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I absolutely agree but you almost only get these by going through a band's website and perhaps ArtistShare. It does seem crazy to me, since the marginal cost would essentially be 0. Emusic is now including a tiny jpeg of the cover, but I find it way too small to bother with.

I don't miss the CD per se, but I do miss even the reduced size cover art, liner notes and the ability to restore my music files if my computer/iPod crashes. In this last category, eMusic is 1000% times better than iTunes or the new Amazon site. I don't understand why the first two seem so out of reach for the majority of music sites.

I'm somewhat disappointed that HighNote has stopped licensing their Newman CDs to eMusic; they have a lot of the earlier ones They haven't completely stopped their connection as some Eric Alexander CDs are turning up. I guess it is worth dropping them and perhaps eMusic a line.

True, but not nearly as bad as Coleman Young of Detroit in his heyday. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the Jazz Showcase reopening. Hopefully we can get Benny Golson in again.

The Village Voice just raved about this, and I was considering checking it out. Let us know if it lives up to the hype. I'm just about done with Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

I'm kind of indifferent to the MV story. Not that I don't think what he did was horrendous, but I'm neutral on whether he should be hounded the rest of his days. Even the Furies finally let up on poor Orestes. It is worth noting that there is a reasonable chance that Vick will still face state charges and spend time in jail if convicted on those.

I have just finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. She is the author of The Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories, which was quite good. I think this novel is a quantum leap above that. I was really moved by several sections, including a description of a train wreck in India and it's aftermath. It is mostly about first and second generation Indian immigrants in the US, as they struggle to come to terms with their new country. (I held off on renting the movie The Namesake, but I have it in my Netflix queue now.) Then I read and reviewed Noxious New York -- a book about environmental justice campaigns in New York City. I have a number of interesting novels I'm trying to work on next. I'll probably alternate through Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, and Jesse Ball's Samedi the Deafness.

Hmm. At one point I had At Swim-Two-Birds, but I seem to have misplaced it. I don't think I finished it. Or at least it certainly didn't grab me. But I really liked The Third Policeman, so this might be a good time to look into his work again, particularly the harder to find novels.

Actually, I found this used in a local shop for about $8 just a couple of weeks ago. Had no idea it was so OOP (though according to Amazon it isn't hard to score an import for $12 or so). It is nice, though I also wish they could find a way to release the unissued tracks.

Huge number of things I listened to once and then set aside. CDs I listened to on a somewhat regular basis? Hmm Pilgrimage by Michael Brecker Time Lines by Andrew Hill Terminal One by Benny Golson Complete Africa Brass by Coltrane The Spoiler by Turrentine Steppin Out by Harold Vick Golberg Variations played by Glenn Gould

To be fair, I did not attend the following concert, but it was reviewed and was slammed. Lynda Carter, AKA Wonder Woman, has started going around doing what is essentially a cabaret music act. Her voice was described as adequate, but she was doing so much distracting shimmying and other odd gyrations that it interfered with the performance. You have been warned. (She still looks very good, however, if you want to go just to be in the same room as Wonder Woman. You know who you are. )

Saw many classical concerts. World music -- Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra Vieux Farka Toure Maurice el Medioni/Roberto Rodriguez (they get a lot of play on BBC radio, not sure if NPR gives them the same props, but they are very good) Jazz- McCoy Tyner Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra (at Chicago Jazz Fest), also the Cookers Gunther Schuller playing Mingus's Epitaph Rudresh Mahanthappa/Vijay Iyer Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake Dave Brubeck Jason Moran doing a Tribute to Monk Stefon Harris/Roy Haynes (double bill at CSO) and a bunch others I've largely forgotten I always like seeing Iyer/Mahanthappa, and they were on as usual. Tyner was much better than I expected relative to the last time I saw him. I missed Hancock at the Chicago Jazz Fest (sounds like I dodged a bullet), but Charlie Haden's group was amazing. I forgot that I saw Camper van Beethoven playing (at a Chicago street festival!). I had a chance to see The Decemberists play in Grant Park, but it was pouring that night so I skipped it. But generally, I no longer go to pop/rock concerts. Hard enough to balance jazz and classical concerts with live theatre!

1) I'm sure the wives/girlfriends might well answer that their hubbies brought them to the most boring show ever -- Von Freeman or whatever. 2) I saw Corea a few years back with his trio (A. Cohen on the bass). I'm not embarassed but the sound system was absolutely horrible. The bass mike had horrible feedback, and he then tried to play without the mike, which didn't work either. Really disappointing. Cassandra Wilson at Carnegie Hall was also horribly miked.

