mgraham333

I just received my confirmation this morning. I guess they're on their way.

well colour me embarassed

I agree with Hardbopjazz - I've gotten pretty good at spotting Monk's tunes. with Sal - Hancock's music has a fairly distinct flavor (even across genres - straight ahead jazz, funk, etc.) although I have been known to confuse a Hankcock tune with one from Wayne Shorter. After exposure to Bobby Timmons - This Here Is Bobb Timmons, I could spot his stuff fairly consistently.

Doesn't that depend on: this this this and this

OK then. I'll answer my own question. I called CDUniverse customer support. CDUniverse is using five different distributors for: Taylor, Cecil Conquistador Turrentine, Stanley Never Let Me Go and presumably the other RVGs in this batch as well. One of those distributors shows availability as March 26th while the others show March 23rd. So even though the availability status shows March 26th, it's likely those two titles will be available with the others. I'm guessing for purposes of order status display, CDUniverse uses the conservative estimate. Under promise and over deliver?

Funny. Over the weekend I played the entire Moncur Select. I must have been in the right mood, because the whole thing just spoke to me. It's not ususally the type of music I enjoy the most - so it was a little surprising. I think the best thing about the Select series is that it's really giving me the chance to expand my boundaries by getting exposure to some wonderful music that ordinarily wouldn't be at the top of my list.

Does anybody have updated information on the 3/23 RVG batch? Here is what my order at CDUniverse shows: Byrd, Donald At The Half Note Cafe Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 (CDU and True Blue still show this as having been released on 3/9) Rollins, Sonny Newk's Time Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Silver, Horace The Cape Verdean Blues Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Smith, Jimmy Prayer Meetin' Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Smith, Jimmy Rockin' The Boat Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Taylor, Cecil Conquistador Pre-Order Now! Available: Friday, March 26, 2004 Turrentine, Stanley Never Let Me Go Pre-Order Now! Available: Friday, March 26, 2004

I have the first Bad Plus CD but passed on the new one for the same reasons mentioned by Stefan Wood. Louder is not necessarily better.

Woman says she thought $1 million bill was real The front and back of a fake $1 million dollar bill is shown in this undated Covington Police Department handout photo. The Associated Press Updated: 8:49 a.m. ET March 11, 2004COVINGTON, Ga. - A woman who tried to use a fake $1 million bill to buy $1,675 worth of merchandise at Wal-Mart said it was all just a misunderstanding — she thought the bill was real. advertisement “You can’t keep up with the U.S. Treasury,” said Alice Pike, speaking from jail. Pike, 35, was arrested last week at the Wal-Mart. The bill was a novelty item that can be bought at gag shops. The United States Treasury does not make $1 million bills. Alice Regina Pike, who tried to use the fake bill. Pike told police she got it from her estranged husband, who is a coin collector. Pike said she first tried to buy the merchandise with two Wal-Mart gift cards. But the cashier told her the cards only had a total value of $2.32. That’s when Pike says she pulled out the $1 million bill. “All I’ve got is this,” Pike said she told the cashier. “I wasn’t trying to pass off the bill,” she said. “That’s ridiculous.” A police report says Pike tried to pay for the items with the fake bill and even asked for change. Prosecutors must decide whether to prosecute Pike on charges of first-degree forgery. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4489683/

ok, so we've had our glitch for this batch...not too bad...

This one is good for 10% off total purchase. Good through March 21. This should help with the RVGs and Verve mini-LPs.

skeith: I played this disc a few weeks ago, I'll have to go back and listen to the part you mention. A thought did hit me though, based on your description and the title of the song. Do you think he comes in late intentionally, as if to make the listener ask of Rollins, "Where Are You?" Not sure, but that would be a really cool explanation.

Wesbed: Several of the albums in the Mosaic are available with samples on CDUniverse.

Ouch! Two RVG batches and two Selects this month (assuming the late March date holds). I wonder if Mosaic takes million dollar bills...

I've listened to this one several times on both my home and office systems and if I didn't know, it would be tough for me to guess this had been mastered from vinyl - and nothing annoys me more than "snap, crackle, pop."

useless trivia: Goin' West and Ready For Freedie were recorded on the same day.

