neveronfriday

Ditto here.

Yes, and a brief test proves it as well. I've reloaded, queried, etc. What I get are the wildest jumps from 0.2 to over 9. That's definitely other sites intervening. Some sites seem to be hogging script time. I'm assuming that you are on a stable server and then other sites seem to be the only explanation, especially since this board software is quite good at querying efficiently. Whenever some other site runs intensive queries, query time is added here. I had the exact problem myself, but knowing the Internet, God, Bill Gates and George Bush could also be at fault. Who knows. P.S.: I upgraded my own site to a server with exclusive script time and haven't had a problem since then. But I had to shell out quite a bit of dough. Over here, script time does not come cheap. Package offers might seem like a great bargain, but when you need to run scripts, you can easily tell that more cash will get you more speed. Especially since every idiot needs an SQL-/database- driven site today.

BTW: Links like "today's active topics" take an average of 9.6 and above here. That supports the idea that anything more complex needs a lot more script time. I'll try to keep track the next couple of hours.

I actually have kept an eye on it because I myself use a similar script on my own sites. Today I got everything between 2.8 and 4.6. Nothing below. It's almost like things get "stuck" once in a while. A query will run and will then not put out anything (it probably times out, although there's no error). I ran several more "complex" search queries with more than 4 words today and several turned up with nothing. No search results page, no error page, nothing. Just the page I entered the search into with the message "done" in the status bar. From experience I would say that the big O is on a server together with other sites that use mySQL queries extensively (other forums, shops, etc.). If possible, try to verify that and ask to be moved to one with less SQL traffic. I had the same problems last time I moved all my shite elsewhere, and a simple in-house move away from SQL-heavy traffic sites did the trick. P.S.: I was on a server with 4 porn sites initially (and many others), but the leeches killed everyone else on the server.

More people should have this box. If you are interested in big band jJazz and swing, this is an absolute must-have. The music is just so much fun, and it swings like mad. I have tons of bb and swing jazz, much of it many times more expensive than this box, but this one gets constant airplay around here. I should have bought this one a lot earlier than I did. Very highly recommended, especially since you can pick it up cheap from various vendors all over the Internet. Haven't checked lately, but it should be available at very reasonable prices. Love it.

All this info was ripped from the CD Universe site. They have the boxes, as stated elsewhere, for around $23. RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

