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Allan Songer

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Posts posted by Allan Songer

  1. John Heard and Co.

    in New Releases

    Posted · Edited by Allan Songer

    amen to all that has been said about john heard. he is most definitely deserving of wider recognition. i will happily buy his new cd and pass the word on to friends. even though it will not deter me, i am wondering why the cd is so costly. do you know why, allan? i think it's listed at about $27!!

    That's the link for the LP. The CD not so expensive, but it is an "audiophile" release with redbook CD on one side and "DVD-Audio" on the other and the packaging is super deluxe.

    Here's the CD

    And at Amazon as well

    thanks very much, allan. much appreciated. and thanks also for posting this!

    And if you're in L.A. on Aug 13 John will be appearing with 3 other bass players in a concert at Leimert Park in the afternoon. I know one of the other players is Roberto Miranda, but I don't have the information with me as far as the others go. Should be VERY interesting!!

    And as you probably know, he's got a steady gig at Charley O's in the Valley every Fri and Sat night--best place to be in LA for jazz, and that's no joke--this is a gig that seriously kicks ass week after week with Roy McCurdy on drums and a "guest" piano and horn every night.

    Charlie O's

    John Heard's website This one is new and still a work in progress . . .

  2. John Heard and Co.

    in New Releases

    Posted · Edited by Allan Songer

    amen to all that has been said about john heard. he is most definitely deserving of wider recognition. i will happily buy his new cd and pass the word on to friends. even though it will not deter me, i am wondering why the cd is so costly. do you know why, allan? i think it's listed at about $27!!

    That's the link for the LP. The CD not so expensive, but it is an "audiophile" release with redbook CD on one side and "DVD-Audio" on the other and the packaging is super deluxe.

    Here's the CD

    And at Amazon as well

  3. John Heard and Co.

    in New Releases

    Posted

    Songbook1.jpg

    This is my friend John Heard's new album on Straight Ahead Records. John is one of the best bassists in the world and has worked with everyone from Count Basie to Sonny Stitt to Oscar Peterson to Toshiko-well-you name someone and they probably hired John at one time or another. This is only his second album as a leader (the other one was back in 1983 and it will be FINALLY rereleased on CD later this year). This is a record the prodcers and label owners wanted and John delivered the goods. Anyone who likes straight ahead jazz will love it. Available on CD and LP. Do yourself and a REALLY great guy a favor and buy a copy TODAY!!

    John is also a gifted artist and it's his artwork that graces the cover.

    And if you want to hear John play and you live anywhere near LA, he's at Charlie O's every Friday and Saturday night leading a quartet.

    This one is available on both CD and LP.

    Buy a copy here . . .

  5. What vinyl are you spinning right now??

    in The Vinyl Frontier

    Posted

    One side was pressed on the old equipment and the other was pressed on the new equipment.

    Both sides are/were pressed at the same time. :)

    See what I mean about this "info" driving me nuts.

    Well,. of course the record is stamped in one fell swoop! From what I understand (and please correct me if I'm full of crap!) the deep groove is created by a die attached to the pressing equipment and is independent of the stampers. A different die can be used on each side of the stamping machine, so if one replacement die is new (new format) and the other is old (deep groove die) you get the random look of dg- 1 side. These dies get wear and tear and must be replaced but they did not replace the pair at once, only the one that needed it. I have disks with identical stamper information, but which disagree as to the deep groove or lack thereof on one or both sides, so the stampers were compatible with both dg and new non-dg die fitted machines.

  6. What vinyl are you spinning right now??

    in The Vinyl Frontier

    Posted · Edited by Allan Songer

    This "deep groove" shit drives me nuts.

    It only is the kind of mold/tools for stampers and record presses. Don't have shit to do about the quality but it can date some pressings if you know the plant. I've had plenty of pressings with a "deep groove" on one side and not on the reverse. I want some "serious collector" to 'splain that.

    One side was pressed on the old equipment and the other was pressed on the new equipment. You see this all the time on Blue Notes from the 1960-66 period. Plastylite bought new equipment in 1960 and it was hit-or-miss as far as the "deep groove" goes from that point forward. Before the Kenny Drew LP "Undercurrent" ALL Blue Notes were deep groove. What is really funny is that you can have a pressing from 1966 that has deep grooves in both sides and ORIGINAL 46 W 63rd labels, thus making it a "first pressing" to collectors even though it isn't.

