king ubu

Just finished my first spin - very, very nice disc! Will put the 45 on now!

I'm not sure, but I think a claim could only apply to their use of cover art and to US distributors. Anyway, lots of them are rip-offs of the most blatant kind, but some (Al Cohn for instance) contain some stuff that I've never seen around here. They're good for filling some gaps now and then, that's how I look at it.

Just delivered! Thanks, that was fast! Will check out both the 45 and the CD later today!

I've got an alto MMO LP - I think it's by Konitz - got it in a long since closed vinyl store as a freebie and haven't held it in my hands for I guess 10 years... got to hunt for it! It has Konitz soloing with the rhythm section on one side and just the rhythm backings on the other. With it, there's a booklet with transcriptions of Konitz' solo, as far as I remember... no idea where it is right now.

Got the CDs today as well, John! Thanks a lot!

the new arrivals.... yesterday: The Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury today: The Pyramids - Lalibela scheduled for tomorrow The Pyramids - The Pyramids -

You weren't the only one (I'm running this at the same time on a German forum) - and to me, it happens each time that I fail to recognize something I have... and of course there's no reason to expect two cuts from the same album! Thanks Ronald! Glad you enjoyed it!

I love late Pepper, but have the "box set syndrome" concerning his Galaxy albums... can't say anything about the original albums as I got to know this all in bulk, but as has been mentioned, all highly consistent, and in my book, all very good to great!

Yes, I just got the second and third of the Brubecks to fill some gaps... got half of it on Legacy CDs, and actually got enough Brubeck anyway, so these were good value, after all. Also got the Tubby Hayes because of one Tubby album on it that I didn't have elsewhere (the rest is mostly Jazz Couriers material).

Thanks for clarifying, Chuck!

Sorry, but this is too much for me to follow, even in context of having re-read the above posts... Nat Hentoff is the guy who... (did what?) Who "he" (Hentoff, JR?) sued Schlitten? Got to think of us poor non-native speakers when making such references!

I have a 3CD compilation (Sunday Mornin' Classics) on Sony - think that will be enough... some good stuff, but even there, lots of "smart producer's ideas" and in general Aretha sounds somewhat... limited, boxed, lacking the space she'd get with Atlantic later on. But that's just my impression and it might be wrong...

Thanks again, Ronald! Very interesting! The alto... yes, would have loved to have a track of his in here - lots of strong altos! I bet you would! You might well have heard this band before, indeed... Funny that you should mention Mike Osborne... but yes, it's that kind of free-wheeling, edgy and pushing playing that always remains connected to the center of the music... to me, the guy on #7 is somewhat similar to how I hear Osborne! Well, hearing it as "fun" and being appreciative is already a lot more than many modern jazz listeners bring to this kind of music! I chose this cut because I love the rhythmic momentum Luis Russell's band generates, and I love the chances Henry "Red" Allen is taking in all of his trumpet solos! Yes, Jamal is the obvious point of comparison... maybe I should have given this some thought - seems to be the least favorite of all titles, another choice of mine might have been smarter, who knows. Too late now. This makes me chuckle in a good way! The guy here is darn good and his playing goes in all directions... Same band as on #9 - and both cuts from the album: Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (the self-titled first album).

Can someone with the Prevue CD please comment on the sound. Does it sound like a needledrop? Is it stereo or mono? Ok, spinning it now... it sounds ok - not great (some weird sound on the cymbals, the kind of thing that was noted with a few Blue Note CD reissues as "due to deterioration of the master tapes...", I guess). Definitely stereo. I'm in no position to confirm it's not a needledrop (I can't tell from distortion or any artifacts that hence it has to be a cleaned-up needledrop), but to me it doesn't sound like one. For sure, there are none of the obvious signs during the quiet parts or before and after the music. Also, to be noted, is the mix-up of the setlist: printed on the tray & sequence of Nat Hentoff's notes: 1) Straight Ahead 2) Violets for Your Furs 3) Green Street Scene 4) Chafic 5) You Know That 6) I Remember Clifford 7) Short Bridge actual sequence on my CD: 1) Straight Ahead 2) Violets for Your Furs 3) Chafic 4) I Remember Clifford 5) Green Street Scene 6) You Know That 7) Short Bridge so, #3-6 are jumbled around... no idea why or if it's a simple mistake - but it's easy to tell as everyone knows "I Remember Clifford" and Hentoff refers to "Chafic" as a waltz (which #3 of the CD clearly is). The Prevue CD has Hentoff's original and Mark Gardner's 1975 liner notes and it states that the reissue was produced by Don Schlittenn (mastered by Krieg Wunderlich - is that a real name or a weird nom-de-plume? Anyway, great album for sure!

All the best Bill!

My latest arrival: The Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury About halfway through it now - wonderful music!

My CD edition (bought in the US 20 years ago) has an an essay by Hiraku Aoki in English, with no Japanese notes at all. Send me a PM with your email address, and I'll see if I can scan it and send you a copy. Done - thanks a lot!

Ah, crap - that one I have of course! Not Xanadu but Prevue! I keep mixing up all these labels, sorry.

Only just took out the booket (CD-sized, or rather to be exact: jewel-case-sized, meaning it was outside cardboard box, next to the jewel case, in the CD edition - at least I assume so). There's a short essay in there - but Japanese only... was this ever published in in English anywhere? Spinning the first side of the first LP now

That's the same cover used on my Xanadu disc - was this the JARO cover? Wasn't avare of this single disc release.

The Gambit 2CD set? Or was there a single Fresh Sound disc of this one?

I have the Xanadu CD... and frankly didn't even notice it to be a needledrop... so much about me and audiophile sensitivities...

The Helen Merrill Mercury box - 4LPs in what seems to be great condition (I've not started playing it, the postman only just rang the bell) - for 40€ (plus 15€ shipping from France to here). Ain't life grand?

Yale University... don't know where exactly though. Ellington it is - and several others were able to identify the alto player as the late, great Marion Brown.

Bev, I do trust your judgment on the improved quality of commercially sold MP3s - but still... I have an ipod, I do my own MP3 (@ 320) and nowadays M4A (at even higher bitrate), but I still find the notion of paying for bits and bytes a bit weird... after all there's also the question of how long these files will be around and be readable and usable (not to speak of computer crashes). In short: if I buy something, I prefer to get a physical product of some kind, not just a file on my computer. Anyway, as I said, I might be in the market for real high quality downloads.