clandy44

gslade, mine was of course a rhetorical question. You will love these boxes, just so very well done. These reissues are killing my treasury department.

Joe Williams-Chains of Love.

One of my audiophile (high-end) friends swears by this remedy: buy a gray "3 prongs into 2 prongs" type and plug your TT plug into the gray plug.

Gitanes could teach Verve a thing or two about producing box sets. These are exquisite in every way. Even if the music was ordinaire (which it most definitely is not), the Parisian aura would carry the day. Thanks for alerting me to this set. Do you think great music adds to the quality of life?

Susannah McCorkle-Over the Rainbow

I used to take Jazz Times and Jazz Review. Quit JT, just too much to read. Still enjoy JR.

T. Akiyoshi-Kogun.

Nice review of a recent biography of Paul in the latest JR. Who knew the chicks couldn't leave him alone? Maybe that's why his tone was so dry....

This thread drives me batty-when I'm at work and I sneak a few peeks here and what do I see but our European friends are at home listening to cool things. So, now I'm home and I'm listening to Nick Brignola-Baritone Madness (which I seem to have to listen to at least once a week). Of course, there is some diminished pleasure ("schadenfreude light") since they don't know what I'm listening to because they are asleep...well, you get the picture.

Toshiko Mariano and Her Big Band-Recorded in Tokyo

1. The big issue for me is that they sold used goods as new-substituted a whole new jewel case and crappy saran wrap. Still have not received an apology and have abandoned that expectation. 2. CDU has agreed to send me a new cd and a prepaid mailer to return the used, damaged goods. That is a good result, but I must say they shot a big wad of goodwill with this chicanery. If I want a used cd, I will go to another place and pay a used cd price.

I have bought a lot of cds from this retailer. Recently, I bought several 2-cd sets in a series. When I opened the first, it was not like the others: it had been resealed with saran wrap material vs a tougher cellophane like material used on the other sets, it had a big crack on the front of the jewel case, and the cd case opened right to left not left to right like the others in the set. I called CD Universe and told them I wanted a new version, and that I didn't care for being sold a used set. The response: we can't ship a new set until you return the bad one ( that will not happen)and no apology. Lucky for me, there are other music retailers, and I don't need to put up with this kind of misbehavior. Business must be booming up in Wallingford.

My legal advice to Jim is to not give it away. A very thoughtful, knowledgeable, lucid review-why post here when you can charge us for your posts? I have the box and am glad I do because I will always be a Dexter fan and do not want to pay double for it when it goes OOP. I am not a musician and some of Jim's comments and insights are well beyond me or my ears, but I can vouch for a lot of good music in this box.

