pglbook

RIP to a legend. Willie Colón is one of my favorite Latin music artists. Willie Colón/NY salsa, Fania All Stars, along with Cuban music, are my favorites. El Gran Varón is my favorite Willie Colón song. It exemplifies what was so special about his best songs - the combination of great music and a powerful social message. Que se vaya con Dios, maestro!

All very good and valid points regarding the increased popularity of Sun Ra. I think that the major factor in Sun Ra's increased "popularity" has been the increased availability of his music on CDs and records. 30 years ago it was extremely hard, with a few exceptions, to find any Sun Ra records or CDs. But, beginning with the Evidence CD reissues in the 1990s, a slow trickle of Sun Ra releases has turned into an avalanche whereby presently almost his entire prodigious musical output is readily available in one form or another. And in much improved sound quality, thanks to improved technology. Of course, availability of music does not always equal sales and popularity. But, in Sun Ra's case, the increased availability of his music has resulted in a kind of Sun Ra renaissance in the past 10 years due to some of the factors noted by Rabshakeh. However, I am not sure I would put any of Sun Ra's music in the "spiritual jazz" category and tie the increased interest in his music to an increased interest in spiritual jazz. Sun Ra's more "mainstream" albums, like Liquidity, will always have a bigger mass appeal than his more cacophonic "out there" albums. That will always be the case since avant- garde jazz in general appeals to a much smaller demographic. I think that, in Sun Ra's case, people who were curious about Sun Ra's mystique and aura, were finally able to listen to the music due to its ready availability and they liked what they heard. I always say that there is not one Sun Ra but many Sun Ras. Part of his genius was the ability to always move forward and transform his music. There are as many Sun Ra styles as Sun Ra albums. And it only makes sese that more people will be attracted to his more "mainstream" style. But I do not relate those albums to spiritual jazz and do not think that his increased popularity is a result of the spiritual jazz crowd suddenly "discovering" Sun Ra. I may be wrong of course, but it is a very interesting conversation to have about the Sun Ra "phenomena" of the past decade.

This is now sold. Thanks, trane123.

This is now pending sale.

Price reduced. Pics available upon request (please pm me an email address and I will email photos). The Complete Commodore Jazz Recordings, Volume 2 23 LP, Mosaic, 1989 Limited Edition of 2500 copies. Everything is in Excellent to Near Mint condition - outer box, 2 inner slipcases, records, booklet. This is a very nice copy. All records are flat and play fine. https://www.discogs.com/release/8460405-Various-The-Complete-Commodore-Jazz-Recordings-Volume-II $145 (+ $16 insured media mail shipping for this very heavy box set) U.S. shipping only. I can only ship on the weekend. Pay pal friends/family.

All 3 remaining records are now sold. Thanks.

I am going through my record collection today and can offer the following great Mosaic vinyl box set for sale. The Complete Commodore Jazz Recordings, Volume 2 23 LP, Mosaic, 1989 Limited Edition of 2500 copies. Everything is in Excellent to Near Mint condition - outer box, 2 inner slipcases, records, booklet. This is a very nice copy. All records are flat and play fine. https://www.discogs.com/release/8460405-Various-The-Complete-Commodore-Jazz-Recordings-Volume-II $150 (+ $19 insured media mail shipping for this very heavy box set) U.S. shipping only. I can only ship on the weekend. Pay pal friends/family.

This is now Sold.

The Ellington/Hodges is now sold. Prices reduced on the remaining 3 records. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake: From The River to the Ocean 2 LP, Thrill Jockey Records, 2002 Limited Edition colored vinyl. NM/NM. Played once. Fabulous music and great sound on this one. $31 Art Ensemble of Chicago: Tutankhamun ORG Music/Freedom, 2023 Limited Edition silver vinyl NM/NM. Played once. Still in original shrink wrap but shrink wrap open on side edge to retrieve vinyl. $20 Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray: New York Eye and Ear Control ESP-Disk, 2017 White vinyl Cover: VG+ due to crease to top right corner of front cover Vinyl: NM. Played once. $20 Shipping is $6 per record (+ $1 each additional record). 2lp counts as 2 records for shipping. U.S. shipping only. Pay pal friends/family.

