Allan Songer Posted April 13, 2003 Author Share Posted April 13, 2003 Geoff Dyer's "But Beautiful" is jazz history/criticism for the person who thinks "Ghost" is deep, thought-provoking cinema. ARRRRRRRGH! TOTAL DRIVEL! I do happen to own a copy, so for all of you out there who like their prose big, fat and PURPLE, here's what Dyer says about Monk: "He played each note as though astonished by the previous one, as though every touch of his fingers on the keyboard was correcting an error and this touch in turn became an error to be corrected and so the tune never quite ended up the way it was meant to." TOTAL B.S.!!!! But the Jimmy Van Husen tune the book was named for is one of my all time favorites! Here are some of the BEST versions (and most are available on reissue CD!!). Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (Fantasy) Freddie Hubbard--Open Sesame (Blue Note) Art Pepper--Friday Night at the Village Vanguard (Contemporary) Souful Moods of Gene Ammons (Moodsville) Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis-- Cookbook Vol. 1 (Prestige) Stan Getz-- Award Winner (Verve) Frank Rosolino--Four Horns and a Lush Life (Bethlehem) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Some people wouldn't know creativity if it hit them in the face, they need to parade their bank account to be cool. There was no humor in your post, it was your usual. Its about your money and your LA yuppie tastes, and your thinking yourself cool and hip because of it. C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio80 Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Not to butt-in, but I got the sense that his toungue was planted firmly in his cheek as he typed out that post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 The track record speaks for itself. It is always celebrating his expensive possessions whether they be NOS tubes, sports cars past and present, or Blue Note originals or his drapes. It is about how you all out there cannot possibly get what he has without spending a fortune now. It is an elitist snobby attitude and I think the tongue is rather up his cheeks. C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted April 14, 2003 Author Share Posted April 14, 2003 What does my bank account or my possessions have to do with the fact that Dyer's book is CRAP? If you think "But Beautiful" is some sort of deep ruminative essay on the "meaning" of jazz, or on "creativity," then you are even more of a fool than I had feared. I get the heebie-jeebies even remembering my initial feelings as I read this crap a few years back--especially the interchange bewtween the writer and Bud Powell's ghost. YIKES! Am I qualified to judge Dyer's work? Maybe not, but I do have a BA and MA from UC Berkeley in English and I taught in the Oakland Public Schools (Castlemont High) and at San Francisco State University back in the late 1970's/early 1980's. As far as my parading my possessions in front of all of you, I did so only in the spirit of sharing where our Klipsch live--I certainly wasn't the first to present an image of where I live and my explainations of what my furnishings are were in direct response to questions from fellow members here. I seem to remember some sort of fool comment about one of my rugs being a beach towel! I do run my mouth about how great the old Prestige, Contemporary and Blue Note (among others) LPs sound and I have commented on the CRAZY money that some old Blue Notes bring on ebay. (The post that started this mess was a silly comment that relates to the image I am currently using as my avatar!) But there is NO denying the quality of the music or the SOUND that these things offer. Is it better to own an original? Sure, but I have ALWAYS pointed those interested in listening to this music to the HMV Japanese site where one can buy all kinds of great jazz CDs for really fair prices. So much of this stuff (except the OJC reissues) is NOT available in the USA! I have even sold some vintage jazz vinyl to fellow members here CHEAP (some were FREE)--way below "book value" just so that I could share some of this joy! And today I packed up a quad of NOS matched GEC KT-66 to send out to a fellow memeber just so that he can experience them in his McIntosh amp. If he wants to buy them from me I'll sell them for FAR less than I might get on ebay! And, to top it all off, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 ---------------- On 4/14/2003 12:08:36 PM Clipped and Shorn wrote: The track record speaks for itself. It is always celebrating his expensive possessions whether they be NOS tubes, sports cars past and present, or Blue Note originals or his drapes. It is about how you all out there cannot possibly get what he has without spending a fortune now. It is an elitist snobby attitude and I think the tongue is rather up his cheeks. C&S ---------------- Wow! I didn't read all that from the posting but to each his own. And, I don't know squat about Jazz. Learning, but I do have a great appreciation for being able to listen to the correct version of a certain piece whatever the style of music. And I do see spending the money to get that piece if you want it. Unfortunately, remastered music is not usually all it's cracked up to be. And I think the labels keep re-issuing/re-mastering to re-sell the same old thing without improvements and usually they screw up the mastering more than they fix it. Example, how many copies of DSOTM has everyone had. I know I've owned four with a fifth on the way. I have gotten rid of two and plan to keep the top three. They all have their merits. Or, a Beethoven piano sonata. My Gale recording on LP rips any of the others that I've listen to. After that I'm not afraid to buy anything else on the Gale label again. If I ever run into another one you can bet that I'll plunk down the $$$ if the title at all interests me. Great, now I'll probably get flamed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Allan, Keep posting. I know I will never be Hip or Cool darn it. I have bought at least 45 CD's that Allan has recommended in the last 6 months. No I don't have the originals, but they sound good to me. After 2 glasses of wine I don't even think about it. I have written a few letters to Allan about music and he has always responded. He has never said oh you are getting the CD not the original. All Allan is doing is recommending music that I know I have never heard before. Everybody May Know Johhny Hodges, but I didn't until Allan and Mobile starting talking about him. Now it is one of my favorite recordings. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted April 14, 2003 Author Share Posted April 14, 2003 Thanks for the good word. I think you should buy "Face to Face" next! If you aren't comfortable ordering from www.hmv.co.jp, then try Tower Rocords--they seem to be serious about special orders: http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=1599393&cc=USD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted April 14, 2003 Author Share Posted April 14, 2003 On the Japanese site, just scroll down to the bottom left of the home page and click the "English" icon--makes it much easier to navigate unless you are fluent in Japanese! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 C&S As we say in LA, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE, what's up with the 'tude? "LA yuppie tastes"? What the freak does THAT mean? And what about the very quotable, "I think the tongue is rather up his cheeks." Do you read this stuff before you press submit? It sure doesn't appear as such. As my 87 year old mother (Whom I very sadly dropped off at the airport this morning to go home to San Francisco.) often says, "If you don't have something nice to say, keep your pie hole shut! There you go. I'm shutting my pie hole. Have a very nice day, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted April 15, 2003 Author Share Posted April 15, 2003 Here it is on Japanese vinyl!! I have a bunch of these pressings from the late 70's and early 80's and they are SUPERB! I reccomend that you snap them up when you see them--even the "rare" titles usually sell routinely for $25-$40. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2523056037&category=1078 Here's a good source for Japanese vinyl--a VERY reputable seller! Hiroshi is GREAT! www.earlyrecords.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubenube Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Whew! In case anyone missed it the Blue Note version final bid was $182.49. I guess the good news is apparently some still have a good paying job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 So... Who is the new "cool" person? fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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