Evonce

I've got a mini-dachsund who does the burping thing quite well. And she's good at crafting a "bunker" out of any loose blanket. My wife's parrotlets (very small parrots) will take Cheerios over to their water cup, dunk them, then eat the softened result. And the budgies are very industrious, although I don't think they do anything out of the norm.

Guy- Following on from your comment, I'm going to check out that Live in Tokyo import. Life's too short to wait for a domestic remaster. But Body Electric is one of my favorite albums ever and I'd just like to see it the same upgrade that a few other WR titles got recently. I still have the early-90s reissue, but you know....

Would just like to see the earliest albums see the same remastered treatment as the mid-period titles. If Tale Spinnin' gets upgraded, then Body Electric should, too.

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I just saw from a release date site that there's a Weather Report box due mid-May. Anyone know anything about this? Size, content, etc? Thanks. BTW, the first two albums are overdue for the remastered treatment that some of the other titles got. In fact, the ideal WR box for me would be those two albums along with all the Live in Tokyo stuff.

I'll be getting the Dorham and Hutch for sure. Probably the Jackie as well. I get giddy whenever these RVG batches are announced. www.jazzshelf.org

That Guardian article above has an understandable sentiment but the arguments make little sense, and the author doesn't even distinguish between studio and live outtakes. And as far as "Miles and his team chose the right tracks for Live-Evil" goes, well, that's subjective, isn't it? Live-Evil is not, to say the least, a universally loved collection. I was holding off, but now I'm going to buy the Cellar Door set today just to spite the skeptics. www.jazzshelf.org

Cubs fan here. Very much looking forward to the season. Except for these things: Anything Bonds does. Anything Steinbrenner says. Joe Morgan Curious to see if the Blue Jays can undo the usual AL East hierarchy. Curious also to see what the A's will do. And the Indians are very credible. The NL East will be fun to watch, too. I read Moneyball for the first time a couple months ago and found it rather enlightening. Just last week, I picked up Bill James' Historical Abstract and haven't gone a day without browsing for at least an hour. My mind's still wrapped up with the NHL for the most part, but I've already requested off work for April 7th - Cubs home opener versus St. Louis. Bring on the regular season!

"Modest good manners elevated to worldview" is I think how Litweiler summed up Evans. I admire JW's skill at turning a phrase, but I don't like the way he (inadvertently?) portrays some of these obvious giants as being misguided. I'm certainly not the only person to notice this - you can read reviews of that book on Amazon where people say the exact same thing. I should re-mention that I think FP is a great book and I do find the author entertaining to read, there and elsewhere. But he seems to single out certain people - like Scott LaFaro in some liner note I read - and just take an axe to all their accomplishments for no reason. (I wrote that little blurb over a year ago and I included it on the site on a whim. And then sparked the discussion. )

Hey everyone, just wanted to pass along that I've put up my own jazz album review site: www.jazzshelf.org Still in progress, but presentable.

Love this album. For me, it's Hancock who shines the most. You hear him in so many places in the 60s that it's easy to take him for granted sometimes, but there are a couple of solos on Oblique that rocket me back to his incredible reality. I think the sound of the RVG is a definite improvement upon the older CD I used to own, where certain recording flaws were painfully evident. Must be a miracle, as the RVG sounds much cleaner to me.

I got into Bailey about six years ago. Favorites include Mirakle, The Last Wave, Ballads, and the duet album with Gregg Bendian called Banter. As has been said, Bailey's IMPROVISATION book is essential reading for all kinds of musicians. RIP Derek, and thanks for your courage.

I had the money set aside back in September, but at this point, I'll just add my voice to the Chorus Of Moving On: I do not f*ing care anymore. It's been Basra-ed in my mind - I may buy it if I ever see it, I may not. I'm bloody curious why the formidable Mr. Wilburn is at odds with it, though, and what kind of production contract lets a cornflake get in the way.

Tone Dialing has a couple of crap tracks, but overall, it's a very rewarding and joyous record, IMHO.

JSngry, thanks for sharing your experience with that record. I've had similar experiences, but not with this one. It's always been one of my least favorite Ornettes, maybe because of the schoolyard melody of the first half, or maybe because the rhythms don't gel to my ears. But that's just my 2 cents. I'm glad other people get off on this one; it's never worked for me.

