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.

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

Yeah, Markus. That's a powerful program in the making.