Tuesday, October 29, 2002

A Love Supreme: The Book. God Bless John Coltrane

A new book on the making of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme by Ashley Kahn the same author who did a similar New thing for Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. There is much to see and read on this site. And many ideas for working this and yesterday's news on Blue Train's Gold Record into this Thursday's show. Must get a move on.

John Swenson leads coverage of this new development.
2:33:22 PM    comment []  Google It!  


Mr. Mole Does Not Promote Safe CSS

Scott Andrew: More CSS Than Can Be Handled Safely

"Nearly 800 table-free CSS designs, courtesy of Meryl who is thankfully mirroring the original archive from webnouveau.net, which has gone AWOL. Admire, view source, learn."

Miff has recently scaled up to CSS with the just mentioned Jazz 88 Schedule his most recent production. Run, Miff, Run.
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Looking For A Multi-Media PDA. iPAQ out and Toshiba in?

Periodically, I get the jones for a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) that I can use for blogging around the house, along with viewing pictures, transfering data to the home network and internet, recording voice interviews...you know, all that everyday kind of thing. Jeff L. at work has had an iPAQ for a while now so I thought I'd ask him about it. To prep, here are the things I'm looking for...
  • MP3 Player
  • Voice Recorder (with Microphone attachment prefered)
  • Wireless connectivity: Roam the house and read my news aggregator anywhere (need a PocketPC version of the aggregator).
  • Web Browser: Access to my weblog posting page anywhere in the house and over the Internet.
  • USB connectivity: Connect the PDA to my digicam and transfer photos to the home PC or upload via Internet.
  • GPS: Take the PDA on the road and map where I'm going and where I've been. Download waypoints (GPS coordinates for 'I was here') and draw maps of my travels.

So, I talked to Jeff and here's what he uses his iPAQ for (mostly):

  • Mapping: He's got a San Diego map (and downloads others for where he is going) that will point out businesses, etc. around where he is...after he punches in where he is. GPS would be nice here to eliminate having to type in street names and such.
  • Wireless Connectivity: He can check email and surf the web from anywhere in his domain via his wireless access point.
  • Email and Web Browsing, already mentioned.

Jeff pointed me in the direction of the Toshiba PocketPC e740 as his current choice for his next-generation PDA usage. Integrated WiFi (wireless) is totally cool and it's got voice recording, MP3 playing, and a couple of expansion slots that would probably give me the USB connectivity (would sure be nice to use their cradle slot for this, when not using the cradle). A quick search turned up a problem with the battery in this model, so that's a strike against it (but it is limited to certain serial numbers, so maybe it's not all bad). Jeff also mentioned that it was available at CostCo, but all I could find on-line there were iPaq PDAs.

The search continues. New equipment of some sort is coming, mark my words.
11:18:49 AM    comment []  Google It!  


Soulful Jeff On Patrol For Nicholas Payton At The Neurosciences Institute

Speaking of Jeff, he owes some thoughts on what he claimed what a "totally unexpected" experience at last Thursday's Nicholas Payton gig. Let me guess, it wasn't a show you'd see at Preservation Hall? No guess needed...

"Under this configuration, his strong and vibrant traditional jazz style finds a new groove, and reaches out to a new audience. The Soul Patrol line up currently consists of sax great Tim Warfield, Adonis Rose on drums, Guitarist Peter Bernstein and Hammond B-3 organist Larry Goldings."

Must hear what Jeff thinks. Or what you thought. Use the Comment[] link below to share.
1:08:42 AM    comment []  Google It!  


And Coltrane Continued To Blow Past The Blue Train

Ken hit the right Jazz Note yesterday...

"A landmark jazz recording recently reached a landmark of its own... 45 years after it was recorded. The Recording Industry Association of America has bestowed Gold Certification upon saxophonist John Coltrane's classic recording "Blue Train." Coltrane's only session as a leader for Blue Note Records was recorded in 1957 in the midst of his tenure as a sideman in bands led by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. The certification marks album, cassette and CD sales of more than 500,000 copies. Blue Note presented gold plaques to the jazz legend's son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. Trane's widow, Alice Coltrane, lives in California and was unavailable for the presentation."

That is so cool. Blue Train is a disc that can be everything to all jazz fans. New fans get to hear just classic saxophone be-bop jazz. Miles fans get to hear Trane during their time together. Free fans hear one culmination of a Coltrane era that would usher in eras of further exploration. Blow he did. (More notes on Blue Train.)

This post is dedicated to Jeff F. who must have been looking at this news at the same time I was today AND presented me with my very own copy of The Ultimate Blue Train recently. Coincidence? I think not.
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Buddy Rich Biopic News Slim At The Moment.

As reported by Ken, in today's Jazz Notes...

"Hollywood film director Steven Soderbergh and actor George Clooney plan to bring jazz to the big screen again with a Buddy Rich biopic. A post on the late drummer's official Web site reports that Soderbergh and Clooney will produce the film. Buddy's daughter, Cathy Rich, is executive producer and Miguel Ferrer, who starred in Soderbergh's film "Traffic," has been cast to play the drummer."

A quick scan around the Buddy Rich website reveals no other news immediately, but we'll check out the board and see.

Would be cool to talk to Miguel Ferrer and see what he knows about drumming. Or Jazz. A show idea.
12:34:04 AM    comment []  Google It!  


Medeski, Martin, and Wood Rock The New. People Like New.

Stuart Nicholson: A Jazz Trio With a Jam Band's Following

"The success of these albums suggests that young audiences may be looking for jazz that is adventurous and different."

MMW typifies the spirit of the New. And The New Jazz Thing. And I've gotten calls mostly young-sounding folks that dig the show on Thursday night's and want to know what's on. If you dig MMW, then you'll dig the show. If you dig the show, you'll dig something about MMW. The article does a good job scratching the surface of the band (and hopefully intrigueing new listeners) with word-licks like "the spacey feel of the group's free-form improvisations" and "the mix of avant-gard improvisation and groove-based (emphasis VO) jazz."

Like me, they are playing a Halloween gig. Maybe they would want to tell us about their party live on our party? Um....
12:15:20 AM    comment []  Google It!