xybert

I gained a new appreciation for eighties era Jimmy Giuffre. I gained greater appreciation for Joe Lovano via the Motian set. Was pleasantly surprised by some of the stuff on the Muhal set, admiration increased.

Indeed. Including on the much-loved (and perfectly legit) "Original Vogue Masters" CD reissue series of the late 90s. Wow, i'd never noticed it on an official CD release before, found it to be quite notable/prominent on the PD releases from the aforementioned labels. In fact it was one of the first things that made me think that there might be something dodgy about these releases (in before "wasn't it obvious?" Back in the day i wasn't in to the interent and was not conscious of PD releases of this nature at all; a CD in a brick and mortar store was a CD in a brick and mortar store... ignorance is no defence but i didn't give it a second thought at all... wasn't even really conscious of what labels stuff was coming out on other than the mega obvious like Blue Note and Impulse. EDIT: what i was trying to say here was that back in the day, before i was aware of the whole PD thing, if i picked up a CD of material recorded in the forties or fifties i wouldn't be like "wait a minute, Smithers McGee was recording for RCA for the first six months of 1943, and all that material was licensed exclusively to Columbia for reissue in the seventies when Dicky Ballbags was A&R there, however i seem to recall Jazzy Jones records had that series of reissues in the eighties... anyway this CD says Nostalgia Factory Records, and that doesn't sit right with me. I guess NFR could have worked out some deal to release this, but i heard about this whole thing where all these old records are becoming public domain and there's this place in europe where all this dodgy labels are capitalising on it... END OF EDIT ). Ya live and learn.

I always presumed that Definitive, Gambit, Free Factory etc were all pretty much the same guys and so i'm guessing Poll Winners fall under the same umbrella. I could be wrong. I feel like they keep coming out with new labels to make them harder to pin down maybe? Doesn't prove anything but they definitely have similar ways of doing things (crediting photos to 'x' etc).

I think that most of us can identify with that one. I have a few CDs that i've purchased 3 times... not remastered versions or whatever, the exact same CD. Bought it, traded it, bought it, traded it, bought it. One of the reasons i hang on to stuff now.

33 here and still excited by music, although i do go through phases where i feel in a bit of a funk. Despite my general attitude that there's just too much amazing stuff coming out to hear or afford, plus decades of back catalogue to explore, last month i was looking to order a CD and for the life of me i just could not summon the enthusiasm for anything... the feeling passed but i do go through short phases like that occasionally. I've discovered some of my all time favourite albums in recent years.

I always check the label listed on Amazon now, same as i always check to see if it's a CDR. I actually think i have Thelonious Himself from this label... i think this label has been around for a few years (?). http://www.amazon.com/Thelonius-Himself-Portrait-An-Ermite/dp/B003097AYM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1382556204&sr=8-6&keywords=thelonious+himself

Selling off old stuff to get new stuff has always been an unfortunate necessity for me. If i was upgrading to a new video game console i would always sell my old console and games to fund the purchase of the new one... it was kind of unavoidable but i mildly regret not having my old consoles especially with the rise in popularity of retro gaming/collecting. There's a lot of music that i regret selling off or trading, but again it was necessary at the time if i wanted to hear new stuff. Similar to what some have noted here i slowly whittled away my non-jazz collection as i became more obsessed with jazz and HAD to acquire new stuff. I've traded a lot of jazz that i regret having traded; one that sticks out is Paul Bley's Turning Point which was an early purchase that i thought was okay at the time but man would i love it now. It is my policy to not get rid of anything now, but i also think i've gotten better at picking keepers. There has been a lot of stuff that i've ended up re-purchasing. Having said all that, often i'll play an old videogame or listen to an old album that has strong nostalgic value and after the initial "man, i loved this" moment passes i get bored very quickly. You can't go home again etc...

I know i'm forgetting stuff... these shook my world roughly in chronological order from pre-puberty to early twenties. Blues Brothers OST Grease OST John Williams - Star Wars OST Jimi Hendrix - Smash Hits Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills Led Zeppelin - Remasters (2 CD compilation) The Beatles - 1967-1970 (that 2 CD blue compilation) Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon Metallica - Ride the Lightning Pearl Jam - Ten Rage Against The Machine - S/T Body Count - S/T Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain Chavez - Gone Glimmering The GZA - Liquid Swords Vangelis - Bladerunner OST Aphex Twin - Richard D. James album Fantomas - S/T Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity Converge - Jane Doe Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein El-P - Fantastic Damage

I don't know about wishing she would play with more subtlety but i get what you mean, and i definitely reached a saturation point. I had this to say earlier in the thread: I think it's fair to say that she currently has one of the most distinctive and instantly recogniseable sounds on the planet. It's kind of a double edged sword for me as a listener. It's a weird thing, as i do consider myself to be a big fan of hers, and her leader dates have been must haves for me. On a long enough time line a hugely distinctive sound can be in danger of coming off as self parody, although that will always be in the ear of the behearer... Expanding on what mjazzg said about Illusionary Sea, i think she is a bit more subtle on the new record, feels a bit less in your face, certainly compared to Saturn Sings (i noticed this progression on Bending Bridges too, sounded a bit less self conscious although i know i'm projecting like crazy here). I've been looking out for the latest drop from clean feed... weirdly slightly relieved, budget wise, that there's no 'must haves' (for me) there.

