SEK

"Pakeezah" was interesting. The music was generally closer to classical forms than the other films that I saw in this series, and the scenes/sets were very beautiful. I had trouble getting into the melodrama when I saw it, but the movie generally held my interest. I thought that "Junglee" was very fun and entertaining. I liked it better than most Hollywood romantic comedies from that time. Shammi Kapoor was great, reminiscent of both Elvis Presley (but a much better actor than Elvis ever was) and maybe Sid Caesar. I thought that the actress that played the girl from Kashmir was even more outstanding. Her acting and dancing had a fresh, natural quality that was very compelling. I regret that I don't remember her name. I also regret that I could not stay awake for "Awaara". I was really looking forward to seeing that film...

I really enjoyed reading that book, published by the University of California Press. It contains a lot of interesting information and insights concerning the social and music scenes during the first half of the 20th century in L.A. (and nationally) that I had never come across elsewhere. Most of the interviews of the various musicians are quite well done. That's how I first became acquainted with Clora Bryant.

Chico Freeman- "Kings of Mali" Vinny Golia- "Slice of Life" Anouar Brahem- "Conte de L'incroyable Amour" Miles Davis (Bill Laswell remix)- "Panthalassa" Walt Dickerson and Sun Ra- "Visions" Abdullah Ibrahim- "The Journey" Randy Weston- "African Cookbook/Niles Little Big" (Comet), "The Healers" (Cora), "Uhuru Africa/Highlife"

I really appreciate reading that. Thank you.

Confessions I generally enjoy Blue Note Records, but: I've never dug Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder", even though I am enamored with many of his other records, before and after, and with much of his playing in other contexts. Though I enjoy Grant Green's playing on "Search for a New Land" and with Larry Young, I find his widely acclaimed "Idle Moments" to be mostly a snooze. I've rarely been able to get interested in any records led by Hank Mobley, other than "Soul Station". I find most of the Blue Note records made after Alfred Lion left, when "Blue Note Hit A New Note", to be relatively weak and uninteresting. Except for his early work, I am not a Lou Donaldson enthusiast. Donald Byrd's playing usually does not move me. Most of Jimmy Smith's work also does not reach me. ...

"The larch."

I was just sharing my enthusiasm for the film (It profoundly moved me!). I also wanted to try to demonstrate why the Romeo and Juliet comparison is not very salient to me and to show what I think are the most prominent themes in "Bombay". Mnytime, I meant no disrespect to you or to your points of view. I appreciate your starting this thread and your contributions to this and other discussions.

"Bombay" resembles Romeo and Juliet only in that the man and woman want to get together, despite the strong objections of both sets of parents. Beyond that, the story is quite different. It is not a story of ill-fated young lovers. They don't end up killing themselves or anything like that. Rather, the man soon returns to Bombay to pursue his journalistic career, the woman soon joins him, they get married, have twins, the families reconcile 6 years later, etc. "Bombay" is a story of reconciliation and hope, initially exemplified by the joining in love and marriage of a Hindu man and Muslim woman, then -after 6 years- enlarges to encompass the reconciliation of their families, and -after intense social and political strife in the streets which is overcome by the simple and direct interventions of several disparate and common people/characters- the story embraces a lovely vision of religious reconcilliation within the Indian nation. I noticed the inclusion of what appeared to be a kind, homosexual character who saved one of the sons from being trampled by a panicy mob. Clearly, the intent of the writer-director went beyond religious reconciliation to something even more universal. I felt that enlightened perspective building throughout the film.

Having sat through most of the previous Bollywood film on TCM, which was a rather lightweight comedy, my wife left the room after the first musical number of "Bombay", because it appeared to be a harbinger of more of the same. But I was intrigued by the fact that "Bombay" has usually been banned or substantially edited in India and addressed some verrry controversial issues there. Also the music and dance started out a bit better than previous film's fare (and improved pretty steadily thereafter). Certain sonorities near the beginning were like from a very Indian version of Milton Nascimento's "Sentinella", an album I am quite fond of. So I was able to hang with the movie for a while till it got more serious, and then I was quite drawn into it. My wife returned to the room a bit later, after "the serious turn of events" had gotten underway. Needless to say, she stayed through the end of the film. Something I do to help me get through the rather stylized female vocals, which are my least favorite element, is to imagine the same melodies played through a bansuri flute, vina or violin. It doesn't always suffice, but it worked well for me with "Bombay", because of the larger proportion of traditional Indian musical elements and references in the score.

I saw "Bombay" tonight and was very affected, impressed, and moved. It shares very little in common with Romeo and Juliet, but it is a very powerful film with an important, compelling, and universal theme about overcoming factional (in this case, religious) differences/conflicts by embracing our common humanity. It transcends its Bollywood trappings, and features fine acting, directing, and storytelling. I even enjoyed most of the music and choreography. It's very unfortunate that the film's enlightened perspective cannot reach more folks in India. I also fear that it would be dismissed by many in the United States for a variety of superficial or doctrinaire issues.

