SEK

I recall hearing Chuck Niles during the late '60s through the mid-'70s on KBCA. The music that he usually featured on his show did not especially appeal to me, but I shall always remember his distinctive voice, chummy delivery, and enthusiasm for the music that he obviously loved. He also announced at a few jazz concerts (one could attend for free) that took place at an open-air theatre in Cahuenga Pass and at other venues. I think that those concerts were sponsored by the Parks Dept. KBCA had another announcer at the time (I can't remember his name) who really hipped me to Wayne Shorter, Art Blakey, and other musicians (Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Trane, Alice Coltrane, ...) who were more central to my developing musical sensibility. Rick Holmes was also on KBCA during that time. He was a stone trip ("incense, peppermints, ...", astrological musings, and soul jazz)!

Thanks!

He and "Chrissie" needed to re-bond.

Thanks for the reminder! 3D FAMILY is one I haven't listened to for ages, as it is hidden in a corner of my cabinet. I remember that to be an excellent session. I will get to enjoy it tomorrow!

Lee Morgan - "Last Session", "Vol. 3", "The Procrastinator" Tina Brooks - "True Blue" Freddy Hubbard - "Open Sesame", "Breaking Point" Ed Blackwell - "What It Is?", "Walls-Bridges" Dewey Redman - "Tarik" Art Ensemble of Chicago - "People In Sorrow", "Nice Guys", ECM Rarum compilation Roscoe Mitchell - "Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancing Shoes" Griot Galaxy - "Live at the D. I. A.", "Opus Krampus" Northwoods Improvisers - "Ashirai Pattern" Paul Bley - "Axis", "Tango Palace" Hariprasad Chaurasia - "Indian Night Live, Stuttgart '88" Chucho Valdés - "Live at the Village Vanguard"

I had the insight/"stoopidity" to tape on VHS all of "The Young Ones" episodes back when it was regularly on MTV. "Bambi" is a/the favorite episode, along with that episode featuring "Brian Damage". I suppose I'll have to spring for the DVD (thanks...).

Some excellent suggestions so far. Among them, "Good News from Africa" and "Song for Biko" get the most play at my house. "Witchdoctor's Son" (my personal favorite) and "Angolian Cry" are two other Dyani-led recordings that one should check out. Other very worthwhile recordings that feature Johnny Dyani include Khan Jamal's "Dark Warrior" (with Charles Tyler too!), early Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath recordings, and a couple of remarkable sessions Dyani recorded with trumpeter Mongezi Feza and Turkish master percussionist Okay Temiz.

I've been using Trend Micro Internet Security, which has worked well for me. Lately, I'm getting up to 3 updates of the program per day. I guess that there's a lot of malicious activity on the internet these days.

I've enjoyed Dennis Gonzalez's New Southern Quintet CD many times. It's also my favorite music that he's recorded since his Silkheart days -- better, in fact, because now I can hear the music even better/deeper than back then. I also can recommend checking out the Entropy Stereo catalog. My favorite recordings on that Michigan label are the Dennis Gonzalez CD, the wonderful live recording by Griot Galaxy recorded at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1983, and two of the Northwoods Improvisers CDs - "Ashirai Pattern" (with Faruq Z. Bey and Mike Carey) and the Northwoods Improvisers' last trio recording, "Branches".

Sam Rivers!

The Mingus Candid set was my first purchase from Mosaic.

My CD players have never died suddenly or completely. The first sign of failure has always been a random skip. The skips would generally increase in frequency over a period of weeks or months until I had to purchase a new CD player. I now have three separate components in my high-quality stereo system (though some would call it "mid-fi") that can play audio CDs: a NAD C541i CD player, a Pioneer PDR-609 CD recorder, and a cheap Panasonic DVD player. I can readily hear significant differences between the three. The sonic differences happen to correlate with price (but that is not always the case).

'Africaine' is a personal favorite of mine, but I enjoy most of Blakey's music from that period.

I've watched "Curb Your Enthsiasm" several times since we got cable last month. My wife thinks it's hysterical. I have to be in the right frame of mind[lessness] for it. If you like watching rich folks making fools of themselves (who doesn't?), you'll dig it. I've noticed that anytime I get to thinking that Larry David is a complete asshole, another person usually comes on the scene who makes Larry David seem relatively mild, even sensitive . "Curb Your Enthsiasm" is growing on me...

