ejp626

Exactly - I can't help wondering if this whole thing is meant as some sort of tax write-off loophole (or something). From a retail perspective, it makes no sense whatsoever. I wonder if it is a way to cash in on the vanity-press movement. Let the authors essentially pay for the HarperCollins imprint but do nothing that would actually help move books and actually impede their sales in retail outlets. Again, the fact that these books will never be on best sellers lists is a major clue that this isn't going to be the wave of the future in book publishing. Perhaps one day the Amazon best seller list will matter more than the regular best-seller lists, but not currently.

Then they may well have to make it on 100% internet sales, since I can't imagine any retailers agreeing to this. This would undermine traditional stores, and they might well decide to boycott the new imprint so that other publishers don't try it. There have been a handful of publishers that do print on demand, i.e. they don't have any physical stock laying around, but that's a very niche thing.

Sometimes Amazon really misprices these things and only corrects later. I recall that I bought the Billie Holiday Columbia set put out by Definitive for about $20 and that was a 10 disc set. As far as this set, I have everything except perhaps Presenting Jackie McLean (have to go look) so not too tempting. Of course now that I look, I don't have Presenting JM and it generally runs $14 for a different grey market release. Amazon price is still $18.99 as of today.

PM sent

One thing I wonder is whether any of today's cats would have measured up had they been dropped into the 1950s. For at least some people (no one on this board of course) there is perhaps a fetishization of chronology. Bird and Diz and Monk did it first and best breaking away and moving jazz in a new direction (and actually I would have to agree with that). But there were a lot of people from that era who are given props mostly because they played in that era. Maybe if we swapped Phil Woods and Eric Alexander, or Louis Smith and Nicholas Payton... (Marcus Roberts for Oscar Peterson seems like a pretty even swap. ;-) ) Anyway, this itself is kind of a pointless exercise, but it leads me to my second point about Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence. I think a lot of today's players are in a huge bind, because they can't escape the past and some of them internalize it to the point that it does hamper their creativity. Either they move so far away from jazz's traditions that they lose their audience (who frankly do care more about Blue Note reissues than living artists) or they stay mainstream and get it from the critics who say they don't deserve to shine Monk's shoes. That's how I see it anyway. Nonetheless, I am glad that there are artists out there still making new music, making some attempts at keeping it fresh and sometimes even succeeding.

Perhaps this might be part of the "problem"? Maybe a Kiddie's Korner and an Old-Timer's Lounge will help us keep the peace. Or we can create a fig icon, and if someone is particularly grouchy about the low standards of the day we say Fig You.

Allen and everybody else. Are there any doors left to open or new paths to be blazed that haven't already come before? Jazz is funny in that you have to have to be able to be create something new yet your judged by the past and how/if you play something from the past. Seems like you are criticized either by going to far off or staying to close. Even Ornette and Hank M had their critics back in the day. I think sometimes we see novelty just for the sake of novelty, and that generally doesn't work out that well. Some of the cultural crossing stuff comes off better than others. I have generally not liked the rap/jazz cross-overs (Jason Moran's The Bandwagon is so-so, Soweto Kinch's A Life in the Day of B19 is a bit better but I still wouldn't listen to it that often, and these are to me the best of the bunch). I have liked Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa a lot more where they play jazz that draws on their Indian heritage. To me this kind of cultural fusion can work well, and is one of the few new paths that isn't a creative dead end.

My brother had it and has been very happy so far (I think a year now). Who knows how it will hold up in the future. He's pretty young (35) so I'll have some insight into the long-term results. My eyes are considerably better than his (generally only use glasses at concerts and theatre) so am not tempted.

