Daniel A

Thanks, Brownie! I was moved to learn that my meager contributions here are in any way missed. Things are beginning to look a bit brighter. I'll stick around!

Hi everybody! The subject of the J.J. set is enough to bring some joy to my recently rather miserable life. It should on no accounts be missed! As mentioned above, Jaspar is very good, the overall playing and arrangements are way above par, and the probability that much of this material will be available again during the next decade is slim. My favorite Mosaic set.

I've heard it once, and I thought it was pretty bad actually. And I do usually like Bill Evans. On that album he's buried in busy arrangements, through which his Fender Rhodes (of course) can sometimes barely be heard.

Thanks again! 10 Euro is a very good price for the ECM titles. Usually used copies are not cheaper than that around here. Nor is the fixed shipping price high if you order two or more LPs.

Claude, thanks for mentioning JPC, didn't know that they had a lot of LPs too! When they say that they may get an item within 1-2 weeks, are your experience that it's usually true?

Like Big Al, this set was my first purchase from Mosaic. Though there are a few really enjoyable sessions, I'm a bit more hesitant to put it among the best sets. The individual albums are mostly good on their own account, but I feel that Donald Byrd doesn't manage to hold my interest across several discs, which for example the Thad Jones or Woody Shaw sets do (speaking of trumpeters), or the excellent J.J. Johnson set. I'll probably get flamed for this, but to me Byrd sounds a bit like a good trumpeter on a bad day - all days. But if you're a fan of Byrd or Adams, you'll probably want to get it.

Actually, I didn't buy it. I browsed the web for more opinions, and came across a thread on AAJ where someone who apparently has everything Powell did (including 33 CDs worth (!) of bootlegs from his last years) posted something which basically meant "get any of Bud's albums, but not that one". If I remember correctly, he too used the word "depressing". As a guy who has only heard Powell's Blue Notes, I decided that I should get some other of his (earlier) albums before trying this.

"Jazz cat" is coming fast. He made 140 posts the day before yesterday, without too much effort it seemed. The guy obviously has much to say...

"The return of Bud Powell" (Roulette, 1964) is available at 9 Euros nearby. Clean copy. Shop will close soon, and I'll be out of town all of next week. Buy or not?

"Powerhouse" (and also "Lighthouse '68") was out on CD on the dubious 'Applause' label. But I would hardly say that counts; sound was bad and cover art sabotaged.

He appears to be playing with "The New Jazz Couriers". His website features rather recent reviews, so it seems he's still playing. http://homepages.tesco.net/~martindrew/index.htm

A good one which is still missing:

For newcomers, here's a good and informative five page guide to making MP3s with LAME: http://arstechnica.com/guides/tweaks/encoding.ars/1 The only thing it fails to mention are settings for mono encoding, but that is mentioned above in this thread.

If the total bitrate drops as much as you're experiencing here, I'd bet that this recording is as mono as it gets (and probably a bit limited in dynamic range as well). My guess, based on what I've read here, is that the bitrate would average about 90-100 kbps if you'd used mono encoding. So re-do the ripping if you want 30 percent smaller files with the same quality. Quality is not affected by encoding this in joint stereo, as you've done here, there's only some waste of space since the files are bigger than necessary.

The initial post contains a link to the Thelonious Monk blindfold test which is no longer working. I may have missed that it has been up somewhere, but anyway: the BFT is quoted in full in this thread at Jazzcorner: http://www.jazzcornertalk.com/speakeasy/sh...read.php?t=2331

Bob Florence.

Well I have good news for those interested in the Triangle album. Earlier today I sent a mail to the address quoted on the JMS records website. I just got an answer, although it's a bit strange. It appears that both Triangle and Improvise pour France Musique can be ordered directly from JMS. The pricing seems a bit strange, 25,00€ each. The solo album is a 2 CD set, so 25,00€ seems reasonable. But doesn't it seem more than a tad much for the single CD? International shipping is 10,00€ for two CDs, "postal payment" accepted. After what I've read about 'Triangle' here, it seems as if I have no choice but to order it anyway...

As I take it, the very first post was made out of genuine curiousity regarding what other posters thought about monikers. No need for statements like this, when the benefits of posting without revealing your identity have already been described in a friendly manner. If someone decides to only read fully signed posts, that's his loss (even if one wonders how much use you'd have of a message board with that attitude).

"Today and Tomorrow" was reissued on CD at the the time that was still done under the GRP imprint. Don't you think it will be issued once again eventually?

Is a first name enough? I think it doesn't take long here to get to know more about what kind of persons other posters are. I may know someone by first name only; perhaps I know that he's playing for a living, or that he's just a music fan living in this or that country. As I imagine most other posters have, I've had more personal contact with a few board members, perhaps regarding a trade, or when looking for advice prior to a trip to a country which a certain poster is living in. In those cases I've presented my full name, which the oher part has too. I have no problem taking in the opinions of posters just because I don't know their full name and identity. I tend to make the decision of what to ignore from the contents of a post, rather than if it was signed or not.

I wonder, do they remaster anything, just for making it available as a download? For example, has Paul Desmond's "Summertime" (originally A&M) been released on CD anywhere? I have the LP, would by a CD, will not download!

In my opinion, jazz was never less alive than in 1987.

This happens to be recorded five years ago. I don't own it myself, but I've heard it once and it was a very fine set. Hersch in particular shines, but so does Wheeler.

Yes, you're right of course! Well, the initial statements about the Pearson-Henderson connection still holds, but on a more scant number of albums.