T.D.

I'm not too far (1 hr drive) from Woodstock and have seen a lot of news coverage. There were originally two 50th anniversary events planned: one at Watkins Glen and the other at Bethel Woods (concert venue at site of original). In February, the Bethel Woods event got downsized and replaced with a few individual concerts. The Watkins Glen promoter claims the event may still happen, but his whole schtick seems dubious and doesn't hold water IMO (I sure wouldn't invest money with that dude). I'm shedding no tears and wouldn't have attended either one.

Don't own a recording of this (though I've seen it live), for no good reason. Considered Krips and Mackerras, decided on Krips due to the stellar cast.

+1 Many happy returns to the friendly guy who often comments on "what are you listening to?" posts!

Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society, Whispers from the Archive. Got this out of curiosity; I occasionally see Mr. Sultan around Woodstock, NY but had never heard any of his music.

Yes. I got the box for his LVB cycle, but the whole thing is excellent. Particularly fond of the Schumann.

The Lester Bowie albums (and Tribute to Lester).

Dipping into a mega-box (Lumières) I haven't revisited for a long time:

Frank Wright, Unity

Great price on Sun Ra -- The Eternal Myth Revealed, Vol. 1. (I was happy to buy it for significantly more.)

I'm not an academic, but was browsing in a bookstore a few years ago, saw Wolin's book Democracy Incorporated, and said "Damn, I gotta read that!" Unfortunately, his prose was too repetitious and clumsy for my taste. I should read Chris Hedges on the subject, because I liked his Death of the Liberal Class. My constant difficulty with such pundits is that I consider human behavior too random and diverse to fit neatly into their grand theories.

Well yeah, the text about "controllers" linked to in the original post had Gramsci (a big name in certain circles, esp. Marxist academia) written all over it. Various recent authors (e.g. Sheldon Wolin, whose book Democracy Incorporated I couldn't finish, and Chris Hedges, whose work I find easier to read) have discussed "inverted totalitarianism" and "corporate totalitarianism", which also seem related to the original post. I find all that stuff plausible on some levels, but shoehorning jazz into such frameworks feels a bit forced IMO.

Mine arrived yesterday. Agreed on sound, better than other Strata-East CD releases I've heard (apparently the original LPs didn't have great sonics). Musically, this is more straight-ahead than Tolliver's later work.

PM sent on Marion Brown -- Five Improvisations (B. Free) $10 Ted Daniel -- The Loft Years, Vol. 1 (Ujamaa) $10 Juma Sultan -- Whispers from the Archive (Porter) $5 Horace Tapscott -- The Giant is Awakened (International Phonograph) $15 Frank Wright -- Uhuru Na Umoja (America) $12

Posthumous, definitely the last in the Bernie Gunther series.

Thanks, highly relevant comment...I'm more than fine with "outside the box" but often feel that electronic material doesn't age so well (hence the fence ).

Any thoughts on the George Lewis box? I've been on the fence, but may take advantage of the current (see recent thread) sale.

I don't usually go for multiple versions of big opera/vocal works, but this looks interesting enough to make an exception. Somewhat controversial recording with one voice per part and fast tempi. I like one voice per part in Renaissance polyphony, and clips sounded good, so giving it a shot.

Agreed. I bought a couple of the listed boxes fairly recently and paid significantly more.