xybert

I find the inclusion of the Best Improvised Jazz Solo category to be really fascinating. Does Downbeat even include a category like that in their polls? The thought of a committee intently listening to particular solos and self consciously trying to pick the best one... yeah i find that really intriguing, not necessarily in a bad way, just sitting here on a sunday morning the thought of it is quite mind blowingly surreal.

This sent me looking for the other thread... for the sake of it here's a link to said thread: And another link that someone posted in the other thread that i found useful: http://www.marlbank.net/news/944-1000-yen-gems-from-the-atlantic-vaults-issued-at-mid-price The albums i purchased were all albums that i've never owned so i've got nothing to compare to. Having said that the MJQ albums sound good compared to other issues of MJQ albums that i have, and the Lloyds sound better than the old Forest Flower/Soundtrack CD release of old IMO. Sonic upgrade wise and whether these are worth replacing albums that you already have i dunno it's not really my realm but if it's an album you don't already have i honestly think you can't go wrong with these. They certainly beat the crap out of PD releases. I definitely won't be hesitating to pick up some more (the Charles Lloyd's are actually hitting the spot, god help me).

I went to a brick and mortar store today to do some christmas shopping and surprisingly they were well stocked with this series at bargain prices (about a third of the cost of an average new CD, pretty cheap especially for Japanese imports). All new and sealed, i couldn't resist picking some up: The Modern Jazz Quartet: The Comedy, The Legendary Profile, At The Music Inn Guest Artist Sonny Rollins and the self titled album from '57. Charles Lloyd: Dream Weaver and Journey Within Gary Burton: Good Vibes Lee Konitz: The Real Lee Konitz Dave Brubeck: Last Set at Newport On a quick skim through sound wise they all sound good to my ears. Music wise there's nothing desert island here although there's plenty to enjoy. Highly enjoying the MJQ, still need to get in to the Lloyd (like them enough but glad i held off binging on the other Atlantic Lloyds that they had in stock). The Burton unfortunately falls on the slightly corny side of his late sixties/early seventies stuff; extremely dated sounding but as a big fan there's still stuff for me to enjoy there. Konitz is Konitz and i'll enjoy the Brubeck when i'm in the mood for Brubeck.

Thanks for the heads up on the Gary Burton.

Awesome. The Halvorson/Fujiwara combo is obviously rock solid and tried and true, putting Formanek in the mix really gets the imagination going.

I've been hesitant to post his name here, i guess out of some not-based-in-reality desire to not paint him with the 'overlooked' brush, but man i feel like Jim Hobbs gets a bit overlooked. God i love his playing.

Haven't heard this. I haven't heard a lot of Redman, just Wish and Moodswing under his own name (not bad, can definitely live without them). I must say i love him on Mehldau's Highway Rider and on the James Farm record, two albums that won't win me any jazz-internet points, understandably so, but i dig em! I'm moderately interested in Walking Shadows, it's the type of release that i definitely wouldn't go out of my way to order but if i saw it in a brick and mortar i might be tempted. My half baked opinion on Redman = he's got his own, slightly weird thing going on that sits uncomfortably relative to what people expect from him... not out enough to be out, not in enough to be in... not an inside/outside guy, just different, but only slightly... he's framed as a mainstream tenor hero and is close enough to mainstream that expectations get all out of whack. This is how i 'come to terms' with him in my own mind.

I found it kind of funny. I'm guessing all the Mighty Boosh and Fast Show stuff has been posted here before(?).

For some reason artists and labels continue to produce CDs, and i continue to buy them. Some times i feel like all this frankly amazing music that i get to enjoy is too much trouble for all involved, like i'm the kid on christmas morning enjoying his presents while in the background i can hear the parents fighting in the other room.

Interesting that 40% of their business was outside the US (if i'm reading that right).

Not a traditional solo record but i've always been partial to Bill Frisell's Ghost Town.

$1.00 is a steal! I really dig Royal Toast... it kind of is and isn't representative of their sound. On face value CQ albums sound quite similar but on closer inspection they each have quite a distinctive flavour. I'm a huge John Hollenbeck fan, and i've found the Claudia Quintet to be frustratingly inaccessible at times. Some Hollenbeck stuff, for example Eternal Interlude, it's like he is catering to the audience to a certain extent: there are almost always these big moments where you are rewarded, the songs almost always 'pay off', bigtime. It's just so epic and satisfying. With the Claudia Quintet, it's almost like they are deliberately being obscure at times, teasing the listener in a way. It's perfectly happy to build you up and leave you hanging. Anyway, that's my $0.02.

Thanks Allen. No stress, i thought i might be getting the wrong end of the stick and jumping the gun but i was fearful of missing out Cheers!

