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Actually, the interview I point to is a fairly balanced affair (wanted to be fair) but it mentions the controversy surrounding Reed. The book that caused me to lose all interest in Reed was Airing Dirty Laundry, where his basic argument is that the media celebrates only those Black female writers who have the worst things to say about Black men. There are a number of responses one can make, but it essentially devalues large numbers of writers and makes them out to be pawns. It also posits that art should only contain positive images of Blacks, which I think is hogwash. Ironically, the interview has a short quote from Stanley Crouch --and worse I actually agree with him -- to the effect that Reed peaked with Mumbo Jumbo and it has all been downhill since then.

It looks like I will be back in Chicago by early spring. This looks like one more reason to head to the South Loop -- now if the furor over HotHouse settles down by spring I will be set.

I like his earlier stuff, but around the mid to late 1990s, Reed started saying some awful things about Black women and writers in particular who went around dishing the dirt on Black men. He also seems to hate the fact that Black female authors sell better than Black male authors in the US. Frankly, he strikes me as an unreconstructed male chauvinist. Here's a bit of an overview: Reed interview So I don't have any time for his recent work. I do like The Free-Lance Pallbearers and Flight to Canada, which are both quite interesting.

Could someone report back on the 160 bit-rate files? If they sound reasonable, that's probably the route I will take. Thanks. Eric

I think Tiger now needs a trophy room bigger than my house. Just think that a couple of years back people were writing about Tiger's slump and how he was beatable, and now they're all terrified of him again, which gives him at least +3 in the head games that are a major part of golf.

This one really intrigues me - a solo piano album by a UK artist who draws heavily on classical composers. It isn't out just yet, though some critics on BBC radio have it and are talking it up a bit. Apparently, it was recorded while she was pregnant, hence the title. I'd say from the sound clips it is a bit heavier than the ECM style (which is to the good). Here's the link: New Life I've liked several of the releases on Babel a fair bit (Polar Bear especially), and they often put their releases on emusic, so that's probably how I'd get this. Anyway, if anyone knows more about this release or Julie Sassoon, do fill me in. Thanks.

I have 13 and some time next year I will pick up the Nelson and Gillespie bringing me to 15. This doesn't count the number of sets I have replicated because I came onto the scene a bit too late, particularly the Andrew Hill and Jackie McLean sets, which would have been far more convenient than gathering the material piece-meal as I did. I also don't often just pick up one of the sets and listen to one disc (when I do it is usually from the Farmer/Golson set), but I am trying to listen more regularly now that I have moved my Mosaic collection to mp3 format. On the whole I like Mosaic a lot, but find that on the whole I tend towards the Selects than the big boxes. Maybe it has to do with really wanting to see the LP covers. That's the one thing that I just don't understand, that they couldn't reproduce the covers and at least some of the original liner notes in the Mosaic booklets.

I saw Maynard live once. He was the featured guest at a high school marching band competition held in Soldier Field in Chicago. It was probably 1985, maybe 1986. He was on after the finals. Anyway, he was in good form and could still hit those high notes. During a Brazilian-inflected number, the band I was in started doing a congo-type line dance and pretty soon we were snaking through the stadium. At the very end of the show, there were fireworks. What a night! We were so jazzed to make it to the competition and to be in the big city. If I recall correctly, we came pretty close to making the finals that year and made the finals the following year. I never really thought about seeing him live again, as nothing would quite live up to that.

Worth noting that eMusic has just added this but it is listed under David Newman only and that a search for Fathead misses it.

I have to admit, I thought Herbert was going to be writing about the Bush administration ...

I'd say things do look bad for Tower Records in the US, but I happened to be in Tokyo this week, and I stopped in at the one in Shibuya. It was hopping, and well stocked. So perhaps there will be a liquidation of the US stores and a spin off of the international ones. Who knows... Anyway, the prices were a little bit better than typical Tower Record prices, but I tried to refrain from going crazy. I'm trying to only get Japanese pressings where there is a significant savings. Perhaps the coolest thing is that a fair number of the Blue Note TOCJs in the 1500 series are being sold for 1500 Yen, which is a bit under $15. I picked up three Duke Pearsons which don't appear to be widely available. That was it, though I was tempted by a few other things, including some hard to find Archie Shepps. I may still go back.

Interestingly, there is a pretty big push for this in the Tokyo Tower Records, which I visited today. Bunches of copies and it's CD number one in one of the listening stations in the front of the jazz section. It's still a bit higher than I want to spend (2400 Yen, which is around $23 I think). Actually there might be a 10% sale on, but it's hard for me to tell. I guess if I was going to get it, this would be the time. But I already have the cut with Sanders from the 12 inch.

Exactly. I'm also Raja - too short and too heavy for my position and average at just about everything (basketball-related that is). But just think, even the suckiest NBA player gets a couple hundred thousand a year just to stink up the court, even if it is only for a year or two. Man, I wish I had that gig!

I think generally it is under Getz's name. Here is a link from CD Universe. CD Universe I'll probably pick up a copy, but I might as well listen to a few tracks first.

I hear you. I don't like football either. Of course, I don't consider myself a native Chicagoan either. The only sport I willingly watch is basketball. Don't like the others much. I'm glad the Bulls are starting to pull it together again, and it was great living here during the Jordan years. But I don't have particularly deep loyalties. Oddly, the one team I really really hate is the NHL Blackhawks. I mean I think it is stupid to have hockey teams in the South and that has serious degraded the long-term prospects of hockey, but I don't hate the teams in the south. I always root for the Redwings.

Am rereading The Pickwick Papers slowly. I'm also going to take Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland with me on my trip to Japan. I only read one Murakami from early in his career, and want to see how he developed.

