Teasing the Korean

Did anyone see this (excellent) HBO two-part documentary? Not a lot of new or earth-shattering information, but lots of things I hadn't seen or heard, like home movies and interviews with Frank and both Nancys. No spoilers, but I thought the organization of the documentary was inspired: In 1971, Sinatra gave a farewell concert, for which he chose 11 tunes that he felt illustrated his life and career. The documentary organized itself around these 11 tunes and used them to tell Frank's story. The longer I live, the more awed I am by Sinatra.

To what degree did the time limits of the 78 RPM 10" record create or reinforce our conception of the two- to three-minute pop tune? I realize that prior to 78s and Edison cylinders, there were 32-bar pop songs, and by default, if you played two choruses with an intro, you would wind up in that general time block. I also realize that there have been pop hits and pop records that run beyond the time limit of a 78. But I am curious if there is a relation between the two, even a subliminal relationship if not an overt one.

It will include the impossible-to-find Robin's Reign, the previously unreleased Sing Slowly Sisters, and a third disc of additional rarities!

Packaging and aesthetics are important to some of us. If they are not important to you, then please feel free to buy as many ugly things as you want, including this stupid box set.

The master takes set is the terrible one. Metal, ugly, clumsy.

Sounds like we're talking about two different sets.

On this, Billie Holiday's 100th birthday, let me once again reiterate my hatred for this dreadful Verve box set, easily the ugliest in terms of design and the most clumsy in terms of functionality. I've enjoyed it much more since I slipped the discs into flat envelopes, so now I don't have to look at the thing. Only the best for Billie.

Classical listeners must have gotten a lot of exercise back then! How much time did a 12" 78 accommodate?

I wonder if anyone knows how conductors - or living composers, for that matter, handled side breaks for longer works or movements. There are some movements that have few if any clean breaks, and when they occur, they may not have happened at an ideal place for ending a side of a 78. Might a conductor take liberties with a score for these purposes? Were (living) composers ever consulted? Would there have been copyright issues regarding altering a score?

I think Hillary should announce her candidacy through a limited edition, Record-Store-Day-exclusive 45.

Thanks, I will have to check this out.

I heard some excerpts from this and am intrigued. Who has heard this album - or seen a performance - and what do you think?

Is that the one where he plays Genghis Khan? God, I can't stand John Wayne.

How does the sound compare to that on the Collectibles CD release?

Did anyone watch this? It premiered on HBO last night. (It had earlier been shown at a film festival.)

That is one of the greatest albums ever made, along with the Latin Jazz All-Stars' Jazz Heat Bongo Beat on Crown.

There is/was a record store in Central Square in Cambridge called Cheapo Records. In the early/mid-1990s, the used LPs were on the street level, but the basement had all sealed LPs. It was like the record store that time forgot. It was like looking through cutout bins from the early 1970s. All kinds of sealed stuff for cheap that you couldn't find anyplace else. This is where I found The Many Moods of Murry Wilson. Anyway, they had all these sealed Heino LPs, and I would always spend such a long time looking at the images; this was pre-internet. I was poor and bought only one at the time. This is the one I bought. I thought he looked like such a suave international jet setter: The Heino section soon disappeared entirely. Someone must have picked up Incredibly Strange Music and bought the entire stock to sell on eBay.

I wouldn't DREAM of filing him in the exotica section. That is for true exotica - Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, and the many one-offs. Heino is filed in a miscellaneous section that includes children's records, Leonard Nimoy, weird religious albums, and other unclassifiable music. I would NEVER pass up a Heino album for a dollar or two.

One of my favorites of the A-list noirs. It has a great score by Miklos Rozsa. No spoilers. I thought the film did a great job of capturing the mood and feel of the story. It looked exactly like I imagined it. But I don't think it adequately captured the dynamic between two of the main characters, and this is such an important part of the story.

A great visual presence. He must hold a record for the artist with the largest number of great record covers containing the worst music you would ever want to hear. And I am half German, so that is not a slight against our Teutonic brethren. My wife and I have at times cleared late-night parties by putting on a Heino LP. Liebe Mutter is the greatest album cover ever made, better than every Blue Note sleeve put together. Jello Biafra mused that it looks like the roses are going to explode after they are delivered.

Major labels releasing jazz in the 1990s. Who knew?

A Clockwork Orange.

Late to the party. Judging from the trailer, this film seems like a sports movie, with jazz in the role of sports. And I do not like sports films, except for Buffalo '66, if that qualifies. It will also probably stir up bad memories of when I was a music major. I couldn't listen to any jazz for years afterward, it was that unpleasant. Finally, as for the claim - apparently intended for the general public - that if Buddy Rich is your favorite jazz drummer, you are a racist, most of the general public could not even name a single jazz drummer other than Buddy Rich, let alone prefer any of them to Buddy Rich.