IT Компромат - правда о HiTech

Our new "Think Again" column is called "Sex and the Single Justice" and it can be found here .

(It also contains an update on George Will's environmental reporting...)

1959: It was a very good year.

I came this close this year to writing a book about 1959, which is funny because Fred Kaplan actually did, even though we never talked about it until my publisher decided that I wouldn't be. I planned a chapter on Buddy Holly, one on Goodbye Columbus ; one on "The Tragedy of American Diplomacy," one on Twilight Zone ; one on Kind of Blue and one on "Shape of Jazz to Come." I forget what else, though I remember the politics (Cuba, Vietnam, the Commies in Disneyland, etc).

Anyway, it turns out it was an even better year than I knew, jazz-wise, and Columbia Legacy is taking advantage of that coincidence by following up its massive Kind of Blue with Legacy Editions of Dave Brubeck's Time Out , Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain and Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um . They'll be out in a couple of weeks and feature two CDs and a DVD for the Brubeck, including a new 30-minute documentary on the making of Time Out , and an entire second disc of previously unreleased live recordings from the Newport Jazz Festival from 1961-'64. Sketches Of Spain was recorded in '59 but not released until 1960, has a second CD of alternate takes which you have already if you have Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings , but not, if you don't. There's also the only ever live performance by Davis with Evans, "Concierto De Aranjuez" performed at Carnegie Hall on May 19, 1961. And the Mingus release gives you two seminal albums on the same not just Mingus Ah Um but also its Mingus Dynasty , and four bonus tracks/alternate takes.

Booker T. Jones- Potato Hole

It's been a long time since we've heard a Booker T. record; fifteen years since the last MGs record and over 30 since his last solo release. But 2009 sees the Memphis legend back in action with Potato Hole . Jones, along with southern country grungers, the Drive-By Truckers and a guitarist from up north, Mr. Neil Young, has taken his signature organ sound and the grooves that he no doubt invented, and created a brilliant collection of real Memphis grease. (Booker T. & MGs toured with Neil in the early 90s, so this collaboration is not that weird.)

From the opening Stones-inspired power chords of "Pound It Out," Jones sets the table for a twelve-course meal that is all meat and no filler. There are some choice covers alongside Jones' originals including the slinky strut of Tom Waits' "Get Behind The Mule," and a fun take on Outkast's "Hey Ya!". But the centerpiece of "Potato Hole" is the title track, a funk workout with a pocket so deep, you'll need help climbing out. Buy this record now and throw a party! It's THAT good!

A Slightly Gushing Sal