wesbed

Does Mosaic Abuse count?

Decoder is the best track on the CD. It's really good for driving in your car, turned up loud, down a dark desert highway.

After all my 'big talk' about donating to the Board. Now, I have to get a Paypal account.

Data is data. As long as you get a good copy, you're good to go.

I'd planned, from the beginning, to purchase the Sennheiser 650 headphones. I wanted to purchase the Senn650s so bad. I thought it was the way to go for me. Some websites rate the Senn650 as the world's best headphone. The idea of the name 'Sennheiser' appealed to me as more of an 'audophile' brand. I've never thought of Sony as being audiophile grade. While, at the same time, I was trying to not consider the 'brand' as much as the 'product.' I wanted to purchase the product that would best match my desires regardless of what brand label was slapped on its side. However, I kept reading opinion after opinion at Head-Fi saying that the Senn650 had a 'veil.' Some opinions were that the Senn650 is 'laid back' or distant, that it doesn't reproduce high frequencies as well as it could. The same opinions were that the Sony CD3000 beat the Senn650, generally, in every category. Better highs, better lows, larger soundstage, etcetera. I tend to keep the treble on my stereo set a little on the high side. I don't like a veiled or distant sound. I believe both headphones are very good. It's too bad I was not able to test one against the other before making a purchase. I believe the preferred headphone would depend on your taste in music and sound. Unfortunately, the top of the line headphones are not sold in retail stores and cannot be tried until they are purchased. I've yet to learn what the Sennheiser 650 sounds like. I read DrJ's comments on the Organissimo board. I respect his opinion since he listens to the same kind of music I listen to. He wrote that he'd tried the Sonys and the Sennheisers and he preferred the sound of the Sonys. When my Sony CD3000s arrived, I plugged them directly into the headphone jack of my integrated amplifier. I was not impressed with the sound, to my surprise. Over the last month or so, my ears have become more attuned to the Sony CD3000s but I've still been, mostly, unimpressed. I met another board poster at Head-Fi who offered to let my use one of his headphone amplifiers (a META42). And, yeeeeaaooooowwwwwww, the Sony headphones now sound like what I'd expected. When I play a monophonic jazz recording, the Sony CD3000s sometimes confuse my brain cells into thinking the recording is in stereo. The person who let me borrow his headphone amplifier said he would build me one like his (or a PPA if I prefer). He says he'll charge me only for his cost of the parts. DrJ... man, when are you going to get a headphone amplifier to make your CD3000s come alive? ADR: Thanks for your advice regarding headphones and headphone amplifiers. My four month search is slowly coming to an end. You provided me with very good advice and direction during my search. With the combination of the Sony CD3000 headphone and the META42 headphone amp, I am most impressed. B)

Very interesting, indeed. I always thought there was somethihg odd about the shape of Coltrane's mouth and the item in his hand. I never knew it was a lollipop till it was revealed here. I'm always learning something about jazz from the Organissimo board.

I run three times per week, and try to eat a healthy diet. I'm in perfectly good health as far as I know... errr, physically. Reality is my problem. Jazz is my drug of choice (with a few beers now and again).

This CD cover looks odd. Reminiscent of something AfricaBrass or couw would create. I intend my remark as a compliment to AfricaBrass and couw and to their creativity on this board. They've created much eye candy in the last several months. I only wish I had the same knowledge and skill.

Hey, be careful. I was one of the kids that got held down.

I watched 'Dodgeball' last night. The movie was dumb, yet good, and sometimes quite funny. I don't laugh easily at a movie and I'm not much into Ben Stiller. However, I caught myself laughing at the antics in 'Dodgeball' (as much as I didn't intend to laugh). Considering my lack of appreciation for Ben Stiller, he was quite good in his roll. The way he looked and the way he spoke, I would have hardly known it was him if I didn't already know. The movie showed me that Ben Stiller 'can' act and 'can' be funny. The good thing about this movie, to me, it's an old-fashioned raunchy and moronic comedy. It was good to be able to laugh without a care. Some parts of the movie are slapstick and thrown at you very fast. As soon as you quit chuckling about Scene A, you're right back to laughing about Scene B. It was fun to sit through the movie, not thinking about the news, politics, or any of the recent negative situations of the world. I departed from the movie in good spirits, then went to Applebee's for buffalo wings and beer (in the same parking lot as the movie theater), with my female companion.

