Indestructible!

Good point, Shane, and very true. Still, why would it matter if they reissue these sessions, especially with superior masterings? We should be happy. I paid a collector's price for many of my cds, as did a lot of people on this board, I'm sure. I traded in my old copy of "Black Fire" for $4.50 trade credit on the new RVG. I had originally bought it for $23.00. In the end, I just wanted the music. The collectability aspect is less important. On the other hand, once these copy protection discs take over, then you'll find your older cds becoming more valuable as collectables. Hi Conn, Yeah, as I said, I'm more than glad the old Conn's and CC's are being revived... True Blue and One Step Beyond should ALWAYS stay in print! I guess my point is with Blue Note's marketing strategy more than anything else. The whole notion of "Limited Edition" is really rather bogus if you just keep re-releasing titles time after time. I don't buy music or CD's to make money off of them, so I don't really care if they get re-released again (thereby reducing the "value" of any CD's I might have)... although I'm sure there are more than a few speculators out there who are pissed that certain titles are being reissued again. Just don't insult me by telling me these are "Limited, Never Available Again" things if they show up every few years. Aside from that, I'm glad these are being reissued in the RVG series. Hopefully, one day, we'll see EVERY Blue Note session reissued on CD (and remain in print)! Wouldn't that be the day!!! Cheers, Shane

Thanks Kevin, This is a good list (I have them all, but may upgrade a couple)! Having said that, here's two observations: 1.) Never, never, EVER believe Blue Note when they throw around terms like "Limited Edition", or "Collector's Choice", or "Connoisseur's Series". Eventually, all titles will get reissued again (and again, and again)... Look at how many CC's and Conn's have been released in the past few RVG batches, even though they were initially "limited edition, and once they are sold out, they are gone!". For the record, I'm absolutely ecstatic that these titles are being reissued again for the next generation of jazz fans (or those who missed them the first time around)... but "Limited Edition"? My ass! 2.) Where on earth are the RVG's of Back at the Chicken Shack and Midnight Special??? These are absolute CLASSICS, and should've been upgraded in some of the first RVG's ever put out! It's about time that Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers is finally seing the RVG light of day. All in all, though, this is a good list!!! Cheers, Shane

Sent PM's to apaman and Big Al. Cheers, Shane

Up! No one looking for this??? Cheers, Shane

Hey Shawn, Yeah, I agree with you that Creed needed to go, and thankfully they did. But man, please don't call Creed an Emo band!!! They were sooooo far away from anything related to that genre.... Man, there is NO WAY my mind can even fathom or imagine Creed on Jade Tree Records!!! Cheers, Shane

SNAP! The Buddy Bolden cylinder..... Damn, he sounds just like Wynton! Cheers, Shane

Hi All, I've got an open (but still mint) copy of Tina Brooks - True Blue for trade or sale. This is the Connoisseur's Series CD released a number of years ago, with the wonderful bonus tracks included! I'd rather work a trade first, and I am looking for the following (CD's only - in order of preference): Jimmy Smith - Cherokee (Japan TOCJ) Jimmy Smith - Trio + L.D. (Japan TOCJ) George Adams - America James Blood Ulmer - America, Do You Remember The Love? Yusef Lateef - Before Dawn (Verve Elite) Or, make another offer you think would work! I am looking for a few other Verve Elites as well (Lalo Schifrin, Meade Lux Lewis, Louis Bellson, Jack Teagarden), and I pretty much dig any of "The Soul Jazz Collection" that Victor Japan put out a number of years ago (VICJ). If none of these come through, I would be willing to sell the disc... any reasonable offer would of course be considered. I'll wait a bit first to see if a trade comes through before I sell, though.... Just PM me! Cheers, Shane

A Great Big.... HELL YEAH!!!! Cheers, Shane

Hi All, And two more Vee-Jay sets go down today (one of each). I also decided to get the Duke Pearson Select based on Conn's recommendation! Man, I'm thinking these Vee-Jay sets will be gone SOON! Cheers, Shane

Happy Birthday Charlie! And congratulations for making it 18 years without driving your old man to a mental institution! Cheers, Shane

Blind Killer Brown! Damn, I like that.... wonder if I'm any relation to Charlie Brown? You just know that with that big ol' round bald head of his, and the abuse he took as a child, that at some point in his life he went on a major killing spree! Wonder why Schultz never drew that up??? You know Lucy would be the first to go....... Cheers, Shane

