BFrank

I just threw a few bucks in the PayPal pot. Glad to help.

Gerald. ... and then start picking up some of his recent releases. He hasn't lost a thing!

David S. Ware - "The Freedom Suite" It's 4 tracks, so you'll have one to look forward to when your account refreshes.

He was in the psychedelic incarnation of The Animals (San Francisco Nights, Monterey, etc.). There's no mention of him in the liner notes of "Winds of Change", which includes "SF Nights". He may have been on some other records. Anyway, I was mega-impressed with Copeland on the Grammys the other night. He was on fire. Almost makes me want to see them on tour. And as Rooster mentioned, Sting is much more interesting when being challenged rather than on cruise control as he's been for the last 15 years or so. Not unlike Clapton and the Cream reunion. That was some of Eric's most inspired work in MANY years.

Cool! I hadn't heard about that. If it brings Organissimo out here.....even BETTER.

Besides the live "I've Known Rivers", you should check out "Harlem Bush Music" from the same time period. This is actually two albums on one CD ("Taifa" and "Uhuru") and feature Andy Bey on vocals on many cuts.

Dolan=dick Conn = dick

That's crazy! Why is he playing Fresno, of all places??

I have it in my "Save for Later" folder in eMusic. I read an interesting review somewhere about it.

Blue Mitchell - disk #3

This is pretty much my thinking, too. If Mosaic needs to expand its horizons in order to keep releasing the good stuff, it's OK with me. I'm not sure I understand what people are concerned about "tarnishing the brand" unless it somehow impacts their ability to continue the boxes.

... and "I reckon"

I'd say that Tom Hull's review "lacks finesse". If he's not familiar with the sessions in the Select box, then he's not really familiar with Tolliver.

Ratliff chimes in: CHARLES TOLLIVER BIG BAND “With Love” (Blue Note) The trumpeter Charles Tolliver started his career in the early 1960s, playing with Jackie McLean, Art Blakey and others; he became known as a bandleader later in the decade, after John Coltrane died. At that shaky moment in jazz Mr. Tolliver was an exciting, undefinable force in its mainstream, holding fast against abstraction and electric music, pushing out well-balanced phrases with the ferocious zeal of late Coltrane. Mr. Tolliver started writing big-band music for a few years in the early ’70s, then stopped and became less visible in general. In 2003 he formed his 20-piece group and jumped back in with gusto. His new big-band record, “With Love,” sounds like the work of a man who has been in storage for a long while and is ready to fight. The band, performing at the Jazz Standard tomorrow through Saturday, is brash, powerful and immediate, with blasts of high brass and sharp drum fills. Mr. Tolliver’s arrangements are reasonably complicated but direct; you can almost hear his furious conducting gestures. His music here represents a time when jazz wasn’t so tricked-up and self-doubting. Instead there are modern-jazz basics, done earnestly and energetically: quartal harmonies, call-and-response arrangements and a slug-it-out rearrangement of Monk’s “ ’Round Midnight,” taking the song through different moods and tempos. “With Love” has a comparatively old-school rhythm section in the bassist Cecil McBee and the drummer Victor Lewis; a young, iconoclastic pianist in Robert Glasper (whose improvisations in “Rejoicin’ ” and “Right Now” are squirrelly, hyperactive, exciting things) and a brilliant lead trumpeter in Mr. Tolliver, whose bright, almost shattering sound takes over in several solos. There’s something strangely manifestolike about this album. It isn’t preservationist or pedantic. It isn’t protecting anything; it’s having too much fun for that. But it demonstrates what we may be missing if we completely abandon the viscerally exciting qualities in jazz big bands that were important not so long ago. BEN RATLIFF

Anyone have any thoughts on the Mosaic Single "J.J."? The clips sure sound intriguing.

Anyone seen this group live? That may be the real test. He's bringing it to Yoshi's next month.

I hope you're wrong about this. It's getting written up quite a bit and they are mostly very good to excellent reveiws (it was even reviewed in Entertainment Weekly). Maybe you organissimo guys are just so ahead of the curve that this CD is already old news to you as the rest of the world is just discovering it. Hopefully it's not because no one buys CDs anymore. As for the recording quality, it is loud but it is a loud band, I would think that even in this day of things recorded usually on the safe side that a balls to the wall big band can still be recorded as such instead of having the life drained out of it. So, yes, it's loud. It was loud when we were recording it (I swore the walls were shaking a few times) and it felt more like a live situation than a recording situation when we were playing. My slight criticism is that perhaps it could have sounded a little warmer, loud is fine but it is perhaps a tad harsh in spots and could have been a little warmer. I hope you all check it out though. I think it's a great CD and you should buy it on that fact alone but hopefully we can also send a message to Blue Note that will encourage them to continue to record this sort of music. For those in the New York area, I hope you can make it out to the Jazz Standard this week for our CD release party. David, I was referring the the buzz on this board, not in the media. I don't read many music magazines, actually. Sounds like a "rockin'" session! Wish I could'a been a "fly on the wall" for that.

Your right about the parking, but you could always park in the Japantown garage. It wouldn't be much of a walk. For me it will be WAY more convenient, too.

This seems to have dropped off of the radar quickly. There was so much buzz about it the past few months, and now........nuthin'. +++ Here's a very nice review from "Time Out New York" magazine: Charles Tolliver With Love (Blue Note) Even while hunting for the next Norah Jones, Blue Note thankfully continues to honor its legacy by recording jazz elders. The label started ’06 strong with a stirring Andrew Hill disc that featured a fellow veteran, trumpeter Charles Tolliver. And the New Year brings Tolliver’s Blue Note debut as a leader, an exuberant big-band release teeming with inspired solos. Tolliver’s large ensemble has garnered raves in recent live appearances, but it’s been three decades since his last big-band recordings (on Strata-East, a label he cofounded). With Love effectively erases the interim; now as then, the trumpeter favors hectic yet hard-grooving arrangements. “Suspicion,” a reworking of a tune that dates to the ’70s, features a brisk, Latinish piano backbone and blasts of piercing brass. As with much of the record, the track’s ensemble sections are bombastic, but their density nicely sets off the sinewy improvisations. Later in “Suspicion,” Tolliver engages drummer Victor Lewis in a high-wire duet that showcases the trumpeter’s trademark tone—robust yet slightly blurred—and funky rhythmic flow. The leader plays brilliantly throughout, but his costars nearly upstage him. The alternating piano soloists are on fire: Tolliver’s longtime associate Stanley Cowell displays his blues-drenched virtuosity on “Mournin’ Variations,” while the young Robert Glasper builds to a head-spinning prismatic climax on “Rejoicin’.” These maverick voices balance out the flashy charts, yielding a rare example of a comeback session that truly crackles. — Hank Shteamer The Charles Tolliver Big Band plays Jazz Standard Tue 30–Feb 3.

... and HOW is this different from any other night?

Sooooooooo, anyone else listening to this?

Well..........THAT'S happenin' !

... or DON'T drink. As the case may be. Buzz is an honorary drunk. Hey, THANKS, Conn........I'm honored. BTW, Dolan.......is your avatar a photo of Cornell West?