AllenLowe

intelligent review from the Times, except this line: "Presently, her son was off on a two-year musical tour of the United States, playing a kind of sanctified R & B piano in the employ, with the rest of his small band, of a traveling woman evangelist. " silly depiction, for a clueless contemporary audience, of church music of the time (mid 1930s) which was, maybe, a precursor of r&B but much different in character.

shouldn't even be a consideration - it's like saying - "he's got the brains of a white man - and the physical ability of a black man - gee, I meant it as a compliment. " I know it was unintended but it's condescending.

I used to call my wife downstairs and say "listen to this," take some Sony reissue, twist a few EQ nobs, and she'd say "how come you aren't working for those guys?" Their OKEH rhythm and blues box has some of the screwiest eq-ing I have ever heard from a major label. Oy veh.

"I know he is - my point is he is 40 in his physical abilities and 65 in experience. " hmmm...I know I am over-sensitive but I find this age-ist. after all, my doctor says I have the body of a man of 30 - and he was glad to get rid of it.

possibly, but I tend to think it's bad monitors or an engineer who has lost some hearing. They also don't understand the use of the mid-range, which adds warmth but which can also clog things up. It's interesting because I've never been impressed with Sony/Columbia's mastering of older music. Maybe the acoustics are bad in whatever studio they use. Who knows. I'm just always amused that I get a better sound in my basement than they do in their 3 zillion dollar studio.

will cross that bridge when I come to it.

just to add, it's clear that a lot of the earlier cuts were not taken from masters but from 78s; so by their very nature they will have more sonic problems.

two - or is it three - words: Jimmy Van Heusen. Greatest songwriter of the 20th century.

got the set today - just played bits and pieces, and whoever it was who posted a while back that there was too much high end (I think someone thought it sounded shrill) was very correct - HOWEVER - the basic transfers that I've heard seem fine - some semi-deaf engineer mastered it in a less than perfect way - not enough mids, too much upper frequency info - all of which can be adjusted, but still, there's no good reason they should have done it like this (they might have had lousy monitors) - that's a just a quick first impression.

"Writing in the earlier style is like playing in the old style and leads to stuff like the HIP movement in classical music, Wynton and Eric Alexander. There are a few extraordinary artists like Ruby Braff to counter theis but... Picking over the bones of a dead music is an interesting hobby for specialists, but is usually just that." I disagree - I would cite people like Jaki Byard, but he may be old news by now - but dealing with the old music isn't necessarily picking over the bones - just has to be done in a creative way that expands upon those old things in a knowing way - think also Ran Blake. Not to mention Duke Ellington whose entire output was built on those forms. give me a few days and I can give a few good other contemporary examples - not trying to be mysterious, just exhausted from my recent trip -

I think there's few if any today who can write decently in that style - however - I use the idea of it all the time in composition. It's really, for me, the basis of everything. There's plenty of life left in the form, problem is that contemporary composers are clueless in this regard. They are harmonically deficient - and by this I include even most current jazz composers.

just got back from NYC, saw Kelley do a reading with Randy Weston. I still like the book, glad I got it before I went to the reading -

I feel like a hermaphrodite at a Eunuch's Convention -

that's a shot from Robert Reisner's club, the Open Door in Greenwhich Village - though there are some famous Frusclla recordings from there, sad to say there are none of this particular group -

well, I get ignored at the job (I'm older than most, a musicians working at an insurance company) and here I figure I'm an insurance person, older than most, posting on a music site -

3:43 am is a great time for anything. new question: do you ever feel, on particular threads, that you're being ignored?

my very first Charlie Parker record was from Waldbaums - though one cut (That's Earl Brother) was actually Sonny Stitt -

sorry to hear that, saw him do duets with Hemphill a few times -

I type about 40 words/minute, that's about 8 minutes a page, but it's just something I really do not want to do (also have carpal tunnel in both hands, manageable but problematic). that may be the way to go, unfortunately, as money is a problem at least until next spring.

I can't help you, but I do recall those old cheesey jazz records (many of which I bought in supermarkets) with great nostalgia. Even if half of them were, in reality, recorded by Mario Luisitania and his Strawhat 5.

well, it looks like I may have to make a go of it myself - Kinkos would end up in the $700-$800 range and I can't do that - I really do appreciate all the advice - BUT - can we distill this to a single program, that works with Windows XP, text only, one sheet at a time - (I don't mind if it takes a few weeks to do this) - that will convert to an editable word format? And one that I can buy easily?

the first thing that would help would be to eliminate surround sound, which is crap and which screws up any real balance of sound. I hate the thing.

just talked to Lewis on the phone - he says it's not true - he and Robin were in touch pretty regularly about musical matters while Kelley was writing the book, but there were no disagreements -

thanks for the continued advice - I am thinking I should approach Kinkos first and see what they say - the copyright is clearly marked as mine on the title page - and I have enough books to take one apart -

well, lets figure based on time - how long would it take to scan a 350 page book?