xybert

Thanks for your thoughts Gheorghe. It's really interesting to me. On first listen i thought "okay, my curiosity is satisfied but i can't see myself ever listening to that again." But i keep on listening to it, and the more i listen the less 'shocking' the flubs and flaws become. I find it hard to express, i'm not trying to minimise Powell's decline or whatever. In openly stating that i actually enjoy this album, i don't want to come off like some creepy guy who gets enjoyment from watching a depressed man wrap his car around a tree, like some sort of rubbernecker, getting perverse pleasure from watching a disaster or whatever: it's not like that at all. It's also not a weird 'Powell Worship' thing where he can't do any wrong in my eyes. Art, music is such a strange, subjective thing. Why listen to this, over and over, when i can listen to not just objectively better Powell recordings but perfectly executed albums by other artists? I don't have the answer. There's something about Powell for me. You're always hearing him, no matter what state he is in. A 'lesser' Powell album is not the same as a 'lesser' 'artist x' album (not to be misconstrued as Powell Worship). I wish i could express myself better; they really need to invent a 'ya know what i mean?' machine that can translate vague thoughts and feelings in to articulate text.

There are probably other touchstones but it reminded me a lot of Fantomas.

I buy from Amazon Japan, currently the price is about 5000.00 JPY. With the exchange rate to NZD i was able to pre-order this plus Treasury Shows 22 for about the cost of 3 new CDs including shipping. Massive bargain for me. I think there's the Storyville version of Toga Bravo as well. Looking forward to seeing what ends up being on the set but it's all gravy for me.

I read that as recordings made in the 1970s, late in his life. Could've been worded less ambiguously. It looks like a couple of the discs of this set could be taken up by the 2 disc Grona Lund set alankin posted above, and then disc 3 could indeed feature any number of previously unreleased tracks from the same concert (again, it's worded in a way that can be interpreted as a full disc of never released recordings or it could just be a couple of tracks). As long as the set is made up of post-1950 Storyville releases i'll be happy as i don't currently have any of it.

http://www.storyvillerecords.com/products/the-duke-box-2-1088617 "Spanning the years in which Ellington regularly toured Europe and Scandinavia, The Duke Box 2 offers a rich selection of performances illustrating a tirelessly inventive musical spirit on tour with changing personnel and occasional guest artists. CD3 features never before released live recordings from a 1963 concert in Gröna Lund, Stockholm—a veritable treasure for the committed Ellington fan. The box also includes the well-renowned Jaywalker (CD5) and Piano Player (CD4) albums whose music always deserve a re-visiting. Among other gems are late 1970s recordings from New York, some of the last music Ellington ever put out." At the price it's worth it for me for the 1963 Stockholm concert, Jaywalker and Piano Player alone; very curious to know what's on the other 4 discs. Release date is showing as 9 December on Amazon Japan. What a pleasant surprise just before Christmas!

I'm curious as to how The Return of Bud Powell was received at the time of release. I heard it for the first time a few weeks ago and have been listening to it a lot since then. There's so much of it that's objectively 'not right' but in spite of that, i don't know what it is, but i keep reaching for it. Anyway, i'm not trying to get all revisionist on it and claim that it's a misunderstood work of genius, and i'm not looking to be validated by some long lost review. I get the criticism and i'm expecting the reviews to be critical. But yeah, anyone know whether it was reviewed by Downbeat for example? Cheers.

As far as i know, only ever on the complete Blue Note/Roost box. Cheers man i'm actually really stoked!

Well, i'm pretty happy to say that this latest release has been pitch corrected. I've attached a screenshot of the track times in iTunes (obviously only needed to show the first eight tracks but thought i'd include all sixteen just for the sake of showing what's on the disc). The difference is clearly audible to me, although it would be cool to get a second opinion. EDIT: mjzee linked to a comparison of the track lengths above, but just for ease of reference below is a screenshot of the track times for the Roulette release ripped to iTunes:

Thanks for that. It looks like the release i posted above... the track times noted on the back cover are even shorter than the Roulette release! No actual track times listed on Amazon Japan or CD Japan... it could still have been corrected and they've just replicated the original back cover unchanged... i tried to do an A/B comparison between the Roulette CD and the samples for this release on CD Japan... there are times where i think they sound the same, other times different... I'll know when i hear the opening bars of I'll Remember April when the actual CD arrives... but i think it's not looking good. Yeah, puzzling that the above release which looks like it was originally released in 1958 notes 1950 as the recording date.