Yes, there is a reason Val Wilmer titled her book so: it is as serious as your life. I'm going to disagree. Artists wish that jazz or popular culture mattered as much as politics, but that doesn't make it so. Despite the fancy critical schemes we can build up, discussions or arguments about humanities seem to always boil down to tastes and preferences, relativism rules not absolute standards. Since this is how I view things, I come to the board for information on concerts or releases mostly and critical arguments are fairly low on my list, though they can be interesting when put in perspective. However, the eloquence of the argument is what is interesting, not the vehemence and certainly not the fairly boring and predictable piling on that we see so often.

Would that be Midnight in Paris? Not a particularly well regarded album but fine music, I think. The Columbia period is my absolute favourite. I like the earlier Masterpieces and Ellington Uptown, too. And not forgetting from the 1956-62 period my absolute favourite A Drum is a Woman. Columbia apparently had the tapes all ready to go to a double CD for the centennary in 99 and then the project was pulled for some reason. Will the CD ever see the light of day? I wish Sony BMG would do a proper re-issue of this material - the whole period - indeed all their Ellington holdings. In the digital download era has the possibility of this gone forever? A domestic CD would be nice, though this was released on CD in France, along with a few other titles (my favorite of the bunch being Rouse's Yeah). Anyway, there was some discussion of this already. DustyGroove has the Drum import and Amazon carries it to, including some used copies. No bonus tracks though. Since I have this on LP, I probably only would buy it again if additional tracks materialized.

Just one more quick thought, I watched Moliere's The Misanthrope on Sat. (Very good production but an incredibly cramped theatre -- my knees actually have bruises!). Anyway, if you haven't seen or read it, the hero decides he will tell everyone exactly how he feels about them -- no more polite evasions -- just the brutal truth. Well, it seems the society doesn't have much use for such unvarnished truth, and he is essentially driven mad and decides to try to run away from society. I think Moliere's underlying message is actually more subtle, however. Clearly Alceste is treated unfairly by the fops and dandies of the court and he is unsuited for the casual hypocrisy that is so prevalent in high society (then as now) but being brutally honest for its own sake is no more appealing a virtue (and we have seen how hard the self-righteous fall). Trying to keep an even keel, like his friend Philinte, recognizing the faults of society but not trying to hold himself apart (as the one honest man in a thousand) is in the end a more reasonable way of life.

I guess I hadn't thought about it a lot until the Oscar Peterson RIP thread, but it definitely seems true that there is an enormous amount of negative energy directed to those musicians who achieved mainstream success but not for the right reasons or for playing music that is/was too conventional. Or perhaps the number of positive/negative messages are balanced the emotional vehemence is certainly on the side of the detractors. I do find this unfortunate and even a little sad. There are artists I don't care for and a handful I really dislike, but I don't feel it is my life's purpose to tell other people to avoid them (not saying that you should hold your tongue or that I want to enforce civility on the board -- just saying it is unfortunate). I wonder if this resentment springs from larger problems: the fact that the world and the music world in particular has moved in a direction we don't like, that the artists we want to champion don't succeed for any number of reasons, personal frustrations creeping in. Anyway, I am taking stock of my life and am making a real effort to be more positive in my interactions with others, as well as to make concrete steps towards my goals (one of which is to spend at least as much time in creative writing as I spend here ;-) ). This isn't easy for me, as I do have such a negative outlook when I think about "the big picture" but already I am a little happier than I used to be. Back to the thread, I thought Redman's work with the SF Jazz Collective was really quite good, and I will try to check out his latest disk. I actually met him very briefly in Toronto at the Jazz Fest -- this probably was 1993 or '94 right when he had his first album, and he had a free outdoor set. He signed a program and we talked just a bit about him trying out the soprano saxophone. He seemed pretty down to earth for a guy that got his break "the wrong way" ;-) . (My smilies aren't working. I'll fix them later.)

