Lush Life

Anyone see Chick Corea make his guest appearance on the "Emeril Live" cooking show on the Food Channel recently? You could have knocked me over with a feather!

How long was this documentary? I taped it, setting the timer for one hour. Imagine my surprise to learn it was at least 90 minutes.

A 3CD box set is coming out in the UK called the "Nightfly Trilogy" of Fagen's 3 albums. There are varying reports about the possibility that a 4th disc with bonus tracks/outtakes might accompany the set, but no confirmation of that. And apparently, it's a straight reissue, not a remaster.

I agree. Stockholm is a beautiful city. The Old Town section is just delightful. You aren't being asked to live there, just go for a week. Life is too short to miss the chance to see the world.

Her mother-in-law used to be my insurance agent, a very well-known family in Vermont. This is a very sad story, something obviously has happened to this woman, mentally or physically, or both.

I live in Vermont, so here's a few thoughts from someone who sees the foliage every year: 1. I'm going to assume you don't care about seeing foliage colors in the city of Boston proper. There's not much color to see there, though the city itself is wonderful to visit any time of the year. But be prepared, Boston hotel rooms are very very expensive, almost all the time. In September or October, getting a namebrand hotel downtown like Sheraton or Doubletree generally will cost $300 a nite. Better hotels like Hilton will be even more expensive. An acceptable-but-not-great hotel will cost AT LEAST $150 a nite. 2. Foliage colors tend to be at their peak in the northeast corner of Vermont and the White Mountains/northern region of New Hampshire the last week of September, maybe very early October, on average. Foliage colors in the Champlain Valley of Vermont, however, don't peak until Columbus Day, even though the Burlington area is very far north...all due to the proximity of the big lake which moderates temperatures. 3. Foliage colors in central Vermont and central NH tend to peak around October 7, but can be as late as October 14. 4. Columbus Day weekend is generally a high color weekend in southern Vermont, NH and central Massachusetts. 5. If there's heavy rain and wind storms, much of your color can disappear overnight. On the flip side, an early frost in mid-September will make colors more spectacular and intense, with more reds. A late frost arriving in October will mean a more muted experience, with lots of yellows. 6. Book your hotel/motel rooms now. The longer you wait, the less availability there will be in these small towns. These places usually are completely sold out pretty early on. You're unlikely to find available rooms in the best locations if you wait until August. If you have any other questions, feel free to send me a private message. Cheers, and enjoy your trip.

Can someone explain what the "DETS volumes" are? I'm especially interested in 30s/40s Ellington live recordings, radio transcriptions, etc., but I'm not especially knowledgeable about esoteric labels that might be reissuing that sort of thing. TIA for your help.

All of the bonus tracks are from the Candid sessions. I have the now out-of-print Mosaic box set of the Candid sessions, and that set offers up 34 total tracks by Spann, including several alternate takes. The Mosaic liner notes show that 13 of those 34 tracks had been previously unissued until that box set's release. I'm fascinated that all of these tracks were apparently recorded on one single day, August 23, 1960. That's a lot of work in one day! The tracks on "Is The Blues" are: 11. Spann And Bob 3:22 12. Can't Stand Your Evil Ways(Take 2) 3:46 13. Talkin' The Blues(Take 1) 5:46 14. Baby Child(Take 3) 4:29 15. Cow Cow Blues(Take 3) 4:19 16. Beat-Up Team(First Version) 6:37

Yikes! First step is to be a considerate neighbor, which fortunately our dog lover here appears to be, and he is to be congratulated for his concern for his neighbors. Many apartment buildings have noise regulations, and so do many cities. Can't do anything about it, you say? That ain't necessarily so, as some former neighbors of mine with a rock and roll band learned when they blew off polite requests (and then some not-so-polite requests) from half a dozen neighboring condos to keep it down. First, the police issued fines for noise violations, and then the landlord pointed out the rental agreement noise requirements, and booted them.

Mark Polizzotti says it's Charlie McCoy playing the second guitar in "Desolation Row." Is the earlier, electric take on the recent No Direction Home set? I meant the official release on HWY 61. Always assumed it was Bloomfield! That's interesting. It's definitely Charlie McCoy on the HWY 61 original studio album version. McCoy was hired at the last minute in early August 1965 to play on this. As best I can determine, the alternate take found on No Direction Home was recorded on 7/29/65, but I haven't been able to find the session musician details. It suggests that Bloomfield may be the guitarist, though I've also seen internet references that Al Kooper (!) may be playing guitar on this track, though not necessarily that lead guitar. Somewhere in my files I have the session details, but I can't put my hands on them quickly.

Gosh, I've always hated every single recording from that '74 tour, official or bootleg, and I've heard just about every single one of them over the years. I hate Dylan's shouting-style vocals, I hate the Band's cheesy, thin sound, especially that nasty electric keyboard they use (Garth?). Yechh. I think seeking out additional 1966 live shows is well worth doing, and there are lots of them. Exquisite stuff.

Dan, inquiring minds want to know what CDs and DVDs are headed back to amazon and Borders!