gmonahan

I solve this problem by getting rid of clothes, furniture, food, and any stray people or other animals that get in the way of my cds. gregmo

Krakow is very pretty, with a historic university where Copernicus worked. Far less happy but important and deeply moving and nearby that city is Auschwitz. gregmo

Nice story. I don't think I've ever heard a discouraging word said about Tony Bennett. That's pretty rare. gregmo

My father gets it for the crossword puzzle. gregmo

Benny Goodman, The Birth of Swing (1935-1936), disc 2. Surprisingly good sound considering it was remastered in 1990. gregmo

The Andorrans released the Terry/Brookmeyer stuff, and for some odd reason, Jazz Heritage got access to this material years ago. They did a pretty good 2-cd set of Sarah Vaughan's Japanese concert stuff. Never quite figured that one out. gregmo

Good choices. For me it would be: New Orleans Suite Newport '56 70th Birthday Concert First Time: Meets Count Basie Such Sweet Thunder. I also like Jazz Party. Jimmy Rushing is having SUCH a good time! gregmo

Ellington Brunswick Big Band set, disc 11. It's been a great ride listening to these! gregmo

Watch the fly-by footage. It's exquisite. gregmo

It's an old theme on this board, really. To what extent do the personal lives of musicians bear on the music, and to what extent are they anyone else's business? Those uncomfortable with the thread see it as voyeuristic--oh really, HE was *GAY*?? Wow!--and find that distasteful and--perhaps to coin a new word, "tabloidesque." Others feel that the discussion is itself important to supporting those who have suffered appalling discrimination and may also argue as some have on past threads, that the personal lives and experiences of the musicians help to deepen our understanding of their music. I'm thinking here of past, often heated and controversial, discussions on people like Stan Getz. It's an interesting conundrum. I find myself caught hopelessly in the middle. I understand the discomfort, but I also can see Chris's point of view as well. I wonder whether it isn't at least somewhat similar to the whole issue of race and much older arguments about how racial discrimination informed the music and how much it mattered that a given musician was or was not African-American. Or not?! gregmo

LP sequencing can be important if the artist and the producers meant the LP to be sequenced that way, if, in other words, they were consciously creating a concept. I'm thinking here of Sinatra's concept albums, but there have been others. If that's the case, reshuffling the music into precise recording order reeks havoc with the original intention, and I do have problems with that. I'm not arguing that's the case here. The Half Note stuff has always been problematic. gregmo

I just got hold of the Retrieval NORK set, and it sounds pretty good to these ears. Roppolo was something of a revelation for me as I listened to this set. gregmo

Lunceford, disc 2. What a great band this was. gregmo

I'm blowing hot and cold on this one. Verve did a fine 2-cd compilation years ago ("The Jazz Sides on Verve"), and I have several of the individual cds, but I don't have the Jimmy Smith stuff. And it's spendy. Hmmmmmm. gregmo

I imagine most people at Sony don't even *know* they own it. Still, Mosaic has been busy with Sony-owned material, so maybe we'll see some Mosaic Mainstream sets down the line. That would be nice. They could do a Sarah Vaughan box, maybe a Maynard Ferguson one. gregmo

The proposed album cover was definitely a winner! gregmo

Paul Chambers led a few for Vee Jay. gregmo

Holy Shit! That really is a goofy amount of money! When this thread came up again, I decided to get out disc one and listen to it again. The music is good, and the sound really is remarkable (but then, Capitol was high-tech from the beginning), but it ain't $888 good! gregmo

The continuous availability of the Hank Mobley set (not part of this sale, by the way) is even more remarkable. Yes, I wish I understood exactly what kind of license they have (no time limit, only quantity?) and why they can't produce more of the LP version. They'd probably explain it to you if you wrote them. They're pretty good about responding to emails. gregmo

What struck me is that he gave Basie NINE minutes on network TV. Carson loved jazz too, but I don't know that he ever gave a jazz musician or band that much air time just to play. Different era, for sure! gregmo

I'm still interested in what "chuckies" are! Followers of Chuck? Count me in! gregmo

Greg, you may be able to tell me if Bennett's "Sings A String Of Harold Arlen" has been on CD. I have always liked that particular disc...great tunes, fine arrangements, good singer. EDIT: Shoulda done this first (sorry, lazy today)...It was issued, and new copies on Amazon start at $92. Must have been even better than I remembered. Ted, I had that one on my favorites list on Amazon for about a year before a used cd copy showed up at at a more or less acceptable price. It is a good record, and I'm very happy to have it. Particularly nice versions of "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Let's Fall in Love." If you stalk the Amazon sellers long enough, maybe one will show up! gregmo

Agreed. I'm a little concerned, given the title of book, that it may be more of a social commentary than a straight up biography. Something along the lines of Douglas Henry Daniels' book about Lester Young. My concern with the original title would be that it would be a bit too sympathetic. Grantz has always struck me as a fairly complex figure. Certainly deserving of a good biography! gregmo

Interesting news. If it truly is *complete* I might be interested. I already have just about everything that's been available on cd. Love Tony! gregmo