T.D.

#3 is a tune I strongly associate with Rahsaan, though (a) it's surely not him on this selection; (b) I can't recall the name of the piece, or the recording I (possibly wrongly) have in mind. 🥴

DG is showing a significant batch of Ogun CD reissues expected May 1. They all seem to be available on bandcamp (download or CD), but CDs ship from UK (orders denominated in quid) with high rates to USA. DG seems like the way to go for Stateside CD buyers.

Based on a preliminary quick scan conducted at work, this BFT will be most enjoyable!

Thanks again! Lot to assimilate and further explore here. The 2 Japanese pieces #7 and #13 were nearly my favorites of the BFT (I'm not capable of full ranking), but Japanese IDs didn't occur to me despite familiarity with Itabashi, Nakamura, and of course Togashi. Obligatory forehead slaps upon reveal. Mara Rosenbloom a definite discovery! Also #8 incl. Franco d'Andrea (I'm a pianophile): I'd listened to a bit of his trio work recently in response to a Dusty Groove blurb (iirc). Will have to look for more Marzette Watts (#9). Indeed kicking myself re. #10...no wonder I liked the pianist! 😆Could/should have had more of a clue on the Lindberg, Wilen and Thelin, but I wasn't expecting to guess much of the BFT and had mentally turned off guess mode. Going to listen to the selections again. Will knowing the performers alter the listening assessment? Probably to some extent. 🤔

Couple of favorites.

Got to the final 3 tracks: 11: I like this quieter selection. Not sure it'd wind up in the purchase column, but I'd like to hear more from the group. Obviously vinyl sourced (some surface noise), but overall sound quality very good. 12: As one of the freer selections, this is the kind of thing I'd expect to like, but it didn't hit on all cylinders. Drummer definitely the high point. Sax-trombone dialogue occasionally got really repetitive and annoying, but then would rally and redeem itself with some nice passages, overall highly uneven. When the piano kicked in with a long passage near the end I thought "Damn, wish there'd been more piano", but then I didn't love the way he (she? though I doubt it) played. [That said, the pianist will likely turn out to be someone I'm a fan of! 😁] Would listen to some more, but not a hit of the BFT. 13: One of my favorites of the BFT! Can't hazard any guesses, though the saxist sounds vaguely familar. Not a big guitar listener, but liked the playing. Thanks for the effort, enjoyed the listening. Drumming the overall highlight for me. Slightly surprising that I overall liked the hard-boppish tunes a little more than the freer ones. OTOH I only made two passes through the BFT and would not write off the performers of any selections. Looking forward to reveals.

Very local (piano) concert series at a small public library (Marilyn Crispell will be the May feature): Daria Podorozhnova & Terri Ji with Inesa Sinkevych E. Fabregas "Lament" from suite Portraits I (2000) J. Brahms Sonata No.2 in F sharp minor, Op.2 25 min Intermission Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 by Franz Liszt Debussy Ondine from Preludes, Book II Frederic Chopin Two Mazurkas, Op. 50 I. Vivace II Allegretto

Congratulations echoed! Will be there.

Thanks. I used to attend concerts by the (slightly unfortunately named) "S.E.M. Ensemble" when I lived near NYC. Fell out of touch and had been wondering what they're up to these days.

Received this a few days ago. Very nice package, though the booklet has tiny print and the text is difficult to read. Enjoying it a lot. The tracks are all complete AFAICT, and the sound quality is better than expected, indicating that remastering must have occurred on some level.

Lon always prices CDs extremely fairly. My Dead fanship ended in the early '80s so I haven't checked prices on these, but it's safe to assume they're on the cheap side.

At least the photo shown on the product box doesn't have ice cubes. 😁 Maybe the staff at the advertising agency didn't drink the stuff and assumed wrongly about ice cubes. Or more likely, they just figured the photo would look better with them included.

Yes, I'm disappointed there's no streaming. No streaming last year either, iirc. I'd pay for it.

I thought the glass in the center of the pic had ice cubes in it... But that's the versatility of the Blue Note stones: one could warm them in the oven and then add them to brandy.

Trying to imagine that pic with some Blue Note whiskey stones in the glass...😁

Long Play 2025 – Bang on a Can Not as heavily jazz/improv as last year's but still some notable names: Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton (Composition #19 for 100 Tubas !?), Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids, Mary Halvorsen/Bill Frisell, Tomeka Reid Quartet, ... In classical, there's a Gérard Grisey piece (!), Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, a Terry Riley 90th birthday celebration, programs of music by Catherine Lamb, Xenakis, Christian Wolff, ...

They've gotta work just as well for non-alcoholic drinks. Personally, I don't drink soda and don't care if iced tea or lemonade gets diluted. Back to the original topic, I always got the impression that big-time whisky (single malt variety) snobs frowned on using ice cubes. Maybe that's a promising application for these stones.

Stopped drinking alcohol many years ago, so couldn't care less. Apparently the stones are substitutes for ice cubes. Keep them in the freezer, then when added to drinks they won't dilute the booze (like melting ice cubes) as they warm.

Thanks. I don't mind CD-R if the price is right. Not concerned with audio quality (I doubt it differs much from CDs, and if so I likely couldn't perceive it). But in my experience CD-Rs have a nonzero probability (noticeably greater than CDs) of eventually failing to play.

John, is your Waldron/Peacock a CD? The Deep Discount listing says "manufactured on demand", which suggests CD-R and scared me off.

The Bastards were showing a CD on their site but it "Just Sold Out!" https://www.dustygroove.com/item/206504/Michael-Gregory-Jackson:Frequency-Equilibrium-Koan

I noticed this a couple of weeks ago, listened to the available track on bandcamp/youtube. Interesting, but was not sufficiently impressed to buy. I have been cutting down on purchases lately, and probably would have pulled the trigger 6-12 months ago FWIW.

Thanks, enjoyed that. I use AdBlock and saw nary a popup.

Never heard of her, though the John Cage context is the only one I'd have been aware of. Googled and hits are sparse, with many of the NY-related ones seemingly posted by the above-mentioned ex.