Ron S

You're right! Well it was OOP. And I see when you go to the page for "Feelin' Free", they have "Red Hot and Blues"--also previously OOP--listed for sale! Could Concord actually be bringing some of these titles back? Or maybe they're just clearing out some old stock that Fantasy had in storage. Needless to say, time will tell.

Or at least no more offering both the K2 and the OJC releases of the same title. I'm just speculating--don't know that's going to happen for a fact. Right now, the site's so screwed up it's hard to tell exactly what they're going to keep in the catalog (e.g., under Wes Montgomery in the "Shop" section, there are no K2's, but they're also completely missing titles like "Boss Guitar" and "Full House" that I can't imagine them deleting from the catalog ).

Now when you type www.fantasyjazz.com into your browser, it takes you directly to the new Concord site--no first stop in Fantasyland. Of course Concord, being headquartered in Beverly Hills, has to have a web site that is totally Hollywood with all the bells and whistles and fancy web effects. I know they're still working on it, but this site seems much slower and more awkard to negotiate. While the old Fantasy site was somewhat behind the times from a web-design technology perspective (no fancy Macromedia Flash effects, etc.), it had an elegant simplicity that made it easy to negotiate to get to the information you were seeking very quickly. Incidentally, on the Concord home page, a search under "W" in the artitsts drop-down (alphabetized by FIRST name now ) reveals a list that is missing Wes Montgomery. I know that's only temporary--you can still get to him through the convoluted "shop" pathway--but still, . . . . Also, something tells me that we're no longer going to see both the original and the 20-bit K2 masterings of titles maintained in the catalog. Of course, we'll be lucky if any mastering of a lot of these titles is kept in the catalog.

Thanks, guys. I've already received or ordered several of those recommended here--as well as some others--but I'm sure I'll be picking up a lot more Venuses in the near future. Although the best prices are definitely at Cadence--especially with the $1 subscriber's discount--it looks like ejazzlines.com has the most comprehensive information on Venuses, including complete track listings for all they stock and sound samples for a lot of them. Of course, there's always the Venus site itself, but it isn't very complete and isn't the easiest to navigate if you don't read Japanese. If anyone else feels like listing your favorite Venuses here, please do. My search before starting this thread turned up Venus recommendations spread throughout several threads and forums and, since there appear to be several members who are big fans of this label, I thought it made sense to have a thread devoted to discussion of Venus releases.

And that's with a free shipping option, unlike Caiman's price. Also, if you happen to get one of the sets with the slightly defective disc (see above), Amazon has a great return policy--they'll send you a new set immediately (without waiting for the defective set to be returned), and you print out a prepaid return label online for the defective set.

But what about the 20-bit K2 remastering?

indeed!

You're absolutely right, Chris. Both of them are abominations that defile and corrupt the memory of the illustrious body of work that was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Little Joe:

The new Concord site indicates that it will replace the old Fantasy site. Man, this sucks.

This is the later (1969) Contemporary (with Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, and Chuck Domanico) to which Larry was referring: It is a great recording but, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's OOP. I was going to verify that when, much to my chagrin, I discovered that the Fantasy Jazz site is NO MORE, and has been replaced by a new Concord site.

Try going to the Fantasy site (www.fantasyjazz.com), then wait a couple of seconds. And be prepared: life as we knew it is OVER.

TM, thanks for mentioning this. I like--and have--a lot of 50's West Coast jazz, which of course includes several sessions with these two. I've considered this Select before, but now I'll definitely have to add it to my Mosaic wish list.

But at least those served a purpose--protecting the LP from getting scratched. The cardboard jewel case sleeves are just a marketing gimmick (although I confess that I keep them when the CD comes with one).

(Hmmmm . . . . . I wonder when would be a good time to catch some Rodcast? )

You should do like I do and just keep on hand a supply of different kinds of jewel cases ordered from here. That way your CD cases will always look nice and purdy and brand-spankin'-new.

. . . . and if that doesn't make you buy that set, nothing will.

She may have to go to prison for 8 months, but I bet that when she gets out she'll be invited to a lot of parties.

Very perceptive. Well, yes and no. Autin certainly is "Texan". Nobody would/should claim otherwise. But the state is so damn big, and so dam geographically and culturally diverse that its only one type of "Texan". I.E. - I've played a few joints in (north) East Texas where the directons included the line "you come to the end of the dirt road and then you go..." Don't think they have that in Austin. Listen, relative to the rest of Texas, Austin ain't just "a whole other country," it's a whole other planet.

Very perceptive.

You should have bought the Buddy/Sweets cd from yourmusic for 5.99. With free shipping.

Thanks Peter. Now I just have to figure out which other Venus's to get this time to fill out my Cadence order.

And what about his Venus recordings? I'm on a Venus kick right now and am thinking of getting a Mabern or two.

I'm not sure which Russell Malone you may have in mind (if Venus has more than one of his titles) but I have his Wholly Cats from Venus, and I consider it one of his best discs. A real lively straight-ahead date, lots of drive. Yep, that's his one and only Venus. I was strongly leaning towards ordering it, and that clinches it. As I said above, the Venus discs are somewhat expensive, and I'm hesitant to order one without either hearing some samples or seeing some sort of review or feedback like yours. Thanks!

Never mind--just did a search and found some posts. Looks like Jim Sangry's a big fan.

I'd be more willing to do that if these Japanese imports weren't so damn expensive (and I could find some online samples of these particular discs). Actually, I'll probably go for the Malone the next time I order from Cadence--I like everything else I have of his, and being on Venus it's probably pretty good. I'm not that familiar with Richie Cole, but the West Side Story tunes intrigued me. Anyone have any opinions of Cole in general?