The same thing happened to me. I went to the movie not knowing of its jazz connection. When the picture appeared, my jaw kind of dropped because, well, who else knows of that picture besides me and the people who post on this board? The person I was with, she knew of Monk, etecetera, due to my interest in jazz. It was surreal to go to the movies to see a Speilberg/Hanks thing, just to have it turn, in the end, to a jazz related theme. Suddenly, there's Benny Golson on the big screen. Like, hey, dump Hanks and bring on Coltrane and Miles and Mobley, Horace, Monk, Sonny... I could have purchased a hot dog, some nachos, a Big Gulp Coke and gone another two hours watching the jazz greats on the big screen.

This illustrates, to me, that jazz really wasn't the point of 'The Terminal.' The subject of jazz and the famous picture was something to loosely build the movie around. Something that was supposed to be 'oh so meaningful' but really wasn't meaningful at all. I thought the importance of jazz was completely understated to a point that the average person would have no clue what the Hanks character went to New York City to get. He might as well have been traveling to NYC to steal a case of Coors beer (such as in 'Smokey and the Bandit'). With or without the jazz theme, and there was VERY little of it, the movie was still quite enjoyable for me.

I'd want to hear Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York. If somebody must play something mournful, then some of the New Orleans Jazz funeral music.

I know what you mean in this situation. -_-

The PMs may be working. I just received two copies of the same message from the same sender. As if that person sent the message twice or the system sent it twice and I received it twice. I then sent a message to another person and received the error message from the PM system. Yet, my message may have gone through. Not sure.

Nope, you're not the only one. Seems as though the Selects are somewhat replacing the regular sets. I wonder if Cuscuna has had a more difficult time in finding good material for Mosaic Complete sets recently? He's issued a lot of material over the years. There is a limited amount of jazz to release. Consider obtaining the license for unreleased material (it must be available and affordable), finding the complete works, making certain it's a product that will sell, judging whether the material is imporant (the Blue Mitchell Mosaic stopped at 1967 because, according to the Mosaic liner notes, the Mitchell material after 1967 wasn't worth releasing), and signing Malcolm Addey to do the remastering. There are a lot of things to consider before the release of a Mosaic Complete set. The more music Mosaic releases, the less there is to choose from. The Mosaic Selects are less expensive to create and less expensive to purchase. Yes, it makes sense that Mosaic may be reducing the production of Complete sets with the addition of the Select sets. It may be a way to keep the jazz flowing while Cuscuna figures a way to release more Complete material. I've always thought the Duke Pearson Select was more of a place holder than a genuine Mosaic release. Some of the Grachan Moncur Select is really Jackie McLean material. The Shank/Cooper is a mish-mash of music, as if Mosaic was 'reaching' to make that material flow together. I don't own the Liebman/Beirach Select but, from what I've read, it seems like an odd set of music for Mosaic to release.

