Guy Berger

Is it just me, or are some of those t-shirt designs SWEET. I need to get myself a Unity t-shirt. Guy

I can't wait to hear some of this music (haven't heard the Tokyo, Antibes or Berlin recordings), but think I'll wait on this one until: (A) The individual albums come out, assuming that they comprise the entirety of the material on the box, or... (B) It's available for a budget price on BMG. I guess this means you guys get to torture me for 6 months about how great this music sounds... Guy

I'm embarrassed to say I've only heard two of these. The McLean is terrific. The Silver is very good but not his best. Guy

I haven't heard all the Shorter-era albums, but Mosaic is my favorite for sheer consistency. And Free for All deserves all the plaudits it gets, though I think the paint-peeling intensity of the first track, and particularly Wayne's solo, good god what a solo, leaves the album feeling a little unbalanced. Guy

Listening to Mingus's Town Hall Concert as we speak. So long Eric... Guy

I was listening to KCSM today and an unfamiliar track comes on. Pretty quickly I realize the composer is Mingus. The altoist is very distinctive, incorporating wild jumps in register. It's not Dolphy, but this saxophonist has obviously been doing his ED homework. My guess is that this is either a Mingus performance from the 70s, or maybe a recent Mingus Big Band recording. Anyway, the DJ announces that this was "Alice in Wonderland", from a 1/59 Mingus recording with Booker Ervin and John Handy. (And if the rest of the album is as good as this, I need to get it right away.) I'd noticed the stylistic similarities before on the classic 60s JH records, and had always assumed that the flow of ideas went from Dolphy to Handy. But this 1959 Mingus recording made me think JH developed those ideas on his own; after all, wasn't Dolphy still mostly unknown at the beginning of 1959?

So the Hank Mobley sans Coltrane cuts will not be boxed. Once again he gets short shrift. Isn't all of the Mile+Mobley stuff currently in print now that the Blackhawk stuff has been released? I'm not sure why box sets are such a big deal for Hank's legacy. Guy

Bev, Maybe you should give The Who Sell Out another chance, because it definitely fits the description you give here. Guy

I think at this time it is appropriate for us to revisit some of my excellent playoff predictions and pronouncements: April 23rd: April 24th: May 2nd:

By the way, I think the comparison between these songs is really unfair. The Byrds tune is from early '66 and is pretty heavy/noisy for the time. The Who tune was recorded at least 18 months later. A lot happened during that time -- Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Blonde on Blonde, Cream and the Hendrix Experience. And the Byrds' recordings from late '67 reflect that, just as the Who Sell Out does. Guy

I'd feel pretty comfortable putting Younger Than Yesterday and The Notorious Byrd Brothers head to head against almost any album from that era. Guy

Nothing, but when you hear jazz played on the radio, it's rarely fusion being played. Let's switch the words around a bit: "When you hear music on the radio, it's rarely jazz being played."

By the way, you didn't list anything from the '61 Village Vanguard engagement on your list. As a Trane enthusiast, the 4 CD box is the first thing you should pick up next -- Coltrane, Dolphy and their buddies revolutionizing jazz as the tapes were rolling. Guy

Dear Old Stockholm -- One of the last Impulses to acquire. There's some first tier, classic music here ("After the Rain", "Dear Lord") and some excellent transitional '65 music that bridges A Love Supreme with the later stuff, but somehow the package is disposable. Live at Birdland, Crescent -- Both of these are essential parts of any jazz collection. The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Transition, Kulu Se Mama -- All of these are important milestones from '65, but not the first albums to pick up. Except "Quartet Plays" might be a good first step from A Love Supreme to the more advanced '65 material. Ascension -- Anyone who is serious about Trane's later music has to tackle this. Sun Ship -- The best, most focused quartet recording from '65. Difficult but thrilling music, it's almost a shame he didn't record much more with this group in this style. Live in Seattle -- Get this if you like Ascension. Some incredible music, some dead spots. Meditations -- Essential. My favorite of the JC-Pharoah Sanders collaborations. Difficult, harrowing music. Interstellar Space -- My favorite late Trane. "Nothing of the circus", as Sibelius would say. Just sax, drums, creating a musical galaxy from a small amount of musical seeds. Stellar Regions, Expression -- Two excellent documents from Trane's last year. Serene free jazz, if that makes sense; much quieter and more resigned than the '65 music. Trane's playing on these albums (and Interstellar Space) is some of the best of his career.

I don't think Miles's playing is "confused", except insofar as he has no clue why Monk has stopped. His playing (repeating a dissonant phrase three times) prior to Monk's re-entrance sounds like he's saying "Monk, wake up you MF, it's still your turn to solo!" Of course, Monk is perfectly awake. Guy

I don't have any of Jackie Mclean's Prestige recordings. (Other than his sideman appearances on Miles Davis's Dig and Gene Ammons's The Happy Blues.) Anybody want to mention their favorites and maybe short descriptions? How do these compare to Jackie's early Blue Note albums? Guy

