T.D.

The Mickey Haller books are also good.

Years ago, Kyle Gann's website gave links to some interesting modern/postmodern classical stations , but they all seem to have gone off the air.

Discs 4 and 5, maybe more later. Got this after seeing a post by Jim S. I like it! Practically a quintessential "Brooklyn Academy of Music" piece.

Another old-school manager, Dallas Green, is often blamed for blowing out the arms of 3 talented young Met starters (Wilson, Pulsipher, Isringhausen) back in the '90s...

I once worked with a guy who pitched in the minor leagues (Seattle Mariners system) until his elbow blew out. He had seen Greg Maddux pitch up close and had some interesting comments. He said that Maddux threw a "live" ball with a lot of motion and that his pitches moved exceptionally late, when the ball was right on top of the hitter. He thought those factors (in addition to control and changing speeds) made Maddux so hard to hit.

Dunno, but in recent years there have been concomitant explosions of pitchers throwing 95+ mph and pitchers requiring elbow reconstruction surgery. I recall seeing articles (unfortunately forget citations) arguing that throwing 100 mph stresses the arm right to the brink of falling apart. Putting these things together with the gearheads' findings that opponents' batting averages increase on the third trip through the lineup, I expect pitch limits to continue. Or maybe "2 tours of the lineup" limits.

Another One for my "desert island"

Maybe a knuckleballer. But I can't think of many, and recently the closest would be R. A. Dickey in 2012 (Cy Young winner), 5 complete games and 233 IP.

Wow! Thanks for the update. I bought the aforementioned piano trio from Bandcamp last year. Will almost certainly go for this one, as I only have Volume I (Evidence CD), tracks 1-8 of 22.

Philidor the chessplayer ("pawns are the soul of chess")! I've always been curious about his music, but never got around to listening...

Discs 1 and 2, maybe more later.

Thanks. The visual thing is intrinsic to all opera, which is perhaps why I listen to opera recordings much less than I used to. Used copies are going for a song on Amazon, so I may give it a try. Funny, I was thinking "this piece has BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) written all over it!", googled, and found that it indeed premiered at BAM's Majestic Theater. Video excerpt:

How do you like that [Arjuna's Dilemma]? Looks interesting, and clips sound pretty good, but sometimes "Bang-on-a-Can" type stuff (to make an unfair generalization) can wear on me.

Thanks...No, I didn't know all that...I took a cursory look at the box on Amazon, put it on the wish list, but got discouraged by the Amazon comments. The classical label mergers have gotten me all confused; I thought it was plausible that Sony Classical could be under the Warner umbrella by now!

That's a nice set! Only minor quibble is that it doesn't include the full contents of Aimard's awesome "Ligeti Edition Vol. 3, Works for Piano" disc.

Probably. Somewhere in the '78-81 time frame, I think very late '70s more likely.

I think Eddie Condon's was, too, but they may have been on 54th St. by then! I dimly remember going to both Ryan's and Condon's (at least one for sure ); they were practically next door to each other iirc. I definitely recall Max Kaminsky hawking his LPs at the back of one of the clubs. As a NYC tourist in the late '70s-early '80s, I might have been naive, but regarded the 54th St. survivors as the last of "52nd St.". I believe "52nd St. loosely interpreted" ended for good when a big new building went up in 1983 (?) and the (brownstone) bldgs housing the remaining clubs on 54th were demolished (as happened on 52nd in 1962, see Wiki citation below). [Added] Condon's opens @ 144 W 54 in 1975 1976 article on Ryan's, which moved to 154 W 54 in 1963. According to Wikipedia, "52nd St." proper seems to have ended in 1962, though I'm never 100% sure of Wiki assertions.

If you go the Berkshire route, I recommend avoiding the Joanna MacGregor recording. Back when I more actively explored modern classical music, I purchased several of her recordings (other composers, granted) and disliked them all...

I bought the Austbo when it was a newish release. Found it good enough to not pursue alternatives, but I'm not a Messiaen enthusiast (20 Regards... and Quartet for the End of Time are my favorite pieces of his, fwiw). Serkin's recording seems well-regarded and is probably very good. If I was to explore alternatives (not likely at present), I'd want to hear Loriod on Erato (for historical reasons) and Aimard on Teldec (I trust him in modern repertory). Steven Osborne on Hyperion got some excellent reviews, but I don't know enough about him to comment.

Liked their recording of #s 6,7 and 8 (OK, could have done without the short vocal addendum, but it was in memoriam Salvatore Martirano). Enjoyed the music, and the performances are (as far as I can ascertain) excellent, so decided to complete the set. Won't receive these for a while, as I ordered from European Amazon resellers.