Late

I really liked that series — when they were in jewel cases and with red spines. Often the booklets had more information than when hat switched over to paper sleeves — particularly with Lacy titles and Franz Koglmann titles. And of course a fair number hatART titles never made it into the hatOLOGY series. Oddly, in my own Tower experience, I never saw hatART titles for sale. I found most of mine at Amoeba or through special order.

Listened to 32XD-571 (Crescent) this week. Sounds amazingly close to vinyl. Natural, and with virtually no ear fatigue. The music itself, of course, is incredible. I purchased this title at the Piccadilly Circus Tower.

I like that the documentary gives ample space to Miles' 70's and 80's output. Frances Davis was perhaps given too much time (making sure, more than once, to talk about her legs). It would've been nice to hear from Chick Corea and Dave Holland, or even Keith Jarrett — but I guess that's another documentary. And no interview clips with Tony Williams? Surely some exist.

Thanks for posting that blog link to Tower in Tokyo, Cliff. In case anyone missed it above, here it is again: Tower In Tokyo According to the documentary (Colin Hanks!), there are 85 Tower Records stores in Japan. Those stores broke off from U.S. ownership in 2002. Tower closed in 2006. Who else here has been to a Tower in Japan? Didn't the Shibuya store actually have its own in-house label? I know there are obis around (for classical at least) that say something to the effect of Tower Records Employee Pick. Something like that. Anyone here have one of those discs? The 9-story Shibuya store:

Agreed! Many times I stayed right up until midnight browsing the racks. I remember buying my first Herbie Nichols album at the Tower on Sunset some time around midnight.

Tower Records, when it was around, used to have a great jazz (and classical) section. Share your stories of the Tower that you used to frequent! • Where was it? • What years did you frequent the store? • How many different Towers did you visit? • Any particular titles you remember purchasing at a Tower? There were two in Oregon: Gresham and Beaverton; I purchased many Miles Davis imports at the latter. There were six in California that I visited: San Francisco, Los Angeles on Sunset, UCLA campus, Sherman Oaks Outlet, Costa Mesa in Orange County, and El Toro. I don't know how a Tower made it to that last location, but they had some Roland Kirk titles I'd never seen anywhere else!

I'd totally forgotten about the transparent floor tiles. (In fact, I may never have noticed them to begin with.) I do remember the jazz section, however. It competed easily in its offerings with the Tower on Sunset in Los Angeles. Is the only Tower still standing in Tokyo? That should probably be another thread — the various Tower Records that board members here used to frequent.

Here's what discogs lists for the 1991 MVCI titles. True. I've seen that too. I admit it feels something like a "creative anachronism society" to start a thread on a series of discs that are now 33 years old. What if a person bought the lot way back in 1987 and was then done with it? There'd be less of a need for eBay, less of a collecting bug, and money could go toward ... cognac, or some other accompanying endeavor. I don't know if the MVCI series has a German equivalent. On a personal note — way back in 1994 — I remember seeing a large number of Japanese and German Impulse! titles filling the racks at the Piccadilly Tower Records. The underground stop, if I'm not mistaken, had an elevator that took you up right into the store.

