Rooster_Ties

Any particular download or couple hundred downloads might be easy enough to preserve with some redundant backups. But the idea that over the next 10 years, let's say (or what could have been the last 10 years), that it's going to be a piece of cake to maintain 500+ hours (5,000+ files) of recordings -- over the course of 20 years, seems pretty unlikely to me. Personally speaking, I've never had a computer last more than about 5 years, and the upgrade path hasn't always been smooth (sometimes yes, sometimes no). Certainly someone more dedicated than I am to backing everything up on redundant hard drives could surely manage. But over time, sound-file formats have changed, presumably requiring some sort of data conversion. Mp3 files, or FLAC, or whatever that format that iTunes insists on using. And keeping all the individual tracks associated with other correctly (into albums), and otherwise organized. Other than a few things I've burned off onto individual CDR's, I can't think of anything I've downloaded that I've ever kept reliable access to for more than about 5 years or so. But who wants to have a collection of 500 to 1,000 CDR's, none of which have identifiable spines, or album-cover art that one can *remember*, as a way to help (mentally) keep track of what's what. If half of my 3,500 CD collection had instead been downloads, I'd barely listen to or have any sort of idea what any of the downloaded portion was (in terms of remembering what all it is). Mabe it's just me, but I've never been able to manage a (sizable) collection in any form other than actual physical media. Anything more than a few hundred items, and I'd loose track of everything, if it were all virtual. Again, to say nothing of trying to make sure none of it gets corrupt over 2-3 decades. Just my 2 cents.

Clark, 15 years later (in 1980)... And again, around 1985 sounds like...

I still at least like having the option of buggy whips (CD's), I'm afraid. And I'm loath to do downloads. Is there really ANY chance in hell that I'm gonna still have some download (that still functions) in 20 years? Or how about 30 years? Sure, it can be done. But if even half my music collection (about 3,000-3,500 CD's currently) was downloads -- and not physical media -- who the hell has the time to port that stuff around from hard-drive to hard-drive, upgrading every few years, ad infinitum. And, yeah, I know there are no guarantees with physical media either. CD's get scratches, and houses burn down. But I'll take my chances with physical media -- which as served me pretty darn well for the last 30 years, before I ever switch over to having tons of downloads (some or even many of which might disappear into the ether, in anywhere from 5-10 years). Or maybe I'll be screwed either way -- when there are no longer any functioning CD-players to be had, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Maybe Mosaic should (also) offer downloads. Fine by me if they (also) do, as long as they (also) still do CD's -- which, last time I checked, was still what the majority of their (admittedly dying -- aren't we all dying?) core clientele still listen on?

OK, I bit the bullet and got this on my last Dusty Groove order. It's certainly good, but the sound quality makes it seem like they were in a fairly cavernous venue. Also picked up "Vol 1" of the recent Shaw/Louis-Hayes/Junior-Cook "The Tour" release on HighNote -- which is also quite good. (I still need to get "Vol 2" of this same band, but I understand it's taken from quite a hodgepodge of different concerts, as opposed to "Vol 1" - which is all from the same date.) While I do like both of these -- I must say that I'm reminded that the also recent Woody Shaw Quintet "Vol 1 - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1982" sounds un-frickin'-believable (and the band is on fire too). They're all good, but that Onkel PO's thing has to maybe be the very BEST live Woody Shaw document ever (in terms of sound quality). Highest recommendation on that one (Onkel PO's...)

I finally picked up a copy of this Mobley in Holland date, on my last Dusty Groove order -- and I'm quite liking it. The inclusion of guitar on the first 3 tracks adds some nice variety to the set, and I'm glad they sequenced it the way they did -- with the small-group sessions bookending the big band in the middle (and particularly with the horn + piano trio tracks at the end). I've only been through the whole thing once, but I was left wishing there was more material with big band -- not a criticism of the release, but just recognizing what a treat it is to hear Hank in a bigger context like that.

To clarify, I'm not in for this particular set (the Woody Herman 'Select' is all the Herman I own, save for my uncle's vinyl copy of The Ebony Concerto) -- but I'm all for the *concept* of them announcing sets that require a certain level of pre-sales in order for them to go forward with them. I mean, if the other option is Mosaic stopping doing sets all together, I'll take this model (over nothing), definitely. And I still think we should all call them to ask about how do we go about pre-ordering this great Bill Baron set we keep hearing about.

