Daniel A

Edit to add that I'm actually digitizing some old recordings: cassettes, reel-to-reel, and VHS. But that is because they (and the playback equipment) is self-destructing to a much higher degree.

I don't necessarily agree. There are LPs I've had for more than 30 years. Sure, they might not be exactly in the condition they were, but they still play fine. A printed book will degrade over the years. Does that make me want to scan it to PDF? No, I like the feel of the cover, the handling of the LP and the awareness of gradual wear actually brings a sense of urgency to my listening session. In short, higher quality time in comparison to digital playback.

Interesting to read this old (15+ years) thread. Some predictions were right. Others very wrong.

Well, "The Blue Note Kid" should know! 😄

This is possibly of interest to noone (or possibly maybe to Clifford, the thread starter), but I just happened to find an obscurity. In a 1994 Swedish issue of Microsoft Magazine, Harald Hult appears in an ad for NEC laser printers. He's the man in tie on the top right. I remember when I saw this ad back then, and thought that the surly but dedicated jazz shop owner was unlikely in the role as some kind of office manager. Just happened to find this almost 30 year old magazine in the basement.

This is an obscure album worth looking for. It features J.J. in a complete version of his big band composition Eurosuite. Some parts were on an RCA album, but not the complete suite. And the playing on this live recording is more engaging than the RCA studio date.

Not "SACD" Greg...? 🙂

I believe I paid 20 Euro, or even less for my green label vinyl copy, but that was probably 20 years ago. The records are the thinnest and flimsiest I have seen in my whole life!

I agree that the blurb is terrible. This review seems rather positive: http://www.ayler.co.uk/html/what_s_new.html Let's wait for a review from these quarters.

TTK, I'll arrange a private concert with my band for you when you come. I've met four board members over the years, two of them when they were on visit over here, one in Germany (twice) and one in Luxembourg. Only one of them is still active here, but all of them were very nice encounters.

The first thing that comes up in that article is a picture of that sticker. The layout is so plain that you might be forgiven for thinking it's not the actual sticker.

Yellow vinyl version is a limited edition; all titles seem to be released in black also.

This is not too bad:

Blue Haze is definitely my favorite, if partly for nostalgic reasons (my father had and played that album and it was part of my introduction to jazz). The one tune with Schildkraut, I'll Remember April, is really outstanding. Dave's solo is boppish and kind of melancholic at the same time, and that cut transmits an atmosphere that the rest of the album - or even the rest of the Schildkraut session - can't fully match. The rest is a bit mixed. Miles does not always appear to be on top form, but I enjoy hearing him in a quartet format, and the support is stellar.

https://craftrecordings.com/pages/uk-store-update When asked, through the address at that very page, they replied that they "are no longer the Fulfilment partner of this store." and referred to Concord. They, in turn, say that they "are going to ask the US partner to fulfill outstanding orders", which obviously will not work for sold-out titles. But I suppose there are still copies out there.

The UK distributor of Craft Recordings has went into administration. Craft says that orders will be fulfilled, but lately, they seem to have stopped answering to queries and obviously some recent titles have sold out. https://craftrecordings.com/pages/uk-store-update

It depends on the quality setting for playback, but Spotify requests lossless files from labels. But if you don care (e.g. PD labels) those files could of course be decoded MP3s. https://artists.spotify.com/help/article/audio-file-formats

Just a speculation - in the case of Flamenco and Blue in Green, maybe Miles felt that Bill Evans' playing was so important to the overall character of these tunes that he didn't want to recreate them with another pianist.

Work for what? Back to the topic of HiFi, expectation bias might of course make someone perceive something to sound better. Most of us want to feel good; from enjoying music, enjoying good sound to enjoying life. If you're a "scientific" type of person, you might want to go with objective measurements. Whatever is being "proven" to be the best makes you feel good. Or you might be the type that trusts your own ears over anything else. Then, there is always the possibility that expectation bias plays a role. But still, whatever sounds best to you *will* be the best for you. Then, there could be yet another type, the one that trusts authorities more than either their own ears or scientific measurements. If Michael Fremer says it's the best, then *that* will be the best for that person. In reality, it is of course much more complex. What makes me feel good when playing music at home is a mix of good sound, slick design, brand names that I like and a price range that I can afford. The bottom line is that the only way to have a meaningful discussion with others of what is the "best" - if one wants the discussion to reach any form of conclusion - is to take the objective, "scientific" approach. Otherwise it's more like talking about which authors or books you like. I can enjoy both types of discussion.

Can't fully subscribe to this rule; Hubert Laws' 'Morning Star' is fantastic, despite Bob James. I think having Billy Cobham on drums actually helped.

I believe the exact same thing as you. But you *could* argue that the same logic applies; some people claim that the improvement of their HiFi setup is huge. The difference being, though, that it's not possible to do a blind test for chiropractic care. There is a story which is a bit sad and amusing at the same time. Some people claim that light therapy helps them to feel better (cures depressions, etcetera). And through our public care system, this type of therapy was offered in many areas. However, as the public care system is obliged to offer only scientifically validated care, they had to cease offering therapy, despite seemingly good results, as it was simply impossible to do a study with a control group that was offered "placebo" light therapy, and so the results could not be scientifically validated. They even tried to make participants in studies to believe that it was all about sound therapy, and let people participate in fake "sound sessions". But rumours quickly spread that it was in fact light therapy that was being evaluated, and the control group could not be tricked any more.

Anything particular (even trivial details) to share? It's always thrilling to imagine how things were at the scene back then.

Not that it means anything at all, but Peterson, Buckner, Shearing, Garland and Gruntz all recorded for MPS at roughly the same time.