    According to Larry Cohn (who knows more about this shit that anyone on earth), ALL first pressings after 4059 would have been made on the "new" equipment and would therefore have NO deep grooves.

    As far as other labels go, I don't know that I have seen alot of records with the deep groove on one side only--but I haven't really looked that closely. I do know that all NYC Prestiges have deep grooves in both sides--at least all the ones I have.

  9. Warpage

    in The Vinyl Frontier

    Posted

    I've also heard of, rather than an oven, leaving it in between the glass pieces out on the patio.

    How long should one leave it, and does one keep it in its paper sleeve while doing this or not?

    THe patio method has worked for me. I saved a couple of really nice Lester Young Norgrans that way. I used THICK glass, 3/8" thick (I have a glass shop at work), UNtempered. All I did was put the record between the two sheets of glass and sit it in the sun for about 40 min. I then took the glass/record into the house and let it cool to room temp. The warps were 90% fixed on the Norgans and they play GREAT now. I also tried this method on a REALLY nastily warped Lee Morgan vol. 3 --a deep groove 47 W 63rd copy and it went from UNplayable to playable with some thumps in the first 30 sec or so. I was then able to SELL this record as "warped buy playable"--probably added $50 to it's value (ebay, crica 1999).

  10. Lee Morgan, the Sidewinder

    in Artists

    Posted · Edited by Allan Songer

    The only thing good I have to say about Sidewinder (the tune not the album) is that its success allowed Blue Note to do many things they would not have been able to do otherwise. In a more contemporary sense, think Norah Jones.

    Up over and out.

    That might be THE dumbest analogy I have ever seen.

    The Sidewinder MAY have sold as many as 25,000 copies before the sale to Liberty. According to Larry Cohn, both "Somethin' Else" and "Blue Train" sold more, with Blue Train selling maybe 35,000 copies and "Somethin' Else" somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 copies.

    Sure, "The Sidewinder" was a hit (and a MUCH NEEDED ONE) for Lion & Wolff, but all it did was keep the wolves at bay for another few months. Blue Note was in horrible financial shape and "The Sidewinder" in NO WAY allowed them to do "many things."

    Plus, Norah Jones sucks.

  15. Anyone actually received 'Watkins at Large' LP Yet?

    in The Vinyl Frontier

    Posted

    I have that TOCJ-5885 CD and I would be shocked to hear anything beating this CD for sound quality. It's one of the best-sounding Jazz CDs I own... it makes an excellent speaker demo CD. Smooth, full bass, nice mids and crisp highs. Plus the tunes are great. :D

    I have had both the KING and the Toshiba reissues and 3 different copies of the original--never had a CD and haven't heard the Classic, but I was tempted. The KING is great, the Toshiba is nice but seems a bit more "polite"--not as dynamic and "in your face." The original is EXPLOSIVE--but it's so hard to find a copy that's quiet--and really EXPENSIVE too!! I am selling a VG- copy on ebay right now and I expect to get at least $200 for it.

  20. Hank Mobley's "The Flip"

    in The Vinyl Frontier

    Posted

    I like it. Nothing to write home about, but a solid effort from Mobley near the end of a remarkable Blue Note run. Not rare at all--a nice copy can be had for $20-$25 on ebay. The tunes are all Mobley originals and run the gamut from hard soul bop to samba. Some killer Slide Hampton work here too. But one gets the sense that the world had passed Hank Mobley by in 1969--and that the world had made a huge error in doing so!

    I'm selling one on ebay right now with no reserve at $19.99. I run into 4-5 copies a year in my hunting and they are almost always clean as a whistle and alomost always "cut outs."

  21. First trip to NYC since 11/01, July 1-6

    in Live Shows & Festivals

    Posted · Edited by Allan Songer

    I plan on catching Vincent Herring at Smoke on 7/1 (first two sets) and then hustling up to the Lenox Lounge to hear the midnight set from Jimmy McGriff.

    On 7/2 I'm going to check out Dizzy's (Herlan Riley "and Friends).

    And probably back to Smoke on 7/5 for Eric Alexander in a B3 setting.

    But everything else is up in the air.

    I see that Smoke has a kitchen now and that the first set is being called a "dinner set." Does that mean I have to eat there in order to get a table? Does anyone know? Do I need to make far-in-advance reservations or what?

    Any suggestions, please send them along . . .

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