I would've loved to have been around for this. I feel like the 90s and early to mid 00s must have been a great time to have been a fan of reissues, Mosaic or otherwise.

This is really frustrating for me. The remaining brick and mortar stores in my city were never good for new releases outside of ECM and the occasional random gem, but if you had some money burning a hole in your pocket and really didn't want to walk out of the store empty handed you could usually fill a gap in your Ellington or Monk collection. Now the shelves are full of the PD releases, which in all honesty i wouldn't mind quite as much if the legit releases were still there, but they appear to have been phased out. Sucks.

I figured that a lot of people on this board would already have all the material covered by this set in better forms (there was Shorter Vee-Jay Mosiac set? That would've been awesome). I agree with pretty much everything everyone's said here, on all points. I usually avoid these types of sets too; you generally get what you pay for quality wise and i much prefer supporting official releases. Proper doesn't seem to be too bad, relatively speaking, quality wise (i have an Oscar Pettiford set which is okay). If i do end up getting this set it won't be ideal for me personally but i will be able to live with myself (fwiw).

i keep mine in a box where i keep other memorabilia like ticket stubs, random trading cards, flyers etc.

Similar to throwing away those cardboard sleeves that ECM CDs come with: they're pointless but you feel like they're part of the package. Obi strips at least look cool.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginnings-Wayne-Shorter/dp/B00D8QLTJY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_h__3 The Wayne Shorter Blue Note thread reminded me of how much i love 'Introducing Wayne Shorter', so i went searching for copies of Second Genesis and Wayning Moments, his other two VeeJay releases. I stumbled across this Proper box, released August 2013. The set includes the aforementioned three albums, and is padded out with tracks from Wynton Kelly's Kelly Great, The Young Lions, and several Blakey albums (from what i can tell: The Big Beat, A Night In Tunisia, Caravan, Mosaic, Jazz Messengers!!!!!, Like Someone in Love, Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World). ANIT and Mosaic appear to appear in full, selections from the other albums vary from one track to a few. For me i really just want Second Genesis and Wayning moments, and at the price including postage it is cheaper than the average full priced new release for me. Of the Blakey stuff featured i only have ANIT; i can't see myself collecting the other full albums at this point so although a 'compilation' is less than ideal i actually find the padding here kind of appealing. From what i can see the majority of the selections are Shorter compositions and those are the tracks i usually find most appealing on the Shorter/Blakey albums i've heard, although i'm sure i'll be missing out on some good stuff here. The key for me is still getting those two Shorter VeeJays that i don't have. So, quite tempting for me. Only issue for me is the whole ripping off of other labels thing. Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Good to see you here Page!

Yes, the first thing I did on Thursday was give Steven Joerg $60 for the box. I'm not an autograph guy so if I was I would have had the box signed by the quartet plus Yamamoto, Cooper-Moore and Leena Conquest. but I am happily not that person. Packaging is simple and very nice - a simple sqare box with indidvidual cardboard sleeves in different colors for the different ensembles. What I have listened to is very fine although having just seen 2 nights in as good an environment visually and sonically that is possible, it isn't quite the same. as far as squabbles, I don't care. As far as William Parker's music, the two nights last week gave me a renewed appreciation of his brilliance as a melody maker and composer - he has a very rare gift that is overlooked by many who eschew his music as they think it is something that it is not. The quartet it the band that many who doubt need to need to hear. Cheers Steve.

I've been reading so many strongly positive things about Coin Coin Chapter Two, both here and on multiple different blogs. It's rare to see a concensus like this, I definitely need to check this album out at some point.

I need to check out more of the VeeJays; love Introducing Wayne Shorter. I like all the Blue Notes that i've heard (haven't heard Odyssey or Moto), but i voted for Etcetera. Also have a soft spot for Schizophrenia. Lost from The Soothsayer has to be one of my all-time favourite album openers.

