mgraham333

Like jazzbo, I have music going pretty much all day long at the office. I do enjoy getting the much richer sound at home. There are so many nuances that only come out on a nice system. I don't know if I could make it all day at work without being able to have something playing in the background. It's also nice to be able to play the stuff I order online right away as I have everything delivered to the office. I think the excitement of a new batch of RVGs or a Mosaic order coming in would be too much to handle if I had to wait until the evening to listen.

clementine mentioned a complete Haydn symphony cycle put on on Nimbus Records with Adam Fischer conducting the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. It spans 8 Volumes and all are full digital recordings (with modern instruments). I have all 8 volumes and have been happy with them. I went through a pretty big symphony phase just before jazz took over most of my listening. I'm no classical music scholar and won't claim to have sampled all of the possibilities, but again, have been happy with the Fischer recordings. I still break them out every once in a while when I am in the mood. You should be able to find them all at Amazon.

Man, oh man - put One Flight Up near the top of my Dex list. I'm not sure yet, but I think Gettin' Around may still be on top. The opening track on OFU is amazing. The sound on this album is a little different, but if I hadn't read what was in this thread I never would have given it much thought - as the sound and music are both great!

This batch arrived late in the day today. I was busy most of the afternoon and didn't get a chance to listen to any of them. About to take the drive home and listen to McCoy Tyner. I did notice the return of the Blue and WHITE label. The only thing in this batch that I am familiar with is the McClean what was part of the Select a while back. So this should be fun!

up for anticipation PLUS - I modified the links at the beginning of this thread so that credit is given to JAZZMATAZZ.

Thanks for the schedule Mark! I called Joe's Place and got the recording. Funny, he says the website has the show calendar through the new year.... Maybe he meant THIS website. Looks like I'll be in for another jazz vocalist. I saw Andy Bey at the Jazz Bakery earlier this year. Good show. I took a quick peak at Ernestine Anderson over at AMG. She seems to move fairly easily between jazz and R&B. Maybe the venue will dictate the set list. I guess I'll find out next month.

I picked up these three. I like Blues In Orbit best followed by Foreground and Background (in that order). One interesting note. The HDCD indicator on my CD player goes on and off throughout all three of these discs. Maybe the DSD remastering is causing the player some confusion... Previously the only time I've seen the HDCD indicator is when a disk known to be in HDCD format is playing. Anybody else with an HDCD capable player see this behavior? Mine is the Denon DCM-380

up for info

I just found a few more Jazz titles at CDBaby that I like (and ordered!) ALAN JONES SEXTET: the leroy vinnegar suite A musical tribute by Alan Jones to one of the worlds greastest and most influential bassists, this original music reminds you of the great jazz of the 50's and 60's while taking you on a ride to where that music has gone. ALAN JONES, PHIL DWYER, RODNEY WHITAKER: let me tell you about my day Put Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul Chambers in a recording studio in 2004 and you'd probably hear something like this enthralling debut recording from three wonderfully gifted musicians. JOE GILMAN: treasure chest Contemporary acoustic jazz with legendary tenor man Joe Henderson and future legends Jeff Watts and Bob Hurst

I finally got my copy and have given it a few spins. I have to say the addition of the guitar is the most intriguing part. It really would have been interesting to hear the original with the likes of Wes Montgomery in the studio. All in all, I'm pretty impressed with this one. I give the Conrad Herwig effort higher marks in the originality column, but this one is really well done. I think the album accomplished all that the project set out to accomplish. Cheesy or not the back cover says it all: What if there had been 70 minutes of recording space on an LP rather than 40 back in 1959... Did the arrangement on Blue In Green come from something Bill Evans did for Chet Baker... What if Miles had used a guitarist instead of one of the saxes... Is Flamenco Sketches really Peace Piece... What if the bass & drums had been given more breathing room... What if they had shifted gears halfway through All Blues...

Any Showcase insiders or regulars have any idea about the show calendar for September? I am going to be in Chicago 9/16-9/19 and would like to know what I might see. I sent an email to the address on their website a while ago but have yet to receive a response.

I have really enjoyed Black Fire. I think it has enhanced my perception and appreciation of Point of Departure as well. How would you compare Judgement! & Smoke Stack to Black Fire? If I had to rank the Hill that I currently have it would be: 1) Black Fire 2) Passing Ships 3) Point of Departure 4) Grass Roots

I really like "My One And Only Love" from this album. I usually play that track twice before moving on. And wasn't The Stylings Of Silver the first Blue Note album cover that employed a full-color picture? Did I read that somewhere or am I making that up?

Elvin Jones.... the whole thing.... B)

Just do what I do (in MS IE).... type in the main part of the web address (the domain) like CNN and then press CTRL + ENTER on the key board. It will prepend the WWW. and append the .COM to whatever you type.

I ordered them earlier this week but I got them today... Herbie Hancock - My Point of View, The Prisoner Jimmy Smith - Groovin' at Small's Paradise With these I am finally up to date on all RVGs. I have the Aug 10th batch on pre-order so at least for a while I can claim to have them all!

