Ed S

Pretty cool stuff. I love reading about finds like this. Fascinating.

I think the title of the clip is "you have bad taste in music"

Blue Note Street Team in action Who's joinin' up?

Django Reinhardt

I just checked out the AMG info on her and it's not too complimentary towards this material. I realize the limitations of AMG, but anyone familiar with the quality of this stuff?

I generally don't like to correct others typos and grammar, but don't you mean "It's like the internets were broken"????

I ended up picking the 4 Conns that I did not already have as Mosaics. I bought Now from a board member and the Silver, Wilson, and Hill from CD Universe. For whatever reason, I have a real affinity for the late sixties and early 70s BNs. Perhaps its because I'm from that era or maybe its because I've been able to look at these recordings on their own merit - for what they were and why they were - separately from the golden era of BN jazz. As a result, I've been able to get a lot of enjoyment out of some of the stuff that many seem to dislike - the Mizell Byrds, Bobbi Humphrey, the Grant Green stuff, Gary Bartz as well as some of the more accepted Rare Grooves. It doesn't hurt that I'm pretty easy to please either. I have not given more than a cursory listen to the Hill and Wilson discs. I'll get to those later. Like a moth to flame, I was really drawn to the Silver and Hutcherson releases. Hutcherson - Now! I've got the Hutcherson in as I write and I guess I've listened to it at least a dozen times over the past week. I really dig it. Definitely a late 60s, early 70s fusiony vibe to the instrumental portions of the original album. I like that - lots of intensity, great percussion work, interesting guitar effects and enough of a mainstream jazz sound to keep it real.. Land is in fine form - as is Hutcherson. I do like the electric piano and like how it is used here as well. The vocals are something that have grown on me, despite the somewhat lame and/or dated lyrics. There is a portion of Hello to the Wind when Gene McDaniel moves from singing the lyrics into a series of vocalizations that is really outstanding. Lots of intensity in the entire piece. The Creators is another excellent track. The material with the LA Philharmonic is first rate, IMO, and a welcome glimpse at this period of BN history. I personally give the Hutcherson a strong recommendation for its intensity, for the compositions, instrumentation and arrangements, and even for the vocals. Horace Silver - United States of Mind The Silver......oh my. I'll bet I've listened to this for at least a dozen times trying desparately to find something positive. Here it is - it's not bad when the front line trumpet and sax are loud enough to drown out the piano and create at least some semblance of recongnizable Horace Silver Sound. That occurs about 3 times on the entire two discs/28 tracks. I don't think I've ever heard a worse Blue Note recording. The compositions are very weak. The lyrics are TERRIBLE and/or terribly dated. The song melodies are simple at best. I've heard more interesting radio jingles. I was never a big fan of Bey and had never heard the other Bey and this CD did nothing to change my opinion. Worst of all is the instrumentation and sound. The guitar sounds like it was a some beginner 60s model. On a few songs the tambourine was so high in the mix that I could not help but think of that SNL skit with Will Farrell and the cow bell. I could almost hear the producer screaming "We need more tambourine". Even worse than that is the sound of Silver's keyboard. It sounds as if it was purchased for $39 at K-Mart. It also sounds as if he has no clue at all how to use electronic intruments to any effect at all at this point in his career. There are so few even decent moments in this recording that I often found myself thinking that there is so much bad stuff on this record that it is not worth sitting through the horrible stuff to get to it. Nothing here is even tolerable, IMO. At it's best, it comes off sounding like the sound track to some really bad late 60's off off Broadway production about 60s values and social concerns using understudies of the understudies of the cast of godspell. I was practically waiting for a version of Springtime for Hitler. At it's worst, it totally sucks, and it's at its worst about 90% of the time.

One think I know is that the generalalectics will be taking place November 2.

Nice work Barak

Francophile here as well - amongst many other flaws that have become evident in recent months

$105 with shipping. It's going to be tough to find a better price. I ordered mine today.

Congratulations and good luck with your move, career and family.

Well, that was all good fun and we all had a jolly good laugh......

From Mosaic today, in answer to my questions about the bad disc and replacement thereof:

Thanks for the info

Interesting..... When I saw on this thread that CD Universe had this set listed for $91, I put in an order just to see what would happen. I received a couple of order updates telling me that the set was backordered and fully expected that the order would get cancelled some time in the future in accordance with their policy. Yesterday, I received an update that says the set will be available for shipping on October 18. When I use the link to the set, they do have it as available on the 18th, but with a price of $130. It also notes that the set is from Germany. Does anyone know if this set is set for European release on the 18th? I'm guessing that is,as it appears that my order will be filled. As far as pricing, my open order still has the $91 price so I wonder if they will honor that. I think I will email them to find out.

