DukeCity

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts, everybody! I'll see if I can get my scanner to work, and upload a pic.

Tough day at our house yesterday. We had to put down our cat Kudra. We're not even sure how old she was; I adopted her about 15 years ago from a shelter near downtown Chicago, and I think she was a couple of years old then. So she definitely had a good run. She was always quite a handful. At that shelter in Chicago, when I took her out of the cage and sat with her for a few minutes, she was purring and snuggling into my chest and growling and hissing at me! I realized this was a cat with some issues going on, and it was a done deal. Needless to say, over 15 years, she was with me (us) through some life changes: a big move to New Mexico, a divorce a few years ago, single life, and a couple of years ago a move into the future Mrs. DukeCity's house (wedding day coming up May 27!). Probably the most traumatic moment of the cat's life was shortly after we moved in with my fiance. Kudra had never been around dogs, and the little woman has two substantial, rambunctious ones, an Australian Blue Heeler, and a German/Belgian Shepherd. We had been careful about keeping them separate, and introducing them VERY gradually. The second day we were in the new house, Kudra was out of her carrier and exploring her new home when the dogs got in and made a beeline for her at full speed. She freaked out and SCREAMED like she was auditoning for "Friday the 13th part XXI." Of course later, we humans had a good laugh, but it took a while for Kudra and the dogs to achieve a frosty détente. Her health had been failing the last couple of years; requiring daily thyroid medication, and a lot of supplemental fiber to keep things "moving." We knew her time was coming, and yesterday morning she had what looked like a stroke or some kind of seizure, with front and back legs on her right side flailing out of control. When the vet administered "the juice", Kudra went almost immediately. Our vet, who in the past had talked us out of putting the cat down, said that when it goes that fast it's a sign that her systems were fragile enough that we made the call at the right time. Pretty quiet around the house this morning, without her hollering for a third and fourth breakfast. But she left us with plenty of fond memories, and plenty of white fur still stuck to furniture all over the house.

Do what? They named their rooms after Igor Stravinsky (possibly) and Miles Davis? Don't they have any corporate sponsors that they could name these rooms after? I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable listening to music in a room that wasn't named after a softdrink or a cellular phone service provider. Oh, I'm guessing it's really the "KLM Frequent Flyer Miles Davis Pavillion."

Or TV detective shows from the 1960s and 70s. There's plenty of pretty "modern" stuff going on musically, as a means to build tension and suspense.

Damn Straight!!! Unfortunately, that bastard CT also stole my bike when I was twelve, and then killed my grandma with her own cane! Never knew she was impaired. Oops! I was thinking about THIS CT. My humble apologies to Mr. Thompson, fine organist and humanitarian.

Damn Straight!!! Unfortunately, that bastard CT also stole my bike when I was twelve, and then killed my grandma with her own cane!

To everything Free For All said. It was a great show; some of the most fun I've had listening to a big band in a long time. The young guitar player (about 21), whose name I can't remember, was also great. Comping in the Freddie Green style and also taking some nice solos. Sal Cracchiolo deserves a mention for sliding over from the 2nd trumpet chair to play lead all night (very swingin'), and Chuck Findley was subbing on 2nd trumpet. It's hard to explain how amazing and inspiring it was to see and hear Snooky. As we took our seats, the bandstand was all set up, and there was Snooky sitting by himself on stage (apparently those requiring extra time to board were let on stage early ), just hanging and looking like an 88 year old man. Then the band comes on stage, John Clayton counts off the first tune, and Snooky is up and screamin' like a man half his age! Earlier in the day, I was hanging in the jazz festival break room when Clay Jenkins brought Snooky in. We all hung out for a while, and Snooky started talking about some of the guys he'd worked with over the years. There he is talking about playing in Basie's band with Jo Jones, Walter Page, and Freddie Green- the legendary All-American Rhythm Section! Talk about living jazz history!

From the Bob Newhart show. He's married to Suzanne Pleshette. mmmmmmmm...Suzanne Pleshette.... And with the lucky bastard...

From the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians : "Broken Chord The effect produced by performing the notes of a chord successively, rather than simultaneously, in any order: thus, a species of melodic figuration related to Arpeggio, and further discussed under Ornaments"

I use Toast Titanium (v.6, but 7 is selling now I think) on both my desktop G4 and Powerbook G4, and I use the internal drive/burner on both. It's quite easy to use, but I'm usually using it to burn discs of data files. I use iTunes for most of my music burning needs.

I guess a lot of trumpet players have to deal with "the looks", and as a result some of them get kinda sensitive about it. I was playing (in the sax section) in a band with a guy who is regarded by many as a state-of-the-art lead trumpet player. We were playing a tune and he played something really amazing. I was turning to look back at him for an "atta boy" and before I could even turn enough to see him, he shouted at me, "Fuck you! Turn around!"

...or "The Nearness of You."

It's all a matter of degree with me. I've been in clubs (as audience member and as performer) where there was plenty of loud, boisterous conversation. But if enough people are paying attention and responding in some way to the music, it all feels OK. How many is enough? It all depends.

Have a Good One!!!

For a super easy, fairly cheap website, checkout dynamod.com. Quite a few musicians (including me) have sites with them, and it can be as simple as filling in blanks in an online form, or you can get more involved as you go.

So Paul, once you get settled in Florida, am I correct in assuming that a Paul McKee Big Band CD will be forthcoming? I hear "The Big Bands are Coming Back!"

But...but...you did sell at least two Dexter sides. To me! I got a couple of the Black Lion CD's from you. I already have the one listed here. (And I have a feeling that whole "eternal life" thing is probably overrated.)

Finally!

On my "save for later" list on emusic!

William Conrad Buddy Ebsen Mike Connors

I got me a mono switch on the ol' Onkyo! Thanks for the heads up on the Japanese issue! More Warne= always a good thing.

General der Infantrie Albert Burkhalter Col. Wilhelm Klink Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz

Looks like the Japanese issue has some different tunes: ... 6. Avalon - (studio) 7. Tickle Toe - (studio) 8. Warnin (Take 1) - (studio) 9. Warnin (Take 2) - (studio) 10. Stomping At The Savoy - (studio) Compared to the one available at Amazon: ... 6. Tickle Toe 7. The Man I Love 8. Autumn Leaves 9. The Way You Look Tonight Any opinions as to whether "Avalon", the two takes of "Warnin'" and "Savoy" are worth $20 more than "Man I Love", "Autumn Leaves" and "The Way You Look Tonight"?

Good one!

When I shopped around a few years ago, GEICO ended up being my choice (that was before all the lizard commercials). I did the deal over the phone, and remember them being pretty helpful in getting me reasonable rates with reasonable deductibles. I haven't had any big claims, just some windshield repair, so no telling whether they would remain so friendly.