take5

I first got turned onto Branford when he played the Newport festival a few years ago. I didn't expect much, but he was the best act that day by far- real impressive. Some difficult original material but swingin' and solid. This is when his Requiem CD came out, which I promptly picked up that day. Highly recommended. Branford is the real deal, no doubt.

JSngry, my feelings about the issue of Song within what I listen to seems to be mirroring yours. I originally got into jazz via Coltrane, because songs in and of themselves meant little to me. I wanted to here cats BLOW. It's the same mentality that had me favor wanky metal guitar solos. The purpose of going to concerts was to be impressed, not moved. Recently I've come to favor and embrace the emphasis on song. Besides starting to come around to some jazz singers, the gradual change of mindset has me appreciated Duke, Dylan, Sinatra, and other "mundane" things. One vocal prejudice I can't get over is that of gender: I just can't stand men singing jazz. I don't know why.

I listened to some of the trio tracks on the Kelly/Chambers set. Gorgeous. Kelly is one of those players who, upon listening closely, I think, "I should listen to him more." Subtlety- gotta love it.

Tony, Toots Thielemans (guitar) only plays harmonica on one song, Caravan. I rather like it, since this melody has often been played tongue-in-cheek. But the harp here is quite understated. Either way, it's just the one track.

Tony, sorry I haven't gotten back to you on the Shearing, I'll check the box out in more detail when I get home tonight before I answer (it's tough to sort out specific things when getting and trying to absorb so much music at once). My general impressions of Shearing is that it's very pleasant and enjoyable and certainly will be revisited. Lots of humor and good-natured playing. Not amazing, but not intended to be. My Mosaic collection has been growing with the following ebay wins: Duke Ellington: Complete Capitol Recordings Already had the Reprise set which was not so hot (particularly the last two disc of pop and Disney covers), but this is much nicer. Now I need to find a relatively inexpensive RCA/Victor set to really jump my Duke collection forward. Paul Chambers/Wynton Kelley Complete VeeJay I feel kind of silly for winning it so soon after I missed out on just buying it directly (and more cheaply) but I'm a huge Chambers fan and the bowed solo on Dear Ann I just heard alone was worth it. Like the Green/Clark set, these are musicians who's playing style I'm very familiar with, so it's great to have hours and hours of their stuff to enjoy. Chico Hamilton Just won this the other day, so am waiting for it to arrive... Once it comes, I'll have 11 sets, all of which are out of print or close to it. The only problem is that I can't afford to buy the in-print sets I really really want, like Mobley, JJ Johnson, and Elvin Jones. If patience is a virtue, than I'm a saint.

I happen to really dig this set. Origin is actually my favorite of Corea's work as a leader (including Return to Forever) and seeing them at Carnegie Hall was my first major jazz concert. The band really smokes and Corea's playing is a lot more mature than I've ever heard. I highly recommend it.

I believe the entire Talking Heads catalogue is slated for a remastered release, and the tracks on this box set will be on the albums proper. I personally like albums, not compilations or box sets of compilations, so this box doesn't interest me, but the new CDs will.

Saw him at Smoke in Manhattan, with George Coleman jumping up to do a tune with 'em. Bought the CD that night. Very cool that he's active. A friend (who doesn't know jack about jazz) has very well-to-do folks and a little jazz combo at some party. One of the guests sat-in to play drums- "some guy named Jimmy Cobb- is he famous?- he was really good!" as she put it. The world isn't fair.

The distinguishing characteristic of VGG is Peter Hammill's voice. Imagine Peter Gabriel times a 100- meaning that it's very dramatic and expressive, almost exaggerated. If you can dig "weird" singing, then it's worth checking it out. I only have and am familiar with H to He Who Am the Only One and Pawn Hearts, considered the early classics.

The Grateful Dead- Golden Road All of their Warner Bros material with extra tracks and it sounds great. King Crimson- The Great Deceiver Live 70s Crim. 15 of the new Dylan SACDs can be acquired in a box, but I don't know if it counts as a box set since it's just a collection of individually available titles with just a box to hold them. Same for the new Paul Simon remasters. The new Black Sabbath box set looks sweet. Re: CCR I never heard the box but I read bad reviews about the sound.

I'm diggin' the George Shearing set

I'm confused about which, if any, box sets I might want. The Blue Note set seems pretty old. Aren't the RVG individual CDs better sounding? As for the Prestige/Riverside stuff, I have Monk's Music, Monk w/ 'Trane, and 5 By Monk By 5 on SACD. I would think getting the box would replicate that. But I do so love box sets. I wish Columbia put some out, like the Miles sets.

