connoisseur series500

Hoping to come out tonight guys. I'll bring a friend. Looking forward to it. Paul

Excellent topic. More will come to me later, but I can think of several examples. I don't care for George Benson's stuff, but I like him on Freddie Hubbard's CTI recordings like "First Light." Everyone sounds good on Charles Fambrough's "Proper Angle." Even Wynton whatshisname! Didn't care for Michael Brecker's stuff as a leader, but he kicks butt on McCoy Tyner, "Infinity." Didn't like any of Brad Mehldau's solo works, but he's great on Josh Redman's "Mood Swing" and Charles Lloyd's "Water is Wide," and "Hyperion for Higgins." More later...

Nice picture, Tom. Looks like you're almost crushing him with that grip. Careful, now, he's a national treasure! How lucky you are to have met him.

I LOVE "Changes One" and "Changes Two." Outstanding sessions. My favorite tune is the one called "Sue's changes" or something like that. My interpretation is that Mingus describes this women in all her varied glory: the ups and downs, the delights and disappointments; when she's romantic and alluring, and when she's pms-ing bigtime. A masterpiece of a song.

I appreciate your input on this. MFJ is such an outstanding session that it might warrant an upgrade based on that fact alone. I just might buy the RVG simply because it is one of Blue Note's better sessions. Okay, that's one more RVG to buy. At least I'm not auto-buying these things like I used to. I really try to examine the older edition to see if it's worth it. In retrospect, there was no need in my opinion to have upgraded my Mobley, "Roll Call." The older version sounded fine. I'm happy I upgraded the others though.

Alex definitely raises a good point here. I find this stuff funny too, but at least they try to learn our language.

I've definitely changed my opinion since writing this. I gave all the discs a good listen and I now feel that some of the older versions are fine while others definitely need some improvement. The ones that are fine: "Mode for Joe" "Our Man in Paris" "Sonny Rollins vol 1" The ones that are "Okay" "Adam's Apple" "Let Freedom Ring" "Indestructible" The ones that need upgrading: "Grantstand" (organ sounds distorted; needs definition) "Search for a New Land" (needs more sharpness and definition) The ones I don't own or are not sure about: "Blue Train" Horace Silver Trio Bud Powell So in my opinion, there are only two which badly need an upgrading and that would be the Grant Green and the Lee Morgan.

I pretty much agree with your assessment, but do YOU think it needs a sonic upgrade?

BTW, do you guys hear that heavy Coltrane influence on the first track of "Search for a New Land?" Terrific song.

Okay, I've got four of the five in their older editions. I gave them all a spin and here's my verdict: I will buy Bud Powell, because I don't own it. "Mode for Joe" sounds fine to me in its older version. Didn't someone say it needed a sonic upgrade? I find little to complain about regarding the sound. Will probably hang on to this one. It's a superb session all way round. Will be curious, however, to hear the new RVG to see what they might have improved. "Let Freedom Ring" could use an upgrade, but I will be in no hurry to do so. It's not my favorite session, although the first track is great. I might upgrade it later on when I've got spare $$$. Have no problem keeping the older version for now. "Search for a New Land" definitely needs to be upgraded. I will buy this one for sure. I will also upgrade "Adam's Apple." Could probably survive with the older version, but it's such a great session. Would love to hear it all fixed up. This will be another buy. That makes three out of the five, with another one to purchase down the road possibly.

Okay, I've got five of the six titles. I gave them a good spin each and here's my verdict: I will get the Horace Silver because I don't own it. Dexter's "Our Man in Paris" sounds fine in its original version. So does Rollins. On the other hand, "Grantstand" badly needs an upgrade. That one for sure. So that's two purchases for sure. "Indestructible" is probably worth upgrading as well though I could live with the orginal version. Mine has a few minor scratches, so I will upgrade for that reason. That's three of the six new RVGs I will be buying. Haven't yet decided on "BlueTrain."

