LouieB

Buy me a ticket for NYC.....and let me stay with you and take me to the show....(just kidding....I STILL can't believe I didn't find a way to buy tix to the Chicago shows...) LouieB

According to the paper (since I won't be able to report back...) They are opening with some regular material and then showing and playing along with the movie. LouieB

Me too. This seems really really early. They should be giving the prize to someone who has actually done something. Sort of Weird really. This on the same morning that an article in the Trib indicated that an Israeli-Palestinian peace was a long way off. LouieB

I hope to finally get around to cracking the wrapper on my copy and listening to it today while I work at home. Stupidly missed buying tickets to their shows this weekend. I didn't even figure out when they went on sale. When did this group get so big?? Some days I just can't figure out who is big and who isn't. LouieB

I have big hunks of this box set on various LPs, but again at the price this is hard to beat. (Trane played in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band at one point too....) I know I have Mating Call, at least one of the Gene Ammons and one or more of the Red Garland. Meanwhile Tenor Madness with Sonny Rollins is a classic, in any event, and first rate. LouieB

Since we are all buying shit on line tonight...(see Coltrane thread..).... What difference does it make if it is shit or not? I was sort of down on it initially too, but doing it for charity, what the hell. It will be worth a chuckle or two even if it does suck. (Remember This Old Man from "For Our Children"?? Well maybe not if you didn't have kids 20 years ago....) LouieB

The material on this set is very early stuff, so don't expect the Coltrane that everyone talks about. That could be the reason it is so cheap. It appears to be Coltrane mainly as a sideman on Prestige (and maybe some other associated labels.) That doesn't mean it isn't worth the money (it is particuarly at THIS price since it is going for more on Amazon), but it won't be in the same league as some of his work with Miles, Monk, or certainly his material on Atlantic or Impulse. Lots of standards here. Good enough, but not exactly first rate. For those of you really wanting full strengh lo

My wife once picked me up the Complete Dial and Savoy sessions of Charlie Parker (8 CDs) for like 30 bucks. Take the disks and run comrade.... LouieB

What Wendy says. Why on earth would the venue let people come out of the seats and on to the floor? Chicago has fairly strict laws since the E2 tragedy a few years ago, so crowd control is certainly something the University of IL is going to be concerned about. Trade off your seats for a GA ticket if you like, but don't expect to get out of the seated area into the GA, just isn't likely to happen; not to mention the fact that the GA folks aren't going to be too pleased with a "space invader" sometime during the show. LouieB

Best advice I have seen in a long time. All of these are good (there may be one more...) LouieB

and??? How is it??? So now a charity album can be listened to for free? LouieB

Check out the seating chart... LouieB

Kinda small....Memories of Willie the Lion Smith. LouieB

One can't say enough nice things about Schubas. It is good for three things, seeing music (they have the consistantly best bookings in town and some of the best sound in town too...), drinking (the bar itself is great and housed in an old original Schlitz bar) and eating (good food, although there are more exciting places to eat, but it is a good place to eat before a show or drinking.) Within walking distance are lots of other great bars, restaurants, stores, etc. Just take a stroll east on Belmont towards Lakeview or north along Shefield or Southport into other parts of Lakeview or west up

I have never seen anyone hanging out there. It is not like the band is there all the time. I have driven by innumerable times on my travels around Chicago and it is not somewhere that would be all that fun to hang out for along time, although it is not in a "bad" neighborhood. LouieB

The Chicago History Museum has some info on Lounge Ax. It is hard to believe it was open a mere 13 years. It is equally hard to believe it is gone nearly 10 years. A good substitution for LA vibes is the Hideout. Super Dawg is fun, but you need a car. The loft is identified if you visit every non-descript building and look for the identification on the buzzer of buildings on the north side. Now THAT will take you and your girlfriend busy for a very very long time. LouieB

So true. I deleted from my original post about how horrible the CTA is. Buses and trains are crowded and run late (not meaning late at night..). Unless something significant was done, the Olympics would have been a disaster on that level too. But with all the issues here, such as the nearly daily occurence of serious youth violence resulting in death, we have so many issues that need immediate attention. Meanwhile between 50 and 70 million dollars of private money was spent on this unsuccessful bid. Pity... Meanwhile the neighborhood around Washington Park, which is just west of Hyde Pa

Don't forget this thread. Lots of info here.It gives lots of Wilco sites. Band members have played in nearly ever club in town, not just the Riv. Talk bout Marina Towers is on this thread, etc. Go over there and ask. LouieB

That's sort of what I figured. I was going to get really snarky and then I thought...hmm..he called me Lou so maybe he knows me from real life, so I dialed it back. THEN I read Bed Jarovsky's article in the Reader and I KNOW I am basically correct. This thing would benefit no one who matters. Below is his column. I agree completely which saves me from getting anymore snarky than I did. If you don't live here and haven't been around town, you don't really know. It would have been nice, but it would have been worse to get it. LouieB Dear Members of the International Olympic Committee

This is certainly a dinosaur band worth seeing.... LouieB

Let's see....so DID you want it or not?? Somehow you seem to be supporting what I am saying while saying I shouldn't be saying it. You are right..the entire city of Chicago is crushed...I think i will stay home for days and mourn this. LouieB

We didn't need the Olympics in 2016 and we don't need them in the future. To most folks in Chicago this was mildly intereting and less disappointing than you might expect. Somehow we keep hoping the world will think of us as "world class", but compared to Rio, we are still a cow town. Who gives a shit. This is still a great place to visit and live. The Olympics were an opportunity for Daley and his business cohorts to make tons of money re-developing parts of the near west and south sides, probably to the detrement of the folks who live in those areas. The Washington Park area is still fu

This is like every indie rock album made in the last 10 years....oh yea..plus a few rap albums.... LouieB

this may simply be a terrible time for music in general. Some of these albums aren't bad (not that I have heard all of them), but some don't even rank close to the top of some of these artists work. (I had no idea Scritti Politti was still active...) LouieB

While I do think the public option is important, there are other issues in health care reform that are NOT poop, at least for those who have insurance or trying to get it. I understand how people feel about this, but getting some reform on pre-existing conditions, etc. will help millions of people. Sometimes Rome wasn't built in a day. Clearly the insurance companies hold sway over the US Congress, but a few good measures at this point will not be so bad. If we totally give up on this, we are back to square one, which is nowhere. Also the House does get a say in this.... LouieB