole enchilada in 2005, some of the pressure is off.

"Detroit" by Paul Humphrey and his Cool Aid Chemists