BFrank

I saw his talk at SXSW last week. I don't know enough about audio technology to know if Pono is the real deal or a lot of hype. You can listen to his spiel yourself on this NPR stream. His argument is that MP3s and even standard CDs compress the music way beyond what the musicians 'want' you to year. Pono technology has the ability to provide you with recordings that contain all the content (uncompressed) as heard in the studio, and the player can play it ALL back (assuming you have a great amp and speakers, of course).

Just posted on Facebook: Very excited to announce that the legendary Bobby Hutcherson will make his triumphant return to Blue Note Records--where the virtuoso vibraphonist started his career in the early '60s--with the June 23 release of "Enjoy the View," a session produced by Blue Note president Don Was and recorded by an all-star collective with saxophonist David Sanborn and organist Joey DeFrancesco, and featuring drummer Billy Hart! More details here: http://www.bluenote.com/news/bobby-hutcherson-returns-to-blue-note

Coincidentally, at SXSW on Friday I saw a sit-down interview (and guitar demo) with James Williamson.

No more Ashetons........RIP.

Oh, nooooooooooo............not AGAIN! FUGGETTABOUTIT!!!

Yeah - it's industry and commercialism, but there has always been strain of quality alternative that makes it worthwhile. This will be my 7th year, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue to go. Having said all that, I DO have a list longer than my arm of groups to check out this week. So it won't be boring, that's for sure. And as far as Ga Ga, I partially joke because I really haven't watched or listened to her at all and have friends who like her. It's just that commercial pop music isn't my thing, so I don't pay attention to it.

SXSW this week - and it seems to be more commercial than ever. Specifically.....Lady Ga GA is the Keynote Speaker. What's up with THAT? There is still plenty of music to see, but it's not trending in the right direction.

One of the biggest names in baseball.........who was not actually IN baseball. RIP

Not exactly tonight, but I managed to get tix for Herbie Hancock at SFJazz in May. They added a 3pm show to the Sunday 5/18 booking - it sold out in about 15 minutes. Going to be a great chance to see him in a relatively small venue. Will also be a nice complement to seeing Wayne there later this month.

Just starting on this myself. Agreed............TERRIFIC! I would go so far as to say "indispensable," too, considering that when this goes OOP it will become increasingly difficult to acquire the music.

I think you would want a Sustain pedal for that. I think Loopers are specifically designed for looping, which is complicated enough. My only suggestion is that you should look for a looper with more than one pedal. The single pedal designs are cheaper but are tricky to coordinate the on the fly.

Bobby Hutcherson on "Last Chance" now

I'm glad all those are available for downloads, but one of the reasons I buy Mosaics are for the excellent audio remastering experience and the liners/booklets - neither of which you would get with an MP3 D/L. On the other hand, for anyone just mildly interested in any of those sets (myself included), then it's a great opportunity to get the music at minimal expense.

I just got the Hutcherson and have listened through it once, so far. I like it, but don't know if it's indispensable other than the difficulty of getting these sessions once it's OOP.

I have a Boss RC-20 XL, but have to admit that I haven't used it much.

Nice piece of lumber you got there Lon. Congratulations!

Nojjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj!!

I was at UCSB in the early 70s and knew Zan a little bit. We both did shows on the campus radio station, KCSB-FM. Those were my early days of discovering jazz, so I learned a lot from him at the time. I left Santa Barbara for San Francisco in 1974 and lost touch with him after that. Thanks for posting - this is very cool. I still live in SF and will have to keep an eye out for him.

Here's a re-post from FB: Jack DeJohnette If you haven't had the chance to hear the ‪‎The Spring Quartet‬ live here's a track recently recorded in New Orleans. Enjoy!

Got my Bobby and Andrew Selects today. It's ALL good ...

I was about to write the same thing - and I've been going since about '65!

My friend's wife shot all those covers. They were friends and he specifically asked her to do them.

That's kind of an inside joke with the band and it seems it's turned out to be the truest test of whether or not an audience really knows us (and our history) or not. For instance, the next night in Detroit, when I announced Croquet Ballet the crowd went nuts like I was announcing Stairway to Heaven to a Led Zepplin audience...... It's old hat to those other guys in the band but to me it really gets me in touch with how much this music used to mean to people (and still does to some apparently/fortunately) That's a great 'inside' tip, David. I'll be SURE to yell "YEAH!" next time I see you guys in the Bay Area.

Feb 24: not jazz, but an iconic album for sure.

Feb 25