Friday, March 30, 2012

PAJAMAS IN PUBLIC - WHY?

Now I'm not really sure when people found this an acceptable practice but I have noticed more and more people wearing pajamas in public. Now typically these pajamas are usually just the pajama bottoms but I still don't get it. Now I see girls doing this but have even seeing guys doing this as well! What? Yep, I kid you not. Now I can honestly say I don't get this at all. Why would anyone go out of the house wearing pajamas? Maybe if your 5 years old but other than that? Come on now! I mean there has been the rare instance where I needed to run to the market on a Sunday morning to get something for breakfast but I would still get dressed although with a hat on my head. Anyway, maybe it's just me but I just don't get this new fad at all. Not at all.....

Monday, March 19, 2012

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - LEE MORGAN

Now I have to say this is one of my favorite cd's by the late great trumpeter Lee Morgan. This classic cd titled the Gigolo is one that I owned on vinyl way back in the day and is a cd that I never get tired of listening to. Featuring an All-Star cast of Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Harold Mabern, Jr. (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums) this is some serious jazz! Now I found it extremely tough to narrow it down to one selection so I listed several tracks from this cd. Although the title track is one that gets the most airplay I always liked the tune You Go To My Head. A great tune a featuring wonderful solos by Lee and Wayne. A classic! Anyway, here's some of the many great tracks off this cd. Check it out and hip up!


NAPKINS - WHAT'S UP WITH THIS?

Now at the cost of offending the wife and sleeping on the sofa let me just say that that as I've traveled the world I seem to have a problems with napkins in other countries. Now I'm not saying what countries so let me just say several countries, OK dear? HAHA! Anyway, what I've noticed it that they take a regular size United States napkin, open it up and then cut it into four squares! What? Yep, I kid you not. So you are then left with this 1/4 of a napkin that is then folded in two. Now I don't know about you but this just does not get the job done whatsoever. No way! I usually end up using all of these napkins and then having to ask for more. Jeez, why can't I get a full size napkin anywhere? Next time? I'm bringing a roll of paper towels everywhere I go! HAHA!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

CHEESY ALBUM COVERS

Over the years I have seen a pretty fair amount of cheesy album artwork. Now I don't know what it is or what people could be thinking when they put out an album with this cheesy artwork. I just don't get it. Now I truly believe that the Fania label put out some of the best Salsa music ever recorded in the 70's. True classics that will live on forever. Now some of their album covers are a whole different story. I don't know if the artist that made some of these covers was related to the label owner or what. All I know is these are some of the cheesiest album covers that I have ever seen. Here is just a small selection so you can see what I am talking about. Here are some Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon covers from the Fania label that are just pure cheese. Check them out! HAHA!







RUNNING OUT OF SPACE.....

Because I am a serious music collector I have finally reached the point where my two custom made cd racks are completely full! Yep, SAXOMAN has reached full capacity! So now I was faced with a serious dilemma here. What should I do? Should I (gulp!) downsize and get rid of some of my cd's? Why that would be like cutting off a finger (or two) and I just can't do that. Now I know I have my cd's all on iTunes and on my iPod but sometimes I want to hear them in all there glory thru my massive speakers and surround sound system. Anyway, I found a viable solution. After much research on-line I decided to go with something called Jewelsleeves. Anyway, these sleeves enable me to keep all of my precious cd's and reduce the storage space so I can still continue to buy more HAHA! These sleeves have three compartments. One for the front cover, one for the back and a padded one for the cd. Nice! Now I personally think these sleeves are a little pricey and shipping is overpriced as well but at this point what options do I have? The other downside is you can't view from the side what's what so it may take a little time to find things that you are looking for. Now I hate to even think what it will cost to convert my massive cd collection so I will probably have to do it a little bit at a time. Anyway, here is my first batch of 25 sleeves in the photo and you can see the difference in a cd case and the space that these Jewelsleeves take up. Very nice! Now this conversion only represents my Cannonball Adderley collection so I've got a long ways to go.......

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

FAREWELL, MY LOVE.....

Farewell, my love. You have been my constant companion for 15 years and now it is time to part ways and bid a sad, sad farewell. What? OK, you are all probably wondering what I'm talking about. Well I am talking about my beloved car that I have owned for 15 years. I must say that this was the most trouble free car that I have ever owned and it had brought me many years of joy. It was also my place for peace and quite at lunchtime as I would read my L.A. Times and listen to music. Time has taken its toll on my car and about a year ago I had replaced it with a new car. So basically it had now become an extra car that I rarely drove anymore. I fondly bid it farewell this morning and drove to work with tears in my eyes. A sad, sad day for SAXOMAN. Farewell my love, I will never forget you.....

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

I'M IN LOVE WITH.......BACON - HAHA

Now I don't know what it is but I really get a kick out of this Jack in the Box commercial where the guy tells his Mom he's in love with bacon. I like the look of horror on his Mom's face when he says it isn't a girl HAHA! I also like as he takes bacon shopping for wedding rings. Anyway, my wife thinks this is pretty dumb but I guess I'm just easily amused. Anyway, check out the commercial for yourself if you haven't already seen it and be amused.

LATIN JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - PONCHO SANCHEZ

This weeks Latin Jazz CD Pick of the Week is Poncho Sanchez with his latest release titled Chano Y Dizzy and features Terence Blanchard on trumpet. Now aside from the cheesy artwork on the cd cover (a future blog topic) this is another fine release from Poncho. I have a ton of Poncho in my collection and he almost always features a guest artist on his recordings. In this case it's Terrence on trumpet but I've always wondered why Poncho doesn't do a cd with Carlos Santana. I mean it would be a perfect fit in my humble opinion. Anyway, here's the promo video for this cd. Check it out and add some latin jazz to your collection!