Do people really judge music according to which record label they were signed?

The only thing I think I'm not too fond of with this set is that, since the whole thing is really just four studio albums, I would have preferred 4 CDs instead of squeezing it on to 3. But obviously a minor quibble. Yeah, some of it has that hoky Return to Forever feel, but they do it nice and it never gets into corny-land.

I'm being nasty?! Is it because I called you a satanist, or claimed you have no morals or ethics, or "whine like a girl?" Oh, wait, who did that?... You wanna accuse me of bitching? Fine, I didn't realise this was the "jazzypaul preaches is bullshit" thread, so I'll let you have the last word, as anything I say, especially when it exposes the obvious gaps in your reasoning, you pretend to be insulted by. Obviously, there is no reasoning with you about this. Have fun. But wait, that Evil Satanic Bully I in me has to leave with one parting shot: This worshipping of no-God concept: quaint. The fact that you can seriously claim that someone can worship the lack of something just demonstrates how you can't grasp the basic principles of logic. I'll leave you to your fanatical worshipping of no-leprechauns.

Revisiting this album: First off, given how much new music I've acquired recently (four Mosaic sets, the new Fantasy SACDS, Stevie Wonder, some prog rock, It's Monk's Time, Phish, etc) I would never have gone back to an old CD of mine. But this is Mingus- specifically, an album I had been meaning to revisit for a while. In general, the album expands on one of the qualities of his music that attracted me at first: how BIG it all sounds. What better way to do that then with big orchestration? 1. The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers To me it has kind of an old-jazz feel to it, as well as the classic driving hard rhythm of Mingus. The way the vibes seem to sway in and out of the total sound is fascinating. It's like their fighting to have a voice. 2. Adafgio ma non troppo Intro makes me think of Gil Evans for some reason. This is the kind of piece that I can appreciate and enjoy, but rarely moves me. I think part of it is because it changes a lot- quite a few breaks and stops. 3. Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid Too One of Mingus' big arrangements that reminds me of Duke before the programmatic section. 4. Taurus in the Arena of Life This, to me, is like an abridged history of Mingus' music. Starts off with the classical piano intro to point out that influence and hits you with a little blues before jumping into a similar riff as that found on Tijuana's Moods, which matches the bull-fighting reference of the title. Drumming here is awesome. 5. Hobo Ho One reason I love Mingus is that he embraces the grimy, "street" roots of jazz. While others were interested in making jazz a lady, he was turning that ho out. And here, on an album with orchestra, he comes at you with a riffing bass and sleazy sax. But then everybody else eventually chimes in on that great groove. 6. The Chill of Death My attempt at a transcription: The Chill of Death as she clutched my hand. I knew she was coming so I stood like a man. She drew up closer, close enough for me to look int her face and then began to wonder, "Haven't I seen her some other place?" She beckened for me to come closer as if to pay an old debt I knew what she wanted, it wasn't quite time yet She threw her arms about me as many women had done before I heard her whisper, "You'll never cheat me, never anymore" Darkness and nothingness clouded my mind I began to realise death was nothing to fear but something sweet and kind I pinched to see if I was dreaming but failed to find bodily form I then began to realise death had worked her charm Taking myself of nothingness I chose a road to work I noted there's pleasantness (?) with no one to stop me to talk I remember stories of heaven as I visioned a glow ahead (?) Two roads lay waiting for me choose one now I was dead One road was dark, I could not see clearly such long stretched highway The other road was golden and glowing, and shined as bright as day I then remember stories of pearly gates, golden streets... or how... however those stories are told I knew I'd reach heaven on this highway. If not, I'd have the gold. I took one footstep feeling safe and acting bold Suddenly, I realised my mistake. My chosen road turned black, bittery, and white cold No longer was it golden glory nor heaven and it's in (?) White hot flames were blazing; I saw the devil with his grin I had taken but one footsep so I turned to hurry back But there was a sound [something] waited in another door, nor a crack Finally, coming to my senses, I walked onto my hill For long before death had called me my end was planned Planned but well 7. The I of Hurricane Sue After a "stormy" beginning, a relatively polite swing feel.

