Eliminate your car's emissions for under $100/year (no joke)!

Got an SUV? Or a normal car that you feel bad about driving because of it its emissions? I just discovered a company with an amazing concept...

An average SUV generates 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the course of a year. For $79, Terrapass <terrapass.com> will eliminate an equivalent amount of emissions, and send you a decal you can place on your car verifying that fact. It achieves this by funding alternative fuel projects and by purchasing and retiring emissions credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange <www.chicagoclimatex.com>. If you drive a conventional car instead of an SUV, the cost for a pass is even cheaper.

Terrapass's offer flies in the face of conventional "wisdom" that preventing global warming is prohibitively difficult and expensive. If someone really needs an SUV - or any other car, for that matter - they can still show their good will and concern for others by buying a terrapass.

Bravo, Terrapass - a fun solution to a very complex problem.

Remembering Hank Mobley

Tenor sax player Hank Mobley was born on this day 75 years ago. A favorite among sax players, he's virtually unknown outside the jazz community. But unlike many "musician's musicians" his playing is extremely accessible, falling solidly in the down-to-earth school they call Hard Bop. If you want to check out his stuff, start with "Soul Station" - I just reviewed it at www.tribe.net/recommendat...fd24e474832d

Sara Lazarus - at last!

Sara Lazarus won first place in the first Thelonius Monk vocal competition, but she's been living in Paris ever since and has never been much a part of the international jazz scene. Maybe that will change now that she's just finally releasing her debut CD on Dreyfus Records. I've known Sara for a long time, and if you're not familiar with her, I'm happy to report that she's the real deal. A warm, genuine person and a very natural musician. So unusual for a talent of this order to make the choice to raise a family, as she has done, instead of aggressively pursuing a career. I can't wait to see where this all leads! Anyhow, here's a link to her CD at Amazon:

www.amazon.com/exec/obido...schwartzjaz

And a press release about it:

www.dreyfusrecords.com/news_a..._ns.php

Spark ignites no more

One of the great recording studios in the Bay Area turned out its lights yesterday. Spark (www.sparkworld.com), located in Emeryville, was a gordeous studio with resonant acoustics and an outrageous 9 foot Yamaha grand. It sold its location to Pixar. The owner, Tony Mills, will continue to do some work - mostly video and post-production, a little audio tracking - out of his home studio in Rockridge. Among the fine albums recorded there was Mark Levine's 2003 grammy-nominated recording "ISLA". I recorded there only once - my 2004 release "Holiday Time" (www.antonjazz.com/cd.html).