DukeCity

Good Work, Fellas!

I Can Haz Failyur!!!

Last summer I saw the movie "Oceans 13", and in the first few minutes of the film Al Pacino's character quotes both the Buddy Rich tapes ("What, I gotta carry you? And pay you, too?") and the Anka tape ("And when I move, I slice like a godamned HAMMER!"). At first I wasn't sure, then I started giggling in the theater (during what was supposed to be a tense scene).

Thanks, everyone! Had a pretty good day. After work, had a short gig from 4-6, then a bunch of friends over for some green chile stew and some partying. Somebody brought a bottle of Bushmills Black Bush. Mighty tasty! My wife gave me the Oliver Nelson Mosaic, and the Basie/Lester Young Mosaic, and we listened to a little of both of those. Pretty damn good day. I was calling it the 5th anniversary of my 40th birthday. (but I think everyone figured out that just meant that I'm 45 now, dammit) Thanks for the good wishes!

I don't know; were you thinking of Pandemic in Northern California, or the formerly of New Orleans, now Gulfport Pandemic? They both rock so hard, it's difficult to choose...

Sounds rather ominous, but apparently I'm going to kack completely out of the blue, while typing a response on a jazz bulletiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'jjjjjjjjjjjjo/iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilo''''''''

IIRC, as teenagers, he and Branford played in funk bands that played Sly Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Ohio Players, etc. So are you saying he chose to limit further exposure, or that his exposure was just...limited?

Whoa! I can't tell if that's a Photoshop thing or if somebody actually did a sculpture of a giant head. Doesn't make any difference; that's one SERIOUSLY disturbing image!

Sounds good! We did carne adovada burritos (did a pork roast in red chile sauce in the slow cooker, then shredded it), and homemade guacamole! It was like a fiesta in my mouth!

Reading through this thread again, a discussion of electric saxophone and/or trumpet wouldn't really be complete without mentioning Mike and Randy Brecker. During the "Brecker Brothers" days of the late '70s they pretty consistently used an envelope filter/auto-wah (producing a Wah-wah effect but not requiring the footpedal wiggling). Later, Michael Brecker was one of the first (and most proficient) adopters of the EWI. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the EWI is somewhat similar to playing the saxophone, in that it uses similar fingerings. But the physical technique is quite different, and it's actually a bitch to get very facile on the thing (I have one and have messed around a little on it, but not enough to claim any facility). In the late '80s/early '90s Brecker would tour with an EWI rig of effects that were housed in giant racks. By the mid-2000's all of that stuff was on a laptop, triggered by some foot-pedals. And although I'm sure he was into the programming and design of his rig a little bit, he had tons of help from a guy named Judd Miller. I believe Miller actually spent some time as the touring tech for Brecker's rig.

I'm fine with the fonts/typefaces either way. But I'm curious as to why you post in italics. Are you trying to add emphasis to every word? (apologies for the thread derailment...)

I like the Coen Bros stuff a lot. I'm a huge fan of the Big Lebowski. Saw Burn After Reading, and thought it was OK. Pleasant diversion but didn't knock me out. Somewhere I came across a discussion about the Coen Brothers that talked about their script writing. Apparently they script out every damn syllable of dialogue. So in a movie like the Lebowski, with all of the flustered stammering and cross talk among characters, it's exactly as the Brothers scripted it. I still can't decide if that makes me like the films more or like them less, but it's fascinating to consider as I watch some scenes play out. Edit to add: I saw No Country... and liked it, although it didn't feel very Coen-esque to me, which is probably what they were going for. I did find myself getting distracted by the fact that most of the film was done in and around Albuquerque, including the "El Paso" scenes.

I'm sure you'll get people who are vehemently opposed to certain brands, just about every brand. But I've been using inexpensive brother laser printers (a 5000 series at home, a 2000 series at work) and I've been very pleased. Crisp b&w printing at 20-30 pages per minute. Haven't had any problems, and haven't had to change toner very often. I got them for between $100 and $150.

Yes, indeed! Anybody know Michel de Villers, the bari player in this video? What's his deal? And saxophone geek question: What kind of horn is Byas playing in these vids? There's that weird thing on the neck octave vent... Byas was playing a Dolnet, which had a custom made octave valve in the shape of a snake (with open mouth). You're quite right. Thanks! Here's a clearer pic: I would think that would be a little disconcerting to be looking at while playing, but it sure didn't seem to bother DB!

Yes, indeed! Anybody know Michel de Villers, the bari player in this video? What's his deal? And saxophone geek question: What kind of horn is Byas playing in these vids? There's that weird thing on the neck octave vent...

I'll confess: Jerry Lewis is one of my guilty pleasures. Especially the older stuff. With Dean Martin (both the TV show and their movies), and in his earlier '60s movies. Yeah, the movies get tedious, so I usually just fast forward to my favorite bits, which are often the musical numbers. The later the movies, the less likely I am to bother wading through the bathwater to find the baby. And years ago, I was even a fan of the Telethon. Both to check out some JL and to see some of the "stars". That being said, I watched just a few minutes this year, and couldn't do it any more. Hard for JL to work up the energy for the "madcap" hijinks. In the little bit that I saw they were playing some of his schtick from the '82 telethon. Sad to think that those are now the "good ol' days". Some of my favorite film bits: Doing the pantomime to Basie's "Cute" in Cinderfella. The Basie band with Joe Williams, also in Cinderfella. The pantomime to "Blues in Hoss Flat" in The Errand Boy (I think). And from some earlier '50s films, Maynard Ferguson was a staff musician at Paramount and there are a few Martin/Lewis movies where there are musical numbers where they turn MF loose, screamin' his ass off in his prime. A perfect over-the-top musical complement to Lewis' over-the-top schtick. YMMV (unless, of course, you're French)

So...you're saying that the new "Spaulding Meets Spalding" disc is a no go for you?

Hope your 50th is a great one!!!

We get a weekly box of produce from an organic farming co-op, so tonight we're having fresh corn on the cob with our roasted chicken, and Ambrosia melon for dessert!

All of the above, plus a blowing session called Baritone Madness with Pepper and Nick Brignola. Came out on Beehive (I think), haven't seen it on CD.

Hope you were wearing a hat!

"OK, who wants juice and a graham cracker before nap time? Raise your hands..."

Well, lemme ask ... what's the advantage to having an underage gymnast? Wouldn't a 16-year-old who has trained longer and is more developed muscularly have an advantage over a young child? ... I'm not quite making the connection here with younger (than 16) = an advantage. I think the real point is that at 12-15 years of age, those Chinese girls should be sewing $10 jeans for Walmart for sixteen hours a day instead of wearing sparkly leotards and jumping around in a gym.

Being blind and piercingly alone? Hell, that's what I'm drinking to forget about!