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I have the America pressing also. America/Musidisc reissued several Debut and Fantasy titles in France, in addition to a bunch of new recordings from Shepp, the AEC, Dave Burrell, Frank Wright, Alan Shorter... excellent series.

+1. I have so many of those great Kent anthology CD's on my shelves, and they now put out maybe 1-2 discs a year that is of interest to me. May be that the market is pretty dried up for that sort of release.

We never see these amounts of snow in the Netherlands. We also got the tempering influence of the warmer North Sea. Though I’m not looking for extremes like these, I really miss some more winter like weather here sometimes. The winter mostly feels like an extended autumn most of the times with boring grey rainy days.

Just to let folks know that OtoRoku downloads are also available directly from Cafe Oto and generally at lower cost as you're not paying Bandcamp 15%. https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/kan-mikami-john-edwards-alex-nielson-live-cafe-oto/

When I saw their monthly email this morning I totally thought of you. On a related note, outside of the topic at hand: I really have to unsubscribe from Ace Records. Its probably 3 years now since they released a new blues or R&B comp. Like, at all. Ace Records that doesn't issue new/old music in those genres is enormously disappointing to me.

As a record fan it would be nice to have affordable vinyl reissues of some of the posthumous Impulse albums - Stellar Regions, Living Space, Olatunji, Offering etc. Though I appreciate these may not be strong commercial propositions and not a good starting point if labels are hoping to attract new listeners.

I grew up in Massachusetts & lived most of my life up in New England. This is far from the worst storm I've cleaned up after. In fact, I doubt it would even crack the top 20. Funny thing is, we moved up to Maine near the water to get away from storms like this. This snow was an outlier. We've been here 9 years and never really had a snow storm that dumped anything over a foot. The ocean water temps have generally protected us from this. There have been storms where we've had a slushy mix while 5 miles inland got a foot. This storm was a fluke in that it dumped a bunch of snow because it was over the ocean - a very unusual occurrence.

John Plonsky Quintet with Betty Ann Blake - Cool Man Cool

Here's me hoping Ravi has a suprise for us....

Oh yes Kevin we all feel very sorry for you being on a cruise with tropical temperatures, mixed drinks and live jazz music. Poor you! 🤪 But seriously, I hope you have dug your way into your house 😬

Have you packed all your cds/vinyl carefully/secure/safely? That's all that matters Good luck moving there.

https://www.acerecords.co.uk/eternal-journey--the-arrangements-and-productions-of-charles-stepney-1 This should be interesting, though they missed badly on the Terry Callier selections (How do you not select "Dancing Girl", which is Stepney's masterpiece, and "Alley-Wind Song" for this set?), and on the Dells ("I Can Sing A Rainbow/Love is Blue" is inexplicably absent).

I love my boxed sets but must say I never listen to a complete boxed set: mostly individual discs. Boxed sets must be pieces of art to me that really distinct in artwork or liners. If it's just music only in chronological order I prefer the seperate sessions. I also like if if they compile music that's pretty hard to obtain. The Byard Lancaster set by Souffle Continu is an example of an essential boxed set I must say. I havent ripped a cd since streaming is avaible. The places where I stream I don't play much jazz: in the gym and in the car. Jazz doesn't work in the gym for me and my car has awful sound for jazz music. I play jazz at home and i'd prefer to pick out a cd or an lp instead of playing digital files from my computer.

There would be a lot to say ... In brief, I find them convenient for exploring an artist or a musical area in a comprehensive manner (provided the box sets are compiled thoughtfully), and those that come with just as comprehensive liner notes (often not just booklets but BOOKS) are not just an audible but also a visual treat. Though the investments sometimes are heavy ... if bought new. When found secondhand, anything is possible, either they soar in price or they can be found dirt cheap (such as about a year ago when I came across the 4-CD box set of "Sidney Bechet in Switzerland" in mint condition for a measly 10 Euros at our local record shop - but in the music BOOKS section because they clearly had taken it to be a BOOK ). And FWIW, I still like or even love my VINYL box sets too. There were some nice ones there too. But of course you cannot reshuffle their contents the way you do with yours. OTOH, sometimes these box sets even turn out to be the most economical way of purchasing a chunk of music (and I am not at all talking about Public Domain label multi-CD compilations, though some of these "XX classic albums by YY" are convenient too). Way more affordable than buying the individual CDs or LPs that made up the box set. Both new or secondhand. So sometimes it pays if you did not (or were unable to) snap up certain items right after they were released but quite a while later when they had progressed from several individual records to all in one box set.