Exactly. This is Kickstarter, without Kickstarter taking a cut. Seems perfectly reasonable to me, and (genuinely) not at all like a 'shakedown'. I'd pre-order that Bill Barron set later this afternoon, if given half a chance. (Or any of a dozen other sets I could imagine.) Still, of course, there will be other sets I'd be less inclined to jump on immediately (even if I might later decide to get them). These last 10-15 years, my usual modus operandi was to wait until something I really wanted was about to go out of print (got to 'running low'), and then I'd buy every single Mosaic set that I could fathom wanting all in one big batch (to save on shipping) -- so like every 3-4 years, I'd put in these massive $350-$450 orders (I think once I did top $500 even). Then I wouldn't spend another dime until something else I wanted was about to go OOP, which usually took another 3-4 years. Well, if I gotta change my habits -- and my pre-order will only (help) make or break the existence of a set even coming into fruition (even if it means I have to pay more shipping as a result) -- then I'm fine with that, and glad to vote with my $$$ when my interest is sufficiently piqued.

Gave me -- and still gives me -- goosbumps. Love it when artists do something different, and hit it out of the park like that. The Marvin Gaye National Anthem also comes to mind.

Me too, but I'm pretty fond of bass clarinet, and even the exceedingly neglected alto clarinet -- in any context. All the clarinets have a better sound below the register-break (i.e. the 'bottom half' of the instrument, I guess you could say) -- it's the sound/timbre of everything above that register break (and the especially about an octave above that break and higher still), that's just like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

William Grant Still here.

Yup, THAT'S the limiting factor here. Or at least players who were hemi-semi-demi-expats of some sort, at least kinda-sorta, for real (and specifically in Japan). Can't be a huge list, I know. I wasn't expecting more than a dozen names total, in the entire history of the genre -- and maybe well fewer than that.

Ah yes, Gary Peacock -- I know I've seen his name on a few otherwise (nearly?) all-Japanese dates. I have all of Joe Henderson's work with Japanese musicians (including with Terumasa Hino), and that Gil-Evans/Kikuchi date (which is phenomenal). Was mostly just wondering if any US players had actually sort of set up shop in Japan for a while (like Gary Peacock had, apparently) -- particularly if there were any less well-known US players who I might only barely know of.

Don't even know if there were any (or many), but I've been digging into some Japanese Jazz lately, and was just currious if there were any notable American musicians who worked a lot (with Japanese musicians), or who lived and worked in Japan for several years or more. I wish I had a name to offer, but I haven't run across any US names recently -- and my mind is drawing a blank if I ever ran across any in my earlier dives into Japanese jazz. And any recordings of note? - mixing primarily Japanese musicians with one or more US Expats? Thanks!

Could one of the mods kindly edit this thread-title to say "bill barton (former board member)". Or something that will quietly differentiate bill barton from Bill Barron (two names that are far too similar). Not suggesting anything about barton be divulged in the thread topic title, but something to help keep them clearly separate at a glance would be helpful. I don't ever remember seeing any of this thread before today.

Looks like a title I need to pick up!

Don't have an SACD player, but the expanded SHM edition of Out To Lunch (the one with the previously unreleased bonus tracks), was a total revelation! Sonically, and in terms of the extra material too. And I say "sonically" as someone who normally is about the furthest from being an audiophile as you can get -- but even *I* could hear a huge difference in the sound quality. I mostly only bought the Blue Note SHM titles that had extra material (unique to those SHM titles exclusively), but all of them sounded about as good as any issues of that material I'd ever heard. (And I think the only one's I bought that didn't have extra material, were the Sam Rivers and Larry Young titles, that hadn't ever been on CD before individually, and were only part of their respective Mosaics on CD).

Two good examples I can think of are "Nardis" (Miles Davis), and "The Rumproller" (Andrew Hill). Best known in recordings by Bill Evans (dozens!), and the later for Lee Morgan. But this extensive article about "Nardis" (that someone posted recently to /r/jazz on Reddit), claims one other tune that Miles wrote but never recorded... https://believermag.com/broken-time/ Specifically, and supposedly: "Miles never recorded the tune ["Nardis"] himself—the fate suffered by another of his originals, “Mimosa,” recorded once by Herbie Hancock [on Inventions and Dimensions for BN in 1963] and never heard from again." Thing is, I can't seem to find any(?) other references on-line to Miles having written "Mimosa" (for Herbie). Is there anything to this?? But then rather than start a topic just about that one tune in question, I thought I'd broaden it a bit -- to any more of these sorts of instances, particularly musicians of any sort of real renown (who recorded a lot), but who 'gave' tunes to others.