Paul Bley- "Axis" Oliver Lake- "Prophet" Herbie Hancock- "Sextant", "Mwandishi" Duke Ellington- "Far East Suite" Eddie Palmieri- "El Rumbero del Piano" Cubanismo- "Malembe" John Coltrane- "Olé Coltrane" Fred Anderson- "The Missing Link" Duke Ellington- "Blanton-Webster Band", Ken Burns jazz compilation 8 Bold Souls- "Last Option" Henry Threadgill Sextet- "You Know the Number"

This is one of the most difficult polls for me. I'm a fan of almost all of Hitchcock's films, including his "silent" films. I chose "Notorious", because it contains one of Ingrid Bergman's best performances (and she was rarely less than superlative). She was a real "knockout" in that film - very beautiful and sensual, and her chemistry with Cary Grant was intense. Claude Rains and the rest of the ensemble were constantly fascinating. It has romance, intrigue, suspense, "exotic" locales, Nazis, spys, ... It is a true classic and a movie that I enjoy often. (It's right up there with "Casablanca" in my list of all-time favorite films.) Another day, I could choose almost any one of the other films on the list (and a couple that were left off) with equivalent enthusiasm.

I'm flabbergasted, and I'm skeptical about Larry Brown. I hope that Joe knows what he's doing; he's done a fine job so far.

It was an all-Keith-Jarrett Saturday: "My Song" "Treasuire Island" "Death and the Flower" "Backhand" "Fort Yawuh" "Survivors Suite"

ED BLACKWELL TRIO - "Wall-Bridges" was on one CD the first time around...

I think that some of these things can be somewhat arbitrary. Whether under Morgan's or Golson's name, the music on "Lee Morgan Vol. 3" would be among my favorite programs from the '50s. "Hasaan's Dream" and "I Remember Clifford" are especially memorable.

My gut tells me that the Nets will do what they need to do to win, but the consensus is still with the Spurs, who will have to play better than they did tonight. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be an exciting series.

I love barbeque ribs, just about all varieties. I've had good barbeque in Texas and the Carolinas, but I favor the St. Louis-Kansas City style. Arthur Bryant's was terrific about 20-30 years ago. Growing up in L.A., I made it my mission to check out all the good places. I usually could afford to try the places' rib tips, and only treated myself to the meaty small end after I had just been paid. Eventually, my clear favorite was a place called "Carl's" on Pico Blvd. I haven't been there in over a dozen years, but that place used to be great. Carl's was run by two guys from St. Louis who knew their stuff was good when they surpassed the flavor of Arthur Bryant's in its heyday. They even eventually got an award from the L.A. Times. I remember one time I went there to pick up some ribs, soon after I had made a culinarily satisfying trip to Kansas City. I was talking about the good barbeque I just had at Bryant's, Hayward's, and Gates and said something like, "When one thinks about Kansas City, one thinks about their barbeque." I was quickly set straight by Carl or maybe his partner, "When you think about Kansas City, you should think about Charlie Parker." I humbly stood corrected and soon left with a half-rack of ribs (small end, of course). Even though the pork in Michigan is generally high in quality, the barbeque here is usually too dry, sweet, salty, or mild (sometimes all of the above) and never anywhere near world-class. So now, I just make my own. I only do it about two or three times during the summer. If I start in the morning, it's an all-day process in the smoker, usually over hickory (applewood, when I can get it). My sauce, made from scratch, is pretty good, but not quite as good as I remember Carl's was. This thread is an inspiration; I think I'll make a couple of racks of ribs real soon!

Over the last few years, after a long hiatus, I "upgraded" most of the components in my 2-channel music system to a gratifying and affordable level. Now we devote our audio money exclusively to recordings and live performances.

This is a great record, thrilling. I've loved it since I first heard it long ago. I got serious with jazz mostly around the music of Eric Dolphy, then went forward and back from there. I think the links between Dolphy's and Bird's playing can be readily heard on most of their recordings, but, for me, those links are strongest on this recording. I think that maybe it's because, on this recording, Parker played more of the phrases that Dolphy later incorporated into his playing, especially on "Wee" and "Hot House", or maybe it's Parker's tone... I'm sure glad that Mingus recorded this performance! The sound is quite nice, all things considered.

I think that the Nets are playing the best that they've played all year. I hope they win the NBA finals, because I like the style of the Nets game (closer to the Pistons') and the East has been dissed all year. Does anyone have any insights concerning how Bill Walton keeps his job?

Randy Weston- "Rhythms-Sounds Piano", "The Healers" (solo), "African Rhythms" ("African Cookbook"/"Niles Little Big") Kenny Cox- "Introducing Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet" Orchestre National de Jazz- "Charmediterranéen" Wayne Shorter- "Native Dancer" Bengt Berger- "Thums Up" Joe Malinga- "Ithi Gqi" Old and New Dreams- "Playing"

And Ben would get more help on the boards!

My friends with tube gear leave everything on 24/7. It really heats things up in the summer. My gear is all solid state. I turn it on and off as needed and start playing music through it right away. I've observed that by the time everything warms up (no more than 10 - 20 minutes), I've warmed up and settled in as well. It can be rather amusing asking many audiophiles for "scientific" support for what they buy and do... If it's not my money, I say, "If it sounds better to you, then go for it."

TCM has become my favorite TV station too. Their restored silent films have been a revelation to me. I also often like the well-chosen music that accompanies them; it can really makes it easier to follow what's transpiring/developing in the movie. I've enjoyed one of this month's features: pre-Hayes Code films. Censorship has sure been an effective tool for limiting the American social and political imagination.