Voltron

Happily, SF Jazz was back on track for the final show of the Fall Festival on Sunday. JP#s, blessingx, my wife, and I were among the adoring fans who saw Ornette Coleman and his Quartet at Davies Symphony Hall. From the moment the MC emphasized this month was the 50th anniversary of the release of The Shape of Jazz to Come and Ornette was announced, it was clear that the crowd's adulation had an impact on him. He said something like "Thank you all for being here. Now we're going to get to know each other very well." They came out of the box strong with the first number, which was a free jazz screamer, and kept up the pace for 90 minutes straight, no intermission, including 3 encore tunes that they clearly weren't certain they would do. They seemed to consider even one more, but Ornette is a few months shy of 80 and we didn't begrudge them leaving the stage for the night. Ornette's quartet is unusual in that it consists of Ornette on alto sax, trumpet and violin, Tony Falanga on acoustic bass, Al McDowell on electric bass, and Ornette's son Denardo Coleman on drums. Falanga plays amazing traditional bass, with an unusual emphasis on bowing, while McDowell plays electric and possibly even synthesized bass. It was described well in a Stereophile review of their recent Jazz at Lincoln Center performance: "Al McDowell, who plays electric bass guitar, has finally found a role for himself: sometimes strumming like a guitar, sometimes doubling on the melody line, sometimes echoing it, or tracing a countermelody. In short, he

In preparation for the concert tonight: Imogen Heap -- Ellipse

Norah Jones -- The Fall

Are we going to have to repeat all of these well-wishes tomorrow when it really is Chris's birthday?

Nice and Lite! Glad to know you are Menacing once again.

Yeah, sorry about that Dinny. Pop better break out his credit card and buy you some suitable replacements in the form of JH|13s.

No, but I like the way he is thinking.

Stetch, this cannot happen!

Well, one out of three aint bad. Happy Birthday Chris! Cheers!

Cool Matt! Enjoy the customs.

Quite different than it looks. I think you might like Midlake.

Midlake -- The Trials of Van Occupanther

Midlake -- Milkmaid Grand Army EP

Grizzly Bear -- Veckatimest

Sprout catalog on vinyl sounds tasty.

Liam Finn -- I'll Be Lightning

Like not love on the first listen. Certainly liked it for $2.99!

Thanks for the input guys. I was looking at LEDs and they are on the high end of the range for any given size. Football watching is key for brother-in-law, while the sister-in-law could probably not care less other than a decent picture.

CD: The Flight of the Conchords -- I Told You I Was Freaky Vinyl: 7 Worlds Collide -- The Sun Came Out Pat Matheny Group -- American Garage John Coltrane -- Giant Steps (Atlantic 45 RPM Master Series) Nirvana -- Nevermind (ORG reissue) Jimi Hendrix -- Axis: Bold As Love (Classic Records Mono) Sonny Stitt and Paul Gonzalves -- Salt and Pepper (Impulse original vinyl) DEVO -- Q. Are We Not Men? A. We are DEVO (Yellow vinyl) DEVO -- Freedom Of Choice (Red vinyl)

Did you remaster the Hoffman, or would that be sacrilege? That drop came from the recent Impulse reissue by Hoffman/Gray.

Pat Matheny Group -- American Garage (vinyl)

Their LCD choice is based on energy consumption. I am a plasma fan myself and may see what the difference amounts to. They don't watch a ton of TV so it cannot be that big of a deal.

My sister & brother-in-law are looking for an LCD TV in the 42" range and want to spend about $1200 max. 1080p and decent connectivity are a must, built-in speakers are not. Will be wall-mounted. Given that the last thread on this topic is a year old, I thought I would see what people suggest so I can help them make a good purchase. Let me know if you have any brands, models, or stores/online shops to recommend or to avoid. Thanks!