I know my idea won't be made into a movie. However, it could be and could be quite good. Clint Eastwood made 'Bird' with the intention of it being a movie for the general public to see. The movie wouldn't have to be jazz based but could still be about jazz. Use the same leading characters as in 'The Terminal.' Tom Hanks as a 'Cast Away' in New York City... who meets Catherine Z-Jones. Maybe she is a waitress in a restaurant, maybe she is a hooker, maybe she is a late-night policewoman... she could be anything. The two characters meet at random times as Hanks ventures around New York City... meeting interesting people, eating in good restaurants, being puzzeled by the New York under-life, getting lost in the subway, being seen with Z-Jones in a few jazz clubs... coming to an understanding of who certain jazz greats were in their day... finally, meeting Golson, getting the girl, and traveling back home. The movie would be a love story about two people lost in the New York City bustle. Jazz would be the backdrop for and the point of NYC adventures. The male and female would meet, find love in each other and love with the art form of jazz. The two characters discover, through each other and their relationship with jazz, that they have been 'lost' but now feel 'found' because they are together and share an interest in jazz music. I picture Tom Hanks in his 'Cast Away' role, but with a bit of an edge such as the character played by Nicolas Cage in 'Leaving Las Vegas.' My point: this type of move COULD work and WOULD work if done the right way. I think of it the same as a war movie. A war movie isn't always about the war, rather, about people who happen to live during a time of war. A jazz movie doesn't have to be about jazz, rather, about people who live and breath in a time of jazz discovery.

I saw 'The Terminal' on Friday night, at the 10:00 showing. I had the theater to myself, me and a female friend. We sat on the row where you can place your feet on the rail in front of you. I didn't know the film had any relation to jazz till I saw the film. I like Hanks most of the time and Spielberg some of the time. I wanted to see the film mainly for the nice sets I've read about. The sets were good and the film was good (although not 'great'). I was surprised when the jazz picture was revealed. Of course, that picture has much meaning to me but, I'm sure, was lost on most people. The film showed a short still of the picture with some close-ups of signatures. If I recall correctly, there was a close up of Monk with 'T. S. Monk' signed across it. The average person in the theater, and it was mostly empty at 10:00PM, hadn't a clue about the people in the photograph or about Thelonious Monk. There is a very short clip near the end showing Golson playing his saxophone. Even 'I' thought Golson was dead till seeing him in the movie. It's too bad Spielberg didn't make the movie about the Tom Hanks character getting through the airport on schedule and adventuring around the jazz history of New York City for two hours. Hanks could have experienced American culture, learned to appreciate jazz the way his father had. In the end, after Hanks meets Golson, he would have returned to his own country a new man, full of excitement and understanding of his father, his father's appreciation for jazz, why the music meant so much to his father, and the Golson signature. This would have been a much more meaningful movie than having Hanks play his 'Cast Away' roll, again, in an airport.

Spoiled Americans? Rather, the price of most anything, including CDs, is set to the level at which the market will bear. Fortunately, the market has dictated that Blue Note must price the RVGs at a 'lower' price to make them sell in the USA. Sometimes, the free enterprise system works.

Yeah. I have my share of personal issues. But, I'm not sure I'm loony enough to 'get' the movie. I'm leaving soon... to get some lunch first, next, the movie.

I'm going to see Dodgeball this afternoon. I didn't want to see it since the advertisements, to me, looked stupid. Yet, I'm going to see it with a friend. From reading the sales figures, it looks like Dodgeball opened with greater sales than The Terminal (I saw The Terminal on Friday night).

My Blakey picks: Live at the Cafe Bohemia, volumes 1 and 2 (2 single RVGs) Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World (1 double RVG) Caravan (Riverside)

I found a single copy of this title at Borders's: Homage to Lord Krishna by Tony Scott. While Border's has the one-and-only copy of this CD. While it's still available for purchase... is this a title worth owning? I've never heard of Tony Scott. I almost purchased the CD till I read that a sitar is used during the session. Reading these words reminded me of the sitar used by the Beatles, from the same time period. The Beatles' sitar turned my head away from the popular group quickly. The Beatles' use of the sitar placed my mind into a depressed state, forcing my finger to press the STOP or FORWARD buttons on my CD player as quickly as possible. Opinions? Comments? Worth an investment of $11.99?

Yeah, that darned $8.99 - $11.99 per disk is breaking me, financially. The costs of the remastering, repackaging, distributing, retailing, and some profit must be paid by some means. If Blue Note can keep the price of RVGs where it is, I'll continue buying the RVG releases. What I don't understand about RVG pricing is why a two-disk RVG costs more than two one-disk RVGs. What gives?

Jolly on Smack Up.