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CJ Shearn
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Posts posted by CJ Shearn
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4 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:
All of this is fair and the political stuff is particularly daft but he knows his stuff for his period at least. I like how he pushes records on Bethlehem and Mode and other labels that are completely unfashionable in the wider internet.
That is a positive at least.
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25 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:
Fremer's panties are still in a bunch over all of the rave reviews of MoFi vinyl cuts that he gave, usually with some sort of "analog is king" vibe, only to find out that nearly all of them were cut using high resolution digital files. His credibility is shot so it shouldn't be unexpected that he's going to lash out when questioned after that fiasco.
Yeah, he was shitting on me for liking SACD and XRCD... typical. Bet he hasn't heard those last Blue Note XRCD's anyway.
46 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:One guy I quite like who is a Micallef acolyte is a Minnesota guy called the Jazz Shepherd. Seems like an off but decent guy. He has very deep knowledge of 50s and 60s jazz, but a ferocious hate for anything avant. There is the usual tedious engagement stuff, but his knowledge of his subject goes deep.
He knows a lot but I can't stand him with a passion. His views that all jazz is about suffering is a bit much, or that hard bop is angry, and that cats on hard bop sessions came into the dates discussing news, politics... no, a lot of times they just came to play. He has a post Wynton type of ideology I don't dig. I doubt he listens to jazz made today. His Jimmy Smith series was great but I was getting into it with him over his blanket dismissal of most of JOS' Verve period. Also a huge component of Jimmy Smith was his drawbar settings over the years, which are easy to hear and spot once you know what they are, which he neglected to get into. I always detail Jimmy's 3 major periods of changing his organ sound. His dismissal of audiophiles is wild too.
7 minutes ago, JSngry said:Who is this guy anyway? Looking him up on Wicki, I can't say that I've seen where he's ever written anything about music by itself, it's always attached to audiophillia (or vice-versa). So...why should I care?
He doesn't write about music, that's the thing... he writes about equipment. He once described Philly Joe Jones' drums on Cool Struttin as woody. I think he meant the sound of the stick on the drum head or referring to Philly Joe's stick shots.
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1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:
I mean, you've pretty much nailed Micallef's audience there.
On his YT channel he used to occasionally have a guest spot with some guy who had a stall on a New York street (literally on the street). I always liked that guy a lot. A huge amount of enthusiasm and some excellent records. I think his name was Jimmy Vinyl or something. I forget.
Micallef less so. He occasionally does those show off videos where he shows you his amazing collection but the actual videos he does are so primed for engagement and devoid of actual information that they make me queasy.
I'm actually starting my own YouTube channel next month, they'll be music interviews there but I'll mostly be doing interviews with people about life. I think Fremer took offense because he knew I was calling his audience too... for example the sycophants over the Blue Note Review Lee Morgan box set, which I'm sure many of us would agree is not really necessary and not for us. The guy is so thin skinned a 78 year old cannot take criticism? It's like the only thing he's good at is talking about vinyl and derives his entire self worth on that. Micallef's interviews aren't great IMO, he's done one of the worst Lenny White interviews I ever seen, I did an incredible interview with Lenny years back. I've been on Jazz Bums' channel a few times but it's evident my knowledge is leagues above theirs musically, and it was a bit awkward. Most of us here are leagues above any of those channels knowledge wise.
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Late to the party but I preordered as well. My dad who is very ill and will probably pass at any time now (and we've had a tough road) loved Chet and this will remind me of him.
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Been a while since I've posted, but on Facebook I'm friends with Ken Micallef, the Stereophile, sometimes Downbeat writer who also is into vinyl. He had made a post about the Verve subscription series, their attempt to follow Blue Note, Analogue Productions, etc. I made what I thought was a well reasoned response about the series kind of not being for seasoned veterans, and more for like the Gen Z hipsters who occassionally get tired of records and sell their collections, for the audiophiles not really into jazz. I saw Michael Fremer responded to my response. I never laughed so hard in my life, knowing who he is, this isn't unexpected:
"Shizuka Shearn you are a total snob! Imagining who's the buyer of these titles?and yout "Gen Z hipster" crap? and even hallucinating the titles they'd buy and how long they would keep them? Seriously? And then "the audiophiles clueless about jazz" thing? You are clueless. And then you prattle on about your special SACDs and XRCDs??? hahaha."
