JohnJ

Kinuta, you obviously don't move in the right circles . Several of my Azabu/Roppongi expat friends have them. Not me though.

Based on the criteria "what it means to be British" I would nominate on of my favourite songs from the 70's: Roy Harper - "One of those days in England" Also, I think "Life on Mars" is one of the very best Bowie songs from his best album, 'Hunky Dory'.

How big were the squid and were they already dead? And what does just over a squid mean?

For anyone interested, this set is being offered on eBay UK: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THE-COMPLETE-HELEN-M...1QQcmdZViewItem

In case anyone is interested, the second box is on eBay UK right now. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Sidewinder, I think it was released on CD only, according to the label on the box on December 15th, 1993 as a limited edition of 1,000 and a hefty price, as I mentioned above, of DM 140. It is a real nice set though. The copy I have is the only one I have ever seen.

Wadada Leo Smith - The Kabell Years I was surprised but delighted to find a copy of this 4CD set, still sealed, at Disk Union for the equivalent of just over $11.

Well, here is a brief version of what is on the set. CD1 1) Four tracks from 'The Inferno Suite' (1967). 2) Five tracks from 'The New World Session' (1963). 3) Three tracks from 'The Faces Suite' (1967). 4) Four tracks from the 'Sax No End Session' (1967). CD2 1) Ten tracks from the 'All Smiles and 'More Smiles' sessions (1968-69). 2) Four tracks from the 'Folk Song Sessions' (1967). 3) Five tracks from 'Gyson's Session' (1967). These may only be available in this set. Anyway, I hope this is useful.

Surely you jest Porcy. Anyway 'Stairway to Heaven' is certainly no worse than 3,5,7 and 10 on the list, which is saying very little. More to the point, where is Noel Coward?

Damn, I dug the set out last night and forgot to bring it to the office this morning. Will try and do so tomorrow. The set I have is called 'Historically Speaking' and is sub-titled 'The Campi Years'. It comes in a heavy metal box with a very informative and entertaining booklet styled like a magazine. The original price was DM 140 which is equivalent to almost 70 Euros I believe, so it was pretty expensive. I paid less the $20. Anyway, I assume this is the set you mean Lon. By the way, there is a good CBBB discography where all the information is contained, but it would take a while to piece it all together. http://www.uni-duisburg.de/AVMZ/frohne/discos/clarke.htm

Lon, I was fortunate to find this cheaply. It was my introduction to the CBBB and I was very impressed. I became a fan instantly, the various soloists are just superb. Anyway, I am now in the office but will try and remember to check the contents when I go home.

