jazztrain

More bad news: http://allafrica.com/stories/201308210658.html

Heard a promo for this while driving to work: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/08/21/john-coltranes-a-love-supreme It airs live in a few hours and should be available later from the website.

Just heard the news while driving to work. Too much bad news lately. I had the opportunity to meet Marian a few times. She was very pleasant and almost self-effacing. RIP.

That label is one of those things that have long fascinated me...but I've never bought anything of theirs. The website ordering process seems rather nebulous. Is there a more..."linear" way to get their catalog? I used to order his releases from Cadence/North Country which probably is no longer an option. A friend used to order directly from Barnett. If he could manage it (he's a luddite in some respects), it can't be that difficult.

Yes, you're right, the Aaron Sachs on Rama (see below) was reissued by Fresh Sound. This Aaron Sachs 10 inch on Bethlehem (see below) has not, to my knowledge, been reissued on CD. It had been reissued on LP as half of this 12 inch: The other half of "We Brought Our Axes" was originally on a 10 inch Hank D'Amico record (see below) and has recently been reissued in Japan. Aaron gave me a burned copy of the Bethlehem LP he made with Jimmy Raney and Hall Overton, so Fresh Sound probably put that one out. That sounds like the LP on the RAMA label ("Clarinet & Co."), not the Bethlehem LP which had Urbie Green, Danny Bank, Barry Galbraith, Clyde Lombardi and Osie Johnson. And yes - the RAMA LP was reissued by Fresh sound both on vinyl and CD. Otherwise, I agree with jazztrsin. Lots of obvious items there that have already been reissued a couple of times whereas others seem to be overlooked constantly.

Looks like mostly the same old stuff. There are some interesting Bethlehem titles that never seem to get reissued, such as the Dick Wetmore, the Milt Hinton, the Sam Most and Aaron Sachs albums, and the two albums by the Six to name a few, although it's possible that Fresh Sound may have covered some of these. The Hank D'Amico on Bethlehem seems to be out at last in Japan. Some of the listed titles look like they may be downloads only.

Although arguably not relevant to the "where to start" question regarding Stuff Smith, those who have progressed beyond the initial exposure phase may be interested in some really deep material involving Stuff Smith that is available in a series of issues from the AB Fable label. See here: http://www.abar.net/

Previously discussed a bit here: Many years ago, Concord had a promotion in which they asked about recommendations for reissues. I remember suggesting some of the Kamuca albums. Never happened.

The title tune on this album is one of my favorite versions.

Dan, You might find the following 60 Minutes program rather eye opening (no pun intended): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424700n My recollection is that the program said that most national chains and many independent stores get frames and lenses that trace back to an Italian company (Luxottica).

Correct (regarding taters). His nickname was "The Boomer." I saw him live on many occasions in Boston and many more times on TV during his second tenure with the Red Sox. He was a big man but suprisingly nimble given his size. He was an excellent fielder (I think he won 8 Golden Gloves) and had good power (tied for the league lead in "taters" one year) but also stuck out a lot. I used to love to watch him during infield practice. He had a unique way of flipping grounders to his infielders, kind of a cross between a sidearmed and underhand motion, that put a lot of english on the ball. He's also the subject of one of my sadder memories from Fenway Park, namely the time I heard a drunk "fan" yelling at him to go home and pick cotton.

My recollection (I'm out of town at the moment) is that the Phontastic LPs (and presumably the later CDs) provided alternates, not the master takes, of the Goodman material. I can't think of any comprehensive issue of the master takes. French CBS issued two big boxes of Basie recordings. These boxes were more complete than the later series of orange double albums. My recollection (I'm out of town at the moment) is that the Phontastic LPs (and presumably the later CDs) provided alternates, not the master takes, of the Goodman material. I can't think of any comprehensive issue of the master takes. French CBS issued two big boxes of Basie recordings. These boxes were more complete than the later series of orange double albums.

Not exactly, but their website has a page (you need to click on the "Addresses for Mail Order" or "Distributors" menu options on the left) with contact information for mail order and distributors in various countries and worldwide: http://www.hathut.com/home.html Hope this helps. Their address (non e-mal) is: Hat Hut Records Ltd. P.O.Box 521, 4020 Basel, Switzerland Hope this helps.

Finally had a chance for a quick listen. "Used to Be" and "Afternoon" are different compositions. The two performances of Trudgin' are different takes.

I remembering wondering how the music ended up on ECM but was grateful to have these sessions together in a convenient format.

I have a Japanese LP reissue of Fusion as well as the ECM cd set. The listed timing for "Used To Be" is 3'44". The timing of "Afternoon" listed on the CD is 5'10". The timings for the other titles agree within a second or two except for "Trudgin." The LP timing for Trudgin' is listed as 4'02" while the CD booklet shows 4'33". I'll have to try to confirm that they are really different tonight or tomorrow if this is of interest.

I saw Eubie Blake live a few times in the early to mid 1970s as best as I can recall. He was a delight. He also had the longest fingers that I had ever seen (probably still the case).