The odometer just turned over here in Chicago. Happy New Year everyone. Definitely hoping for a better 2008, both on a personal and global level.

I've seen Duran Duran five times with my wife. She says I have suffered enough and doesn't expect me to go anymore. That said, they put on a pretty good show and definitely play the hits sprinkled with some new material.

Just saw Steppenwolf's August: Osage County here. Amazing. Hope that style of theater has a resurgence - the kind of showy, 2-dimensional acting and directing - I call it Egyptian - that's been so popular of late leaves me chilly. That was certainly the best thing I've seen at Steppenwolf in a while (nice that I got to see it for about half Broadway prices). I was very impressed they managed to keep nearly the entire cast together, the young daughter was replaced and perhaps the fiance. You really do get the full range here, including companies that are dedicated to doing nothing but putting on new works by contemporary playwrights. The highlight of 2007 Chicago theatre was not Osage County, however, but an even more ambitious piece called the Madelyn Trilogy which was a three part saga of a large clan (5 brothers and sisters) who come together after the death of one brother's ex-wife and then deal with the sudden reappearance of their father. There were roughly 20 people in the cast, and they did the three different plays back to back to back -- Friday, Sat. and Sun. over a roughly 2 month span. I finally managed to catch it on the last weekend, so it was a bit of an endurance test for me, as well as for the cast. Ridiculously ambitious, done on a shoestring, far more interesting than anything I've ever seen in the Loop. Oh, and the ticket price to see all three parts of the trilogy - $20. Tell me where else you are going to find that kind of a deal.

I don't know the exact details, but I lived pretty close to a small used store that was bought up by Djangos, so it put a computer terminal in the store. That was pretty nice. Then a year later it went under. Two years after that, 3 more used CD stores in the neighborhood went under. All Second Hand Tunes outlets closed (most outlets were sold to other folks who changed names, etc.) - EXCEPT for one, in Evanston. It is a great store. The owner is a personal friend of mine and it continues to thrive. Yes, there are indie stores that still exist and are weathering the storm, but we are lucky in Chicago. Is that the one on/near Dempster? I spent a few scarce bucks there while in grad school... Not sure. I guess there is one used CD store still around Dempster and another one closer to Noyes. I don't go to either, but drop in at the Dr. Wax on Davis a fair bit.

Allen: The sets arrived safely this morning. I can feel my acne clearing up already. Thanks! Eric

I just won Brubeck's The Last Time We Saw Paris (LP) on Ebay. Apparently, I was the only bidder. The other day picked up a couple of Arnett Cobb OJCs and Jimmy Heath's Little Big Man. And I have an order on the way from Newbury with two Sam Jones OJCs, Roamin with Richardson, and Art Pepper's San Francisco Samba.

I was going to say there will be room at our inn for one or two during the conference, but after reading this news item, I had better think twice. Housing Dispute in Chicago

This one intrigues me. I don't recall hearing much if anything about it. Do you have a mini-review of this one in CODA or another source?

True enough, though I thought the main aspect of the conference would be to hear Organissimo and perhaps Reptet and other board members' groups. The main problem with trying to work around Shorter (who is playing at the Chicago Symphony) is that we would be unlikely to be holding this downtown, so it would be a trek to see him and then get back to the conference. On the other hand, HotHouse (which would be an ideal performance location) might be available and is not that far from the Chicago Symphony building. If that worked out, there are some other locations not so far from the South Loop for a trade show, booths, whatever. Anyway, I am definitely interested and will plan on attending (and helping out) as things shape up.

I can't recall actually believing in Santa Claus, so I was probably 6 or 7. We've decided to play Santa for my son (age 3), partly because it is fun and partly because there are so many Santa-themed shows (and songs) that you pretty much have to leave the TV (and radio) off from Thanksgiving to Christmas or you have a lot of tricky explaining to do. My personal favorite is Year Without a Santa Claus (Snowmiser and Heatmiser rock!). But I do have a co-worker who is trying to explain to his own 3 y.o. that it is all a story (or a good-hearted fable if you will).

I've been thinking about this for a while, so if you could set one full set aside for me and I'll contact you this evening. Thanks. Eric

I don't know the exact details, but I lived pretty close to a small used store that was bought up by Djangos, so it put a computer terminal in the store. That was pretty nice. Then a year later it went under. Two years after that, 3 more used CD stores in the neighborhood went under.