Leeway

Moore's Barbeque HWY 301, Kenly NC 919/284-3865 Open Tues-Sat 10:30am-8pm. Just off I-95. I can't vouch for the other items on the menu. I can recommend the pulled pork BBQ; put the slaw on it, drizzle some of the BBQ hot sauce on it, and you're good to go

A piano session: Barry Harris at the Jazz Workshop"-- my copy is a Victor Japan issue of the original Riverside. Bebop trio piano. I like it, very pleasant, smart piano playing, but would it be fair to describe this as Bud Powell-lite? Then some Bill Evans, "New Conversations" Warner Bros. BSK 3177. I'm not a big fan of the electric piano, but Evans mostly makes it work for him here. There is some tremendous playing here; the overdubs are extraordinary. Not the best, or my favorite, Evans album, but a darn good one. Another genius of the piano: Mary Lou Williams, "From the Heart," Chiaroscuro 103. A wonderful amalgam of Tatum, Chopin, Monk, Debussy, and Powell (who was reportedly in love with Mary Lou, and who was likely influenced by her) but "at heart," very much her own person and her own pianist. This album is now part of a double CD called "Nite Life."

OK, grab the popcorn. Amazingly enough, the CDs I bought from UA showed up today. I bought them on 9/1/04, Allan mailed them on 9/10/04 (postmark), and I received them today through Canadian post UA had given me a refund, which I have now returned to him (I can see why PayPal does so well). I had lost patience with UA and sent him an angry e-mail. UA then put my e-mail on the Board, and a public mudfight ensued. A lot of "blood" got spilled. There was fault to be found on both sides, I think. I wish I hadn't sent my e-mail, and I wish UA had kept the disagreement private. But that can't be helped now. This has all been vented, vetted, and discussed, so I will leave it at that. Although I might be impatient (at times), I'm honest, and thus UA gets his money and I have posted this report, as I promised I would.

Short and simple: I tried a few and they sucked. Turrentine: HUSTLIN'...Halfway through his first solo on 'Goin Home' I just made out someone saying, "Yeahhhh" in the background. Love the nice long solos he takes on this LP. I don't know I'd go that far I picked up some of these these Columbia 180gram LPs fairly cheap. They promise "audiophile" quality, which I didn't really expect-- and did not get. But the sound is pretty decent overall. The vinyl has a little bit of static in places. I believe these things sold new for about $15, a lot less than Classic for example. So I suppose they offered an inexpensive way to get into new vinyl. My question about Columbia had to do more with whether Columbia used its own analog sources, or just used later digital transfers. Did they assemble a designated group to produce these vinyl reissues? I was also curious why Columbia would bother trying to make its way into the vinyl reissue market; it would seem a low margin operation for a big company. OTOH, it would seem that Columbia, with its back catalog, and plentiful audio resources, could potentially make some top-notch vinyl reissues. I have to spin a few more of these and see if I agree with Wolff's assessment.

BOOKS. I've been a lifelong book collector. Here's how bad it got: I ended up opening a used and rare book store, which my wife and I ran for about 7 or 8 years. Let me tell you: if you like books, don't open a bookstore. It's a great way to kill the pleasure. It's really an addiction, in the true sense of the word. And I'm not sure it's all that harmless either. Now I'm out there looking for records.

Yes, agreed; in fact, it might be a key reason why the film resonates on such an emotional level. It has the intimacy of a story told among friends or family.

Time to revisit Monk. It's like traveling to the headwaters of the Nile: 180 gram Columbia vinyl reissue. Not quite the audiphile treat they promise but good enough. Does anyone know more about Columbia's vinyl reissues? Spurred on by Brownie's comments on "Afternoon of a Fawn," I pulled out my copy. Alas, my feelings about the album are less enthusiastic. An interesting experiment in soundscapes, perhaps, reminded me a bit of Messiaen. I'm pretty sure, however, it's not jazz (not that that is necessarily damning). Perhaps one has to be in just the right mood, or maybe an, er, enhanced, mood to fully get into it. Jazzmooose, a sad story indeed

In the sense that you have your view and I have mine Sorry to disappoint you about not offering a rebuttal. OK, let me add this: As you indicate, the time is somewhat indeterminate. Modern enough not to seem remote, but not right up to date. So it can be taken as relevant to today, but not topical. I think this was by design. It allows one to disregard prison life as we now know it, for a slightly hazy past where questions about prisoners tend not to intrude. But maybe prison life was nicer a generation or two ago. From what I know, it wasn't, but I'm not an expert. I doubt it was quite as collegial as it appears in the movie. Bruce H in his post nails it, I think. I would also suggets that the presence of Tim Robbins ( a fine actor BTW) signals a certain left socio-political orientation (which I share to a great degree, so I'm not knocking him just for that) that is implicit in the movie. There is a definite political element implicit throughout the movie. I do think the movie, aside from telling a powerful personal story, wants to change the viewer's poltiical and social views on crime, punishment, and, in the largest way, about government authority. That's just my take on one aspect of the film.

Jazzmoose, sound like there is an interesting story there about Japan . And I love the title of that album Does the LP cover live up to the title?

OK, now that we have dealt with the prison life issue, there is one other aspect of the movie that I have reservations about: the ending. I would have prefered the movie ending with "Red" (Morgan Freeman) heading out on the bus, so that the issue of the future is left open for the viewer to speculate upon. That scene on the beach, where Red and Andy meet each other again, seems too pat, sentimental. It has a "Hallmark" quality to it. I'm probably in the minority here again, but was wondering if anyone else felt that the ending scene was weak.

Some Blue Notes, and some Dylan: New York, USA pressing. Liberty pressing. Bob Dylan with The Band: Asylum 7E-1003.

