T.D.

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.

In my experience, not all media mail shippers bother to provide tracking numbers.

Me too. Tracking's the least they could do given the $6 fee to ship a single disc media mail. (Yes, I know Mosaic is set up for box sets, not singles. But my experience with the bozos to whom they've outsourced shipping has not been pleasant.)

My CD version arrived yesterday (from eBay seller). Definite .

CD reissue.

I received the following odd notice today: "Mosaic Records Shipping Notification TOTAL ORDER SHIPPED The following items have been forwarded to our warehouse for shipment. Thank you for very much your support! You will receive a notice with tracking # when the warehouse ships. If you ordered via the website, this order # is not the same as your web order #.... These two numbers are different but refer to the same order." So it's both shipped and not yet shipped.

I'm on PC and use Google Chrome browser. The "site information" button at the upper left of the browser, next to the URL field, has always shown "Not secure". I don't know for sure, but doubt it's a problem because none of my antivirus software has ever objected. According to Chrome online help, "Not secure" means: The site isn't using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site. On some sites, you can visit a more secure version of the page: Select the address bar. Delete http://, and enter https:// instead. If that doesn't work, contact the site owner to ask that they secure the site and your data with HTTPS. I just tried the https:// fix and it didn't work. Not going to bother Jim with the request.

I bit the bullet and signed up for Facebook (using a fake name) in order to avoid that problem. New series coming up on NoBusiness Records. Good news! Also see NoBusiness Facebook page.

It ain't just the critic or the audience, it can be the hall itself! Anecdote: right around the turn of the century (the late) Michael Gielen, a big advocate of contemporary music, conducted a German orchestra in a couple of adventurous programs at Carnegie Hall. One was B. A. Zimmermann's Requiem for a Young Poet (very much out there), the other included music by Maurico Kagel and Gyorgy Kurtag plus Beethoven's Eroica Symphony (fairly out there with a sop to tradition). In line to buy a ticket, I overheard a conversation between a customer and a box office employee. The ticket seller behind the counter said, referring to the Beethoven/Kagel/Kurtag program: "You probably won't be interested in this German dud..."

I don't think that behavior is uncommon among subscription symphony ticket buyers (a musically conservative lot). In my experience, NY Philharmonic audiences (notoriously conservative) would have done exactly the same thing, and even at Carnegie Hall there would have been significant intermission departures. The sequencing and strategic placement of the intermission suggests that the Dallas Symphony knew full well what would happen.

Thanks for the heads up. Have and enjoy the original, good chance I'll pick up the reissue.