For those ready to do the footwork (comparing the original series to the content of the new boxes), here you go. I'm too lazy. Jazz In Paris I: Champs Elysees 1917-1949 DISC 1: AUTOUR DU BOEUF SUR LE TOIT: 1. Toison d'Or/Holidays - Jean Cocteau 2. Mood Indigo - Garland Wilson 3. I'm Leavin' For Albany - Josephine Baker 4. J'Ai Deux Amours - Sam Wooding 5. Farewell Blues - Benny Carter 6. Josette - Orchestre Musette Swing Royal 7. L'OEil Noir - Joseph Reinhardt 8. Loin - Le Quintette Francais 9. Palm Beach - Andre Ekyan 10. 67 Rue Couperin - Christian Bellest 11. Michou - Michel Warlop 12. Minor Blues - Django Reinhardt 13. Danse Norvégienne - Django Reinhardt 14. Swamp Mist - Rex Stewart 15. I'm Confessin' - Rex Stewart 16. Laura - Don Byas 17. Somebody Loves Me - The New Stars Of The Hot Club De France 18. Mad Monk - Tyree Glenn 19. Nicole - Howard McGhee 20. Convulsions - James Moody 21. Margie - Sidney Bechet 22. St. James Infirmary - Bill Coleman DISC 2: EN REMONTANT LE CHAMPS-ELYSEES: 1. Jumpin' at Pleyel - Bill Coleman 2. Stompin' at the Savoy - Bernard Peiffer 3. Venez Donc Chez Moi - Henri Renaud 4. Chasin' Sarah - Ronnell Bright 5. Swing 42 - Stephane Grappelli 6. Vega Blues - Andre Ekyan 7. Tire, Tire l'Aiguille - Mary Lou Williams 8. Sweet And Lovely - Dizzy Gillespie 9. Sad Walk - Chet Baker 10. What Is Thing Called Love? - Art Simmons 11. Night In Tunisia, A - Buddy Banks 12. Cherokee - Raymond Fol 13. Blue Rondo A La Turk - Elek Bacsik 14. Down In The Depths On The 90th Floor - Blossom Dearie 15. Man I Love, The - Jack Dieval 16. Trombones A Tout Faire - Michel Legrand DISC 3: MINUIT SUR LES CHAMPS: 1. Florence Sur Les Champs-Elysees - Miles Davis 2. Bag's Groove - Eddy Louiss 3. Dance Of The Infidels - Art Blakey 4. Moment's Notice - Slide Hampton 5. Meeting - Rene Thomas 6. Three Little Words - Lester Young 7. Blues On The Champs-Elysees - Joe Newman 8. Blue Lester - Maurice Vander 9. When The World Was Young - Stan Getz 10. That's All - Sarah Vaughan Jazz In Paris II: Montmartre 1924-1939 DISC 1: L'AGE D'OR: 1. Saint Louis Blues - Louis Armstrong 2. Will You, Won't You Be My Baby? - Louis Armstrong 3. Super Tiger Rag - Louis Armstrong 4. Song Of The Vipers - Louis Armstrong 5. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Louis Armstrong 6. Wo Ist Der Mann? - Marlene Dietrich 7. I Got Rhythm - Freddy Johnson 8. Harlem Bound - Freddy Johnson 9. Grabbin' Blues - Arthur Briggs 10. Japanese Sandman - Arthur Briggs 11. Novel Pets - Michel Warlop 12. Budding Dancers - Michel Warlop 13. China Boy - Danny Polo 14. Montmartre Moan - Danny Polo 15. Trees - Herman Chittison 16. Georgina - Ensemble Swing Du Hot Club Colonial 17. Voyage Au Long Cours - Fredy Jumbo Et Son Ensemble 18. Love Again - Wal-Berg & His Orchestra 19. Phillipe's Stomp - Orchestre Musette Swing Royal 20. Stumbling - Mitchell's Jazz Kings DISC 2: DJANGO ET STEPHANE: 1. Louis Armstrong's Souvenir Of Django - Louis Armstrong 2. Saint Louis Blues - Stephane Grappelli 3. I've Found A New Baby - Stephane Grappelli 4. Jeepers Creepers - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 5. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 6. Time On My Hands - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 7. Mon Coeur Reste Pres De Toi - Nitta Rette 8. Swing From Paris - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 9. China Boy - Stephane Grappelli 10. Moonglow - Stephane Grappelli 11. It Don't Mean A Thing - Stephane Grappelli 12. Them There Eyes - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 13. Tea For Two - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 14. Swing 39 - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 15. Limehouse Blues - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 16. Appel Indirect (Appel Direct) - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 17. Billets Doux - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 18. Japanese Sandman - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 19. Twelfth Year - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 20. Hungaria - Quintette Du Hot Club De France 21. Cheri, Est-ce Que Tu M aimes? - Micheline Day DISC 3: SOUVENIRS DE MONTMARTRE: 1. Le Bal Du P'tit Jardin - Gus Viseur 2. Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir - Stephane Grappelli 3. Clo's Blues - Jazz At The Philharmonic... 