T.D.

I read pretty much all of Michael Lewis's books - met him back when we worked at the same company (think Liar's Poker days). Read Moneyball some years ago, and the film is high up in my Netflix queue.

PM sent on 38. Charles Mingus: The Complete Atlantic Recordings 1956-61. Each disc played once. $45.

Recently got the Art Pepper Complete Village Vanguard Sessions box and have been listening heavily. Before that, Herbie Nichols Complete Blue Note Recordings and Denny Zeitlin Mosaic Select.

Box set arrived, many thanks! Careful packaging much appreciated.

I went ahead and ordered this. Loved the clips I listened to, the Mosaiques have a great reputation, and only the Beethoven on this set is a duplication for me (but I don't yet have any HIP versions).

Doesn't qualify as mega-bargain, but I've been getting into HIP string playing and am seriously tempted by this 5-CD set at around $25 + S/H. Track listing hard to find on US sites, but is given here.

And now, the Hygiene Defense!

OK, John! PM sent on Art Pepper - Complete Village Vanguard Sessions (Contemporary) $25 (sticker on top left corner, tear on top of box)

I once attended a live performance of Sequenza V for trombone (which I liked very much). This piece is highly theatrical, and I got the impression that a CD (non-visual) recording would be pointless. Rightly or wrongly, I then abandoned the idea of pursuing Sequenza CDs, as I figured I'd be missing the stage elements. [Further disclosure: many "modern music" solo performances (in Larry's above pejorative sense) don't really turn me on for various reasons.]

Totally clueless, but was invited by GA (thank you!), so... Winnipeg 80

I've heard a lot of Kremer over the years, but not in these works. I know he's an excellent musician, but I find his tone a little "wiry", not fully to my taste (though I don't claim it's anything more than personal taste). I prefer Kremer in contemporary repertory, where his tone seems less jarring to me, even apropos in things like Nono's La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura.

Sigiswald Kuijken is not Dutch, he's from Belgium (Flanders, to be exact). BTW, Kuijken has since (2009) recorded the suites on "shoulder cello." Haven't heard the recording...

Thinking of getting another versions of the Cello Suites (currently have Gendron and Bylsma I). My preference is for recent releases (hey, want to support "the industry") and HIP (which is kind of under-represented in my CD collection). HIP not absolutely required if performance is sufficiently kick-ass. The three recordings below have caught my eye. Any feedback (or other recommendations) appreciated. a) Queyras on Harmonia Mundi: great reviews, clips sound excellent (playing and sound quality), negative is that the set is pricey and Q. plays a period cello with modern bow/strings; b) Gailliard on APARTE(?): seems to be HIP, samples good, fewer reviews than Queyras; c) Anne Gastinel on Naive: got my attention for some reason, but don't know much about it and samples are limited.

A lot of these arguments are kinda comical to me. Fact of the matter is, this is the most dead serious kind of shit. It could potentially take down not just the PSU football program, but the whole f**g university. In order to avoid a shutdown, everyone even remotely responsible is gonna have to walk the plank. End of story. It's even more comical that our jock-sniffing culture can blind seemingly intelligent adults to the obvious reality.

Regarding the non-reporting of criminal activity, I compare this in some ways to the Salomon Bros. (Wall Street) Treasury bid-rigging scandal of 1991. In that case, the supervisor of the law-breaking employee privately reported the conduct to top company executives, but nothing further was done. This very nearly took the company down: Warren Buffett had to temporarily act as chief executive until the firm could be sold, and all employees in the relevant chain of command were fired. Applying this to Penn State, I expect all of the implicated heads to roll, from the University President through the AD, down to Paterno, possibly even McQueary. I wouldn't even be surprised if the University sees fit to suspend the football program, or administer some kind of "death penalty" a la SMU 1987 (I personally find this a most appropriate solution). Disclaimer: I don't intend to draw any parallels between child abuse and financial shenanigans, only to make disciplinary predictions.

Amp Lee Jethro Pugh Grady Tate

Jose Canseco Curly Howard Iggy Pop

Richard von Krafft-Ebing The Marquis de Sade Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Many thanks! Decided to go for Rachel Podger. Good opinions here confirmed external reviews. Clips sounded pretty good, too.

Thanks. I'm also seeing enthusiasm for Rachel Podger. She gets bashed by Classics Today's Jed Distler (2/10 "artistic quality"), but he's a critic whose tastes are very different from mine (certainly in the pianistic realm), so I'm inclined to disregard his opinion. Strange, I've really "rediscovered" the violin S/P recently. Weirdly, I was motivated by listening to several versions of Busoni's piano transcription of the great Chaconne from Partita #2 in D minor. The cello suites seem to get more discussion, but the violin works are surely no less worthy of attention. (Granted, I've listened to the cello suites much more often over the years, but I now can't say why...)

Have owned Grumiaux's recording for years. Have been listening a lot lately, and want to hear some others. Prefer to go the HIP route rather than Milstein, Szeryng, etc. (not that there's anything wrong with them, of course...). Any recommendations? Cursory searches turn up the names Tetzlaff, Zehetmair and Wallfisch. Tetzlaff samples sound pretty good. Don't know much about the HIP realm, open to suggestions. Thanks.

Happy Birthday, all the best!

Finally broke down and bought Herbie Nichols's Complete Blue Note Recordings box - a big expenditure, but will call it a (recent) birthday present.

A. A. Milne B. B. King C. C. Sabathia

Many thanks, most appreciated. Hadn't visited for a couple of days, and was surprised to find the thread!