T.D.

Carmell Jones Select.

Discussion on Audiogon forum [Added] Might as well file a claim with your credit card company. If I was still in the securities trading industry, I'd have written any Nimbus obligations down to near zero by this point.

RIP. More sad news to open 2025 (2024 was a tough year).

I'm inclined to agree re. Matt. Trouble is (and I know from some personal experience and that of acquaintances), seemingly good people can get in over their heads (especially if they lack business acumen), and losses can mushroom, leading to perplexing behavior. Definitely should wait and see (is there any choice?). But if the business has really cratered, in particular if the owner has had to "lawyer up", it could be grim.

Dang. Real bummer. I bought the first couple of releases in the series, but own so many Nimbus and Tapscott recordings that I stopped there. Does anyone have a contact at Dusty Groove? They might have some inside "industry" info on the label.

No doubt, both winners and I'm a fan of the Suske (own their Mozart). Like what I've heard from Takacs (which is pricey) and ABQ as well. I seriously considered the recent Quatuor Ébène set, as performances greatly impressed me on computer audio. But the CDs were audio engineered with really blatant "brickwalling" which turned me off (despite not being an audiophile). 👎

My recommendations are not worth much, as I'm cheap and don't often go for multiple recordings of the same work. I have the aforementioned Vegh and the 1951-1952 Budapest on UA. Both are excellent and I enjoy their "old-fashioned" style, so I stopped there. A while back I bought the Quatuor Stanislas on Forgotten Recordings, on a whim because I liked the project and am a Francophile when it comes to classical performance. It's pretty good but I can't recommend it over the usual suspects. I'm getting old and have more than enough CDs, so not likely to add more. If so, being old-fashioned I'd probably go for the old Hungarian Q set, which got a really inexpensive reissue a few years ago.

I bought this [Vegh complete Beethoven / Valois] back in the '90s. I don't think it was ever cheap in the US (Auvidis has always been a pricey European import), but at the time the price was "in the pack" with alternatives. I was a new collector and bought based on the Penguin Guide, which I haven't looked at in decades. 🤪 The performances are good indeed, but the sound quality might not satisfy audiophiles (though it's fine to me) and Sandor Vegh does not have perfect intonation. I think the OP would enjoy hearing this set, but by now there's so much competition that it's difficult to justify paying a lot. There are some moderately priced (Euros) Valois sets on discogs if you're willing to forego the slipcase. Is it streamable? I see complete Vegh sets on both Spotify and Youtube, but am not certain they're from the original Valois releases. [ISTR there was another, less highly regarded Vegh set, but could be wrong.]

First 4 discs. Probably the rest tonight or tomorrow.

If Bird is in good form, the Rockland Palace recordings could be recommendable. Depending on sound quality, which I don't know. I defer to Jim, who says it's not pitch-corrected, and would pass. If you look on discogs for "Rockland Palace" releases, there are some later ones (possibly CD rather than vinyl) that claim to be pitch-corrected. The Roost is on my 4-CD Savoy live set, so I'll put a pitch-corrected Rockland Palace on the wish list.

Pretty sure the first LP (Royal Roost) has been released on Savoy (per Jim), which is how I have that material. Other 2 LPs (Rockland Palace) I think are boots of live "with strings" sets which have been released at least a couple of times elsewhere. Live at Rockland Palace - Wikipedia I'm not really interested in this material (lots of other unheard Bird ahead of it on the priority list) so can't comment further.

Needed a holiday Sun Ra fix, so Art Yard in a Box.

Off-topic, but I saw bassist Brandon Lopez (with Steve Baczkowski) at the last 2024 show Clifford Allen curated in Kingston and he just killed it. Going to have to see what he's released on bandcamp.

Lot of Bobby Jaspar on the J J set, too. I wasn't referring to aesthetic merit (whatever that is), but to the fact that J J seems to trade for rather low prices (e.g. discogs). Now on Farmer/Golson

+1 on the Shipp, though I haven't heard many of his recordings and can't make comparisons. He often collaborates with Michael Bisio, who is semi-local, so I've heard him live a few times. Sadly, not sure I've heard sufficient 2024 releases to compile a list.

This is a not-so-popular Mosaic, but I've listened to the whole thing twice fairly recently and it's really grown on me.

Bought this ages ago. Don't pull it off the shelf much (or listen to a lot of ECM), but it's a good album.

RIP. Sad news but thanks and a full life. Been a tough year this way.

Mine too

A good one.

Dang, I own #6...Was suspecting the bassist. I dig this [title] track a lot, but I don't think about the album so much because there are some "with strings" selections I enjoy less. Have heard #11 on radio way way back, but had forgotten and didn't recognize it. Gotta stop peeking at the thread, as it spoils my feeble guessing attempts. 🤣

Having fun so far. Somewhat up and down on #s 1-3, will say more later. #4 is a big winner, Jim (I peeked at the thread) has pretty much wrapped up commentary. #5 I recognize. It's a band I know John is fond of. I thought the instrumental line sounded a lot like Jethro Tull (I don't listen to much rock any more 😕 ), but the vocals gave it away. Spoiler-free Youtube link here.

Japanese reissues: Latter is a shot in the dark: Kazumi Odagiri on Aketa's Disk