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments here, and I've learned a lot. Looks like I will upgrade my "Mode for Joe," and "Search for a New Land." I'm keeping my older version of "Let Freedom Ring," and probably my Dexter Gordon. I haven't yet decided on "Grantstand," but am leaning towards keeping my older version. I'll probably upgrade "Adam's Apple" in order to follow the advice to upgrade the sessions that you really love. I'll check on those McMaster recordings. Was he that bad?

First of all, there is no question that most men shy from doctors. I happen to know this firsthand as I am involved in the insurance industry and one of the questions asked when applying for life insurance is, "when was the last time you visited a doctor?" Men can't even remember the last time, while women rattle off virtually the exact date. I know that this also applies to me. I avoid doctors whenever possible. If I go to see them, the interminable wait occurs and then they are likely to poke or place some metal object into an undignified part of my body. Of course, they wouldn't do this unless they had to, and I understand that. Still, I get upset over the long waits and the whole rigamole involved. Then there's the settling with the insurance company afterwards when you discover that they pay only a portion of the bill. You then receive a multitude of bills from the various medical people and facilities, because the profession seems to be somewhat self-propagating as they refer you out to "specialists" or "labs." Even hospitals don't seem to carry all the necessary testing equipment. I cannot overcome the feeling that medical people want you to undergo as many tests as possible in order to protect their butts should they misdiagnose something. Why don't men go to the doctor? Because it takes tons of time, costs lots of money, and in the end the tests all come out negative! Still, we have to do it, cause you never know....

Huge difference. You're lucky actually if you get such assessments when studying something like chess openings. Usually the advantages reached are small ones not major advantages such as those symbols indicate. Chess books ARE boring. Anything you have to study is boring. Still, it is necessary to study chess books in order to get better. After doing it for a long time it will become a little more interesting; but studying opening books is the most boring of all. I like to go over grandmaster games myself, and find books of game compilations to be more interesting. Stategy books can be more interesting as well. Endgame books are boring, but unfortunately necessary. That's the way it goes. No way round it.

Not enough sex and beer!

Right, although I think we are saying the same thing. One's sense of art and truth goes out the window when one become's scared of losing. Winning is one thing but it's also the search for truth and self-expression; one "wins" when one applies one's integrity to the search.

took me a second or two but...

I'm going to try and catch some of the action as well, though the hours don't quite favor me. Can't turn up the chance to meet all you guys. Look forward to it. Have to check the schedule at home. You going to be there too, Rooster? Isn't that a bit of a distance for you to catch?

sent you a pm on "Delightfullee"

That's right, Moose. Johnny's got you smoked in both categories. Now give back those party hats!

Looks like Johnny. And why not? He shows no interest in any other issue. He comes in at a whopping 95% of his posts. The real surprise is that he was actually drawn into other subject areas for 5% of his posts.

MOOSER!!

Without checking (which I am about to do), I would say that as far as high % goes, I would say that Chris, Greg, Johnny, Weizy RonF, and Moose would rank up there. I post most in politics as well, but I post a lot elsewhere as well. Hmmm, have to check my stats....

Okay, I decided to listen to some of my pre-RVG cds of the same titles that are due out in August and September. We've got to clear the air on this: I don't find them that bad. For the record, I listened to Dexter, Grant Green, Shorter, Blakey, Henderson, and the Lee Morgan. Some of them had a tinny sound to be sure, but I thought the Dexter disk seemed adequate. Of course, I am wrestling over the issue of whether it is worth the money to upgrade these things when RVGs come out. That "Mode for Joe" sounded fine to me, although the vibes really leap out at you in the first track. What a session, by the way! Whoooooo! Smoke! Actually, it occurred to me while listening to these that these sessions are amongst the finest examples of BN sounds. The problem we all face is must we upgrade whenever these things get remastered? It is expensive to do so and it hard not to feel ripped off in some way. It's flat out bullshit that "Blue Train" is reissued as many times as it has. Supposing someone had bought each emanation? That's not right. We build our collections at great expense then we are tempted and told by BN marketing that we should upgrade them when they are remastered. Let's try and put our heads together to determine if any of these older versions are worth keeping. I don't really feel qualified to make a good judgment on this issue. Anyone want to venture some opinions?

How do you look up this kind of stuff?