ejp626

Probably should post this separately but Rudresh/Vijay are going to follow up their Edgefest performance with a show in Chicago at the Green Mill this Sat., starting at 8. It looks like I will be able to go.

I think Kobe would be a disaster for Chicago under the current coach. So unless they decide to dump Skiles, and I see no reason to think they would, going after Kobe would be a bad move. Hard to say if Kobe and Dirk could co-exist, but maybe. Dirk has proven that he is a very good player, but he isn't "the man" and doesn't seem to have much interest in being "the man," whereas that is very much what Kobe is about.

I am sorry to hear that. We had a break-in off the fire escape once. We got fairly lucky, just some minor jewelry stolen, though it sucked of course and we needed to get this huge ass metal grate for the window. Then the downstairs neighbors had a break-in with more stuff stolen. Definitely the worst though was getting mugged (yes, with a gun). In none of these cases were the cops any use whatsoever. I have moved to a different part of the city, but often think it is just a matter of time before it happens again.

I wonder if it is something specific to Western or even US culture that insists that there always has to be some new thing, something surprising. I could tack on some Marxist analysis here, but am too tired. It's not that I don't try to listen to today's innovators or more often the innovators from the 1970s, but almost always return to hard bop of the 1950s/60s and people essentially working in that tradition (Eric Alexander, Stefon Harris, Jason Moran). I've just really not liked any of the rap/jazz acts that are out there. Probably the only person on the scene with something new that I actually enjoy is Vijay Iyer where he is drawing heavily on Indian music and mixing it with jazz. Anyway, this lead me to think about "world music," which often just means African music packaged for Western ears. Not to say there are no developments in this field, but it is a point of pride that some of the songs they are playing are in a tradition over 500 years old and in some cases the songs themselves are well over 100 years old. The valorization of the new at the expense of the old does not appear to happen so much. But of course, this is only a partial picture, hinging mostly on what record producers are picking out (say in Mali which is a huge favorite of the BBC right now). In many African countries the kids are only listening to "the new thing," even if traditional music is still being played in clubs. Ghana is kind of an interesting example where highlife was more or less pushed out by US-influenced dance and funk music (and if you haven't heard Ghana Soundz 1 or 2 you are really missing out). Another counter example I just thought of are the great Tuareg group Tinariwen who play electric guitars, which was certainly pretty surprising the first time I heard it. Nonetheless, I still think the quest for the new and surprising may be less extreme outside the US.

I think they'll just hold out for a few more months. Once the dollar slides enough, 10 pounds will equal $100, and their problem will be solved.

In any case, I checked and DG is planning on bringing in a number of these releases, including the Hodges and the Rouse. I asked if the Rouse was the French release or a Japanese version (without bonus tracks), and they told me they were coming from Germany (!), so I assume they will be identical to the Epic France versions, but I will wait to see a copy in the store before I buy.

True, but would it really take more than 1 letter from RIAA to emusic or Amazon to say that you shouldn't be bringing in the Gambit/Lonehill/Definitive/Blue Moon releases into the US? There are always ways around these things, but that would stop the majority of casual copyright infringers (those who aren't aware of the issues and/or going out of their way to import something and are really just ordering something that looks kinda interesting). But maybe I am wrong and importing a single copy for personal use puts this in a different category of enforcement. For instance, Amazon also allows people to buy Region 2 DVDs, and it even posts a warning that this will only work with a R2 DVD player. On the Amazon.uk side, they will allow you to buy 1 copy of a region 1 DVD. It sort of makes the whole region scheme even more farcial and stupid than it already is. I can't believe that they will even bother with the regional coding or DRM for much longer, given that it does make people less likely to buy when it is nearly as easy (or even easier) to steal.

But that's when Andorran intellectual property law enters the picture... I found an English translation of a draft for an Andorran copyright law which says there's a 50-year protection for recordings (this document from this page). However, I don't know if it has been put into effect. If I knew Catalan the answer could probably be found here. Ah yes! Andorra, I think, ALSO isn't part of the EU, so it doesn't have to incorporate EU law. MG That may be, but I don't believe there is any part of EU law that says if a CD is legal in Andorra but not in the EU, then you can import and sell it in the EU. This is a major bone of contention in the US, in that recordings that are legal only in the EU are freely sold in many stores and now can be downloaded on emusic. I'm not claiming any moral high ground here, but it is interesting that the majors in the US haven't found a way to stop this, where the law (unfair as I think it is) is clearly on their side.

