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And what could possibly be better? Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue Grant Green, Idle Moments Different, but no better. MG Burrell is close; the Green isn't. Nothing touches Blue Hour. They're all wonderful. The Green was the one I thought of when I saw the original comment. It's actually too easy picking a classic Blue Note for AOTW, so I always make myself go farther afield whenever my turn to pick comes around! The argument here right now is "which classic is most classic"!

I was around when 'Spaces' came out. I don't dislike it, just have never really thought it lived up to the personnel and the praise. You hit on the point with much of Coryell's early work - historical significance. He did some things real early that others came along a little later and did much better. That's why I mentioned that his historical significance outweighed his musical significance. Coryell and McLaughlin have different individual styles, but were nonetheless plowing in different sections of the same field - I don't think it's unreasonable at all to compare them, and after all, doesn't 'Spaces' beg comparison between the two? Glad we agree on 'Offering'.

Hard to imagine Earland every wanting/needing a bassist. He was "The Mighty Burner" because of his amazing bass pedal work!

I totally agree with that assessment, also with the assessment that Coryell is a good but not great guitarist. There's a 2CD overview on Vanguard which is probably the best place to start. 'Spaces' is wildly overrated because of the personnel, is much less than the sum of the parts. The Free Spirits stuff is, truth be told, patently awful in it's own visionary way. Coryell's recordings have much more historic and nostalgic value for me than musical value. They don't hold a candle to the McLaughlin/Mahvishnu recordings of the same era. The McLaughlin solo albums 'Extrapolation', 'My Goals Beond' and 'Devotion', and the Mavishnu albums 'The Inner Mounting Flame', 'Birds of Fire', 'Between Nothingness and Eternity', 'Lost Trident Sessions' and 'Apocalypse' (to me, the greatest, best integrated Third Stream album ever done) all range between excellent and fantastic, plus McLaughlin did amazing sideman work with Miles Davis and Tony Williams( 'In a Silent Way','Bitches Brew','Jack Johnson','Emergency') and had that 'Love Devotion Surrender' album with Santana (I really like it - I know opinions are divided). All between 1969 and 1974. An amazing run. Unfortunately, he's sort of been coasting for 33 years since then ('Shakti' and 'Tokyo Live' being the exceptions to my ears).

The shipping to Russia will be very expensive from USA if sent airmail, doesn't leave much if any payment for the books. I have both, might consider selling. Would you accept ground shipping on them? I will if you swear they would reach me sometime. What do you mean very expensive? Give me the price quote. Shipping CD to Russia is cheaper then from Russia international (yes we Russians are very rich same for the gas - we pay more then Americans) Andrew PS Can you tell me about CD included with Penguin Guide. Do you have it and do I need it badly? $15.90 to mail a 2 pound package to Russia. $13.00 for a 1.5 pound package.

I agree. And start with 'Juju', then 'Night Dreamer', then the others.

PM sent.

Looks like I missed out on 'Dear John C.', which I always meant to pick up. Thoughts on that title? Worth the premium it now is going for on Amazon Marketplace? I like Mariano a lot, FWIW.

The shipping to Russia will be very expensive from USA if sent airmail, doesn't leave much if any payment for the books. I have both, might consider selling. Would you accept ground shipping on them?

I also like all of Hubbard's CTI albums. For what they were, the early CTI stuff holds up incredibly well - I appreciate it much more now than I did in the day. Wonderfully listenable. The later stuff (David Matthews arranged, etc., attempting to be funky) got pretty shakey at times. The title cut from Hubbard's 'First Light' is about my favorite 'with strings/overproduced' jazz cut of all time, truly beautiful. One error on my part in an earlier post - no greatest CTI list should be without George Benson's 'Beyond the Blue Horizon'.

My comments were about the series on 32Jazz/Label M. I rather like the Kelly's, which are on Verve. My favorites from the Left Bank on any label (though the reservations about the sound quality still exist) are the Jackie McLean's on Steeplechase, 'Dr. Jackle' and 'Tune Up'. Invaluable documents of his 1966 working quartet with LaMont Johnson, Scotty Holt, and Billy Higgins. Much more meaningful to me that the Blue Note concoctions 'New and Old Gospel' and 'Bout Soul', though I realize those titles have their fans, but the Steeplechases show his power and the artistry of LaMont Johnson on a good mixture of McLean compositions and standards, many extended out to 10-15 minutes.

