bertrand

Oh, of course, I'll just buy a mac so I can load defective CDs to my iPod. Cheaper solution: I won't buy the defective CDs. Bertrand.

Can we still call them 'sides' in the CD era? Bertrand.

I'm an optimist: maybe they're re-pressing 'em to remove the copy protection in light of the negative reactions to the last batch. Did I mention that at age 42, I still believe in Santa Claus? Bertrand.

I never visit Ebay, but a co-worker told me about this auction: Item # 5799704220 This guy was selling a 20-gig iPod loaded with up to 5,000 songs. The songs were not already loaded, he was offering the winner the chance to submit a list, and he would either import the tunes from his own collection or from the iTunes store. Questions: 1. Can use sell pre-loaded MP3 players? I guess this is morally equivalent to selling used CDs, but there is a huge volume difference. 2. If I submit a list of 5,000 tracks none of which are in his collection, he will have to spend $4,950 loading this sucker - unless he has a big-ass gift card, or found a way to download from iTunes for free. 3. Does this guy realize how long this will take to load??? WTF??? Bertrand.

Mike, Quincy said that he was able to load into into iTunes. Note that he did not say he downloaded it, but I thought you couldn't even read the track info. Bertrand.

Ummm... How did you put the Blakey into iTunes? I thought that was a no-no according to the Gods of copy protection. Bertrand.

I didn't really see anything earth-shattering for me, but thanks for the tip. If you do not have Rites of Passage, grab it ASAP! This my favorite of all his records in the last 20 years. Bertrand.

Is there a link for a specific part of the site where these reside, or do I have to browse? Thanks, Bertrand.

Jim Walker is apparently well-known as a flute player in classical circles. He played on one track on Miles' Siesta. Larry Klein is a rock bassist, once married to Joni Mitchell with whom he recorded in the early eighties. Don't know anything about Hill. Bertrand.

I just got from yourmusic.com the 20-bit CD of Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus on Impulse! This has a bonus track, 'Freedom', same track with narration as on Epitaph. During the part where Mingus sings, I clearly hear a woman singing as well, yet she is uncredited. Her voice sounds familiar, possibly Honi Gordon. Any ideas? Thanks, Bertrand.

Does the Blue Note discography second edition show McLean as absent on the rejected 'Ceora' from 9/17/65? I know this was a question I asked Cuscuna at the time he was preparing it, but I can't recall the answer. Bertrand.

7/20/56: they recorded two Bird tunes together, one appears on Messages, one on 4,5,6. They appear together on all six tracks of Charisma; 'No More Goodbyes' from Hi Voltage is a quartet track. They also appear together on three tracks on Cornbread; McLean is out on 'Ceora' and 'Ill Wind'. Byrd in Flight does not count - McLean is the only sax on two tracks, Mobley on the rest. When Fantasy put out the Messages as one CD, they had to leave a tune out. They should have left out the piece with Jackie and put it out as a bonus cut on 4,5,6. Instead, 'Alternating Current' is still orphaned. Any tapes of the 10/18/75 gig Bertrand.

The trio track 'Work' from the same LP is perfect as well. Amazing that Monk never recorded it again. This was the performance that T.S. Monk heard that made him realize what a heavy-hitter his dad was. I can understand why. He listened to it to test some speakers he had made or bought, and wound up listening to it over and over. Bertrand.

What Mike said. Bertrand.

This may or may not help: A few years ago, Dan Skea (who is doing an RVG discography) sent me a list of Prestige dates for which he needed more information on the location. If I remember correctly, Dan was looking at an edition of Ruppli's discography that was vague about location. It may have been something like listing Englewood Cliffs on all entires, or something like that. In the end, I was able to clear some things up. I thought I would look at LPs at the Felix Grant Jazz Archives in DC, but they had only a few of them. In the end, I found a different edition of the Ruppli book which had more details. Sorry I'm being vague, I didin't keep any records of my work on this, but I know it helped Dan so that was good. I think Dan later found a copy of the 'detailed' edition somewhere. So, the remaining questions are: 1. What edition of the Ruppli book was I looking at? 2. Where did I find it? My guess is it was the edition as the University of Maryland Performing Arts Library. It was NOT the one at the Library of Congress. I will try to confirm this, and look up the edition information. I have to go to UMD Friday, but I will have only a little time there. If I can, I will look it up, unless you find it before. Bertrand.

I saw Elling last year with Al Jarreau (yikes) at the Thelonious Monk vocal finals. I believe they were doing 'All Blues'. It was painful to watch except for one major factor: Wayne was playing with them, and was doing some AMAZING shit. Talk about saving a train wreck. Bertrand.