4. Way You Look Tonight, The - Dizzy Gillespie 5. Stompin' At The Savoy - Henri Salvador 6. Crazy Blues - Stephane Grappelli 7. Some Of These Days - Charlie Lewis 8. Don't Be That Way - Alix Combelle 9. I Got Rhythm - Andre Ekyan 10. Crazy Rhythm - Andre Ekyan 11. Night And Day - Bernard Zacharias 12. What Is This Thing Called Love? - Bernard Zacharias 13. Blues Jumped Out and Got Me, The - Bill Coleman 14. Hit That Jive Jack - Louie Williams 15. Mop Mop - Harry Cooper Et Son Orchestre 16. Minor Swing - Les Amis De Django 17. Lorsque Django Jouait - Gus Viseur 18. Tenderly - Bill Coleman 19. Place Blanche - Eddie Barclay 20. Grisbi Blues - Jean Wetzel Jazz In Paris III: Saint-Germain-Des-Pres 1946-1956 DISC 1: FIGUES MOISIES: 1. Ah! Si J'avias Un Franc Cinquante (Whispering) - Boris Vian 2. Weary Way Blues - Claude Luter 3. Snake Rag - Claude Luter 4. Carolina Shout - Claude Luter 5. Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning - Claude Bolling 6. Dippermouth Blues - Claude Bolling 7. Valentine Stomp - Eddie Bernard 8. It Had To Be You - Sidney Bechet 9. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me - Sidney Bechet 10. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Sidney Bechet 11. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone - Sidney Bechet 12. After You've Gone - Sidney Bechet 13. Ooh! Boogie! - Sidney Bechet 14. Baby Won't You Please Come Home - Sidney Bechet 15. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams - Sidney Bechet 16. Clarinet Marmalade - Albert Nicholas 17. Demi-Tasse - Albert Nicholas 18. Tiger Rag - Jimmy Archey 19. Texas Moaner Blues - Jimmy Archey 20. Mooche, The - Michel Attenoux DISC 2: RAISINS MOISIS OU FIGUES AIGRES: 1. En Ce Temps-La - Don Byas 2. Deccaphonie - Django Reinhardt 3. Lady Be Good - Bernard Zacharias 4. Blue And Sentimental - Guy LaFitte 5. Flying Home - Peanuts Holland 6. Lester Leaps In - Charlie Singleton 7. Mon Legionnaire - Jean-Claude Fohrenbach 8. Nuages - Django Reinhardt 9. Gift For the Club - Buck Clayton 10. I'm Coming Virginia - Bill Coleman 11. Alembert's - Henri Crolla 12. Le Chaland Qui Passe - Jean-Claude Fohrenbach 13. I Only Have Eyes For You - Michel De Villers 14. Nearness Of You, The - Stephane Grappelli 15. These Foolish Things - Henri Crolla 16. Anouman - Django Reinhardt 17. Nuits De Saint-Germain-Des-Pres - Django Reinhardt DISC 3: RAISINS AIGRES: 1. Al La Bud - Rene Urtreger Trio 2. Don't Touch The Grisbi - Bernard Peiffer 3. Minor Drops - Bobby Jaspar 4. You're A Lucky Guy - Clifford Brown 5. Samakoutra - Maurice Meunier 6. Marcel Le Fourrerur - The Modern Jazz Group Tentet 7. Devil's Dream - Pierre Michelot 8. Le Calife - Christian Chevallier 9. Half Nelson - Hubert Fol/Sacha Distel 10. There's A Small Hotel - Chet Baker 11. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Hubert Fol 12. Somebody Loves Me - Gerard Gustin 13. If I Had You - Bernard Peiffer 14. I've Found A New Baby - Zoot Sims/Henri Renaud 15. L'Imbecile - Rene Thomas 16. Black Bottom - Armand Migiani 17. Tasty Pudding - Chet Baker Jazz In Paris IV: Rive Gauche, Rive Droite 1956-1959 DISC 1: RIVE GAUCHE: 1. Minou Drouet Stomp - Michel Attenoux 2. Menilmontant - Barney Wilen 3. Stewin' Up A Wig - Lucky Thompson 4. Impulsion Pour Toi - Jean Bonal 5. Sous Les Ponts De Paris - Pierre Michelot 6. Une Nuit Au Violon - Jean-Luc Ponty 7. Phenil Isopropilamine - Bobby Jaspar 8. Lorre - Errol Parker 9. Django - Stephane Grappelli 10. Nearness Of You, The - Jack Dieval 11. Overdose - Daniel Humair 12. Sent For You Yesterday - Alix Combelle 13. Fumee Aux Yeux - Michel De Villers 14. Willow Weep For Me - Toots Thielemans 15. We'll Be Together Again - Sonny Criss 16. Brigitte Strip Blues - Georges Arvanitas 17. Surprise Partie Au Bord De L'eau - Alain Goraguer 18. La Mort - Martial Solal DISC 2: MADELEINE -REPUBLIQUE: 1. Les Oignons - Sidney Bechet 2. Flying At The Olympia - Lionel Hampton 3. Hello Dolly - Louis Armstrong 4. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Harold Nicholas 5. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea - June Richmond 6. Parisian Thoroughfare - Quincy Jones & His Orchestra 7. Bluesette - Rhoda Scott 8. Lil' Darlin - Cootie Williams 9. Les Tricheurs - Jazz At The Philharmonic... 10. Mic's Jump - Jazz At The Philharmonic... 11. Blues Walk, The - Donald Byrd 12. Liberte - Max Roach 13. Blues March - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers DISC 3: LES GRANDES RENCONTRES: 1. Generique - Miles Davis 2. Concerto No. 2, L'Ete - Raymond Fol 3. Bess You Is My Woman Now - Eddy Louiss 4. Milt Jackson's Tahiti - Kenny Clarke 5. Crazy Rhythm - Lionel Hampton 6. Stomp, Look And Listen - Swing Machine 7. Makin' Whoopee - Oscar Peterson/Stephane Grappelli 8. Blues In The Dungeon - Stuff Smith/Stephane Grappelli 9. Lucky T. - Sammy Price/Lucky Thompson 10. Twins, The - Cat Anderson/Claude Bolling 11. Paul - Cat Anderson/Claude Bolling 12. Pentacostal Feeling - Lou Bennett/Donald Byrd Enjoy. I am enjoying II, 3 right now.