Pre-internet, I bought a Japanese book on the Riverside discography from Tower Records. It was invaluable to see even the album covers and personnel for albums I never knew existed. But as Lou Reed sang "those were different times". I'm too old, tired, and sated for all of that!

January 31, 2026: Jackie Venson, Antone's, Austin Hamilton de Holanda Trio, Windmills, The Colony Jason Moran (Ellington Tribute, solo and with UT Jazz Orchestra), Bates Recital Hall, Austin February 2, 2026: Ari Hoenig Trio with Tivon Pennicott, Drink and Think, Denton February 3, 2026: Ari Hoenig Trio, Parker Jazz Club, Austin February 4, 2026: Ari Hoenig Trio with Tivon Pennicott, Doc's, Houston February 5, 2026: Ari Hoenig Trio, JazzTX, San Antonio February 7, 2026: Quamon Fowler, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth February 17, 2026: Peter Bernstein Quintet, Parker Jazz Club, Austin February 19, 2026: Bruce Saunders Quintet with Peter Bernstein, Monk's Jazz Club, Austin February 20, 2026: Shemekia Copeland and Ally Venable, Granville Arts Center, Garland February 21, 2026: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth February 22, 2026: Branford Marsalis Quartet, Wortham Theater, Houston February 24, 2026: Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart Trio, Parker Jazz Club, Austin February 25, 2026: Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart Trio, JazzTX, San Antonio February 26, 2026: Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart Trio, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth March 5, 2026: Pat Metheny, Charline McCombs Empire Theater, San Antonio March 6, 2026: Pat Metheny, Paramount Theater, Austin Jackie Venson, Windmills, The Colony March 7, 2026: Pat Metheny Side-Eye, Wortham Theater, Houston Jackie Venson, Windmills, The Colony March 13, 2026: T.K. Blue and African Rhythms Alumni, A Tribute to Randy Weston, Walton Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas March 14, 2026: Bnois King, Blues and Tattoos Festival, Gainesville March 20, 2026: Sarah Hanahan, Monk's Jazz Club, Austin Chirag Katti (sitar), Windmills, The Colony March 21, 2026: Sunny War, Anne Harris, Sable Sisters (Kaia Kater), Buffalo Nichols, Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, Southside Preservation Hall, Fort Worth Chirag Katti (sitar), Windmills, The Colony March 22, 2026: Sarah Hanahan, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston March 26, 2026: Pat Metheny Side-Eye III, Marc Ribot, Ches Smith Clone Row, Isaiah Collier, William Hooker Quartet, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 27, 2026: Chucho Valdes Royal Quartet, John Scofield Trio, Ghost Train Orchestra: The Music of Moondog, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, Miles Okazaki Trickster, Nate Smith, Ned Rothenberg, Nik Bartsch, Sullivan Fortner Trio, Tim Berne, Thomas Fujiwara: Dream Up, Saha Gnawa, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 28, 2026: Darius Jones Trio, Either/Orchestra, Incerto, Marquis Hill Blacktet, Mary Halvorson, Miles Okazaki: The Compete Monk, , Nate Smith, Nik Bartsch Ronin, Patricia Brennan Septet, Shabaka, Yasmin Williams and William Tyler, Incerto, Electrical Field of Love, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 29, 2026: Brandon Woody's Upendo, Chicago Underground Duo, Dave Douglas Gifts Quartet, Either/Orchestra Plays Eithiopiques, Julian Lage Quartet, Marc Ribot, Matt Mitchell's Zealous Angles, Miles Electric Band, Nels Cline: Lovers, Openness Trio, Tom Skinner,, L. Shankar, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee April 1, 2026: Samara Joy, Winspear Opera House, Dallas Pat Metheny Side-Eye III, Majestic Theater, Dallas April 2, 2026: Kaia Kater, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas Samora Joy, Austin City Limits April 4, 2026: Samora Joy, Tobin Center, San Antonio Melissa Aldana, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 10, 2026: Coltrane at 100 (Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Ndudzo Makhathini, Matt Garrison, Jefftain Watts), Cullen