Brutal rape scenes, sadistic guards ... "hopelessly idealized picture of prison life"?? Dan, check out any documentary on prison life in America. There is violent race warfare inside the prisons, drug use, gang warfare, etc. One doesn't see in them the sort of easy camaderie and uplift spirit protrayed in the film. I wish it were otherwise, but it isn't. In addition, the hero of the film is an innocent man, thus it's easy to root for him, and the other cons seem like harmless, inofffensive sorts of fellows, more put upon than threatening. Go into any maximum security prison facility (I have visited them), and the prisoners one finds there are hardly inoffensive; indeed, there's a very good chance of getting killed in a heartbeat. I'm not putting down the film. As I said, I personally like it a lot. But I think it's important to keep in mind that the film's treatment of prison life is, in fact, quite idealized.

I guess Mr. Derrida will now be engaged in his final act of deconstruction.

Turning 52 this month, which really freakin floors me Fortunately, I'm chronically immature BTW, what up with those octo- and nono- genarians? The need to get with the program!

Jazz and rock: Dolphy- "Copenhagen Concert" Prestige double LP Then a very "groovy" ( ) rock album, Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers"-- I really like this one: Not to be played at volume if you have cantankerous neighbors-- deep Purple going heavy metal:

Rock, jazz, energy: Grateful Dead: "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been"---Warner Brothers 3091- double gatefold LP. Jefferson Airplane: "Bless Its Pointed Little Head: Alive at the Fillmore East/West" RCA LSP-4133. I love the Jefferson Airplane. I used to go to the Fillmore East, but never caught the Airplane, much to my regret. And then some great jazz: My copy, 3 LP set, is on the America label (A French label?), in a double gatefold jacket, with lovely pictures of the musicians, Clifford Jordan, Eric Dolphy, and Mingus. All of this fits together beautifully.

Brownie Do you ever go to any of those street vendor fairs in the outlying arrondisements of Paris? I recall one near Montmartre, street after street of goods for sale. There were a few booths with LPs. One in particular had quite a large selection of jazz records. I guess my larger question is what is the scene for buying jazz records in Paris?

Some of the local cable channels in my area run this film frequently. I like it very much. I've watched it quite a number of times. Its humanity pulls you in. BUT, watching it, I know that the picture it draws of the convicts and convict life, is hardly realistic. If it ever did exist, it doesn't anymore. It's a beautiful film about justice, friendship, hope. But it gives a hopelessly idealized picture of prison life.

Continuing my Dolphy interest. A Prestige "2-fer" with "Outward Bound" and "Out There," remastered by Rudy Van Gelder. Good sound at a good price. Rummaging about in my shelves, came up with: Electric Flag-- one of those great psychedelic names. Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Miles, Nick Gravenites, et al. A spirited attempt to fuse rock, soul, blues, and even a little bit of jazz. Columbia CS9597.

I can't begin to figure out the various conflicts discussed in this thread, but if the original question was, "Should we have a free jazz forum?" I was wondering what the answer is. Wouldn't B3-er have to agree to add another forum? Anyway, now that all the issues have been aired and the poll taken, what next?

The DC area isn't that good for fast food; this is the land of bureaucrats, and they seem to like their fast food produced by vast bureaucracies. Anyway, when I want a fast food burger, I get the Wendy double-burger with ketchup, pickle and onion. When it's hot of fthe gril, it's really tasty and good. Every 3 or 4 months, I get a Big Mac attack. It seesm to met hat the Big Mac has deteriorated over the decades (don't know why), but it's still a unique kind of taste. I don't care much for fast-food but I like street food: hot dogs, meat on a stick (souvlaki), a slice of pizza-- if you are a New Yorker, you know what I'm talking about (I grew up in NYC). I lived in Chicago for a while. I love Chicago style hot dogs and Polish sausages. Also, Italian beef sandwiches. Chicago is a good place for that kind of food. Right now, one of my big faves is pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. Recently found a little place in North Carolina that served the BEST pulled pork Carolina- style sandwiches (with a layer of slaw and hot sauce over the pork), $2.00 a sandwich. Damn that was good stuff. All of a sudden, I'm hungry.

Brownie, thanks for posting this. Regarding Third Stream, too bad that it usually endued up, as it did with Dolphy, with the classical element trying to impose strict orchestral form on the jazz element, rather than accepting and bringing-in the improvisatory nature of jazz. As for the cell phone dude, i could imagine what a leader like Mingus would have done if that had happened. He no doubt would have kicked him right in the ass

I'll just echo what Jazzmoose and Sidewinder said, and that is one can get most of these titles used, and in my experience, for far less than the price of the new issues. Of course, if you want new, then you have to pay the man I don't know what the big secrecy thing is all about, unless one just wants to mark that down to "hype." Maybe RT is going the Dusty Bastard route?

Getting a chance to live with the TT a while can be one problem. Also, it seems to me to that the cartridge plays a big-maybe crucial-- role in TT performance, and so, wouldn't it be quite possible that two people with the same TT but different cartidges, are going to report different sonic results? How does one factor into the equation the role and performance of the cartidge (which is, typically, an add-on from a different manufacturer?).

I'm happy with Org, and usually don't think much about the old BNBB, but when I do, I tend to see it the way Ed does. It wasn't the closing so much as the WAY it was done that still rankles. Now, despite the fact that this board has some of the most loyal BN fans anywhere, Evered chooses to post over at AAJ, where the attitude towards BN is considerably cooler. It's as if Evered is still intent on showing his disregard, if not contempt. Frankly, that sucks. It's not unreasonable in response to say, "I'm not going to support that company the way I used to." I admit that I still do buy those BNs that matter to me. I buy because I like the artists making the albums, that simple. Evered is not BN, although he might think he is. One hopes that some day, Evered moves on, and BN continues to produce great jazz.