End of year love, and a friend has moved

Richard Kamins, Connecticut based culture creature and lover of music, has a new location on the web. You can now read him at http://steptempest.blogspot.com. Richard has always been nice to me in writing, and he continues to do that by including the Jeff Albert Quartet in his 2009 faves list. He puts us in excellent company.

We had the pleasure of meeting and hanging with Richard when the JAQ played Middletown, CT last summer. In addition to having excellent taste, he is a nice guy and a cool hang. Read his stuff.

Lehman on D:O, and Lucky 7s in good company

Destination:Out has just posted an excellent guest post by Steve Lehman. In his words:

…I thought it might be nice to share a bit of information about some of the musical communities that I’ve been exposed to over the past 10 years. And in particular, to highlight those European composers, who emerged after 1970, whose work has helped me to think about both composition and improvisation in new ways.

The post is presented in the usual d:o style with great audio samples. It is a nice read, and listen.

On an unrelated note, the Lucky 7s Pluto Junkyard got a nice nod from Matt Merewitz in his “Top 10 of 2009.” Matt’s list also includes records by Lucky 7s colleagues Josh Berman, and Jason Adasiewicz.

They Love Like Me

The online balloting is now open for the 2009 “Best of the Beat Awards” which are presented by offBeat Magazine. I have been nominated for Contemporary Jazz Performer and Trombonist of the Year, and Similar in the Opposite Way is nominated for Contemporary Jazz CD of the Year. It really is an honor to be nominated, but I also feel that I must tell you that you can vote here: http://www.offbeat.com/bob09/, should you feel so inclined. Let your ears and your conscience be your guide.

Holiday Bundles from Greenleaf

Amongst the large number of “holiday/black friday sale” emails in my inbox this morning, was one from the Greenleaf Music Store. They have some cool Holiday Bundles at pretty good prices. I just downloaded the Paperback Series Bundle. There were a couple of records in this series that I have been wanting to get, but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. I couldn’t pass up 4 albums for $28 as FLAC downloads ($25 for the mp3s). If you want to treat yourself to some good music, it is worth checking out, and as I’ve said before, their store is super easy to deal with.

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Recent Listening – Mike Reed / David Binney & Alan Ferber

These two disks have been in my heavy rotation recently. They are both excellent. Click links, listen to samples, explore, and purchase.

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Mike Reed’s People Places & Things About Us

Buy from 482 Music

Listen at Mike’s website

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David Binney & Alan Ferber In the Paint

Listen and buy at Positone’s website.