RogerF

Just out and released on Bob Downes own Openian label (Openian BDOM 11210) is 5 Trios, which comprises archival recordings dating back to the 1970s and features sessions with five different bass players: Barry Guy, Jeff Clyne, Paul Bridge, Marc Meggido and Neville Whitehead. Drums on all sessions are by Denis Smith. Some very interesting stuff here with Downes showcasing his multi-instrumental talent on various saxes and flutes. Sound samples are available to hear on his website here: http://www.bobdownesmusic.de/ [ps declared interest: I wrote the sleeve notes]

Sure no prob. Instead of resorting to mathematics, I just ran a "smart playlist" in my own iTunes with the 320kbps coupled with the arbitrary 2-20 minute rule. I figured that it may give a pretty good spread average by doing this because of the quantity of tunes that I currently have on this particular drive at the moment (which is about 156,000 tunes). The exact number that it came up with (this first time) in case you're interested: 10326 songs; 35d:9hr:17m:57s; 145GB Rod Rod - Interesting and useful. Also I must investigate what an iPod classic can do that a nano can't.

Approximation: your results varying of course, but assuming bit rate at 320kbps and tunes from 2 to 20 minutes in length and 145GB capacity on a 160GB player (actually, it's almost 149GB, but I'm allowing for artwork), you should get approximately 10,000 tunes covering about 35 days (840 hours) on your 160GB iPod. If you want to expand this further by dividing by 40 minutes/LP, then that brings you to 1260 LPs, but, of course, your results will vary. Rostasi thanks, I did a different approximation, by taking the number of albums on my nano 8gb (around 70) and multiplying by 20 giving me around 1400 albums. But I think you estimation is probably more accurate. However, even if I were to do this (put all my collection onto a 160gb ipod) I would need to buy a new pc first with a half a terabyte hard disk. Course the ideal solution is to move to a house big enough to have a 'music room' which could comfortably accomodate CD player, turntable, cassette player, large amp and even larger speakers oh and all the CDs, cassettes and LPs on shelving. So I guess I'll start playing the lottery again.

I would pretty much echo this in terms of how I listen to music. Not my preference, but with a small house I can only otherwise listen to music properly in our tiny spare room (mainly on CD). So predominantly I listen on my iPod (Nano 8Gb) on the train or bus. But these are all sourced from commercially available CDs or from my LP collection. I am thinking of putting all my collection onto a large iPod 160Gb but wonder how many LPs I could get onto it? The n1000s tracks vaunted by Apple doesn't mean much in terms of albums unless you take 12 to be the average number for an album (which in jazz is not the case).

Yeh Clifford's correct I think, but it always makes me want a Margherita from Pizza Express! ps should have mentioned earlier, Surman and Osborne are guests on this album.

Clifford - no sweat - I believe you mainly DO know what you're talking about, and you talk a lot of sense. Just wanted to highlight Jazz in Britain as a great album which was for so long MIA. There are a few others in that ilk which are just brilliant and the one which comes to mind most readily and which was I believe recorded at the same time - possibly the same session - as Jazz in Britain was Alan Skidmore's 'TCB' which IMHO must rank as one fo the top 50 Brit jazz albums ever. Strangely, only Universal in Japan has so far seen fit to reissue it. 'TCB' is one of those albums which for me begs the question 'how did they do that?'. Stellar!

No, Jazz in Britain 68-69 didn't have any calypsos on it. Did have all original material including Surman's superb and memorable 'Winter Song', also covered by the Clarke Boland Big Band. Jazz in Britain (reissued on CD on Vocalion) is an excellent album and a must for any Brit jazz fans.

I can't see any discussion about this anywhere other than where I've posted it but I thought it was quite good to learn from the Dusty Groove website that CBBBs long OOP "At Her Majesty's Pleasure" (titled by Francey Boland after Griff spend a while in Pentonville for unpaid back tax) is now reissued on the Italian Rearward label (Google: Ishtar Rearward). Also reissued are the Live at Ronnie's CBBB titles. As a CBBB fan I was rather delighted at this news. Great album.

As far as the 'missing' tapes are concerned I wonder. Interesting that one track from Windmill Tilter turned up on the four CD box set John Dankworth / Cleo Laine 'I hear music' and that certainly didn't sound like a vinyl rip. I'd really like to see 'Hum Dono', 'Afro Jazz' and 'Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe' reissued.

Just received my copy of WT today unexpectedly early from Amazon! Sounds brilliant and I feel my years of hyperbole about this album have been vindicated by the closing paragraph of Alyn Shipton's sleevenotes: 'In the forty-two years since it first appeared "Windmill Tilter" has been much written about as a great masterwork in the annals of British jazz. Its long overdue appearance on CD confirms that status, and also honours Kenny Wheeler in the year of his 80th birthday with the reissue of his first masterpiece'- Too right!

