The Magnificent Goldberg

Hey MG, how much were these? I've never ordered from Hiroshi. These aren't cheap releases - they were 5460 yen for the pair including post. On Paypal's currency conversion, that was £25.46, which is not much more than you'd pay in the shops here for one Japanese CD. I reckon he's a good deal for British customers where pretty well everywhere sells Japanese CDs for the same price. Perhaps in the US there are better deals available than over here - I should think so. I see Dusty Groove have these at $24.99 each, plus post, which isn't a lot more expensive than Hiroshi - when they can get 'em; they're out of stock at present. MG

Three days of hot weather here and it feels like sommer's back (for a bit). MG

Forgot to mention that Burkina Faso means "Land of the honourable!! MG

I had one of those from Burkina Faso!!!! I mean, how would they know I'd heard of Burkina Faso? And forty million dollars!!!!! Hot shit! MG

Howard Roberts - Color him funky - Capitol mono Could have been a good album if Capitol had allowed the musicians more than about two minutes per track! MG

Two grandsons overrunning us for the last couple of days! So yesterday, along came Etta Jones – My mother’s eyes. This was reissued by Savoy Jazz a few years ago. Great to have this, as my LP was bought exceptionally 2nd hand! King Britt – When the funk hits the fan Someone posted that they were playing this a few days ago. Can’t remember who it was, but thank you whoever! This is music. This is good music! This is good music that is consistently interesting. Well, it’s a decade old, so it doesn’t tell you where we are, but it certainly tells you where we’ve been recently. And today, this one turned up Harlem Art Ensemble – Live in New York – Explore EXP0027 – Harold Ousley, Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Ponder and Bruno Carr. This is as good as you’d expect it to be, plus a little bit more. It came out three weeks ago, apparently for the first time. It was recorded live in August 1990, produced by Teruo Nakamura, probably for the Japanese Cheetah label – Lonie guested on some albums produced and led by him in the late seventies. But according to Doug Payne’s Lonnie Smith discography, this is the first release of this material – it sez that on the sleeve, too, but you know what they say... (The Harlem Art Ensemble made another album, for the Japanese label Ninety-nine, in May 1992, with Teruo Goto instead of Harold Ousley, and Harry Whitaker on synths. I haven’t got that one.) MG

Yes, I'd like one of those, too! MG

My daughter loaned me "Harry Potter and the deadly hallows", together with "Harry Potter & the half blood prince", which I've read before, so I could catch up. Just finished the earlier book. About to head for the garden and read the new one. MG

George Freeman George Burns Charles Earland

IS it rare? I must notify my insurers It IS good. MG

I like Ximo Tebar - particularly his organ trio albums. I first ran into him on Lou Bennett's 1992 album "Now hear my meaning" - Mas y mas 001, which also had Abdu Salim on alto and Idris on drums. I have 3 of the organ trio albums (which he calls guitar trio, understandably) Hello Mr Bennett (which is a kind of answer album to "Meeting Mr Thomas" by Rene Thomas, which Bennett played on) Ximo Tebar goes blue The champs I wish I could get my hands on "So what". This is definitely up my street kind of stuff. It is NOT music for people who are just looking to complete their collection of Lou or Lonnie recordings - it's MUCH better than that! MG

Ended the evening with Gene Ammons - Night lights - Prestige orig Fats Theus - Black out - CTI orig (green label - slightly darker green than Prestige ) MG

I'm sorry to hear that Mark. It's very bad news to lose a pet. MG

"When played wet"? How can you play a wet record? MG Some people swear by it. Use a brush to cover both sides with non-ionized water and play it through. Supposedly it eliminates a lot of noise and decontaminates the surface as well. YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!!!! MG I am serious. Thank goodness you didn't call me Shirley. OK, you're serious. This sounds insane to me. So you put non-ionised water (whatever that is - tap water?) on both sides of an LP, plonk it down on the felt mat on your turntable and play it. Just like that? And the water doesn't run off into the mat and then soak through into the player mechanism? Nor does it slop over onto the label? And then you have to dry it off after you've played it before you can put it away - yes? You must have to use a special towel for that. I hope you know where your towel is Oh yes, it's not you, it's someone else. MG

Sonny Stitt & Charles Kynard - My mother's eyes - PJ King Japan MONO MG

"When played wet"? How can you play a wet record? MG Some people swear by it. Use a brush to cover both sides with non-ionized water and play it through. Supposedly it eliminates a lot of noise and decontaminates the surface as well. YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!!!! MG

It's a great album. Somewhere we had a discussion about this before. I have a strong feeling it was intended not to be an album but as a bunch of 45s. MG

Yeah - my copy of Fats Theus' "Black out" CTI 1005, has a green label. The early French RCA issues of CTI albums had a green label, too. My copy of Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar" is one of those. MG

Postman was a bit late today, but brought me two CDs from Hiroshi. Charles Kynard Charles Williams I forgot to order these when they came out a couple of months ago! MG

"When played wet"? How can you play a wet record? MG

An interesting observation. I agree. The recordings that Stuff Smith was doing with Jonah Jones at the time are less restrained, and sound even more like proto-Louis Jordan. Thanks for that tip, John. MG

Last night, it was Chicago Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers - Doin' what we wanna - Atlantic orig Clarence Wheeler - The new Chicago blues - Atlantic orig Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers - Burn for Bern - Straight Ahead Chuck, what do you know about the Straight Ahead label? This was a Clarence Wheeler production in 1980, and looks like a DIY job, but with a number like 41197, that isn't quite convincing. Full of Chicago good guys like John Wright, Kenny Prince, Bob Shy, and George Freeman. MG

That's a WONDERFUL album. And still, many thanks to Dan, who included a track in his BFT over a year ago. MG

Texas! David Newman - Bigger and better - Atlantic orig stereo Arnett Cobb - Smooth sailing - Prestige blue label mono Arnett Cobb - Jumpin' at the Woodside - Black & Blue orig Les McCann & the Jazz Crusaders - Jazz waltz - PJ Fontana UK MG

Sonny Stitt Roost sessions disc 7, 8 & 9 MG