Kevin Bresnahan

Scott Wendholt Yeah, Scott's a good one too. Definitely worth checking out if you're into post bop trumpet.

I had my blood drawn this morning for my annual PSA check. Since I have a family history, it's a no-brainer. I still hate the finger check. That's next week. I wish I had a doctor with smaller fingers.

Although I know you're kidding, you should know that Eric Alexander is a triathlete. I would not bet against him in any athletic event, even wrestling.

Mea culpa on the transposing of Jim Cullum to Jamie Cullum. Freudian slip?

I never liked that there had to be winners either. However, it was instrumental in getting new players into the public's eye and in my book, that's a good thing. By the time Joshua Redman won in 1991, winning equated with a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records, which is also a good thing. BTW, Chris Potter tied for 3rd with Tim Warfield, another favorite of mine. A complete list of Monk Competition winners is here: http://www.monkinstitute.org/competition.php?Page=COMP-PW. Check out some of the winners and losers. It's a who's who of today's Jazz stars. If this competition made them into the players they are today, it has to be a good thing, right?

Having been a follower of the Monk competition back in those days, I wouldn't call the results "unbelievable" or even that surprising. As John L pointed out, Chris Potter came in 3rd. It was just unfortunate (or fortunate?) that there were 3 excellent players in the same category that year. One had to "win". That word "win" deserves quotes because there really isn't any qualitative way to judge a Jazz performance. Maybe Redman played his progressions better? Maybe Alexander flubbed a note? Maybe Potter played something that the judges didn't like? Who knows? BTW, I don't think you should completely discount the fact that Redman's dad Dewey was friends with most of the judges. While I would hope that wasn't a deciding factor, I don't see how it could hurt Joshua if everything else was equal.

Although I don't own it, I assume that the DCC gold CD would be the best sounding CD version out there. I have never been disappointed by the sound of these DCC gold CDs.

Then why are you here on Organissimo's web forum? After all, they are a "traditional" organ trio. Hadn't realized that being a fan of "hard bop (or any) traditionalism" was a requirement for membership here. Did you like Matthew's self-proclaimed "threadcrap"? My reply was to point out that if a traditional playing style bugs him that much, he might be better off hanging out at a website run by a band that plays in a less traditional style. Would Matthew come into a thread about Organissimo's "Groovadelphia" and bitch that it's "organ trio tradition" is now on the level of the Jamie Cullum Jazz Band? I think not.

I don't get "the Jim Cullum sense" added on here. I was not comparing Organissimo to Jamie Cullum. To my ears, Organissimo plays in a traditional Jazz organ trio style, rooted pretty nicely in the Jimmy Smith tradition. Sure, there are nice twists & turns but it's a style that would fit just as well in 1965 as it does in 2010. There is nothing "Jamie Cullum" in their playing style any more than there is in Eric Alexander's. If someone comes here to discuss Jazz, there really is no need to put down a player because he or she plays in a traditional style. There's room for all styles.

Then why are you here on Organissimo's web forum? After all, they are a "traditional" organ trio.

Jim Rotondi is one of the founding members of One For All, otherwise known as Today's Jazz Messengers. Like nearly everyone else in this band, he gets dinged by the Jazz cognoscenti for playing hard bop. "No development". "Not moving forward". "If I want to hear this, I'll put on a Lee Morgan Blue Note record". Well, I got news for you, Lee Morgan's dead. There are not too many trumpeters today that play pure hard bop. For someone like me who loves to hear a hot band smokin' some hard bop, I am grateful for One For All and Jim Rotondi. I've seen him several times live and I've enjoyed every one. I go to hear hard bop and that's what he plays. If I went to a show and he suddenly started playing crazy outside stuff, I'd be bummed. That's not why I go to see him. Kevin

I asked Michael Cuscuna & Ron McMaster about this and they have no idea what Steve Hoffman was talking about with "The Sidewinder" master tape. According to Ron, the master that Steve "found" is the same one that he's used many times. In fact, when Ron used it a few weeks later to cut an LP, he said the writing on the box was plain as day that it had been used by him & RVG for the previous CD releases.

I actually haven't heard anything from Michael Cuscuna in quite a while. However, given my last conversation, I would guess that there is very little in the pipeline right now. I have heard rumors that Michael may not even be working for Blue Note any more, but I haven't called him to ask. I'm actually afraid of the answer.

