Kevin Bresnahan

Mark Masters is still at it. I have a couple of his more recent CDs, a Gary McFadden tribute, "Wish Me Well" (2006) & an Ellington tribute, "Ellington Saxophone Encounters" (2012). I bought both mainly because they have Gary Smulyan on them but I have no regrets as there is some great playing by all on these two.

One For All at Smoke with special guest George Coleman. It was a great night.

I have a whole lot of Coleman Hawkins on vinyl but I was trying.

It looks like it's not out until May... Looking at the recording studio, I am surprised by the solid reflective surfaces all around the band members. Most studios seem to have sound absorbing materials on the walls.

Old cars & motorcycles are great to look at, no doubt; but in general, they really aren't anywhere near as fun to drive as a modern car, especially those old American boats that cornered like a whale. And don't get me going on those old Indian motorcycles with the suicide foot clutch, stick shift, left hand throttle advance & right hand spark advance. I don't know how my father ever drove those things.

I left a job where I had to get a clearance and I was told to minimize my social footprint for that. Now that I am no longer in that job, I can go back to using my name.

If you're not looking trying for a negative spin, then why the "rip off George Coleman" comment? I guess in your eyes that's a compliment?

Dan - Maybe it's just me, but it seems like you're fishing for some anti-Eric Alexander sentiments here. I don't feel like playing that game. This video is about a new improv course Alexander is selling to beginners based on his years of teaching the subject. Of course his basic premise is going to be "Play changes", as it is pretty good advice for beginners.

I haven't played that one in a while. I remember liking it quite a bit.

Mezzrow streams their shows too...

BTW - on both nights, we tried going to Smalls, which is a block away from Mezzrow, but on both nights, they were completely sold out, even the standing room areas. I guess that's good news for these clubs.

I had a blast in New York City these last few days. Maria Schneider's orchestra was phenomenal and I had great seats at Birdland. Afterward, we headed to Mezzrow and saw pianist Wilfie Williams. Mezzrow is a tiny club. I don't know how they make any money in that place as it looks like it has about 35 seats. But at the same time - what a great club! The acoustics are really good and the band is right there, a few feet from us. Friday night at Smoke with One For All & George Coleman was also a fun time. Again, I had great seats. The club came out of Covid as a "dinner club", which turned out to be a good, albeit expensive thing, as it allowed us to meet the band members before the show. What a great bunch of guys. After the Smoke show (), we again headed down to Mezzrow for Roberta Picket. Unfortunately, this time we got there too late to get seats so we stood in the back, outside the listening room. Acoustics were (obviously) not as good. But what we heard was some great playing, especially by bassist Andy McKee.

Sorry to hear about Bill's passing. As the years fly by, it seems like they get shorter.

McCoy Tyner - Prelude & Sonata (Milestone).

I know someone who had to supply Facebook with their photo ID for similar reasons and I think it's safe for you to do this as long as it's truly a Facebook support page. You said you went to Facebook directly and clicked Support? That should be OK. Don't follow any links in any e-mails. This doesn't make sense to me. As I said, I've changed my password recently and I had to enter a code that was e-mailed to me before I could change it. I don't see how this hacker bypassed that feature. Maybe I turned on some sort of added protection at one point?

BTW - nothing has been posted to your account since yesterday, so if this person did this for nefarious reasons, they haven't done it yet.

This sounds like someone is phishing you. How were you informed that this occurred? I've never changed my E-mail, but any time I've changed my password, I needed a code e-mailed to me to confirm that I owned that account.

I had several people tell me that Oppenheimer was boring as hell. Once I heard that, I knew it would win big at the Oscars. They love their navel-gazers.

If you enjoy Claire's music, I would encourage supporting her at this time. She could use a little extra financial support as she can't tour right now.

I find it rather bizarre that due to Mickey Mouse, the US has flipped a 180 on public domain from the rest of the world. In 1975, they were the Andorra of the copyright world.

In 1975, when Carmen's debut LP was recorded, Rachmaninoff's works were in the public domain, so "ripped off" is the wrong word. In fact, his use of those melodies is exactly how public domain is supposed to work.

RIP Eric. I read a few years ago that he had contracted "long covid" and that he wasn't doing well.

I'm heading to NYC later this week for my first visit since the late 90s. I'll be seeing Maria Schneider & her Orchestra at Birdland on Thursday & One For All with George Coleman at Smoke on Friday. We may hit Smalls one or both of these nights after these early sets. I'm really hoping to catch Jerome Sabbagh Thursday at Smalls but it depends on how the night goes. I am really looking forward to this trip even if it's putting a pretty good dent in my wallet this month.

I'm going to see Maria Schneider & her orchestra at Birdland Thursday (3/14). I'm really looking forward to seeing/hearing this great group again.

Joanne Brackeen - Fi-Fi Goes To Heaven (Concord). Unusual record in that Branford Marsalis plays the alto sax for most of it. I don't know that I'd give it as high of a score as the Penguin Jazz Guide when they named it as one of their top 1001 jazz records.