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I guess I don't really consider NUR as a public station in that way, other than they have a slice of public airwaves. They are a university station, and part of the requirement for the DJs retaining their cred is to focus on the avante garde. This works pretty well when there are "mainstream jazz" outlets on the radio for them to separate themselves from, not so well when they have all collapsed in Chicago. I haven't heard the station out of DuPage, but most of the jazz you can hear on Chicago stations is smooth jazz. I am really disappointed in WBEZ's direction, which seems to be a real betrayal of their audience (like we really need talk radio 24 hours a day) and I guarantee I won't pledge them again unless they put jazz back on.

I was always a little interested in jazz and had a small collection of Mingus, Monk, Miles Davis and a few other CDs. Then seven or so years ago, it was like a switch was turned on and I started building a jazz collection (in a somewhat unhealthy way like a chemical addiction). This board has turned me on to a number of new artists, particularly Latin Jazz/Hard Bossa that I wouldn't have known about. It has also convinced me to get a few Mosaics I was on the fence about (like J.J. Johnson). But the Board can't take all the blame, since I was living in the same city as Jazz Record Mart and Dusty Groove and spent crazy money there before I ever found this place. Still, I'd say it's probably responsible for a 50% increase in my jazz buying, especially when there are links to particularly good sales. If I hear enough people praise a CD, I'm interested and will probably eventually obtain it. I have slowed down considerably in the last year, partly due to finances (and international shipping rates) and partly to listen more to the collection I have now.

Whoops - spoke too soon. It looks like all three are on emusic and I have a few downloads left. If I could only get one of the three this month, which should it be? Thanks.

I don't have any of these albums unfortunately, but I do have the great 2 CD set of O'Farrill on Verve called Cuban Blues. I think I read this is being slated for removal from the catalogue, but it is currently in print. There is also a Lonehill version of the Verve tracks, but I would certainly recommend buying Cuban Blues instead. I don't think I'll be able to obtain any of the CDs in the trilogy -- in the next few weeks at any rate.

This probably is a better movie than the one than Oliver Stone is working on, but I will pass on any and all fictional films about 9/11 or United 93 precisely because they are in the realm of entertainment. I was in Manhattan during 9/11 with clients that worked in the WTC, and I have no interest in watching fictional re-enactments, period.

I do hope he pulls it together. I never thought I would manage to see him play live, but he came through Chicago last year in a guest role. Definitely a not to be missed experience.

From CNN.com I guess he died doing what he loved. Anyway, I think the odds that the county will face a lawsuit are particularly good. But what really seems odd/unreasonable and even tragic is why the rescue workers didn't have a defibrillator or didn't use one at any rate.

Listened to JJJ disks 1-4 last week (really loved Misterioso on Disk 4) and am listening to 5-7 this week.

Very funny. (I wonder if these guys have ambitions greater than getting picked up by an ad agency.)

I know it's not the same, but Vijay Iyer will be at Pizza on the Plaza this upcoming Friday. I hope to make that show. I am a bit surprised that Hill would tour the Netherlands and France and not come to London. Maybe another date will be added.

Having just listened to the BBC 3 World Music Awards (probably still on their website if you hurry), I went to see how many of the artists are available on emusic. Certainly a fair number of the African artists. They have several by Toumani Diabate. They have a few albums by Ali Farka Toure, including the classic Talking Timbuktu with Ry Cooder, but not the brand new Toure and Toumani CD In The Heart Of The Moon. They have several by Amadou and Mariam (though again not the most recent killer album). And perhaps most intriguing they have two albums by Konono No. 1 -- wild wild stuff. It looks like I've already got my quota for next month filled! But it's all good.

Not an accurate statement. Probably a badly inform one. I'll stick up for Brad. The non-piano solo albums I've heard and boring and self-indulgent. I particularly disliked the ones by Lacy.

I suppose as a percentage, the amount of "new" jazz I buy is fairly low, but I think I must buy at least one new CD a month (maybe 2 if I include eMusic downloads). Now I don't know if it "counts" if the artists themselves have been around the block more than a few times, and most of the new recordings have been by Andrew Hill, Moncur, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Rollins, Von Freeman, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner and so on. The newest artists I have invested in are Vijay Iyer, Polar Bear/Acoustic Ladyland/FIRE and of course Organissimo. So I don't really see myself as part of the problem of not supporting new artists, though I am sure I could spend more on new artists (if the wife allowed it). I agree it is a shame that a guy in his position is so negative about the prospects of jazz sales. At some point, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

My feeling is that the average person, and probably the average jazz listener who is not an acolyte of Sonny Rollins, is going to be very disappointed by this album. That doesn't mean it has no merit or doesn't fill a particular niche. I think one or one and a half stars for this CD is appropriate given the target market of AMG. Curiously, AMG has in the past given quite high ratings to solo ventures by Steve Lacey (which I didn't enjoy either), so I don't think there is a particular bias against solo recordings system-wide.

one soundcard is fine with xp and total recorder. i use a $20 soundblaster live This is my set-up as well. I think my version of TotalRecorder is fairly old, so I save files as .wav files (I usually do need to edit them anyway to put in appropriate breaks), then convert to mp3 afterwards.