Duke Pearson Select

Brandon I used to be as big a supporter/customer of Blue Note as there was - and would have been with or without the BNBB. It just so happens that the BNBB and the cyber community built around it facilitated my BN purchases by making available release information amongst other factors. I eagerly awaited new reissues, picked up others I did not have and felt gratified that I/we had some input into what was being reissued. All in all, I thought it was a very good relationship between BN and customer - all facilitated by the bulletin board. I happen to believe that customer relations is an integral part of the equation when I decide what to buy and from whom I buy it. I'm not still upset that the BNBB was shut down. You're right, org.org is a way better board. But the fact that BN chief cook and bottle washer Tom Evered basically told us/me to go fuck ourselves in the process of shutting the board down does not sit right with me. Whatever the reasons for the shutdown, the I could not care less about you the customer attitude that Evered exhibited during that time still does not do it for me with me from a customer relations standpoint. In spite of that, I still buy Blue Note products and always will. I'd be willing to bet that I have more of their current/recent stable of artists than most on the board. But the passion for having every Conn and reissue for the cover art or the latest sonic upgrade just is not there. So when it comes to making a decision to buy the latest reissue of something I already have, I choose to keep what I have and spend my money elsewhere. That decision traces back directly to the poor customer relations exhibited by Tom Evered. As you say, "it was just a damned website for christsakes", but it was on that website that the head of Blue Note - through his actions and his words - told me that he did not care if he had my business. That it doesn't matter in the same way to you is fine with me........

Man, you have to be kidding.... Are you honestly saying that your support for a reissue program dedicated to lesser-marketable BN titles has dwindled because Blue Note/EMI decided that they had more important things to do than manage a bulletin board that--by the end there especially--had very little to do with their product? Not sure what to make of this. Are you joking or do you expect a reply. I'm not so sure that artists whose new releases I'm purchasing now would agree. B-)

I used to buy Conns even if I had them on the Mosaic. I stopped a while ago - a combination of finances and the whole BNBB thing I guess. Like your reasoning with the Hutcherson, many times I found my self wondering if it made sense to have multiple recordings of the same material when I only listen to the ones I have only once in a while. I do buy the Conns of material that I don't already have, but your comment about BMG has me wondering....... Does BN routinely go the BMG route? Might be time for one of those 12 for the price of 1 introductory offers.

This is one of the sets that Mosaic released for retail sale a couple of years ago so there could be a number floating around the various on-line places. I picked my set up when it went retail a few years ago and got one of those nice new release discounts a la CD Universe. I like the set, but then again - I'm easy to please. I only started listening to big band music about 4 years ago and have aquired about 90%of what I have from Mosaic. So maybe I guess that maybe I'm easy to please or just don't know any better. At any rate, I like this set a lot. Nothing earth shattering but nice, enjoyable stuff. In my mind it's not up their with the Basie, Ellington or Herman Mosaics that I have, but then again not everything has to be groundbreaking to be enjoyable in my estimation. I like it for what it is and since I have no other Krupa or James in my collection, for who it is.

Just wondering if Masterhit's 80000 posts count toward the board total.

I'm working through some problems right now myself. It's tough. Very tough. Marital problems of the highest order, financial woes, and a litany of house and/or car maintenance issues, endless job pressures. There are lots of good suggestions above. Exercise helps a lot. I'm getting more than in the past 20 years but it's still probably not enough. I'm also trying to focus on what has brought be happiness in the past. In some case, I have found that I've had to really force myself to look to the positive side of things. I've started to listen to and get enjoyment out of jazz again, and seeking out new musical interests. I've started painting again and enjoy that creative process. I'm focusing on my job more than in the recent past and that has helped me as well. On the homefront, I'm trying to get as much joy out of my 2 boys as possible and focusing on interacting with them. I'm very much the introvert and have tried to reach out to others to form friendships as much as I can. I've begun to read some books. I also relax with a glass of wine or similar adult beverage. It's all very much hit or miss. There's good days and bad. Things will get better and in the meanwhile, focus on and try to expand the positives. Another thing, and I know it's somewhat sensitive - especially for males (and I am assuming that you are) - and that's depression. Perhaps you might consider talking to your physician or perhaps some type of counselor. There are both pharmacological and life style means to helping depression, if that is found to be contributing to your feelings right now. Exercise, by the way, is one very good life style change that can really help battle depression. To be very honest, I sought help in this area as I was begiining to have some thoughts that I'd rather not share publicly. I sought help and am glad that I did. Many males are reluctant to admit they need help so I hope you do as honest a self assessment as you can and act accordingly. Good luck and best wishes.

I've always liked this one. I'm a fan of Vince Mendoza- a great arranger/composer! What's the other one- "Instructions Inside", I believe? Yep - that's it. Very nice as well. That one's on the Manhattan imprint for those who are keeping score at home

For anyone who cares, I'm a pretty big fan of the post 1985 Blue Note label. In my search to fill some gaps in my post 85 BN collection, I recently picked up a pretty scarce copy of Vince Mendoza's "Start Here." Lo and behold, when I received the disc it turns out to be on the World Pacific label. I fully understand that this is not the same World Pacific label of the 60s and that EMI was probably using it as a marketing tool or boutique imprint to promote a certain style of music. My curiosity got the best of me and I started searching for some other World Pacific releases from the same time period. So far I've bagged: Marisa Monte - Mais Gil Goldstein - Zebra Coast Toninho Horta - self titled Pablo Milanes - Cancionero Marina Lima - self titled I've read about these artists on AMG and realize that they may not be the greatest representatives of their particular genres but am enjoying them nonetheless. My favorite is probably the Marina Lima. Pop oriented, but nice vibe throughout. The Horta is very good as well. If you see any one of these at a reasonable price, I'd say they are worth the chance. I'm wondering if any of you might know of any other World Pacific releases from this era that are out there. The late 80s - early 90s seems to be the period that the imprint was active.