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I've seen a couple of comments elsewhere online, but has anybody on this forum heard the two released RSD tracks yet? Curious as to how much Verve was able to clean up the sound. I'm in for it all, though, even if the audio quality's still pretty rough.

Greetings! I've been a little quiet the last couple of months; other projects have kept things a bit underground lately. Hopefully there will be more to share on a couple of those very soon. However, in gig-land, things are continuing apace and I wanted to let you know about the 31st installment of the "So, What Do You Think?" series landing at Tubby's in beautiful Midtown Kingston, NY on Sunday, June 7. Doors at 7pm, show starts at 8. $20 at the door or in advance. poster design by d.norsen after America 6111 Saxophonist Michael Foster will be returning with the latest variation on his trio The Ghost, featuring bassist Zach Rowden (Tongue Depressor) and drummer Joey Sullivan (Bark Culture, Florry). Last time around (2024) they were joined by Joe McPhee and that was an absolute blast. The core trio will be equally invigorating, as Foster and his collaborators have continued to develop their collective language. As he puts it, "The Ghost is Michael Foster’s long standing trio that excavates the queer feelings within free jazz and noise. Mixing compositional structures with extensive improvisation, and electro-acoustic elements, The Ghost approaches free jazz with a distinct yearning, melancholy, and rage." Opening will be the duo of percussionist Sarah Hennies and bassist Tristan Kasten-Krause; their LP The Quiet Sun was released last year on Dinzu Artifacts to great acclaim. Hennies is an internationally renowned composer whose work explores trans identity and slow temporal processes, areas in which Kasten-Krause, as an extremely deft and open-minded contrabassist, can gamely occupy. We look forward to seeing you there & if you can't make it, feel free to forward to a friend.

Of course they didn't need to. But considering how many of them literally drooled over Robert Johnson as the messiah of blues it now strikes me as funny that most (or maybe all) of them at least in this case never heard what the people back in the 30s ACTUALLY listened to. Yes, I'm being a bit sarcastic here about that "messiah thing" - this simply is colored now by what I learnt about their "reception" of the blues in my young record buying and collecting days in the 70s - and honestly, once I had heard the Robert Johnson "Crossroads" (Take 2) on that CBS LP (that I bought during a stay in London at age 16 in 1976) I found it harder to connect it to the "boogied-up" version by Cream that was one of those records that cemented the Robert Johnson legend in late 60s and 70s rock circles. Funnily this is quite similar to other niches of rock (such as among the rockabillies) where certain 50s tunes have acquired cult status and were covered by numerous younger groups although the original recording had remained unreleased in the 50s and did not see the light of the turntables until the 70s or 80s when it cropped up on a Charly or Ace LP (or the like). Which almost inevitably led to comments by some nitpickers along the lines of "what you pick up from the 50s wasn't even heard in the 50s ... " Much the same thing with the 60s blues rock men, then, after all ...

I couldn't agree more. When I was speaking to Roberta, his ex-wife but still manager, she talked about how Ronnie had dreamed of getting to record on Milestone. I loved all of his Steeplechase albums (some more than others), but there was a period where he was on labels that didn't do him justice, during which I enjoyed his sideman appearances more. Xanadu was gone, and Milestone was one of the classic American labels with a storied tradition still in operation. Is "Scene" slick? Unquestionably, but Ronnie still plays wonderfully, and I have always been a fan of Keezer. Needless to say he has matured in both musicianship and personality, but he's unquestionably a magnificent pianist. Ronnie's Airplay was my introduction to Keezer, and I was blown away. Ronnie played with a lot of pianists, but I particularly liked those albums with Keezer, Kenny Drew Jr., and George Colligan.

Several places online say that a box set will appear in September; I've seen no mention of how many discs within the set. Here's one site: https://wikijazz.substack.com/p/the-tiberi-tapes-the-recording-the

A long-time favorite:

I have a preference for the alternate take, myself. Most blues rock musicians inspired by Johnson who emerged in the 1960s never heard the originally released version. Did they need to? The first time I heard it was on the Roots Delta Blues compilation that you mention above.

Several years (about twenty) ago there was a thread about the reissue series from Universal France regarding their magnificent Jazz In Paris releases. Volkher Hofmann documented the release on a web site he created that no longer is active. Discogs has documentation that I have supplemented below at my research site: https://jazzresearch.com/jazz-in-paris/ Jim

Thanks for posting this. The Columbia 2011 release of the complete recordings was a major sonic improvement over the 1990 Roots'n Blues package. I don't really hear that much difference between this newly discovered disc and the 2011 release, but I guess that it might be a slight bit sharper and clearer.

More Nielsen from Blomstedt & the SFS: Thrilling.

Was thinking the other day that I should dust this off... it's been years. Fascinating set.

Audacity - 1st 2 episodes - not sure yet if I like it.

Angelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes (Intakt CD)

Mark Turner — Patternmaster One of the better ECM releases in recent years imo.

I don't know why any company needs a license to pass a DSD bitstream anymore. A license is usually required to use a patented design/technology. The patents for the DSD technology expired quite a while ago. I would think anyone could make their own DSD encoder/decoder now. Although I guess they'd have to call it something other than DSD or Direct Stream Digital as those terms are trademarked by Sony/Philips. Maybe call it PDM (pulse density modulation) instead?

Lee Ritenour & Oscar Castro-Neves – Um Encontro

Grateful Dead “Dave’s Picks Vol. 3” 3 cd set, disc 1 October 22, 1971 at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago and bonus material from October 21. Second and third concerts with Keith Godchaux. Tight!

The cold is back, with a dusting of snow. Springtime in NE Ohio! Not unusual I’m afraid. I have some traveling to do today so it’s good it’s just a little snow. “The Complete Woody Herman Decca, Mars And MGM Sessions (1943-1954)” Mosaic Records 7 cd set, disc IV I’m continuing on a revisit of this interesting set of Herman music.Billy Eckstine on this disc! 400×400 57.7 KB

Just finished "The Jazz Barn : Music Inn The Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life" by John Gennari, Had to do with the Lennox School of Jazz, where Third Stream musicians like Gunther Schuller, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell and John Lewis taught for the four years it was open. It goes for 80 pages before anything relating to jazz is mentioned, just woke history of the Berkshires. When he mentions the School of Jazz and the concerts they had there, it begins to get interesting, and there are a lot of pictures of some of the teachers and students there that have never been seen before. The author is an English Prof. in VT, who thinks that Dave Brubeck composed "Take Five". The type on the book is so small that I had trouble reading iit.

About the actual release date now ... Until yesterday Amazon advised me my copy was to arrive this Monday. But this morning I received an "update" that indicated a delay and a new delivery date sometime between 10 July and October 2026 (!!). Checking Amazon.com (USA) it says the release date is 10 June 2026. Whereas on German amazon.de it still says it's (been) released on 10 April but on the other hand indicates a delivery period between 10 July and 28 October. This time span seems VERY vague to me. Anyone know anything from some other source about what happened or what the publication snag now is? I've waited for about 10 months for the book so can and will wait some more but it's a pity - something I'm reminded of whenever I look at the space kept free for this book on my otherwise crowded racks of jazz books in my music room.