RDK

Let me put it this way: at their weekend sale, I picked up around 95 CDs and 35 LPs for about $110, mostly jazz. I'm lucky, though, that Rockaway is just down the street from me and I stop there at least once a week.

It's the timeslot. And the show itself. Carson long ago put a middle-of-the-road, middle-American, slant on the Tonight Show. You're expected to appeal to everybody by offending nobody. With the changed landscape of television I'm not sure you can do that these days, but Conan's obviously giving it the old Brookline try. And yes, the Leno 10 o'clock show seems pretty terrible. Which is why Conan is a bad choice. Jay Leno did a far better job with those expectations, IMHO. Perhaps, but they had more-or-less promised Conan the Tonight Show gig years ago. They couldn't very well back out of the deal. Fair enough. However, I predict they will live to regret it. You and everyone else. NBC is regretting just about everything this year.

Great news, but I have to question the inclusion of the Columbia discs. Aren't these very easily available - and often very cheaply? I don't think I've paid more than a buck or three for them in the used bins over the years - and in fact just picked up another copy of "Carry the Day" for a buck over the weekend.

I'm not sure how much the added compression to the stereo remasters really affects the sound. By all accounts, it's been done with a light touch. You have to remember that the original mono and stereo mixes also used different levels of compression - I believe the monos were compressed more heavily (originally) to give them a slightly more punchier sound. I'm not one who swears by one mix over the other. The first two (duophonic) albums benefit most from being heard in mono, of course, but after that I generally prefer the stereo over the mono if only for the wider soundstage the stereos offer. I agree that the some of the mono mixes may be "better," but in most cases it's a fairly subtle difference that (to me) is outweighed by other factors. Still, its fun to get all analytical about it and compare the mixes looking for the minor differences!

Hard to believe he's playing at Disneyland! Saw him on his 80th birthday at the Jazz Bakery.

Well I will definitely catch you at Jax - only about 5 min. from my house. Will try to catch your Molly Mallone's gig as well, and will hopefully bring a few people!

To my ears the remaster of All Things Must Pass doesn't sound good. Compared to my original Japanese CD issue it sounds as if noise reduction was applied. I sold it. Believe it or not, but there's a very fine needle drop that can be found on certain sites that's better than any CD version of ATMP.

You must live on a much fancier road than I do! I was thinking the same thing. If $8000 is "middle of the road," my system isn't even a cobblestone street. More like a dusty, unpaved, country footpath...to the outhouse... What I wouldn't give to have my system be a dusty, unpaved, country footpath...to the outhouse...mine is the Outhouse! Mine's the toilet.... well, except for the turntable! I aspire to the toilet... once I'm flush with cash.

John, George, Paul, and Der Bingle?

I want to hear the reported outtakes of Bing and Bowie duetting on "Jean Genie" and "Rock & Roll Suicide."

Happy B-day, Dan!

imo, there's nothing at all wrong with the stereo discs. In many cases I prefer the wide stereo/duophonic image. It's a mix that's certainly of its time (like a wide-panned early RVG Blue Note, compared to his narrowed-in remastered CDs maybe), but it's no less enjoyable. The stereo discs will be with us for years, so there should be no rush to acquire these. It's only if you need/must have the monos that you should move fairly quickly on the Mono Box. The only stereo discs I might avoid, if you really dislike "duophonic" are the first two albums, easily the worst offenders.

In my interpretation, it would depend whether Sony imported them. The payments due to musicians in the U.S. would be higher than in Europe due to copyright expiration. I'm not sure about the music publishing rights which are of course the greater part of this. This is the same phenomenon that makes 'Andorran' releases legal in Europe but not in U.S. However if Sony were importing the items themselves and squaring the payments then matters sould be different. I am guessing, I suppose, that this is why these titles were issued only in Europe. With European copyright law changing and that set disappeared I guess it is pretty academic. At the risk of going even further off topic, I wonder if that may be one reason Sony (in this instance) has released this set only in Europe. Maybe it's not so much to save money (i.e., not pay full U.S. royalties to the artists) but in order to get the set out in the first place at a price point they wouldn't otherwise be able to do if they had to pay full royalties? Sort of a chicken or egg situation, I know, but it is a dilemma for official music releases that might not sell in numbers big enough to be profitable for a major label.

Um, I'm not sure I'm following you. Mono and stereo both use the same RIAA curve. The "full spectrum of digital" should reproduce the stereo mixes and mono mixes as accurately (or better) than the original stereo or mono LPs. Honestly, though, the differences between the mono and stereo aren't that great except for the often duophonic or otherwise wonky separation.

But if part of the attraction of these sets in the first place is that they are limited editions, I would think that Mosaic would, and should, do everything they can to ensure that they remain so. Otherwise they'll have to change their sales pitch to, kind of limited. That's definitely part of the attraction. I don't know how many times I've waited until a set went on "Running Low" or "Last Chance" to buy it because after that I knew they wouldn't be easily attainable. If not "limited," I might have waited indefinitely - or until I had the extra cash. I think most of us here are "collectors" as well as just fans of the music, and Mosaic makes a nice collectible package. Those willing to pay for it get a limited package that, besides giving them the music, also has a history of appreciation. But after Mosaic sells out (or times out), what other options are there for someone who just wants to appreciate the music but can't find a set to purchase?

Indeed! I actually think that's one of the reasons why the Beatles are so revered. From their relatively short career - what, eight years or so? - the incredible progression of their musical style perfectly captured the cultural arc of the decade. Their musical growth was tremendous - and their ratio of classics-to-clunkers is, imo, unsurpassed.

I suspect that most who avail themselves of "free downloads" wouldn't buy the sets anyway. Still, I don't blame them for not offering pdfs of any in-print sets. For oop stuff, though, that can only be gotten by, er, "trading" I don't see the harm. Part of their sales pitch is that once these sets are gone they are gone for good. One would have to be naive not to think that sets that are sold out and never to be repressed - especially of music of such high cultural importance as this - wouldn't be shared in some way later on. If such important music can't be accessed more broadly, then classic jazz really will die off with us...

"I'm just here to buy soy sauce."

Chupacabra?

Commendable, but in this digital age rather stupid as well. If one wants "copies," it's easy enough to borrow discs from a friend or simply download them. Unfortunate that Mosaic is unwilling in circumstances like this to do whatever it can to accept money from willing customers.

Anybody ever hear Kenny G's Roscoe Mitchell tribute?

Those Stereo Records pressings can sound amazing!

Yeah. Why would you think it wouldn't work?

Coincidentally... earlier today we were watching a DVD with the 5.1 stereo on and all of a sudden the center channel dropped out. Nothing serious, but the speaker wire came off inexplicably. All I'm saying is check your connections. You mention your new LCD - do you have the audio going "through" the HDTV? That could be the problem there. I generally prefer a set-up where the audio - when I'm listening in 5.1 that is - goes straight from either my cable box or DVD player into the receiver/amp.