Brad

Just ordered 6, including one of the Lafittes.

I have the Mosaic and hear the same thing. So, it's probably the master (although nothing is mentioned in the liner notes about it, as they usually do).

The Chestnuts of Christmas By CHARLES PASSY Published: December 18, 2004 Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — THEY are the songs that constitute the soundtrack to every December, evoking images of "Jack Frost nipping at your nose" and children listening to "sleigh bells in the snow." In other words, have yourself a nostalgic little Christmas. Consider that in Ascap's annual ranking of the 25 most-performed holiday songs, oldies but goodies dominate. The tune that claimed this year's No. 1 spot, "The Christmas Song" (a.k.a. "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), hails from the mid-1940's. Not far behind it are two songs - "Winter Wonderland" (No. 3) and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (No. 4) - that go back even further, to 1934. Other decades-old favorites in the Top 10 include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "White Christmas," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow!" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." The closest you'll come to something "contemporary" is a pair of songs from the 70's: José Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" and Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." The latter, at No. 22, barely made the cut - pretty shabby for a former Beatle. Why are we stuck in such a musical time warp? The answer may have less to do with our nostalgic leanings than the Ascap list implies. Plenty of new Christmas songs are written and recorded every year by established artists (this season, for example, has offerings by the country singer LeAnn Rimes, the roots-minded vocalist Chris Isaak and the modern-rock group Barenaked Ladies). But these tunes hardly ever work their way into the public ear through avenues like shopping-mall background music, soundtracks to television holiday specials or, perhaps most significantly, the playlists of the many radio stations that switch to an all-holiday format after Thanksgiving. Part of the problem is that the rules of the modern-day recording industry dictate that a song must indeed be "worked" - that is, positioned with stations - over weeks, if not months. The Christmas season doesn't afford such a generous allotment of time, so labels simply spare themselves the effort. But even if a label were to make the big push, it would still find itself catering to a small piece of the pie. That's because audiences these days are deeply divided by genre. When Bing Crosby sang Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" in 1942, he could be sure that his crooning would be heard all over the country. Billboard magazine, which began tracking popular songs in earnest in the 30's, didn't even introduce a separate country music chart until 1944. The trade journal now has more than 40 charts, covering everything from rock to rap, classical crossover to contemporary jazz. A similar transformation took place in radio, once a one-size-fits-all medium where the songs of the day were heard on "Your Hit Parade." Now, there are formats to fit every subgenre, from mainstream rock to modern adult contemporary. Plain-vanilla Top 40, once the chief vehicle for hit songs, is now the format for only 5 percent of the nation's 10,000-plus stations. All of which means that if Crosby recorded "White Christmas" in 2004, he might have to make a separate dance mix. That's not to say that a holiday song can't flop on its own merits. Even though he had a captive audience, Crosby couldn't make a stinker like "Christmas Dinner Country Style" (sample lyric: "Now sashay along that country ham/And double sashay the marshmallow yams") a major hit, and the country singer Kenny Chesney can't blame niche radio formats for the failure of a song like "All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan" ("We'll string some lights in a coconut tree/I'll rub some oil on you, and you can rub some on me") to become a Christmas classic. Nor do new songs that recycle the same snow-filled images until they're clichés deserve a second listen. But a moving song like Danny Dolinger's "Rudy," recorded by the Be Good Tanyas, should get a chance - and doesn't. The result is that we've lost something special: the holiday song as a national statement of faith and hope for our time. Nostalgia has its place, but a song like "White Christmas," steeped in the sentiment of the World War II era, is ultimately the song of a different America. Why not sing of ours instead? Charles Passy is an arts writer for The Palm Beach Post. ***************** This so called art writer totally misses the point. Why are certain songs timeless and constantly played and others don't catch on has nothing to do with the process that songs may have to go through today than the song itself. In other words, why is a standard a standard and why do people keep playing it. It's because in all the music ever recorded and all the riff raff that went with it, certain songs survived as classics. The tin pan alley music has survived because it is great music. That is also why Jose Feliciano's I Wish You a Merry Christmas music has survived. It's a great song. Christmas music is no exeception to the usual rules. I don't know who Danny Dolinger is but the name of the recording group, the Be Good Tanyas, probably says it all for me. And if you examine the words of White Christmas that song is in itself nostalgia for simpler Christmases. That's just the way it is around Christmas.

