felser

Yes, totally agree. Oscar Peterson was really good on the 1975 and 1977 Pablo Montreux recordings.

Yet none of that holds true for the marvelous Johnny Mathis albums of the period, most were also produced by Miller. Barbra Streisand and Andy Williams also produced albums of artistic merit on Columbia during Miller's reign. So the truth is actually more complicated. Miller was about selling records, by whatever means necessary. In some cases that meant schlock and novelties for older artists. In others it meant quality albums for younger artists.

Agreed. "Soul City Walk" was and remains very popular in here in Philadelphia, and "Let's Groove" and the 'Dance Your Troubles Away' album were fairly big R&B hits in the USA (though now largely forgotten), but none of those had any pop crossover the way so many of the PIR groups (O'Jay's, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Billy Paul, The Three Degrees, MFSB, etc.) did during that era. The Stylistics also did some excellent PIR albums that were largely ignored. Their big hits were earlier on Avco.

I agree. I thought of Harold Land Jr., but it sure looks like Galper.

Sound quality is pretty abysmal, especially the miking on Ranelin himself. Reluctant pass for me unless I stumble onto a bargain copy.

Yes!

@Big Al - Out for a romantic dinner with Mrs. Big Al? ** @Dan Gould – Definitely no WWFL consideration. **1/2 @danasgoodstuff – Interesting enough to not fade into the background on me (though it would make good background music for reading, but not for dinner). I like it OK, pianist has a rich harmonic sense. *** @Dub Modal – Works for me. Tenor reminds me of early Stan Getz, though the context doesn’t fit. Good cut. ***1/2 @Eric – Alto listened to those early Ornette albums, and is my favorite part of the cut. Piano is lost on me, though it’s probably a name I would consider favorably. Not getting with the drumming at all. Reminds me of some of the early Cecil Taylor with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray, except too short and not intense enough. I like the bass player. *** @mjazzg – Digging the groove and the cello player(s – overdubbed?)! First cut on the BFT I can wholeheartedly embrace. **** @randyhersom – Cut A2 from This . I fully approve, what’s not to love?! **** @Rooster_Ties –Trumpet sounds like Woody Shaw (which would be half expected)? Outstanding, whoever he is. But doesn’t sound like the trumpet player’s album, him coming in so late I like this a lot, would hope I own it already. George Cables on EP? Checked the Woody Shaw and Joe Henderson albums ca. 1970-1972, and this doesn’t seem to be from those. **** @sidewinder – Very Very good cut. Strong tenor player. **** @webbcity – I love this cut! Cheated and Shazam’d it (couldn’t wait for the reveal), and thankfully I own this CD, which is very overlooked/underrated. ***** This was a fun exercise! Thanks all, for contributing and especially Dan, for coordinating and Thom for hosting. Despite the randomness of the sequencing (by name), I found my favorite cuts were the last five, my least favorite the first three. Interesting coincidence.

I saw that doing some research, will try to get hold of it. How about Electric Dreams ? Any thoughts on that one? And older shows Amazing Stories, Outer Limits, Ray Bradbury Theater, and Thriller? I remember Outer Limits as a kid, but have never rewatched as an adult. Never saw the others.

Good to hear. I have them in the house (as well as the 2002-2003 Forest Whitaker ones), but have never seen any of them. Planning to get to them all over the coming months.

It is. 1959-1964. With three subsequent revivals. I'm working through the 1985-1989 first revival right now. And they are splendid.

BTW, the hour long season 4 episodes came because TZ was not renewed after season 3 due to lack of sponsors, and they replaced it. But the replacement show, which was an hour long, bombed. So network offered Serling the opportunity to fill out the rest of the season following that cancellation (I assume sponsors must have been found), but the shows had to be an hour long. Serling hated the hour long format, and I agree that even the best of them ("On Thursday We Leave For Home", "Valley of the Shadow", "He's Alive", "The Parallel") would have been stronger in the 30 minute format. I'm up to date on a lot of the details of the show and of the DVD sets (the quality full-season ones are now available cheaply) if anyone has questions after all these years.

I just finished working my way through the five seasons of the original series. Here are my 10 favorite episodes, in approximate order. "Two" and "A Passage for Trumpet" are definitely #1 and #2 for me. The others can shift around. Not saying these are the 10 best (famous episodes like "To Serve Man" and "Eye of the Beholder" would belong on that list), but the ones that hit me the hardest. I cry at the end of "Two" every time I watch it, because I just totally get where both of the characters (Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery) are coming from on a very deep level. Montgomery is just brilliant in this - she has one word she says the entire episode, and that word is in Russian, yet I can totally "get" and care about her character. Same with Jack Klugman's character on "A Passage for Trumpet", you feel him. Two - Pittman A Passage for Trumpet - Serling Walking Distance - Serling Static - Beaumont A Stop At Willoughby - Serling Five Characters In Search Of An Exit - Petal/Serling On Thursday We Leave For Home - Serling I Am The Night - Color Me Black - Serling The Big Tall Wish - Serling Nightmare at 20,000 Feet -Matheson

No, I have her wonderful 'Strange Lands' album, picked up after being introduced to her playing by @webbcity on his November BFT. Tim has seen her live.

You can get the NYT for $1/week, which includes the excellent The Athletic, which is worth the price of admission by itself (and the WAPO for $30/year), so that's one way to go about it, and helps save journalism.

Silly me, I've always liked “Rhapsody in Blue” just fine.

I was doing it from a laptop.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2011/08/23/gIQA6Z6XeJ_story.html I believe. But I'm also a WAPO subscriber, and can't open it.

Great to see Nicole Glover get on a label with some real distribution and name-power. She's a stunning player.

They have reissued a lot of that also. I have a lot of 60's rock CD's from them. Very extensive and eclectic catalogue. And they have a sense of humor about themselves which is refreshing.

They do some strange, obscure titles at times, but execute well on everything they touch. Did an interesting early Gary Burton set including Hank Garland album IIRC.

https://sundazed.com/compactdiscs.aspx Looks interesting - 1981 septet including Eddie Henderson and two bass players. I think Williams is very underappreciated.