JSngry

Oh, I'd not rule out ANYBODY fucking this one up. The USPS has its issues, and although Das Gruf ends up making it right, they don't always GET it right. Usually, but not always. I'm on the side of the recipent of the merchandise, always. That's why they call me "Mr. Jim, The Working Man's Friend". They do. They really do. So, you know, don't use me as a weapon in somebody else's pissing match. I'm just here to advocate for We The Consumer.

I feel you pain, Dan, but unless you got a sworn statement from the person you spoke to that he/she was the very same personage who conducted said transfer, I'd say the odds are good that they gave you that information from looked at their records, which would reflect the date of label creation and/or recorded date of handoff to the carrier. Odds favor DG telling you correctly, but are in no way absolute. They fuck stuff up there too, as well, had it happen to me once or twice (which out of 50 Bajillion orders ain't bad). No trying to mitigate your fuquitousness about the situation, just encouraging you to spread it around to all possible parties. the more people who squirm, the better!

I got the Euro-Equivalent of the "pre-shipment" notice from the Jazz Messengers shop a few months ago and the thing didn't change status for a month. Contacted them, and they worked up a new shipment (at no charge) that arrived quite promptly and tracked accordingly. The a week or two later, the origianl order shows up, not having moved at all in tracking I compared order #s just to make sure). I wanted to give the items as gifts so I told the JM shop to charge my CC a second time, which they offered to NOT do, but I said hell, I got the shit and I'm going to use it, let me pay for it (take a hint there, Jordi...), and they did. All's well that ended well, and we might end up getting along fine, although that Jordi thing, still not feeling the warmfuzzies there. Dutty Battards, hell, I've been ordering from them for years. I've talked to them on the phone, I've3 called them on the phone and asked them to pull an item for me RIGHT NOW, I've even Skype-shopped their bargain basement through my daughter. The only disappointment I've had was the first time I thought I got an over-graded piece of vinyl, and that was then I learned the DG grading method - look for the "+", always, and expect the "+" to be applied to be applied more liberally the older/rarer the item is. I've had media mail orders take a loooongass time to get here, I think the longest might have been 4-5 weeks but they've all gotten here. We get along fine. The USPS, I've had some concerns with them recently, as I've seen new faces and erratic delivery times. But that seems to have stopped about a month ago. Calling the P.O. directly, I was told that they were experiencing a combination of employee turnover, reduced staffing, the same "do more with less" that everybody's up against these days, and to be truthful, it looks like they've begun to ficure out what works. I know they kicked ass over Christmas, and during our recent snow/ice, they held up a helluva lot better than I expected to be honest. Plus, I have never had an unpleasant experience when personally dealing with a USPS worker, either on the street or in the post office. We get along fine. Mistakes happen, and mistakes suck, and mistakes that affect you personally suck donkey dicks. I make mistakes myself,and those are the ones that suck most of all. But unless/until it becomes a sustained pattern, I have learned (more or less...) to live with the occasional suckage. I don't have statistics at hand, but locally, it looks like the USPS is looking to transition their delivery priorities towards packages over "paper". Given the decrease of paper mail and the increase in parcels due to online shopping, that's a smart move, I think. But considering how "bigger" packages are (in every way), so is the profile of an error when it happens. and it just takes one person having an off, not even day, but minute, literally, a minute - or less! Might not even be a person, might be a package slipping out of a stack in a truck or something, there are any number of variables when it comes to shipping packages, for shit to fuck up. One cat could ahve a 39:59 PERFECT work week, and all we on the other end see is that 1 minute where something did not go 100% right. So, let's look at how USPS defines the term "Pre-Shipment info sent to USPS": https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=9405503699300413599558 What I take that to mean is that when DG (or anybody) prints a shipping label with a tracking # on it, that info goes into the USPS system (Space Age Computer Technology!). After that...anything could happen. The store could get sloppy (somebody gets distracted, sits the package down for a while, somebody else picks it up, sets it down somewhere else, hell, who knows? Bomb threat and lunch delivered at the same time? Package don't stand a chance!), the individual carrier could get sloppy, the facility could get sloppy, hell nobody could get sloppy (aka "shit happens"), all that can be conclusively proven is that a shipping label with a tracking # was printed on Day X and was not scanned again until Day Z. What happens in between, you'd have to be there to see it yourself in order to know for sure. Also, if you're like me, you choose the Media Mail rate, and that means that when decisions have to be made as far as prioritizing handling, you don't get anywheres near put to the front of the line, if you know what I mean. Again, people being asked to do more with less, decisions do have to get made, and them that pays more, gets more.

