Pete C

I was just there tonight and tried the K.C. spare ribs, which are new to the menu. Very good, as are the Memphis baby back, St. Louis spare ribs, & pulled pork sandwich. I never tried the catfish--I love catfish, but the call of the pig is too strong every time I go. They get $5.50 for pints of draft. I had a Magic Hat #9 with dinner. I was entertaining a friend from out of town, and we went to see Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra. Quite a lot of fun.

Maybe he lusts after Cleo Laine.

I'll be interested in the reactions, but my feeling when I heard about this was that I couldn't think of anything more ridiculous.

Thanks, that's pretty impressive, even if it is a bit of a pain to read.

Yeah, I think the print edition of AAJ is the most comprehensive. I usually download the PDF and keep it for reference.

Weston at the Jazz Standard is easily the best combination of band and venue (too bad Billy Harper won't be added to make it a septet). The food is good, they have a good beer list, and if you don't want to eat or drink you don't have to. The only downside is that if you want to stay for a second set when they're not fully booked you have to pay 1/2 a second cover. They say it's because they don't have a minimum. I've seen Weston easily 20 times since the '70s, in various settings, so I won't be making this gig. Potter is good, but Weston is a giant (in more ways than one). Smoke pretty much is the mecca for 3rd (or is it 4th or 5th) generation hard boppers. These days you can get a decent meal at Birdland, Iridium, and the Standard. Fifteen years ago you couldn't get a good meal at a NY jazz club, period.

Two other recordings that should appeal to Bartok fans are Sylvie Courvoisier's exquisite Abaton, on ECM, with Mark Feldman & Erik Friedlander, and: Change of Time: Change of Time (OmniTone 15102) in Down Beat magazine! Inspired by Béla Bartók's progressive piano pieces Mikrokosmos, Change of Time creates miniature tone poems like little episodic travelogues. Cloud of notes, filled with Brownian motion, congeal into drops of primordial soup brimming with life. Musicians Russ Lossing, piano · John Hebert, bass Adam Kolker, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

When I do go to the Blue Note I get there early enough to get the seats at the end of the bar facing the stage. It's usually $10 cheaper than the tables and less claustrophobic. I think they charge $6.25 for a domestic beer at the bar.

Blue Note is one of the most expensive and least comfortable of NY clubs. However, they only have a $5 minimum per set. But drinks tend to be over $6 for anything alcoholic anyway. The food is inedible. Randy Weston & African Rhythms is at Jazz Standard, a much nicer club, and they serve good bbq. But they actually have no minimum in addition to admission. If you've never seen Weston, I'd go for that over the Blue Note. Chris Potter is at the Vanguard. On a weekend you'd pay $30, but that includes a $10 drink credit. They do not serve food. Birdland has Pat Martino on Saturday and the Chico O'Farrill Latin Big Band on Sundays (great band). The food is decent, and it's one of the best laid out clubs in the city. Monty Alexander is at Iridium. Bob Dorough does the Sunday brunch at Iridium. He's always fun and it's a great deal. $20 gets a pretty good buffet with music included. In the evenings the food is good but pricey. Also, on Sunday the 23rd from 4-7, for free at Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall) is the semi-finals of the Essentially Ellington High School Band competition. It's fun to watch those very talented kids, and I usually make it every year.

No, I'm not familiar with her albums.

She's been around a while longer than Goldings. She's definitely processed Larry Young. I saw her on a double bill with DeFrancesco in Montreal about 10 years ago. She had Ray Anderson with her.

If nothing else, the Arkestra and the AEC were two of the most visual groups in the history of the music.

Some of my favorite 60's recordings are the airchecks from the Elis Regina's TV show No Fino da Bossa (co-hosted with Jair Rodrigues). Among the guests on these recordings, if I remember offhand, are Jorge Ben, Baden Powell, Gilberto Gil, Pery Ribeiro and Wilson Simonal.