I've been using AuctionStealer.com for years. They give you three (3) free last-second snipe bids per week, and a dozen snipes per month is well enough for me most of the time. Basically set it and forget it. Flawless, and I've never lost an auction that I didn't get seriously outbid on as a result. Swear by it.

Stanko, along with Kenny Wheeler (who I always felt was a kindred spirit), did a great deal to open my ears up a bit 15-20 years ago. He will be missed. https://www.discogs.com/Tomasz-Sta%C5%84ko-Bosonossa-And-Other-Ballads/release/2869225 One of my favorites, from 1993 -- and despite the "and other ballads" nomenclature, I see this as being more of a simmering caldron of mid-tempo excitement -- that occasionally threatens to boil over, but never quite does (and I mean that in the very best way).

Good for Wayne! Whatever one thinks of these particular awards (or frankly, almost any sort of 'awards' these days) -- it's hard to get bent out of shape when good people are recognized for their efforts over the decades. If there's even ONE good honoree on these kinds of award shows, then that's a "win" as far as I'm concerned. Or even better if there's a couple in the same year. I keep my expectations in check, and so I'm never too deeply disappointed. I think the last thing I let piss me off about an awards event/show, was the lack of an "album of the year" Grammy nomination for David Bowie's Blackstar last year (or would that have been the year before?). So genuinely, three cheers for Wayne Shorter, a real jazz artist -- for getting a solid 15-17 minutes of airtime on a show like this. Realizing there's 500 channels airing stuff at the same time on cable, to say nothing of an infinite number of things "airing" on-line (or recent, and streamable). With any luck, you-know-who won't be there (like last year), and it should be a lovely evening. I know some folks here in DC who've gotten to go a few times, and I hear its a really nice event there in the hall. It is what it is, and as long as you don't pretend it's anything other than what it is (or hope too hard for it to be something it ain't), then it's all good! And a hearty "Yay Wayne!" If nothing else, the 6-minute mini-doc on him should be good, knock on wood. That's about how long they are, right? Maybe 8-minutes tops.

Half a crime, if you ask me -- that Billy Harper is still that far under the radar. Honestly, I think he's one of the 20 best tenor players EVER (whole history of jazz), if you ask me. You could argue where 'where' in the ranking (off the top of my head, he'd be around #10 for me, give or take)... ...but from the sounds of things, he'd barely crack the top 100 (if that), if you polled everyone from the last 50 years who ever owned more than 200 jazz albums. For me, Billy's probably been THE voice on tenor for the last 20 years. Like, nobody tells a story, or can spin a solo - like he does. I sort of half mean "voice" literally -- his approach does seem almost 'vocal' to me. If anybody deserves to get 'rediscovered' like Joe Henderson did in 1991, it'd be Billy Harper now. Hell, Joe was 54 back in '91. Jesus, Billy is 75(!) - I just saw when I looked it up. (I thought more like 70.) So Billy's 15-20 years OVERDUE for rediscovery. I know, I know -- the world ain't like it was in 1991 - and hasn't been for a good 10-15 years (at least). At the very least, Billy needs some sort of "fan club" or something.

Honestly, I'd love to mount a write-in effort for Billy Harper -- every year, in fact -- until he gets added to the pre-printed ballot under the "tenor" category (so he isn't just a write-in any more). Honestly, in terms of *current playing* -- I cannot think of a tenor-player I like better. Gary Thomas is close (for me), but Billy's WAY more active, nationally.

I've got one too -- probably found a used copy at some point (don't remember buying it new). I've seen copies in the bins before -- but I guess it's been well over 10 years since I saw one (other than mine), come to think of it.

I wrote in Billy Harper, and was SHOCKED when I didn't see his name listed. Honestly, I think he's just about THE best tenor-player working today. Can't remember all the names that were listed, but when I probably didn't even recognize half the names -- but no Billy Harper?? -- what is this world coming to??!!! I mean, I can at least (sorta) understand how Gary Thomas isn't listed -- since he barely records at all any more (not even hardly as a sideman -- what? -- maybe 5x in 20 years?). And Gary hasn't had an album out under his own name/leadership since 1998. But Billy, sheesh, he's an active part of an active band that plays his tunes -- and he's been on 10 albums in the last dozen years (including 2 under his own name, and 5 with The Cookers).

Is there a good way to sequence all this material, so there aren't quite so many repeated takes in immediate succession? I love the sound of this stuff, but I've admittedly not spun my copy of the earlier reissue as often simply because of the sequencing. Come to think of it, more often than not I just put the thing on 'random' and go with that -- absent any other kind of specific way to listen to it.