Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 17:39:58 EST
From:         RTURNBUL@TOROVM1.VNET.IBM.COM
Subject:      The boy is back in town

Much to catch up on after two responsibility-free weeks in Montreal. Lots of
freezing rain, but at least we didn't have -30 degree squeaky snow...BOOOOHAAAA
HAAAAAA!! Sorry Carol, but my girlfriend (uh, womanfriend? ladyfriend? How can
I make that sound non-high school?) was in Calgary and I had to laugh when she
told me about the warm Chinook that rose temperatures up to a scorching minus
16!

OK, you people are greatly responsible for the list of 88 CDs I desperately
need to acquire, so you'll have to put up with my reflections and reviews...

I realized that this list has intensified my excitement for music. I picked up
_Kind of Blue_ over the holidays (a review follows) and as I walked out of the
store with it in hand, itching to slide it in the CD player, I felt like a kid
who has 15 minutes left in class on his birthday and can't wait to dash home
and rip open his gifts...Not only do I still drool profusely when I walk into
a large CD store, I also start to feel a little light-headed. This is all your
fault...

Gary, what were you thinking when you started talking about Marillion in my
absence? _Thieving Magpie_ is a very good live collection and does contain all
of _Misplaced Childhood_ - not on vinyl though (and possibly not on cassette)!
Only side 1 of MC shows up in that case. I do highly recommend MC and
_Clutching at Straws_. Their Greatest Hits doesn't do them justice at all. The
first album apres-Fish is musically very good, but you may find Steve Hogarth's
"vocal stylings" a little difficult to get used to.

As we patiently wait for Marsha to pick up _Kind of Blue_ B-), let me toss out
my reaction to it. Remember, you're dealing with a veritable rookie's foray
into the Jazz world. This is absolutely incredible amazing beautiful stuff! I
wish I had the boundless vocabulary of you expert reviewers to really get
across my love for this CD. Talk if you will about modality and the new soloing
techniques that Miles developed here, but the main thing is the wonderful
songs. My Faves being the up tempo numbers like "So What" that have been
running through my mind since first listen. Damn I love bass like that! This
is not to overshadow the two slower gorgeous songs. Listening to John
Coltrane's solos, I now understand what people mean when they describe a
passage of music as fluid...Of course, now I have to go out and get Coltrane's
_A Love Supreme_ and _Ascension_, not to mention Ornette Coleman's _Free Jazz_,
Charlie Mingus' _Mingus Ah Um_, etc. (I know they're not all the same style,
but I'm discovering a whole new realm of music here...).

Speaking of fabulous, drifting, lilting music, listen to Carol when she pushes
Loreena McKennitt's _The Visit_ on you. The Kate Bush/Sarah McLachlan mixture
is a good comparison, but she adds to that with some great drum rhythms. What's
the rest of her catalogue like?

I'm running out of time here, so I'll just throw out some questions for the
masses. Has anyone heard of Sue Foley? She played at the Montreal JazzFest last
year and a friend of mine is still raving about her (I missed the show). She's
a young blues guitarist. Can someone give me some info on Primus? What are the
best CDs to look for by them. All I've seen in the stores so far is _Sailing
The Seas of Cheese_. Is that representative? I can't find Praxis!! I'm going
nuts over these reviews you guys keep posting, but I can't find the dang thing
anywhere! Is _USA_ by King Crimson still in print and on CD? Listened to a
taped version of it and loved it...

Sonia, blues review tomorrow. ROTCOD ZZAJ, I'll send you my Trevor Levine
review by week's end to your email ID. Is that OK? Marsha, next week for my
a cappella review OK?

Later,

Bob Tee
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