Any hockey fans in the woodwork who are glad to see the pro game back on the ice? (I've read the earlier spring thread where everyone who didn't care about the cancelled season said so. No need to repeat yourselves. ) I've been a fan for about four years now - repeated exposure to the Nashville Predators on the local FSN channel got me hooked, as did the many minor league games I've seen. I missed it this past season, but it just meant that I followed baseball that much closer, which ain't a bad deal. Anyway, I'm thrilled to see Nashville shooting out of the gate with 7 straight wins. Not surprising to anyone who's seen their style of play, which fits some of the new rules. And snagging Paul Kariya was the best thing the team ever did. He fits right in with the core players. Can't wait to play Detroit.

I would go for it if I had unlimited funds. I already traded in my domestic version a while back and upgraded to the K2 remasters, which in every instance have been better than the old US box. Guess I'll wait for the rest of them to trickle out.

I am definitely happier with the K2 upgrades of Cookin and Relaxin - they have more punch than the original CDs, but not too much. However, the Workin K2 seemed really "hot" to my ears (overloaded), although that may just be a magnified fault of the original tapes. (But these four albums all came from the same two sessions, so I don't know why Workin's tracks stood out.)

Those are some big IFs, I'm sure you know. Manny probably sings "Meet the Mets" at least once a day, and Herr Steinbrenner is practicing writing Damon's full name. Going to be a significant offseason for the Red Sox, whatever happens. Yet if Damon wants to be a Cub, I won't complain.

Maybe Vlad and Arod (the Pepsi twins!) saw Albert's clutch shot last night. Yes, it can be done. My goodness.

As a lifelong Cub fan, I'll take exception to that. So would the many fans who still follow them despite not having any payoff (yet). I saw Jermaine Dye on Sportscenter and Dan Patrick asked him why the Cubs still outdrew the Sox this year. And Dye goes into this inadvertent advertisement for Wrigley's fans, atmosphere, history, location, etc. It was kind of amusing. I grew up in the city rooting for both teams - why not? I don't think the current White Sox team is very likeable, but good for them, I say. Some goofy calls aside, they obviously belong in the World Series this year.

I don't know how, but that guitar synth-sax sample has been minimized to where it's almost subliminal. The only synth-heavy guitar bit is in "Endangered Species". I was listening to the bonus track "Compute" thinking it was a Pat/Denardo duet, but then it hit me that that's all Pat (in the middle section). He's triggering all those percussive sounds, which at first listen I thought were Denardo's Simmons drums. But the dynamics and timing of the percussion is a little too precisely linked to the guitar. So whether it's a MIDI trick or something else, the title makes sense. As for Pat's actual playing in that track, it sounds to me like he's picking up where Robert Fripp left off in crosspicking. Overall, the remixed sound is amazing. Bonus tracks are excellent.

As an overall extended piece, I don't like it as much as Autumn Leaves or Your Own Sweet Way, but I still love it by any other standard. (pardon that) Desert Sun is a long haul, but I've enjoyed that too on a few occasions. I think one of the best extended standards they ever recorded was The Song is You on STILL LIVE. That's tremendous from start to finish.

One of the most beautiful moments of the set is when they ease into Green Dolphin St. with a little vamp, from which the theme springs so casually. The jam that occurs in the outro is nice, too. And for humor, you can't beat the end(s) of How About You. I hold the entire box in the highest esteem.

Wonderful album. Good balance between Kirk (up and out) and Haynes (sideways elasticity), with the solid piano/bass at center. I think this album is a prime example of Kirk's straight musicality - he plays a handful of his best solos here, IMHO. The cover photo has always begged captions in my mind: "Honey, the Roy Haynes Quartet is here again!" "Well, offer them something to drink! I'll help 'em set up."

I just fired off a letter to Mark Kreidler, who has a "no replay in baseball" column on ESPN's site right now. The weak premise of his argument is that everyone's fallible and isn't that charming. My response is that the PLAYERS' foibles make the game what it is; the backdrop we need for their performances is objective judgement. No one is arguing that MLB umpires are, on the whole, overwhelmingly good at their thankless jobs. But there are times when the pride and tradition should be dropped - when a series victory stands or falls on a questionable call. Yes, I am now convinced that limited replay (within certain parameters) is necessary, if only because all the unsolicited "Don't even think about it!" columns from sportswriters today use incredibly poor arguments, and someone needs to side with logic. I realize that video replay would not have changed the massive gaffe from Eddings last night - who seemed to have reversed his own call to begin with - but since the indignant sports commentators have linked this to the whole replay issue, I know which side I'm taking.