I don't want to stir the pot, but throughout the day I accessed the board through various PCs and connections from different places over here in ol' Europe and half the time things were slow as hell. Sometimes page links worked but brought up nothing (browser status bar said "done" ... nothing had opened up, I was still on the page I wanted to be taken away from). Other times it was just slow. Inbetween, things ran much more smoothly for a while, but not at the accustomed speed. Right now (about 5 minutes ago) I had a timeout on a page on a high-caliber system with lightening-fast connection where nothing ever times out unless the Internet itself has major trouble. Maybe it's just hickups. Just wanted to report back.

Isn't it one of the dearly-beloved Coneheads?

The fun thing about Star Wars is the trashiness of the whole thing. If you follow the principles as layed out in the aesthetics of bad taste, you just have to love the series ... every darn minute of it. A viewing of the Star Wars series should definitely be followed by repeated viewings of such classics as The Blob (the original, please), Plan 9 from Outer Space and other gems of popular American filmmaking. I admit that Star Wars pales in comparison, but at times it comes damn close. At the end, check out the all-night fireplace program which should be on/rerun on some channel.

OK, OK, that's enough! I get the message Caiman will have my order. Will get those boxes back to Paris where they belong! Even if it does look like another case of bringing coal to Newcastle They don't need coal in Newcastle?

I received all those boxes a few days ago from Caiman. I have the entire JiP run already, but I thought it wouldn't kill me to get the boxes (luxury, I know). Caiman had them for as little as 15 (the cheapest one was 14.97 [strange price], the most expensive 19 something-or-rather) Euro per box in the beginning, and the booklets are worth that alone. Besides, eBay can have them if I should tire of having stuff double. So far, they are definite keepers. Real beauties. Having gotten quite lazy at sifting through 100+ JiP CDs, the boxes now offer a fresh approach to the series. Hearing sth I like, I pick out the full disk and (re)discover it. [Edit:] P.S.: That was the fastest Caiman shipment ever. I ordered them one Thursday and had all boxes the following Monday. They seemed to have plenty of them when I ordered. And, compared to the outrageous price of around (minimum) 49.90 at local shops, they were a REAL bargain.

