Head Man

Hi etherbored. Do you know whether the Tubby Hayes releases use the same poor masters that were used when they came out originally a few years ago. From what you say it seems that they are straight re-releases albeit at a cheaper price

Simon Spillett did the liner notes. OK, I realise that Stan has made many recordings over the years and played in many different formats so it is obviously impossible to state that one recording is better than all the others. However I do not believe he has ever made a better or more exciting quartet recording than 'Captain Adventure'. Buy it and decide for yourself!

My copy arrived this morning & what a fantastic recording! I've had it on vinyl since it was issued in 1976 (I think) and always loved it, but this double CD includes a mountain of unissued music which is every bit as good as the music on the original LP. This must be Stan's best quartet and probably his finest moment. Everyone plays their socks off. Stan hammers the keyboard as if trying to destroy it; Art seems to be running in four directions at the same time and both Bryan and Dave are in absolute top form. The quality of the recording itself is also excellent with everyone clearly heard - not always the case with live 1970's recordings. Whilst Stan & Art are at the front of the mix the bass & drums still sound fine. Finally, well done Simon for an excellent set of liner notes. All in all a MUST BUY!

I've had two of them on order for about a week: Jimmy Giuffre - Tangents Gerry Mulligan - Presenting the Gerry Mulliagn Sextet so it's good to hear that they sound good. A poor French translation is no problem to me! They don't seem to be available on any websites in the UK yet. When I contacted Membran I was told that they were not going to be available and to order them direct from one of the German on-line retailers shown on their website. However when I saw them on the musicexpress.com site I decided to order them there since I have used that site in the past. The two CDs arrived this morning. The sound is excellent as is the packaging. A decent tracklisting & liner notes plus a facsimile of the original LPs. For $23.55 including shipping - that's about £13.50 in real money! - they really are good value.

I've had two of them on order for about a week: Jimmy Giuffre - Tangents Gerry Mulligan - Presenting the Gerry Mulliagn Sextet so it's good to hear that they sound good. A poor French translation is no problem to me! They don't seem to be available on any websites in the UK yet. When I contacted Membran I was told that they were not going to be available and to order them direct from one of the German on-line retailers shown on their website. However when I saw them on the musicexpress.com site I decided to order them there since I have used that site in the past.

I've just checked the Verve Vaults again and neither the Gerry Mulligan or Paul Bley CDs are available outside the USA. BTW the Paul Bley session was reissued recently on Fresh Sounds together with another trio session from 1952 on Debut with Charlie Mingus & Art Blakey. It is well recorded with good liner notes. I realise that many of these reissues have dubious provenence & I would much rather buy the music direct from the owners of the copyright but with Verve making it impossible to buy from them, what am I supposed to do?

I suspect that Verve has added the Gerry Mulligan after finding out that it is being released in Germany by Membran on the OLP (Original Long Players) label. There are a number of other interesting CDs being issued at the same time: http://www.membran.net:8080/db_php_eng/index.php I'm not sure how legitimate the re-issues are, but I have a couple on order. PS The last time I tried to download something from the Verve vaults - Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds - I was told that it was not available for downloading outside the USA. So Verve don't make it easy to buy from them, do they!

Can you give some more details of the recording please.

Based on AMG's recommendation I downloaded one of the 5 CDs from the Empire Box - '7X'. I thought for $5.99 it was worth a try but I was very dissappointed. Perhaps I should have read the Penguin Guide to Jazz's review of the box set before deciding whether to buy it. Their view, and mine, is that it has the feel of a rehearsal rather than a final session. Whilst it has one or two nice moments it's hard to stay interested for nearly an hour. However the music is over 20 years old so perhaps Tim Berne's doing more interesting things now. I'm not writing someone off after listening to one recording. Can anyone else say what he's doing now and how it compares with his old stuff?

According to our friends at Red Octopus, Volume 2 is due to be released 'in the Autumn'. Does anyone have any information about who will be on it?

Test of Time releases It's good to see these recordings back in print again. I don't know for certain but I would think that most of them are seeing the light of day on CD for the first time. I know that the Andrew Hills - Hommage & Nefertiti have been available for some time on East Wind in Japan but I don't recall seeing any of the current releases on CD. I already own the two Andrew Hill CDs on East Wind & they are both fine records. 'Hommage' is solo piano whilst 'Nefertiti' is a trio with Richard Davis (bass) & Roger Black (drums). I don't know whether they sound any better on Test of Time but my copies sound fine, so I won't be replacing them. I don't know anything about the third Andrew Hill due out later this year - 'Blue Black' but will almost certainly be buying it when it comes out. I have been playing 'The Great Jazz Trio at The Village Vanguard' for about a week and it's a grower. Hank Jones is on fine form and is pushed along nicely by Ron Carter & Tony Williams. My only complaint is that the CD only runs to about 37 minutes & since there are another two CDs coming along later this year from the same session, I would like to have seen perhaps a double CD set containing everything. The Art Farmer & Shelia Jordan CDs arrived today so I've only played them once but initial impressions are positive. The Art Farmer is a set of ballads with Art on flugelhorn and the sound he produces is gorgeous. Both Cedar Williams on piano & Sam Jones on bass are on top form but Billy Higgins is a problem for me. I just don't think he suits this type of session but I'm sure that there will be plenty who disagree! The Sheila Jordan is a typically quirky set but if you like her singing then you won't be dissappointed. The selection of songs is excellent as is her backing group of Norman Marnell (tenor), Alan Pasqua (piano), Cameron Brown (bass) & Beaver Harris (drums). All in all Test of Time seems to have made a good start to an interesting series of rereleases. The music has been remastered and sounds very crisp but the liner notes leave something to be desired; consisting solely of a track & personnel listing plus a single paragraph of information about the session.

Sorry, I must have missed them when the came out originally. I picked them up recently from DustyGroove & assumed they were new releases.

What about these OJCs which came out recently: Duke Pearson - Dedication Wilbur Ware - Chicago sound Jimmy Woods - Awakening Teddy Charles - Evolution and Coolin' or don't they count?

Can anyone tell me why it seems so difficult to get hold of Lars Gullin CDs outside of Sweden? The Swedish site mentioned by Marcel above has far more issues available than sites such as Amazon in the UK. Is there an english language site that has the full catalogue available? In anticipation! David