The Magnificent Goldberg

GRRRRR!!!! MG Thanks for that, Dave. MG

Thanks, but I don't understand most of those expressions. Software programs, particularly freeware programs, pick up all these extra features (called bloat) and they get a bit larger and slower. Since you really only want the software to rip CDs, sometimes it is better to go for an older version when you go to download it. (Often for freeware software, they will have the last 10 or so working versions of the program.) MG Thanks - I may PM you tomorrow for a bit more help. MG

It's very nice. Even the girlie chorus on a couple of tracks doesn't detract. MG

That would seem to fit in. From the Hyperion link: The faulty discs were all manufactured during the five year period from 1988 to 1993. The problem was that the lacquer used to coat the discs was not resistant to the sulphur content of the paper in the booklets and inlays, which resulted in the corrosion of the aluminium layer of the disc More candidates for a quick rip. This is one of the most useful threads of the year. MG

Lost the earlier part of my post. The bronze ones are all ones I bought in 1990-92. MG Oh right - I tried that with one I knowingly bought as a CDR and you can feel that there's a label there, even though it's very nicely done. This makes it fairly clear. Thanks. I'll rip them to my hard drive without delay. MG

Do you have any idea when they were made? There was a big problem with a pressing plant that allowed the print on the discs to seep into the sound layers leading to bronzing and, eventually, damage. Happened around 1990. A lot of Hyperion discs which used that plant were affected. I have a few that have bronzed badly. Most I've CD-rd before they can collapse but I never got to a Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues in time. That misplays dreadfully. I checked several covering the period 1996-2008 and they all seem to be OK. MG

After a quick cough and drag, I remembered a few more Ace CDs that look bronzed. I suspect this is something that Ace CDs were a bit prone to, as I found lots, though sometimes it's not particularly noticeable as they're on Specialty and most of the disc is covered by the label design, but you can see a bit of bronzing around the outer edge. These are all ones I've had for over 20 years. MG

Thanks for all that. I dug out a few US Concord issues to have a look. The Ray Charles ABC singles box seems to be OK, also Red Garland at the Prelude and the RVG of Hawk relaxes. I checked out a few Document CDs; they've all got numbers, but they aren't the same as the catalogue numbers, so maybe... Remembering about the bronzing issue, I dug out a couple I remember as being particularly bronzed. Tata Bambo Kouyate's 'Jatigui' on Globestyle (an Ace label) and Djeli Moussa Diawara's 'Direct from West Africa' (Oval). The Ace one is VERY brown; the colour of milk chocolate. But they both have their catalogue numbers in the inside bit. I've had 'em both for over twenty years and played them both a lot. So, possibly I'm OK. MG

Thanks, but I don't understand most of those expressions. MG

How can you tell positively if something is a CDR? I have more Concord/Fantasy stuff than anything in my collection. MG

Thanks. Now set all WMP library settings to blank. Funny thing is, there's a setting that seems to do what it has been doing, but that was blank anyway. Still. MG I've been pretty unhappy with this (and I'll see if David's fix works for me). I basically only rip contemporary CDs using WMP when I won't be splitting sessions. If I know I'll be reordering and splitting the tracks (like Prestige 2-fers or something), I just use a different ripper, since I am so sick of WMP undoing my changes. This has been particularly a problem with classical CDs, where I usually want each composition in its own folder (ultimately sorted by conductor, which is a little perverse, but it does help with folder management). Oh, I thought is was just me. What alternative ripper do you use? - just in case David's fix doesn't do it for me. MG

I bet it's even worse in Africa You're right, we complain that things are a bit less than perfect. What would we be like if things were REALLY fucked up? MG

I just checked and, interestingly, Amazon UK haven't raised their delivery charges for either UK or foreign sellers. Yet. MG

I think this is something to do with a new version of WMP. I'm running version 12.0.7601.17514 and I suspect that was only downloaded by MS a few weeks ago. I think the new version of WMP tries to keep a music library for me. I looked at the library and found that the only items in it are ones I have ripped or downloaded or played in the last few weeks. I suspect that, when WMP rips something, and puts it into the My music folder, it keeps a record of that somewhere and tries to reconstruct it if you fuck about with the filenames, artist or album titles. I ripped a bunch of Gene Ammons CDs a couple of weeks ago, one of which was the twofer Up tight''. This album has been treated the same as the Membran stuff. The library contains one album which is the CD of 'Up tight', with all the tracks from the CD and the CD artwork. It also contains one other album which is the original album of 'Up tight' with the original art work. But no album of 'Boss soul', the other album forming part of the 'Up tight' CD, which I created at the same time. This is fucking OUTRAGEOUS!!!!! Does anyone know how I can turn this library function off? MG