Al Di Meola - Casino (bridged the gap between jazz and the Estradasphere/Secret Chiefs 3/Farmers Market type stuff i was listening to at the time, lead me to a lot of other fusion which lead me to acoustic jazz). Ben Allison - Little Things Run the World (opened my ears to poppier jazz at a time when i was mainly listening to free improv/noise stuff. Challenged my preconceptions of what was hip). Cecil Taylor - The Willisau Concert (my entry into Taylor's sound world... and he literally creates a habitable world that i've loved visiting ever since. Was so out there but made perfect sense, blew my mind how listenable this was). Charle Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (one of the first acoustic jazz albums that i enjoyed in the same way that i genuinely enjoyed metal and hip hop etc, rather than as a novelty or as music to drive around and pretend i was in a cartoon to). Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (see Mingus Ah Um). Dave Holland - Extended Play (opened the door to contemporary jazz for me). Duke Ellington - Money Jungle (not my favourite Ellington but it opened my ears to him). Harris Eisenstadt - Guewel (blew my mind) Henry Threadgill - This Brings Us To Vol 1 (those massive, catchy hooks... and yet it sounded like it was from another planet. Really unlike anything else i'd heard. In a league of it's own). Joe Morris - Age Of Everything (my first Joe Morris... it blew my mind. It was like i was hearing the guitarist that i'd always wanted to hear without knowing it. With his playing it was like he was creating an itch and scratching it simultaneously). John Coltrane - Interstellar Space (had never heard anything like it, it made perfect sense). John Hollenbeck - Eternal Interlude (my all time favourite album, nuff said). John McLaughlin - Extrapolation (see Mingus Ah Um). John Zorn - Naked City (knew John Zorn's name from Mr Bungle, blew my mind when i saw that he had his own section at the music store. Was surprised years later to find out he was a big name in the jazz sphere). Keith Jarrett - Belonging (my first Jarrett, opened my mind to look beyond superficial 'gross, smooth jazz' knee jerk reactions in myself). Kenny Wheeler - Gnu High (just loved it so much). Miles Davis - Miles Smiles (see Mingus Ah Um... also going from thinking "man, this group is sloppy, is that the thing?" on initial listens to "this is the greatest shit of all time" on subsequent listens). Muhal Richard Abrams w/ Malachi Favors - Sightsong (just loved it). Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life (just loved it). Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd - Monk's Dream (My first Lacy, and when Irene Aebi's vocals hit it was like i was tripping aurally). Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation, and Flow (shook my world). Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (shook my world). Tony Williams - Emergency! (shook my world). Interesting how many artists that i love that don't really have a particular album that shook my world. Ornette for example; his greatness dawned on me across a number of albums. Paul Bley too: no one particular album shook my world. Sun Ra... Wayne Shorter... Anthony Braxton...

I don't take these lists particularly seriously but i don't mind having a bit of a squiz. It'll often make me look at an album in a new light and there can be interesting tidbits (I've had that Polar Bear album for years and didn't know that Ingrid Laubrock played on it!).

Taylor Ho Bynum has a new album coming out on Firehouse 12 on November 12th. It's not showing on the Firehouse 12 website yet, but should be at some point. Worth noting that all their albums can be streamed for free now: http://firehouse12records.com/ Here's an Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Navigation-Taylor-Ho-Bynum-7-Tette/dp/B00FAM0DYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381618342&sr=8-1&keywords=Taylor+Ho+Bynum Here's a JazzTimes article link: http://jazztimes.com/sections/news/articles/101188-taylor-ho-bynum-sextet-7-tette-to-release-4-album-set From the article: "Firehouse 12 Records will release Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings), a four-album, multi-format set from cornetist and composer Taylor Ho Bynum, on Nov. 12. The project documents four different versions of Bynum’s modular composition “Navigation,” with two sets recorded live with his Sextet (featuring Jim Hobbs on alto saxophone, Bill Lowe on bass trombone and tuba, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ken Filiano on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums and vibraphone), and two sets recorded in studio with the 7-tette (which adds drummer and vibraphonist Chad Taylor). The music was recorded over two days, December 7 and 8, 2012. The live Sextet recordings (subtitled Possibility Abstracts X & XI) will be released as a limited edition double-LP, and the studio 7-tette recordings (Possibility Abstracts XII & XIII) will be released as a double-CD. The entire four-album set will be available digitally, and buyers of either the LPs or CDs will receive a complimentary download coupon for the entire body of music." Great to see Jim Hobbs returning. Don't think i'll pre-order this, think i'll wait and see. I consider myself to be a THB fan but i think i enjoy him as a sideman or co-leader more than as a leader. I enjoyed his last album, Apparent Distance, at the time but i just haven't found myself returning to it, at all, or if i do i take it off pretty quickly. Just not feeling it. I'll probably have a change of heart pretty much as soon as i hit 'post'.

Steve, did you end up picking up the William Parker box set? Not expecting you to have listened to the whole thing yet but any thoughts on the music or the quality of the packaging?

The Max Roach & Cecil Taylor Historic Concerts album has some interview material at the end of disc two, about 16 minutes in total but it's interspersed with music. This album is also a available as part of the Cecil Taylor Black Saint/Soul Note box so technically it's in a box set!

That's a cool line up, from the intense to the slightly more chilled out (actually on second thoughts ROTM can still be intense in it's own way). I seem to come across a lot of people taking jabs at William Parker lately, which is fine i guess. Sometimes i'm bored by his music but i like a lot of it, love some of it. Maybe i'm not the most critical listener but i've never noticed anything 'bad' about his playing, walking or other. For me he's a good example of an artist that arguably may not be Percy Heath when it comes to walking bass lines but can create truly compelling music nevertheless.