Mark - you are truly a wanker.

Derek - my top twenty jazz guys would include Bill Evans (he would be number one actually), Sonny Clark, Chet (the musician), Paul Bley, Eric Dolphy, Tina Brooks (well, probably), Art Tatum, Dexter Gordon, Joe Lovano, and what about singers? Assuming you're excluding them. Paul Bley is still on this earth, amazingly. And Lovano is a relatively youthful 55 or so.

Bud Powel is fucking brilliant. Everyone should go out and buy some today. Let's make it Bud Powell Day.

Re dead musicians, definitely. Bill Evans would, again, be at the top of my list. If you don't get that, listen again to Sunday at the Village Vanguard. And Coltrane of course. Sorry to hear about Jackie Maclean, I had the chance to see him in NY five years ago and chose instead to hear Lovano at the Vanguard (which as un-fucking-believable, so I'm OK overall).

Whatever happened to the "CD Club Goes to Manhattan" concept (sounds like a TV special). Maybe in 2008, after Derek and Stuart have sobered up.