Milestones

I'm sampling tracks from Solo & Quartet; it sounds like a fine record.

R.I.P., Mister Hutcherson. Lots of great music from this man. Without his contributions, the Blue Note 1960s period would be so different. He provided much brilliant work as a leader and sideman. Of course, there is much to value in the decades after that. I like the recent Enjoy the View and Acoustic Masters II--among many others.

Not familiar with this artist.

I'm curious to know what people like in this area. I have recently been checking out the two big band by records by Christine Jensen. There is some really nice stuff--interesting arrangements, strong soloing (especially by sister Ingrid Jensen). Otherwise...well, Gerald Wilson is now deceased and Carla Bley does't seem to do big band records anymore. I have not been able to catch the fever on Maria Schneider. Maybe I should keep trying.

The Jessica Williams record is good stuff. I have that one.

I love the Newton record as well. I even saw a group similar to the one from the record performing Duke's music at the Tri-C JazzFest. That must have been 15 years ago or more. I would like to see Newton still doing something in the jazz field. He seems to be more into modern classical and education.

So much good stuff. Just a couple that are very special to me are the Ellington is Forever sets by Burrell and the MJQ album. There are quite a few I've never heard of or run across. The sheer number is staggering.

I would think Ellington has been covered more than Monk, if only because there are a lot more compositions to choose from. Even though Monk's career spanned barely more than two decades, it's surprising he wrote only about 70 pieces. I'd like to find that Blythe album. I remember buying it on used vinyl about a decade after it came out. It seems hard to come by.

Monk played by a true big band. I have not heard this one. I will be checking out Griffin and Lockjaw.

These are my favorites: Trio Music (disc 2)--Chick Corea Portraits of Monk--Randy Weston Reflections--Steve Lacy The Monk Project--Jimmy Owens Monk in Motian--Paul Motian Trio

I'm always way more impressed by Sonny Rollins than Ernie Henry on Briilant Corners. It's interesting that Monk had such great musical relationships with Rollins and Coltrane. The bio reveals that Trane sat in with Monk more than once in the 1960s--the last time just 6 months before Coltrane's death.

Monk?

Yes, it's outstanding.

I have to say I really like the Prestige stuff a lot. It's a shame this period ended so badly, with Monk feeling so disrespected. And this directly led to the fact that there were so few studio recordings of Monk and Coltrane, when there certainly could have been more.

I think I would go in this order: Brilliant Corners Monk's Music Monk at Town Hall Monk and Coltrane (studio session, though not really a full session w. Trane)

Criss-Cross is probably the most important of the Columbia records that I don't yet have. I remember having some of those Black Lion records on cassette.

I am reading Robin D.G. Kelley's Thelonious Monk bio. This is the longest musician biography I have ever read, but it is certainly worth it. Naturally, this is leading me to spend most of my summer listening to Monk. I have not been as systematic as I should be, but I have tried to keep up on records as they are discussed in the book. Currently, I am at the point where Monk is about to sign with Columbia. Speaking of Columbia, in the last couple of years I added a lot of Monk from that period, which I had always under-valued. I'm finding it was ridiculous to avoid this period, as there are plenty of jewels here. I have always acquired The Unique Thelonious Monk (trio session and second record for Riverside), which is pretty decent. I guess I never had it before because it contains no Monk compositions. Quite a bit of Monk I had never had in digital format, but I'm changing that now--such as the Prestige sessions, the Ellington record, and the Five Spot record with Coltrane. I am curious to know which Monk people find most enjoyable, as well as what stuff they would like to add to their collections.

I certainly have a number of these, including Guitar Forms (naturally), though I agree with those who find Night Song to be a first-rate album. I also like the Christmas record--not bad, as these things go. Much of his Verve music sounds over-produced to my ears. I've wondered if he was in competition with Wes in terms of a lush and poppy approach.

It is absolutely history! A great, great Finals. Look at that defensive clampdown in the 4th quarter. This team simply had the will to win.

Cavs all the way! They are showing they have the sheer willpower when they need it the most.

On a related question, do you find your CD burner wiping out (in whole or in part) in a fairly short time frame? Mine is three years old, and I have used is rather heavily. It has now become highly inconsistent.

For those still burning CDs, what brand of CD-R do you prefer? I've been finding my discs strangely inconsistent.

Thanks for that--very informative and nicely written. Ten records in such a short space is quite a bit. Were all of them released at the time? I know a lot of Blue Note records from the 1960s (some of them quite superb) sat on the shelf for a decade or more.

I'm wondering about your impressions of Jones' early solo work, mostly on Blue Note, This something I have never really explored, in stark contrast to Tyner (I have all of his Blue Note records). But Elvin seems to have some nice stuff out there, and I'm particularly intrigued by the records with Joe Farrell.

I''m sure we all have tons of music on our computers that come from both CDs and downloads. I use Windows Media Player for ripping, listening on the computer, and burning CDs. The burned CDs are often compilations which mix files--.wma for CDs and .mp3 for downloads. I never had the problem before, but now I can no longer burn a CD that contains both formats. I have tried burns of both formats alone (all .wma /, all .mp3), and they work fine. Any idea why this issue developed and what would be an easy fix? Thanks.