I have the first MDS album, but not the second. For years, was turned off by the name and the album cover (the name sounded and the album cover looked like ersatz "world music") until one day I looked at who was actually on the record, did a recantatory "oh shit", and proceeded accordingly. My bad. Never knew of this second one, though. Gotta look for that, thanks. Aye Aton in the band here, it is said: I'm guessing that him KaT'etta were married and then weren't? Other than returning to to familial roots, returning to Oakland & Mississippi from the Chicago/Ra/AACM worlds seems like some kind of cosmicjusticepath or something, can't really find the words right now. But you know, there are times in life when you run into people, just very everday people on the surface, and next thing you know, you find out that they've been thre and done that before they ended up here and doing this, and it's a reminder that the paths of this music and these people, they are not limited to what occurs in the light, sometimes I think the shadows run even further and deeper. In a way, it's to be hoped for that they do, because otherwise, all you see is all there is to it. That's a lot, but that's finite, and I don't think that these music and its spirits are necessarily finite.

And looks like it too.

Am I crazy, or di the tenor turn into an alto at the 0:30 mark?

Antilles had a pretty sweet run there for a quick minute. I think Bartz might actually have had a deal with Atlantic, several albums came out.

Ok, I gather taht the record might be a letdown, and the Atons seem to be fringe (or maybe deeply "inner) presences on the local AACM at the time, but the night I heard KaT'etta with Malachai, she was strong, so...how did that work, that she got that gig and nailed it like that and then never heard from again and even today unknown to people? Was that her sole night of glory and I just happened to be there for it? If so, wow.

Sounds like truly free jazz. Outstanding if as portrayed, and absolutely no reason to think it wasn't. Any cell phone recordings about yet?

My opinion also, and by no small degree. Ancient Ritual was super-strong.

I guess using that TV as a radio would not be an option. Been there, more or less, one year. No heat other than the stovetop, draftyass windows, not much food, screen a bit bigger than 7", cold day, but hell the thing had some kind of picture and it DID make a sound. So I followed the game, It was Steelers vs Cowboys, good game, Cowboys lost, my Belgian drummer roommate didn't understand why I wasn't pulling for Dallas, I didn't try to explain, it was too cold. This other guy showed up with a can of Baldinger's Chopped Chicken Livers. He was from New York and thought that was the right thing to bring to a party. I don't really like liver, but that Baldinger's was not bad, I will admit.

So you got fooled. Run away while you can and don't look back.Be one of the lucky ones.

Found this too: http://sojiadebayo.bandcamp.com/ And these: http://sojiadebayo.webs.com/

All the cool kids are!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest_Records

Like AMG siad: " This is true, just as it's true that the sound of a "sub-par" bootleg is in no way the worst possible sound available once you get into the world of bootlegs. I can get how there are many who have no incentive to get into listening to that type of recording. Me, I took the plunge a while back, and really, once in, never completely out. If Olantunji sounds that awful to you, it might be because you've not heard enough things that sound worse to have an awareness of just how bad "bad" can get. You're probably thankful for that, and you probably should be. But just as your cross to bear in this life is having seen 37 itty-bitty Boston Babies eaten alive by feral hogs in an empty Ocala swimming pool, mine is to have listened to some of the godawfullest uglysounding live recordings of great musicever made. As with you, I've learned to go towards the light, and to wade through the darkness on my way to it. But that kind of thing leaves scars that never really heal. Surely you can relate. Sidenote - why would you ask me if had I listened to the Olantunji concert? Of course I have, and many times over.

Hey, it's coming up on a quarter-century now. About time for one of these rediscovery things.

Some background - in 1981, I had the blessing (for real) of being able to attend the Underground Jazz Festival in chicago for two nights. The first was the premier (supposedly!) of the Henry threadgill Sextet, the second was a Malachai Favors group with Vandy Harris (or Ari Brown, but I think Vandy Harris) and....I forget who all else, but defintely remeber this amazing singer named, I thought, K'atetta ATon. I mena, a force, a spirit, she was in there, right? So ever since, I've been asking so often. you ever heard of K'atetta Aton? or Whatever happened to K'Atetta Aton, and nobody knew. And some of the people I've asked, if THEY didn't knew, then...was it real, hearing her? Well, in wake of all the AACMBuzz, hell, one more time, hit the web, and finally, found her. Only it's not "K'atetta" it's KaT'etta, and she's on this record: which ok, I apologize for never even hearing rumors about this, but look at the lineup: http://www.popsike.com/INFINITE-SPIRIT-MUSIC-LP-HOLY-GRAIL-RARE-SPIRITUAL-AVANT-AFRO-JAZZ-NO-RESERVE/370553104740.html Mchaka Uba - Bass Aye Aton - Percussion KaT'etta Aton - Vocals Kahil El Zabar - Vocals, Conga Ibo - Conga Drums Light Henry Huff - Sax Soji Adebayo - Piano The only other names I immediately recognize are El'Zabar & Huff (and further digging shows that I have Mchaka Uba on a few other records), but this Aye Aton...was he brother or husband to KaT'etta? Or what? One thing else came to light, which many of you might already know, the Aye Aton/Sun Ra connection: http://www.corbettvsdempsey.com/2013/04/25/sun-ra-aye-aton-space-interiors-and-exteriors-1972/ And then this from 2013: http://www.studiomuseum.org/exhibition/ay-aton-space-time-continuum So, ok, one question answered, Kat'etta Aton = real person. But still, is she alive? If so, how's she up to? And if not, was she at least around enough to be known at least somewhat outside of the immediate circle? And of course, another whole new bag of worms - Aye Aton? What was the deal there, with all of that? and lastly - does anybody have, or at least heard, the Infinite Spirit Music record? At around $1000 a pop, the original is unthinkable, but it looks like Japans all has it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NUM8CCS/sr=8-1/qid=1426913958/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1426913958&sr=8-1legit or not, I doubt very much, but please forgive me KaT'etta, I still very much remember Malachi pulling his stings so far out it looked like he was going to use his bass to short an arrow while you sang "Resonator For The Creator". If you are still alive, I will send you a check personally. I'm trying to clear up space in my house, this is not the way to do it. I feel like freakin' Luther Ingram, dammit.