Question regarding a reissue of the Roost recordings: The Bud Powell Trio Featuring Max Roach was reissued in Japan earlier this year. I'd seen the cover but always assumed it was a Verve album, and as i've got the Verve box didn't think i needed it. On closer inspection it appears to have the same tracks as the Roulette release of the 1947/1953 Roost material (the photo of the back cover lists 12 tracks but the track listing on Amazon lists all 16, not unusual with Japanese reissues as they tend to replicate the original cover regardless of the actual track listing), however it notes on the back of the cover a 1950 recording date. I've gone ahead and purchased it as if it is as i presume the Roost material i'm hoping it's been speed corrected. Can anyone shed any light on this one (regarding the 1950 recording date, whether the original LP release was at the right speed etc). Cheers.

Yeah the original cover art is way better. But as you say, it may not be happening now anyway. Still showing as being available for pre-order on Amazon Japan, but i wouldn't be surprised if they're a bit slow on the uptake and not take it down/notify people that have pre-ordered until the release date is reached and they realise that they don't/won't have the stock. Let's say it has been cancelled; i wonder why? It always seemed odd to me that it had never been reissued on CD, which may come down to rights etc, but odder that it doesn't appear in discographies like Allmusic, Chick's discography listing in Wikipedia, and Chick's own website which is fairly exhaustive although does exclude some things.

Interesting. I pre-ordered the Corea from Amazon Japan and it's still showing on their website (here). Haven't heard anything from them yet. I wonder what the story is, whether it's been delayed or is never coming out.

I got it from Amazon Japan for around 10,000 JPY. Was pretty stoked to get it. Chick hasn't released any new music this year and nothing's been announced that i know of; i'm wondering whether they might release a box of recordings from his 75th birthday concerts. Speaking of the NFL thing, Chick apparently joined the Roots on Jimmy Fallon recently.

I quite like Ellington '66. This set was such good value, about 2/3 the price of a single CD in a brick and mortar store. Ended up buying two:

I'd heard some jazz over the years: Monk's Dream, Mingus Ah Um, Kind of Blue, Blue Train, Bird, Dizzy and Ellington compilations. I liked it enough but it wasn't fascinating: It all just sounded like 'jazz' and went in one ear and out the other. Now, of course, this stuff is plenty fascinating. The first jazz thing that i can remember being actually fascinated by was a solo version of Cherokee by Joe Pass on a jazz guitar compilation that a friend lent me. I was listening to a lot of 'spazzy' metal/hardcore/grindcore at the time, stuff that had riffy sections but would abruptly have these spazzy breakdowns and then switch back to structured riffing. I was like "here's this guy doing that on an acoustic guitar in the mid seventies." It was like, all the craziness but without the screaming. It was crazy but you could play it for your grandma. It was the first time that i'd felt like i'd stumbled on to something when it came to jazz.

I'm really digging Enter The Plustet. The previous albums on Firehouse 12 have all been excellent but there's something extra special about this one to my ears. Total knock out.

Looking forward to Volume 22. Thoroughly enjoying Volume 21 at the moment.

I've saved this on Spotify to have a listen at some point.

Slightly disappointed that they didn't include the Charlie Parker material. I liked the sound of the Dial box and having the Parker material included, although i had it elsewhere, was the icing on the cake. It would have been nice even just for the sake of symmetry: Mosaic Dial set with the Parker material included, Mosaic Savoy set with the Parker material included. The Savoy set as it is still looks good but for me if it had the Parker it would be a must buy. I do wonder how well the Dial set sold, and whether leaving the Parker tracks off of the Savoy set was influenced by it. The Dial set is the only Mosaic set, at least in recent times that i'm aware of, that has had significantly negative customer feedback with regards to the sound. With a set like Dial/Savoy, aficionados (i.e. Mosaic customers) have a lot if not all of the material. Excellent packaging and liner notes aside, the main reason to buy is for the 'Mosaic will be the definitive version on CD from a sonic point of view'. Even then a lot of people will be on the fence; if it's getting some strongly negative reviews regarding the sound (as in "this is not subjective, this has been botched"): game over.

