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Ruled by Jalen Hurts & Co. My grandson's been wearing his Jalen Hurts jersey around the house ever since the Super Bowl. We here in KOP are still in celebration mode 😊.

We're in Philly. My daughter went to Slippery Rock, just north of Pittsburgh. She used to become this rabid Eagles fan on Sundays to tick off all the Steelers fans, though she never cared about football previously, and has never cared about it since.

It is. Amish reality is much more complicated if you're a community member who wants out, or at least some freedom of expression.

Mainly Amish. Some Mennonites have adapted modern cultural norms much more than others. Amish don't even use powered lights on their horse-drawn buggies (black or grey, lantern lit with oil powered flame wicks), which makes night driving in that area pretty hazardous. Lots of other examples. Many Mennonites are still horse-and-buggy, but with powered lights Other Mennonites are totally modern in culture. Huge spread. Not a case of right-vs-wrong, but definitely differences which are jarring. I have not seen a lot of Klan presence when there (also definitely not looking for it), though I've seen some,but my understanding from others is that it's there and active.

There is some beautiful (and incredibly fertile) farm country outside of Lancaster, but you become very aware of the cultural dissonance very quickly when you are an adult. And the city itself has been fighting a notable opioid crisis for a while. Also, Pennsylvania in general takes on a very different political character when you get away from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The old joke is that a map of Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh on the left and Philadelphia on the right with Mississippi in the middle.

I grew up in Pittsburgh until I was 10 and live an hour east of Lancaster now. @LWayne lives in Pittsburgn and may be able to give you good information on neighborhoods, etc. It has changed a lot since I lived there (for instance, stadiums now on the rivers where the Steel Mills were when I was there). Excellent medical care through UPHS, and a true cultural scene with Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon and other institutions being there. Lancaster in many ways is a very uncomfortable jamming together of two conflicting cultures rather than an integration of the cultures, and it has a lot of issues.

His 'Live in Berlin' with Nelson is great. Foundational album for me. My local library had it and Gato's 'El Pampero' in the album stacks when I first got into jazz, and I fell in love with both albums, still love them today 50+ years later.

What happened with Versailes, where he went from awesome in 1965 to horrible-never-to-recover at 27 years old in 1967?

RIP. I had this one from the first year I started buying baseball cards (1962 - 5 cents for five cards plus the inedible pink slab of gum, and the stamps). Valdivielso had a -3.3 WAR and a 55 OPS+, but still managed to get into 400 major league games. I'm glad for him that he had such a great and long life past his playing days!

My first Herbie Mann album, I think from a Woolworth's cutout bin. Great versions of Tolliver's "Paper Man" and Wayne's "Footprints" and some superior pop covers.

Bought download of the Gato Barbieri Standards album on Red Records. Great 1968 Italian recording, highly recommended.

+1 overundersidewaysdown looked. I used "The Ringer" from that album on my BFT 237. Tolliver, Joe Henderson, Hancock, Workman, Bruno Carr. Great lineup, and they deliver. The other two Atlantic albums, 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and 'Daddy Bug', are also good, but 'Virgo Vibes' is the pick of the litter.

Agree, that disc was the big payoff for me, though the first two discs were better than I expected.

RIP to a musician who was interesting in all of his eras. I especially enjoyed the Atlantic and the early Polydor albums, ca. 1967-1974.

It's a very legit company. Can't speak for quality of source materials.

Yes, very much so. Fuel label group is huge, and has put out new music (including Jethro Tull) as well as reissues.

This gem was a miracle release at the time:

I'm pretty sure this release would be existing recordings. The Cherry Red labels do beautiful box sets (I generally consider them definitive) and price them very kindly. I'll be picking this one up along with the dozens (hundreds?) of other releases I have by that family of labels.

Such an interesting label - thanks! I especially love the Gato Barbieri albums on the label, this being my favorite, but so many great albums by him, Nelson, Leon Thomas, etc.

It is deeply confusing - I've been following this very closely all along and still get confused. - I'd be surprised if the digital anthology was released on CD. I believe it's meant as a sampler to get you to buy the individual releases. - The Tolliver Mosaic Select #20 contains the Slug's material (including the digital only bonus cuts) being released by Mack Avenue here, and the Live in Tokyo album plus bonus cuts. They are mistaken when they deem the Tolliver bonus cuts as previously unreleased. - In addition to what we knew already (Sanders, Tolliver, Rouse, Cowell on Vinyi, CD, and Download), Bandcamp also shows Harper, Jordan - Glass Bead Games, Farrah - First Watch, McBee, Heath Bros. coming on digital download on April 25. No idea of future physical releases for those or any other titles. They may be holding back on planning to see how these sell? https://bandcamp.com/search?q=strata-east&item_type=a

1 – this is a stunning version of “Caravan”. Love the atmosphere and the percussion. Must look into this further! No guesses. 2 – Quite good once I got past the first two minutes. Tenor solo is strong. Bass playing is spectacular, and I assume it’s the bass player’s album. William Parker? 3 - Tenor player totally in my wheelhouse! The bass player does go on but sounds good. Third straight cut I am high on! David Murray? This could end up being a very expensive BFT for me if this stuff is available on CD! 4 – Alas, the streak ends here. I couldn’t make it through this one (though I did spot check the duration), which does not feel like “jazz” to me, but rather some sort of modern European classical chamber music. YMMV for other listeners, of course. 5 – Back on track. Rhythm! Melody! Harmony! Improvisation! You know, jazz 😊! Especially enjoying the drummer on this one, but the solos are strong, the guitar player has an attractive tone, it’s all good. Don’t feel the need to own this like I do the first three cuts but look forward to the reveal. 6 – James Newton on flute? It’s good, but not emotionally compelling. I like the rhythm section behind the piano solo. Feels like something Black Saint could have released in the 80’s or 90’s. 7 – Twin trumpets! Though not really twin, they play very differently. Everything seems to bog down partway through the piano solo. To me, the cut overstays its welcome by several minutes, though the return to the theme at the end is quite welcome. Overall, good cut. 8 - A lot of strong bass playing on this BFT. This is a strong cut, but did sort of fade into the background on me. 9 – Well, this one won’t fade into the background. These sorts of cuts can go either way for me, but this one sort of grabs me. I’m going to guess 60’s/70’s vintage, US Players on a French label (Such as BYG or America)? 10 – All The Things You Are. Sounds to be definitely vinyl-sourced. Another strong cut. Excellent tenor playing by what I’m sure will be a recognizable tenor for the hotshots on the board here who are beyond me. Shades of Clifford Jordan to me. 11 - Another vinyl-sourced track? It’s interesting, but does seem to meander. Again, guessing 60’s/70’s vintage. 12 – All the same thoughts as #11. Man, these are some looonnnggg cuts! 13 – I’m all in for this one, almost back to the level of interest I had in the first three cuts. Love the tenor player. The cut does go on. But the players are all good. Quite a fine BFT, really enjoyed it overall, and the only cut fully lost on me was #4. Especially looking forward to the reveal on those first two tracks! With tracks 3 and 13 in the next tier.

RIP. His music never did a whole lot for me beyond enjoying some of the 50's and 60's remakes, but he seemed like an interesting guy. So sorry to read about his decade of suffering, of which I was not previously aware.