This Pastor to the Jazz World Tended Bar to Tend His Flock By NAT HENTOFF April 27, 2005; Page D10 For one hundred years, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church -- founded in New York in 1862 -- has been at Lexington Avenue and 54th Street. Forty years ago, to the surprise and some concern of its congregants, St. Peter's created a full-time Pastor to the Jazz Community, the first post of its kind in the world. The church's choice of the first jazz minister, John Gensel, immediately assured the trust of jazz musicians, who already knew him from his frequent attendance at jazz clubs. And once he could fully combine his love of the music with his religious calling, as I wrote in Jazz Times: "Pastor Gensel was seemingly everywhere in the jazz community. He conducted wedding services, and when some of the marriages hit clinkers, he was a patient, extraordinarily attentive family counselor and sometimes he paid a musician's rent." Duke Ellington wrote a tone poem dedicated to John Gensel, "The Shepherd Who Watches Over the Night Flock," for his "Special Reverend." I've been to the church over the years for some of the jazz sessions there, but especially for a number of the memorial services. By now, nearly 500 of those memorials have been conducted for, among others, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins and Thelonious Monk. At the service for Count Basie's longtime resident drummer, Jo Jones (known as "the man who plays like the wind"), in the front rows was a galaxy of most of the leading jazz drummers. St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has been at Lexington Avenue and 54th Street for 100 years, has enjoyed a 40-year partnership with the jazz community. Mr. Gensel was an extraordinary listener -- not only to the music. I once wrote that "I never had any doubt that if religion ever became central to my life, John would be my pastor. He was a Lutheran, but the denomination wouldn't matter to me." At 80, Pastor Gensel died in 1998, and he was mourned by hundreds, maybe thousands, in the jazz family of which he had become a full-fledged member. The jazz ministry at St. Peter's continued with the appointment of the Rev. Dale Lind, who had been a close friend and associate of Mr. Gensel for many years, and had often made the rounds of the jazz clubs with him. But Mr. Lind had already served an unusual apprenticeship for that singular ministry. In 1964, he had become a full-time assistant pastor at St. Peter's, and three years later, he recalls, "I had an idea which would better enable me to reach out to young adults during their leisure time and on their own turf. I decided to get a job as a bartender, which was quite unconventional for a so-called man of the cloth." The Lutheran hierarchy endorsed what Mr. Lind termed "a ministry of presence." Mr. Lind then became a nightclub owner in Greenwich Village as part of that "viable" ministry, and booked Stan Getz, Nat Adderley and other players. Eventually, he opened a restaurant, Preacher's Café, where, in addition to booking established musicians, Mr. Lind says he "gave many sidemen and -women their first opportunity to be a leader on a gig." One of them was my daughter, Miranda Hentoff, a pianist, singer and composer. "I was at the Preacher's Café on Bleecker Street for at least two years," she told me. "He was the best boss I ever had. An amazing guy. We once had a reunion of all of us who'd played for him at Preacher's. It was a tribute to a lovely human being." After 20 years in this "ministry of presence," Pastor Lind rejoined the staff at St. Peter's. But he feels that what he learned outside the church building "helped me to better relate to all kinds of people. Many people feel they have to be good to go to church, but all they need to go to a bar is the price of a drink." At St. Peter's, "Midtown Jazz at Midday" is now in its 22nd season. The Jazz Vespers and Jazz Masses continue, as does the Annual Lester Young Memorial Tribute, which is held in mid-March every year. And this is the 35th year of the "All Nite Soul" concerts, which will be held on Oct. 9. Also, the third Wednesday of every month, the Duke Ellington Society meets at St. Peter's, and it presents several concerts a year there. Pastor Lind has also been concerned with further expanding his ministry to women in jazz: "Soon after I took over the reins, I held a forum attended by more than 50 women. With the able leadership of Coba Narita, veteran and vital organizer of jazz events, we formed the International Women in Jazz, which is still going strong, meeting here on the first Monday of every month as well as regularly providing workshops and holding concerts" Like the music itself, Pastor Lind keeps on improvising new dimensions of his jazz ministry. He has hired Ike Sturm, a young bassist and composer, to be a music director for jazz at the church, giving Pastor Lind more time for other activities. Among them: planning further seminars on the business of jazz; encouraging jazz programs in other churches and synagogues; holding sessions with jazz educators; and conducting his very important work with the Jazz Foundation of America, which helps provide medical care and otherwise renews the lives of musicians in need. He also supports Coba Narita's Jazz Center of New York. Then there is the fifth annual Jazz and the Church Conference, which will take place at St. Peter's from Oct. 10 to 12 in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church USA. Musicians and pastors from a range of faiths will take part. "One aim of the conference," says Pastor Lind, "is to get more denominations to take the relationship between jazz and religion more seriously and not just have occasional jazz concerts and other gimmicks to get people to church. That was John Gensel's mission -- to bring the church to the musicians and thereby the musicians to the church." The annual John Garcia Gensel Award will be presented at the October conference to a musician who has done notably creative work interconnecting religion and jazz. In keeping with another pastoral responsibility, raising the funds to nurture his ministry, Mr. Lind hopes to "attract much needed financial grants or corporate sponsors to aid us in preserving and expanding this living legacy to John." Like Mr. Gensel, Mr. Lind also spends essential time listening to musicians' needs as the continuing shepherd of the night flock. The "soul music" of jazz transcends denominations, but it often has its roots in a musician who was renewed in a session with a preacher who had the "soul" to know to listen. As master jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson said: "What is soul in jazz? It's what comes from inside...In my case, I think it's what I heard and felt in the music of my church. That was the most important influence of my career. Everybody wants to know where I got my style. Well, it comes from the church." Mr. Hentoff writes on jazz for the Journal.

Bill Evans-Final Vanguard Sessions (Mosaic)

Bob Florence-State of the Art.

I have been traveling this week, just got home and saw his obit in the NYT. No cause of death given. He appeared on many albums and was a force in the bass world. Admired his work and will miss him.

mgraham- a lot of dodgy characters here, be careful and protect your intellectual property. So, I was on a plane today doing a crossword and the clue was capital on the Red River. Tulsa? Too lazy to look it up and have been to t-town, but can't recall a river....

All 3 Commodores and the Keynote are indispensable. My sentiments about which set is best change depending on which set I have cued up-I just can't make that call.

Wolff-not much, except for one night recently when they stuck to the felt every time I lifted a record off the platter. Otherwise, sound and play great and no apparent static-I have begun touching nearby metal before touching the arm and it has pretty much solved the problem.

Billy Mitchell-De Lawd's Blues. 8,762.

Couw-We joined this BB the same day and you have only 8,762 more posts than I do. Hmm. I have been slacking.

Barry Harris-The Bird of Red and Gold

Jim, not concerned with harming the components although I do not care for the sound of the discharge through my speakers. MGraham, I do that for other things, thanks for reminding me (D'Oh!). Of course, I was hoping for some simple but elegant solution....

I have a carpet in my study where my turntable is located. Often when I touch the arm, I hear and feel some static electricity. Any suggestions other than buying a humidifier? Incidentally, the TT has no ground wire which (in my total lack of electrical knowledge) might be the solution...or maybe not.