According to the Blue Note Europe website, these are the current Andrew Hill tour dates. It looks like I might be able to make the Amsterdam date, since I will be in the Netherlands that Thurs. and Friday. I'll try to verify he is there. Tour Dates 29/04/2006 TBC - Andrew Hill 5tet Belfast IRELAND 30/04/2006 Europa Jazz Festival - Andrew Hill 5tet Le Mans FRANCE 15/05/2006 TBC - Andrew Hill Quintet Vincenza ITALY 19/05/2006 Bimhuis - Andrew Hill 5tet Amsterdam HOLLAND 20/05/2006 Lantaren - Andrew Hill 5tet Rotterdam HOLLAND 25/05/2006 Nattjazz Festival - Andrew Hill 5tet Bergen NORWAY

While the focus is rightly on the jazz selection, I have been purchasing a select number of classical box sets from zweitausend.de, mostly from Brilliant Classics, for about half the price I've seen elsewhere. Brilliant Classics is a very good budget label that makes sets like the complete symphonies of Shostakovich or the Complete String Quartets of Dvorak. Some are recordings by lesser known artists and some are simply clever licensing from the major labels. The Shostakovich symphonies in particular is a great deal. One series I'm starting to get into is the Historic Russian Archives. One set is 10 CDs of classic recordings by Rostopovich for 18 Euros! I'll probably get the others in this Russian Archives series pretty soon.

Yeah, I had a cat like that, so a covered box was a real necessity. What other positions are there? There is a big difference between a female cat that pees while standing up straight on its back legs vs. squatting.

Well, I have this album (in storage) and think it is awful. I can't imagine listening to it a second time. I'll give it away some day to a Rollins' completist.

Yeah, I had a cat like that, so a covered box was a real necessity. I don't mind laundry, too much, but I just hate doing dishes. It's way beyond rational.

Well, I was with somebody who I thought was a soulmate or very close, but in the end it just didn't work out and it set me back a lot. A few years after that, I met my wife. We dated for about 15 months, then moved in together and were engaged after a year and married another 18 months or so after that. In many ways it is great, but there are some profound differences between us that are almost impossible to bridge. We moved to New York where I had a great job. She decided after 6 months she didn't like it and stopped trying to make it work and more or less suffered through another 18 months before we moved back to Chicago. That was the closest I've come to divorce, but I decided I was better off with her, even though it meant leaving New York (one of my favorite places in the US) and a good job. If my wife was my "soul mate" in all aspects, then she would have loved New York as much as I do. England isn't working out either, though I share many of her opinions about this place, and so we'll get another year of experience under our belts then return to the US, probably to Chicago. Basically, it comes down to the fact she can't be happy anywhere other than Chicago, and I feel very tied down by this, since it limits my options too much. It was the kind of thing she didn't know about herself until we had lived a few places, so I don't know that I would say I "settled" for less than I should have, but I certainly made a decision on less than complete information. In economic terms, I was satisficing rather than trying for the ideal partner (utility maximization). On the positive side, we generally complement each other's strengths and we have a terrific little boy. But it isn't as easy as some people seem to have it. Perhaps I should strengthen my feelings about New York. My entire life I've wanted to live in New York. I lived there for three years and loved it, then went to grad school in Chicago where I met my wife. I never made any secret about my plans to return and was very glad to be back when I finished school. Then she found out she hated it. So it really seems to me a significant sacrifice not to be able to live there, but that was the decision I had to make.

I've seen the squarish shape. There's a company that makes business cards in that format, if you want to put some multi-media show about your company on a card. Can't remember what they cost.

So how can a lender calculate at the start the full cost of the mortgage, as Dan said? MG Variable rate mortgages are possible but fairly uncommon in the US. Most people do have fixed rate mortgages. Since the rates are all pretty much the same across the board, there is less room for interest rate abritrage (as in the UK). Refinancing loans is certainly possible but interest rates have to drop a lot to make it worthwhile. Thus, it doesn't seem to be nearly the sport it is in the UK where many people refinance every few years (what a waste of resources).

Taxes were incredibly unbearable this year. I moved countries (never a good idea when it comes to taxes -- moving states is bad enough) and the information I had turned out to be incorrect. The US does tax foreign income until you've lived in the other country for 12 months. While you can offset foreign taxes, that didn't really help that much. I had nearly all of the key documents, but there were a handful that hadn't shown up, so I had to file for an extension. Oh, and I sold my home, and since part of it was a rental property, each portion has completely different tax treatment and different tax forms. It appears I will have to file roughly twenty pages of tax forms and supporting material. Then in another few months, I have to file with the UK, since my situation is too complicated for them to calculate independently.

Well, you don't really have the right to sell it for an amount that will not pay off the mortgage. In a scenario like that, there would be some intervention on their part. If there has been a collapse in the housing market, there's not that much they can do, but if you are trying out some strange tax avoidance scheme, they would definitely take action. Still, given U.S. tax law, it generally makes sense to take out a reasonable sized mortgage. However, in Tiger's case, he is such a high earner, that the deductions on schedule A (and even the standard deduction) will have been squeezed down to nothing and the AMT will then come into play. In such a case, he would probably be better off paying mostly cash. In addition, he should find a way to claim part of the property as business-related (surely there's a driving range) and thus take the depreciation on that to offset his other income.