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Keep an eye open for Paul Skenes!

Death By Lightning - Netflix

Yes, definitely. From what I understand, transit west of downtown leaves a LOT to be desired. (And the airport is west of downtown.) Pittsburgh’s transit isn’t as good as it could and should be — but that one busway east of downtown is easily overlooked (and better than bus transit usually is most places). There are also some busways south of downtown too — which I know next to nothing about — and I have no idea how efficient they are (how isolated from other vehicles they are — or aren’t). PGH’s transit is a mixed bag overall — but still better than quite a number of other cities that aren’t bigger than PGH.

I watched it tonight. Very worthwhile film!

>>Nowhere near as sexy as rail — but in the right circumstances, it can be incredibly efficient — especially in this formerly freight-rail-only valley that never had vehicular traffic on it before in the first place. I'm sure it can be. I don't have anything against busways in general, but my ride in from the airport to University of Pittsburgh was surprisingly slow and quite crowded. Maybe they need some express buses on that route.

I think there was a thread once upon a time on how people came across the board, if they weren't part of the original exodus.

Oh yeah, Off to the Races is a great tune. Hadn't heard the L'Olympia version before. It's a treat to listen to these guys live.

The thing about Pittsburgh transit is that they didn’t/couldn't ever fund their main public transit corridor with light rail — instead opting for a protected rapid-transit busway (no other vehicular traffic) down in a valley that cuts thru the heart of the east end of the main part of the city (immediately east of downtown). Back 50+ years ago, there used to be 4 or 5 freight rail lines down in that valley. Then in the mid-70’s, they tore out all but two of those freight rail lines, and replaced them with a 3-lane road for busses only (and emergency vehicles) — and said busses can get up to 40 even 50 mph, taking commuters to and from downtown in 1/4th the time of the city streets above. They also treat and plow the hell out of the busway in the winter (when it snows). I understand the busway actually moves a lot more people daily than Pittsburg’s light rail does (their light rail is called the “T”). And the busses on the busway run almost as frequently as some DC Metro lines (like every 10 minutes during rush hour, 15 minutes during the day, and 15-20 minutes later at night). My wife and I will be in an apartment that’s just a 10-minute walk from one of the two busiest busway stops immediately east of downtown (one of the things we wanted to be close to). Pittsburgh’s east busway was the very first bus-rapid-transit system in the entire US (built in the mid 70’s) — and its cost-per-mile to construct and operate is substantially lower than light rail or heavy rail (a bare fraction of the cost). Nowhere near as sexy as rail — but in the right circumstances, it can be incredibly efficient — especially in this formerly freight-rail-only valley that never had vehicular traffic on it before in the first place.

Pacifica Quartet and the Cavatina Duo. River of Fire.

I was on the Bluenote board. took a while to find this one. Not sure how I did find it.

Yes! The Randy Eston really has good sound. I wonder if there was more recorded.

Good list. I'll definitely try to hear more Kissin. I've listened to his Bach-Busoni Chaconne on youtube a few times and think it's the best I've heard. When I lived in/near NYC and attended a lot of concerts, Kissin was one of the biggest star soloists at Carnegie Hall.

Well done!

And those are really good albums!

Alas, I joined in 2006. I am very thankful for finding this board. Tons of good information from a learned group of people. Blessings to all of you!

I also joined in March, 2003. Some of us go back not only to the Blue Note Board and Jazz Corner, but to Jazz Central Station before that from the mid-1990s.

RIP Gordon Goodwin! I once spoke with him on the phone. Nice guy.

Did any of our European members exchange presents today?