Well I finished up my initial run-through of this batch. Picking up where I left off: FF: the remaining tracks are great. Nai Nai is a happy tune that is a great pick-me-up that follows the ballad in track 2. French Spice is really sticking with me. I was hearing that one in my head on the way out the door as I was leaving work. Free Form, as the name might suggest is a bit out there, has some modal influences. It was interesting to hear Byrd go in that direction. I really liked Hancock's playing in Three Wishes, maybe because it's his tune . RN: Jackie McLean has one foot in the bebop world and the other in the Avant Garde. Poor Eric is simply beautiful. I never would have expected that coming from McLean. In fact, if was on a tenor instead of an alto, I would have sworn I was listening to Wayne Shorter. The title track is the McLean that everyone around here knows and loves. It reminded me of some of the stuff on the Moncur III select. After Jackie's Bag this is probably my favorite of his work. Final notes of my first impressions: Quality control seems to be stepping back up to the level that we all deserve. I haven't gone through all of the liners yet, but haven't noticed any glaring errors and the audio seems to be in the upper percentile of the overall RVG series. I'm about to put them all in my main system to give them their real shake down. I am a bit curious as to why there hasn't been more buzz about this batch. I'm not usually the one to post the most when it comes to reviews. How many are still waiting by their mailboxes ? How many are waiting for others to stick their necks out first ? Overall this was a pretty good batch. GW just didn't grab me right off the bat, but I'm putting that one in the main system first to give it another chance.

I've been playing the new batch in the background. I've made it through Sweet Honey Bee, Ready For Freddie, Goin' West right and am listening to Free Form now. SHB: If you like the Mosaic Select, this will be sure to please! Granted, I am listeing to this on my office system (basic Sony receiver & CD changer and Boston bookshelf speakers) and at low volume, but the crackling of vinyl wasn't noticable and certainly didn't detract from the listening experience. I did go back and turn the volume up and get next to the speakers and occasionally heard a slight pop, but again, nothing fatal. I'll listen again on the nicer system at home, but am not expecting the sound issue to be an issue at all for this release. RFF: This may be some of my favorite Freddie to date. I agree with Free For All, there are some really good tunes here and Freddie is in great form. GW: I have nothing against the western theme...I have and love Sonny Rollins' Way Out West and I live in Oklahoma where there are more trucks than cars...and people wear cowboy hats....and it's not Halloween... with that said I think the material on GW is just a bit too light. I cringed at On Top of Old Smokey and Red River Valley. Just sounds too much like a children's CD. There are some good moments and Green's playing is good as always. I was just hoping for a little more out of the material. FF: Just getting started here, but the first track has a pretty funky feel to it. Track two is a beautiful ballad and sounds just like you'd expect a Hancock song to sound. A quick reading of the new liners really shows the historical significance of this date: same rhythm section as Royal Flush and Takin' Off, only collaboration of Byrd and Shorter, Shorter's first studio encounter with Hancock. I recently purchased Black Jack and Mustang from a fellow board member and really liked them. FF falls more in line with those than any of the other Byrd titles available in the RVG series. I'll finish up my thoughts on FF and get to RN when I can.

All five just arrived from CDUniverse! Into the changer they go....

Please tell us you were eating Rice Krispies at the time

I'll say it again. TARTED RE-TARTED

Does anyone know what the @*$& deal is with the upcoming batch(es) of RVGs at CDUniverse? Free Form, Goin' West, Ready for Freddie, Right Now, and Sweet Honey Bee all show release on 3/9. Byrd's At The Half Note Cafe has slipped to 3/23. Newk's Time, Cape Verdean Blues, Prayer Meetin', Rockin' the Boat all show release on 3/23. Conquistador and Never Let Me Go show release on 3/26....a Friday?? Edit: according to this page on the Blue Note site, the CDUniverse information seems to be correct for the 3/9 batch. Interesting...the five mentioned above appear on the new releases page, but SHB is missing from the RVG page.

A day late and (many) dollars short....thanks Mosaic...but I wanted to express my appreciation to the band and all of my fellow board members. This is a great place. Happy Birthday!!

How about a compromise.... You'll sell a CD (or x CDs) for every pair of shoes SHE sells.

Blue Mitchell