Teasing the Korean

Mike, this is true only for mono records dating from certain years. Experts may chime in, but I believe at some point in the late 1950s grooves were standardized for both mono and stereo records, allowing for one stylus. This gets complicated with the issue of mono cartridges. The pricier mono cartridges use a stylus that is made for the older mono grooves. The less expensive ones, like the grado, use a conventional stylus and simply wire it for mono. It is no different than hitting the mono button. This is my understanding, at least. Others may weigh in.

Sorry, I meant "Grado cartridge," not "Grado headshell." It may be worth investing in one of those attachments that I mentioned, unless there are other affordable mono cartridges. Last time I checked, most of them seemed to be more expensive. Also, if you don't have a mono button on your amp, you can always buy the mono patch cords from Radio Shack and connect them between your turntable and amp. Not as convenient as a mono button but no more work than switching headshells.

The short answer is that mono playback of a mono LP improves the signal-to-noise ratio. You can also accomplish this by hitting the mono button on the amp, if you have one. Folks seem to be divided as to whether a mono cartridge is substantially different from hitting the mono button.

Jeff, I've never used a Grado mono cartridge, but have used some of their stereo cartridges and have had this issue. Do a search for "Grado dance" and see what you find. The issue apparently has to do with the lightweight mass of the Grado headshell. There are attachment pieces that can be purchased that add mass to a headshell. Obviously, if you use one of these, you have to recalibrate to where "zero" is. I ended up taping a penny to top of my headshell and recalibrated. Not the best solution aesthetically, but it did the trick.

I have 4 or 5 of his Verve albums and I would say that, in general, they fall into Jim's 2nd category, with some of the first and third. (I refuse to say "Category 1" or "Category 3" because I'm preparing for a hurricane). I also have the Talkin' Verve CD volume, but in general, I don't like this series too much, because it focuses too much on the first category of tunes, at least on the 4 Talkin' Verve volumes I have. But I think those Willie Bob LPs are really indicative of everything I love about Verve in the 1960s. Others would disagree.

Interesting questions, considering I have a number of two-sided DVDs.

Completely agree.

None of the above. Apply it to Milt Raskin's "Kapu."

If you still do vinyl, these are readily available for a dollar at a thrift store near you.

Some of that MGM stuff was transferred from 78 masters at unbelievably slow speeds for the original LPs. The album that starts with "Mambo Inn" is the worst.

I LOVE these albums! There are five on Capitol - Latin Escapade, Mood Latino, Latin Affair, Latin Lace, and Latin Rendezvous. Plus, he made two MPS albums in the 70s in a similar bag. Yes, they are predictable, with few if any surprises, but the percussion grooves are irresistible, and the combination of the signature Shearing sound with all of those interesting harmonies makes for a nice cocktail, if a tad light on the rum. What's interesting is that most of his schmaltzy pop Capitol albums contain one or two tracks with this instrumentation. Years ago during a vinyl purge I burned all of these Latin one-offs onto a CD before unloading the LPs, and then the CD went bad. Now I'm having to re-buy all of these Shearing albums (for no more than a dollar) to get these tracks back in my life.

MG, they have predictably spread Les Baxter's great exotica albums over the various volumes, mixing them with his schlocky pop albums, i.e. making the consumer buy more boxes to get the good stuff. Both of the Plas Johnson albums are on Volume 3, however, there is an existing EU public domain CD combining these two albums already (Jungle Jazz and African Jazz). Of the other albums in Volume 3, the gem is "The Sacred Idol," which is possibly my favorite Les Baxter exotica album, but I don't know if you would like it, MG. The other 5 albums are more generic 50s orchestral pop, nice if you like that kind of stuff, but hardly necessary if that's not your bag. So, In this case, I would simply spring for the twofer CD of Jungle Jazz and African Jazz. I have not actually heard that CD (I have the LPs), but the reviews seem to be positive and the transfers seem to be good, whatever the source.

I'm tempted to pick up maybe one of these, probably by someone for whom I have a lot of vinyl but no CDs. For example, there is a Cal Tjader set now. I'm eagerly awaiting the Nino Rota 8 1/2 Classic Albums.

You're hired!

Regarding the Roost CD, on the Blue Note/Roulette label, I think tracks 1-8 run fast, bumping things up a half step or so. Tracks 9-16, I'm not sure. They seem to be in standard or typical keys.

Daktari is a very good exotica album but you may not like it as a straight ahead jazz album. Son of Gunn is a gem.

Right, but I'm guessing the Shelly Manne LP was based on music from John Williams' Checkmate LP, which was all John Williams music.

I take it that this consists of John Williams music from the series "Checkmate," similar to Shelly Manne's Peter Gunn albums?

OK, what the hell is that album he did with Michel Magne? How have I missed this? Is it amazing? Is it in print? I am STILL hoping to find a copy of his album with Marius Constant, "Stress," but no such luck yet.

The Kenton Christmas album is surprising nice and restrained, mostly traditional carols.

I found a pristine copy at the thrift store, and after one spin, dragged it right back.

The thing that's always cracked me up about Kenton - and let me say off the bat that I very much like a percentage of what he did - is that, for all his talk about "innovation" and being "progressive," his basic premise never changed: Bigger, brassier, louder, more dissonant. It's hilarious to read the liner notes of his Capitol albums over the course of, say, the early 1950s to the late 1960s. They say the same things over and over again, and the music never changes. At the same time, there is something almost poignant in Kenton's obsession with innovation and progress. It very much mirrors the mood of the time, and it is sorely lacking today.

In my experience, the people who like Stan Kenton are basically guys who look like Kenton.

That's amazing. You should try to find her.

On my stereo copy of John Barry's "Thunderball" soundtrack, it says: Scott Dougherty 12/65 From Mike Bruno For my birthday