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Brubeck has an entire album of songs based around musicians' names. It's on Concord, but I can't remember the title. Some work, some don't. I've seen him twice. Once was so-so, once was very good last year, where he also played the London Flat piece. Yes, I also hope I am even able to attend concerts at that advanced age.

Just saw the show last night. It was good, but Hothouse was completely packed. I think half of Chicago's Polish population was in the house. And they were generally saving seats for 6 and 8 people. I wasn't able to even get a seat, so I stood through 4 or 5 songs, then moved to a different room and sat for the last two songs of the set, then left. I just can't enjoy music when I am that uncomfortable. (I love Hothouse but they have to stop overselling their shows. Even the somewhat dingy Green Mill does a better job of crowd control. It would just take one visit from the fire marshall to shut them down for a while.) Anyway, I thought Stanko came on kind of "pitchy" (to steal from Randy Jackson), but those problems went away as the evening wore on, and as the tunes got "hotter." I think he was mostly playing songs from Suspended Night. There was a little more fire to them than I remember, playing the ECM style "hot" if you get my drift. It worked for me anyway. I particularly liked a piece where the pianist played the piano with drum sticks inside the piano, hitting the strings and the wood inside the piano. From where I was standing, the drummer looks a little bit like Joe G.

Clem -- The tour is being archived on video (and probably bootlegged at every stop though no one from our table). I have no idea if this will ever be released (and have no idea how hard it would be to clean up something like this to make it presentable), but at least it isn't completely lost. Grimes is definitely starting to record more, and is on Dennis Gonzalez's Nile River Suite, which is good, but nowhere as wild and experimental as the Spacespace dates. Eric

The Friday show was great. We talk a bit about it over in Live Shows.

She's a middle aged (late 40s or early 50s ?) white woman (or very very light skinned biracial woman) with wild black hair. She was wearing a button with Grimes' face on it and occasionally scolding photographers at Hothouse. So I'm surprised you wouldn't have noticed her. I suspect she was there, since she is very protective of Grimes and the Spaceship tour. I didn't talk to her, but Sheldonm says she is nice once she understands you aren't trying to rip off Grimes.

What a wild show! Sal, sheldonm and myself saw the Spaceship with Fred Anderson on Friday (in Chicago). If you ask really nice sheldonm will post some photos. The bass Olive Oil, described elsewhere, is indeed about the ugliest bass you will ever see in your life. It's painted green with some little stars stuck on the front. Anyway, I can't compare it to one of Sun Ra's shows, since I've never seen one (even on video) but it felt like one to me, with Marshall Allen decked out in a gold mesh vest (over a black shirt) waving his arms when not playing and occasionally chanting or singing Space is the Place. At one point, he got down off the bandstand and played in front of everybody in the front row, coming up with different phrases for each customer. The drummer in Chicago was just a monster, really keeping the energy level up. Grimes and Fred Anderson were incredible, though I thought Anderson was better integrated into the first set than the second. Definitely worth catching if you can, though I guess there are only four stops left. But it is really great to see Grimes playing and touring again, and I expect he will be touring more in the future.

You might need to figure Houston in there too. They don't have the most wins, but they appear to have the most wins against quality teams. And the Bulls are going to be in the playoffs. Barring a late season collapse that just doesn't appear likely, since the kids are responding very well to a real coach. I'm thinking they'll make it to the second round. This honeymoon probably won't last more than a season or two before they get swole heads though. What's really interesting is that the team is almost all rookies plus Chandler and Curry. I don't think it is an accident that the other players are just out of successful college programs -- where you listened to the coach and learned to play basketball. A few notable successes aside, I much prefer the players who played three or four years of college ball. I think they are simply better team players. I've heard that the NBA Players Union is going to not fight terribly hard against a minimum age limit to enter the NBA (like the NFL has). Personally, I think this is a good thing, though there will be a few youngsters who have to wait a year too long.

I don't have all the dates in front of me, but I wanted to let the Michigan board members know that Stanko is going to be at the Firefly on the 15th, then coming to Chicago on the 16th where a number of us will see him, then heading up and down the West Coast. Should be a good show.

I have one ticket to see the Bad Plus/Bill Frissell (separately) on May 6, at 8 at the Chicago Symphony Center. I believe Bad Plus are the opening act. The ticket is Lower Balcony Row I Seat 102, so good but not the very best seat. Face is $18, but was part of a subscription, so more like $25. There should be more tickets to the show (but not next to this seat). I'm looking for $12 OBO. Thanks for looking! Eric

That is awfully generous of you, Guy. And in return I can take some of those useless pieces of paper the Americans call dollars. But seriously, I am thinking of selling close to half my collection, which I probably ought to do even if I don't move, since I just am not really listening to it. I am tired of moving it around, since I move on average every 18 months. There will be some gems amidst the dreck, and I will post them in the appropriate forum when I have a chance.

