DrJ

Morganized - I may not have been clear enough here, hopefully I haven't offended you. Actually, if you'll note I started my post with the clear phrase "Nothing personal..." precisely because my words were not directed specifically at you. Rather, I felt you were bringing up a topic that has been discussed here before, often by people who have an axe to grind with the whole RVG series. I didn't think you were doing that. I guess I feel a bit differently than you do - you feel that people often presuppose the RVGs are superior. In my view there are many more people around here who seem eager to slam the US RVG series (particularly the TOCJ crowd), more than those who defend it. Really though I personally don't care - people should listen to what they want to, regardless of series. I just rankle when in the past folks have tried to claim the only thing added by the RVG's is loudness. Again, my tin ear comment was meant in that vein, NOT directed at you personally. It was also mostly in jest, although I could see how people might take offense. I do believe though that some people are much more capable of hearing subtle things in audio than others, and sometimes those who can't nay say the abilities of others. Anyway, so sorry if my post came off as being directed at you or overly harsh - no harm or foul, I hope! I enjoy your posts.

Nothin' personal, Morganized, but I personally feel it's time to put to rest this canard about the RVG's just having "the recording level set higher." Correct me if I'm wrong but this issue of playback volume would make ZERO difference in sonics even to the audio challenged. Basically, you compensate by adjusting your volume knob - if the CD is louder, you automatically turn it down, if it's quiet, you turn it up. At least that's what I do...try it some time and once you have your old copy and your RVG both adjusted to comparable volume levels, THEN do your A/B test. It's really that simple. If you do that and still can't hear any difference then I'm thinking either your system is pretty bad, or there's tin ears at play, or both. Notice I didn't say "if you don't hear the RVG as better..." because I realize it's a personal taste thing and not everyone likes the sound of the RVGs. But they are most assuredly different in their sonic thumbprint, WAY beyond just "being louder." I find it odd that with so many people who obviously know their audio on the board this ridiculous piece of folklore keeps coming up, like Blue Note and Rudy are trying to slip one by all of us. Don't think so.

If the RVG was remastered from vinyl - and the sonic characteristics still have me suspicious it may have been - they did a fantastic job removing surface noise of any kind. Some was audible on the old U.S. version which I've now sold back, but I don't hear anything of the sort yet on the RVG. That said, I haven't had a chance to do a listen on my own system at home. FWIW, the RVG also sounds better in other ways - more fullbodied, better bass, etc. Nice job.

I have the Lateef on vinyl and it's a killer - really wonderful album, happy to upgrade soon as my LP has some surface noise. All the Lateef Impulse! dates NEED to be on CD - and as I've been saying for years would have made a great Mosaic box.

Yes, agree that the "random play" functions on some CD players suck. On mine I've noticed that the pattern it follows depends on which disc you start with - e.g. if you start with disc 2 it'll go through one (predictable) sequence, with disc 3 another, etc. So not even CLOSE to "random" and there are some sequences where certain discs get ignored for 5-6-7 or even more selections. Annoying and hard to understand - how hard could it be to put in a random number generation program? Anyway, with that frustration in mind - I actually DO use random play quite often. My favorite thing to do is put discs in there that either I haven't played all the way through yet, or haven't really explored in enough detail, and just let it go. I've found or rediscovered some of my favorite cuts doing this - stuff I have just overlooked for some reason. Good when you're working too, to play continuously for hours in the background.

DON'T GO THERE GARTH - there's a special place in hell for those of us who have become, almost against our will, "sonic upgraders." (But having said that, U.S. RVG's RULE!)

As I said, Stefan, agreed - still, little harm in trying as long as hopes don't get too high.

I agree Corea is a remarkably gifted pianist. He has perhaps the most distinctive "touch" of any living jazz pianist, except maybe for McCoy Tyner. I generally have problems identifying piano players "blindfolded" but can pick out Corea in a heartbeat.