As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have drop some money on these. The price is just too good to pass up.

Here are some of my faves: Bebop - Don Byas and James Moody Laura - Don Byas Bill Coleman: From Boogie to Funk Mr. Blues pour Filter - Sonny Criss Saxophones a Saint-Germain des Pres La Dernier Message de Lester Young

Always glad Bertrand to do my part for jazz history

Whoevever it is, looks like he's playing in a real dive. I'm inclined to say somewhere down south just because it looks like a wood constructed building.

I don't think Bobby has to worry; the kid plays the xylophone. Bobby plays the vibes.

What are they and we can check.

I like the broadcasts. You can almost imagine that you're there at the Royal Roost, at the Hi Hat, at Carnegie Hall.

I'm not sure why you would say that since much of the book is recollections. Although it is possible that many of them are apocryphal. Anyway, this particular story was, according to Reisner, related to him by Don Byas.

Welcome Steve to the zoo!

I find it hard to believe that people would have underestimated what's in the Fantasy catalogue. There is incredible variety, more so in some ways than what's in the BN catalogue. Like Jim, I've always been buying the Prestige, Riversides, etc. and always tried to make sure to pick up the new ones that interested me. I think there has been a bias, however, towards BN, that the original sessions weren't as tight as a BN production (which I believe Chris A. has dispelled) or that the masterings on thecd reissues weren't that good or just not as good as BN. Maybe so, but that never stopped me on what I thought was great music. This thread has been beneficial in that it's pointed out some gems from the catalogue that I might have other missed.

Hey Don, have yourself a good one and here's to happy trading in the new year

If I'm not incorrect, most Verves from Japan carry the POCJ designation.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with Chris' post from early this morning (6:44). This conduct is shocking and disturbing but it doesn't make me love his music any less. Carrying a knife doesn't seem to be that unusual. In Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker by Robert Reisner, he relates a story about Don Byas and Charlie Parker in which Byas says that Bird is not showing him anything on his horn whereupon Bird invites him outside and pulls a knife and then Byas pulls out a bigger knife which from what I remember ended the whole thing with Bird saying something like he thought that Don Byas would have really cut him.

I can understand Dan being pissed and I don't disagree with anything he has said. I mentioned to a friend of mine at work who is a big fan like Dan that I wished Pedro had stayed with the Red Sox, nothing to do with the Mets, but all to do with the fans and the franchise. I think he should have finished his career with the Sox. He's going into the Hall with the Sox so why not stay there. People cite the money that he couldn't pass it up. Why , how much is enough, for chriss sake. The guy is revered in Boston. Onto the Mets, he's coming into a tough situation like Dan described. A rookie manager. Pedro is a lot to handle. They could have a decent pitching staff but their hitting is abominable. They need to get young and this is certainly not the way. Look, they're going to be bad for awhile so accept it and rebuild. Getting Sosa (god forbid) or Moises Alou is not the answer. The whole thing is a PR move. The Mets want to get the back pages of the Daily News and the Post back and this is certainly a way to do it. The Mets have thrown a lot of money in the wrong places in the last few years and this will probably be another example. Delgado would be another example of that also. This team was much better run before Wilpon got full control. They would have never gotten Piazza but for Doubleday insisting on it. And it's not like it's a poor team; they have money. They just make foolish decisions. In that respect you have to admire the Sox. They know how much they're going to give and if it goes over the line, they walk away. I was surprised by Pavano and disappointed but their pitching staff is not so hot either. He's only been a winner for the past year and a half so the jury is still out on him. Renteria is solid. Good pickup.

Nearly fell off my seat when I read this post but I guess we all change . I have none but how would SACDs sound on a regular cd player?

Jim, there's a few of these already at Abe Books.

Larry is right about that album. Speaking of which, if anyone has Larry's book (and who of here probably doesn't), you ought to check out the two pieces Larry has about Art Pepper. Required reading, IMHO.

That is a hell of a cover, for sure

Today is Barry Harris birthday, one of the top pianists in the post 50s era, keeping, as I've heard it said, the flame of bop alive. So let's wish him a great birthday today!

Man, these birthdays just keep on comin'. Happy birthday, Herr Couwenberg

Wow. That's a little pricey, isn't it. Wonder how they'll do.

I've taken Chuck's suggestion and asked for Blue Stompin' plus the Webster Young for Xmas. Really lookin' forward to that Hal Singer cd.