BFrank

Chrome didn't log in correctly on my Windows laptop today either. It was there, but none of my links signed in as usual. After I rebooted, everything was fine.

Honestly, I haven't listened to all the disks that much. There are some tracks with a sax player that don't work well. But like any group of live tracks, some are better than others. Let's just say the original album wasn't wrong. But I like the idea of hearing complete shows, as opposed to a 'best of' from multiple shows. The most successful so far is Jimi Hendrix, "Songs For Groovy Children" (The Fillmore East Concerts). A real tour de force!

Saw Laubrock with Myra Melford's Fire and Water super group (also Mary Halvorson, Tomeka Reid and Leslie Mok) at Big Ears. What a great performance!

Saw him last month with the Messthetics. A totally different experience.

Large Irving Penn retrospective at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. Excellent show if you happen to be in town

It's very sad. He was scheduled to perform on Sunday at a great oceanside venue down the coast (from SF), and I was thinking of going.

Lunatic Soul "Under The Fragmented Sky"

I don't often listen to fusion any more but this new album is very good. And the lineup is quality. G. Calvin Weston - Drums Vernon Reid - Guitar Jamaaladeen Tacuma - Bass

That piece was written by Ashely Kahn who participated in some panel discussions and was spotted at a number of shows throughout the weekend.

I also expected a little collaboration with some of his many musician friends (other than his wife). Otherwise, it's pretty much a solo acoustic guitar album.

I was really looking forward to this, and it's a nice album. But I was expected something a little more adventuresome.

Oh - that's a shame! Too bad he couldn't help you out. Nice to have the book, though.

Last Sunday: Ethan Iverson Trio w/Reuben Rogers, Gerald Cleaver

"The Complete Dirty South" Drive-By Truckers

I saw Mok with that group about a year and a half ago, and she didn't stand out. Last weekend was very different.

I definitely have to pay more attention to him. I've seen him since the early days of Jason Moran's Bandwagon. Other outstanding drumming I witnessed at Big Ears this year came from: Eric Harland (w/Charles Lloyd), Leslie Mok (w/Myra Melford), Ches Smith (with a few groups), Pheeroan AkLaff (w/Air), and Dafnis Prieto (who I don't think I've seen before - off the CHARTS! w/Threadgill and Vijay Iyer)