This post is meant simply as a resource for those who collect Impulse! titles initially reissued in 1987 by the German and Japanese markets. The sound on some of these titles is excellent; quiet, and usually with little, if any, compression. I think both German and Japanese editions use the same remastering. Below is a list of titles. Numbers in parentheses are the German catalog numbers while the 32XD prefixes refer to the Japanese titles (55XD for double disc sets). Feel free to post corrections and/or additions, and to post your thoughts on this reissue series in general. (I've attached the list in a Word doc as well.) John Coltrane: Ballads (254 607-2) 32XD-570 John Coltrane: Crescent (254 608-2) 32XD-571 John Coltrane: Coltrane (254 609-2) 32XD-572 John Coltrane: Transition (254 611-2) 32XD-575 John Coltrane: With Johnny Hartman (254 617-2) 32XD-576 John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition II) (254 618-2) 32XD-577 John Coltrane: Quartet Plays (254 619-2) 32XD-578 John Coltrane: Meditations (254 621-2) 32XD-581 John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard (254 627-2) 32XD-582 John Coltrane: Impressions (254 628-2) 32XD-583 John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition I) (254 745-2) 32XD-584 John Coltrane: Selflessness (254 629-2) 32XD-585 John Coltrane: Sun Ship (254 630-2) 32XD-586 John Coltrane: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (254 636-2) 32XD-587 John Coltrane: Live At Birdland (254 637-2) 32XD-588 John Coltrane: Africa Brass (254 638-2) 32XD-589 John Coltrane: Om (254 640-2) 32XD-592 John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (254 557-2) 32XD-595 John Coltrane: Kulu Sé Mama (254 645-2) 32XD-596 John Coltrane: Expression (254 646-2) 32XD-597 John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard Again (254 647-2) 32XD-598 John Coltrane: Africa Brass Vol. 2 (254 648-2) 32XD-599 John Coltrane: Mastery of Vol. III "Jupiter Variation” (254 649-2) 32XD-600 John Coltrane: Live In Japan Vol. 1 (254 610-2) 55XD-573~574 John Coltrane: Live In Japan Vol. 2 (254 620-2) 55XD-579~580 John Coltrane: The Other Village Vanguard Tapes (254 639-2) 55XD-590~591 John Coltrane: Mastery of Vol. I "Feelin' Good" (254 641-2) 55XD-593~594 John Coltrane: Mastery of Vol. IV "Trane's Modes" (254 650-2) 55XD-601~602 Keith Jarrett: Death and the Flower (254 612-2) 32XD-603 Keith Jarrett: Treasure Island (254 623-2) 32XD-604 Keith Jarrett: Byablue (254 632-2) 32XD-605 Keith Jarrett: Mysteries (254 642-2) 32XD-606 Sonny Rollins: On Impulse! (254 613-2) 32XD-607 Sonny Rollins: Alfie (254 651-2) 32XD-608 McCoy Tyner: Nights of Ballads & Blues (254 614-2) 32XD-609 McCoy Tyner: Reaching Fourth (254 652-2) 32XD-610 The Gil Evans Orchestra: Out of the Cool (254 615-2) 32XD-611 The Gil Evans Orchestra: Into the Hot (254 626-2) 32XD-612 Johnny Hartman: I Just Dropped By to Say Hello (254 616-2) 32XD-613 Count Basie: Count Basie and the Kansas City 7 (254 622-2) 32XD-614 Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers (254 624-2) 32XD-615 Elvin Jones and Richard Davis: Heavy Sounds (254 625-2) 32XD-616 Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth (254 631-2) 32XD-617 Oliver Nelson: More Blues and the Abstract Truth (254 643-2) 32XD-618 Charlie Haden: Liberation Music Orchestra (254 633-2) 32XD-619 J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding: The Great Kai & J.J. (254 634-2) 32XD-620 Albert Ayler: In Greenwich Village (254 635-2) 32XD-621 Charlie Mingus: The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady (254 562-2) 32XD-622 Archie Shepp: Four For Trane (254 644-2) 32XD-623 Quincy Jones and His Orchestra: The Quintessence (254 560-2) 32XD-624 1987 32XD Impulse! titles.docx

Teenagers?

I adore his debut on Reprise. After that, I tend to gravitate to the solo recordings. Hamba Khale is an exception though. • On another note, I was just thinking how, in 2020, and contrary to widespread U.S. reporting, the compact disc is actually not dead. Thanks to Japan, the medium — as unwieldy, cumbersome, and space-depleting as it is — is still around! Distant Thunder is a true "reissue."

Up Popped The Devil is excellent. Recorded well though very up close — hopefully Solid doesn't do too much with the transfer. Reggie Workman's bass sounds really good on this date. The Pepper Adams session, Julian, is also very good. Recommended. I haven't connected with the Dollar Brand date for some reason. It's certainly a solid session, but ... maybe I just need to listen to it more. I'm excited to finally have Distant Thunder on compact disc!!! Akira Sakata just kills. Fierce music — not for listeners who don't like "noise" in their tea!

Bam!

I think it's excellent. His "out" tendencies are what make this trio album special — it's much better than the duo album.