Theater, Houston April 11, 2026: Rakesh Charaurasia (flute) and Amit Kavthekar (tabla), Matchbox4, Houston April 12, 2026: John Beasley's Unlimited Miles (John Beasley, Mark Turner, Sean Jones or Marquis Hill, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Williams, Terreon Gu)), Eisemann Center, Richardson April 23, 2026: Nicholas Payton featuring Butcher Brown Presents the Supreme Blue, Monty Alexander "Jamericana", Charlie Musselwhite, Kyle Roussel, Kenny Neal, Vieux Farka Toure (Mali), Nidia Gongora (Columbia); Yusa (Cuba), Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Jamil Sharif, Peter Harris Presents Firm Roots, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 24, 2026: Hiromi's Sonicwonder, Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra featuring Andromeda Turre, Astral Project, Parlor Greens (w/Jimmy James), Tribute to Ragtime Piano Legends feat. Terry Waldo, Tom McDermott, and David Boeddinghaus, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Sevana (Jamaica), Joy Clark, Wendell Brunious, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 25, 2026: Mahmoud Chouki, Louis Ford, Little Freddie King, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 26, 2026: Ron Carter Quartet, Catherine Russell, Roger Lewis and Baritone Bliss, Love Is Supreme: A Tribute to John Coltrane feat. Derek Douget, Trevarri Huff-Boone and Ricardo Pascal, Chris Thomas King, Tuba Skinny, People Museum, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 30, 2026: Isaiah Collier (The World is on Fire), Steve Masakowski Family Band, Sasha Masakowsti as Trash Magnolia, Helen Gillet, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 1, 2026: Terence Blanchard with Ravi Coltrane; Charlie Gabriel; Victor Campbell, Stephen Walker, D.K. Harrell, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Jackie Venson, Main Street Crossing, Tombull May 2, 2026: Dianne Reeves; Uptown Jazz Orchestra; Alexey Marti, Leroy Jones, Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers feat. Dr. Michael White and Shaye Cohn, Larry McCray, Leyla McCalla, , New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 3, 2026: Herbie Hancock; Jason Marsalis, Trumpet Mafia featuring Keyon Harold, Jackie Venson, Lila Ike (Jamaica), Doreen's Jazz New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 9, 2026: Hiromi's Sonic Wonder, Cullen Theater, Houston May 16, 2026: Chucho Valdes, Paramount Theater, Austin May 17, 2026: Lucia, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston October 10, 2026: Niladri Kumar (sitar), Stafford Center, Houston October 18, L. Shankar (violin), Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Swaminathan, Amit Kaythekar (percussion), Matchbox4, Houston

No other opinions?

Over the years I've taken to buying a lot of box sets. I have individual cds too but somehow I seem to have plunged for the big sets quite often. In the beginning I would just play the disks one by one and maybe look at the discography a bit. Later I decided to rip everything to hard drives and other storage and play everything on computers and other devices. I used to be an IT database and systems guy so I just treat my music the way I used to handle data and have backup scripts etc. This arrangement means I can break up the box sets into digital playlists. Whenever a set has lp size albums on it, I break them out into single album playlists. I usually add a number in the playlist name (and sometimes a set abbreviation) so that the playlists for the albums in each set sort and show up in chronological order. There is a significant amount of curating work in doing all this and some might ask wouldn't it be easier to just buy the individual albums? No answer for that. I guess I just like the completeness of having the sets. Mosaics and some others have good sound, I suppose... How do you approach listening to these box sets and what do you think of the whole box set thing?

I bet his guitar kills fascists too!

Since his music was written over a wide time period, there are a lot of different publishers for his music.

yup.