Chris, Was Wynton Marsalis there too Thanks to everyone for their input so far. I'm very happy to see that Brana joined the board; we've been good friends for over 10 years now. I'll throw in a couple of comments since I know Brana won't be able to check the board today. Mike, We suspected that Berliner would cover this topic, but Brana's copy is still in storage since she just moved to Virginia! Brana, It just occurred to me - until you get your stuff unpacked, the University Library hopefully has a copy of Berliner's book. I can't believe I didn't think about that earlier. Bertrand.

I just posted my first post in the formal 'Fantasy Appreciation' thread. Please feel free to contribute there as well, for that is the thread I will print for Cynthia at the end of the month. Bertrand.

I am starting this thread on the Organissimo Bulletin board to express my appreciation of the wonderful job that has been done by Fantasy records throughout the years in making all the extraordinary music in their catalog available to jazz fans like myself, but also to fans of many other musical genres as well. What I particularly appreciate was how the label has been making a concerted effort to dig deeply into their catalog, thereby making available rare gems that other labels would probably have ignored. Albums such as Jimmy Woods' Conflict, Joe Gordon's Lookin' Good, Gigi Gryce's Rat Race Blues, Harold Land's The Fox, Woody Shaw's Blackstone Legacy, Frank Strozier's Jazzland sessions, Rene Thomas' Guitar Groove and Larry Young's Young Blues are just a few among the many masterpieces that I have discovered throughout the years, and which I am sure many major labels would have left languish in the vaults. In addition, and especially in the last few years, Fantasy has been releasing previously unissued performances, adding to my collection of the recordings of some of my favorite artists. One particular example is the unissued Larry Young session from 2/28/63. As a longtime fan of Larry's music, I had long hoped that this lost session would someday see the light of day, and thanks to Fantasy, we are now able to hear this date, which is a fascinating 'missing link' between his Prestige records and his Blue Note dates. Of course, Fantasy has also done an outsatanding job reissuing the music of some of the best-known artists in the catalog. I know that many people have thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful-sounding 20-bit and SACD Hybrid reissues of such giants as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane. Another unique aspect of the Fantasy label is that they have managed throughout the years to keep this great catalog in print and available for fans to buy. This is a truly remarkable commitment to their customers, and shows a deep understanding and appreciation of the historical importance of their catalog. No other label with as large a jazz catalog has been able to keep their titles in print over such a long period of time. We all hope that the wonderful catalog of Fantasy records can continue to be shown the same respect and loving treatment that Fantasy Inc. has shown throughout the years. Sincerely, Bertrand Uberall.

I spoke at length to Cynthia Patterson in Customer Service at Fantasy a week or so ago. There have definitely been some changes, but the good news is that Concord has yet to make any decisions on how they are going to run Fantasy, or even if they are going to change the way it operates (although our conversation precedes the announcement of the RVG Prestige titles). I proposed that I would start a thread on the Organissimo board for those of us who wish to express our appreciation of all that Fantasy has done in the past, especially in terms of mining the catalogue for obscure titles and keeping things in print. I will print that thread at the end of the month and send it to her, and she will forward to those at Concord who are thinking about how best to approach handling the Fantasy catalog, and perhaps that will help them decide to keep things pretty much as they are. I have no idea how much customer feedback Concord has received, but I figure it doesn't hurt to try. So I will start another thread in reissues. Feel free to add your comments, but only positive comments please (no point in shooting ourselves in the foot). If you have any reservations to express, please do so in this thread, which we can use as a discussion board on the subject if you wish. The other thread is intended to be a 'why I like Fantasy' thread for those in charge to read. If you'd like, you can also e-mail some comments to Cynthia which she will pass on: cpatterson@fantasyjazz.com I hope this helps! Bertrand.

My two cents: 1. I vote for Butch Warren, if we're voting. 2. Rouse sounds good on some Monk records, not so good on others. I can't say he's my least favorite, but he's not in my pantheon either. Depending on my mood, his tonality can be a bit jarring. Bertrand.

Concerning the 'stick with the LP' option proposed by some: LPs were fine in their day, but the main advantage of getting some of the CD reissues is the bonus tracks that were never available on LP. In the case of Drum Suite, there is an alternate that I'm pretty sure was never on any LP. With their current set-up, I will not be able to load this alternate to my iPod. And that just bites. Bertrand.

Also missing: 'Have You Met Miss Jones?' Pink Floyd's 'Have A Cigar'. Bertrand.

He should be happy he didn't get shot.

She already had one organist on her show - Bill Heid. But not because of his organ skills. He was there because he holds the title of most miles travelled by hitch-hiking. I wonder if his jazz credentials were discussed at all during the interview (haven't seen it). Bertrand.