mjzee

Thanks for posting that, Lazaro. I love guys like that - he seems very real and nice. Good mentions of Chuck Nessa in there, too.

This is from yesterday's Wall St Journal: Still Funky After All These Years By JIM FUSILLI When saxophonist Maceo Parker was in his early teens in Kinston, N.C., "I had to find out what's me," the now 65-year-old musician told me during a break last week in his current tour. "With everybody wanting to play jazz, I decided I'll play funky. It'd be nice if I could play like Cannonball [Adderly] or [John] Coltrane, but I'll just be really, really, really good at playing funky." And so Mr. Parker started his journey to become the funk sax player. In 1964, at age 21, he joined James Brown's band and soon his playing on alto, tenor and baritone sax became an identifiable part of Brown's sound -- in part because the singer frequently shouted out "Maceo!" on recordings and in concerts. From there, Mr. Parker joined George Clinton's eclectic, ultra-funky Parliament-Funkadelic groups, before returning to the Brown band in 1984. He began playing in Prince's New Power Generation in the late 1990s and worked in the studio with rock acts clamoring for his distinctive sax. "They say, 'Why don't we get that guy who did that James Brown stuff?" the ebullient and effusive Mr. Parker said of the musicians like Ani DiFranco, Dave Matthews, Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who have featured him on their discs. "The way James called my name, they think, 'He must be all right.' When they call me, they want me." And, since the late 1980s, Mr. Parker has been leading his own band too, mixing jazz and funk during countless concerts and on a dozen albums that form a body of work both mature and fun. Mr. Parker's latest recording finds him fronting not his own group but the Cologne, Germany-based WDR Big Band. "Roots & Grooves" (Heads Up) is a two-disc live set cut about a year ago: On the first CD, he plays and sings the music of one of his early heroes, Ray Charles. Mr. Parker ensures that the big band pays tribute to Charles's sax players -- including David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford, who both had an influence on Mr. Parker's style. The second CD is pure Maceo Parker funk, including five of his compositions and Brown's "Pass the Peas." The disc explodes as Dennis Chambers, who also worked with Mr. Clinton, takes over the kit from the WDR drummer and, along with Rodney Curtis on bass, sets a deep groove that Mr. Parker gleefully, and characteristically, exploits. Joe Zawinul, the ex-Adderly keyboardist and co-founder of Weather Report, who has since died, recommended the WDR band to Mr. Parker's producers. Mr. Parker, in turn, suggested the Charles tribute. He said he enjoyed the temporary change of direction. "I experienced the big-band stuff in college," he said, "but I never longed to work with a Count Basie. Ray Charles, maybe. But having said that, it was great. I've always loved a lot of horns." While Mr. Parker is probably best known for his staccato bleats, melodic flourishes and impeccable timing over relentless percussion and modal vamping by keyboards and guitars, the horn sections in which he played often featured long, harmonically rich lines akin to the unison parts in big-band music. "That big-band sort of phrasing," he said, "I've always done that. That's me." It was King Curtis too, who also was an early influence on Mr. Parker, as was trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, whose music, Mr. Parker said, taught him that "if you play it right, intricate sounds simple." On "Roots & Grooves," Mr. Parker's compositions are performed with a kind of precision that seems contrary to the free-flowing funk Mr. Parker displays: If a big-band soloist is granted 24 bars, he needs to complete his statement before the band re-enters. But when Mr. Parker is running the show with his own group, the vamping goes on as long as he likes. "There's no written rules on how long or how short each tune has to be," he said. "I give a signal -- touch my head, do a turn or something -- and we move on." On Sunday night at the Roxy, here in Los Angeles, he conducted his powerhouse band with a series of unorthodox gestures -- in one he appeared to mimic a man bailing water from a leaky boat; in another, he looked like he was spinning a carnival wheel -- and his eight backing musicians responded. Mr. Parker allowed Greg Boyer on trombone and Ron Tooley on trumpet plenty of space to solo, but the show's best moments came when Messrs. Parker, Boyer and Tooley played knotty, smile-provoking lines together. In a lively mood, Mr. Parker, who wore a light-gray suit he'd drenched in sweat by the second number, donned a pair of sunglasses, imitated Charles's walk, and sang an affecting version of "You Don't Know Me." It gave way to "Uptown Up," a blast of funk that featured the horns and bassist Mr. Curtis, who turned in a remarkable night's work. The group made Paul McCartney's "My Love" a moving blues, and as if to indicate how well the horns know each other -- Mr. Boyer also plays with Prince, while Mr. Tooley backed Brown -- they tossed in a bit of the R&B chestnut "Compared to What" amid Mr. Parker's composition "Shake Everything You Got." What the horns played together embodied Mr. Parker's philosophy of making the challenging sound simple, as it often does on "Roots & Grooves." "I've been playing in front of strangers since I started in the fifth grade," Mr. Parker told me. "In the beginning it's all good -- your grandmother is showing people your picture and telling you how great you are. But when you go to the other side of town and they like you, you're onto something. By the time I started with James Brown, what was inside of me was longing to come out. I've been playing me for a long time."

TV studio with an audience, interspersed with interviews.

Basher is wonderful. His LPs were also great for all the throwaway songs that somehow were unforgettable. For instance, My Heart Hurts from Nick The Knife. And let's not forget the great albums he produced for his then-wife Carlene Carter.