Agreed, sound is mediocre but certainly acceptable. That being said, the performances aren't revelatory either,which unfortunately also describes most of the Left Bank series. The whole series was a distinct disappointment to me, as I had great hopes/expectations for it.

PM sent on The House That Trane Built

Glad to note that Archie Shepp 'Things Have Got To Change' and Pharoah Sanders 'Live at the East' will be seeing the light of day on CD again.

I'm curious about this one. Many said it didn't live up to its potential (the Herbie/Ron/Tony rhythm section, plus as I understand it they don't play on every cut). I've almost bought it several times, but have not yet succumbed. Very underwhelming. Another underwhelming one is Blues for Salvador. It's sometimes mentioned as his best of the post-1980 era, but is kinda average. Guy Agreed, they all sound pretty dinky compared to the fire of the initial Santana releases (up through Lotus). Only a couple of live albums ('Moonflower' and 'Sacred Fire') can give a latter day listener even a clue as to what all the initial excitement was all about.

Borbeleta is wildly inconsistent. There are some very strong, even great, poppish tunes ("Mirage" and "Give and Take" both with amazing vocals by Patillo) and some very weak ones, and some jazz/rock which also varied in quality. Not up to the level of the previous albums, but more interesting than any studio albums they would record in the 30+ years afterwards IMO (Santana did make a couple of interesting solo albums, especially 'Oneness: Silver Dreams Golden Realities'. But the one with Wayne Shorter, 'The Swing of Delight', is a snoozer). What has really stuck with me was a live show I saw ca. 1973 or 1974 of Santana (and CSNY) at the Atlantic City Raceway with 100,000 others. The Santana group was on fire that day.

It's a great record (actually three records), but not like 'Caravanserai' is. Leon Thomas didn't work for me in that setting. I really liked Leon Thomas, really like that period of Santana, but not together. Leon Patillo, who replaced him on vocals and replaced Richard Kermode on keys (Tom Coster stayed on board also on keys), was a perfect match for Santana. Santana continually tried to rehire Patillo in subsequent years, but Patillo always declined. Patillo became a heavyweight in Contemporary Christian music.

There's a 2CD set of 'Sarah Swings The Tivoli' (the Copenhagen set) which runs about 2 hours, so I suspect it has previously unreleased material on it. It is not expensive, and is fairly readily available.

An utterly incredible album. I've always counted it as a rock album, thought it does straddle the line, but it's always been a Desert Island Disc for me regardless of classification. There is an utter magic to this album that struck me when I first heard it 35 years ago, and still strikes me every time I listen. I love it all, but the highlight for me is the ending progression of 'Stone Flower/La Fuente Del Ritmo/Every Step of the Way'. The buildup to and start of the guitar solo in 'Every Step of the Way' is the greatest instance of tension and release I have ever heard in music of any kind. This is Santana's greatest album by a country mile, even as excellent and visionary as some of the others (the first three,'Love Devotion Surrender', 'Welcome', 'Lotus', ' 'Borbeletta', "Moonflower') through the mid-70's are. The 2003 Legacy remaster of this is spectacular, a huge sonic upgrade on previous versions. Great pick. Don't miss this one.

and to what should they be paying attention? to the fact that a handful of people are willing to pay inflated prices for a particular title? i just don't believe this is a valid indication of demand. how many different individuals are bidding on this cd? if it were a great many people, then i think that would be something worth paying attention to. btw, i have this set, and i'd be willing to sell it for $0. that's right, no money. my asking price is dick cheney's resignation or impeachment. heck, i'll even throw in free shipping! Belongs in the political section of the board. JF

I have a bunch of O'Day's pre-Granz work on CD which I can sell you very reasonably. Got them in an ebay auction and they are redundant to CD's I already have in my collection. I also have several of her Verve/Clef CD's, same deal, if you don't work a deal on the Mosaic box.

1 - Well, I've been listening to/buying the music since '72. and this album was pretty beloved even then. This isn't a digital-era discovery for me. 2 - There was more coming out in 'real time' than could be digested in real time then (especially considering all the OTHER stuff that was coming down in the 60's). 3 -"Chuckwonoso"?!?

Mine only fetched $56.00 (ended Saturday), so the price is coming down. PhillyQ got $81 for his. It's all relative.

I'm with you there.

Mine only fetched $56.00 (ended Saturday), so the price is coming down.