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Nice of Peter to chime in here. He's a regular over on JazzCorner. Yesterday Orrin Keepnews gave his $.02 in a letter to the Chronicle: +++ Challenges in making Yoshi's CD Editor -- Everyone would be better off if the current controversy about the Yoshi's anniversary CD were handled with a bit more accuracy and reality. Steven Winn's column ("Basic humanity of the arts world -- we hope -- transcends race," Wednesday) commendably seeks to calm things down but doesn't quite seem to understand the situation. As a jazz record producer who has quite frequently been involved in "live" recording over the past half century, I would like to inject a few facts into the issue. Any list of performers appearing at Yoshi's or any other appropriately operated jazz venue would inevitably include a substantial majority of African American artists. That, after all, is what this music is primarily concerned with. But for a great variety of reasons, most such performances are not recorded. The featured artist may not feel ready to have the material permanently preserved; suitable recording equipment may not be available; the artist may not be presently affiliated with a record company (or may be under contract to a company either not willing or not able to make an on-the-job recording) -- or there could be any one of a dozen other good reasons for not recording. And if the performance is recorded, the artist and/or company may not want part of it to be issued in combination with the other available selections. And asking a specific record company to handle the assembly and production of such an album (which is a pretty good idea, professionally), could also greatly increase the logistical and permissions problems. Certainly one or more of these problems could easily make the whole project unfeasible -- I guess we should marvel at Yoshi's being able to put together a CD at all, rather than scolding them because it is less than perfect. At any rate, the club has now graciously apologized (including a paragraph on its Web site). Let us go back to appreciating that they give this area what I consider one of the two or three best jazz clubs I have encountered in almost seven decades of geographically widespread drinking and music- listening. ORRIN KEEPNEWS El Cerrito

Some very solid charts by GW on Johnny Hartman's "Unforgettable".

Last night: Healdsburg Jazz Festival The Cookers - Eddie Henderson, Billy Harper, Craig Handy, David Weiss, George Cables, Cecil McBee, and Billy Hart. This show was awesome. The band was "on", the audience was "on" - a great time had by all. Healdsburg is a sleepy, little Northern California town in Sonoma's wine country about 90 minutes from San Francisco. So, I never thought I would be saying this, but this audience was 100 times more engaged in the music than the comatose crowd at the Joe Lovano/Hank Jones show I saw a couple of weeks ago at Dizzy's Lincoln Center, NYC. Amazing. You could tell from the beginning of the set with Billy Hart's drums punctuating the music that we were in for great show. They didn't disappoint. The group played tunes by Billy Harper (2), George Cables, Cecil McBee and Freddie Hubbard. Their encore was a recognizable bop tune which I couldn't place (probably a Hubbard or Lee Morgan piece). The thing that became immediately apparent was that even though the horn players were the attraction (and well-worth it!), the rhythm section (Cables, McBee, Hart) was world-class all by itself. I would pay $$ to see that trio alone. So....thanks to the David Weiss for putting this supergroup together. It doesn't get much better. Somehow I've managed to miss seeing Hart over all these years and didn't know what I've been missing. He really opened my eyes and was certainly key in this format. Constantly pushing and prodding the soloists, he was tireless and one of the most creative drummers I've ever seen. If he brings his quartet out West, I'll definitely have to check them out.

Word... I lived in Oakland from 12/85 to 11/89 and though there were many things I loved and miss, there were many things I too don't miss like the congestion, cost of living, earth quakes, and the $40 jazz gigs.. Well, congestion and cost of living will get to you in ANY urban environment. Earthquakes (especially bad ones) happen MUCH less frequently than tornados, hurricanes and floods. And I don't remember EVER paying $40 for a gig at Yoshi's (well, I may have paid around $40 last year for Kenny Burrell's birthday bash with Joey D, Hubert Laws, Pony Poindexter and the whole friggin' Gerald Wilson Orchestra, but it was worth it). Just a quick look at their site shows that you could see Bill Charlap tomorrow night for $16 or Terrence Blanchard next week for $18. In addition, they frequently charge only $10 for the second set. Randissimo, I'm sorry you had a bad experience out here. You should give it another chance.