My response: (I'll leave out the choice language I used but told him to fuck off essentially) ""Michael Fremer Projection is a hell of a drug isn't it. I'm honored. You just made my night. I got dinged by Michael Fremer! You know the exact kind of audiophiles I'm talking about the ones who get into jazz but only the basic stuff, some go deeper but not all. You are one of the biggest snobs I've seen with your anti digital tirades. I don't do LP out of practicality because of my disability. LP sounds amazing on the right system. Wow. F*** off you self important (choice language I used)"
It was really hilarious and made my night last night. I got lambasted by Michael Fremer. FWIW I know a lot more about vinyl than most people realize, having grown up with it. I've heard/played Liberty era/UA/close to original RVG deep groove Blue Note and Prestige pressings when I DJ'ed at WHRW FM in Binghamton in my teens, had a lot of original RVG CTI pressings growing up too.
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This interview was really moving, the gentle life reflection, and his playing with one hand who was incredible.
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3 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:
Nice work, as always, your passion comes thru loud and clear. Still not my cuppa, but more palatable to me than DB's studio work with the Mizell Bros. I probably shouldn't, but I have to say that DB's attempts here and elsewhere to be something more than a very good post-bop trumpet player mostly make him something less. Not unlike Artie Shaw thinking he had something better to do than playing clarinet and bandleading, he didn't. That said, I love Byrd's two excursions into choral music - New Perspective and Trying to Get Home. Wonderfully quirky and totally his in a way the work with the Mizell Brothers just isn't for me, YMMV of course.
I think the Mizell Brothers work is what it is... this album is just a refreshing change of pace. I can't see myself getting too many of their sessions either but I sort of try to listen for what they are. This album is a fun listen.
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4 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:
I’m not CJ, and I don’t know what’s ‘right’ — but right or wrong, I have a tendency to capitalize the ‘B’ in ‘Black’ in most cases when using it as shorthand for African American (just a habit I’ve had for 20-30 years) — and I’d do the same with Black British (a term I have less need to use).
That said, if I’m already capitalizing ‘Black’, I think(?) I would naturally be tempted to capitalize the ‘E’ in ‘Excellence’ too — because “Black Excellence” looks better to me than “Black excellence”.
Also, as it’s used here, doesn’t “Black Excellence” sort of feel like a collective noun almost? Not technically probably right, but that feels right to me.
Anyway, I probably would have capitalized the whole term too — even if that’s not what style guides say to do (fwiw).
THAT SAID, there are a few other proofreading things I noticed too (though god knows I don’t proofread my own stuff enough most of the time).
Not only that but Donald Byrd represented something that a lot of other jazz musicians didn't necessarily, he was more than a musician, a renaissance man who took the opportunities to expand himself using what was available to him. Cornel West, Dr. Claud Anderson and countless others I probably am not aware of are examples of this. And given that I am half Black myself it's only appropriate to capitalize. Maybe i hung around the Lenny White orbit a bit too long (I no longer do- still love the guy's music) but there was a definite pro Black bias, in his Zoom group... there are experiences he's had as a player and as a person I can't imagine
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5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:
Why is "Black Excellence" capitalized?
No offense but you should consider another pass wearing your editor cap.
Since I won't be purchasing, that's my 2c.
I sent you a PM.
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Just now, Rooster_Ties said:
I’m not CJ, and I don’t know what’s ‘right’ — but right or wrong, I have a tendency to capitalize the ‘B’ in ‘Black’ in most cases when using it as shorthand for African American (just a habit I’ve had for 20-30 years) — and I’d do the same with Black British (a term I have less need to use).
That said, if I’m already capitalizing ‘Black’, I think(?) I would naturally be tempted to capitalize the ‘E’ in ‘Excellence’ too — because “Black Excellence” looks better to me than “Black excellence”.
Also, as it’s used here, doesn’t “Black Excellence” sort of feel like a collective noun almost? Not technically probably right, but that feels right to me.
Anyway, I probably would have capitalized the whole term too — even if that’s not what style guides say to do (fwiw).
THAT SAID, there are a few other proofreading things I noticed too (though god knows I don’t proofread my own stuff enough most of the time).
