wesbed

I live in Tucson, Arizona. I took a flight to visit a friend (a female friend!) in Columbus, Ohio on Halloween morning. I arrived at the Columbus airport on Halloween afternoon. I met her. We ate at a local Italian restaurant. I 'forced' her to take me to the nearest Border's store to make certain the Border's in Columbus didn't have anything, musically speaking, that the Tucson Border's didn't have. It didn't. I did find this book that I'd never seen before. I spent Halloween night taking in Mystic River. I saw not a single person dressed in a Halloween costume.

The Mosaic rep, Cindy, says Mosaic will be filing a claim with Airborne Express. She says, as a courtesy, Mosaic will be crediting my credit card for the entire shipping charge. I had the same question as Rooster, however. The Selects are new enough they can be readily replaced. What if the stolen package had been the last set Mosaic had in stock? I agree, the US Post Office may well be a better shipper. I've never had the USPS lose anything. Also, the USPS will deliver the package to a safe/secure locked mailbox (rather than inside the screen door on my front doorstep).

I ordered the Bennie Green & Randy Weston Selects last week (on a Thursday). Today, Monday, Mosaic called my home telephone number to say my CDs were stolen. The Mosaic representative says Airborne Express contacted Mosaic to report the Mosaic package, that should have been delivered to me, had been opened, apparently by somebody at Airborne Express, and the Mosaic CDs had been removed. Mosaic says they will ship another Green & Weston to me. The package should arrive within two to three days. Wasn't there a thread, at the BNBB, regarding people having a difficult time receiving Mosaic CDs through Airborne Express? Something about the CDs being stolen by Airborne Express employees, or being lost, or something? I'm surprised, yet not surprised, that the people who work for Airborne Express know the value of the contents of a Mosaic box. I wonder how much longer Mosiac will continue it's relationship with Airborne Express? Maybe it is time to try UPS or Federal Express?

I've drifted, many times, into and out of Steely Dan. I'll go through all the albums, listening intently as hell. I'll remember the songs, the visions they provided for me and the postive feelings of the world they gave to me. For no apparent reason I'll just... stop listening to Dan. When the time is right I'll pop in some more Steely tunes and begin to enjoy & appreciate all over again. Steely Dan is one of those artists that will always be there when you need them.

I was speaking with ss1 last week. We were discussing the end of the BNBB during its last days. When you couldn't post names such as Sonny S***t or Herbie Han****. However, it was okay to post name variations such as Herbie Hanpenis. Back in the good ol' days.

Does anybody have any opinions/knowledge regarding the remastering of Grant Green’s Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark? I read at AMG that this music was released originally, by Mosaic, as a four CD box. That Blue Note trimmed the set to two disks to feature the quartets of Green & Clark without the presence of a saxophone. >AMG link< I’m thinking, if Mosaic released its version of this set (as 4 disks), the music was remastered by Mosaic. Is the Blue Note 2-CD set a reissue of Mosaic’s already remastered box? Did Blue Note have to remaster from the original tapes in order to place the Blue Note label on the packaging? The Blue Note release has a date of 1997. The liner notes say Michael Cuscuna produced the reissue. There is an SBM label on the back, lower, right-hand corner. There is nothing I can find, within the Blue Note set, as to who remastered the collection. The SBM label is a hint, to me, that the Blue Note 2-CD set has been remastered. It says the recording engineer is Rudy Van Gelder but nothing further. No mention of Ron McMaster or anyone else being involved with the remastering effort.

My PMs go through all the time. I ignore the Mail Error message and press the back arrow on my browser.

Baby Face = whoo hoo!! Larry Young = mesmerizing Jimmy Smith = the master Big John Patton = big The organ I'm liking the most for right now is Jack McDuff's playing on Grantstand. That funky shit blows me away.

ask wynton if he likes gumbo ss1 @ wesbed's house

No negative slant intended toward the names mentioned below: We often discuss the remastering styles of Van Gelder & McMaster. Both men are good and not-as-good at different times. But, those darn K2s! I don't know much of the who/how of the K2 process. However, they always sound good to me (with no Van Gelder/McMaster discussion involved). I want the Monk/Mulligan.

I can understand how jazz could make a person nervous. It is a chaotic music form to those who are not accustomed to it. I find it interesting that jazz has always, at the same time, both excited and calmed me.

You make an excellent point that there is pleasure, for some, in going against what is popular. Yes, I've caught myself doing the same more than once. My recent interest in jazz has, at times, been pushed ahead knowing that other people aren't into what I am into. However, it wasn't that way in the beginning. I found/discovered jazz and it seemed 'interesting' and 'comforting' to me. I 'liked' the music and could explain why. It wasn't because somebody else liked or didn't like the music.