Price reduced. Here is a nice copy of the recent Who Are You Super Deluxe box set at about half of the new price because this copy is missing the book. It has everything else - CDs, blu-ray, outer box. But no book. The Who – Who Are You 2025 Super Deluxe box set (7 CD/1 Blu-ray), missing book. It contains all 8 discs and the slipcover that holds them, plus the outer slipcover. Missing the book. All is in NM condition - the outer box is still in original shrink wrap with hype sticker attached but the shrink wrap has been opened on side edge to be able to retrieve contents. https://www.discogs.com/release/35497960-The-Who-Who-Are-You $63 (+ $7 media mail shipping) U.S. shipping only. Pay pal friends/family

Thanks for clarifying. That now makes sense. It definitely is very poorly worded.

Thanks.

Thanks. I am a big Art pepper fan and this looks very promising. However, the following (highlighted by me) has me a bit wary: "Everything Happens To Me: 1959 – Live At The Cellar utilizes a fly-on-the-wall approach that includes all the existing music as the recordings happened. As a result, the 4-CD / Digital set includes some incomplete tracks, but most songs run near to completion." I can understand if some songs may have not been taped and are missing but what does "most songs run near to completion" mean? That is odd wording and seems to imply that most songs are not complete (it says most songs only run "near to completion"). Can that be true? I hope not.

I added the discogs link below so you can see what material is included on the 7 CDs and 1 Blu-ray. Again, my copy lacks the book. Here is a nice copy of the recent Who Are You Super Deluxe box set at about half of the new price because this copy is missing the book. It has everything else - CDs, blu-ray, outer box. But no book. The Who – Who Are You 2025 Super Deluxe box set (7 CD/1 Blu-ray), missing book. It contains all 8 discs and the slipcover that holds them, plus the outer slipcover. Missing the book. All is in NM condition - the outer box is still in original shrink wrap with hype sticker attached but the shrink wrap has been opened on side edge to be able to retrieve contents. https://www.discogs.com/release/35497960-The-Who-Who-Are-You $65 (+ $7 media mail shipping) U.S. shipping only. Pay pal friends/family

Here is a nice copy of the recent Who Are You Super Deluxe box set at about half of the new price because this copy is missing the book. It has everything else - CDs, blu-ray, outer box. But no book. The Who – Who Are You 2025 Super Deluxe box set (7 CD/1 Blu-ray), missing book. It contains all 8 discs and the slipcover that holds them, plus the outer slipcover. Missing the book. All is in NM condition - the outer box is still in original shrink wrap with hype sticker attached but the shrink wrap has been opened on side edge to be able to retrieve contents. $65 (+ $7 media mail shipping) U.S. shipping only. Pay pal friends/family

Prices reduced. This is the lowest I can go on these. Thanks. Shipping is $6 per record (+ $1 each additional record). U.S. shipping only. I can only ship on the weekend. Pay pal friends/family. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake: From The River to the Ocean 2 LP, Thrill Jockey Records, 2002 Limited Edition colored vinyl. NM/NM. Played once. Fabulous music and great sound on this one. $32 Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Back to Back (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues) Verve Acoustic Sounds Series, 2024 NM/NM. Played once. Still in original clear outer sleeve with hype sticker attached. There are also two price stickers to clear outer sleeve. $21 Art Ensemble of Chicago: Tutankhamun ORG Music/Freedom, 2023 Limited Edition silver vinyl NM/NM. Played once. Still in original shrink wrap but shrink wrap open on side edge to retrieve vinyl. $21 Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray: New York Eye and Ear Control ESP-Disk, 2017 White vinyl Cover: VG+ due to crease to top right corner of front cover Vinyl: NM. Played once. $21

Happy New Year to all! I have been going through my record collection today and can offer the following 4 nice records for sale. Shipping is $6 per record (+ $1 each additional record). U.S. shipping only. Pay pal friends/family. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake: From The River to the Ocean 2 LP, Thrill Jockey Records, 2002 Limited Edition colored vinyl. NM/NM. Played once. Fabulous music and great sound on this one. $33 Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Back to Back (Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues) Verve Acoustic Sounds Series, 2024 NM/NM. Played once. Still in original clear outer sleeve with hype sticker attached. There are also two price stickers to clear outer sleeve. $22 Art Ensemble of Chicago: Tutankhamun ORG Music/Freedom, 2023 Limited Edition silver vinyl NM/NM. Played once. Still in original shrink wrap but shrink wrap open on side edge to retrieve vinyl. $22 Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray: New York Eye and Ear Control ESP-Disk, 2017 White vinyl Cover: VG+ due to crease to top right corner of front cover Vinyl: NM. Played once. $22

Have you tried looking them up on discogs? That would always be the first place to look to see if there are any for sale on there in order to get an indication of scarcity and value as well as to obtain more information about the particular tapes. I have never searched for reel-to-reel tapes on discogs but would assume that discogs would have RTR tapes on its site, in addition to the usual vinyl and CD offerings. Just a thought.