I'd rather have another RAID crash.

Jim, here's my story (and the reason I haven't been around for a while). Last year I bought myself a new PC, a positively huge machine in all respects. The other day I had the glorious idea of streamlining my entire backup system. I bought myself a third (external) HD and transferred everything to that one. After everything was fine, was triple and quadruple checked, I threw out the backup disks (I had been very anal about keeping a good backup system and therefore had simply too many of those CDRs and DVD-Rs). The following day I was going to make new backups of several hundreds of GB of data ... and I got delayed a bit (as usual). Here comes the kicker. I start up the PC several days later, started burning and WHACK, lightening literally struck (just my luck, because I live next to a church tower which is supposed to bloody well deflect this shite from my house). Within a few seconds, my RAID setup was wiped out (300 GB gone), and the backup disk (200 GB), which was attached because I was burning, got smoked in an instant. I know it was a stupid move, but I thought that after 10 years, I could allow myself a bit of sloppiness. God made absolutely sure that this kind of thought will never pop up again. Summary: In about 1 second I lost 10 years worth of files, three harddisks, a mainboard and a monitor (plus 6 USB devices). The hardware was replaced by Dell (to my surprise, I had that unlikely case covered by a separate insurance - if not, I would not have been able to afford replacements for another 6 months or so) within 6 hours (great and unbeatable service), but losing the files hurt badly. A lot of my ongoing projects were lost, tons of design, layout and other files, infinite numbers of important business files, all of my saved e-mail, etc., etc., etc. Needless to say, I got absolutely plastered for two days in a row. Not a pretty sight. Now, a few days later, I can actually see the silver lining: new system, new systematic approach to backups, a clean new start. So, in summation, if I can sleep well after that disaster, so can you after some board hickups. Just remember: other things are more important in life. P.S.: Nowadays harddisks have gotten so huge that it actually takes like a week or so to get a system up and running again. Getting the few backup files I have left back onto the disk is a breeze, but setting up a pretty complex PC again, finding passwords to 20 and more e-mail accounts (all of which one saved in a supposedly safe password "safe" on a backup disk), tracking down registration codes (which were never printed out (too lazy)) to programs bought online by getting in touch with each and every vendor, reinstating speed-up settings and registry tweaks, sorting out the desktop, etc. .... I think I'll start using notepaper again.

Source: http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/0504...historical.html

Err, I just like listening to his stuff.

That might all be very true, but what is the point of this discussion? If we say that one has to be Leonardo DaVinci to be considered a genius (or not), what does that tell us? That we shouldn't get too enthusiastic about what we like ("Hey, you weren' supposed to have that much fun!")? Does it tell us that we are, at best, talking about mediocre music from morning until evening on this board? Why is it that some people just have to constantly insist on taking the fun out of music? I'm with RainyDay. Some people need to take some dance lessons.

That's the culprit. I just HATE spiders.

Lol This thread gave me a good laugh. Someone asks a valid question, some fans jump in and then it doesn't take long for someone to waddle in there and urinate into everyone's beer. This attracts other urination followers, then some who try to neutralize the bad taste and others who don't know if they really need to relieve themselves or not. There is a Monty Python sketch in there somewhere. P.S.: It always surprises me how absolutely unshakable some people's reference points are. To stay with the imagery, they'd rather drown in pee than to concede a millimeter to the other camp. What is the term for that? Conservative? Traditionalism? Narrowmindedness?