I picked up all 4 of the new XRCDs and while they do sound great, the TOCJ versions of "True Blue" and "Speakin' My Piece" sound very similar. Given that not everyone has the ability to buy these older TOCJ discs, the XRCD is the way to go. If you have the TOCJ CD, you may be able to save the $30. So for "Cool Struttin'" and "Soul Station", I am very happy. Kevin

I'm in the market for a new commuter car. My Prius is hitting 125,000 miles so it's time to delegate it for around-town transport duties. I want to support the US auto industry - yeah, stupid me, I know - I may regret it later. Anyway, I test drove a Ford Fusion, which is about the only car in their line-up that appealed to me, but the seat was extremely uncomfortable. It seems that Ford made a decision that they weren't going to let the owner of the car adjust the headrest to their comfort. Ford has it permanently pointing at the back of your skull. When you settle back into the seat, your head points down and you wind up looking at your crotch. Hey, there are some crotches I enjoy staring at, but I think I'd be better off looking out the window while I'm driving. So GM... pared down to Chevy, Buick and Cadillac. Obviously, a Caddie is not a "commuter car". Buick doesn't make any small cars at all anymore, although their cars get decent gas mileage as is. Chevy. The Aveo? No way. Tiny little thing. Cobalt? Malibu? A lot of these cars look kinda plastic-y inside, although a lot better than the '09 Pontiacs. So any opinions out there? Should I say "screw it" and go with my tried & true Toyota again? BTW, I was in a Nissan dealer to look at the Rogue mini-SUV and I saw this funky-looking little car called Cube. Wow. Weirdest looking car I've ever sat in. But I have to say, it has the most headroom of any car I've ever sat in too. 28 city/30 highway. Hmmmm. Maybe a Cube is in my future? If so, my wife's already said she'll never drive "That ugly car. Ever." Later, Kevin

Jim - Have you looked into the Artist Share route? I would think you could get a few of us here to sponsor you. Kevin

If you can, find her last pictures from the Tt Collection's Popup show. I would bet Anorexia Nervosa. She looked like she weighed about 60 lbs. So sad.

Back in the early to mid-90s, I saw Bruce with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters and liked what I saw from him. He was really a straight blues player back then, but he swung those blues a lot like Jimmy Smith. I caught him with his own band at the Regattabar in Cambridge quite a few times and he always put on a great show. His set list was almost always straight blues, which suited me fine. He had a nice tenor saxophonist with him back then... what was his name? Tom Hall maybe? I don't think I've caught him in over a decade. I wonder if he's still living in the Boston area? I'd definitely go check him out again. Later, Kevin

What's "risky"? Annoying, maybe, but no risk at all. The discs themselves play perfectly in any CD player - the copy protection is not audible. Cactus Shield's copy protection technique is so easily avoided that it's laughable. All you have to do is shut off "auto start" or hold down the shift key when inserting the CD into the PC. I have been able to copy and rip every "copy protected" CD I ever bought, including the infamous Sony CDs with the rootkit. Kevin

Bob Brookmeyer - Traditionalism Revisited (Pacific Jazz) - small sawcut in spine $7 Miles Davis - On the Corner (Japanese Sony Mastersound edition) $10 Sonny Rollins - Way Out West (MFSL) - a crack in the front of the jewel case $10 These 3 arrived today - thanks for the quick shipping. Right now I am listening to (for the 1st time in my life) Miles's "On The Corner". Frenetic funk - with Miles so distorted at points that his trumpet sounds like a cat caught in a ceiling fan. Brookmeyer's CD was always on my "to buy" list, but every time I picked it up, I just couldn;t buy a CD with Darren Stevens on the cover. "Sam!!" Kevin

PM on these 3. Kevin

As Kramer once said, "I'm out".

Man, I used to watch that show all the time! I always wondered why it disappeared. It seemed to me that I wasn't the only one watching it. A lot of us 20-somethings were watching it and talking about it at work... especially the babes who worked in the background. Look at that hair! RIP Ken.

There's no way a new piece of junk from China would be better than an old Nakamichi or other high-end manufacturer. Almost all of today's cassette decks are junk. They don't make them "hi-fi" any more. I would be way more worried about a new machine creasing tapes than an older high-end model. I wish I could find a circa 1980 Nak tape deck for $15. I'm sure it would put my cheapie Sony dual deck to shame.

Stop using the "typical" setting! I rip all of my mp3s with Exact Audio Copy & LAME set-up for VBR Q2 (called VBR-2 or Quality 2 in some programs). The resulting files are indistinguishable for the source CD. Yes, the files are bigger because of this, but not nearly as big as FLAC. All current mp3/iPod players can play VBR mp3 files. Kevin