It was a nice match indeed, and it gave Sinatra a setting where he could tone down his bravado.

Yes, interesting that you mention that. When Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes wrote the original stage musical they were working within established samba traditions. Joao Gilberto's rhythmic innovations appeared shortly thereafter, and subsequent versions of the tunes from the show, and subsequent Jobim compositions, bore the bossa stamp from then on.

Bev, do you know about the Manchester-Sao Paulo Trama connection? A bunch of mostly younger artists who are combining American soul music (mostly seventies-oriented) with Brazilian sounds (and occasionally more contemporary hip hop and techno), who record for the S.P.-based Trama label seem to have caught on in the UK thanks to a DJ in Manchester who dug the stuff, and now Trama has a Manchester base too. Among the artists are Max de Castro & Wilson Simoninha (both sons of bossa singer Wilson Simonal), Jair Oliveira (son of Jair Rodrigues), and Ed Motta. Also, Joyce seems to have a bigger base in the UK than the US, and is connected with the Far Out label there. I almost made a trip to London a while back because Joyce & Ed Motta were playing back to back at the Jazz Cafe. There are lots of full tracks available to listen to on the trama.com.br website. It ain't bossa, though. London has a major Brazilian scene. A few years back I saw an amazing show at the Royal Albert Hall that featured Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Gal Costa, Virginia Rodrigues & Elza Soares, and the show also featured several London-based Escolas de Samba. It also seems that the kitchen staff at the London hotels I stay at are always Brazilian, and I always talk music with them.

Yeah, the M2S recordings are great, and I had the peasure of seeing them twice. Jim, it looks like I'm gonna be able to catch Joao Bosco & Gonzalo Rubalcaba playing together at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Bosco is one of my favorite MPB artists. Another good collection is The Story of Bossa Nova on Blue Note. One of my favorite instrumental albums of the last couple of years, period, is the stunning Duo, by Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo, on Sunnyside. For great jazz meets bossa piano, I think Camargo Mariano & Joao Donato are the two best.

I went for the eponymous one for its wealth of classic compositions in addition to great playing.

By the way, IMO Astrud Gilberto should be on the bottom of your list.

No, Pharoah plays burning tenor. I believe he plays on Part 3 (of 4) only, but he makes his presence very much known.