Fortunately, due to the great kindness of another board member who was by coincidence looking to sell, I have now got a copy of this box on the way at a more than reasonable price! A very pleasant and unexpected surprise - THANK YOU, you know who you are! B) People coming late to this discussion who are still looking for the Smith box - it is listed on Collectors Choice Music's site (I hate them but before my friend came through, went to them immediately because I know they stock many Mosaics). I ordered but then got a "backordered" notification...so unlikely they'll be able to come through, but you might give it a shot.

DAMN! Thanks for the link and updating me guys. This is one I literally had in my shopping cart at the Mosaic site at least 3 different occasions and then removed thinking "I've still got time and I don't want to miss these others (most of which have now gone OOP)." Shoot. Oh well, time to piece together as much as possible with the Verve 2-fer, CD-R's, etc...

It's nowhere to be found on the Mosaic Web site. Odd, and eerie... Boy, in light of the recent movement of some sets there to OOP and Last Chance did THIS give me a heart attack this evening. But it's not on their OOP list, though, so this HAS to be an oversight - right? RIGHT? PLEASE tell me I'm right. This has been next on my list for "regular" Mosaics for some time. Will be mighty bummed if it sneaked past me. BTW - sorry, this should have appeared in the Mosaic forum but I got so panicked I goofed.

Thanks Kenny. I perused that list too and it looked pretty promising. Will probably take the plunge!

I've been trying to round up the last few of those great Verve "Take 2" collections from the mid-90's that I missed when they were issued. Many/most now OOP although not too hard to find used. THE MERCURY RECORDS JAZZ STORY may be the last on the list I truly am interested in. Can anyone post their impressions? How much of the material remains otherwise unissued in the U.S.?

At this point in my life, one Yes album is plenty...and that one will probably always be CLOSE TO THE EDGE, a really remarkable achievement. Still listening to my old (flea market buy, circa 1976) vinyl for now but with plans to snag the CD remaster VERY soon. It's hard not to be disappointed with what came after that...Yes made some very fine music but nothing as well conceived or executed to me. FWIW, I've always thought GOING FOR THE ONE was grossly underrated - a fine collection of tunes, beautifully recorded. THE YES ALBUM was wonderfully fresh and I still like that one.

I agree with you he fits in quite well on SO NEAR, SO FAR, outstanding outing for everyone involved there...but I have problems with his fit on the STATE OF THE TENOR discs, I just don't hear him as the best bet in that kind of wide open pianoless trio setting.

No bunsen burner flames here! Disagree, but civilly! It could be my tastes - I like my (non trap set) percussion with a lot of air and space, it feels less cluttered to me that way. Smith just does it so perfectly to me. But I could certainly see where to folks with different taste the percussion passages on the first disc could be considered TOO sparse/boring.

For sideman gigs, I DO very much enjoy his playing with Andrew Hill on ANDREW. The LaRoca disc is a beauty too, Gilmore's all over that.

I would agree that it's earlier Chick that established his legacy. I like RTF, but I truly and deeply love TONES (I have the INNER SPACE comp that also includes a couple other rarities from the same time period from a Hubert Laws Atlantic album), and his Solid State recordings (particularly SONG OF SINGING and NOW HE SINGS...utterly amazing trio work). He was also one HELL of an accompaniest around then - those tracks with Blue Mitchell ("Straight Up and Down" and "Tones for Joan's Bones") are some of my favorite little big group arrangements of the 60's, and Corea just steals the show on both. I'm not a fan of most compilations, but I have to say that Blue Note did a remarkable job picking the selections for the BEST OF CHICK COREA collection. If you're bit by that, you'll ultimately want to get all the original albums, but I can't think of a finer introduction to his vintage work as a leader, pre-RTF. I NEED to explore Circle...huge gap in my listening experience. Having been delving into Braxton more recently, it can't be much longer before I do. While more recent Chick isn't quite as earthshaking or adventurous, I have to say that I was pretty knocked out by CHANGE, with Origin. His playing certainly has not lost one bit of its luster, and the level of group musicianship and interplay is pretty remarkable. Guilty pleasure: INSIDE OUT, which is one of those Elektrik Band CDs. Realizing objectively that it's pretty dorky stuff in many ways and that it's nowhere near in the same league as his best work, I still think Chick gets in some nice playing and the tunes have their interesting twists and turns. The problem lies in the horrendous 80's-rock type production and with some of his partners in crime (Dave Weckl and Frank Gambale in particular).