Re: Vocalion there's one Poetry & Jazz "250" that they haven't done yet and that is brilliant (even has Spike Milligan). But then there must be a good 100-200 albums they could equally do in their usual masterly way. I do hope they do some more. Yes it's funny how when this thread started we were quite pessimistic about WT ever being re-issued.

Excellent news! My Amazon copy has shipped today (from "Europe") so will be with me next week I hope. What are the sleevenotes like? This should rank as reissue of the year.

It goes for big bucks.. $180 for a copy of that quality is a good deal though. Mine's in the post from Amazon. I've now just ordered mine from Amazon too having given up with HMV. Didn't they send you a Freebie seeing as though you "donated" the cover art, Roger? I'll have to stick an order in with Amazon for this one too ! (updated - order placed together with Bob Downes 'Electric City' ) I could have asked for one but I thought that if was more useful to buy this CD as it surely increases the chances of BGO re-issuing out more MIA great Brit jazz. They seem to be about the only ones doing this now as Vocalion are not doing very much of this genre these days it seems. Pity cos Vocalion were doing a really excellent job.

Mine's in the post from Amazon. I've now just ordered mine from Amazon too having given up with HMV.

This is now shown on both Amazon and HMV websites as "in stock", not in the HMV shops yet though. Anyone actually got hold of a copy yet?

I would say that Skidmore's TCB must rank as one of the top 100 British jazz albums of all time. Ironically it has not yet received a re-issued on CD in the UK but was reissued in Japan on CD a few years ago. So copies are available very sporadically on eBay as would be the original vinyl, but that may set you back a few (hundred) dollars. The personnel on TCB are the 'usual suspects' and include Surman, Osborne and Malcolm Griffiths. I feel this album, rather than the also excellent Once Upon a Time sticks in the memory much more clearly. ps the personnel changes slightly on different tracks but does feature some of the above at various times.

Am playing Warm Smiles and looking forward to playing Themes for Fega too. I am not as familiar with these two as I was with Flare Up so this is like hearing something new. Flare Up isn't just Harry's best but one of the best jazz albums in my collection. A genuine milestone. I will miss Harry, he was a completely unique and inimitable talent and a very nice person, to boot. RIP Harry.

I am totally bemused as to what criteria if any are applied in the allocation (or more often not) of gongs to jazz musicians. Why does one deserve a CBE and one an OBE or an MBE? Is it a reflection of record sales, good works or what. Totally and utterly baffled. Or was it as random as there is a specific maximum number of OBEs, MBEs etc allocated per list? I still say Sir Michael Garrick would have been justified!

Bev, the citation reads: Jazz Pianist and Composer. For services to Music. So could be both (or either!)

Yep and Bill Ashton of NYJO gets an OBE. Personally I think Mike Garrick warranted a CBE if not a Knighthood (the Beatles got MBEs in their teenagehoods, Mike had to wait another 60 years - oh well better late...)

For anyone, like myself, who had never heard Pipedream before (although I had heard of it), this may be a useful link - I certainly found it so - Squidco - Pipedream excerpts. To my ears there is a passing similarity between Pipdream and Ian Carr's Sounds and Sweet Airs but only a passing one. Tippett and Charig's music is quite unique (as is Carr's) and Pipedream seems from these short excerpts to be nearer to Tippett's Blueprint (and beyond) material. Certainly sounds excellent and I will no doubt be buying this.

Martini, you are definitely not the only one who regrets not buying that particular set!

The distinctive gilt-edged metal spines and the lavish packaging of those eight box sets have placed them in a class by themselves: - Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings - Miles Davis Quintet 1965-'68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions - Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 - The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions - The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions - Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis 1963-1964 - The Complete On The Corner Sessions Having bought several of these I found them - package-wise - pretty awful. The metal spines did not afford an easy read of the eccentrically printed sleeve notes. Nor were the CDs easy to remove or to distinguish what was on each without painstaking reference to the sleeve personnel and track lists which were almost akin to using logarithm tables. Ok not quite. I found myself not going back to the metal spine Complete series for those reasons, despite the cornucopia of bonus tracks. However if I had only one box set I could rescue from a house fire it would be the Complete Columbia Miles Davis. Even with the glue they represent an amazing, if not quite definitive, collection. I have bought several reissues of BB (inc the original on vinyl) but the Complete Columbia with thin cardboard gatefold is the best so far. I don't want metal spines, plastic jewel cases, vinyl box set complete with a replica mouthpiece, I just want to hear the music. The simple mini cardboard sleeve is fine, the music is unbeatable. Indeed I heard a repeat of a programme on BBC radio on the electric Miles period where Paul Buckmaster staes he thinks BB is the best record of all time in any genre. The only plus-side to these memorial special reissues is that they keep the name of Miles in the spotlight which is a good thing. Sure, Sony want to squeeze every last drop of marketing potential out of the Miles brand, but why not? To me, he personified jazz so, like The Beatles, this practise will continue for years if not forever. But I'm just happy with my glue-y box.

Yes just checked with BGO and it is really happening but the approx release date is September.

Thanks