From the poll choices you'd think bossa nova was a North American style. I'm going to paste some suggestions I made in the past on Jazz Corner. * * * For a bossa nova collection, this one looks good, and the price is right ($11.98 list): Bossa Nova Brasil (Verve) 1. Desafinado - Gal Costa 2. Telefone - Céu da Boca 3. Pra Iluminar - Leila Pinheiro 4. Ãcuas de Marco - Elis Regina 5. Manha de Carnaval - Luiz Bonfá 6. Coração Vagabundo - Gal Costa 7. Chega de Saudade - Antonio Carlos Jobim 8. De Conversa Em Conversa - João Gilberto 9. Pra Que Chorar - Alcione 10. Surfboard - Roberto Menescal 11. Boranda - Edú Lobo 12. Bom Conselho - Maria Bethania 13. Carta Ao Tom 74 - Vinícius de Moraes 14. Falsa Baiana - Gal Costa 15. Chuvas de Verão - Caetano Veloso 16. Retrato Em Branco E Prieto (Picture in Black and White) - Antonio Carlos Jobim 17. Agua De Beber - Tom Jobim/Astrud Gilberto 18. Consolação - Baden Powell 19. Quem Quiser Encontrar O Amor - Tamba Trio 20. Influência Do Jazz - Carlos Lyra 21. Girl from Ipanema - Stan Getz 22. Samba da Benção - Vinícius de Moraes The best book on the subject is: The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil by Chris McGowan, Ricardo Pessanha * * * For a nice 24/7 webcast of classic bossa & MPB, go to: http://www.bossabrazil.com/ Then click Bossa Brazil on the channels list on the left. It's streaming MP3s, with a choice of 128 or 24k streams, and there's a "Now Playing" box. * * * Originally posted by Reid Has anyone heard the compilation, *Bossa Nova and Samba: Gold Edition*? I haven't heard it, but it looks like a reasonable collection. Track List DISC 1 1. Samba Do Aviao / Antonio Carlos Jobim 2. Roda / Gilberto Gil 3. Samba Em Paz / Caetano Veloso 4. The Girl from Ipanema / Astrud Gilberto 5. Asa Branca / Luiz Gonzaga 6. Abre Alas / Ivan Lins 7. O Velho Francisco / Chico Buarque 8. Essa Moça Ta Diferente / Chico Buarque 9. Tarde Em Itapoan / Maria Bethania 10. Bem Bom / Gal Costa 11. Cançao So Sal / Milton Nascimento 12. O Ronco da Cuica / Joao Bosco 13. Anos Dourado / Maria Bethania 14. Canto de Ossanha / Baden Powell 15. Cinco Crianças / Edú Lobo 16. Bate Bate / Jos Barrense-Dias 17. Origens II / Filo 18. Meu Piao / Astrud Gilberto 19. Procissao / Gilberto Gil 20. Sai da Frente / Bateria Nota DISC 2 1. Samba Do Veloso / Baden Powell 2. Catavento / Milton Nascimento 3. Mamae Eu Quero/Chica Chica Boom Chic / Astrud Gilberto 4. General da Banda / Ivan Lins 5. Sorte / Gal Costa 6. Bahianada / Jos Barrense-Dias 7. Portela, O Mundo Melhor de Pixinguinha / G.R.E.S. Imperio Serrano 8. Por Amor / Filo 9. De Frente Ao Crime / Joao Bosco 10. Soneto Do Amor Total/Samba Em Preludio / Vinicius De Moraes 11. Sei la ... A Visa Tem Sempre Razao / Antonio Carlos Jobim 12. Cavaleiro / Caetano Veloso 13. Agua de Beber / Quarteto em Cy 14. Pretinha / Marcello 15. Iemanja / Gilberto Gil 16. Cantando No Tor / Chico Buarque 17. Wave / Flavio Faria 18. Ultimo Desejo / Maria Bethania 19. Negro Negro / Edú Lobo 20. Muita Firmeza / Bateria Nota * * * I highly recommend Joyce's recent Bossa Duets album: From Dusty Groove: Joyce -- Bossa Duets Magical work from the lovely Joyce -- a set of duets with some of her favorite players and singers -- some of our favorites too! The album has Joyce working in a stripped-down and intimate style -- vocals and acoustic guitar tripping out over gentle bossa rhythms, joined on various tracks by artists that include Joao Donato, Toninho Horta, Johnny Alf, Wanda Sa, and daughter Ana Martins. Given the presence of the older bossa luminaries, the album's got a sophisticated and mature sound that's quite nice, and in contrast to some of Joyce's other recent recordings -- a bit mellower, perhaps, but also more deeply thoughtful, and at many levels, sadder and wiser. Titles include "Lugar Comum", "Voce E Eu", "Yarabela", "Plexus", "London Samba", "O Sapo", "E Vamos La", and "Fa Da Bahia". And just in case you were wondering, all tracks are exclusive to this album -- recorded in 2003!

Wayne is like Dylan: he does such extreme reinventions of his "familiar" repertoire that it's hard to recognize the tunes. I've seen this amazing quartet twice. I've gotten flak for my contention that Footprints Live ranks with his best Blue Note work.

Don't miss it.

I'm not familiar with Frohman by name (though I've probably heard him), but Porcelli & Vega are both great. I've always enjoyed Tito's Latinized takes on hard bop standards. And Vega's album Boperation is really nice too.

The Bop City website only lists Blue Note, but he will be playing Yoshi's in July. http://www.bopcity.com/horacesilver.htm