Of course, if anyone out there still doesn't have the Mobley, this is probably going to time out next year (I think this was the consensus), so go grab that. I haven't decided if I will order anything, though I might. Earlier this year I got the Gillespie and the Nelson (and the Onzy Matthews Select), but I am strongly considering the Wilson.

Because it is almost always "better" to be in on a secret, to be an insider. There will always be people who feel that music whose natural audience is a mass audience is inferior to music that is aimed at a narrow niche (to which they belong). These people are particularly upset when "their bands" go commercial and try to broaden their fan base. A lot of it has to do with maintaining cultural status and the more insider knowledge one has, the more status one will have in these circles. One might almost consider it a game in the art or music worlds to be as obscure or unpopular as possible and still have a viable career outside of commercial channels. I'd say go read Simmel and then Bourdieu on elite tastes and why they persist in mass society. As for why jazz artists themselves bought into or played up the difficult aspect of the music at the expense of popularity, I'm sure there are many reasons, including wanting to be accepted in the hipper circles and the believe that serious artists were not mere entertainers. Some felt compelled to follow their own vision (again sort of an elite artistic worldview) and were not particularly concerned with whether the world followed. I think there's no question that there are plenty of things I go so precisely because I know they are out of the mainsteam. At the very least, you usually don't have to fight 2000 other fans to get seats to a Roscoe Mitchell or Fred Anderson concert.

It's ALL done for money. Show me the musician who didn't want paying. MG You should read the stories of the Jimmy Giuffre Trio. They knew they were playing playing unpopular music and kept at it for quite a while for artistic purposes, though they could have made a lot more money going to a different format. And yes, they eventually threw in the towel (after making $0.75 at a gig), but an awful lot of musicians will follow their artistic bent rather than just go where the money is. That's why so many die broke and we don't have 100% smooth jazz artists (only 85%). If it was only about money, we probably wouldn't have musicians at all, only more doctors and lawyers.

I think she has written novels of widely varying quality. I personally don't think her SF novels are any good (unfortunately this is the work she is proudest of). I loathed The Good Terrorist. I can't recall if I read or just read about The Fifth Son, but I wasn't terribly impressed. On the other hand, I think The Golden Notebook is a very solid and important novel, and the Children of Violence series is also good. I guess for me, I haven't really liked much that she's written past the mid 1970s. Well, maybe the Jane Somers novels (Diary of a Good Neighbour and If the Old Could). There is some vaguely interesting backstory about this -- how she submitted these to her publishers under a pseudonym but couldn't get published:Jane Somers

This was last weekend (I've been ill). I saw Stefon Harris with his chamber jazz group playing cuts from African Tarantella as the first half of the bill, then Roy Haynes with his Fountain of Youth Quartet. This was at the CSO. John Litweiler's review in the Sun-Times was basically on target, though I think he was a bit too dismissive of Harris' set: Litweiler review What was unusual about the Harris set is that he is basically playing Ellington suites or his own compositions inspired by Duke, but he has emptied the whole middle range of soloing instruments. He had a clarinet and a flautist who each did a bit of soloing (not much), a viola and cello that just provided support, then the lower range, a trombonist (who did put in a couple of good solos), bass, piano and drums. Of course, we really were there to see Harris, and he did not disappoint. I don't know if it was an attack of nerves or dry mouth, but in her one solo spot the flautist was just not very good and even the clarinetist was just ok. Maybe he should have tried a different instrumentation to cover these spots (backed by the cello maybe). But it was beautiful music, and Harris told a couple of amusing anecdotes between songs. Roy Haynes was just incredible. I've seen him before, but he was really on fire this time. He is spry for an 82 year old. On the first number, I thought Jaleel Shaw (the saxophonist) was just going to be a Bird clone, but he was really good on the ballads in particular. The most interesting part for me of the set was him soloing on soprano with the bass player walking behind him. Really wild. Definitely glad I made this set.

