Guy Berger

Is that 3-CD set of his stuff still in print? How's the sound on that? Don't bother about sound, get it! It's one of the most essential sets to have! (Sound is fine, but my ears are not the ones to be trusted about that...) ubu This music is awesome, visionary, funny and sad. (A weird set of adjectives, but if you've heard the box set, you know what I mean.) Get it ASAP. URRRGH -- I wish I could put this on my iPod right now! Guy

I completely agree. Have to throw in McCoy Tyner as well, and (if we're willing to consider a shorter streak of 5) Joe Henderson. I could see making a case for Blakey and Silver as well, simply for the length of their runs, though not everything they did was GREAT. Guys like Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan made too much cookie-cutter stuff IMHO. As for Jackie Mac -- impressive run but I think his earlier (pre-LFR) stuff is occasionally generic hard bop. Guy

Lloyd has a new quartet album titled Jumping the Creek coming out March 8th 2005. Musicians: Lloyd, Geri Allen, Robert Hurst, Eric Harland. Guy

Back in Black

I wasn't there, but the KJ standards trio played this at their recent concert in Chicago. Supposedly the crowd really dug it. ' Guy

I figure I'll take Harold Z's advice. Guy

I received a new copy of Woody Shaw's Blackstone Legacy today which has a crack in it. The crack begins in the plastic donut hole area and moves slightly into the actual metal region of the disc. However, I've listened to the first 5 or 6 minutes of CD and it seems to be playing fine -- so the damage isn't a problem, apparently. (Since CDs read data outward, I figured my laptop's cd rom would have caught a problem.) My question: should I return the CD? I ordered it from alldirect.com and I have no clue whether they'll reimburse me for return shipping. Furthermore, given their warehouse policies I figure I won't be getting a replacement CD, just reimbursement. Not sure if it's worth the hassle. On the other hand, this is the kind of damage that could get worse over time -- the crack could get bigger, and maybe corrosion (particularly if the inner part of the CD is exposed to the air). Any thoughts from someone who's owned a CD damaged like this?

Restricting it to five (jazz only): Duke Ellington, Never No Lament Duke Ellington, Far East Suite Jackie McLean, Right Now Charles Lloyd, Dream Weaver Ben Allison, Peace Pipe

You should check it out. It is a very fine recording by Wynton. I'm not a big Wynton fan per se, but I'm surely not on board with this hard core Marsalis bashing and denigrating him as a trumpet player. I have noticed this seething vitriol towards Wynton for a while and much of it seems unwarranted or either grossly exaggerated. Saying the man cannot play is simply dishonest or just stupid. As I said, I'm not a big fan of Wynton (I think Bradford is much more creative and open) and I have only his first four recordings (lost interest after that) but I don't agree with the "he's not a good trumpet player" mantra. It's simply not true. Amen. I haven't heard the whole album, but the four or five I've heard is outstanding. The group (both Marsali, Kirkland, Moffett, Watts) is incredibly tight. Guy

Happy b-day, David. Guy

When I first moved to the east coast for grad school, I was one of the only people who used the word "dude". Now everybody around me does it as frequently as I dude. I mean, I do.* I like to think I did my own little part in debasing the English language. Guy *When I was typing that sentence I really did type out "as I dude".

Try Downtown Music Gallery or OmniTone -- they usually carry Soul Note / Black Saint CDs. I picked up the Dr. Cyclops at a Herbie Nichols Project concert at Lincoln Center. Guy

Given some of your past comments about Sonny Rollins, this post is rich in irony. Guy

It's extremely unlikely that the Rollins/Monk CD will be deleted, and I think the Dolphy will hang around as well. Guy

Nobody's said it yet, so here goes: Lee Morgan. A great trumpeter, but he probably made too many records. Guy

My friend Robin is bitter because I've cropped her out of this photo... I can't find the original. I was almost totally sober when this picture was taken.

I'm thinking of breaking down, eating $2 and ordering an Eric Kloss from DeepdiscountCD. But since this OJC binge is a serious moral lapse on my part, maybe I should hold off. Guy

I guess the jig's up. I was hoping to keep alldirect.com a secret so the items I want would stay in stock.

I emphatically second this recommendation. I picked up this album almost by accident, but it's great. Especially "Parisian Thoroughfare" and "Memories of You". Guy

Any comment on Don Friedman's OJCs? Are any of them particularly essential? I don't know anything about this guy but am intrigued by reviews in Penguin and OJC. Guy

I just placed an order for 10 Fantasy CDs. I will be buying 10-20 more next week. Uggh.

Due to the "Fantasy panic" I broke a personal rule about how many CDs I buy in a month and picked up 10 CDs. And I'll probably be buying at least 10-20 more titles next week. I feel pretty guilty about it. I guess I'll just have to cut down on CD purchases as a result. Anyway here's round 1: Jaki Byard: Sunshine of My Soul, Quartet: Live!, Last from Lennie's Woody Shaw: Blackstone Legacy, Song of Songs Steve Lacy: Evidence, Reflections Oliver Nelson: Straight Ahead Cecil Taylor: Lookin' Ahead Lee Konitz: Duets

Jesus, I'm making a list of stuff I want and I'm already up to about 30 titles. If I had to pick only one or two Hawk titles, which ones would fit into both the "very essential" and "likely to vanish" categories?

Since I figure that few of us are going to lay down thousands to acquire a bunch of OJCs, I think this thread will be useful as well. Some stuff that is certain to stay in print: most if not all of the Miles titles most if not all of the of the Trane titles most of the classic Bill Evans stuff on Riverside most if not all of the Monk (Riverside + Prestige) most if not all of the Sonny Rollins most if not all of the Cannonball the two Ornettes on Contemporary oh, and don't forget the Creedence