Since first posting in this thread (now almost 15 years ago!), I've collected a fair amount of Cello Suites recordings. To start, fans of the suites will want to be familiar with this resource, a listing of (known, but not all) recordings of the cello suites in chronological order. It provides a good timeline and overview of recordings of the suites. I must thank member "mandrill" from Raleigh, NC for posting here about the Antonio Janigro recording! It has since become my favorite edition. (Though I always leave out the Casals in any "favorite" list. His recording stands alone.) South Korea Universal put out a 2-disc set of the Janigro recording (with original cover art) that is better-sounding than the set on Doremi, for those who are interested. To me, it sounds like the engineers in South Korea had access to different tapes than the engineers for Doremi. There's nothing wrong with the Doremi set, but if you're interested in a tighter mono, the South Korea set is often on eBay. For fans of Bylsma and Wispelwey, you need to hear LUCIA SWARTS. All period, and, for the most part, she takes them slow. Bigger sound than Bylsma, more profound (in my opinion) than Wispelwey. There's also a mini-documentary on YouTube about her recording. For fans of Ophelie Gaillard's second recording (which I actually sold off), I'd recommend checking out Inbal Segev and Nina Kotova. Segev is refined and polite while Kotova's version is wild, with a pleasing woody sound. For fans of Fournier and Tortelier (I love both editions), check out Istvan Vardai. While not as aristocratic as either Fournier or Tortelier, Vardai has flawless intonation and an excellent sense of the suites' overall architecture. Starker, Rostropovich, and DuPré (I can't get into any of these cellists performing Bach) Vardai is not. (The Vardai disc to find is his all-Tchaikovsky program on Brilliant Classics.) Andre Navarra and Esther Nyffenegger (Navarra's student) both recorded excellent versions of the suites. The Navarra is hard-to-find. A note on Nyffenegger — she was a contemporary of Jacqueline DuPré, and (she's still alive) was denied much of the spotlight that was granted DuPré. Esther Nyffenegger recorded what I consider the reference recording for Beethoven's Cello Sonatas. In my opinion, no other familiar gold standard (Fournier, even Rostropovich) for those sonatas comes close. Big claim, but check her recording ("Cello Jewels" on Divox) out! The wackiest version I've ever heard of the suites is by Jean-Max Clement, recorded in 1958. Clement lets himself take a fair amount of improvisatory license with the ends of phrases, which will either intrigue fans or drive them off. His recording makes you want to listen with the score in hand (something I actually haven't done yet). Recordings of the suites I own, but still am not familiar with: Gaspar Cassado (on Vox), Andre Levy, and Henri Honegger (the latter two both "historical" recordings). Who I would stay away from? Enrico Mainardi. (Just listen to sound samples online. I'm sure he has his fans, but I'm not one.) And an artist who recorded the suites, but whose edition has (to my knowledge) never made it to the digital domain and that I really want to hear? Sasa Vectomov. I believe he's Czech, and recorded them in the 80's for Supraphon. YouTube has some enchanting samples of his playing.

This particular edition is apparently hard-to-find these days. Currently, here's a good deal. Sealed, too.

I noticed those Miles titles for $3.79 as well. Sometimes the label is listed as Legacy, sometimes Columbia/Legacy, sometimes SMG, sometimes Sony UK, and sometimes Imports. I wonder why the variation.

And now Prophecy is on HAT (in 2020). I'm not sure what the "Revisited" is supposed to mean.

In my opinion, this is Griffin's most interesting project for Blue Note. He isn't all about 16th notes here, and the relaxed mood lets you (the listener) soak in his deep tone. Sonny Clark is great as always, and I think it may be the only Blue Note appearance for Kenny Dennis on drums. I love Griffin's take on "I'm Glad There Is You." My compact disc copy (TOCJ 1580) says 29:59 on the player. A Love Supreme is only 33:04! Some records just need to be short, I guess.

Thanks for the recommendations. Found this one on YouTube.

I have no titles from this improvised/classical series. Squidco offers sound samples of quite a few titles, which I've been checking out recently. Any recommendations for titles that you're particularly fond of? This one sounds good:

Thanks for the Squidco link. The samples sound really good. Squidco is a great business to support, too.

Thanks for posting that Giant Steps video. I also watched his Body & Soul video. Excellent player.

In July 2019, a small series (I think eight titles) of Koji Wakamatsu soundtracks were reissued by Solid for 1000¥ each. They were only on sale for two months. (CD Japan lists them all as "sold out," but a few titles can still be found on the internet.) My question is: Did anyone here pick up any titles from this extremely short-lived reissue series? One review on HMV Japan says that they're overly compressed, which, if true, would be a shame. The series (for the obi) looked like this: