Daniel A

I've been using a Technics SL-1210 for ten years, but I'm just about to get a - guess what - Thorens TD 160!!! I've been thinking of getting a Thorens for some time now; they can sometimes even be found very cheap here. Just yeasterday I spotted an incredible ad in my morning newspaper: someone was offering a complete stereo (including amp, tuner, cassette deck, speakers AND a Thorens turntable) for 50 Euros! An elderly woman told me on the phone that it was all gone of course; the ad had been in the paper the day before too, Sunday... I was initially set to find a TD 125, mainly because of the nice design. However they appear to be rare over here so now I'm getting a TD 160 instead. I'm actually trading a wrecked drum kit I used up to my early teens for the Thorens, which a friend of mine found on a dump! Incredibly, it's working fine, but I think I will let some HiFi look at it before I'm playing any rarities. The rest of the setup is: Receiver: Harman Kardon 930 (from 1973) CD player: Harman Kardon HD 7325 (1994) MD deck: Sony MDS-JE 530 (2000) Speakers: Jamo CL 25 (1992) Headphones: Grado SR 60 (2000) I stored away my cassette deck a year ago (a 70s Akai) because I never used it. Actually I very rarely use the MD deck; mainly for recordings from radio. When I feel I can afford it, I will probably invest in a new CD player with burning capabilities. The next thing to upgrade should probably be the speakers. I tried a few years ago, but found myself dissatisfied with the sound of all speakers I could afford (in the price range 500-600 Euro). Jamo does not have such a good reputation from what I've heard, but I still thought they sounded better than the Dynaudios people were recommending me. Someone suggested that it was because I had gotten so used to the sound of my inferior speakers... Anyway I'm happy with them for the time being. I happened to get into a HiFi store as someone was testing a tube amp once (incidentally by playing the Duke Ellington Columbia LP 'Jazz Party in Stereo'), so I know how a really good setup can sound, but I don't let the shortcomings of my system distract from the music.

The only time Mosaic has left out anything from original LP releases in a "complete" set?

Courtesy of Lon, I would describe this whole matter as a bit "internetish".

My suggestion in that category: Joe Henderson's 'Punjab'. A great tune, which (to my knowledge) have not been done without horns. What a great idea this is! Is it possible to pre-order?

Yes, good tunes, I agree. In fact, several excellent themes which are seldom covered, such as Duke Pearson's 'Yes or No'. But Morgan is 50 percent patented licks and Mobley sounds tired and out of tune. Walton is the star of the session, IMO.

In the U.S. perhaps, but not here. Upon my question the owner of a record shop said (which may be true or false) that a few titles did not have distribution in Sweden, apparently by decision by the Swedish subsidiary of EMI.

Has someone else than me thought of the fact that Cowell more frequently than most other pianists does not solo when appearing as a sideman? A great pity since he's such a fine soloist. I can think of several recordings under Hutcherson, Stan Getz, J.J. Johnson and others where Cowell does not take a solo on every track. I'm not saying that everyone in a band should solo on every tune, but it appears that Cowell chooses not to solo more often than I want him to!

I can safely state that I've never seen 'Jazz Immortal' in any of the shops I visit frequently. I've heard that some RVG (and Conn) titles aren't distributed in this country.

Happy birthday, Conn!!!

I can recall times when I've had to pay additional VAT on my Mosaic orders. Not every time, but it has happened. I don't say that we shouldn't support Mosaic. But it seems that for each penny Mosaic will get from me when I buy from them, I'll have to pay considerably more. In that case, better to buy the set over here and give Mosaic a donation...

A 7/4 said, you don't have to worry about that! Except from the last sessions where he's playing some rather dated synths, it's all acoustical piano or the occasional Fender Rhodes. And he plays very well too, sounding like a mix of Chick Corea and - I suppose - none other than himself. There is a very nice track from the aforementioned 'Merry-Go-Round' album which features both Hammer and Corea on Rhodes, along with just bass, drums and percussion.

The village of Kårböle is said to be situated in the absolute center of Sweden...

I think I read somewhere that the session was intended as a Willie Wilson release on Jazzline, but that it never came out, and subsequently was released as a Duke Pearson album - which, in all fairness, it was to some extent. It appears that Duke did organize the date to help an old friend of his. If I'm not mistaken it was Wilson's only appearance on record.

Use the search function! I'm almost certain he's mentioned here somewhere, as well as on the previous board. I think someone, possibly Bertrand or Mike Fitzgerald, said he died during the last 10-15 years or so.

I certainly think many of Zappa's tunes may be performed in jazz contexts. And there have been attempts at that; Jean-Luc Ponty did and album of Zappa tunes rather early on, allthough that may be closer to fusion than to jazz, and I know of several different big band projects. Regarding the comments above that the tunes work because of the peculiar intrumentation Zappa often favored, there may be some point in that, but I think it's a problem that can be worked around by creative arranging. It is perhaps easier, though, to arrange the tunes for a big band than a combo. I have the Palermo album, and I agree that it sometimes misses the point. A Swedish big band did a similar project a year or two ago - different tunes than Palermo did, but with similar results. The orchestra featured a femal vocalist on several numbers, in my opinion not a good move. If one has decided to try to make adaptions of Zappa material for a smaller jazz group work, I think one mustn't try too hard to "jazz up" the tunes. Then it all ends up like the archetypal Beatles piano trio album we've all heard, but don't want to hear again...

Happy birthday, Claude! Another year ahead of enjoying life and music!

A friend of mine has become quite obsessed with having first pressings ONLY. He still enjoys music, though, but in the form of MP3s, because he is too lazy to get the LPs out; in that case he would have to stand up... He has some self-insight after all - I heard him joke the other day that from now on he would only accept original master tapes, rather than records.

I was in the shop today, and it really appears to be a first edition; very close to mint condition too. I'm going to trade in some stuff for it on Friday...

Perhaps not as much uniformly happy, as satisfying in a way, if you see what I mean. http://www.jupiter2.com/eo/eo_exclusive/ti...eview_evil.html

Happy birthday, Brownie!!!

Thanks, everybody!!! I'm overwhelmed and heartened by the mass of congratulations from you board members! The number of phone calls and letters I received didn't come close! We spent the day at home, the late afternoon at a restaurant and the night at the movies (watching a Swedish film, in case anyone's curious), and I thought it was a great day indeed.

Thanks, Hans!! Now I'll return to counting my grey hairs...

A Carl Perkins discography, found here, seems to indicate that the edited versions were released on the Japanese CD, too. However, there appears to be correct Japanese LPs around; at least the "lost" track 'This Is Always' appears on a few of them. Look at this mess:

Thanks for the info, John and Brownie. Seems like a safe bet to go for the original LP after all. I'm just uncertain how to know if it's the edited or unedited release? It seems that there was one release with edited tracks before Larry Bunker was dubbed in. I suppose I could check the timing of the tracks and compare them with what AMG gives for the CD issue. Regarding the Japanese CD it does not include 'This Is Always', which allegedly appeared on the original LP. That suggests that it's taken from the same tapes as the US 1988 CD release. It is labelled as 'Jazz Guitar +1', apparently because it includes one bonus track, but it's nevertheless a bit misleading since it also lacks one track from the original album.

For a non-native English speaking person, sometimes the nomenclature is a bit confusing. I'm not sure what any particular types of sleeves discussed here actually are (except for "rice paper" ). Could someone please explain in very simple words - if possible - what 'poly' and 'mylar' is?