Shrdlu

That's right. Most of today's musicians and house mixers welcome it, as it publicises their work. I have tons of 73 minute promo mixes of house. The mixers post them on their websites for free download. The money today is in concert and club appearances.

I'm with you, Hans (and others), on Pres's 30s work being superior to most of the Verve material. If only the LP format had been available back then! As I posted elsewhere, I have some 30s airshots where Pres is able to stretch out, and they are marvelous. Re the Decca vs the Columbia Basies, the early band (on the Deccas and the first few Columbia dates) was much better, as things were more casual back then. I really love those recordings. As time progressed, there was a transition to what is, for me, an over-arranged and over-rehearsed feel. The later recordings, from that point and for the rest of Basie's career, are boring, I think. It was just a formula. ("One more time", hee hee. Thad Jones, for one, got so sick of it that he eventually left.) Of course, if you take the 50s, for example, the soloists were nowhere near the caliber of the 30s guys such as Pres himself, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison and so on. And the original rhythm section was at the top of the list for all time.

I was about to say that too. I have good memories involving it. I was playing in a quartet in Jo'burg, and the first time we did it, I told the audience the story of the tune and the Monk session. We used to get requests for it after that. The pianist, an English guy called Stan Jones, was superb. He toured the U.S. alongside Monk for 6 months and could do all the Monk voicings and comping. What a treat it was to be able to play Monk songs with a guy like that!. Based on that, I'm sure I could have fit in with Monk himself. Stan's wife recalled sitting on Rouse's knee, hee hee.

By bringing out the 4 CD set of the Blackhawk material, Columbia destroyed any chance of issuing a 6 or 7 CD box set along the lines of all the other ones. In the case of the Blackhawk set, it's too much of the same thing for me to play all at once. It doesn't keep my attention for very long. If only Philly Joe had been in the group at that time. The electricity that he provided would have made a big difference. But I do like the Carnegie Hall album.

You'd have to include Art Blakey at the top too. Bill Evans did say that Philly Joe was his favorite drummer. That surprised me, because I didn't hear that until recently, and I had assumed that Paul Motian, with his delicate touch, would have been more to Bill's taste. Getting the Verve box set put things more into perspective, because it includes a late 50s session with Philly Joe (and Paul), and, particularly, a large number of tracks from about 1968 where Bill had Philly Joe in his trio. I also saw Bill on TV, from the 70s, and once again Philly Joe was on drums - and I wasn't expecting that.

Hank did play the baritone at times. I read in some album notes (maybe the Mosaic booklet) that he played baritone and other instruments in someone's band in the early 50s. I just heard the Mulligan/Getz album for the first time, and Stanley plays (Gerry's) baritone real well on three tracks. He sounds very convincing. I assume he occasionally played it to fill in for the regular baritone players when he was in the big bands. Gerry had one of those Conns with the big sound, from about the 30s. (The Selmers don't have as good a sound.)

Don't miss Sammy Spear and his Orchestra.

Thanks, Chuck. I saw that too, but when I looked into it, they both turned out to be U.S. releases. I'm guessing that these are one and the same. Websites like Amazon and Allmusic are not noted for their accuracy. By the way, I am used to the original LP, but have never gotten around to hearing the rest of the material. Some of the Amazon reviewers moan about the sound, but I don't recall the LP sounding bad. For me, the main attraction was "So What", with stunning solos by Miles, Hank and Wynton.

Not at all new. Amazon has two versions of this 2 CD set, 1998 and 2001, both American releases. Does anyone know which of these sounds better (if that can be decided, lol)? I wonder why they would put out a new version, so soon after the other one. Thanks in advance for comments.

O.K., lol, I'll get it out again. I am a big McFarland fan, but the rest of the album didn't really make much of an impression on me - with about three hearings.

We have an unimportant Portuguese community here.

I love my Panasonic VCR (and it loves me ). It gives an awesome picture (HD ready, big deal!) and the surround is terrific. I just love the fact that you can stop a tape and resume at the same place, unlike the stupid DVDs - it takes a few mins to track down where you were. (Not speaking as an old guy - I love cutting edge stuff if it's good. But DVDs leave me cold.)

