John L

Interesting that so many people have sound quality issues even with studio recordings from the 40s and 50s. It is very rare that sound quality is a major factor in determining what I listen to. I naively assumed the same for most other people.

You just need to see the album cover for that.

I just heard 12-06-73 for the first time last month: an absolute killer! 12-06, 11-11, and 12-02 are making a case with me that late 73 might have been the Dead's absolute peak.

This is one of the more basic and down-to-earth Ellington albums. Nothing earth shattering. Just good good music. I also reach for it quite often.

The music industry is changing rapidly. Fantasy wasn't able to hold on either, which is why they sold out. The best that we can hope for is that Concord will continue to offer something close to the entire Fantasy catalogue for downloading on sites like emusic and iTunes. That is the wave of the future. Like it or not, we are going to have to ride it.

RIP

I would probably be a lot more interested in the Brent years if there weren't so many great Keith shows available. I think that one of the most overlooked element in analyzing the Dead by period or style is the keyboardists. The proto-dead (65-68) is fueled by Pig's often minimalist organ work, a style that often lent itself more to psychedelia than blues. Constanten's work was definately trippy--kind of a churchlike sound that helped float the guitarists along; not a lead so much as a color fill. Still, nice, and it fit the early Dark Star format. Keith--well, now you're into a major change. Obviously jazzier, and the switch is from organ to acoustic piano. The man could play several styles, which was perfect, as the Dead were playing all sorts of stuff. His only negative side was, of course, Donna. The 72-74 Keith-dead and the 76-78 Keith-dead are also different as he changed his textures to meet the new format. Brent--well, Brent seemed to me to be more pop oriented, more into the melody than the previous keyboardists. Like Lon, I just don't like that sound. Sorry! Bruce added a beauty and texture to the melodics of the tunes and jams. Vince---beats me. But if you slice up their career, it seems to fall into segments which are governed by the given keyboardists. One of the things I love about Keith is his big ears. He was always tuned in completely to where the Jerry and band was going, and pushed them on in very complimentary and subtle ways. I haven't heard that many Brent shows. In what I have heard, however, he strikes me as doing mostly his own thing and challenging the band to adjust to him. I also didn't find what he does to be all that interesting. But part of my preference might be subjective. My last live Dead show was Winterland: 12/31/78.

I would probably be a lot more interested in the Brent years if there weren't so many great Keith shows available.

Thanks, Lon. All those shows at the Zephyr site stare at me like a poverty of riches. There are so many, and I only have time to try to digest a small subset (in addition to the Dick's Picks which I am accumulating one by one). I have downloaded the Ark shows, but haven't heard any of those others. I will give them a listen.

Which 69 shows have especially grabbed you, Lon?

Good news. This is one of the only set of recordings for which I would always invest in a sonic upgrade.

Either way, this would appear to pre-date studio recordings of this band.

The Ross Russell book not only "stretches the truth," but focuses mostly on sex, drugs, and the like. The Gary Giddins and Carl Woideck's books are the tickets. Woideck gives detailed discussion of Parker's recordings. Giddins makes a very nice short presentation of Parker's life and artistic development.

Just the music. 1948 must have been Mobley's first session.

To sum up my previous posts, YES

That was quick! Thanks a lot, Chas!

Too bad that the recent Free America reissues didn't use the nice original album covers:

Does anybody have the cover of the original cassette tape?

I wonder what the strory is behind this one:

It is easy to get confused hunting for Marion Brown records

I had never seen that blue Cannonball Bohemia cover before.

Now I might buy that one.