Ramblings.(Editorial)(Brief Article)

Welcome to Issue #90, an issue with a little bit of everything, including show reports, reviews of equipment, and plenty of music reviews encompassing several formats: CD, SACD, DVD, even some video. There are articles, assertions, apologies, asides - and that's just the letter "A"!

Farewell: A few days ago, one of my favorite musicians succumbed to complications related to diabetes. Those who read my More Jazz Than Not column might think I listen only to jazz and classical, but back in 1968 a self-described "Tennessee hillbilly" that I worked with insisted that I give country music a chance, and I will always remember being knocked out by the voice of Waylon Jennings, whose hit at the time was "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line." What a singer! In 1974, I checked out Honky Tonk Heroes from the post library at Fort Lewis; to this day, that recording, which I now have on CD, remains one of my all-time favorites. And no, I'm not too proud to admit that I used to watch The Dukes of Hazard, and always got a kick out of Waylon's theme song and narration.

I have played a number of Waylon's tunes over the past few days, and have tried to bring my feelings to closure by playing Clint Black's wonderful tribute tune, "I Don't Think Ol' Waylon Did It This Way," on which Waylon makes a spine-tingling appearance at the very end. Once ...