Peter Johnson

Sadly, Seattle is a bit of a theme park. I miss the grit in a big way. Not one person has told me to shut the fuck up since I've moved out here!

Bertrand-- Of course, only you can make the call here (sorry, bad pun, not intended), but some thoughts from my perspective, worth as much as you'll pay for them! I would return the call. I'm a shoot from the hip kind of person and I love catching up with people from my past; the internet has made this terrifically easy and I've made some great (re)connections with people this way. I understand your concerns about "hanging out with the old crowd"--when I'm back in my hometown, there's not ONE single person from high school with whom I've kept in touch, or with whom I have any interest in keeping in touch. Putting your job down is abject bullshit, but based on what you talk about here, you have so many cool things to talk about wrt the LOC, I think you could wow some folks (not like you'd have to or would even want to, but if such a topic rudely came up, you should be able to put the offending talker in his or her place fairly quickly). As far as getting dragged back into the old social situation, well, you have the ability to turn it on or off at the drop of a hat. I guess what I'm saying is, jobs are jobs, people are people. If you're interested in connecting with the person on the latter level, why not? Go for it. You might find you have a lot more in common now, mutual interests, mutual contacts, etc.; best of all, you could emerge from the situation with a great friend, company with whom to attend shows, etc. There's a possibly unspoken undercurrent here which I'll mention (and if I'm stepping over any lines or assuming shit, tell me to shut the hell up and I'll delete away)...my wife and I may be a bit unconventional in that each of us has a number of friends of the opposite sex. Friends with whom we go out individually, one on one. My parents and her mom think it's nuts; and many of our married friends think it's nuts. But we wouldn't have it any other way. There are simply interests we each have that the other doesn't share, and we have friends, who happen to be of the opposite sex, who do (I _hate_ talking about medicine over dinner; she _hates_ talking about jazz and politics over dinner). I guess what I'm saying _here_ is, if concern about this is part of what's going on, I would say that, yes, your primary relationship is worth saving, but friends don't come in one category, and if a new friend happens to be someone of the opposite sex, BFD! Whew. Now that I've run off my big ol' mouth, feel free to tell me to shut it. Good luck either way, Bertrand.

Word.

Folks, Clark Terry is coming to Seattle next month; from the Jazz Alley website, "Band members include Sylvia Cuenca (drums), David Glasser (sax), Marcus McLaurine (bass), and Don Friedman (piano)." Has anyone seen him recently? Worth going? Comments, questions, concerns? Thanks in advance! PJ

Gotta get back in after missing the last two... I can help with distribution, just can't burn. PM Sent!!! PJ

Jazzshrink, the description of a living will you provided is correct. But everybody, please please PLEASE do not put a decision respecting how you want end of life healthcare dealt with in the hands of a $6.99 form. CAVEAT: I'm a trust and estates lawyer, and preparing living wills is a component of what I do for a living, although the following shouldn't be considered legal advice (sorry, I have to say that) SECOND CAVEAT: I also do trust and estates dispute work, and I've been on the "other side" of this, seeing what can go wrong when people "thought they used the right form," etc. I took a look at the forms for WA and PA, the two states in which I'm licensed, and from what I could tell (the samples have watermarks that render portions of the forms unreadable), the forms will _probably_ work; the problem is, with any "one size fits all" form, you run the risk of using a form that hasn't been updated to match your state's current statute, choosing incorrect options if the form allows you to do so, etc. Clearly the readership of this board is sophisticated enough to understand forms that are available on the internet, but sometimes those forms, if signed, and the legal application of those forms, can have unintended legal impart and negative consequences. I urge any of you who may be thinking about signing a living will to do so with the assistance of a capable attorney who can ensure the applicable statute is followed and that you understand the impact of what you're signing. I'd be happy to discuss this further offline; just drop me a pm. Again, jazzshrink, i'm not trying to shit on your idea, and no offense meant, but I just wanted folks to know that I've seen what can happen when this kind of thing goes wrong. PJ

And that f@#cker better get his Prevailing Winds back to Seattle post haste so I can hear them live!!! Just kidding, Phil--you told me it's not easy to put the group together. Still keepin' my fingers crossed!!!

No question (wrt jazz) for me: Elvin Jones (with the Jazz Machine) in Seattle, 1999. My wife and I sat in the first row, just to Elvin's right. He made eye contact with us almost the entire evening. I'm not being melodramatic when I say that the amount of unbridled joy that emanated from him and his drum kit brought me to tears a number of times...it was gripping and a completely emotional, life changing experience. I haven't seen anything quite like it since. As you can imagine, I was quite shaken by his recent passing.

Not to hijack, but...is this true? I've been running my Fender P-bass through a Fender Sidekick amp for quite a while with (I thought) no problems. Something I should be concerned about?

I was wondering how Scott had that inside scoop before it showed up on a thread!!!

Wow, Jim, that is TERRIFIC news. If I weren't going to be in Philly for my anniversary ( ) I'd try to get out there to see you guys. Congrats on the gig!

Thanks everyone! Found the book and bookmarked the links! I appreciate it!