You learn something new every day. Looking ahead to next Friday, they will be playing the tracks off Stan Getz's Focus and discussing them. Focus is still in print, so that in itself isn't so fascinating, but they are playing three tracks off Mickey One, which is a follow up pairing of Getz and Eddie Sauter. Never heard of it, but it sounds like something I'd like to know about. Here's Kevin Whitehead's take (from Amazon): Anyway, in about a week, I can listen for myself and see if this is something I would pick up. If it is anything like Focus, I will, since I think Focus is a great album. Anyway, here's the link:BBC show details Then go to the Jazz Legends home page and click listen to the latest program. You'll need Real Player. Also, the show can be listened to for a week after it airs.

I know this has been discussed previously, but I couldn't find with a quick search. Anyway, there is a long article in the Washington Post with interviews on both sides. I support Google's fair use interpretation, but can see why there is disagreement. It would be great if some settlement was reached, since I think this would be a fabulous tool a few years down the road. Wash Post article (You may need to register for the link to work.) Eric

I also hope they show up, but a couple of months from now would be a lot better, as I have really had to cut back on music purchases. I came quite close to putting in an order, but I'm glad I waited as my finances are all out of whack this summer.

My understanding is that for flights between US and UK, you cannot bring any liquid on whatsoever, regardless of if you buy it past security. In addition, any UK-originating flight you can bring nothing other than wallet, glasses, and a handful of other items. So the stores past security at Heathrow are totally up a creek. I think it is these restrictions that people hope get eased up a bit, especially on things like not carrying books. My boss and I are flying to Japan on Monday. It's going to be a very long flight, and these restrictions will make it even less pleasant. I'm in a weird situation* where I have a layover in Amsterdam. If that flight isn't cancelled (and the last I checked, KLM service had been restored), I will probably be able to buy a book during the layover. What may well be part of the past is bringing laptops on board. I regret this, but on the other hand, I can see some legitimate security threats in allowing them. In the long run, I see first-class and business-class travelers saying that they should expand the pre-screening process (I think they call it favored travelers or something) and that those people would still be allowed laptops. Anyway, I have occasionally checked laptops inside this padded sleeve-like carrier (sold by bike shops actually), then in a regular suitcase surrounded by my clothes, and it's always made it through safely (knock wood). That's what I will be doing next week. I know that doesn't solve the problem of packing a cello. The latest news I have heard is that "security experts" are saying that small quantities of nitroglycerine are not toxic, so having someone taste baby's milk or medicine doesn't guarantee there is not an explosive in there anyway. Does that mean this will be banned as well? * weird in that Amsterdam is hardly an ideal layover for a London-Japan trip.

In Chicago, there are two Tower stores (that I shop at anyway). One is a kind of dingy place downtown that I rarely go in. When I do, the only thing I look at are the new releases, since they have discounts. The normal prices are always too high. The other has a nicer layout and is a better shopping experience, esp. to browse for jazz, but is a bit far from where I lived. So I very rarely patronized Tower when I was in Chicago. On the other hand, I used to spend quite a bit of time in the Manhattan Tower on Broadway in the Village (and almost never the one near Lincoln Center). That one was quite amazing to me years and years ago. But I still spent much more of my money at the Tower Outlet store across the street. I suppose like most Americans, I'm willing to give up the browsing factor and the immediate gratification of the B & M store, and replaced it with internet shopping for better deals and looking forward to things arriving in the mail.

A cassette tape with Sketches of Spain on one side and In a Silent Way on the other. I would have eventually gotten deep into jazz anyway, but this particular purchase was inspired by a short story by Harlan Ellison where this guy decides to listen to Sketches of Spain as the world ends. Not too long after I got the cassette version of BB, which I liked a lot. KOB was probably next after that.

I have to say, I find it odd to think that a photograph could hold up the entire thing. Wouldn't it be better to issue with a different cover. I thought nearly all cover art was considered to be owned by the corporation, not a one-time license, though if Futura had asked to use an existing photo that would be different, or the photographer can say he was never paid. Strange.

I have most of these, but not Here to Stay or Doin the Thing, so I'll pick those up fairly soon.

If you look at literary history, you get a sense of how significant the shifts are, at least within the canon as taught in schools and universities. I guess Dickens was always popular, even if he was passe in schools, but for quite a spell the Bowlderised (and Lamb) versions of Shakespeare were what people knew. Tennyson (and Longfellow) were huge, but who reads them now? For maybe 20 years, Eliot and the other modernists managed to rescue certain poets from obscurity, like John Donne, but I think they are slipping back again. What I suspect is that, just as now, almost everything will be available, but there will be fewer artists/writers/musicians with mass followings. So there will certainly be groups of people who are as versed with the Bop and postbop movement as we are, but this music will not be generally known. If I was going to pick a single figure off the list, it would be Miles, simply because he has such a critical mass of marketing behind him. Probably people 150 years from now will just not care as much about -- oh, to understand Miles, you need to know Roy and Clifford and Louis, though there will be some serious jazz fans to make those connections. That's just my feeling. The further one goes back, the more likely one is to pick individual figures and ignore the broader context. There will also be 150 years of new product to compete with the older stuff, and that will surely squeeze out a lot of purchases of mid 20th C music. Of course, if you can essentially download the entire Blue Note catalog for $100 (since it will have all passed into PD), then maybe people will still pay attention and know these musicians. Will big band music have any kind of following? Will it be seen as a fascinating approach that is completely unworkable in those days, since most people create music independently on computers? Or will it just be irrelevant? Will the standards be so ancient that people just can't get into the vocalists, such as Billie, Ella or Sassy? All intriguing questions. As someone said, it's a shame that I won't be around to find out how it ends...