I can think of at least a couple of separate occasions where a robot activates (or attempts to activate) it's own self destruct mechanism on The Simpsons: The Pierce Brosnan/Hal bot when it lives with Patty and Selma. Martin's futuristic prom date. I always found it particularly hilarious for some reason. It's also funny when Linguo dies.

Good call. FWIW it left me cold on the first couple of listens but it's really grown on me now and it keeps getting better. I skip the track with the samples from the old-timey political rally though; not a bad track but it becomes tedious on repeated listens. Having broadcast recordings from the 1930s popping up kind of breaks the immersion as well, i find. That track with the speech samples was tedious the first time! Ha, it does bring the album to a bit of a grinding halt. I'm not usually a fan of "if you take out this track and play the first track last and the last track first it's so much better!" type shenanigans but yeah I've found i enjoy this album a lot more if i skip the track in question, at least while it's still growing on me.

Was this an email with ordering info sent to interested people? If so i don't think i'm on your mailing list. Are you able to email me the info to xybert at gmail dot com? Much appreciated. By the way if it makes any difference for cost of shipping i am in Auckland, New Zealand.

This is such a good point. Real magic can result from creative sampling in hip hop, a certain something that i can't get from any other type of music. It's funny that i always found hip hop groups with live instrumentation to be lacking somehow, when you would think it would be the opposite. I never saw the point in a band that didn't have to deal with the inherent limitations of sampling confining themselves to imitating looped samples.

Good call. FWIW it left me cold on the first couple of listens but it's really grown on me now and it keeps getting better. I skip the track with the samples from the old-timey political rally though; not a bad track but it becomes tedious on repeated listens. Having broadcast recordings from the 1930s popping up kind of breaks the immersion as well, i find.

Great news, have been looking forward to this since Empirical Truth... although i'd assured my wife i'd made my last order for the year... will have to scam the money some how... $21 USD for 4 CDs is a steal... any idea with regards to international shipping? Doesn't really matter that much, i can't see it not still being a massive bargain all up.

Ah, i guess that kind of makes sense. If that's the case it might have been helpful for them to still have the artist's name but just have a note along the lines of "refer to (previous editions) for album information." Funnily enough that's what i was trying to find out a little bit more about!

Bump. I've never checked out Eric Alexander but have seen his name quite a bit in the "what are you listening to" thread... thought i'd look him up in the Penguin Guide to see what they think; was surprised to see there doesn't appear to be an entry under his name as a leader in the 9th edition (the only edition i have). Checked in the index and there are a ton of sideman entries, checked Wikipedia and he has a large discography as a leader. Seems like an odd omission, a mistake perhaps? Did he have a leader entry in previous editions? Did every leader date of his mysteriously go out of print leading up to the 9th edition being produced? For some reason this is really bugging me...

I found this album new and sealed in a bargain bin for an absolute steal so picked it up on a 'nothing to lose' buzz... found the music to be seriously excellent. Was really surprised that this music wasn't more widely celebrated, definitely hold this up with the best of the 70s era ECM classics.

The new Ehrlich arrived for me yesterday... i started listening to it quite late at night and got about two thirds of the way through before i had to call it a night out of necessity. First impressions are that it's really good, i'm certainly going to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I only heard 'narration' on one track, and it's not overdone at all. YMMV but i can't see it being an issue unless it really particularly rubs you the wrong way. Quite often with this type of semi-spoken word/preacher-ish vocal it neither adds nor detracts from the music for me; it doesn't ruin albums but i could definitely live without it. It can be nice but it rarely moves me. At it's worst it can be totally cringe worthy. On this album however I actually found the vocal to be oddly invigorating, the lines about "you can bury me in the morning, bury me in the evening, but i'll rise up and be a trumpet tomorrow, don't touch my shoe..." actually made me feel really good, comforted and strengthened even.

I love the duo album with Max Roach, Streams Of Consciousness... it's a real gem in my opinion... just to put it in context the only other album of his i have is African Piano (shades of solo Jarrett pre solo Jarrett?) which i also like but i'm obviously not an authority on Brand/Ibrahim. One of those artists where it's surprising i haven't checked out more of their stuff based on how much i like the stuff i do have.

Even as an Eisenstadt fan I was surprised by how much i enjoyed Golden State. Was fully prepared for some slightly quirky but ultimately dull 'chamber jazz'. It's not. The bassoon/flute front line is amazing and the bass/drums rhythm section... it's just 'golden'. One of those albums that goes everywhere but nothing outstays it's welcome; it swings when it needs to etc. Anyway, you've heard them live so i'm sure you know what i'm on about!