The Magnificent Goldberg

yes, mg. it's sweet keyboard-laiden funky crossover fusion. if you can go there, and i can, this record is a gem. *highly* recommended. -e- Thanks, now on my Early list, which might be a late list. MG

Steve Jobs Bill Gates The Great Gates

Er... not exactly. They're not legal, but not unethical, given that they introduce people to music they haven't heard and may not otherwise come across, resulting in sales that wouldn't otherwise have come about. Not ethically dissimilar to playing a record for a friend. MG

Sonny Stitt box disc 9 MG

By the same rationale, one shouldn't sell used CDs. Guy I disagree, because the artist knows that's part of the bargain he's made at the time he signs his contract. The artist also knows that there will be some CD-R copying. Perhaps I am not understanding your point. Guy Hank Mobley didn't know that. Nor did thousands of musicians who were making records up to a very few years ago. But they, or their families, are still entitled. MG

They did get paid for the used copy, on its original purchase. That's the difference. They aren't getting paid on the copies you burn for your friends. When you are comparing buying a used copy versus buying a new copy, then I think the artist would obviously prefer you buy the new copy, since that results in an additional sale and revenue. But that used copy did what it was manufactured to do, already. The burned copy does not result in payment to anyone who is entitled to payment for that recording. All good points, of course, but let me repeat myself from my post above... So what if I purchase the music on itunes, burn them to a CD, and then sell the CD? How is that different from the record company "burning" the CD for me before I bought it? And how is that different from my buying the music and then selling it (the digital files) "used?" I was being silly before, but now I'm serious: how is a CD-R made from purchased audio files different from a used CD? They both affect the artists/rights holders the same way. And yet one is perfectly acceptable while the other is tantamount to raping young children in church basements. A burned CD-R is obviously not an authentic edition, so it would certainly command a lower price in the second hand market. That might mean that it wouldn't represent to you an adequate return on the time and trouble and cost of purchasing the music an CD-R. But you make an interesting hypothetical point. There is, however, one set of circumstances that might conspire to make it more than hypothetical. Universal has released, only for download from e-music, a shedload of albums, many of which I want. But, since I'm not resident in the US, I can't purchase them. So I can't purchase them in any format. A CD-R such as you describe would be a new form of arbitrage. MG

Not to my taste. Too much chops, not enough grease. But, wearing clothes like that, grease would be highly inappropriate. Like the earrings but prefer Rhoda Scott's current hairdo - now THERE'S some GREEAASSE! (And some footwork.) MG

Bricks & Mortar - or in Terry's case, a stall in Pontypridd Market - is where I buy most albums - 40 this year so far. But CD Universe is not far behind, with 34, then Amazon UK - almost always the marketplace vendors - 20. Then 18-20 others share the other hundred or so. The top 3 take just over half my spend. MG

Lennie Hayton Gunther Grass Jack Straw

That sounds quite daft to me, Jim. Most people live in second hand houses, but my present house is new; I paid the building firm; it paid the designer/architect. When I sell it, I want the effin' money - why should the designer/architect be paid again, and again and again and his descendants and heirs for the next one or two hundred years? (It must have been a bloke, my wife says, because he buggered up the design of the kitchen.) MG Sounds like a bit of applying the economics of one industry to another. Designers/architects don't get paid royalties. They get what in musician's terms would be considered "session fees", renumeration for a specific job performed. Now, if you're proposing that musician's session fees be raised to thae point where a relative handfull of jobs a year provides for a comfortable income, well hey - I'm all for that! But get ready to see a dramatic drop in the number of albums recorded and released. How many $12.50 (retail) CDs do you have to sell to create the gross of one $125,000 house? 10,000. How many non-popular CDs sell 10,000 copies? Not many. So the scale and terms of "employee" renumeration are adjusted in lines with likely revenue. Or else, have designers/architects get paid a minimal session fee and then have them wait for a payment of the nominal percentage of the sale price. Let's see how well that one goes over. And how many building firms do 10,000 jobs a year, year after year? Not many, if any. So the scale and terms of "employee" renumeration are adjusted in lines with likely revenue. Apples & oranges we have here, if in extremely simplified form. Each industry has an economic model which better serves its individual needs and realities. A bit of tweaking to the current system with the goal of putting a bit of extra change in the pockets of the laborers isn't necessarily daft, I would say. Having said all that though, a system to pay reduced royalties on used sales isn't something I' m going to crusade for. It would just be a nice little something extra for the musicians who, after all, are the only ones in this game (besides the labels) who (theoretically at least) approach the enterprise as an investment (after all, what are royalties other than a return on a speculative venture?). Some artists choose to waive royalties up front in return for a larger session fee. That's their perogative, and in many cases it's a smart move. But for those who don't, hey, why not look to get a better return from your investment, especially at a minimal cost to the consumer? OK MG

How so? Position a wall phone jack in such a way that the upper door on a double oven range would strike the phone when opened? I've seen that design. No - the kitchen in the new house is twice the size of our old one, but two people can't work in it at the same time. Everything useful, including work spaces, is crowded into a corner. MG

That sounds quite daft to me, Jim. Most people live in second hand houses, but my present house is new; I paid the building firm; it paid the designer/architect. When I sell it, I want the effin' money - why should the designer/architect be paid again, and again and again and his descendants and heirs for the next one or two hundred years? (It must have been a bloke, my wife says, because he buggered up the design of the kitchen.) MG

Rev Thomas Robert Malthus David Ricardo Herbert Spencer

Well, I dunno - seems to me there's three elements to this. 1 Sources of information - we're talking about informal as well as formal info, here; not just confirmed release dates but anticipated releases. That implies someone close to the industry - in Japan, Europe, North America, South Africa and Australasia (and probably other places where jazz records are made). If not a someone, a consortium of someones. 2 Ease with the technology of running a site. 3 Willingness to a) slog the info into a reasonably standard form, and b) check reissues for whether they're as originally issued or have bonus tracks (and what the hell do you do about the multipliciy of Japanese editions?) To me, this doesn't really look like one person, retired or not, at all. Lord knows how Jazzmatazz was so good. MG

Hilton Jefferson Conrad Hilton Joseph Conrad

How come no one has told this guy that the humour isn't on Khazakstan but on US? MG

It's a decent album. Some of the tracks are duplicated on this one: "A bowl of soul" on Loma. Or, if you want a REAL disconnect between title and sleeve, the British issue: MG

These turned up just now Just listening to the first Red Allen disc. MG

Is you boastin' man! I have something like 10-20% of this already! MG

Sonny Stitt ROOST Mosaic box disc 8 MG

Do you mean CD-RWs? Those won't work as audio discs, apparently. Yes - CD-RWs. I've got a bunch of CD-Rs now and it works OK. It's a bit quiet, however; have to wind to volume up a bit. MG

Sonny Stitt Sonny Criss Sonny Cox

Seriously caught out this evening. Last year, this estate was pretty new and ours was the only house in out road - so no action. This year there was a continuous stream of kids at the door. My wife had some sweets that our grandsons didn't like (nice, aren't we?), but she gave them to the first bunch who came by. Then it was money. And more, and more - I've just got enough to go to the chippy tomorrow! Must say, the costumes and masks were better than average. Next lot is 4 November - in Yorkshire, when I was a kid, this was "mischief night"; gathering funds for fireworks the following day. MG

Otis Redding Helen Reddy Late

Things on hold a bit, as I found that I can't use reusable discs if I want to play the material off the computer, which I do. Discs to buy. MG