Well, it is sad but he had a long and full life. RIP. I noticed that a while back Clarke really praised Stephen Baxter, who I think is a pretty good sf writer, and they actually collaborated on a couple of books. I wonder if it is any good. Many of these writers really tailed off significantly, particularly once half their stuff was co-written. I kind of feel that way about the late Asimov books, and don't get me started on the "New" Chronicles of Amber. Anyway, with his passing, I think all the sf figures I really cared about when I was a kid have passed (Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Zelanzy -- not saying Zelazny was necessarily in their league but he was huge for me when I was growing up). A handful I came to later are still around like Harlan Ellison, Ian MacDonald and David Brin. There are certainly some very sf good writers out there, but I just don't have the same emotional attachment and simply don't read that much sf anymore.

Broke down and pre-ordered Miles from India and Very Saxy from CD Universe (they have the best price by far on Miles from India) Some odds and ends from Amazon marketplace and eBay: Illinois Jacquet: The Soul Explosion Jack McDuff: Screaming Willis Jackson: Soul Night Alive Milt Jackson: Night Mist Nik Bartsch: Holon Toumani Diabate: The Mande Variations I should like all of these but am the most interested in hearing the last two. This weekend I hope to pick up Horace Silver and Jimmy Smith CDs from a local shop (supposed to be on hold but it doesn't always work out).

So whatcha tryin' to say, Allen?

Tommy Flanagan - Confirmation David Murray - Now is Another Time David Murray/Dave Burrell - Windward Passages (this appears to have no direct connection with Burrell's original Windward Passages) Red Garland - Rojo Red Garland - Manteca Fathead Newman - Diamondhead Jim Hall - Jazzpar Quartet + 4 Willis Jackson - Gravy Hank Jones - Compassion (Black and Blue) I've tried to add all the Definitive Black and Blue titles to a list (the jazz, not the blues), not sure how to link to it. The list is Black and Blue under my nickname Emusic-ejp There are 32 titles, though this isn't everything by Black and Blue. I know at least one Cat Anderson is missing. But there is some great stuff, and I will try to grab them all before too long.

Strong currencies are great for consumers because they make imports cheaper. Also, a strengthening (rather than strong) currency will reduce inflationary pressures. Yes, but Asians don't consume. They certainly don't consume at American proportions; don't see that changing in the near future either. Is this true? I mean aren't China and Japan huge consumers? The Japanese are such savers (rather than spenders) that their banks often offer close to 0% savings rate. Maybe the younger Chinese generation are spending, but in general Asians don't spend much as consumers. They like to save. The average Chinese or Japanese would spend a fraction of what the average American spends. I think world exporters like to talk about a big Chinese market, but it really has to do with sheer population volume. I don't think the spending per person is very high. I do not have any figures. Perhaps Guy or JLarsen can help out. The average Chinese person may not consume that much, but the Chinese government has been consuming raw materials at a rate that beggars belief. There's a book coming out soon that I will probably pick up, called Concrete Dragon. Anyway, I heard this guy speak and he said that in a period of 10 years, the Chinese have paved as many roads as the entire US interstate system. There are plenty of other figures, but basically China is urbanizing and paving at a rate and scale that the world has not seen before. Problem for the US is that we largely don't sell raw materials, but other Asian and African countries do.

Basically have wrapped up my survey of S. African literature. Probably the biggest surprise was Can Themba's Requiem for Sophiatown. The guy can write and had a sense of humor about what were just appalling conditions. Probably his own survival mechanism. Am still slogging through Triomf, which has its moments, but on the whole is pretty dark. After this, I want to wrap up Desai's The Inheritance of Loss (got about halfway through when I had to take a break), Jesse Ball's Samedi the Deafness and maybe a couple of short story collections. I'm leaning towards Wanda Coleman's Jazz and 12 O'Clock Tales and ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.

Nothing terribly systematic, but I have one set of open shelves that hold about 500 CDs and I have put my faves there (BN and Prestige mostly with some Coltrane on Impulse). So I am trying to alternate one or two of the CDs from the "back shelves" with the open shelf stuff to get some variety. I also generally pull out the favorite CDs to play softly and help my son fall asleep (he's 3 but it's never too early to start).