This is legally correct, but despite my mixed feelings towards rip-offs of any kind, I also feel it is unfair that the labels who own the rights do not keep them in print. They should rather develop a production mode allowing them to break even at a much lower point than they expect from a pop hit. Ownership includes the duty to maintain the stuff you own, and in the case of cultural goods this means they have to be kept in circulation. Although instinctively I would of course agree with you, common sense tells me that what you/we are demanding is just impossible. If you look at the Verve vault you must realize that it is virtually impossible to fulfill that wish. Additionally, once the word "duty" enters into business, the issue becomes more of a wishful-thinking kind of thing. You can't seriously expect a company to keep thousands of sessions in print, just because a few people would like to hear them (that's excluding the many major sessions, like a lot of the Basie material, which ... yes ... they damn well have a duty to put out in a decent format). Just think of the book market where most books have a half-life of four weeks and less, plus the fact that some publishers don't even allow writers into their fold anymore who don't have a guaranteed following. Again, I agree with you, but realistically viewed, that's a utopian demand. I think that Verve (yes, the ones with the crummy packaging and design department) are doing it right by offering OOP material online. That might be the one and only way to actually do what most fans demand ... keeping stuff in print. That labels like Vanguard have an absolutely despicable reissue policy is another discussion altogether ...

I've been on twelve records altogether, not including some session work on the side. None of it has anything to do with jazz (not really). To this day I receive a substantial amount of money regularly and, to be quite honest, without that money I couldn't afford many things I'm interested in. The six labels I have been involved with have gone out of their way (and believe me, that is exactly the way to describe what they have done these past years and decades) to ensure that I get what's mine, despite the fact that contracts were written up to ensure that I could avoid tax and legal problems I could have encountered as a) a minor for some and b) a foreigner with only "half" a legal work permit for most of the recordings. I have nothing but praise for the labels I have been involved with (which have, in some cases, been sold since, have merged with global players, etc.) and although they could have cut me off from this income stream, the changing management has in each and every case made sure that I'm not ripped off. Reading around on this and other boards gives me the distinct feeling that I'm the lucky one of a few.

Besides the holier-than-thou attitude that especially Americans display whenever talk turns to European "rip-off" labels, which irritates me majorly most of the time (despite a few valid arguments), the one thing that bothers me most in the discussion is that those who have the cash are the ones demanding for those labels to be ignored. I think one shouldn't forget that you exclude a very big group of jazz fans from listening to music if you price a product above any reasonable amount. No matter how good Mosaic boxes are, they remain unaffordable for very many people. If a Europaen label offers any of these recordings in a somewhat legal way (notice that I'm being careful here, because some of the reissues I have must clearly have been ripped off from Mosaic or other excellent reissue labels) at much less than half the price, one shouldn't be surprised if they are successful. Here's what I think we need: a) We need people to stop trying to impose their own country's copyright law on other countries. If the whining could stop as well, it would also be beneficial. b) We need a law that clearly states that transferring someone else's mastering 1:1 is illegal (if slight changes should be allowed, I don't know, but I would be more strict here). Unless we have a law like that, complaints will be waved off into thin air. But I believe that a law like that, as difficult as it might be to pass and impose across borders, is essential to keeping many companies active in the reissue market. As long as legal loopholes remain in our globalized world, this discussion will be continued fruitlessly. Last but not least, in a world in which the digital medium rules, we get to see quite a lot of the by now typical hypocritical behavior: people rage against assumed rip-off companies while amassing 200 gigabyte of downloaded music on their hard disks, doing their own remastering (just because technology makes it relatively easy), passing tons of this and other stuff around to "friends", photocoyping booklets, books and press material as they please, recording films on harddisk and burning a sh*tload of DVDs with the material, etc. etc. Either you stick to the rules across the board, or you shut up (instead of throwing stones through the greenhouse glass). My 2 cents.