This is a great thread. Here are my choices. 1) Eric Kloss and the Rhythm Section -- A two-on-one from Prestige/Fantasy. Some intense alto and tenor playing, backed by Miles Davis's best rhythm section and (on the second half) Pat Martino. They do an absolutely smokin' version of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman". (I kid you not.) 2) The Jaki Byard Experience -- Again on Prestige. Jaki, Roland Kirk (pre-Rahsaan?), Richard Davis and Alan Dawson. Opens with a blockbuster version of "Parisian Thoroughfare". A beautiful Byard-Kirk duet on "Memories of You". 3) Joe Henderson, Power to the People -- On Milestone. A quintet record with Herbie, Ron Carter, Jack DJ in the rhythm section. Plenty of powerful playing by Joe and nice Fender Rhodes work by Herbie. Easily goes head to head with the best of Joe's Blue Note work. 4) Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons, Firebirds -- On Contemporary/Fantasy. Two freebop altoists are joined by Bobby Hutcherson, Buster Williams and Charles Moffett. This is right up there with Out to Lunch and the other better-known inside-outside dates on Blue Note. There's a nice variety of tunes from the more melodic end of avant-garde jazz. "Psalms of Solomon" is a personal favorite. 5) Live at Monterey, John Handy -- For whatever reason, Charles Lloyd made it big and these guys never did. No superstars came out of this group, but the unique lineup (alto/guitar/violin/bass drums) and interesting compositions stand out. Handy is an intense inside/outside altoist. 6) The 2nd John Handy Album -- I think this album is a notch below the Monterey recording because of the lengthy avant-garde chamber piece that closes the album. But the rest of the tune are great. 7) Miles Davis, Filles de Kilimanjaro -- Not sure if you can seriously call ANY Miles Davis album truly underrated, but considering that this is one of the best jazz albums ever recorded and yet barely a blip in most assessments of Miles's career, I'll put this on the list. Bonus BN) McCoy's Extensions is on BN but definitely an underrated masterpiece. Though to be fair, you have to work very hard to make a bad album when your band features Wayne Shorter AND Gary Bartz in the front line. Bonus BN) The quartet tracks from Chick Corea's Complete Is Sessions. My comments about Chick/Dave/Jack fully apply here. ----- Conference of the Birds is a wonderful album but it's acknowledged a masterpiece of the 70s avant-garde frequently enough that I don't know if it belongs on an "underrated classics" list.

I was actually prompted to buy this album after reading the Chambers book. I wish I had the book here so I could transcribe the segment for you guys. Chambers suggests that since Monk executed the slow solo fine on the first take, it would have been pretty unlikely for him to botch on the second. Guy

By the way, for other people who have seen Jackie live in the past few years -- does he ever play "Melody for Melonae"? That's my favorite JM tune, but he hasn't done it the two times I've seen him live. Guy

Nice also to have found something to annoy deus with! A Farewell to Kings has some fun tunes. A few years back I had a downstairs neighbor who was a hardcore blues fan from Canada. Anyway, we had several lengthy discussions about music and at some point we got to talking about Rush. He, too, was in to them as a teen / young adult but grew out of them a few years later. We agree that some of their stuff is still pretty good, and he says, "That main riff from 'Xanadu', woaaaaaaaaah." Double Woaaaaaaaaaaaaah. There's also that sweeet section in the song "A Farewell to Kings". Guy

I bought the box last summer for a good price ($50) and thought it was a bit of an overdose. Sky Piece is as much of a masterpiece as everyone says, and Night Bird Song is very good too, but I didn't get into the other discs as much. Maybe in a couple of years I'll dig them out and be blown away. I would suggest picking up the discs individually if you can't find the box for cheaper than $60. The early trio albums seemed to be the least essential. Guy

Not just in the US -- obesity is becoming a bigger problem throughout the world. Lawsuits against fast food joints are pretty silly, but I think that it's a good thing that people are more aware of what's contained their food. Guy, who ate a McNugget meal today

I was really into Rush back in high school and freshman year of college. Looking back (and it wasn't such a long time ago), a lot of that stuff is still fun to listen to. The lyrics which once seemed so intelligent are kind of ridiculous, but there are still plenty of great songs in that catalogue. Moving Pictures is just a great frickin album, not matter what the critics say. (In fact, it was one of the first CDs in my collection.) Two of my favorite Rush albums are the frequently overlooked Grace Under Pressure and Presto. Guy

Yeah, I was looking out for Bertrand and didn't see him. (Too many people with beards!) I ran into Michael Cuscuna (another fan pointed him out to me) and thanked him for collecting all my money. Bruce Lundvall was there as well. It's kind of late so I don't have time for a comprehensive review, but it was fabulous to see this trio performing stuff like "Frankenstein" and "Love & Hate". (Got all three signatures on my copy of One Step Beyond. Bobby: "The sixties were a looooooooong time ago.") Grachan's chops were pretty rough early on (and it looked like there was some tension between him and Jackie in the first set -- I think Grachan was taking more choruses than he was supposed to) but he played much better on the two tunes that closed the second set ("Little Melonae" and "Blue Rondo"). Anyway, if you are in the vicinity of NY this weekend, go see this septet at all costs. Jackie's playing is as intense and stinging as it is on the 60s Blue Notes and Bobby Hutcherson is absolutely incredible. His playing on "Love and Hate" and "Freddie Freeloader" was awesome. Guy

Anybody else play? I picked Hold'em up as a hobby about 18 months ago and after a bit of a rough start it's been pretty profitable. I play mostly at brick'n'mortar cardrooms, and graduated from 2/4 to 4/8 a few months ago. Anyway, it's a nice supplemental income. Guy