Brad

John, from a practical point of view, did your company go over benefits with you such as pension or 401K and medical. Have you registered for Medicare Part B? That’s the first thing I had to do upon retirement. I assume you have a financial advisor.

Except a pair of pears.

I retired in 2017 but although it wasn’t involuntary it wasn’t completely voluntary either. I had been with the same company for 37 years and it wasn’t advantageous financially to keep working. In fact, it would have detrimental to not retire. It was a rush rush decision so I didn’t have time to accustom myself to it. One day I was working, the next day I wasn’t so I probably have an idea what you’re feeling. I suggest consulting. I did that for about two years until the company I was working with had a disagreement about costs and expenses so that was it. I opted for retirement and am now on inactive status as an attorney. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the action. However, I’ve gotten a bit lazy so I don’t think I’d want to seriously work again. Somehow time goes fast and you’ll find yourself wondering where the day went. I try to set myself a regular schedule: get up at a decent time and go to the gym a few times a week. I think getting into some sort of schedule is important. Even during the pandemic, the first thing I’d do is go walking in the morning (even when it was cold outside).

Sarcasm I suppose.

That’s for in store purchases only. Not necessarily. There will be 1,800 for sale of each of the LP and CDs in stores. DG essentially says that what doesn’t sell on Saturday will be available for online sales. See https://www.dustygroove.com/search.php?sf=bird+in+la This is the practice my record store follows after the first few hours of RSD. Both Amazon and Import CDs have the Japanese cd version listed so perhaps it’s offered this way to other customers, just as the Resonance Bill Evans CDs are offered after RSD. The Import CDs price is considerably cheaper than Amazon, $37 vs $60.

Yes, it has been discussed. See

Not currently but I remember when Uptown came out with its exquisitely researched Charles Mingus album, a copy from Europe (the Andorreans I believe) showed up in due course. I remember Chuck commenting on this.

Mosaic sent the following email today. **** When Charlie Lourie and I started Mosaic Records in 1982, we believed that we had stumbled upon the winning formula to realize dreams and pay the rent. One little sentence in our eight-page proposal to restart Blue Note Records through Capitol Records gave us a new avenue to pursue: Definitive and complete boxed sets of great jazz artists at their peak with newly improved sound and booklets containing thorough discographies and research, great essays and vintage photography. We lost Charlie on December 31, 2000, but have carried on in the spirit and style that he created for Mosaic Records. 39 years after inception, we are still at it, creating the kind of deluxe boxed sets that we’ve been known for. The configuration changed from LP to LP & CD to CD only. Marketing has drastically evolved from post cards and small ads to ever-growing brochures to our websites, But we’ll never stop identifying and creating definitive boxed sets. Music on physical formats has slowed down steadily since the late ‘90s and in order to sustain existence in this shrinking world, we have created a new hybrid website. It will feature current and new Mosaic titles and our shopping cart, but it will be rich in content that celebrates the musical world that we all love. We will draw upon the immense amount of material that we have developed over the last 39 years as well as other videos, audio tracks, books, essays, interviews, articles and reviews that are available. We will also present work from great jazz writers such as the late Bob Belden, Bob Blumenthal, Dan Morgenstern , Terry Teachout, Gary Giddins, Ricky Riccardi, and Scott Yanow. Our goal is to build a compelling jazz site that will continue far into the future This new site will require funds and many hours of labor. In order to remain a functioning business, Mosaic Records will be seeking out advertising revenue as traffic to the site builds. We hope you’ll enjoy exploring what we have to offer. - Michael Cuscuna

When I look at the Clifford Brown box on Discogs, it says that Enlightenment is the manufacturer, which is owned by some label called Chrome Dreams, for which not much info is available. Perhaps Universal Canada is just the distributor. On Amazon US it shows Enlightenment as the manufacturer so perhaps the reference to Universal is just an error.

I agree. I really liked the old Gazette format because they presented articles from a bunch of different publications and sources.

Looks like the old Jazz Gazette format has gone by the boards.

It’s only for 10% of the company. It’s also not clear the transaction will be consummated.

The transaction is only for 10% of Universal. When Vivendi (80% owner of Universal) takes Universal public, which it was planning to do, Aikman’s SPAC would own 10% of the publicly registered company.

Well, I’ve always wanted to visit.

Why can’t I be at parties like that?

Probably because they were in the process of giving the website a whole new look.

The RIAA doesn’t break it down by genre.

Based on recent statistics, that’s not necessarily true. See Vinyl records outsell CDs in US for first time since 1980s and US MUSIC FANS SPENT MORE ON VINYL THAN CD LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1986 (That is the way the last article appeared. No shouting intended)

This follows on their issuance of Lush Life, similarly limited.

You should have seen the goings on with Yusuf Lateef’s Eastern Sounds which was released by Craft in April as a one step and limited to 1,000 copies. When Craft opened it for purchase it was gone in two minutes. Copies are now selling on eBay in the $300-400 range. Craft has promised to increase the quantities on future one steps.

The Japanese postal authorities have announced they are resuming EMS (Express Mail Shipping) to the US. I received the following email from CD Japan. ***** Japan Post announced to resume shipping with EMS for the U.S.from June 1, 2021. Due to rising transportation costs, Japan Post will introduce additional fees for EMS addressed to the U.S. effective of June 1. These additional shipping fees will take effect with CDJapan's shipping fees as well. Note that a large increase in EMS items are expected immediately upon resuming its service and delivery may be subject to delays for the time being. Following this update, these additional EMS fees will also apply to packages addressed to Zone 2. [Zone 2] North America Oceania Europe Central America Middle East See here for Japan Post's Announcement https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2021/0513_01_en.html

Sam is a one person company, Fred Thomas. As stated in his website it’s a non-profit company. From his website: “This non-profit label is devoted to reissuing jazz records recorded and produced in France during the 50’s and 60’s.” Several of his recent re-issuances are repressing of records that have gone out of stock so he’s not reissuing a lot. His re-issuances seem more like a labor of love. Making money is obviously not his objective. About Sam Records