I just received this set (won on ebay). The only Shaw I was familiar with before this is Blackstone Legacy. I must say, this is the most pleasantly surprising of the Mosaics I've gotten- my 2nd favorite musically after the Green/Clark set. And this after only having listened to it once. It's intense but not "too much." I haven't looked through the liners yet so I have no idea who else is on it, but they're just great. Very modern sounding and inventive but with solid groove. I am absolutely loving it.

I gave this one listen-through and it haven't really caught on to it yet. It's pleasant enough and I am enjoying Bill Holman's playing the most of the three so far, but it hasn't sinked its hooks in me, so to speak.

Thanks for the heads up! Will try to make it tomorrow

If that's true that Miles & Monk didn't like Peterson's playing, I would guess that it's because they, especially Miles, were very serious about "space" in music, something Peterson sometimes neglects.

What is your stance on magic leprachauns? I personally believe in magic leprechauns. I can give you my reasons for thinking that magic leprechauns exists, and you can tell me why they don't, but at the end of the day, we'll come to an impasse. You take it on faith that there are no magic leprechauns. If this seems silly to you, understand that asking someone to prove the non-existence of something is absurd because you cannot prove the non-existance of magic leprechauns. You can't be serious. Do people expect articles and pledges to save their soul, help their spirits, or what-have-you? The fact that you're likening passion for faith exposes your own disrespect for logic, faith, or both. We're having a conversation. Stop projecting. Evangelism is spreading ideas and trying to get people to convert or conform. This is different than discussion, debate, and sharing information. I feel sorry for you if you can't see the difference. Finally, likening Humanism to Christianity is equally misleading. Humanism is just a catch-all term to describe a way of thinking. Is that all Christianity is? I've been led to believe it's much more.

Because there is no such thing as a "flag of atheism." This takes me back to the semantics game- you treat atheism as a religion. An atheist is simply one who doesn't believe in the existence of a god or gods. This is not a religion. Calling the lack of something that very thing is ridiculous. You want to talk about insulting posts? That is insulting to my intelligence. I don't believe in leprachauns and evil ghost mummies. Is that a religion? Are we in the relgion of a-leprachauns-and-evil-ghost-mummies? Atheists have nothing to preach or teach or evangelise or sell or what-have-you, because it's no a belief system- it's nothing. It's just a word that means I don't believe in God. So the idea of an "atheist charity" is absurd. I don't know where I you got this idea that I think all Christians only do bad things, et al. I was criticising the missionaries that use food and medicine to preach. I think that's horrible, cruel, and cynical. I've read the Bible, much of it in Hebrew. I studied Judaism and Christianity, thank you very much. I've also studied the history of Christianity. So your condescending criticism of my supposed ignorance is out of place. I hope I wouldn't have to regurgitate the obvious axiom that there are good and bad people of all faiths and no faiths, blah blah blah. We all know that. The point of my post had nothing to do with any of that. It was a challenge to the philosophical stance of Christianity that humans are innately evil. I still feel it is an inherently negative idea which has been used to keep people down for centuries. I know too many kids that were scarred by that talk and entire populations were kept ignorant and broke because they were taught that their time on earth is meaningless compared to their time in "heaven," so they accepted their crappy circumstances. The Renaissance challenged this and it is those humanistic principles that can save us from intellectual darkness. Oh, and nice shot at my tag. I use it for lots of stuff outside of jazz, and I rather like it.

Obviously I'm a Mingus fan. This isn't one I normally go back to as much as others because it was his small-group stuff that got me into him. I will, however, re-visit this one soon...

And here it is folks: the underlying horror of Christianity- the philosophical basis of why this digusting religion is the 2nd biggest stumbling block of human progress of our time (the first being mass starvation). You want to think of yourself as some innately horrible creature? That's your problem. Any person of reason takes each individual at his own merits. We understand that people are what they are due to a their genetic makeup, how they were raised, what they think, what they do, and the choices they make. I am not a horrible sinner. I'm a guy doing my best to make it in this world and do the right thing. That includes not running around as a "missionary" and telling people they're evil in order to get them to join my cult. By the way, are you one of those scumbags that dangles some rice in the face of some starving African while preaching your lies? I'm going to assume not for the sake of my sanity. By the way, don't get into a battle of semantics, it's pointless and makes you look foolish. You believe in a God, yes? You have a holy book, yes? You have rituals? You're in a religion, pal, deal with it. That fundy game of changing the meaning of words to lie their way into a point is old and tacky.

Does the theme here have something to do with covers? Like that all the tracks are of people playing other people's music? Maybe they're all modern versions of old tune? (IIRC, the sound on these tracks seemed pretty modern)