That's a matter of individual tolerance/expectaions/whatever. The first Bird I heard was an Everest LP of airshots, and at the time (age 15 or so), all i know was The Race For Amazing HifistereoquaroPHONIC sound, so that one was, uh....unexpected. But about the 3rd time through, it was ok and its only gotten better. Later, somewhat cleaner issues of the same material sounded funny to me, actually, I was straining to hear the noise, that's how much of a compensation mechanism I had developed! One of those things that is both inspiring and depressing. The future would hold some far rougher things than that...especially when a window to the "collector's circles" opened...Olantunji is pretty listenable to me, rough, but listenable, what IS there is discernable, and that's all I really ask out of things like that, I've revisited it more than once. About the only thing I do not want to revisit is The Bird You Never Heard Vol. 2. That one...brrrrr.....and grrrrr....Airshots in rough sound, ok. Airshots in rough sound that fade in and out due to long-distance radio reception issues, not so much.That one...brrrrr.....and grrrrr....Bird with Dizzy's big band, WhOA!!! just...when does the music begin and the indistinct roaring end? That IS the music? Prove it! And the one thing that is so rough you can't really visit it to begin with is that Joe Brazil jam with Trane & Joe, that thing. Sad. really. Too far gone. Let's hope there's a cleaner copy laying around in somebody's atticcloset/haybarn/wherever it is these things miraculously turn up. I don't think that even the andorrans have touched it yet, which should tell you that even they got SOME priciples. Otherwise, I'm at the point now where I do so much subconscious listening (within genres with which I'm pretty familiar), that "sound quality" is not nearly as much a consideration as is just can I hear the damn thing at all in the room I'm in. If I can, hey, we can take it from there if need be. I hope to someday be afforded the luxury of being able to do enough listening to records in isolation to where audio quality becomes a sway factor. Right now, within reasonable boundaries, I don't/can't really think about it, even when the time comes. I'm just happy when I can replace a decaying cassette with a Cd or an LP, even a blog-level MP3. That's how far out of this loop I am right now. But really, revisitng Olantunji is worth the effort, the music is there (enough), and it is strong (the bite of the lo-fi actually intensifies Pharoah, I think, which in its own weird way speaks more to the impact of hearing this guy right in your face like you probably did at the gig than would a cleaner source, Pharoah at this stage was definitely an in your face player with a message to match). This I do believe. As for the Ornette box, I kinda took a hit in the wallet to get it when it was out the first time, money was tight then, real tight. However, I have had no regrets at all since, if living well is its own reward, then owning this set must be a form of living well.

Cassettes, hell, LPs! WHOLE LPs, both sides with music, not the bargain jobs like they'd import from god knows where that only had half-grooves on one side, or all the grooves on the other. No sir, REAL records! I think it was between 1984-86 when the big ECM LP dump hit the stores here, definitely before our son was born, but after we had moved back to Dallas. I know I had the free time to drive around all day looking in the cutout bins at all 492.091 record stores in the greater DFW area armed only with a tank of gas and about $30 cash, and it usually being enough.That would have been in that window. Hell, even the sorryass "Record Town" mall stores in the mall, you know, the ones that were about as wide as an Italian alley and had ALL (i.e. JUST) the hits, they'd have a dinky little half-din cutout rack full of ECM LPs. It was one of those rare unambiguous Carpe-Diem moments in record buying history. I was buying shit I didn't even want to hear just because it was so cheap, you know, well, I MIGHT like it after all...

Got Light On The Path back in the day. Had to get it, one ot those records. Did not know about those (that?) particular 8 Bold Souls records, though, only have the two Sessoms and Birth Of A Notion (an amazing record in so many ways). Will look for those, believe it.

Doing the charts for that last Mingus Atlantic date, the one where he (Mingus) is in the wheelchair for the whole thing, that must have been a truly thankless job.

Oh shit I forgot all about Betty Carter on Verve, that was major.

Not a lot of people today remember early bop popularizer Theminous Gong, but in his time he was more popular than Jesus.

Claude Lakey The Laker Girls Pussy Riot