sal

Thanks alot for your helpful info, B3-er!!

I'm with you too, Wesbed. Fantastic organ player. "Grantstand" has been getting alot of play time in my CD deck. Does anyone who has the new RVG of "Grantstand" notice some distortion in the organ lines on the first track? I don't know if this is supposed to sound like that, but the organ seems to distort at times.

Get it while you can.

Pangaea is a great one, lots of space with great playing by Miles and the guitarists

Yeah, the Five Spot recordings are tha SHIT! I also recently heard "Last Date" for the first time. Incredible session! God, I wish Dolphy was still alive.....

Ralphie Boy, Some may disagree with me, but to my ears some of the stuff he did for RCA/Victor after "The Bridge" sounds a bit like EBR, especially the stuff with Don Cherry and Billy Higgins.

Great album!!! I must respectfully disagree with you, Tom. I think the Parker/Drake rhythm section is the top drums/bass team around today. And right now, it may be difficult to see thier contribution to jazz simply because they continue to quietly contribute such a large output of work together. But there is not a doubt in my mind that future generations will look back years from now and marvel at their accomplishments in the same vein as many of the masters. Just as a sample, take two of the albums from this year that they have appeared on together: William Parker's "Scrapbook" and Peter Brotzman's "Never Too Late But Always Too Early". Completely different types of music....both masterpieces that should be on anyone's top 10 of the year lists. These guys energize everybody that they play with...they coax incredible performances out of everyone they back up. Not to mention they sound incredible as a duo. When it comes to creativity, energy, innovation, and pure sonic mastery, its hard to find a drum/bass team in jazz today who can touch these guys. To compare them with Miles and Trane? That might be going a bit too far today. But once their legacy is complete and time has judged who will be remembered, don't be surprised if the names of these two pop up in the same vein as any pair of greats in this music.

If you look at the Mosaic Records catalogue, and go to the page that has the Elvin Jones set, there is a picture of Elvin playing, eyes closed, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. That's the one!

Congrats David!

I'm very surprised that there has not been more talk over here about this incredible album! This is an absolutely unbelievable recording! My girlfriend bought it for me a couple weeks ago, and I haven't been able to put it down. Its definitely the best album thus far by the Dave Holland Quintet, and I believe it has a very good shot at being the album of 2003. The live setting really allows this group to stretch out so much more than on thier studio recordings. If anyone has any doubts that this combo will go down in history as one of the greatest working bands in all of jazz, this album should dispel those doubts upon the first listen. The hottest track is the last song on CD 2, called "Metamorphos". WOW!!!! But all the tracks are blistering. For me, the best part is hearing that incredible chemistry between Chris Potter & Robin Eubanks, and the brilliant drumming by Billy Kilson. After seeing the quintet live, I didn't think that there would be anything that could capture that experience, but amazingly, this album does. This one gets my highest possible recommendation. Has anyone heard it? Post your opinions here!

Yeah, I'm sure the RVG sounds great, but I can't justify buying yet another version of Blue Train. Its an incredible session, but I just can't buy into what Blue Note is doing. Anyways, my stereo isn't good enough to tell the difference between 20 Bit and 24 Bit. Plus, Blue Note will probably re-issue Blue Train again in a couple years with 48 Bit remastering or something like that. I'll stick to my Ultimate Blue Train.

I thought you guys would find this interesting. Its from AMG online, the review of the new Blue Train RVG. Although I don't agree completely with what he's saying, I am in agreement that Blue Note is really ripping us all off with all these damn reissues. Releases like Blue Train are why labels like Blue Note can piss you off as a consumer. After a while Blue Note had already issued arguably its greatest release two times previously on CD. The drastically improved-upon reissue of Blue Train that included all of the alternate takes from the session set to right one mysteriously lifted piano solo in the master take of the title track. It also came with cool pictures and a CD-ROM. So what does the Rudy van Gelder edition add to make you buy it once more? Marginally better sound. But that's not a recommendation to purchase it. If Blue Note had any integrity regarding this reissue — and the label should, given the album's enormous stature in the classic jazz catalog — it would have issued the CD-ROM and the photos as part of this package. Musically, this does contain the alternate takes issued on the 1997 version but requires one to purchase an incomplete package to get better sound. Had this been issued as DVD audio it would have made sense because it is a completely different format. This is just nonsense and a ploy to get you to shell out more cash for something that is clearly inferior to what you already paid for as a fan. And while audiophiles will have to have the better sound and grumble because their obsession won't let them sleep, everyone else should just leave this version alone and be content with the formerly "ultimate" Blue Train until the label gets it right and issues the package whole. Maybe they'll do that next time and try to get you to buy it again. — Thom Jurek

