T.D.

Watching a video. Saw it live in a cinema (how long ago that seems!) upon release.

I've stuck with this old one, but I'm a big fan of de Leeuw, Bijlsma and Beths and don't listen to Messiaen recordings all that often. I've heard the Quatuor live several times, though. Really should purchase the EMI recording with Loriod, but haven't gotten around to it...

Ditto here. Loved Isoardi's other book (which included an excellent CD), but the e-mail indicates this volume has only 100 pages.

I purchased the JSP box Charlie Parker: A Studio Chronicle 1940-1948 some years ago. This has minimal track duplication and cost isn't high. I don't know if the provenance is entirely kosher (JSP certainly appears to be a PD reissue specialist). Can't comment on comparative sound quality, but it doesn't sound outright bad IMO. Also bought the complete live Savoy. Definitely a legitimate issue. Can't comment on comparative SQ; certainly it isn't audiophile, but I didn't have high sonic expecations.

I strongly remembered it that way, but it was so long ago that I Googled to check (granted that's not airtight). Found several book and newspaper citations, including one as part of David Johnson's Night Lights show. I listen mostly to earlier Miles and don't know when he dropped ballads from the rotation...

I also remember that quote, but I think it actually went: Miles: "You know why I don't play ballads any more?", etc.

Wow, you bought that box...When I heard there were albums with Lester Bowie, I briefly considered the set, but concluded it was more than I'd listen to. Glad you enjoy it.

I got the quote wrong. Here's an academic citation (!): In a 1986 PBS documentary on Miles Davis, the pianist Keith Jarrett said that Davis “would rather have a bad band playing terrible music than have a band that played what he played before.” But yeah, your comments pretty much apply.

I think track 10 is Ra, tune #9 here. That was the first Sun Ra album I ever purchased; Sound of Joy (track #9) was the second or third...But I recognized the original, not the '90s version...

One Jarrett quote from that show stuck with me (closest wording I can recall): Miles would rather be in a horrible band, playing terrible music, than do something he had already done before.

Track 9 sounds like '50s Sun Ra, will take a bit of time to identify....OK, track 1 here. Plenty of other interesting music, but I'm unlikely to identify any; most is not in my usual listening wheelhouse. Will revisit in more detail and hope for ideas. Thanks for posting the BFT.

No big deal, it's just that I recognized the piece when I clicked on your link. Was confused ("WTF did this come from?", "When did I see this") until I got to the "2018" way at the bottom.

Bloomberg is one of my main sources of online news. I read that story when it originally appeared there in 2018.

In those days I lived in Brooklyn, then suburban CT, was not yet majorly into jazz, and purchased mostly classical/opera recordings. Tower Lincoln Center had the best selection of classical, but Tower Greenwich Village had the sales Annex with lots of cutouts. I frequented both. There was also a surprisingly decent (but of course much smaller) Tower in Yonkers, southern end of Central Park Ave. (NY-100, big strip mall / retail thoroughfare). That was the heyday of brick/mortar CD shops (overexpansion, which was obvious even at the time); there were huge Borders, Barnes/Noble, Virgin and J&R (the latter lower Manhattan only) outlets all around.

Can only comment on Billy Harper...saw him live a couple of years ago. Couldn't believe that Billy was around 75 years old - he looked younger and in better shape than I did at 60 (and I stay in decent physical condition).

Yesterday:

I've long thought that someone should offer a box set (or download package) of all the old Arditti recordings on Disques Montaigne. Doesn't look like it'll ever happen. Some of them (e.g. Scelsi on Stradivarius) appear to have been re-issued on other labels.

Mini Cage fest, stuff I haven't listened to for ages: (The latter is Music for...: Quartets I-VIII and Music for Seventeen with SF Contemporary Music Players, from the old Newport Classics series)

I only recently acquired the box. Just spun the Bach disc and it is outstanding.

I grew up in the Chicago area, mid-60s through mid-70s. Don't remember much talk about Bill Veeck, but wouldn't be surprised. There were constant rumors that the Cubs stationed sign-stealers and signalers in the big old center field scoreboard (manual, requires people inside to hang plates). Not that it did them (or for that matter, the Veeck White Sox) much good... Fenway Park, with its similar left field scoreboard, was the subject of similar speculation. All that just seems quaint and dated in the technology age. BTW, here's an interesting article by Tom Verducci from Sports Illustrated (didn't think it still existed!) on the history of MLB sign stealing.

Manchester City banned from Champions League for two years, fined 30 million euros for financial violations

Saw this sad news on another forum. Dutch confirmation: https://nos.nl/artikel/2323034-dirigent-en-pianist-reinbert-de-leeuw-81-overleden.html I very recently watched a lot of Youtube video of RdL playing and conducting Ustvolskaya, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpWnwiKFi4

I'm neither a big OP fan nor a hater. The album is one of the few I own with Oscar as leader, and my choice for when I want to hear him solo.

It's cheating, but does require analytics. The catcher's signs are not always straight "1=fastball, 2=curve" etc., but are disguised in assorted ways and varied depending on situations. Observational/empirical work is required to develop sufficient certainty to signal the hitter what's coming. The analytical work has been easy to do for decades: broadcast TV has been showing catchers' signals forever, and clubs have been employing analysts with statistics training since the early "Moneyball" days. The statistical analysis required is not mega-sophisticated. Possible hindsight on my part, but I'd be shocked if the Astros were the first club to do all this. I've gotta believe that lots of analysts have been deciphering signs for at least 20 years. And once a team has the knowledge, it's pretty damn likely to get used...