just spent the remainder of my iTunes gift card on Chieli Minucci's Sweet Surrender yesterday. Very cool, it'll take a few listens to grasp it all, but there's a good mix of styles and melodies on this one.
A couple tunes are clearly Special Efx, and of course are very good, and there's a rocker or two. 11 of the 14 tunes are over 5 minutes, so this is a lot of music for the money.

Likin' Astral Cats and Mystical right now.

Kat maybe you can record him and Ken doing some Allman Bros very soon

I generally refer to Vital Information as one of my favorite bands. However, I do not like Vitalization quite as well as their last three before it. I prefer Gambale on guitar. To each his/her own. Peace.

I have been listening to my three Soulive CDs ( Doin' Something, Turn It Out, and Soulive) since I read on their message board that they have gotten rid of their singer and have gone back to the original trio. To me that was good news. Peace.

Enjoying a lot of great stuff lately:

1. "Signals" - Wayne Krantz [Enja, 1990]
2. "It's Time" - Michael Buble [Reprise 2005]
3. "Call Me Irresponsible" - Michael Buble [Reprise, 2007]
4. "Metro Express" - Metro [Marsis Jazz, 2007]
5. "Sound Bites" - Jim McNeely w/ the Stockholm Jazz band & Dick Oats [Dragon, 1997]
6. "Choices" - Brian Bromberg [A440 Music, 2004]
7. "Secret Story" - Pat Metheny [Remastered on Nonesuch, 2007]
8. "Nightcap" - Marilyn Scott [Prana Entertainment, 2004]
9. "Blues Etude" - Oscar Peterson Trio [Polygram, 1965]
10. "Possibilities" - Herbie Hanc-ock [Vector, 2005]
11. "Lonely Star" - Chet Baker

Justin Hayford - It All Belongs to You
Terrence Brewer - The Calling (Vols. 1 and 2)
David Joel Quartet - Live at Chris'
Lee Ritenour - Smoke and Mirrors
New York Voices - A Day Like This
The Tierney Sutton Band - On the Other Side
The Puppini Sisters - Betcha Bottom Dollar
Maynard Ferguson - Carnival
Spyro Gyra - Incognito

Alper Yilmaz - Clashes
Nathan Eklund Group - The Crooked Line

GRP Digital Sampler - On the Cutting Edge
Crusaders - Street Life
Woody Witt Quintet - Square Peg, Round Hole
Lee Ritenour - Overtime
Philip Bailey - Soul on Jazz
Marlon Jordan, featuring Stephanie Jordan - You Don't Know What Love Is
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - London Flat, London Sharp
Gabriela Anders - Last Tango in Rio
Benoit / Freeman 2

Lately it's been:

1. "Soul Grooves" - Paul Bollenback [Challenge, 1999]
2. "Stan Getz & Bob Brookmeyer" - Stan and Bob [Verve, 1961]
3. "Setting Standards-New York Sessions" - Keith Jarrett Trio (Vol.,I, II, III) [ECM reissue Jan. 2008 Originally released 1983]
4. "Imagine" - Eva Cassidy [Blixstreet, 2002]
5. "Primal Tracks" - Tribal Tech [Bluemoon, 1994]
6. "Eye of the Beholder" - Chick Corea's Elektric Band [GRP, 1988]
7. "Big Shot" - Astral Project [APR, 2002]
8. "Dog Party" - Scott Henderson [Mesa, 1994]
9. "Like Minds" - Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland [Concord, 1998]
10. "Handpicked" - Marilyn Scott [Prana Entertainment, 2005]
11. "A New Kind of Blue" - Randy Brecker, Chuck Loeb, Andy Snitzer, Mike Ricchiutti, Vic Lewis, David Finck [G.org, 2003]
12. "Run For Your Life" - Yellowjackets [GRP, 1994]
13. "Camp Meeting" - Bruce Hornsby [Sony/BMG, 2007]
14. "New York, New Sound" - Gerald Wilson Orchestra [Mack Avenue, 2003]
15. "A Hot Night In Paris" - Phil Collins Big Band [Atlantic, 1999]
16. "Some Skunk Funk" - Michael & Randy Brecker w/the WDR Big Band [BHM, 2005
17. "Brain" - Hiromi [Telarc Jazz, 2004]
18. "Unforgettable" - Natalie Cole [Elektra Entertainment, 1991]
19. "Gershwin's World" - Herbie Hanc-ock [Verve, 1998]
20. "Letter From Home" Pat Metheny Group [Nonesuch reissue, 2006]
21. "Still Life (Talking) - Pat Metheny Group [Nonesuch reissue, 2006]
22. "One More Once" - Michel Camilo Big Band [Columbia, 1994]
23. "Sound Bites" - Jim McNeely w/the Stockholm Big Band and special guest Dick Oatts on saxophone [Dragon Records, 1997]

Hey, Phil, wasn't Some Skunk Funk incredible?
It doesn't get much better than that. And these performances with the WDR Big Band - Zawinul, and now Maceo Parker - just blow me away.

It's still great to see, that the WDR BigBand is so much appreciated in the U.S.! They really are one of the finest BigBands in Europe, IMO.

One of their next projects this year will be a program together with McCoy Tyner, piano.

I would love to see and hear WDR with McCoy Tyner!