I was around when 'Spaces' came out. I don't dislike it, just have never really thought it lived up to the personnel and the praise. You hit on the point with much of Coryell's early work - historical significance. He did some things real early that others came along a little later and did much better. That's why I mentioned that his historical significance outweighed his musical significance. Coryell and McLaughlin have different individual styles, but were nonetheless plowing in different sections of the same field - I don't think it's unreasonable at all to compare them, and after all, doesn't 'Spaces' beg comparison between the two? Glad we agree on 'Offering'. I believe that both "Spaces" & "Extrapolation" were recorded in 1969 and definitely have a similar feel. After that, I think that the two guitarists went in different directions - electrically. I would say that Coryell embraced a more blues-based rock feel while McLaughlin searched for the spiritual explorations of Coltrane. Also, I don't think Larry was as obsessed with finger speed as was John and others (like Al DiMeola and Allan Holdsworth).

I'll still say that "Spaces" is a classic. Maybe you had to be around when it came out. It seemed unique at the time. Also, you can't really compare Coryell with McLaughlin other than they were both experimenting with electronics at the same time. Their styles are totally different, though. I do agree that "Offering" is a solid date.

From the clips, I'm thinking that the Frank Foster is pretty good. Have to put that on the "list".

This has been on my to-buy list for a loooooooooong time. Guy It's worth having. How's the CD master, BTW? I only have my vinyl original. Should probably upgrade one of these days.

I saw that and thought those quotes were really sad. Especially: "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big." Maybe I just don't understand killing ...

... and of course, "Spaces" is a classic by any means.

I always liked that album. Is out on CD? Very rough, but a great "live" feel to it. I was impressed that he covered a Jack Bruce tune. I also like the way he introduced "Entardecendo en Sau-DADE". I've liked Larry off and on for many years. His early fusion stuff was pretty good - "Barefoot Boy" maybe the best of the bunch (not even really "fusion"). "Equipoise" is a nice, more low-key album with Stanley Cowell, Billy Hart & Buster Williams from 1985. A fairly recent album - "Tricycles" - with Paul Wertico & Mark Egan is a strong date, too.

Excellent. I was at the Yoshi's show. A lot of fun. Gerald Wilson stole the show for ME.

If you're looking for compacts with good lenses, the Panasonics have Leica lenses. Can't get much better than that.

If I was going to get a point-n-shoot right now, I would pick up the Canon PowerShot SD800 IS. It seems to get good reviews and packs a lot for the price. Amazon is selling it for $320 these days.

Exactly.

Straightahead jazz. I just ordered Journey To Love. You have more / another suggestion? Stanley Clarke 450 x Keep swinging Durium Either of the first 2 Return to Forever albums

Today: Betty Davis "They Say I'm Different"

I wonder how quickly this is going to go. I'm nervous about ordering it this week as our office is moving on Friday and I'm worried about the shipping getting caught in the transition. Order it now and ask them to hold off on shipping it? I charge a consultancy fee by the way. The check's in the mail ...

That's one SMOKIN' album! I'm DL-ing "They Say I'm Different" when my subscription rolls over tomorrow.

I wonder how quickly this is going to go. I'm nervous about ordering it this week as our office is moving on Friday and I'm worried about the shipping getting caught in the transition.

Damn! I'm a week too early. I'll be in NYC 5/17-20. Oh, well ...

Just showed up are some East Wind albums under Test of Time/IODA and 441/IODA labels. There are a few hard to find Andrew Hills (including Uncle Skid's avatar, "Blue Black") and some albums by Hank Jones/Great Jazz Trio that are all quality. Also Jackie Mclean w/Great Jazz Trio, Don Friedman and Marlena Shaw.

Rats! I'll be in NYC next week, but we're leaving on Sunday.

Bad news from eMusic. Zorn's Tzadik label is gone. I had a quite large "Save for later" list on that, too. Oh, well ...

Well, Max is only "Running Low" at this point. "Last Chance" is the time to panic. I'll be getting this one soon, too.