I suppose my complaint is not whether people do or don't appreciate jazz. Upon further consideration, I can accept people not liking the music or understanding it. For as much as the music does for me, the melodies are broken, the tunes are not always foot tapping (but maybe fingerpoppin!), and the rhythms are odd and can change unexpectedly. It's not a beginner's music. My point is that people seem to be drawn to or away from culture, not because the culture is necessarily good or bad, but because people seem to desire to do whatever everybody else is doing, whatever seems 'cool' at the time, whatever is popular.

Jazz inspires me. It makes a dull day brighter. Or a heavy period lighter. After listening to some good jazz ('good' depends on my mood at the time), my mind feels clear, refreshed, and the world seems a better place. I often wonder why others don't get, from jazz, what I get from it. I often wonder how other people can't feel the same inspiration from jazz that I feel. Sometimes I feel sorry for the people who aren't or can't be inspired by the jazz greats. How can they live in the world, happily, without the music to keep them inspired, moving forward, and standing upright? Sometimes I have thoughts exactly like those expressed by Soul Stream. How can our culture be so caught and/or stuck on 'cultural' events such as the endless number of college football games? Or what was seen at the mutliplex mall cinema? Or, whatever Oprah said this week? To me, it's 'monkey see, monkey do.' Friends have described my thoughts of our culture as being 'negative.' To each his own, I suppose. However, when discussions of 'culture' revolve around what was seen on the TV, viewed at the movie cinema, or heard on the FM radio, and it all changes on a whim, with no history and no tradition, it seems rather empty to me. I'm happy to read Soul Stream's comments. To know I'm not the only one with the same kind of thought.

I was planning to purchase ALL the Selects since they were initially introduced. I purchased the Grachan and the Carmell when they were new sets. I didn't purchase the next two Selects since I wasn't famliar with the artists. I'm glad to see the Bennie Green getting good reviews. I'm thinking of purchasing the Green and the Weston soon. I'm not familiar with either man but I've learned much from Mosaic and Blue Note through the years.

I understand and appreciate that Mosaic attempts to provide the complete sessions per a given box set. Of course, I want all the sessions I can get my hands on. Sometimes, however, the 'interesting' sessions are good and sometimes the 'interesting' sessions are, well... not quite as good. I like core Stitt very much. How good/bad/interesting are the 'interesting' sessions in the Stitt box?

Does anybody have this Sonny CD? I purchased the New York Jazz CD last week and just opened it this week. The sound is crisp and includes lots of quick, bluesy, and soulful playing by Stitt. How does the New York Jazz CD compare to the Mosaic box? I've been interested in the Stitt Mosaic for several months but I never puchase it due to the cost of the box.

I need to purchase The Rumproller. It's one of the few RVGs I don't yet own. After writing my sentence, above, I started thinking this is probably the reason this title could be deleted. Even myself, an appreciator of the RVG series, doesn't yet own it.

I've had very good service from CD Universe. I will be purchasing my Conn's from their website soon. The initial price is $12.59 per CD. I believe they will maintain this price for X number of days/weeks. The price will then be raised. Damn. I've still not opened nor listened to my copy of Point of Departure (and I've had it for a year!).

In consideration of the most recently released RVG titles and the list of expected RVG titles, I believe it would be difficult for Blue Note to keep all the titles available, forever. The increasing number of RVGs will use shelf space in stores and warehouses. As much as I appreciate & enjoy each RVG title, methinks some of the titles don't sell well (especially when compared to the titles on the Billboard Top 100 list). I mean, how much of the general public buys RVGs? Blue Note must make a profit to stay in business. I don't see it being profitable for the company to continue to offer titles that don't sell, RVG or not. I wonder which RVG titles will be deleted from the availability list as new RVG titles are introduced? My picks are Tony Williams' Lifetime and Bobby Hutherson's Dialogue. This is not because they are poor sessions, but because they are 'more difficult' for the general public and my not generate lots of sales.

Horace Silver - Song For My Father.

Musings of Miles? Ah well, guess I can't get too upset about them blowing a pseudonymn. It goes to show, once again, how often 'the press' has the facts straight. Jeez. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here, listening to Art Blakey's Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World. How about that Mr. William Clayton Marquette as the Master of Ceremonies?

What??!!! Damn man, get the new one. Get it! You won't be disappointed.

Okay, okay..! I mix my stuff around enough that I hardly ever tire of anything. I have numerous titles that I've heard only once. I purchased Point of Departure at a Border's sale more than a year ago... I've not opened nor listened to it yet. I've played all the Steely Dan albums waaaaaaay too many times, and they still sound good to me. As good as it is (and it is good), I've played Kind of Blue enough times that I've tired of it over the years. Errr... sorry, Miles.

I haven't purchased this set yet, but would like to. I can accept distortion in these recordings since they are old recordings. Does the distortion sound like it's inherent in the master tapes and cannot be removed? Or, does it appear to have been added by the remastering process? Is the distortion bad enough to cause a 'no buy' decision versus a 'yes buy' decision? Another link here.