Ooh, that's mean. I'm amazed that you would think that.

Very interesting, for a Jobim fan! I wonder if there is a parallel with Mexico Spanish vs Spain Spanish. (As with Brasil, Mexico has a bigger population than Spain.) I much prefer the Mex Spanish accents to the ones I've heard from Spain.

A friend of mine groaned to me the other day "Girls don't like music". "I know, I know", I replied. I've never met a woman who didn't fidget and remain restless while I was playing jazz live, or playing a record. Funny thing is, my late wife had a degree in "classical" music and played the violin and piano real well. One thing she did do for me musically was to hip me to the best "classical" players and pieces. But I don't listen to "classical" much, simply because it doesn't swing, and if it don't swing, then .......

I'm a big McFarland fan and was excited when I saw that this album was finally being released. There are not a huge number of McFarland albums. As most of you will know, the main theme from the movie (a very pretty tune) was recorded by Gary on a few other albums, such as the Impulse one with Zoot. As far as this album goes, I like the track with the theme. The English harpist featured on it is wonderful, and was also used on the Zoot album (which was recorded in London, England, at about the same time). The rest of the album is strictly in the "listen once" category for me. I absolutely hate the movie - what a load of shit.

I can't really think of a "best" example with this pair. They were always so good. Perhaps some of the 1956 tracks with Miles are the most electric that I have heard. It was sad that Philly Joe was basically just a sideman once he left Miles. What a waste. At least he was used on many albums. It's also sad that he and Bob Weinstock didn't get on. I like Art Taylor's playing a lot, but I bet Trane would have used Philly Joe on most of his Prestige dates if Bob had not disliked him. Of course, he could be a hassle at a date, and he was known to pressure others into using smack.

Getting back to the original question, like everyone, I have the greatest respect for the folks at Mosaic/True Blue, but I don't really think they listen to any of my suggestions and requests, so I'm not going to bother to contact them again. I realize that there are many marketing and licensing issues and I have absolutely no experience with that. Anyway, what a fantastic job they have done over the years.

Now that's and excellent idea! Those fantastic recordings aren't discussed enough. I have pretty much all of them, and there isn't a dull moment anywhere. Some of them I only got recently. One such is the 2 LP European Concert set. That's a real treat! I got the LP of one of the very early ones, and was surprised to find that it was in stereo. I forget the title, but I think it was just called "The Modern Jazz Quartet".

You gotta hear the 24 bit RVG 78s!

As one who was around when the BN LPs first came out, I think that all this worship of them is ludicrous. Yes, they were and are great, but there are lots of other equally good LPs from the period that no-one seems to fuss over. What about the Impulses, for example? Just as good as the BNs (both done by Rudy for the most part), yet they go for about $20 on eBay. Dare I also say that although the BN LPs sound great, for me there isn't a massive difference between them and, say, the Japanese "Blue Note Works" CDs. I also really like a large number of the RVG CDs. It's mainly hype.

I know Tony Williams. He's a great guy and has done a fantastic job reissuing since the late 60s. His first reissues were 6 (or was it 7?) LPs of all the Bird on Dial. I was so excited when those came out, because prior to that time, all you could get was a fairly haphazard selection on various budget labels, with no information as to the take numbers. And you could not get all of the material. Tony befriended Ross Russell and got his help in issuing a definitive collection. By that time, all of the original masters were long lost. Tony's sources were the best Dial 78s and LPs that he could find. Ross did come up with one previously unissued take, on a badly worn acetate. I think it was a take of "Moose the Mooche". Tony's LPs had the best possible sound, and, of course, none of the reverb that some of the "pirate" LPs had. Since then, Tony has put out absolutely all of the existing Dial takes by other artists, such as Diz and Dex.

If it will help, I have never heard an OJC that I didn't like. I mean the original 16 bit ones. Avoid the German 20 bit ones - the ones I have heard have a horrible echo.

Belgium. I know where that is. It's in Yurp isn't it?

Niko has probably fully answered your questions, but if you need any more info, I will be glad to help. The online Mingus discography refers to this box set, so I think that has all the answers. I have been playing the disks on the computer with that discograpy on the desktop.