AllenLowe

all right, I'll leave the economics to the college boys - the somewhat ironic thing in all of this is that I don't own a single Mosiaic - nothing against the label, I just have a mild aversion to boxed sets, and have tended to own most of what they offer in other formats that I purchased earlier. Nothing against the label, as I said, and I knew Charlie Lourie, who was a sweetheart of a guy.

this is unfortunate. I remember seeing Don Byas on PBS in the late 1960s - likely that's gone, too -

now wait a minute - I can't aggree with that -

From the web: "The Law of Demand: quantity demanded in inversely proportional to price. Simply put, the higher the price, the lower the demand and the lower the price, the higher the demand. " so - look at oil - cold winter - plenty of oil - at a HIGH price - and, what do you know, there's plenty of demand - kind of makes you think there's something out of wack with the law of supply and demand - because there are certain things it does not take into account - like Nat's solo on Body and Soul, which is one of the most perfect things I've ever heard - and which many people may never hear because of the butcheries of late-dynasty capitalism - very truly yours, Allen Lowe

supply and demand is the general description of what we're talking about - THE LAW of supply and demand says that supply and demand acts according to certain laws - like supply high, demand high, price low - which is BS when you look at oil and gas prices - you are confusing the concept of supply and demand with the law of supply and demand -

that show probably exists on tape - I saw it at the time, as I recall Barry Harris was on piano. Hawk was basically just breathing through the horn - I would assume that public tv still has a copy of it -

he can reissue them from Tahiti - public domain there is about 3 days -

and by the way, I did check under this guy's bed - he's got 235 copies of Nat Cole there -

actually, even with a 50 year public domain, publishing would be paid. And it's not a Euro ripoff if it's legal. And that would allow someone to reissue Nat Cole legally and undercut the rip-off market (and there would not be an ethics issue once Mosaic has stop selling it). And enough of this supply and demand talk. Sometimes it applies, sometimes not. Something is worth what someone will pay for it, regardless of supply and demand. It has nothing to do with demand, it has only to do with what the seller wants to make and what some crazy person is willing to pay.

well, I'm wide awake here - what would be my solution? Personal responsbility, personal ethics, buyer rationality (because this is a two-way street) - and a 50 year public domain music law as in Europe -

wait - supply and demand says that when supply is low and demand high, prices will go up - "what the market will bear" means that people charge as much as they like, even if the demand is high and the SUPPLY is high - that is contrary to the law, which says if demand is high and supply high prices will go down or at least stay even - hence gasoline and oil where prices have gone up and up even as supplies have been steady - so the market does not really necessarily observe supply and demand -

Barry Harris told me that when Hawkins heard him play he said "oh you Detroits; you play the piano like a piano, not like it's some damn drum."

sellers manipulater supply all the time - like oil companies, etc. I'll bet this guy has 250 Nat Cole sets under his bed -

by the way, I'm very glad we can have a civilized conversation about economics - I think I'll dedicate my posts to the memory of Robert Heilbroner, who just passed a few weeks ago -

c'mon now, don't give me that supply and demand cheese, Ron - the rule is not supply and demand but whatever the market will bear - basically, meaning that people will get as much as they can for anything from key chains to heating oil -

and while we're at it the price for the Percy France CD has gone up to $200 - and that doesn't include postage or handling (do you think this is a charity?)

GREED GREED GREED Greed greedgreed GREED GREEDGREED GREED GREED Greed greedgreed GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED Greed greedgreed GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED Greed greedgreed GREED GREED - just my opinion - I know what you mean Dan, but it reminds me of the milk shortage when neighborhood grocery stores were doubling their prices -

like more than a few musicians I've known Percy was very comfortable in his hometown, had his own little niche, and may have been just a little bit nervous about trying for wider exposure - I've seen this in more than a few musicians who just didn't want to deal with a lot of the business aspects of the music and the complications of greater fame -

well, philosophically we're starting to starting to exceed my intellectual capacity here. It's just that to me there is really no such thing as a free market. The market has many ties on it, many restrictions (like, as I mentioned, copyright which prevents me from simply reproducing the Mosaic box) - I just think that there are ethical standards of fairness and there is a not-so-fine line that can be crossed into greed. That line has been crossed here - no, not just crossed but stomped on and erased - oh, and here's that extra GREED -

GREED is an ethical issue - that's how - GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED GREED - everything else is music -

no such thing as a free market. If it was a free market the Mosaic would be available from lots of people at competetive prices. This is a limited edition, CLOSED market. If it was a free market you and I could just make copies at will and sell them, which we can't. This market has many restrictions, copyright being among them. And there's a difference between reasonable profit and greed - and this is greed -

As sad as it makes me to think about Percy I'm delighted there's this much interest - in his last years he was living with Singsy Kyle, widow of Billy Kyle and a very sweet lady herself (she has since died as well). I remember one funny Percy story - as was mentioned earlier, he recorded and used to play with Lance Hayward, a blind pianist. Herman Foster, another blind pianist, used to work as a sideman from time to time at teh West End. One time Percy walked up to him, should his hand, and said, "Hi Lance." It was the most embarrassed I ever saw Percy. Percy was vey unassuming. I tried to match him up with Barry Harris, who was working at the Angry Squire in downtown NYC. I knew Barry would have loved his playing, and he would have let Percy sit in, but Percy stayed to the side and declined to play that night. On that same night someone hanging out at the bar walked up and said to him: "Are you Percy France? You're a legend." Percy was clearly thrilled.

what? no singers named Schiksa?

I agree -

Lonnie Johnson is such a major figure it's somehat surprsing it hasn't been done yet - glad to hear it may be in the works -