What are you listening to?

[vickihb2]

Kenny, you are King of the retro phrase. "Yum yum pigs bum" is a phrase my mother often used from her school days in the '50s.

I like "holy bovine", I'll have to steal that one.

Another favourite I learnt from working in the UK is a term used to describe a mega screw up by anyone or organisation which is 'goat fuck'.

That delightful term, which is only to be used sparingly, came from a journo from the London Latin America Bureau (LAB) after a trip to Guatemala. While stuck in a remote village he observed two goats mating. Apparently it was not a pretty sight and thus a magnificent new phrase was conceived (bad pun intended).

[Kenny]

Well thanks for that. I guess.

[Kenny]

Hey ace - I've just got another star!

Scoop me up and kiss me, baby!

[Kenny]

Gil Melle - The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions

Having spent many weeks swooning with pleasure at the sounds emanating from my Gerry Mulligan box, I thought I'd lend a fresh ear to this intriguing dude. Very cool baritone and tenor, with a cast that includes Tal Farlow, Oscar Pettiford, Sir Cliff Richard, George Michael, Max Factor, the Queen Mum, Max Roach, Ed Thigpen and Joe Morello. Pretty groovy stuff! Although spread over two discs, some of the material seems a little thin. Do you have this, AJ?

[aj]

Gotta 'fess up, I've never heard it.......I was wondering who this guy was, on the Blue Note documentary.

But I do agree re New orleans Suite & Art Pepper + 11 !!

[vickihb2]

Dig Radio Jazz in the last ?? hour they played Mark Isaacs and Jessica Williams, how much better can you get than that?

[happy]

goddam you folks are gettin' me all inspired - I just chucked on Art + 11 which I haven't heard for a good ten years (might have to follow it with mingus plays piano...) ;D

[Kenny]

Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer
Horace Silver And The Jazz Messengers - self-titled
Sonny Clark - Dial S For Kenny
Various - Hammond Heroes
Maria Schneider - Concert In The Garden
Arthur Blythe - Exhale
Orchestre National De Jazz - Charmediterraneen

[vickihb2]

Lyall and Chindamo, Love Blues and Other Fiction am playing it again and again and again.

This CD has so many brilliant tracks. (I don't use that term lightly here.) Chindamo is as strong a composer as he is arranger. His constantly improving technique is inspiring. Sometimes it sounds like there are four hands playing piano. The classical community who now makes up a large percent of his audience reveres Chindamo. Lyall, a God of sax, and another great arranger, has never sounded more engaging. The two work so well together. So I really don't understand why Kenny (only 3 stars I heard, sorry didn't catch the review) and others haven't rated this piece of work more highly.

This is something Australia should be celebrating. It deserves more attention and stars (I digress: I loathe and detest the moronic star system we have forced upon us) than it has received.

Is Australia suffering once again from some critics discomfort at locals doing well or maybe it is just jazz politics? Very silly, very sad that a work of this status would suffer from bruised egos if that is the case. I understand many critics didn't welcome Kind of Blue at the time of release either, so I guess time will tell.

Everyone I know who has heard it who is into jazz, rates it A plus. I rate it A plus ten stars!

[johnk]

Kennyweir I dig Oscar Pettiford but the Queen Mum leaves me real cold she doesnt have much swing y'know must be from holdin all those daffoldils for over a century
the Lyall n Chindamo cd is awesome i'd give it 10 stars 2, VickiHB but aint you a bit kind of prejudice?

[vickihb2]

Lyall n Chindamo cd is awesome i'd give it 10 stars 2, VickiHB but aint you a bit kind of prejudice?

Yes I am. I am totally prejudiced towards music that is played by artists who have a natural gift and work damn hard to make their music sound as good as it can be.

As a musician who was never disciplined enough to get anywhere near those artists, musically speaking, I feel comfortable stating that fact.

Speaking of perfectionism, I have been listening to our beloved moderator's 'Keeping the Standards' today. Another divine listening experience and one CD that I am very, very glad I bought. Hoagy Charmichael would love your version of Skylark, Mark I'm very sure of that. Any chance you'd ever record Baltimore Oriole (if you haven't already)?

[glow=red,2,300]If this sounds like I am sucking up to the administrator, well, tough![/glow]

[bud]

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter WayneWayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter! Gettin ready 4 the big gig yes!

[Kenny]

Wayne who?

Jim Hall - Magic Meeting. Live at the V V with Lewis Nash and Scott Colley, and like the Maria Schneider album only available from his website via the ArtistShare setup. When are more Australian artists gonna get more pro-active about these sorts of things? Instead of merely playing music and posting cynical, anonymous, obtuse complaints here? At the MJC panel thing I did a year or so ago, Fiona Burnett opined that the business side of her work constituted about 70% of her efforts. Sad but true. Also sad but true: This album sounds a little bloodless so far.

[isaacs]

I know all about the 70% rule. Here's what I wrote to John Shand in answer to an interview question for SMH, due to space he wan't really able to use it:

"I do spend a lot of time managing the performance side of my career, particularly trying to develop international opportunities as I only get a handful of chances to play each year in Australia. I've only had an international aspect to my performance career in the last decade or so, it's been a very slow process to grow it but it does provide further significant opportunities to perform and - most importantly - to collaborate with new artists, ensembles and orchestras. At this point in my career I have not been able to find someone to farm that kind of work out too, by necessity they would need to be managing quite a number of artists of my level to make it viable for themselves, and thus in fact they are not able to approach the task with the zeal and daily consistency that I can. I don't have any anxiety about this taking me away from "the music", although it is a relief when I am working on a composing commission, touring or preparing classical works at the piano to focus only on the musical processes for weeks or months on end. In general I see what I do as a combination of art and craft. The craft activities are many: solving a technical problem on the piano, looking up the range of a rarely-used instrument. We tend to see those as artistic, but really they are craft-based: mechanical and practical, they provide a means to allow an artistic impulse to flow freely. Quite simply, as a performer I see self-management as a similar "craft" part of what I do. Just as sitting at the piano practising for eight hours can open up artistic possibilities, so can sitting in front of the computer networking with overseas contacts when the networking leads to new performance opportunities and artistic collaborations. Both are a means to an artistic end, both represent the "craft". I suppose, having clocked up by now maybe 30,000 hours at the instrument, there will be times where another 8 hours behind the piano may not offer as significant a transformation to what I do as 8 hours behind the computer. I am prepared to opt for the latter where this is the case"

[Kenny]

Mark that's great. Your're on the ball in this regard, as is the aforementioned Ms Burnett and the likes of Adam Simmons.

I think it's terrific that you see that side of your work - networking, time on the computer etc etc - as part of your creative thing as much as playing or composing.

I'm not taking pot shots at anybody in particular here ...

But I just KNOW that Australian jazz is a gross under-achiever when the quality of so much of the music is considered ... And that at least some of that attributable to musician torpor.

"a very slow process to grow it but it does provide further significant opportunities to perform" To grow it? To grow it? Arrgghhh! Stand in the corner and repeat 1000 times: "I shall not speak or write like jargon-junkie wanker."