Ken Dryden

Trying to analyze a poll as to why it turns out the way it does is pointless. Just like the Jazz Journalist Association Awards, there is a diverse group of voters with different tastes who hear different releases throughout the year. I have participated in both Francis Davis' Critic's poll and the Downbeat Critic's Poll for years and I don't really enjoy ranking albums as "best" in any category, it is more about listing some of the releases that I enjoyed which I had the opportunity to hear. If I see even one or two in the compiled Top Ten list I'm surprised, as I don't feel like I follow the herd mentality that seems to honor the same artists over and over again. I feel the same way about star ratings, but some outlets insist on them. I haven't received any releases by some of the female artists cited in this aritcle (in some cases, never), so it is hard to justify purchasing a CD just so I can consider voting for an artist, although I've spent almost 33 years writing about jazz and 17 years producing a jazz radio program.

Part of the problem of putting together such a list is the erratic servicing of historical releases to both radio and print/online media. It is hard to buy everything that it is issued and I'm not about to vote on reissues or boxed sets that I haven't heard. The Monk Palo Alto was interesting, but not worthy of #1.

I reviewed it in January 2018 so a 2017 release sounds about right.

Thanks for sharing the links. I wonder what happened to the test pressings of unissued alternate takes after Hodges’ death?

I have no interest in the Tone Poet LP series as well. Some of this music I've probably purchased several times between LPs, CDs and boxed sets that include these sessions. I am not about to add a duplicate LP for music that I have long owned. I probably own nearly all of the vintage Blue Note music that I desire.

One publicist just announced he will only be servicing media with downloads from now on. I am not a fan of downloads when there is physical product available, as I do not have a way of playing downloads away from a computer unless I burn a CDR. I still like physical product to check out the data you can't easily find with a download without a separate search of the computer, songwriters, credits, recording info, etc., which is extremely helpful whether reviewing, preparing a radio show or just enjoying music for fun. Most of the downloads I have are of radio broadcasts and webcasts, rather than promos. Even to enjoy them, it is easier to have them on physical discs.

I saw Tony Rice play two duo concerts with fellow guitarist/vocalist Norman Blake. By that time, Rice could no longer sing and his speaking voice was very gravely from his ailment. But he was still recording and performing into the 21st century, with his last performance was in 2013 at the Bluegrass Hall of fame.

Alan Grant moved to Las Vegas and I think he was the driving force behind the launch of the series, taped in the French Quarter Room of the Hotel Four Queens. I think the series ended through lack of funding or the sale of the hotel, when the new owners weren't interested in featuring jazz. The last I heard, Alan Grant had moved to Florida and was in poor health, living with his son. Wasn't the Klabin confrontation story in the liner notes to the legit Resonance release of the Thad Jones-Med Lewis early Vanguard material?

I taped a few of them while we were carrying the show at my station, though I edited out as much of Alan Grant as possible. It was painful listening to his inane first question to Kenny Barron during a mid-1980s broadcast, he sounded like a rank amateur, instead of someone who had been in broadcasting for decades. I've got both Denny Zeitlin shows, Buddy DeFranco & Terry Gibbs, Horace Tapscott, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ken Peplowski and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. I've dubbed several for the artists.

After KNPR quit broadcasting jazz, the archives were turned over to a special collections in the UNLV library. It is a shame that these performances aren’t made commercially available, though at least one Resonance CD and a Hi Hat bootleg Joe Pass CD come from the Four Queens Jazz Night in Las Vegas series.

Discogs has its limits, it is generally not worth one's time to sell cheap titles, but at least it is far less expensive than paying listing fees on ebay for items that don't sell within a given time frame. Discogs really fouled things up with their recent change on shipping policy requirements, it was working fine on a per piece or weight basis until they insisted that everything be made uniform. Usually I have 120 or fewer items avaiable there, but i have cut back on adding LPs, it is getting to be too much trouble. I added mandatory insurance for LPs after the USPS destroyed one that I sold and I don't feel like having to give full refunds for items plus the postage because someone threw a 60 lb. box of books onto a mailer in transit.

I enjoyed the book, though I was surprised that Phil Woods didn't discuss his prolific recordings for Paolo Piangiarelli's Philology label. Phil jokingly called this output "his retirement plan," though I don't think he planned on retiring until he couldn't physically play anymore. He pulled no punches criticizing himself, it was a worthwhile purchase. I do wish that his Phil In The Gap columns that he penned for the Al Cohn Memorial Newsletter had been added as an addendum.

This is usually one of the first Christmas CDs we play each year. I love his interpretation of Bill Evans' "My Bells."

My issue has not been failing to notice that an on line purchase is a CDR, but the deliberate mislabeling by the seller, typically Amazon, that does not let me make an informed decision. I have absolutely no use for on demand CDRs, which are typically missing most of the information found on the original CD.

I have yet to see a single SteepleChase Release as a CDR. I did get sent a CDR of Cal Tjader’s Monterey Concert from Walmart online and I returned it.

I have returned several products to Amazon and written scathing comments on line for deliberate mislabeling of products as CDs. If any label is going to sell inferior CDRs, at least it should be at a lower price and with proper labeling of what it actually is.

Many of us have been burned when buying a CD online, only to discover it is a CDR. Several labels in the UK have seemed to gone that route exclusively for new products or repressings, including: Acrobat / Acrobat Music Sounds of Yester Year Squatty Roo (notorious for reissues of horrible sounding 1970s bootleg LPs) Feel free to add any labels that have gone exclusively to CDRs.

That's a great topic for a show. Of course, Clark Terry shined in any setting.

I would add:

If I were in such a situation, I would have packages sent elsewhere, or I'd move.

I am reviewing the Ellis Marsalis when it gets here, but the rest of the New Orleans collection was of no interest to me. When I was serviced by PolyGram, they sold back catalog CDs to media for $6.50 per CD, I ordered the 10 CD JATP boxed set and an Errol Garner CD and was surprised to get 10 copies of the Garner CD . When I contacted the label, they told me to keep them and the lady told me she would send me an extra JATP set for my trouble. Within a few days, I received four copies of that boxed set, so they made great gifts for friends who were jazz fans.

I own at most 2 or 3, they aren't CDrs.

It isn't much of a sale, $65 per LP including shipping to the US. But you don't have to buy the entire season's LPs, though they have limited quantities of single titles. I have had some issues with Newvelle Records, which I have shared in reviews when I have received them on occasion. I don't like having to download liner notes and credits. They are more important to me than the poetry included in the bi-fold LP jacket and at the very least, they should be included as a printed insert. I have yet to see any season where I want to buy the entire subscription, particularly at such a high price per disc. I can afford it, but most of us who collect want to choose what artists and bands we purchase, rather than being forced to buy those in which we have no interest.

I've contacted the label to see if they will provide a FedEx prepaid shipping label. My experience on misshipments is that companies always ask for product to be returned to them, rather than sent to the actual customer. Christmas time stress in the French mailroom...