Swinging Swede

There's obviously something about BN covers and index fingers. I hadn't thought of it before.

Horace wants more beers than Lee, and drives Blue insane.

So Lee tries with the thumb instead.

Blue Mitchell has his own idea about those index fingers.

Another thing - both Young and Morgan point upwards with their index fingers! What's "up" with that??

Not a very 1969-like cover. Odd choice of photo too, considering the otherwise Reid Miles-like design.

I’m surprised too that Kevin did this. I’ve appreciated his presence through the years, and wouldn’t expect this move from him. b3-er or Use3D, aren’t there backups from before he deleted the thread? Or have they already been replaced with too recent versions? There is actually a small chance that the thread will turn up in the future on the Internet Archive. There are several versions preserved of www.organissimo.org between March 2002 and February 2003, but since they never make available anything until it’s over half a year old, we’ll just have to wait and see.

No, the back cover of The Kicker has another misspelling of his name! His last name is misspelt as "Hucherson" (no 't'). It was another reissue that had his first name misspelt as "Booby", but I don't remember which one, although I've seen it. Did someone say something about Blue Note and proofreading?

Here's another Sonic Boom cover. I think it was used for the Japanese LP release.

Sorry, but that post didn't help one bit, since I'm too lazy to read it.

They also have a new cover for Sonic Boom: No cover up yet for Mother Ship though.

Not the first time that has happened on a Blue Note reissue. The RVG of Midnight Blue gives the recording date as April 21, 1967 – obviously a leftover from the RVG of The Real McCoy which was in the same batch.

Those figures surprise me. In Sweden the LPRs are priced 79 crowns at cdon.com (the largest Swedish online CD store), which equals 9.47 U.S. dollars, and that's the price they've had since the first batch. It's also the price of the VBRs and the Impulses except the Coltranes. There have also been a couple of drives for several months when the VMEs have had that price (it's usually higher). I have no idea what the reason for this price difference is. But I can't complain of course!

The relevant comparison is with the CD version of the same RVG remaster. In EMI’s own words: "Q: Why when I copy the files using Microsoft® Windows Media® Player are there clicks, jumps or distortions in the music ? A: Because the disc carries copy control technology which prevents digital copying." It is well known that this is a result of the audio tracks containing intentionally inserted errors, which the error correction scheme on a computer can’t correct. Regular CD players feature a different error correction scheme that can correct the errors, but at the price of impaired sound quality. This has been verified by hi-fi tests where listeners have been able to pick out which is the copy controlled disc and which is the CD. Of course whether you can discern it may depend on your equipment and your ears, and there may also be different variations of this technological approach that may affect the sound more or less. But I think it is safe to say that constantly inserted errors only can be detrimental to the audio quality. A side effect of this is that these discs are much more vulnerable to scratches. Since there already are so many errors in them, much less additional damage is needed to make them skip. And this is only if you play them on a regular CD player. If you play them on a computer, the audio section isn’t played at all. Instead the disc has its own player program that pops up and plays compressed files that obviously have to be of a much lower quality than CD tracks. And on car CD players and DVD players the disc may not be playable at all. Forget about burning compilation discs, or reburning in recording or album order. Also forget about ripping any track to include on an Organissimo Blindfold Test CD! I plan to read up more on this subject (Claude has posted many useful links, especially in the AAJ thread), but what I’ve read so far has already made me fully convinced not to spend any money on this obviously inferior format. I’d rather buy the American CD version of the same title, even if it’s more expensive for me. Or buy something from another label for the same money. I think it is important that we as customers send a message to Blue Note/EMI that we don’t accept this inferior format.

If you decide to get the RVG, make sure that you get the American CD version. In Europe it is released on a copy controlled format with impaired sound. Since you’ve been away, I wasn't sure if you’ve read about this latest development. I’m keeping my 1988 CD. It may be an older remastering, but at least it doesn’t have intentional errors inserted in the audio portion, or force me to play compressed data files on the computer.

Another handle! The plot thickens!

Come to think of it - who was Jake333 really??

Haven’t you heard? He was one of the many handles of the Mnytime/Misterioso/Son-of-a-Weizen/Achtung Dr. Freud Calling/Cubidon guy. I think. Or maybe I got that wrong.

Does KC refer to kasparovchess.com? Although I was aware of the site’s existence, I was largely inactive in chess during the time it existed and never checked it out, and now the site has folded. You don’t have to be a member to follow relayed tournament games on ICC. You can also see the time of the players, and read the kibitzes from members, including grandmasters (GMs like Kamsky and Short sometimes pop in and say something). There are advantages to being a member though, since in that case you can also kibitz yourself and follow the special grandmaster commentary they often have during top tournaments. Of course, if you are at work it might not be such a good idea to follow the numerous kibitzes, since it's easy to be engulfed by them! It is unlikely that 17.Nd5 was home preparation. She spent 6 of her remaining 15 minutes on that move, and she was behind on time already before that move. I think the reason that Anand avoided 17…Nxd5 might be that it would open up lines for White, and he didn’t want to do that since it would favour Polgar’s style (she is a feared attacking player). 17…Qc5 actually wasn’t a bad move; it was later that he made the decisive error when he played 22…Bxe4?. In any case it was a very entertaining match. 5-3 to Anand and no draws! If you are interested, GM Sergey Shipov has annotated the games in the match on worldchessrating.com, which is a pretty good site. (He gives some lines after 17…Nxd5, btw. It's complicated, but he thinks White has compensation for the pawn.) Shipov annotates the Anand-Polgar match

My 1999-2002 Connoisseurs say "Made in EU". Before that they all seem to have been made in the US.

First of all, copyprotected discs aren’t CDs. They don’t adhere to the Red Book specification so they neither technically nor legally are CDs. Philips doesn’t allow the use of the Compact Disc logo on these discs. The record companies would love us to think that these discs are "CDs", but they aren’t, and it is important that we as customers don’t call them that. If they were CDs, they would be playable in computers and car stereos, since those are technically designed to play discs manufactured according to the Red Book standard. I wasn’t intending to buy any of the new RVGs anyway, since I already had all of them in their old incarnation. Now I certainly won’t buy them. But I had intended to buy five of the upcoming October Connoisseurs, and three of the upcoming February/March RVGs. What to do now? If they are released on CD only in the U.S., I may have to order import copies from there. No European branch of EMI will get my money any longer. Is that what they wanted? Especially when thinking of the Horace Silver Trio RVG it is laughable to read nja’s description of the blurb on the inside of the European RVGs ”imploring the purchaser not to make illegal copies”. Well, half of that disc already is in the public domain in Europe, and the other half will be in a few months! So what illegal copies are they possibly talking about?? Idiots. This is such an idiotic move from EMI for several reasons. Customers may have to order the U.S. versions instead. Or they may not buy the releases at all because of the hassle. But another possibility is that Definitive (or similar) comes out with a CD version of the material. I have refrained from buying any Definitive product so far, but if they copy the content, and release a CD version of it, this may be an instance where I will have to buy it. Brilliant, EMI!

Kid Rena? Kid Howard?

And since when is the accordian a chick magnet? Boy, you've sure missed something!