I'll definitely be talking about it with them, but it can wait until after I am actually hired. I did take a look and have a better understanding of the Social Security situation, where I have to fill out a form and am then exempted from US Social Security taxes, as long as I work in the UK and pay into the UK pension fund. My impression of the tax situation is that after the first year, I will basically fill out a 1040 that says 100% of my income is foreign-based, though I guess that won't be true for interest and dividends. Hmm.

The only Mosaics I have are CD ones, so they should ship relatively well. I am thinking of putting a lot in storage here (books and maybe some CDs), just in case I am only there a few years. I've actually spent the last few months making CDR backups of all my LPs, so that's probably all I would take at first. And probably would take almost no furniture, etc. I lived in Canada for a year, but wasn't working (student visa), so I had a health card but no pension insurance. Probably not going to make 45 years working in the UK. 35 would really be pushing it! I'm most worried about the interface between UK and US tax systems, but the company has done this in the past, so they'll have somebody to talk me through it. It's certainly exciting. I should know in just a few more weeks if it will really happen.

Well, it is looking more and more likely that I am going to land a job in Cambridge, England. And I think Sal is making headway as well. This might last for a few years, or it might be permanent, depending on a number of factors. Where should I go for some immigration-related questions, like cheapest way to ship large amounts of goods (books and files and CDs of course) overseas, the tax laws related to US citizens working overseas, whether foreign citizens are allowed to/are forced to participate in UK Health system and pension system, etc.? Thanks in advance. Eric

Sure, the Mantis and Grand Max are on reserve. Just PM with details and they'll go out sometime before the weekend. ejp

I'd be interested in the Harris if still available. I'll PM details later. I have several available, and more to add later. Charles Tolliver Grand Max (Black Lion) Erik Truffaz Mantis (BN) Johan Horlen Trio Chills (Dragon) Charlie Hunter Ready Set Shango (BN) ejp

Do you have a windows or Mac machine? Generally, making folders is easiest in the Explorer tool, which is part of the desktop and not inside any specific program. The most common way is to right click and then you go New --> New Folder. Then you drag things into the new folder. There are other ways, but that is the easiest.

Do you think this is really true, or just someone trying to start an urban legend? Part of the blade appears to be sticking out past the skin, which would certainly be noticable. And the part about desparately looking for a knife just doesn't sound right -- it's pushing the joke just too far. I suppose it might be true, but I've stopped believing most of these internet tales.

So we should all add $0.06 to our bids just to foil Dave. Yeah, that's pretty much the strategy I follow, though I did lose out on a few things, since my internet connection went out at a bad time. I guess there are actually snipe programs out there, but I don't have time to learn about them. And sometimes I do prefer just to bid my max (on something I am lukewarm about) and just forget about it.

If Mean what you say is still available let me know, and I'll PM with details. Thanks.

Yeah, I'll be there. And I'm about to buy tickets to Stanko and Grimes?. March is shaping up to be an excellent month for live jazz. I do wish I had known about the Dave Douglas show. Actually this thread should be moved to Live Shows, but I have no idea how to do that. Maybe the moderator can work some magic.

I hope he drops in somewhere else in Chicago, but I haven't seen anything so far.

I know there is a link to another page with some of this info, but the title is pretty obscure. Johnny Griffin is going to be one of several tenor players at this: "Great Chicago Tenor Saxes" to perform with Chicago Jazz Ensemble™ The Chicago Jazz Ensemble™ (CJE), with artistic director Jon Faddis, announces "Great Chicago Tenor Saxes". This is the second program of the Sixth American Heritage Series themed "The Roots of Chicago Jazz" and it features Johnny Griffin, Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Franz Jackson and Eric Alexander along with CJE, 8:00 P.M., Saturday, March 19, 2005, The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 Columbus Drive. Tickets are $25 and $30. Call this number and leave a message to reserve your seats: 312 344-6269. I will be there with my father in law. ejp

Sorry if this is beating the horse. Anyway, I was also most interested in Basra, since I had the others in this batch on CD or LP (I'll still probably upgrade the Hi Voltage but will wait until it hits yourmusic). So I decided to order Basra through HMV.co.uk, even though it had copy protection. It just showed up and I had no problem making a clean copy using FreeRip. I assume most other software would be just as successful. So I agree it should be released in the US (and probably will be once certain people come to their senses), but this is a viable route if you just can't wait.

Offhand I guess I'd say Dolphy's Uppsala Concert v. 1 and 2 on CD. Not that rare, I suppose. I've also got something called Earth Prayer by Russell Baba with Andrew Hill on piano. I think it is only available by ordering directly through Mr. Baba. And some CDR that Vandermark sells at his concerts.

I was being generous. Actually, I think the very expensive FLW houses in Oak Park, IL don't leak, but they also aren't particularly representative of Wright's later work, i.e. they have pitched roofs and the ceilings are taller than 7 feet high. By the way, I used to live in Rogers Park in the far north part of Chicago, and there is a FLW house there I used to walk by. It is up for auction (again). If anyone wants details, I can probably dig some up.