[Conjunto] Libre is percussionist Manny Oquendo and bassist Andy Gonzalez's group. I think that their music is generally more traditional (in an Afro-Cuban-Puerto Rican way), more intense, and more innovative than most of what has been released by Jerry Gonzalez's Fort Apache Band. It sounds like I must check out "Ya Yo Me Cure". My wife and I are the only folks I know in my neck of the woods who enjoy that music. I've dug "Afro-Cuban" music since I heard Ray Barretto at my grandparents' Catskill hotel over 40 years ago. (They always had a "Latin" band alternating with a big Swing dance band in the big room for dancing before the show. The Swing band would then play during the show behind and between the various entertainers. A jazzy trio, quartet, or quintet would then play in their smaller late-night club for dancers and behind the late show.)

I use a Pur faucet-mounted filter to get the iron-sulfur taste out of the local water for espresso and cooking. I also drink copious amounts of sparkling water (mostly Canada Dry and the occasional San Pellegrino, but San Pellegrino always seems to taste better at an Italian restaurant (preferably in Chicago ).

I agree that "Mingus Moves" is good, but I play "Changes 1" and "Changes 2" more often. FWIW, my nomination for most overlooked '70s Mingus album is "Cumbia & Jazz Fusion", especially the first side.

My Sony MDR-V6 (not to be confused with the quite inferior MDR-V600) have served me well for over 15 years and are still going strong. They are astonishingly "accurate" in their presentation, can be driven well by any home stereo amp. or receiver, a computer, TV, or a portable radio or player. They are quite comfortable (but not as comfortable as Sennheisers). The only possible downsides (for some) are their closed- (as opposed to open-) back design and their durable, non-detachable coiled cord. The MDR-V6 is no longer made, but the virtually identical MDR-7506 (a "Pro" version) is still sold new at various places for as little as $90. That's just $10 more than I paid for my MDR-V6 many years ago. When the original vinyl skin on the earpads started to flake off after about 8 years or so, I took some duct tape and removed the remaining vinyl bits, revealing the even more comfortable cloth-covered foam underneath. Others, at that juncture, have replaced the pads with some nice Beyer pads that are an exact fit, but I have not yet found the need to do so.

The two that I have are TOCJs.

I started paying attention to Gary Bartz on McCoy's "Expansions" back around 1970 (the transitions and interplay between him and Shorter still can give me goosebumps), and I wore out 2 "Uhuru" LPs before it became available on that CD. "Extensions" and "Sama Layuca" are two other long-time favorites. I remember seeing him at the Lighthouse in the early '70s. I think he was playing with a pickup band. He was generally inspired; the trio with him were less so. From Gary Bartz, I acquainted myself with one of his mentors, Jackie McLean (they were on a Steeplechase record together). Then I really got into Jackie as Gary Bartz went electronic...

I spent an evening sitting by Alice Coltrane's Leslie during her gig at the Lighthouse, back in 1974 I think. It never got tiresome. Plenty of shadings, colors, dynamic brilliance! It was a trip, a beautiful soulful journey! I think that the organ was her instrument; her harp and even her piano playing were "merely" ornamental by comparison. I wouldn't say that Alice Coltrane was more advanced than Larry Young, but certainly quite different. I think that "Transfiguration" was recorded live at U.C.L.A. a few years later, and the string section was on stage with her. When I listen to that recording, I usually bypass the string section. Alice Coltrane's organ playing on "Transfiguration" is quite nice, but not as varied as when I saw her at the Lighthouse, or at the Santa Monica Civic (Auditorium) two years before that.

Faruq Z. Bey with the Northwoods Improvisers featuring Mike Carey and Skeeter Shelton - unreleased 2003 concert recordings from Delta College and Detroit :tup John Coltrane - "Kulu Se Mama", "Coltrane 'Live' at the Village Vanguard 11-01-1961" Pharoah Sanders - "Deaf Dumb and Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun)" Randy Weston - "Carnival" Khan Jamal Quintet - "Balafon Dance" Jemeel Moondoc Vtet - "Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys" Dennis González New Southern Quintet - "Old Time Revival" Hariprasad Chaurasia - "India Night Stuttgart '88" Art Ensemble of Chicago - "People In Sorrow" John Coltrane - "Africa Brass" Elmo Hope - "Live from Riker's Island", "Trio and Quintet"

Art Ensemble of Chicago - "People In Sorrow", "Rarum" Herbie Hancock - "Mwandishi" Lee Morgan - "Lee Morgan/Last Session" Francois Rabbath - "Live Around the World" Bobo Stenson - "Rarum", "War Orphans" Billy Harper - "Soul of an Angel" Don Pullen - "Live...Again"

Billy Harper - "Soul of an Angel", "Black Saint", "Knowledge of Self"

Happy Chanukah!