BFrank

Rauschenberg retrospective at SFMOMA. Covers a LOT of ground and I had to go a second time to see the whole thing. I'm not the biggest fan, but I have a better understanding of his work. Impressive no matter what you think.

Great news! I've been needing a copy of the Thad/Mel booklet for years. I just emailed Scott.

Saw that. I was wondering when that was going to happen - it's only a week and a half away!

I think she's really interesting, too. I don't have that many of her albums and have only seen her once, but I try to keep up with what she's doing. Will definitely see her at the upcoming Big Ears Festival in Knoxville.

I know he's on FB. Maybe he gave up Org.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Both Sides of the Sky" arrived in the mail today. I like it, but it's a little rough in places and probably more interesting for 'complete-ists' than casual listeners. There IS one outstanding and unexpected cut that's almost worth the price of the album alone - a 5+ minute version of "Woodstock," and Jimi doesn't sing OR play guitar! Stephen Stills sings and plays B3 (in a sort of Lee Michaels meets Larry Young style), Jimi plays BASS (at times with Jack Bruce ferocity), and Buddy Miles pushes the trio hard on drums. The last 1:45 is a pulsating jam. It's definitely NOT Joni's or CSN's version.

Interesting!

THOSE look interesting, too!

I wish I lived closer. Would definitely check that out.

SXSW focus has always been up and coming artists. So, it takes a lot of investigating to find shows that you think you might like. Sifting through the website in the weeks before help somewhat. There are always shows by more established artists, as well but you can't count on many that you're familiar with. There also happen to be dozens (hundreds?) of daytime shows that are largely free, but there's no central listing so you learn to be aware of the ones that feature bands you like, and are in venues that are interesting (e.g. back yards of bars, restaurants, parking lots ...). If you're going for the music, the only pass you need is the Music Badge which is about $800 this year. When I started, it was closer to $500. Still a lot of money, but they were also giving discounts to "alumni". Anyway, there have been fewer and fewer acts I'm excited to see, which is one reason me and my pals decided to try Big Ears.

Whoa! Excellent!

Me, too! Although compared to SXSW (which I've been going to for the past 10 years), this should be like a walk in the park!

NOJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a GREAT one!

Blakey Blue Note 1960 - disk #1 Haven't listened to this in a long time. Still great!

I think some of the shows are going to require some "creative" scheduling. Plus, there will probably more "jiggering" in the next few weeks. To bad there won't be time to see any of the films!

That's right - I forgot that a lot of those titles were licensed from other labels. I'm sure that explains the eMusic selection. But they DO have almost 600 Steeplechase albums! The problem is they F-d up the Artist labeling, and a bunch of them are listed as "Various Artists" when there's clearly a leader. So searching sux. I notified them and they acknowledged the problem, but couldn't tell me how long it would take to fix.

After looking through the list, I realized that a lot of stuff from the 70s is missing. I don't remember specifically what, but Ritchie Cole, Cecil McBee as well as more Eddie Jefferson and Archie Shepp albums.

Sam Rivers big box - disk 1

Whoa ... Inner City! That's YUUUUUUUUGE!

Sunday: Jazz Epistles @ SFJAZZ. A tribute to Hugh Masekela (who was originally booked for these dates) with Abdullah Ibrahim and his group Ekaya, with guest Wadada Leo Smith.

That was a good series. Sorry to see it disappear. I agree with most of the ones already mentioned: Grachan, Big John, Carmell, Tolliver live, etc.

I just realized there are quite a few MPS albums available: Don Ellis, Manglesdorff, Clark/Boland, Oscar Peterson, Geo Duke, etc

Silent Way "metal spine" box, disk #1 (although THIS set didn't have a metal spine )