Late

Which version do you have and like?

You should still be able to talk to an actual person if you call 1-800-ASK-TOWER. At least, that number was still active last week. Just have your order # ready, and be ready to repeat it about 2-3 times for the representative. My order through the new site evidently shipped today. I received six separate e-mails for each unit (six discs) in the order. Kinda weird, but if they all come in I won't complain. I much preferred old Tower, but the new site does seem to have pretty good prices — as long as you know what you want before you go there, as the search engine is pretty weak. Some classical EMI discs are selling for as low as $3.53 ...

I think all those titles are "officially" OOP, but a number of stores in the last few years are listing unsold inventory. Jazz Loft uncovered some not too long, and even Cadence listed some after not having them in their inventory. The Zingaro/Lee is a nice one. I couldn't get with the Clusone 3, and gave it to Joe Milazzo a number of years ago.

I've had four orders with Tower-Caiman come through without a glitch. These were all made through the old Tower site (which still had the excellent search engine and sound samples) that was newly powered by Caiman (all my receipts noted "Caiman" on them, and were shipped from a warehouse in Florida rather than Sacramento). The new Tower site is indeed lacking in functions, but maybe that will be corrected over time. I hope so. The only difference I've noted so far is that shipping takes longer. I used to receive discs from Tower (Sacramento) in 2-3 days (media mail!), but from Caiman (Florida) they take about 10-14 days. All the discs have been in fine shape, and all the orders have been filled. I've even called customer service twice (they're now out of Montreal), and haven't had problems receiving information on orders. One thing to note — Caiman, unlike old Tower, will often ship out discs one at a time, though your confirmation e-mail will simply say "your order has shipped." Once I understood that, I haven't had a problem. I've read about others having problems with Caiman (though almost exclusively through Amazon), but I've yet to experience a negative transaction.

Not from the UK here, but I just placed my first order with the now Caiman-owned Tower.com (— they dropped the "Records" from the URL) today. I'll let you know how it goes. They've slashed prices (well, as far as EMI goes) on classical discs. I placed an order for six classical discs — it totalled just under $23. The final switch-over from the old Tower system to the new Caiman-Tower system actually took place just yesterday.

These have been mentioned already, but they're of huge importance, muscially and historically, and if they go out-of-print, it'll be a sad day: • Lester Young: The Complete Aladdin Sessions • Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker: The Pacific Jazz Sessions (or whatever the exact title is) If anyone's on the fence about these, I'd say pick 'em up now. If you don't like them, you might have fairly good resale value on your hands. ====== I wonder what will happen to the EMI classical catalog? Just a FYI in this regard — EMI has both a 20-bit and 24-bit line, often of the same recordings. While I haven't even come close to listening to that many duplicates, I actually prefer the 20-bit recordings so far, most of which (I think) are contained in their "Historical" series. You can find a complete list of that series here. Also note that list price for the "Historical" series is $6.99, and list price for the "Great Recordings of the Century" (which is the 24-bit line) is $11.99. You can find, say, certain Mozart performances (which are identical) in both series. They just have different cover art and different remastering. I've been scooping up discs from the "Historical" series like mad lately — and this was before I heard about EMI being purchased!

Which Lacy got "less music"? Are you thinking of NY Capers & Quirks? Those two LPs do indeed have more music to offer. So far, no prior compact disc reissue to my knowledge has been trimmed down for re-reissue on hatOLOGY. I wish that Werner would get to some Lacy that has never been on compact disc before. Two that come to mind are Stamps and Ballets. I'm sure there are a few more. Overall, however, I can't complain. There's a live Ayler date that's been catalogued and presumably remastered for compact disc on hat, but it has yet to come out ... (and it's not the Lörrach and Paris set). It's even listed on the back of some hat reissues that have made it into stores.

Well, probably not a loophole, per se, just the "perpetual" thing mentioned above ... :rsly: :rsmile:

I don't know if this is some kind of loophole, but if you simply type in: visitborders.com into your address window, you'll get a page with a 20%-off coupon. The page automatically refreshes on a daily basis, so, if you want to, you can print one out every flippin' day. Carpe diem if Borders is a fair deal in your parts!

The first paragraph from A Note from Jamison's Dad: "The purpose of this hunt was to give Jamison the opportunity to challenge himself and with this challenge the opportunity to overcome fear and accomplish something that would not be easily done. As he is becoming a young man, I wanted to see if the stuff I had been given him over the years would be the right stuff and if he had enough of it to rise to this and other challenges that life would surly have in store. I have disciplined my children over the years quiet regularly and many times have heard them say that their friends did not receive the same punishment. My response has always been "I am not trying to raise another child I am trying to raise a Champion". I guess I wanted to see if I was on the right track.