I'll check out the other errors you may have mentioned
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6 hours ago, ListeningToPrestige said:
Thank you.
I would be interested to hear this for sure, but wow that description from Barry Ulanov, in today's lense would not fly. Shirley could play, period. It's the time it was written but wow it's pretty cringe that description
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I sampled a few tracks streaming. And actually, my friend got it for me for Christmas and I cheated, opened and played it and it's quite good. Surprisingly so. "Kwame" is my favorite cut. Have any of these Byrd originals presented here circulated before? Now the question is if they will reissue the Hutcherson, Foster and other associated titles physically so new audiences can check them out? Might have to write up on this one
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9 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:
Thanks for this. I am curious if you have ever purchased lossless files from Qobuz, and if you have any insights into whether they upsample mp3s also. I have bought a few things from them that I could not find elsewhere.
No clue
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Terrible. Streaming In the Same Breath with Dave Liebman and Wolfgang Muthspiel now
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Beware, some albums that are marked HD I have found to be upsampled MP3's, of things I had in my pre fire collection like Earland Intensity I found sounded like badly encoded MP3. I have a contact there and complained, and things have been corrected.
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I love Blu Ray Audio for music, I wish more albums would be issued in the format. I have the capacity to play both SACD and Blu Ray both with my system's Sony Universal player. I only have 2 of the Blu Ray Audio, The Alan Parsons' Project's Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Ammonia Avenue. Tales of Mystery and Imagination sounds STUNNING! Only way to relatively easily get the original 1976 mix which is what I grew up on, and it has the 87 remix which I don't like, but it's rich and dynamic. The MoFi CD is so expensive. Also the Tales blu ray is not compressed to shit like the Deluxe Edition from the 00's. To me, SACD and Blu Ray Audio sound very different, neither one is worse than the other, I'm happy to have both, and can hear the benefits of both.
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On 11/3/2022 at 8:24 AM, Dub Modal said:
100%. Especially in light of these articles:
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-teaches-bots-how-to-negotiate-and-lie
Absolutely. My comment criticizing the "Jolene" on Herndon's YouTube cover was deleted so says everything I need to know about that.
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2 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:
I thought this was the same stuff they made available for streaming and/or download awhile back, no?
Indeed. I'm in.
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6 hours ago, Dub Modal said:
Hard to find any real positivity when thinking about ai produced art and potential effects and outcomes. Yet it's being heavily financed into existence despite a clear lack of demand.
Exactly and I think people will always listen to music made by real musicians and I need to edit my piece to reflect that, I didn't mean to imply younger audiences won't listen to human made music, but the fact people are moved by AI generated music is fascinating to me because for me, its devoid of emotion.
1 hour ago, danasgoodstuff said:As always, thanks for putting yourself out there and giving us something to think about.
Thanks again. BTW, does anyone remember that Dozo thing I mentioned in the article as a precursor to all this when it was shown in real time in 1989? I never saw it until 15 years ago and that bizarre long necked CGI singer image stayed with me.
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Interesting. None of the Concord stuff hints at that!
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1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:
I defer to your expertise,
The original McMaster isn't bad, but the more recent version is the best, but any more recyclings of this, I'm out... don't need any more recyclings. Tony's cymbals sound better to me on the more recent version that is the topic, for me, the RVG just has too much treble.
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I first heard some of these tapes years ago in the late 90's when Scott Hawthorn's (organfreak) Geocities page hosted them. he recorded them. They don't sound very good, these casettes but are good music.
I got lambasted by Michael Fremer, LOL
in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
Posted
They are. I was on a couple of Jazz Bums livestreams last year and it was clear my knowledge is so above theirs, musically and historically that I'd get blank looks discussing things like Jimmy Smith's organ settings as I indicated Jimmy is one of my areas of expertise. That's a reason I'm starting a new YouTube channel so I can talk about jazz in my engaging, passionate way occasionally that many have come to know here. Granted I've been listening to jazz for pretty much my entire life some of those guys have only listened to jazz for 2 years. Fremer is a wanker, and what I've noticed about Micallef is his videos frequently have incorrect information, his most recent vid he on the Verve Subscription series he said Universal owns CTI... I commented saying UMG owns the A&M/CTI stuff and Grover Washington Jr's KUDU recordings.