Tune into CMT (Country Music Television) this weekend. They're playing an hour-long "Crossroads" with Plant and Krauss. Well done...it's more lively than the CD (which I find a bit of a snore). Great band, with Marc Ribot and Buddy Miller. It's a trip to hear Alison do a Led Zep song, and wait til you hear them croon and harmonize on "Black Dog"! Don't miss it.

Has anyone heard the 3 available on eMusic? Made By Maceo Dial M-A-C-E-O Funk Overload I've always loved "Southern Exposure," with Maceo doing that hip dance move on the cover. I love the tracks with the Rebirth Jazz Band (genuinely exciting), and he does a respectable "The Way You Look Tonight".

I ordered the Jimmy Smiths and the Ike Quebec from CDU.

Wardell Gray - Live in Hollywood Sandy Bull - Still Valentine's Day, 1969 McCoy Tyner - 4X4 Stacey Kent - Dreamsville Ray Bryant - Ray Bryant Trio Sun Ra - We Travel The Spaceways/Bad And Beautiful The Great Jazz Trio - Autumn Leaves Sam Jones - The Chant Frank Rosolino - Free For All

Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Himself Art Tatum Group Masterpieces vol. 5, 6, 7 Lester Young in Washington vol. 3, 4, 5 Hampton Hawes - The East/West Controversy

In looking at the Pepper discography at jazzdisco.org, specifically one of the Sonny Stitt dates ("Atlas Blues Blow and Ballads") that's part of this box, it lists two tracks that are not on the box: Autumn In New York and Lover Man. Does anyone know why?

Does anyone know this album? Just made available on eMusic, from Douglas Records: Brazil

Papsrus, now that you've had it for awhile, do you still love it?

Nabbed it from Deep Discount CD. Took the opportunity to also order from them "Louis Armstrong in Scandinavia" @ $29.99.

Listening to this now while transferring it to my computer. Excellent, swinging band, interesting arrangements...even the vocals are catchy! Good sound quality, too.

Aggie, don't remember if we've ever discussed this...have you heard this album? Bill Goodwin, "Solar Energy" 3 tracks are a trio with Sco and Swallow, recorded 3/10/79; the other 4 tracks are a quartet with Sco, Bill Dobbins and Steve Gilmore, recorded 9/14/80. Very tasty.

Lonnie Johnson w/ Elmer Snowden - Blues & Ballads vol 2 Roy Haynes - Cracklin' Lee Konitz - Spirits Grayfolded Phineas Newborn - The Newborn Touch Clifford Brown Memorial Kenny Burrell - All Night Long Joe Pass - Virtuoso 2 Bud Powell - Live in Lausanne

They've just added the Fresh Sound originals series; here's some of them: The Bad Plus: Bill McHenry: Chris Cheek: Reid Anderson: Ethan Iverson:

I just noticed that Amazon mp3 has added a number of Beefheart titles, including the long-unavailable "I'm Gonna Do What I Wanna Do:" Beefheart on Amazon

I just noticed that Amazon mp3 downloads has added a large part of the Tim Buckley catalog, including Starsailor, Blue Afternoon, and Lorca: Tim Buckley on Amazon

Steve Nelson - Sound-Effect John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom (song) Nick Lowe - At My Age Ron Affif - Ron Affif John Coltrane - Coltrane (Prestige 7105) Gerry Mulligan - Plays Mulligan Yazoo compilation - Memphis Masters Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Teddy Charles, Mal Waldron - Olio Bennie Green - Walking Down

Tim was great. I had the pleasure of seeing him a few times: 1972 at the Felt Forum (opening for Zappa), and 1974 (I think) at both the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park and at Max's Kansas City. Great voice, wonderful feeling to his records. Blue Afternoon was always one of my favorite records (what a mistake it was for him to go to Straight Records...imagine the promo push behind him if he had stayed on Elektra! I'd love to someday read a history of Herb Cohen and how he influenced the artists he managed). Lorca is wonderful (tho it feels cobbled together as an album), Happy Sad is great, and Starsailor is so mysterious and perplexing. The booklet to the compilation on Rhino was so interesting...I had no idea he spent time in Vietnam. He came back a changed man, and obviously on a downward spiral. I still remember an interview he gave Rolling Stone a little before he died, where he mentioned plans for an album with himself, Jackson Browne and Gregg Allman. I wonder if anything came of that.

FYI, for Costco members, they have $50 iTunes gift cards for $44.99 online and in their stores.

There was a guitarist who opened for Hips Don't Lie; his name is Scott Dercks. I thought he was good, but only heard 1 or 2 songs. As for Rossi's steaks, all I can say is, they're no Manny's.

Just a short mention. When I was in Minneapolis in October, I caught this jazz trio at Rossi's Steakhouse (not a great steakhouse, btw - stick to drinks). Three women, playing good, thoughtful jazz. Lots of interaction between them. Sort of like Keith Jarrett's trio, but more modern tunes. Bassist was especially good. If you're in the area, check 'em out.

TWO! I value both of you guys and wish you would reconsider and stay. Please! And I make it three, please. The good voices are good to read. And, remember, you can always ignore someone you don't like to read. Just like in the real world, you don't have to interact with everyone you meet.