I'm with JSngry. I love this album. Its a bit more avant-garde than Rollins' previous dates, but his playing is rock solid, and Jimmy Garrison & Elvin Jones really kick it into high gear. Freddie Hubbard's playing on the first track is stellar....sometimes its seems that the great Sonny Rollins has a hard time keeping up with him! Its a fantastic album nonetheless. If you are a big Rollins fan, its a must have. But if you are just starting on Rollins or are not a huge fan yet, you might want to hold this one off until later, but pick it up eventually.

I'm a fan as well. Their album is really good. I'm looking forward to seeing them here in Chicago next week.

By the way, thank you to all of you who helped me out! It looks as if I probably won't have this music for quite some time.....gonna have to save for the box set! But I'm sure it will be well worth the wait.

JSngry - I completely agree with you....and I do understand where you and many others are coming from. I know that the music is great no matter what version you buy (I already own the old release of "Free Jazz). The only thing that upsets me sometimes is people's choice of words. I don't think I need to get into detail about this, just let me say to look at JSngry's post, and then look at the one on the first page that initially upset me. Both are saying the same thing, yet one is informative and well explained, where the other is just pissy & rude. Yes, I understand the music of Ornette Coleman might strike a sensitive nerve in some folks. But isn't this supposed to be vibrant, exciting music that should bring people together, not piss people off because a "newbie" to the music wants to get the most for his money?

What is "depressing" about asking for simple advice about mastering quality? jesus christ......some of you take this shit way too seriously...

Hey John - I guess the reason I put up this post is because I am one of those people who when I started getting into jazz about 5 years ago, I didn't know about "audiophile" CDs, "remasters", "Super Bit Mapping" and all that stuff. And I ended up buying old versions of many albums that I didn't know had newer, better sounding versions out there, or that were sonicaly upgraded not long after I purchased the old versions. To put it simply, I felt I got jipped, and now I have learned my lesson and I investigate for the best possible sonic sources, or I just wait for sonicaly better versions to come out. And since I figured that these Ornette albums have not been reissued since the early 90s, I assumed that there must be better versions out there, or there will be soon. That is the only reason I've held off on getting those Atlantic albums. Rooster Ties, kazak, and J.A.W, thank you all very much for the information and suggestions.

I really want to pick up more of Ornette's Atlantic recordings like "Shape of Jazz to Come", "Change of the Century" and "This is Our Music", but I don't want to get the older CD versions that are out in most record shops. Does anyone know if there are better, remastered versions of these albums out there? I know Rhino remastered "Free Jazz", but I didn't see any more newer versions of the albums in the bin. Before anyone offers their much appreciated help, I must point out: - I can't afford the "Beauty is a Rare Thing" box set and - I don't want to buy any expensive Japanesse imports Do I have any other options to pick up these albums? Thanks much!

Two albums where he plays very well (and are very good albums as well) are Herbie Hancock's "Takin' Off" and Donald Byrd's "Slow Drag". There are so many others, but I can't think of them all right now. Lloyd's "Hyperion With Higgins" is a gem as well, but Billy's playing by that point was suffering due to his poor health.

Don't forget Peter Jennings.

Taxi Driver and 2001: A Space Odyssey

Some of the stuff he writes might be interesting to someone new to the music, but it just seems like he doesn't have any passion for these albums. Read his notes from "Out To Lunch" or "Empereyan Isles", and compare them to "Indestructible". There's not even a comparision. While his ranting and raving in the older RVG notes might not have been the most insightful, they were great to read because he seemed just as enthusiastic about he albums as the people buying them. Now, it just seems like he's doing his job.....like Man w/Golden Arm says, just trying to fill the space. I do agree that his writing for the Mosaics is great though.

sorry, meant to say one of the worst ones I've ever read!

I remember a while back there was a thread about Bob Blumenthal's essays for the RVG series getting worse and worse. While I believed this to be generally true, I think its really evident in this batch of new RVGs. The essay for "Indestructible" is one of the worst ones I've never read. The "Sonny Rollins Volume 1" isn't far behind. It seems like he used to write the essays proudly, and his love for the albums came through in his words. Now, it seems that he is writing them because its the only way he can put food on the table. Pretty sad stuff. Any opinions?