Thanks Chuck. So, if there are other tags attached, it wasn't ISRC data. OK, I just decided to listen to 'Mordido' off this box. WMP said it couldn't find a playable file. I looked in the folder and, sure enough, the file wasn't there. All of the other folders with my amended tags from Monday were empty, too. And they'd been put into folders in 'My music' with their original tags replaced. What on earth is going on? Fortunately, the backups on my external hard drive were still there, so I'm listening to 'Mordido' off the EHD. But does anyone have any idea of how this can happen? I don't believe it was the fairies - they wouldn't be bothered to reverse all the changes, so it must be the system MG

Nice one TTK! MG

Well, sounded like 'Now's the time' to me, too. It's certain that when different people listen to the same music, they hear different things about it. MG

They killed me when I heard them first. The tune was in Armstrong's WC Handy album. I hope someone gets it, but I somehow think maybe not. Yeah! Three of those have been identified, so... MG

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter what the reason for it was; from the point of view of jazz history, what it led to is the important point, isn't it? MG A timeline from the book Storyville, New Orleans by Al Rose (I'm paraphrasing, not quoting directly): August, 1917: Open prostitution is banned within five miles of any US army or navy installation. A representative of the War and Navy departments tours Storyville and orders Mayor Martin Behrman to close it. September 10: Behrman travels to Washington to protest the ruling, without results. September 24: Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels sends a message to Behrman: "You close the red-light district or the armed forces will." October 2: Behrman presents an ordinance to close The District to the City Council. October 9: The ordinance passes, to take effect at midnight, November 12. November 11: Madame Gertrude Dix's request for an injunction blocking the ordinance is rejected by the Louisiana Supreme Court. November 12: Storyville closes, although most of the houses are already closed, and a few madames pay off the police and continue to operate for a time. I think that the notion of a single event scattering New Orleans musicians to other cities is exaggerated, although the closure of The District probably convinced some musicians that it was time to leave. The houses themselves employed piano players (and occasionally string players), not jazz bands. The many bars in The District gave employment to jazz musicians, but there were still plenty of bars and dance halls in the city. The main reason musicians left New Orleans was money. The cost of living was low in New Orleans, and, then as now, there was an over-abundance of musicians, so wages were low. Word got out that a musician could make far more in California or Chicago, so musicians went where the money was. Of course, life was attractive enough in New Orleans that plenty of good musicians stayed - the myth that all the good players left and only the inferior one stayed doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. The unrecorded Buddy Petit and Chris Kelly were considered by many to rival Louis Armstrong and King Oliver in ability, for instance. Ah, that's interesting, thanks Jeff. MG

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter what the reason for it was; from the point of view of jazz history, what it led to is the important point, isn't it? MG

Sometimes the information is stored on the CD. This had become a standard in the last few years. The encoding is called ISRC and you can learn about it at http://www.usisrc.org/ . My last dozen discs are so encoded. Is that the system where the titles & artists come up on your normal CD player? MG Yup. Thanks Chuck. Do you enter details like composer and 'Contributing artist' (as well as artist), year and genre? MG

Enjoying looking at the first page, where it says, 'This is number 0980 of anedition limited to 5,000 albums.' MG

I bought mine in 2002, as well. Numbered 0980 of an edition limited to 5,000 albums. Hm. MG

Well, I think it's better going from here (UK) to there, than coming here from there. I sent a BFT disk off to Hot Ptah on Easter Saturday (Easter buggers up the post everywhere, of course) and he received it on 4 April. I had ordered a bunch of Black Jazz CDs from an Amazon UK seller in the USA - CA? Is that California or Carolina? Notified of dispatch on 1 April; still not received. Royal Mail put prices up big time, not long ago, like USPS. MG

Yes, I'm not well up on this but I've heard that this was the impetus for spreading jazz musicians all across the USA, and what followed from that. MG