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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.

That is exciting. I'm in Chicago and go to a lot of theatre, nearly all off-Loop. It is one of the few other places where you can see such a range of productions, including shoestring productions. It really is feasible for a young company to go out there and "put on a show." And there is pretty decent coverage, even of small productions, between the two dailies, two alternative weekly and Metromix. I keep thinking that one of these days I'd like to produce (not direct) a production of Lear on the beach, but dealing with the city bureaucracy makes that an unlikely dream.

Mostly OJCs this time around (ones I decided not to buy in the Concord sale) Brubeck and Desmond -- Reunion John Wright - Soul Side Soul Oliver Nelson/Lem Winchester - Nocturne James Clay - Double Dose of Soul Von Freeman - Young and Foolish Noah Howard - Black Ark

Let me be clear when I say "people" I mean it loosely to include all financial market participants. Everybody wants that magic asset that gives high yield with minimal risk (the modern equivalent of the money tree) and during bubbles they are willing to pretend that the risk simply doesn't exist. Guy In that sense, B-school majors (and even the Masters of Wall Street) are no different from the vast majority of people (even though they usually sound more impressive and can be very persuasive). Let's try a magic diet, instead of listening to the advice that to lose weight, you have to eat less and exercise more. Unfortunately, the consequences are usually more dire (internet bubble and now the mortgage meltdown) compared to the trouble we mortals get up to.

Dusty Groove seems to have the whole bunch. I ordered Yeah (for pick-up) and will decide if I want any of the others when I drop by. I have Indigos and Drum is a Woman on LP so I'm not really that jazzed about buying them again.

Some other jazz BB had a post where they thought this might be reissued (based on other Griffin on Galaxy coming out), but I am inclined to doubt it. I went ahead and picked the LP up the other day (a decent copy for about $5).

What a Country!! Worth noting that in the UK, ripping your own CDs for MP3s, even without sharing/uploading them violates copyright law. This is never enforced, and there is serious discussion about changing the law there, but worth noting that it could be worse ... MP3s in Britain

Jimmy Heath - Really Big Thad Jones - Magnificent Thad Jones Johnny Griffin - NYC Underground

'Lem's Beat' Apologies to Weizen Actually, it was Winchester Special and Another Opus (both still available at Concord -- but hop on it if you want them!) But due to the magic of the internet, I just found Lem's Beat (not available) for a reasonable price from a charity shop, so I'm pretty much set.

Made a slightly larger purchase than I intended: Dizzy Reece - Asia Minor Jimmy Heath - On The Trail Johnny Griffin Sextet Barry Harris - Luminescence! Barry Harris - Bull's Eye! Jimmy Heath - The Quota Gigi Gryce - Saying Somethin' A couple of these I already had as eMusic downloads (Luminescence and Asia Minor). Curiously, Saying Somethin' is the only one (of these) that is not available at eMusic. James Clay's Wide Open Spaces is not available at eMusic either, so I made a point of picking that up last week (and Double Dose of Soul a while back). I was able to pick up some of the rarer Lem Winchester's at a used CD store (before they repriced on the OOP status), and I agree they are very nice. While I would love to have gotten all the remaining Barry Harris and Jimmy Heath CDs, I tended to go for those with larger ensembles (at least one horn in the mix). I'll probably settle for downloads of the rest. I did try to focus on the rarer ones they have uncovered.

Along those lines, would you be able to use an iPod with outside the ear style headphones, rather than earbuds? I can listen to music at work but only with headphones. I make sure to wear outside the ear headphones and keep the volume fairly low.