Nice review in the IHT today by Mike Zwerin. By Mike Zwerin Bloomberg News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 The CD "Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" on Nov. 29, 1957, to be released by Blue Note at the end of September, is the only full-length, full- quality recording of one of the most legendary collaborations in jazz history. The quartet existed less than six months, and, except for those of us who heard it live, it was pretty much forgotten for 50 years. Until January, when Larry Appelbaum of the Recorded Sound Division at the U.S. Library of Congress was preparing a batch of Voice of America tapes for digitalization and got curious. He opened a minimally and ambiguously labeled plain white box holding a reel of tape. Listening to it, he recognized Monk and Coltrane, and he heard that the sound quality was excellent. Appelbaum recalls, by e-mail, that his heart "began to race." My heart raced to the same music for most of the summer of 1957. I had sublet a loft from a painter on Second Avenue, and the Five Spot café, one block away on the Bowery, became my New York locale. In residence there, Monk and Coltrane and the same band that would play Carnegie Hall three months later were making the most dynamic, original, and charismatic jazz music since Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in 1945. During the first few nights, it troubled me that, although the music was obviously good, I was having such difficulty keeping up with it. I felt somehow threatened. I wished Monk sounded more like Bud Powell, and Coltrane's long, overwhelming "sheets of sound" made me nostalgic for Lester Young's Mozartian eloquence. Why was I longing for the past like some moldy fig? Was I losing my edge? By the end of the first week, however, I was asking myself why I was going every night to listen so long and so hard to music I supposedly didn't like. After being fired by Miles Davis because of his heavy heroin habit, Coltrane had cleaned up and was in the process of replacing drugs with spirituality. He was playing fresh out of the box, as though newly hatched, like his life depended on it. He tended to repeat his own phrases and runs, yet he kept changing their placement, and what phrases and runs they were. It was more like an aural tapestry than a collection of licks. Whatever it was, you wanted it to go on forever. Miles would soon hire Coltrane back for the band that recorded "Kind of Blue." It was a pivotal year for Monk as well. He had just received his cabaret card, permitting him to work in New York clubs for the first time in years. He was dancing around the stage whenever he laid out, and when he sat down to play his closely voiced chords and childlike arpeggios with the trademark rhythmic stutters, it was obvious that playing with Coltrane was sending him to a rare and happy zone. The two of them were personifications of the old adage that new ideas go through three phases - the joke, the threat and the obvious. At the time, they were about ready to graduate from the threat phase. (Eventually, you would hear them in elevators and airports.) At first, the audience in the Five Spot consisted mostly of painters, musicians and beatniks. More and more people came from uptown as the summer wore on and word got out. Everybody in the audience had one thing in common - we were all aware that we were in on something special. The unsung hero of the band turns out to be the drummer, Shadow Wilson, who accents the soloists as though he was still playing with Count Basie, only softer. The clarity of the sound enables you to hear his deft cymbal work. He and the bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik maintain a remarkable, firm - yet anything but old-fashioned - groove in the middle of the beat, allowing the soloists to concentrate on pushing and pulling on it. One of the best things about jazz is the elasticity of its swing. Monk's son TS Monk, who helped produce the album, has said that Wilson was his father's favorite drummer. The band was the missing link in the history of jazz between bebop and the free music of Ornette Coleman, who would make his New York debut at the Five Spot two years later. Listening to "At Carnegie Hall" now is kind of like discovering a new Beethoven piano sonata. Listening to it loud is recommended. I am discovering new details after hearing the album maybe 30 times. It still sounds like new music. "Treasures like this still exist," Appelbaum says, by e-mail again. "This heritage is part of our cultural identity. It tells us something about who we are. It's why I look forward to coming to work every day. There's always more."

Size isn't everything Brad. Anyway, I am in the same position as you. My Duke collection is embarrassingly small, less than 10 CD's.

Jimmy Smith. It has never crossed my mind to sell a Mosaic.

I agree Lon, I have had the set for a little over a year and it has been a revelation. I would highly recommend the box to anyone who has the chance to pick it up. Everybody needs some Kirk to brighten up their life.

Now in Asia. My signed copies arrived in Tokyo yesterday. Only had a chance to have a cursory listen but I like what I hear so far. Sounds real nice. Well done guys.

Carmen Lundy - Self Portrait. For less than $1, why not! Actually it is a pretty good CD.

Read it a few years ago and found it very thought provoking and entertaining. I would definitely recommend it.

I did DrJ, around two years and three months ago, shortly after my 1st post. Anyway, agree entirely that it was money very well spent. Love the set.

I had my saddle stolen a few years ago. It was a very uncomfortable ride that morning. Took a few weeks to obtain a new saddle too. As I leave my bicycle all over Tokyo I would never spend too much on one. Despite the Japanese reputation for honesty, bikes get stolen all the time here.

Fine choice! ← Thank you David. I listened to this over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly like Hank's ballad playing.

A couple of movies with jazz related themes worth checking out are: Blue Ice: A thriller set in London starring Michael Caine as an ex spy who now runs a jazz club. Bobby Short also appears. Lulu on the Bridge: A rather odd little film starring Harvey Keitel as a jazz sax player with Mira Sorvino as the love interest. Anyone recall either of these?

Heart and Soul: The Hank Crawford Anthology, a 2CD set on Rhino.

The Mercury box contains 10 CD's of prime Kirk and is quite wonderful, one of my favourite boxes. Besides, as far as I am aware, a fair amount of the music on this box is not easy to find elsewhere.

Lon, as a big fan of Jobim, I thought you might own the Sinatra/Jobim collaboration. In my opinion, that album really is a masterpiece and a highpoint for both artists.