Well, here are a few songs Billie Holliday really made her own (staying away from the most melancholy ones): Fine and Mellow I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You) Lover Man My Man (Mon Homme) You Go to My Head Love Me or Leave Me I Thought About You I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm And of course to keep the party rocking, you can't miss with Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer).

Gotta go with the Jazztet, the enjoyment will last much longer! But will it keep you from freezing in the winter? (Of course, a Jimmy McGriff boxed set would, but there ain't no such thing.) MG Well, that warm fuzzy feeling from the inside should do the trick. The Jazztet is definitely one of their best sets.

Well, I read a bunch of comments from runners on the Tribune web site, both those that finished and those that didn't. I think there are stations every mile or 1.5 mile, but people train for this marathon to be a lot cooler. Many people commented that they took 2 cups of water to drink and 4-5 to pour over the heads. Only later did it become clear that this completely depleted water at the water stations, since the expected usage was 3 or more times what they had bought. So it was a combination of not reacting to the weather on the part of the organizers and a lot of individual selfishness (I guess that is a little harsh but when you read about how the slower runners had no water and the front runners were dumping it all over themselves, there is some selfishness). Anyway, it was a mess, and if it hurts the Olympic games, I'm glad for that.

LaSalle Bank is being bought by Bank of America, so this would have been the last one under the LaSalle Bank name anyway (way to go out on a bad note). I imagine there will still be a marathon next year, hopefully better organized. Some people have commented that this will further hurt Chicago's chances to get the 2016 Summer Olympics. Others say, no these things are isolated and it was freak weather conditions. Having spent some time around the world and realizing that in fact our perceptions of other places are based on shockingly little information, I tend to believe that yes this will hurt the chances of getting the Olympics (supposedly Chicago is only in 3 or 4th place and this might drop us to 5th). That's ok by me, since I think the Olympics coming to Chicago would be a bad thing overall. Let Rio or Tokyo have them.

The rehearsal take of "Round Midnight" is the best introduction to Monk's music and jazz in general, I mean you can hear him "thinking" through the music! One of the most illuminating experience in my journey in Music Land. Another one that recently came out on Explore Records is called Monk the Transformer (I believe on emusic as well as CD). There are 6 solo variants of I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, and then 3 concert performances. Really quite interesting.

I don't know. There have been successful cases of prosecuting drunk drivers riding lawn mowers and bicycles (Arizona for instance). It probably depends on your state. In Washington State and now New Hampshire, cyclists are exempt from DUI charges.

Ok, well there goes that theory. Not the first time Lonehill has been less than forthright about these things.

As boring as I find these debates about European PD releases, I have looked through the liner of the Lonehill Complete 2 Feet in the Gutter sessions and it is certainly implied that Bailey had some participation in getting this out there. There is a newish interview with him in the liner notes, but far more important there are 3 unreleased tracks on the 2nd CD, so they got the tapes from somebody, and I would assume that wouldn't be anybody at Epic. (Maybe the tracks are on some Japanese release, but I don't think so.) It reminds me a lot of the Graas project, also on Lonehill. There are still problems with this model (artist okaying a PD release for Europe), as Lonehill surely isn't paying all the rights holders, but it may be one we see more in the future.

He would've been 100 this year. If I recall, it is this one where Heinlein started in on his dirty old man of SF routine (well maybe Time Enough for Love). In fact, there are stretches that are essentially fan-fiction but at a really high level. You'll see what I mean when you get to them. That said, it is an entertaining novel, but not as good as Heinlein in his prime.

Contesting Neoliberalism: Urban Frontiers edited by Leitner, Peck and Sheppard. If it sounds like work, it is. I'm writing the book review for a journal actually.

PM sent on the Fuller

I got 2 Guitars quite recently and have enjoyed it. There were still a number on Amazon marketplace at a reasonable price. It is pretty interesting watching which OJCs skyrocket in price (over $20) and which stay stable (around $8-10). If the price goes too high, then I download it from eMusic, since most of the material is (still) there. Eric