I agree about the Artisan series and that is why I decided to pass on the 2 Sun R reissues (Jazz By Sun Ra Vol 1 & Vol 2) when they were first put out as part of the SAM records Artisan series. As much as I like Sun Ra, I could not justify paying $150 for each album just because it had a premium sleeve and was limited to 500 copies. I was surprised and very happy when SAM Records decided to later release the 2 Sun Ra records in a regular (non-Artisan series) release with a non-premium sleeve and a price 1/3 of the price of the Artisan series release. The sleeve on the regular release is still very nice and the music sounds the same on the regular release as it does on the Artisan series release (same mastering cut by Kevin Gray).

The space limitations of vinyl records, limiting music to approx. 20-25 minutes per side, also has a lot to do with the lack of bonus tracks on new vinyl reissues. A lot of time there is no room for bonus tracks without adding a second record for the bonus material. An example of a recent Sun Ra reissue that did include bonus tracks is the 2024 Strange Strings Expanded Edition (2 lp). That is a wonderful album as well. I personally like to have the album as originally released on vinyl so the lack of bonus tracks does not bother me. I also buy the Sun Ra CD reissues if it is something I may want for the bonus tracks.

That is correct. No bonus tracks on the 2 Sam Records Sun Ra reissues...just the original albums. Most of the recent vinyl reissue series (Tone Poet, Blue Note Classic, OJC, Acoustic Sounds, Rhino HiFi, etc.) just reissue the original albums on vinyl without any bonus tracks. And Sam Records does the same.

I bought the Live at the Village Gate lp on RSD and finally got a chance to play it in full last night. The music and sound quality are great. A winner all around. It also includes a nice large booklet. One small error to note though...the hype sticker on the clear plastic outer sleeve state that this is a 1967 live show. That is wrong. The Village Gate is a 1963 live show. I knew that prior to buying it but it was funny to see the hype sticker state 1967 rather than 1963 (the other RSD Kirk release, Live at the Penthouse, is the 1967 show). The record cover fortunately lists the correct 1963 date. The wrong date is only on the hype sticker. An excellent Kirk live show, in a nice package, with very nice sound quality.

I recently received copies of Jazz By Sun Ra Vol 1 & Jazz By Sun Ra Vol 2. These are the recent reissues by SAM Records. SAM Records previously reissued these in a very expensive limited edition (500 copies) in a special sleeve. The recent reissue is limited to 1000 copies each but is only 1/3 of the price of the prior more limited edition. This is a fabulous release and belongs in any Sun Ra collection. SAM Records always does quality work and this is no exception. They even included a copy of Sun Ra's original booklet with Vol 1 in which Sun Ra explains his music philosophy and provides comments on the songs. It is a wonderful addition. Vol 2 also has a booklet but, since Volume 2 was never released by Transition, there was no original booklet for that one and the booklet that is included with Volume 2 is a recent addition, although still very nice. These are Sun Ra's first 2 albums (although Vol 2 came out later since the Transition label folded prior to its intended release date). The music is wonderful. Although early Sun Ra has a big band influence on many songs, you can also catch glimpses of the future Sun Ra in most songs, whether it be an emphasis on percussion or slightly altered stylizations (but of course not as "out there" as later Sun Ra). The sound quality is excellent as well. The hype sticker says that they were "remastered from the original master tapes cut by Kevin Gray" and he did an excellent job with the music. It sounds very fresh and clear and dynamic. I am a big Sun Ra fan and have a decent Sun Ra collection on CD and vinyl (unfortunately no original Saturn lps in my collection) and these two reissues are great additions to my, and any, Sun Ra collection. Highly recommended. edit: I just realized that this post probably belongs in the "Re-issues" thread, not the "New Releases" thread. I was going to delete it from here and post it over there. However, I could not find a way to delete it so here it stays for now.

The Mosaic Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions is now also SOLD. Thanks. Happy holidays and New Year to everyone!

I am not sure what this means. As you can see in the above thread, I purchased this from Kevn in December 2021. It is still in my collections and will never leave. It is one of my most treasured box sets.