Ed S

As part of my annual summer vacation with my now teenage boys, I was in NYC the past week. Our first night there, I dragged them to a show at the Village Vanguard - the Warren Wolf Quartet - just so they'd have something to remember me by - as in Hey - remember when Dad dragged us there? We did a lot of stuff during the rest of the week , but for our last night in New York, we saw the Security Project at BB King's. If you don't mind nostalgia bands with "sound alike" lead singers,then all I can say is this performance was awesome. This is a band performing the music of immediate post Genesis Peter Gabriel. The sound alike Peter Gabriel singer was great - without coming off as a Gabriel wannabee. Think San Jacinto, Not One Of Us, Hum Drum, I Don't Remember. Holy crap - the band was awesome.

The fact that Wiggins' win was a foregone conclusion did make it somewhat boring from the GC standpoint. As much as I dislike Contador - not having him and Andy Schleck there made the mountains far less interesting. Evans and Nibali were neutralized by the Sky riders and Wiggins top challenger was his own teammate. It would have been interesting if both Froome and van Garderen were allowed to allowed the freedom to ride to their abilities in the mountains - but that was not allowed. The green jersey competition was also a total bore. More than in any previous year, I focused less on the GC and more on the individual stages and found enough to keep me interested. I enjoyed Voeckler's quest for the polka dot jersey and his 2 stage wins. That was quite an accomplishment after a bad first week and an injured knee. I liked what I saw from Thibaud Pinot and Pierre Rolland - despite the latter's attempt to attack during the tack incident. I thought Chris Anker Sorensen had a great tour - lots of fun to watch. I developed a lot of admiration for Jens Voigt as well as Ritche Porte and Michael Rogers for their work every day. I always follow the US riders - not because they are Americans per se, but lke FDJ, Europcar, Vacansoleil and Euskatel Euskadi - I consider them underdogs. I thought van Garderen had a great tour as did Horner. I got a thrill seeing the tribute to Hincapie today as he was allowed to lead the peloton onto the Champs Elysees. Farrar was a disappointment, though. Too bad Danielson had to drop out. I enjoyed seeing Cancellara in yellow for the first week - he's one of my favorites. Also thought that Cavendish's wins today and Stage 18 were special. It was really something to see Wiggins as part of the lead out train - especially today when he personally had nothing to ride for. The win in stage 18 was phenomenal, in my opinion. Today's was almost equally impressive. When the cycling let me down, there was always the scenery. As usual, it was the star of the show.

I'm looking forward to this year's tour. As mentioned above, there's no clear favorite. I follow several different cyclists and teams, so it will certainly keep my interest. Wiggins, Cadel, Schleck, Horner, Levi, Hejedal, van Garderen will be some of the GC guys I'll be keeping an eye on. Lots of really strong teams - BMC, Garmin, Radio Shack, Omega. I also like to keep an eye on some of the smaller underdog teams like Euskatel Euskadi, FDJ, Saur-Sojasun - it's nice to see some upsets. I'll be interested to see how Orica Greenedge doe in their first tour. I find this stuff compelling! I was happy to see Cancellara take the prologue. Maybe the win will allow Radio Shack Nissan to focus on racing. I'd like to see him hold the yellow for a few stages. The first week will be interesting. I wonder how Cavendish will do without his long time lead-out guys. Sagan's been having a great year. Some of Cav's former lead-out guys are top sprinters on their own teams. Farrar's somewhat of a wild card who might come into play if Cavendish falters. Like I said - very compelling. Looking forward to 3 weeks of fun and the biggest reason I started watching and continue to do so - the fantastic scenery.

I'll invoke the F word regarding this album. Fun. Admittedly, I'm one of the few who enjoys this period of Byrd and Blue Note. Not more than the classic period, but on its own. I think a lot of this stuff is fun to listen to. Love the Rare Grooves!

Again, this is my naivete coming out. I watch the races that are available on US TV and marvel at the sites and scenery - the towns, the villages, the countryside - and I think of how cool that would be to ride through those areas. It just seems so beautiful. I'm confused, I guess. I really enjoyed watching the Grand Prix de Cyclistes de Montreal last year. Great city, great circuit, lots of great riders. It seems so spectacular. But the doubt is there about who's clean and who's not. That doubt is driving me nuts. I just want a fair competition. Or maybe I should just focus on the scenery

As a relative newcomer to the sport, I hear claims of how the sport has been trying to clean itself up. Maybe it will take me awhile to figure out what's going on right now - as opposed to what happened in the past, and whether there's any difference at all. I started watching professional cycling as an offshoot of the fact that recreational cycling became my primary source of physical activity/exercise the last few years. In my naivete, I marveled at how those guys could ride over distances and conditions that are unattainable to me. I want to believe that the sport is cleaner now, but I'm not sure - and that causes me distress. When I read attestations like yours, it troubles me even more. I started watching the Tour de France a few years ago because of the scenery. I've enjoyed similar experiences now that I've been watching the spring classics, tours of California, Dauphine and Suisse. Maybe I should leave it at that.