The Oliver Lake title is also very nice — some of Lake's most focused soloing in my opinion. I have it in the original hatART incarnation, so I won't be picking up this new reissue, but the Braxton is a MUST.

Finally! This is one of Braxton's masterworks in my opinion.

Sounds good, the best of the three Late posted samples of. I guess I could have linked sound samples for the other two Conn's, but there's a separate post for the Smith, and I'm guessing most have already heard the Hill. I have the Hill in the Mosaic, but I'm still ordering it! Come to think of it, it'll be interesting to see if more Hill Mosaics show up on eBay after Change hits the market. The entire box has now seen individual CD reissue light. Andrew must be smiling from wherever he is now ... For those who haven't heard Change, you're in for a treat! It's actually my favorite session from the Mosaic.

Has anyone here heard Rubinstein's EMI (not RCA) recordings of Chopin? There's a 1991 five-disc box set (of primarily 30's recordings) that I think is "complete." A number of online vendors have dramatically reduced its price recently, leading me to believe that it's going out-of-print. If anyone here has it and would like to give a mini-review, that would be great.

Sound samples available for the Kenny Cox here. The Turrentine, here. The Foster, here. These are going to be expensive, but they do sound good!

The Duke set is immensely enjoyable, but I can see how some people wouldn't initially be able to get into it. Here's what I've done to enhance my listening pleasure: • Made a master takes set. • Made an alternate takes set. • Made a non-vocals set. The box, at least to me, was a little overwhelming to begin with, but having the master takes all lined up without alternates has been nice. Also, when I don't want to hear vocalists, I pop in the "instrumental" disc. A less academic feel this way, which lets a listener forget about the dreaded "historical importance" phrase.

This from ESP's new blog: "ESP has now moved to larger quarters at 990 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, at the corner of DeKalb Avenue. In May, 2007, ESP will release a previously unissued live performance by Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Karl Berger, Aldo Romano and Bo Stief at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1967." Don't know if that adds much to the discussion except that now we know who the tenor player and bassist are. Also of note — ESP (or rather Bernard Stollman) claims that they will no longer be selling CDRs of their back catalog. Instead, the "entire" back catalog is supposed to see actual CD reissue. If true, some titles (though not too many) will be seeing compact disc issue for the very first time.

It's a great album. The composition "Human Being" contains one of Ornette's most beautiful melodies committed to record. It is indeed very hard to find on compact disc. I only have a vinyl rip, so I've never heard the fabled "needle drop." Maybe Starbucks will see fit to stock a reissue of this, along with their 283rd Chet Baker compilation, in their racks some day ...

Weizen — look for sound samples of the first "Impressed" compilation by Gilles Peterson. It has one track from the Gonsalves album (a very nice swinger). If that track is any indication, the album should be fine indeed. The sound too (at least on that one track) is excellent.

If so, I'm actually stunned that there hasn't been more buzz about this. I thought the "lost" tapes were indeed lost. Damn, too bad those four tracks couldn't be added to School Days!

Has Cleopatra's Needle been out on compact disc already? Either way, it's a great album.

I totally missed this — Cuneiform has just released a 2-CD package of "early" and "late" performances of the Lacy-Rudd quartet. The early segment evidently comes from a 1962 studio session. What? This couldn't be the "lost" Columbia or Verve session, could it? Anyone already have this set and care to comment?

That always bugs me for some reason. As if the "producers" had this conversation: "Say, here's a recording from the 50's." "Cool! There's probably a lot of people who don't have the vinyl. We stand to make some dough on this." "I know. Should we find a period photo of the Hillcrest Club to use for artwork?" "What? Why? Just get any old picture of Arnett Cobb that you can find." "Actually, it's Ornette Coleman, not Arnett Cobb. And, actually, it was Paul Bley's gig." "Who's Paul Bley? Hey, didn't Arnett Cobb just win a Nobel prize or something?" "Um, Arnett Cobb is deceased. Ornette Coleman recently won a Pulitzer." "Arnett Cobb wrote books, too? Look, just get any photo. It doesn't matter. As long as it's Arnett Cobb."

"One of the lesser-known Lee Konitz albums, this LP (which has not been reissued yet on CD) features the altoist joined by six brass and a rhythm section for eight Jimmy Giuffre arrangements. The shouting brass contrasts well with Konitz's cool-toned solos and together they perform eight underplayed standards. Guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans (who are on four songs apiece) are major assets behind Konitz on this pleasing set." "Shouting" brass and Lee Konitz? Not a combination I'd think of, but, who knows, maybe it works.