Looking at the prices for the Reference Series ( ), maybe one should look for one of these second hand? LOL (if you have problems playing this one, right-click and "save as")

On a different note. Because I got lucky, I was able to test-drive these today: The new Sonor X-Ray set (the one I could play for an entire afternoon had four bass drums with the new bass pedal rigging developed with the help of Thomas Lang) is just a blast (not) from (the Vistalite) past. Great sound and fantastic playability. The pedal rigging is absolutely awesome and, f. ex., triplet figures just flow from your feet. Quick changes inbetween the whole pedal assembly are a breeze and the feel is just totally natural, nothing awkward here. Very (!) comfortable. Nevertheless ... let me tout the new Pearl Reference series. I also had the chance to play one of the full-range sets available and I haven't been so excited about a new development in the drum area since ... ah ... I really can't remember. The new Reference series is the absolute best thing I've ever heard and most likely will ever hear. For once, really everything was/is done right here. The sound is awesome, really, and through mixing different types of wood across the whole kit range, the overall sound is just too good to be true. The sound is absoluely "round" and the kit sounds more "together" than anything I've ever heard. I had the chance to try different skins across the tom range, both bottom open and closed, and there is absolutely no sound you can't get out of these. Warm and round, dry and heavy on the attack, sustain to make your hair stand on end ... you name it, they can produce it. These drums are way above anything I've ever tried. If you do get the chance and no matter what style of music you play, see if your nearest dealer has/will have a set of these. Sit down and play. My God! INcredible. From the Pearl site: "Reference Series drums use a combination of task specific bearing edges and 3 time proven woods, Birch, Maple, and African Mahogany. Using Maple as a sole material has long been the traditional choice for shells and for good reason. Maple provides smooth, well balanced tone that is perfect for a 12" tom. Subsequently, all Reference Series 12" toms are composed of 6 plies of Maple. The only single wood shell in the series. Our 10" and 8" toms receive 4 plies of Maple with 2 inner plies of Birch for cut and attack. And for maximum response, all 13" and smaller toms have a rounded 45° bearing edge. Beginning with our 13" tom and larger, Mahogany is added to the inner plies to increase the lower frequencies and accentuate the warmth of the Maple. The 14" toms and larger begin using our fully rounded bearing edge for even more shell contact. Our 18" and 20" bass drums use 4 inner plies of Mahogany with 2 outer plies of Maple. As the size of the bass drums increase, so does the amount of Mahogany. Our 22" and 24" bass drums incorporate an amazing 6 inner plies of Mahogany surrounded by 2 outer plies of Maple for the ultimate in solid responsive bass frequencies. [...] Each shell is composed of a blend of woods totalling an incredible 20 plies. This extra thick shell ensures that no energy is lost through shell vibration and all energy is focused on moving sound waves. The shell’s bearing edge is a 45° to promote a focused contact area with the head for response and crack. 6 inner plies of Birch provides cut and attack while the outer 14 plies of Maple provide warmth and solid midrange punch. Reference Series Snare drums are available in 3 different shell sizes. 14"x 5", 14"x 6.5" and 13"x 6.5" to suit individual preferences and tastes." Gotta be played to be believed. Have I raved enough? These things are ultra-good (and probably ultra-expensive) ... Gallery (there's also a link to a video and other stuff at the top of the page). I'll shut up now.

This is the DOCUMENTS/TIM box. I have their Errol Garner box which is, uhm, bearable. I bought it that time for virtually no money on eBay, just because much of the Garner stuff is so difficult to get hold of. The DOCUMENTS/TIM boxes are a varied bunch. Some of the boxes are quite good, but others are so heavily no-noised that they are an audiophile's nightmare. I would turn to other sources for Artie Shaw material. I always recommend the RCA Jazz Times/Indispensable series. They are usually readily available from Amazon marketplace dealers and were quite good when they were released in the 90s. Actually, in the light of many heavily eq'd and boosted "remastered" issues of 2000 and later, many 90s releases were actually better. The Bluebird material is also very good. So, try the DOCUMENTS/TIM box if you can blow some money (you might get lucky) ... otherwise take the other routes outlined here or above.