Planned to do 5 new and 5 old, ended up doing 4 and 6: Post 2000: Henry Threadgill - This Brings Us To Volume I Joe Morris - Today On Earth John Hollenbeck - Eternal Interlude Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation, And Flow Pre 2000: Bud Powell – The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 1 (2001 CD reissue) Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (2002 CD reissue) John Coltrane - My Favorite Things Miles Davis – Sorcerer (CD with Bob Dorough bonus track) Wayne Shorter - Introducing Wayne Shorter

Here's an extreme but good example:

I don't really fully understand the reason why, but whenever you're dealing with digital there's room for digital related glitches and i always just thought of it (adding dither) as a preventative thing. Like, you can choose not to add dither and get away with it, but you may as well use it (a bit like selecting the 'error correction' option when ripping a CD in iTunes). I can't explain it properly, but it's like, you've got a digital recording of the sound at 24 bit, and your're then reducing it to 16 bit which reduces the 'quality' of... it's like if you've got a fence with 24 planks of wood and you're reducing it to 16 planks but you still want it to look the same as when it was 24 (i know this makes no sense but imagine that it could be done)... you might do a great job of it but there's probably going to be a nail sticking out somewhere.

I've done some audio engineering (although it's been a while and i was never an expert) and i don't recall dither being a thing when recording with Pro Tools etc. It was always a thing where you've already done your recording to Pro Tools in 24bit or whatever, so say you've recorded and mixed 30 tracks (vocals, drums, other instruments, overdubs etc) and you're bouncing your final mix down to a 16bit stereo wav file. If you don't add dither then you can get glitches/artifacts as a result. I'm not familiar with modern methods of digitising LPs but i presume it'll effectively be the same as recording an acoustic instrument to digital. That's what i used to do: do a needle drop, put a mic in front of the speaker, set your level and hit record in Pro Tools. No dithering during the initial recording, but then if i'd decided to record it at a higher bit depth then i'd use dithering when bouncing it down to 16 bit. In what step of the process is the program you're using asking you to select dither?

Been on an Ahmad Jamal kick lately. Previously only had Live at the Pershing which i always loved for Poinciana but wasn't really feeling the rest. Recently, however, the penny dropped... Picked up: - Ahmad's Blues - Awakening - Tranquility/Outertimeinnerspace Impulse! twofer - Trio & Quintet Recordings with Ray Crawford (really nice two disc set on el/Cherry Red which collects what it says on the box. The trio stuff is great but the quintet stuff is a bit of a surprise gem for me!)

Ha ha, to be honest i put that in there to preempt getting in to a discussion on it. Nevertheless... It's really just a preference thing. My preference is to purchase a CD and then rip it as ALAC, that way i have a CD quality digital file that i can play to my hearts content on all my devices and i have the CD as a physical back-up. So everything leads on from there: I'm considering purchasing a download, which is already something that is outside my usual preference. Then the file is 256kbps, a good but still lossy file. And they ain't cheap. So ultimately i weigh it up and go ''yeah, all things considered i'd rather just get the CD.'' If they were ALAC it might tip the scale, or might have in the past: at this point i'm fairly stuck on CDs. When CDs stop being an option then i'll look at the digital options more seriously. In terms of '256kbps versus ALAC' in general, again i guess it comes down to preference. Just as my CDs are a physical back-up of my digital files, my digital files are back-up for my physical CDs. I like the fact that my digital back-up is CD quality, it would bug me if it wasn't. Space is not as much of a concern anymore external HD wise (i think they are coming out with 1TB SD cards soon) and i can fit more than enough albums in ALAC on my iPod. No audible difference? Maybe, although anecdotally and without examples i've definitely heard a difference between albums that i've had in 256kbps and re-ripped in ALAC. 256kbps doesn't have the extremely noticeable artifacts of an old mp3, but there is a difference. And maybe this is getting too esoteric, but i'm a firm believer that when it comes to sound waves we physically hear more than we mentally hear, if that makes sense. Having it in ALAC just gives me peace of mind, i don't have to worry about whether 256kbps is good enough, and ultimately maybe that's what it all comes down to.