Ken Dryden

I guess that is one of the surprises… It was a late addition, as I had overlooked it when I submitted the BFT to Tom.

BFT 221 is now available for download: http://thomkeith.net/index.php/blindfold-tests/ Hopefully there will be some surprises, though some artists or songs will be familiar.

Maybe a better thing to do would be to taste, spit and rinse to clear the pallet. Muck like the Jack Daniel’s tasters at the distillery. That’s a lot of candy to swallow in a day.

A number of state universities have two radio stations. Typically there is a professionally run station with adults that brings in listeners and underwriting/gift donations, then there is a "student-run" station, funded by activity fees and other money (if anyone can find any), which is typically the streaming station. Some people seem to think a station can be successful drawing a significant audience while raising significant funding, yet relying primarily on volunteers. The problem is how do you retain volunteers long term and have them keep an audience? Audience rating systems (Nielsen, since acquired by Arbitron) for radio leave a lot to be desired, as they rely on rather small sample sizes of listeners who are asked to keep a week long diary of their listening. There was a competitor for Nielsen but it folded some time in the early 1990s. I remember seeing one ratings period for my weekday evening show and it said I had a 2000 AQH audience, though 80% of it was outside of the metro area (very unlikely, given the demographics of the population here several decades ago). If you've ever done it, did you really remember to keep exact track of how long you listened each day to every station and where you heard it? It's a crapshoot at best. One thing I hate to see is the merger of a public radio station with a public television station. The TV typically treats the radio like a cash cow, milking their fundraising for their overpriced tv programming, then killing off quality shows on radio to be replaced with repeats of audio from the TV programming, much like WGBH did and also in the merger of the Cleveland stations awhile back. Radio always seems to lose in such mergers, as do jazz listeners.

Larry: As my late mother used to say, "Surgery takes it out of you..." Best wishes for great health in the near future.

The one problem with that kind of programming is that it reaches a demographic that doesn't have a lot of disposable income nor do they feel inclined to give to public radio. I hope the administration is planning on lots of student activity fees to subsidize this station on its way downhill. Take it from someone who witnessed the same switch and results at his public radio station during a 26 year career in fundraising. Underwriters wanted drive time NPR news and cared nothing about local music shows.

I've yet to buy a Tone Poet series reissue LP and I have no plans to do so. Offering a bonus unissued track or two at such an inflated price and the obvious dice roll about pressing quality makes me want to spend money on music I don't already own.

My Windham Hill collection leans to their jazz sublabel: Tuck Andress Reckless Precision Windham Hill Jazz 0124 Tuck Andress Hymns, Carols & Songs About Snow Windham Hill Jazz 10135 Billy Childs Take For Example This Windham Hill Jazz 0113 Billy Childs His April Touch Windham Hill Jazz 0131 Billy Childs Portrait Of A Player Windham Hill Jazz 10144 Billy Childs Take For Example This Windham Hill Jazz 0113 Billy Childs His April Touch Windham Hill Jazz 0131 Billy Childs Portrait Of A Player Windham Hill Jazz 10144 Turtle Island String Quartet Windham Hill Jazz 110 Turtle Island String Quartet Metropolis Windham Hill Jazz 114 Turtle Island String Quartet A Shock To The System (Soundtrack) Windham Hill Jazz 123 Turtle Island String Quartet Skylife Windham Hill Jazz 126 Turtle Island String Quartet On The Town Windham Hill Jazz 10132 Turtle Island String Quartet Spider Dreams Windham Hill Jazz 10141 Turtle Island String Quartet Who Do We Think We Are? Windham Hill Jazz 10146 Turtle Island String Quartet By The Fireside Windham Hill Jazz 11175 Denny Zeitlin Trio Windham Hill Jazz 112 Denny Zeitlin In the Moment Windham Hill Jazz 121 While I don't own a Tuck & Patti CDs, they have a remarkable chemistry and they are very enjoyable in a live setting. As far as George Winston, I feel about the same about George Winston as the late critic Martin Williams, as he noted in the article "This Fellow, George Winston," which appeared in one of his last books, Jazz In Its Time (Oxford University Press). Or you can check out this piece: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dirty-dirty-dirty-george-plays-jelly-roll-george-winston-stomp-out-review-by-ken-dryden.php

Too bad Amazon Japan doesn’t ship free to the US.

With Eastwind Import’s ongoing sale (now 60% off) and diminishing inventory, are there any good sources for brand new Japanese Jazz import CDs in the US? I know that Dusty Groove’s offerings are sporadic…

In an unusual phone interview that began at 1 am on a weekday, I learned how Clark Terry premiered his two horn routine while playing with Duke Ellington. It’s a scream.

This new release arrived yesterday, finally hearing some of it. No one has such a readily identifiable sound on trumpet or flugelhorn...

Thunderstorms when I first awoke around 6:30 am, currently overcast, 79 degrees F, 81% humidity.

Duke Ellington’s name easily dwarfs any of the clowns on the Pulitzer committee who voted against the award.

I had a second Black & White box arrive via media mail yesterday, but I already got my set via UPS in June. I emailed Scott but it must have been a busy Friday, no response yet.

Okay

I always laugh at surveys like this, as many of us never respond to phone or email surveys, suspecting scammers or just not wanting to waste time with them. If you call my cellphone, it goes to voicemail automatically if the caller is not in my address book, while the landline is for emergencies and the ringer isn't ever on.

I was hired to write blurbs for a number of 1201 Music’s download only reissues of Black Lion remasters and I think that a Mail Waldron was among them. I wasn’t credited on the website for any of them but their checks cleared.

As did my set, it is an impressive looking set. Hope to do a deep dive into it this weekend.

Mine is due today via UPS.

The LRC label frequently released CDs with incorrect titles and personnel, while not doing the proper licensing. Dave Brubeck: The Quartet and Gerry Mulligan: Jeru are two examples.

Detroit and Chicago have been dead zones where media mail goes to sit for a month or more. I guess the workers are playing solitaire rather than sorting packages. When buying from vendors near them, I always pay for priority mail.