I've really started to enjoy cycling over the past few years - both from a recreational standpoint, but also watching professional cycling on TV. I even went to see last year's Grand Prix Cyclistes de Montreal. Good times! But the longer I've enjoyed cycling, the more I've come to believe that Lance could not possibly have been clean. Today, the USADA leveled charges against Armstrong: Velonews- USADA levels charges against Armstrong

Coin The Nat arrived safe and sound. This is my first Hip-O set and was pleasantly surprised. Thanks

David - my CDs arrived safe and sound. Thanks!

Back in January of 06 I debated whether or not to get a lifetime Sirius subscription. It was $500 at the time. I went back and forth and ended up getting it. It was a good investment. With a 38 month break even point, I'm now in my 3rd year of free service.

I still occasionally use my car CD player, but I would not miss it if it were gone. Between my ipod, pandora, and Sirius - I'm set for my music listening. I used to have one of those visor CD holders - now I just have one or two CDs in the car and that's enough.

PM sent re: Riffin'

If I recall correctly, while Norah Jones might be considered the "epicenter" of the BNBB's demise, there was a whole lot of contributing factors. By the time Norah had hit it big, the board was akin to a Wild West town with no Sheriff in sight. No one was running it - or policing it - as far as I remember. Bo was long gone and Tom at Blue Note was more or less a guy who was dishing out "corporate speak" to a clientele wanting more reissues, Conns, and Rare Grooves - irrespective of the economics. The political stuff was breeding a negative atmosphere through out the board and there was constant bickering and personal attacks. The naked babes thread and the free sharing of ripped material was just icing on the cake. So when the legions of fans of Norah - most of whom I assume would be teenage and female - and/or the powers that be at whomever controlled Blue Note (was it EMI?) - finally paid attention to the BNBB, they found a lawless environment with naked babes, rampant bickering and absolute/complete bashing of their prized star - Norah Jones. A few feeble attempts were made at restoring order, but the board members would have none of it - and soon, the BNBB was no more. IIRC

At the same time I started this thread, I also emailed Mosaic to ask about future LP sets. The answer I got was encouraging. I was told that they are looking at producing more 3-4 LP sets and that they have a set waiting for approval that will be announced soon. I like the 3-4 LP sets from an affordability standpoint and I'm glad to see more Mosaic LPs on the way.

Clearly late to the party, but I just ordered this set. I have ZERO Artie Shaw in my collection. It was between the Goodman and Shaw sets this time around, as I have a bunch of Goodman including his Mosaic, I thought Shaw would be a good choice this time around. Have to say I am a little put off by the reviews that I saw that were critical of both the Goodman and Shaw relative to omission of vocals. I have to say that in general, I'm a fan of the vocal stuff - even if it is commercial or "pop". Never having heard any of the vocal Goodman or Shaw, so I guess I don't know what I am missing. Hope the rest of the material makes me forget about the fact that they've omitted some vocal pieces.

I'm placing an order for some Mosaics today. They'll be CDs. But that's because I have no choice. My most recent Mosaic acquisitions have been the Monk LP set, the Getz LP set and the Monk/Coltrane LP. I've really been enjoying LPs lately, so I wonder if others here wish that they'd release more LP sets?

I think Lon nailed it. I'd like it to become a trusted name in jazz again. I'm as big a classic Blue Note era fan as there is on the board. Unlike most, I actually enjoy the later 60s and early 70s stuff too. After the label was reborn, I think they put out some really excellent stuff. I think I must have about 90% of what they put out after the revived the label up until the Norah Jones era. That's where they lost me. I stopped looking to Blue Note as a source of jazz, though I did pick up some stuff over the past few years by the likes of Lovano, Glasper, Cassandra Wilson and a few others. I know that times have changes, but I'd like to see them have a decent sized roster of jazz artists. Even 5-10 years ago they had the likes of Don Byron, Osby, Scofield, Truffaz, Blanchard, Lovano, Brian Blade, Eliane Elias, MMW, Stefon Harris, Jason Moran and a few others I can't think of. It would be nice to have the label putting out some jazz on a consistent basis from a stable of artists again.

Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage

Grant Green - Idle Moments

Donald Byrd Mustang

Miles Davis/Gil Evans Mosaic. Record 1 side 1

Mosaic - Monk/Coltrane. Got this and the Wes for my recent b-day

Wes Montgomery - Echoes of Indiana Avenue

Blood, Sweat, and Tears - the self titled album with Spinning Wheel, God Bless the Child, And When I Die, etc

I've been cleaning out a section of my basement - in part because I've been spinning a ton of recently acquired vinyl on my recently acquired turntable. The area I am cleaning will allow me access to my vinyl collection - which has been blockaded by an accumulation of crap for the past decade or so. I feel like it's taken longer than it took to reach the Chilean miners, but finally, today I reached my goal - and rediscovered a lot of lost treasures. Right now, I'm listening to the Coleman Hawkins Giants of Jazz set. I counted the Giants of Jazz sets that I have and they number 28 - which I believe to be the entire collection based on this: "These were 3-LP box sets with an embossed silver-covered 54-page book, and an 8x8 print suitable for framing (the same picture as on the LP box cover). There were 28 volumes in the series. The label was also silver, with black print, with the "Giants of Jazz" logo at the top." Quoted from this site - BSN Pubs Giants of Jazz discography I remember purchasing this collection from someone on the Blue Note Bulletin Board a long time ago - can't remember from whom though. At any rate, if you're still out there - your collection has been well preserved and is once again being played.