Leeway

Anita O'Day?

Cilantro? Used to have it when I lived in California. Seemed to fit in with the, er, lifestyle there. Mostly with fish or shrimp dishes. Never saw it in Chicago or New York or Philly. Strikes me as a West Coast type thing. B-)

Agreed I had my wife get me this for my birthday in October. Ordered it from True Blue. I think it sounds good, in fact, subsequent spins have only aded to my positive impressions. An essential set, I think, that will attract and reward repeated listenings.

Who said it? Maybe Miles Davis, sounds typical to him. Ta-Daaa!!! You're good! This is the second you guessed correctly. It was Miles Davis in a Blindfold Test - but the track played to him was by Buddy Collette ... Not to take anything away from Ztrauq, but I posted Miles back on January 5, and JSngry right after, so don't we get any credit? I don't expect to win too many of these you know Posted by Leeway:

Happy Birthday

I saw the surviving members of the Doors on a TV program about a year or two ago, where they had sifferent lead singers fill in the vocal roleformerly occupied by Jim Morrison. Sounds strange and maybe it was, but I realized a coupel of things. The music, whoever sang it, still had a lot of kick-ass power to it. Second, some of the guys (and I think one female) that they brought it seemed to be inspired by the whole thing-- not quite channeling Morrison but definitely enthused or inspired by the experience. The fellow from Creed gave a suprisingly powerful performance. I can't remember al the singers who were on-- maybe someone can fill in the gap? Also, has anyone visited the Morrison gravesite at pere Lachaise in Paris? It's the most visited site in that famous cemetery. Morrison has had several grave stones, as the original and later ones have been worn and chipped away by devoted fans. It's kind of an experience in itself to vit the garve. Hordes of fans milling about all day. Footnote? I don't think so. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I saw the Doors in concert several times. Morrison in his prime was a totally compelling figure. I saw a lot of the great rock bands and few, if any, came close. The only ones I saw with that kind of charisma was Janis Joplin when she was with Big Brother, and Hendrix. BREAK ON THROUGH

I got this set for my birthday--it's the gift that keeps on giving

Or maybe, "Whew, that's a relief, I thought it was that damn George W. Bush, trying to get me to endorse his Iraqi deal" B-) I'd rather God was importuned on the part of some recording artist than manhandled by all the politicos, reverands and mullahs in quest of more warfare.

I was. I saw the Doors several time. Boring? Hardly. That's flat-out ridiculous. That's like calling The Who a chamber music group. The Doors brought tremendous excitement to the rock scene, and a sense of wild romanticism. Maybe you have to be a teenager to really feel all that. Yes, they (Morrison particularly) succumbed to the excess of the rock scene at that time, same as Hendrix, Joplin and others. But they made an indelible impression, and they are still tremendously popular- not a footnote. I believe their albums are still strong sellers. Dudes, let down your hair and rock on.

Don't have this disc, but Hamelin and Osborne are both considerable virtuosi, so assuredly worth a listen.

FQWIW, antidepressants can be extremely beneficial for many people but some cautions are in order: They should not be taken like other prescription meds, but need to be accompanied by therapy. Most MDs just prescribe and forget. There should be follow-up sessions with therapists who can uncover the underlying causes for depression. After taking A-Ds for a while, one has to be really careful about stopping. The adverse affects can be a real problem, and even dangerous. Stopping should meds should be dne with care and medical supervision.

Dizzy Reece- BLUES IN TRINITY - Blue Note Haven't checked this out, but this must be one of the few Blue Notes not recorded by RVG and not recorded in the United States (I'm excluding the pre-RVG era and the post-Liberty era recordings). Were Reece's other Blue Notes recorded in London, like this one was, or were they recorded Stateside. Don't have them handy to check. How many other Blue Notes were recorded in London? This one with Tubby Hayes and Donald Byrd. You can hear a lot of Shorter's later work in this album. With Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Grachan Moncur III, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Joe Chambers.

Liner notes have shrunk or disappeared while the "Acknowledgments" section has grown gigantically in size! Has anyone been noticing what a profusion of acknowledgments there are on many new releases? Musicians are thanking their mother, father, sister, great-aunt, everyone int he band, everyone in the band's girlfriend/boyfriend (no, I'm not going there B-) ), everyone at the record label, the production company, the art designer(s), et al. I've seen some that take up a full page. I have to attribute this either to the artist figuring they will never get another CD deal, or to inflated egos, like those at the Academy Awards, that feel they have to parade every personal and professional obligation before us. I'd rather have liner notes than this ostentation. However, liner notes from family relatives (the Marsalises are big on this) or personal friends should be banned. The kind of liner notes I appreciate are like those written by Bob Blumenthal for the reissued RVGs. I know some have criticized them for lacking a sense of excitement, but I like their relatively sober and informed commentary. I would be happy to see liner notes by Mr. Kart, Mr. Lowe, F. Davis, and others of that quality.

One more plug for the BN 2005 calendar. I've been getting them every year. I think this year's group of photos is the best yet. Check out the Lee Morgan photo for January . You gotta have this

Welcome to EBAY -- Home of the Shady Deal B-)

Not only with other people, but with his art as well, as he walked away from it too, and cut himself off from further artistic development. A philosophical question: can so mean-spirited a person have produced truly great art? or are we responding to his technical ability more than any profundity in his art/music?

Jimmy Ponder Jimmy Ponder Interview

Yes, this is a site with some pitfalls and weirdo stocking/shipping problems. I ordered the Von Freeman; when my order arrived, it showed the Von Freeman on backorder "cancelled"-- three days later it showed up unbidden! Weird Plus, some of the pictures (lie those showing MSFL) are incorrect. OTOT, no tax, no shipping.

Grant Green - GREEN BLUES - Muse LP

For me, Grant Green, both for his own individual playing, and for the various ensembles in which he played.

From MOSAIC: Maybe I'm being a Philadelphia lawyer here, but does this mean that these are analog recordings? Or are they digital LPs derived from analog sources? Dunno, but Mosaic seems to be shying away from simply calling the set an analog recording.

31? So young!

Wasn't that Miles before a "Blindfold Test"? Then when he took the test, he got most of them wrong

Blue Note Toshiba Japan pressing. Great lineup: Thad Jones, Benny Powell, Gigi Gryce, Tommy Flanagan, Georeg Duvivier, and brother Elvin Jones.