Guy Berger

For my brother's birthday: Coltrane, Live at the Half Note The Great Concert of Charles Mingus

Reflections (a limited edition OJC) is a great album. I haven't heard any of their duo albums, though Communique is in the "listen to" pile. Guy

Wow, I wish New Haven had a lineup this good for its jazz festival. Guy

That was my reasoning as well. Right now the backlog is 42 CDs. Guy

The current issue of MD has the unedited versions. Guy

I don't think I ever noticed how many far-out charts there are on this album.

I bet this is the kind of box that benefits from "ipodization" -- that way you can listen to a session or two without having to drag anything out of the box. Guy

What about "Tiger Rag" -- it's a fun performance. I'm not crazy about "Maori", I don't know why. "Is That Religion" isn't worth ipod space, but it is funny. Guy

link

I'm guessing that most of those that acquire it are hardcore jazz fans. It probably doesn't have the "mass appeal" of the Atlantic, Impulse! Studio or even 1961 VV boxes. (It's also substantially larger than any of those.) Guy

As far as the Coltrane Half Note release, which I own on CD -- the tracks "Brazilia" and "Song of Praise" are both the same performance, only one of them has the first 30 seconds or so clipped off. This is a spectacular performance, but available on the recent Verve/Impulse release (presumably with better sound). Guy

Coleman has a bunch of MP3s (out of print albums, etc) on his webpage. link

Just don't mention Borat. Guy

According to AMG, this album went #186 on the Billboard pop charts, which is pretty mind-boggling. Guy

I enjoyed your dig at him in your review (as well as the review itself). Guy

This is great music for a really, really hot summer day. Guy

What if you drink it all before you reach customs? Guy

Possible, but it was in the editorial reviews section. Guy ps Meet Ben Watson!

From amazon:

yup yup

God, it was hot here today. I was in the office most of the day and didn't realize it until I started walking home. It's still 94 degrees at 8:30 PM. Guy

Same here. Guy

I picked this up on Lon's recommendation about a year and a half ago. I'm most familiar with the first disc; the novelty numbers on the 2nd and 3rd discs have kept them off my iPod. This will be a great opportunity to reacquaint myself with the music. It's hard to listen to this stuff without tapping your feet or getting a big smile on your face. It's fascinating to hear Ellington slowly put his band together (Harry Carney, Barney Bigard & Johnny Hodges all join within 6 months of each other), as well as find his way as a composer. A lot of the tunes that we associate with Ellington -- "East St. Louis Toodle-o", "Black and Tan Fantasy", "Black Beauty", "The Mooche", "Mood Indigo", "Rockin' in Rhythm" -- make an appearance on this set. Guy

The Complete Brunswick and Vocal Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931

Alexander, I bet as a father you don't want to hear this, but your daughter has quite a bit in common with one Aric Effron. Guy