John L

Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were certainly in the top elite singers of the American songbook (IMO), but it would appear that not as many males sang the songbook as females. That doesn't mean that we have a shortage of great male singers. No love for Rod Stewart?

This is very sad. I recall that Tate was one of your favorites, Z. He certainly made a number of timeless recordings. RIP

Ornette on Atlantic is number one for me. I had most of the music before it came out, and already loved Ornette. But having the music in that form and format really deepened my appreciation. The Nessa Art Ensemble box is also fabulous, of course. I don't know if the Andrew Hill Mosaic qualifies as "avant garde," but I love it. The Sam Rivers Mosaic is up there too. I also really like the live box set of the Brotzmann Chicago Tentet on Okka Disc. That was an exciting band.

I've been listening though some concert tapes from 69-70. What a dynamic artist! Back then, there was an awareness that this might be timeless, but it now seems much more vital with the perspective of time, as the 60s counterculture dross peels off and the music starts to stand alone.

Ain't that the truth!

I've had that problem of tracks skipping or not playing through to the end. What I do is "make a MP3 copy" of the files. The skipping always stops with the copies. It may be that some of the digital information is lost as well.

I imagine that, in addition to the top selling artists, they will continue to release collectors' editions of some classic jazz etc. It is interesting that Google seems to be putting together a large network where we can shop for music/downloads direct from the artists. That is the next phase. Bring it on!

RIP

Good point. Touring with Monk in the 60s like that must have been quite challenging in more ways than one. Perhaps Rouse's greatest asset for Monk was his total dedication to both the man and the music. He did a much better job than most tenors would have in his shoes. I almost always enjoy hearing Rouse with Monk even though I never expect that he is going to come up with lots of new and inventive choruses. I think of him as a rather predictable, but soulful, bluesy, and correct backdrop against which Monk can work his magic. Not every tenor has to be Sonny Rollins.

Very good point. Most older listeners/Miles Davis buyers don't go to sites like that.

The new Howlin' Wolf Box is superb (IMO). It is a great improvement over previous issues of his Chess output. For those who don't have it, don't neglect to pick up the Modern recordings of Howlin' Wolf made by Ike Turner, which have been released on numerous one disc compilations, most notably as a reissue of "Howlin' Wolf Sings" plus bonus tracks. No duplication with this box. It is a shame that they didn't include some of the tracks that Howlin' Wolf recorded for Sam Phillips at Sun at the time, but somehow never made it to the Chess archives, particularly the incredible "My Baby Walked Off" and "My Troubles and Me." I hope that the fact that they were left off of this box doesn't mean that they will disappear forever for future listeners.

I would also be interested in hearing more specifically what problems have been identified with the Marquis book. I've been assuming that book to be the most objective account of Bolden based on existing evidence. Peter Bocage talked to our own Chris Albertson about Bolden, and in a rather negative light, as I recall. He thought Bunk Johnson was better. Maybe Chris himself can add a few words.

Marquis has a very interesting chapter in his biography devoted to exactly this question. He tries to piece together everything that we have from interviews to give a description of what Bolden might have sounded like. Wooden Joe Nicholas was indeed mentioned as somebody who was said to exhibit a direct influence of Bolden. But I recall people saying that Bolden's sound was not as "dirty" as Nicholas, or as King Oliver, for that matter. It was "sweeter," in the direction of Bunk Johnson, but not quite as sweet as Bunk Johnson.

I liked him too. RIP

I've been enjoying James Carter's "At the Crossroads." The last track is a new version of Dogon A.D. that really hit me, just in time for the first CD reissue of Julius Hemphill's classic album. James Carter has been playing with much more taste and constraint recently. I've always liked him, but like much more how he is playing now.

Some of the very best was on Savoy. But if I had to take one group of recordings, it would be those on Dial. There is one simple reason. Savoy hardly recorded Bird playing ballads.

That would be interesting, indeed. Of those dates, I only have Montreux and Paris. Do the others circulate? There is also the dynamite show from Tokyo on June 19 that would be worth considering.

That still doesn't explain what the hell Donald Byrd is doing on the other side of that light bulb.

It can get even more unrelaxing - John Zorn, for example?

Most external drives work for Macs, but there are models "optimized for Macs" that work faster and more efficiently. The Apple Store carries them.

In addition to what people have written, make sure and back up your back up to another external drive. External drives fail often, and all will eventually fail with use, sometimes without warning. Although you would still have your music on CD in that case, it would still be a time consuming pain to rip them all up again. Besides, most of us now store some music files that we don't have on CD. While some recommend a 1 TB drives, you might consider 2 TB drives. They don't cost much more now, and are almost as compact. You won't have to worry about space for a long time. And by that time, there will be 5 TB drives even cheaper and more compact to move to.

Warne Marsh solos from those concerts were released on two LPs: The Art of Improvising 1 & 2. I don't recall the complete tracks being issued on LP. There are Marsh solos on those LPs that are not on the CDs. If only somebody would release the whole ball of wax.

I think that the next set should be of the "Lost Quintet" in Europe: 1969. There are plenty of good sounding tapes of that amazing band that still hasn't received anything close to its due in official releases. So far, there is only the March, 1970 Filmore East set with Airto. Right?

I attached the booklet to a gold chain that I wear around my neck. The booklet will never get lost and the second quintet is always close to my heart. Now how cool is that?

Go to either: New/reissues and set the numbre of days to 4 and scroll down. Or do a word search on Wolfgang's Vault. OK, I understand now. I thought you meant that you could actually stream or download the music there.