T.D.

Can't comment on Witten's announcing (never heard it), but definitely a damn good TE. At age 36 and with a history of injuries (iirc), I'm not optimistic about his future on-field success. But also to Witten's credit, he's played through a number of injuries that would have sidelined many; several of his exploits in that regard amazed me.

Thanks, John. BTW, I (only recently) picked up the Andrew Cyrille box which you recommended above, and it's fantastic.

Any opinions on the Mal Waldron Volume 2 (11 CD) box? I loved Volume 1, am considering Vol. 2 but am always wary of such large boxes. Four of the discs are essential (6 Monk's Compositions, the solo album and the 2 Lacy duets), and I'm sure I'd enjoy the trio album ("Colline"). The 2 discs with Chico Freeman and Enrico Rava respectively seem at least interesting, but I'd probably never listen to the 2 vocal albums (Kim Parker, Judi Silvano), and the 2 discs with David Friesen are complete question marks.

Just got this, will listen to all discs in order.

This somewhat earlier one is also a favorite:

I really enjoy Al Haig's "later" vintage recordings.

In a surprise move, Johnny Manziel released by CFL's Montreal Alouettes, CFL doesn't want him on any team.

Thanks for posting that link, John. I played a lot of rec league hockey in Westchester County in the '90s. Had to wonder if I ever encountered IG's team, but no. I never played in Manhattan (where his team's leagues were located), and I surely would have remembered those jerseys and team name.

!!! I'm almost completely out of touch with popular culture, but today heard a tune on the radio while driving around that really impressed me. St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Got it Bad Soul band of nerdy-looking mostly white guys from Birmingham. Pretty funky IMO. Apparently they're fairly big and have even been on network TV a few times...but I never heard of them before (don't have TV).

Agreed. And the e-mail/website info I've read is really sloppy. For instance, the recent preorder e-mail said it's a 7-CD set, but everything else says 8 CDs.

I read a review of The Man Without Qualities that piqued my interest, flipped through a used copy of Vol. 1 at a bookshop, but the novel's length scared me off.

This had been on the wish list for a while, price has fallen and there was a $5 eBay coupon. I like weird microtonal string music. Had this in cart @ Berkshire but it went out of stock. Broke down and bought from Amazon. I know there's a more recent set (played by Haba Quartet), but that's considerably more expensive.

!!! I have the (relatively) recent 3-cd "Complete Varese" cond. by Chailly (plus a few recordings of scattered individual pieces).

I only have about 3 of the individual CDs, but that's because I listen to the earlier work more often. Still likely to preorder - I just have to consider how often I'll listen to albums like A Caddy for Daddy, and also do an "arbitrage calculation" of how much it'd cost to amass the constituent CDs I lack. The "remastering" hype doesn't grab me.

Seeing these posts compelled me to spin discs 4-6 (the later quartets).

Tape loop / electroacoustic / sampling. Don't know what to call it, but it all works well.

I received the e-mail "Mosaic Jazz Gazette" today for the first time in some weeks, and the upcoming Mobley wasn't mentioned. Strange. Looks like Mosaic's confident enough to press 2,500, no preorder survey required. I'll most likely go for this although, objectively, a lot should depend on the (as yet unknown) quality of remastering.

Oddly, this disc concludes with Monk's Ruby My Dear.