Hello all-- I've been trying to find a book for some time with little luck at Amazon (zshops), half, Powells... Seems to me I've seen a site listed here that consolidates a number of used book sellers; can anyone give me any tips as to what the site is? Thanks in advance. PJ

It doesn't work.

Weird, no posts in this thread since March 18. Has anyone heard from Couw?

Indeed--he was unreal. All over the keyboard while still making musical "sense".

I absolutely love this album. Something makes me feel surprised that it's held up so well over time--but it has. The playing and the arrangements are top notch; it's in fairly regular rotation in these parts. Any fan of organ/jazz/soul/funk ought to pick this up; it's genre-straddling for sure, but doesn't lose sight of hard bop either. Terrific stuff!

Great to hear from you, Brownie!!! Don't be too much of a stranger!

Filet of white salmon (Yum!!!) simply done: Season the fish with salt & pepper Heat a smear of olive oil and some thin slices of garlic in a pan Slide the garlic out of the way Toss in the fish, skin down, sear for 2 minutes Pour out the oil and garlic Toss pan under broiler for 7-8 minutes dill on top, a little lemon juice--YUM!!!

Just got back from the Stanko quartet show at the Triple Door in Seattle. It was a 90 + minute show--one set, three encores. Terrific stuff. Were any fellow Organissimites there? This is the first time I've been to a jazz show without having heard _anything_ by the musicians in advance. This board hipped me to Stanko, and I missed him in Philadelphia last year, so when I saw his name resurface in connection with his recent record, I made a mental note to be sure to go. I'm certainly glad I made it. I don't know his repertoire, so my thoughts are really more from an impression point of view--the playing was all over the board, as far as straight ahead, free, slow, fast...you name it. The quartet was clearly able; the pianist (sorry, don't know names, although I've seen them mentioned elsewhere here) played, for lack of a better comparison, in a sort of post-herbie-hancock herbie hancock vein. The drummer? I've seen the comparisons here to Tony Williams, and I get that, but I think the better comparison is early PMG Paul Wertico. The bass player didn't leave me with anything, other than a thought that he was quite able. Stanko himself? I admit my perception was a bit colored by all of the "Miles Davis derivative" stuff I've heard (not here so much as popular press, "everyone who owns KOB should buy...blah blah blah" and I'm here to tell you, this shit is NOT derivative. Stanko has really got his own thing going--if there were a single Miles comparison it would be that this guy can play so...far...behind...the...beat that he's almost in front of it. His phrasing had me on the edge of my seat ("shitmanhe'sgottaendthatnotesometimeandnow...wait...ishechangingtoanotherone?") Brilliant! The concert opened with (and freqently returned to) a tune that began with a nice, interesting bass ostinato over which the pianist came in with chords, setting up a mood for Stanko to blow some long phrases over. I don't think the key changed for a good five minutes, but it was very interesting (this sort of thing doesn't usually grab me, but it did here). By the time my first glass of bordeaux arrived, the band had kicked it up a notch and was really interacting nicely; I mean, they weren't trading fours or anything, but there was synchronicity and Stanko clearly has much respect for his pianist (as he should have, the guy was amazing) because he frequently laid out when the pianist really had something going. Halfway through the show the bassist pulled out his bow and my heart sank--arco usually drives me up a wall--but he held my attention with (I'm stealing someone's, Ubu's??? description here, sorry/thanks) a very intricate, almost chamber music duo with the pianist. It was haunting, and the audience _got_ it--well, except for the 22-year old blond with superpointyshoes who fell on the stairs next to me at that exact moment (she was okay, she walked it off)--and listened raptly as the song built and built and ebbed and flowed and the drummer appeared out of nowhere and then Stanko came in with crazy chromatic runs and goddamn it was just amazing, amazing ensemble work...this band has clearly got a vibe that they're comfortable with, and they use it to their advantage (and the advantage of the audience members who are paying attention!). Speaking of the latter, my second glass of bordeaux was marred slightly by the presence of three middle management schlubs who decided to walk halfway into the room, stand on the side, and talk loudly. Now in Philadelphia, you can imagine what would have happened next, but this being Seattle, the waiters and hosts just stepped around them, doing nothing. My blood started to boil, and they got louder, so I got up, walked up (feeling many pairs of eyes watching the back of my skull) to them and asked them politely to shut the fuck up (in so many words). One of them, a shorty with glasses and a combover lipped off a bit, but he said his piece and they slunk away. Sheesh!!! The encores were equally brilliant, and I was told by my table mate that they comprised material from their latest record on ECM. Which I would have bought for fifteen dollars, had they not run out. All in all, a terrific show, a terrific night, go see Stanko if you can, ditch the preconceptions if you have them, and hope with me that that asshole wakes up with a hangover! PJ

Seattle from the Space Needle today...blech...rain...

Enjoy! Have a great day Peter. Thanks, Tony--wish I could be biking with you on Sunday--a nice long spin through the English countryside would be good for the soul!

Met my my first friend from college and her husband for lunch; going to hit the market and figure out something for dinner; come back, go for a run; cook; eat; and around 7:00 head up the street for the Tomasz Stanko quartet!

I agree... Rest assured, Jeff, you'll never be on my ignore list!

Happy Birthday, Tom!