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It was one very busy week at work, study and privately. Time to relax now:

I am enoying the hell out of those Steve Lacy compilations. Emanem wasn't on my musical radar when Martin was still around.

I must say I never really had any speed issues.

Nothing that I've heard. I'd really like to know what the status of the inventory is, or if anyone has even inquired about taking it over. Seems most likely that if someone did it would be nearby in Europe. I sure do miss the days of being able to order discounted discs from him and have them arrive quickly and cheaply.

This (UPS horror story) is NOT relevant to cdjapan. But a cautionary note about strange things going on. UPS is 'disposing of' U.S.-bound packages over customs paperwork problems

Natty Dominque's Creole Dance Band (American Music)

As far as I know, basically imports from Japan would be subject to import duties as well because these are shipments from outside the EU (the EU territory is is as far as exemption from customs duties goes within any single EU country). Save for one detail: There should still be a "de minimis threshold" applicable to shipments from non-EU countries into the EU that have a value below a certain amount (value of goods plus shipping costs). But AFAIK this threshold has been lowered in relatively recent years so applicablility of customs duties may have increased everywhere in the EU.

Dusty Groove (US) has Vol 1 and Vol 2 separately available for preorder (ETA Nov. 10) at US$51.99 per LP. I guess those are "standard" versions, but the price is still on the high side.

I've never heard this music. When this short-lived band was formed and touring, it just seemed like a money grab, as this one CD was mostly live versions of Cars tunes. That said, Rundgren never said that it was anything but "an opportunity... for me to pay my bills, play to a larger audience, work with musicians I know and like, and ideally have some fun for a year", so you can't blame him.

On to my OG LP of Joni Mitchell “Hejira”

Thanks John. "Unfortunately" you confirm my suspicions. The "This Is An Orchestra" book has had good reviews elsewhere. I'll look out for a decently-priced copy that ships safely here. But since I have the Lee book anyway ("gift horse", you know ... ) I'll certainly peruse the first part of it that deals with, say, the period up to about 1960 that is of most interest to me anyway. This does look more straightforward at first sight. I still cannot fathom, though, what the author tried to show (or prove) for the later years, in particular, by including every whatsoever writeup from whatever provincial small-town paper, particularly as some of these seem to deal with the same event (that was deemed interesting enough to recieve media coverage) over and over again (disregarding the obits, BTW). Weird ... and the typeface doesn't help either.

Hello everyone! It’s been a little while since my last update, so here’s a packed one for https://www.openrealb.com I’ve now linked the scores to more than 40,000 videos: transcriptions, backing tracks, live performances, studio recordings, tutorials, and more. The sidebar menu has been completely redesigned for smoother navigation and a much better video-watching experience. The homepage and search engine have also been reworked to be clearer and more comfortable, whether you’re on desktop or mobile. In short, lots of improvements! Feel free to share your feedback, here or directly on the site! As for the next updates (probably coming in early 2026): I plan a major rework of the core: scores, fonts, etc. to ensure perfect display on all devices Adding more songs to the score library Adding more relevant linked videos --- Thanks for the feedback. Yup, the enharmonic is not yet optimal ( though one could argue it's a nice challenge to practice reading unorthodox chords, and could help you becoming a stronger reader ). For sure I'll try to improve the tagging/categorisation of the tunes. As I said, I'll first focus on the rendering of the sheets, and once it's done, I'll add collaborative features as well as grow the repertoire. If you have other feedbacks, please don't hesitate !

This week marks 18 years since my first wife Helen passed from lymphoma and MDS. She was so brilliant and kind and beautiful--a great loss to lose her at age 52. I'll never forget her. Here is a photo of her smiling so happily from her stay in Chile the summer before I first met her on our first day at the University of Chicago.

For anyone who didn't grab these, Sam Records is reissuing them as standard versions. The Sam website is down, but you can order them here (and probably elsewhere): https://www.soundohm.com/label/sam-records

A cold fall mrning. Typing is hard with Memphis piled on me in the listening chair! I'm online less. . . a good thing? Starting off with a revisit to [s][/s]Gerald Clayton "Happening: Live At The Village Vanguard" Blue Note cd

Oh yeah, Daniel Richmond

October 10 Cecil Bridgewater - 1942

👍 - as a US reissue on my shelf - unknown release date ...

MV 23MJ 3140 (Japan 1982) - Lionel Hampton " Hampton's Big Four" - rec. 1954

Verve MV 2690 (Japan 1980) - Lester Young / Harry Edison " Going For Myself" - rec. 1957 & 1958