I'm still eagerly looking forward to hearing BARCELONA based on your recs, Jim. My guess is that I'll be more stoked by that one than MONTREAL TAPES. A good example of what I'm talking about on this new release is the first track, ROUND MIDNIGHT (I just re-listened in the car on the short drive in to work). Joe plays a long and what I'd consider utterly brilliant 2+ minute unaccompanied introduction to this one - smart, dramatic, challenging - but then once Haden and Foster come in, not only do they plod through it, but Joe's playing goes several notches down in the quality department. There's a good 2-3 minutes' time that goes by where he's quite clearly treading water, clearly kind of lost for anything new to say - for a while he just sidles up and down and then he starts falling back on some of his pet licks (not used in a particularly creative way - much as I love Joe, he DEFINITELY was susceptible to this habit). Joe does seem to eventually pull out of it much later in the track, but it's kind of too little too late, and taken as a whole things are disjointed and herky-jerky. To me this is the "bad news" side of having such wide open space for improvisation - on a good night, the best musicians do everything but speak in tongues, but on a middling night, there's lots of cold pockets. So all I'm saying here is that I'm not convinced this was one of Henderson's top gigs that they captured. Merely good (nice to know he was mortal just like the rest of us!), which is less than what I have come to expect based on so many of his other recordings. I think Jim's on to something about Foster, and I'd broaden it to include Haden - both fine, fine musicians but I'm not sure either would be the person I'd pick to accompany Joe in this type of setting. Would love to have heard him in this type of situation reunited with Elvin Jones - one of the great little talked-about partnerships of the 60's - with someone like Cecil McBee on bass.

So far I'd take the Japan stuff over the Montreal tapes any day. The music on Montreal tapes is frustrating in the extreme - some flashes of brilliance but then long long passages where the pace lags and the tension sags. I'm glad it was issued but so far I'm a little disappointed and can understand why it sat in the vaults for a while.

The LEE KONITZ MEETS JIMMY GIUFFRE album. Holy cow, what a session! Inspired to check it out based on Anthony Braxton's comments in the FORCES IN MOTION book.

Blue Note certainly seems to sneak their Benny Carter reissues out with minimum fanfare (read: promotion). ASPECTS was another UA date from 1958 that came and went VERY quickly on CD a few years ago. I stumbled on it by accident long after it was OOP (at a Fry's Electronics store, no less) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. BN's "regular" reissues - e.g. not part of any special series - seem to disappear very quickly and sometimes get kind of limited distribution, so I definitely won't be hesitating in picking SAX A LA CARTER up. It does seem true that the man never made a truly bad album.

The Weston is essential...heavenly. Outstanding music and stellar remastering job by Malcolm Addey. The Jones is real good, but I frankly don't think it's quite as hot as some others here. Jones was a very fine trumpeter, and there's some really strong dates here but some others are not as good, and ultimately this is music that's firmly rooted within the conventions of the era and a little on the generic side. That sounds more negative than I mean it to - it's a great box. But the Weston is a cut above, you get to hear the beginnings of a true original. Sure there's some Monk and Ellington influence but ultimately he carved a very distinctive niche out for himself. Anyway, congratulations, you'll love both of these fine sets.

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. First of all, Namyslowski is a favorite of mine - certainly there were influences but he's got his own sound, and always has had. This one to me is just as seamless and perfectly-conceived as some of the best contemporary outer bop sessions from the U.S. that seem to have far more cache and fashionability (read: many of the much ballyhooed avant-garde tinged BNs). No offense meant, but I think what you're perpetuating is the orthodox "party line" viewpoint about European jazz, and I think it's a way too narrow and one-sided a view in that it doesn't allow for the possibilities of parallel development or even (gasp!) reciprocal influence.