Ron S

And what, pray tell, do they plan to do with any USED sets that are returned? (not that any necessarily will be)

You--or they--have GOT to be kidding. (although I know you--and they--are not)

Saw this show this weekend--TERRIFIC. I got to meet and sit next to Mr. Jazzmatazz himself, Alan Lankin. I learned about this concert from Alan's site, for which I owe him a major thanks. Benny played with a local rhythm section that was phenomenal. After about 30 minutes of answering questions from Philly jazz DJ Bob Perkins and the audience, Benny and the band played--if I counted correctly--FOURTEEN SONGS (Alan can correct me if I'm wrong), including "Killer Joe," "Cherry," "I Remember Clifford," "Whisper Not," "Take the A Train," and "Along Came Betty." All told, the show lasted over 3 hours. There seemed to be quite a few Philly friends and relatives in the audience, and we may have gotten an extra special show as a result. As others have reported, at 76, Benny looks terrific and plays phenomenally. He told a lot of stories, including about his days growing up in North Philly with John Coltrane (who was 2 years older than Benny) and jamming with Trane at Benny's house. With all that talking and blowing for over 3 hours, Benny was never winded and appeared as fresh at the end as he was at the beginning. He waited around after the show to talk to anyone who wanted to meet him (he signed my Jazztet Mosaic booklet and my Terminal 1 CD B-) ). If you get a chance to see this living legend, don't miss it.

Allen, Have you sold all your books yet? 'Cause I've been ithcin' to hijack this thread and ask if for $900 I can buy that Nat King Cole Mosaic you have stashed under your bed, not enjoy it as much as I'd anticipated, and get you to rebate me $750?

How many times do you typically read a post? And do you think perhaps it might be time to try expanding your reading list to, say, newspapers, magazines, books . . . .? (sorry, couldn't resist)

Have you checked your vital signs lately? Actually, I think it's a great set--and I didn't even get it wholesale from Caiman.

In the same vein, I've been thinking about ordering the Joe Pass set. Any comments on that?

17. 16. Do I hear 15?

So Alan, living in the Cheesesteak Capital of the World, how's YOUR cholesterol?

Caiman's price is now down to $49.63 (see here), and they're saying they have 18 in stock.

My point exactly.

As someone who has a real "Esq." after my name (when addressed by others--it's actually not proper for an attorney to refer to himself as Esquire, although many do), I think the best shot you guys have is to take this up with Ebay. And the fact that UMG IS a "Power Seller" should only peak Ebay's interest. As anyone who has placed a bid on Ebay knows, you are always explicitly warned at the time of your bid that you are undertaking a CONTRACTUAL obligation to pay the price you bid if you win the auction. Ebay is built upon the foundation of this fundamental principle, and it's easy to imagine how quickly the Ebay system would disintegrate if this principle were not enforced. For example, what would be the consequences for a BUYER who kept winning auctions and reneging on paying because he had made the winning bids "in error?" In short, Ebay's very survival depends on the enforcement of these rules, especially in the case of a large, commercial seller. And your most persuasive argument is that this item was listed for sale at this price not once, but over and over again, night after night after night. It strains credulity to assert that an honest pricing error was repeated so many times, even as several separate sales at that price were being completed and acknowledged. If it truly were an "honest" mistake, then it would rise to a level of negligence or recklessness in merchant listings that Ebay should want to strongly discourage. Anyway, that's my free advice. And it's worth about as much as you're paying for it.

Well don't despair yet. Someone received a similar email, although apparently not quite as specific, a few days ago (see here), and there have been subsequent sales at the $99 price. So who knows? Maybe again tonight.

I can't tell you exactly where it is, but I CAN tell you that this DVD was filmed there:

My wife does Target, too. I guess that just means we're married to a coupla babes, Jeff. Yup! In fact, here's a picture of our wives the last time they were at Target together trying on lingerie:

My wife does Target, too. I guess that just means we're married to a coupla babes, Jeff.

If anyone's interested, here's a great page of Jack Sheldon photos and sound/video clips, including the intro to "Run Buddy Run," some video clips of Jack playing the trumpet, video of an interview in which he discusses the differences between his playing and Chet Baker's, and an audio clip of a comedy monologue on being fat that includes a swipe at Leonard Feather.

Thank yaaaaaaw! (Pee Wee thanks you, too).

That's rich. Meanwhile, back at the Black Hawk . . . .

See my avatar. Never mind--I'll make it bigger: This and the other 4 volumes offer some of the best played, best recorded live club jazz ever. I recently A-B'd these with some other live sets of the same 1959-61 vintage (Miles at the Black Hawk, Byrd/Pepper at the Half Note, Art Blakey at the Jazz Corner of the World, etc.), and the level of ensemble playing on this set, plus the clarity and presence of the sound, were way ahead of the others. Not that the others aren't good, but just that the Manne/Black Hawk recordings are phenomenal--at least to my ears. And these haven't been remastered (at least in the US) since their initial CD issue in the early '90's. Frankly, there's virtually no room for improvement, which I guess Fantasy has figured out (and hence no U.S. 20-bit K2's).

I'm still wondering why only the Farlow set--and not the other 2 Verve sets with European versions and runs of 10,000 (Jazztet and Eldridge)--is being so widely distributed in the U.S. for such a low price. Is it not selling well?

I still say that whatever his reputation was among jazz critics in the '50's, it wasn't helped at all by the somewhat wacky public persona he cultivated in 1960's mass media. But again, you're absolutely correct that his music should be allowed to speak for itself.

Is it true that "mike casinghino" of Connecticut is actually the Organissimo Board alter ego of another Michael C. from Connecticut?

Yep--great small-group stuff from the late '30's (for some reason I was only thinking big band).

I have this 3-disc Columbia set, and it's very nice: The first disc has 24 pre-Blanton/Webster tracks. It's not a comprehensive collection of all the Columbia material from that period by any means, but the set presents a nice survey of all of Ellington's Columbia recordings. And the 80-page booklet that comes with it is terrific--lots of info, photos, etc. and very well organized. For early Ellington, there's also the 2-disc Okeh set: A lot of the same songs as on the Brunswick set, but recorded for the Okeh label. The sound is more processed (less surface noise) than on the Brunswick set, but still acceptable. And 6 of the tracks in this set are also included in the above Columbia set.