The Set List

Neil Keeps On Rockin in the Euro World

Neil Young's manager Elliot Roberts took Neil's "Chrome Dreams II" Warner Bros' headquarters in England and France where the response was enthusiastic according to Young's website.
Apparently, their enjoyment means Young may very well head across the pond to do a press tour along the Seine and the Thames.
Seeing as how this album was generated by an archival search that reminded him he had never finished the first "Chrome Dreams," Young is now prepared to add one of his earliest live recordings to his Neil Young Archive series. Young has dug up tapes made at the Riverboat, a Toronto coffee house he played soon after the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Young and his Reprise are looking at an early 2008 release date.
Young also plans to use tracks from "The Riverboat" as bonus material for different incarnations of "Chrome Dreams II" being offered at different retailers. The Archive series has seen two releases of concerts from 1971, an electric set in New York and an acoustic show in Toronto.   

Miles, Monk, Monterey and More

Six historical recordings from the Monterey Jazz Festival in Northern California are being issued as part of the fest's 50th anniversary celebration. The CDs are of a Louis Armstrong 1958 performance on the fest's inaugural night; Miles Davis Quintet in 1963; the 1964 edition of Thelonious Monk's quartet augmented by bassist Steve Swallow; Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1965; Sarah Vaughan in 1971; and a "Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival" sampler. Discs will be released Aug. 21 by Concord Records and Monterey Jazz Festival Records.
The six titles are the first fruit from a 10-year project in which original analog tapes have been transferred to digital files. More releases are planned for 2008.

Sirius Answers Request for Daylong Version of 'Dark Star'

Sirius will air a sneak preview of its Grateful Dead Channel Aug. 1-9 on channel 17.
The Grateful Dead Channel will feature studio, live and unreleased concert recordings, plus new commentary from  Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bob Kreutzmann. Archival interviews from Jerry Garcia will also be part of the mix.
Channel 17 is titled Jam-On, Sirius’ home for jam bands. Regular programming resumes Aug. 10.  There is no date set yet for the launch of the Grateful Dead Channel though it will occur this summer.

They Don't Jam Like They Used To: 31 Minutes of 'The City'

The Mark-Almond Band, led by a couple of guys who played in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers on the landmark "Turning Point" album, had one of those underground FM single hits, "The City." It was one of those wild fusiony blends of jazz and folk and prog-rock that some of us couldn't get enough of, back in the early '70s. In a 1978 Philly concert, they fused it with a snippet of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" - and then played the song for half an hour. 30 minutes. One song. Lotsa flute. Wolfgang's Vault has the evidence.