Certainly eye-opening. Maybe this isn't so far away after all (from Futurama)

Sal, sheldonm and I saw the SF Jazz Collective last night in Chicago. This year they are playing the songs of Wayne Shorter, though the set list was 5 originals and 3 Shorter tunes. Most of the original members have left, though Renee Rosnes is still there along with Miguel Zenon. Stefon Harris has replaced Bobby Hutcherson, and Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano are on board, so it is quite the supergroup. (I am glad I saw the incarnation with Hutcherson and Josh Redman though.) I thought the pieces by the bassist, Douglas and Harris were the strongest of the originals. Anyway, a good night was had by all.

Well, this is pretty late now, but I think the Jewish Museum in New York ended up hosting this, or a show almost identical to it in 2007. Interestingly, the Jewish Museum has hosted several shows on cartoonists, including Maurice Sendak, William Steig, and one of my favorite obscure cartoonists Ben Katchor (all the way back in 2002). I don't know if they had a show on Maus, but it certainly would have been a natural fit. Also, I didn't see it mentioned in the thread but Le Centre Pompidou in Paris had a Herge retrospective last year. I dropped in and looked around a bit. I don't get all hung up in the low art/high art debate (or at least I try not to in the visual arts at any rate) but I find that there is a major problem hanging cartoons in art museums. Basically, they are quite small and demand to be read close up, which causes no end of problems in crowd control. You have everyone pressed up against the wall, making almost no progress, trying to take in everything compressed into the page. It just doesn't work well at all. The alternative is to blow up reproductions of the comics (they did this in the Katchor show) but then the intimacy of the page and the relationship between shades and colors is all thrown off.

Hi a friend of mine is not going to make the show this Friday (8 pm) in Chicago. It is the SF Jazz Collective on their annual tour playing at CSO. This is a good seat on the main floor. Face is $45. She's looking for $25 obo. Thanks. Eric

James Moody Hi Fi Party Eddie Jefferson Letter from Home Baden Powell Os Afro Sambas (the new version) Arthur Blythe Focus Arnett Cobb Wild Man from Texas (Black and Blue) Arnett Cobb Deep Purple (Black and Blue) I'm going to try to go through the whole Black and Blue catalog over the next year in case it gets yanked like some of the other labels.

I really didn't think I would be the first to post, but so be it. The co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons has passed on at the age of 69. I will admit to playing for a few years during high school but wasn't obsessed by it. (Ok, ok, so I was a Dungeon Master -- but that's it. No spending my allowance on D & D every week, no crazy outfits, and most of all no running around through the sewer systems.) For those who cross several geek categories, Gygax had a pretty amusing cameo on Futurama along with Gore and Nichelle Nichols. It seems too young, but he strikes me as one of the few who really enjoyed what he did for a living and was rewarded for it. Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Dies at 69 By EMILY FREDRIX | Associated Press Writer 2:39 PM CST, March 4, 2008 MILWAUKEE - Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69. He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax. Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies. Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said. "It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gail Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that." Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity. Born Ernest Gary Gygax, he grew up in Chicago and moved to Lake Geneva at the age of 8. Gygax's father, a Swiss immigrant who played violin in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, read fantasy books to his only son and hooked him on the genre, Gail Gygax said. Gygax dropped out of high school but took anthropology classes at the University of Chicago for a while, she said. He was working as an insurance underwriter in the 1960s, when he began playing war-themed board games. But Gygax wanted to create a game that involved more fantasy. To free up time to work on that, he left the insurance business and became a shoe repairman, she said. Gygax also was a prolific writer and wrote dozens of fantasy books, including the Greyhawk series of adventure novels. Gary Sandelin, 32, a Manhattan attorney, said his weekly Dungeons & Dragons game will be a bit sadder on Wednesday night because of Gygax's passing. The beauty of the game is that it's never quite the same, he said. Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.