crisp

Thanks Lon

Link? I can't tell what this Gould box is.

It's available now: details.

Belatedly -- many happy returns!

Thanks v much for all that, Flurin. Looks like the Complete trumps the All Monk. I expect it trumps the individual discs put out recently as Keepnews Collection or OJC Remasters too. I suppose I'll have to get it it (sigh).

Pleased about the Evans, but the Monk seems unnecessary since All Monk seems to have dealt with that material I think "All Monk" may not have all the outtakes, though I don't know for sure. I fairly recently purchased "All Monk", and it does not have outtakes (I believe the set is a simple collection of the 16 original OJC CD releases). It also has a minimal booklet, consisting of images of original OJC booklet covers, track listings and personnel. Thanks. I have all the recent Keepnews/OJC remasters of Monk so I'll have to do an x-ref to see what, if anything, is in the box that isn't on those CDs. I'm hoping not a lot.

Pleased about the Evans, but the Monk seems unnecessary since All Monk seems to have dealt with that material

Same here, but given Head Man's view that the WBs were "loud and harsh" I have my doubts.

Ah, I guess I've jumped the gun! Perhaps someone could comment on the sound of the earlier CTI CDs. Did all five get reissued? You've probably not jumped the gun since as has been noted these are likely to be old Columbia/Sony CD masterings. Sony has even reached as far back as the 1980s with the masterings for some of these sets. It's not impossible that some people here will have heard these the first time round.

Even if you find the jones corny the performers are always worth watching. Plus you will learn *such* a lot about the English...

I doubt they are remasters, but they will probably not be the Wounded Bird versions but the most recent Sony/Columbia ones.

A Keith Jarrett set is coming on April 27: Amazon listing.

They are *very* British and maybe don't travel that well. Although they started out as gentle satires on British institutions (the army, the NHS...), the humour became increasingly dominated by sexual innuendo and this and their excellent repertory cast of famous comedians is what they became famous for (think Benny Hill humour). That said, Nurse was apparently a surprise hit in the US in its day. It's pretty untypical, though, being an early example before the repertory company had been built (Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and many others were all regulars) and the sex jokes had taken hold. Try one of the better of the Sixties or Seventies entries for a more accurate picture, e.g., Cleo, Screaming, Up the Khyber...

This might appeal to few people here but Jake Thackray's Jake in a Box 4 CD set is just under £5 at Amazon UK.

Thanks, that's something to consider. I like the idea of a "Mancini budget"

I highly recommend this bargain.

I wouldn't put Doris at the opposite end of the spectrum to those guys. She has as much soul as any of them.

I also had the pleasure of seeing her live in London a few years before she died. She performed seated throughout at a major concert hall (maybe the Royal Festival, I can't recall) and was superb, just as Duane says above. A true legend.

Vocalion sale: classical as well as jazz and easy listening.

Sale. Most of the jazz is after page 20.

Then there is the wonderful death notice he wrote himself and arranged to have posted in The Times:

Now it's Time for Livin' By the Association.

Yes, there's an irony there.

Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Third volume of Mercury coming in March. £99.31 for 53 discs (10 new to CD) at Amazon UK.