I spent my whole drive back from Ottawa listening to Bix Beiderbecke (with the Wolverines, Goldkette, etc.) and just gloried in the "bounce" he gave those bands. Then I played Louis Armstrong's "Hot Five" recordings to once again hear where he GOT that bounce. 'Course you can also hear how much Frankie Trumbauer got from Johhny Dodds. I know it ain't folk music (by some folks' definition) but it's the same feeling I get when I listen to a modern balladeer (like Sandy Paton) and then check out Horton Barker once again. Yeah, without that "investment" I wouldn't have had one twentieth the fun out of music that I do. I was expecting someone to come in and say "Don't be such a nurd, guy. Ya don't need to anylize the music to have fun"! But for me, all that digging is HUGE fun.

Now if I'd only invested in basic domestic skills, I could clean our furnace out and we'd have some HEAT tonight!

Rick