I dug around some more and think I answered my own question. iPod Dock (new Click Wheel models) Just plug, unplug, and go. The iPod Dock makes charging and syncing easier than ever. A convenient and elegant home base for iPod on a desk or connected to a home stereo system, the dock provides charging and syncing via FireWire or USB 2.0*, and a stereo line out for simple connection to power speakers or a stereo system. Supports new iPod with Click Wheel (20GB or 40GB) only. For an iPod Dock accessory kit for prior generation iPod with Dock Connector, use M9130G/A iPod Dock kit.

Any comments on my main point from above:

Well slap my ass and call me Judy! I never scrolled down beyond the spec table on that page. You are correct, Christiern. That's what I wanted. I still stand by my slam of the gallery link though. Those images with the colored backgrounds and silhouettes are pointless.

Has anyone had experiences with connecting their iPod to their home stereo? I am familiar with the connectors that make this possible, what I want to know is how the issue of volume is handled. As I understand it, the connector goes into the standard headphone jack rather than a line-out jack. So how does one adjust the volume on the iPod and then adjust the volume on their stereo. Is there a baseline volume setting on the iPod, or is there something in the menu system that allows you to...for lack of a better term...convert the headphone jack to a line-out jack? <rant> I've looked on the Apple site, but they put more effort into marketing than they do product information. I was looking for pictures of the iPod from various angles and clicked on the iPod gallery link and this is the kind of crap they think we are interested in seeing. Now this is the standard by which all other product spec pages should be measured! </rant> Anyway... any information about the home stereo connectivity issue would be appreciated!

I've been playing Morgan's The Sixth Sense for a few days now and though I'm finding more and more of the Morgan I know, this one still strikes me as different. The first couple of songs really sound more like something from Jackie McLean's book. I recognized his presence right away without checking the lineup. I really like The Cry of My People. This is some of the prettiest playing I've ever heard from Morgan. The use of the mute really gives this song an after-hours, haunting beauty feel. I usually hit repeat on this track a couple of times before moving on.

Re: iPod price drop ABOUT FREAKIN' TIME!!!!!! The iPod is good but it was never worth the previous price tag that was demanded compared to the rest of the market. I suspect someone at Apple finally got their marketing degree at their local community college and realized what was required to totally obliterate the market.... a great product at a reasonable price. I wish I had an organization to manage with as much talent and resources as Apple. Erase a few bone-headed decisions and maybe everyone is throwing stones at Jobs instead of Gates.

None of the characters really interest me anymore - Nate, David, Claire, Ruth, Brenda all of their storylines seemed to have dead-ended. If it doesn't improve I can free up an hour for jazz on Sunday

I saw this at Barnes & Noble and was curious but didn't pick it up. I think I'm glad I didn't based on AMG's review: One of the few complete duds of Sonny Rollins's career, this rambling live session is a major disappointment. His unaccompanied explorations (which in the past usually clocked in at around three minutes) gave one the impression that he would be heard best in a solo setting where he could fly freely without having to be concerned about his accompanists. Perhaps that is true, but for this concert he apparently planned nothing in advance, resulting in 56 minutes of wandering around, throwing in occasional song quotes but managing to not play anything of real value. In other words, it sounds as if Rollins were merely warming up, playing whatever came into his mind without any thought of developing a coherent statement. The blurb on the back of the CD & FantasyJazz.com says this: This recording is a dream come true for Sonny Rollins fans, as Rollins presents an entire program without accompaniment in what must have been the ideal setting of the Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden. As expected, Rollins drops allusions all over the place and spins core melodic ideas into extended variations. The real fun, though, is simply getting caught up in the inspired whirl of the Rollins imagination as it darts here and there, managing to be both coherent and unpredictable in a manner that has earned him recognition as the music's supreme improviser. The enthusiastic audience, delighted to be along for the ride, even gets into the act at the close of this colossal solo session. Which do you think comes closer to describing this album?

I bought the Spanish Blue Note version of this a while back, not really knowing it's reputation. I bought it based on the line-up...haven't we all done that once or twice (Although Vol. 1 in the Spanish Blue Note version has Leo Morgan... Lee's lesser known cousin from Grays Ferry, PA) I liked it when I got it, but didn't love it. I wasn't into the looser blowing sessions with long noodling solos. But my tastes have grown since then. I can appreciate...and enjoy the more out stuff from the likes of McLean, Hill, Moncur, and even Cecil Taylor. Not that Cookers is avant-garde... It's good 'ole Bop stretched to it's limits and infused with spontaneity and lots of showy displays. What I like most about Cookers, and even more so with the RVG version, is the feeling of the live atmosphere. Many of the live dates don't sound all that lively, or at least don't give you the sense of being there. Cookers puts you right in the audience. A rowdy, but respectful audience....something I wish was more prevalent in real life. So you can count me in the number that seems to be jumping on the bandwagon and supporting Cookers, but really, I've been there all along.