Hey Noj, Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you, but...... there were a few sets where Bobby and McCoy didn't sell out when they played together here in February. And, I have seen them play several separate gigs where the house wasn't packed. In fact, I remember seeing Hutch one night at Catalina's where he played to 15 of us. Los Angeles always confuses me... just when I get pissed off about the lack of support (e.g., being part of an "audience" of 10 people when Andrew Hill played the Jazz Bakery a couple of months ago, and even less when Sam Rivers played one night at the same venue), I'll see an absolutely packed audience every now and then which restores my faith in the city (like Hutch and McCoy at Catalina's, Wayne Shoter at USC, the Vandermark 5 at Rocco's, or even Joseph Jarman at the MAK Center). I'm hoping that Horace Silver decides to play here soon! It pains me to know that I live so close to the guy, but have never had a chance to see him play live! Cheers, Shane

Randy, Please accept my sincerest condolences. Your mother sounded like a person I would have loved to have met. Please know you have an entire community of bothers and sisters here to help you anytime you need it. Shane

Quite Rightly!!!

Yeah Jim! Congrats, and enjoy the ride!!! Cheers, Shane

Hey, Hey, HEY!!! NO baiting earthquakes, ya hear! I teach here at Cal State Northridge, which was pretty much leveled in the 1994 Northridge quake... 57 people in the surrounding community died... the campus was a complete mess... thankfully the quake occurred early in the morning and school was not in session, otherwise it could've been real nasty around here. It's amazing what 10 years can do though... the FEMA money has pretty much built us a brand new campus, and the place looks great! Oh yeah, I don't even notice any of those tremors we constantly get either (I sleep right through 'em)... but I'd rather not feel another 6.7, if you know what I mean! Cheers, Shane And, oh yes..... HAIL ATLANTIS!!!!

Hi Conn, Yeah, VERY few cats made any money at all from playing ska and rocksteady after reggae took hold. A lot of early ska/rocksteady performers were pretty much the equivalent of "one-hit wonders" and faded away very quickly. Of the few that I know/have heard of, they mostly ended up driving cabs, tending bar, etc... pretty much the types of gigs I expect most jazz musicians also ended up in after not being able to live as a musician. One damn cool thing about living in New York... Coxone Dodd has a place in Brooklyn, and I'll be damned if that guy doesn't know pretty much everything there is to know about the Jamaican music scence since the 50's. What an absolute font of information!!! If ever there was a need for an autobiography, Sir Coxone's is it! His life story actually reminds me of Alfred Lion's in many ways (although I unfortunately never had a chance to meet Mr. Lion). Cheers, Shane

Ha! Sir L.S. Biggs? Can't be no one other than Ellis Biggs!!! B) Keep 'em coming man! I'm diggin' the hell out of these! Cheers, Shane

Hi Conn, Damn, that's some good shit right there! I wish I could've heard that music live back in the day! Never heard of "Sir George Munn", though... BTW, some of the names I posted are still going strong (e.g., Toots, Skatalites), while others have either passed on or dropped out of the music scene altogether. Obviously, in present day America, this music is about as popular with the populace as jazz from the 60's is! If anything, the average American will know who Bob Marley is, but that's about it. It's a shame really... Please post any more invites you find in your collection!!! Cheers, Shane P.S. -- The "wash wash" was basically just a modified version of the jerk/the skank/etc.... mostly coming out of the US soul dances of the 50's, early 60's. Ah hell man, why I am telling you this... you were there, you saw it, you lived it!!! I am green with envy, man!

Hi All, Hey, great topic Brandon! I am a HUGE fan of all that is 1960's Jamaican music, especially ska and rocksteady. I've got TONS of this stuff! When I lived in New York, I used to have a radio show devoted to this era of music... the show was called "The Six and Seven Books of Ska". The title was obviously "borrowed" from my man Toots Hibbert, and he laughed his ass off when he found out about it! He gave me his blessing to use it, though, so I was eternally grateful! LAL, my advice for an introduction to the SKA is to get anything by the Skatalites (and other related titles by members of the Skatalites, including Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Jackie Mittoo, Lester Sterling, Lloyd Brevitt, Baba Brooks). Also, most everything by the following acts is typically good: the Maytals (often issued as Toots & the Maytals), Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Lord Tanamo, Jackie Opel, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Desmond Dekker, Justin Hinds & the Dominos, and many more. Those Trojan box sets are a hell of a deal and a good introduction to the music..... but if you are a completist (as I am, unfortunately), they will just lead you down the path of financial ruin! Other labels to check out with confidence... Studio One, Treasure Isle, Blood and Fire, and also check out an 8-CD series of reissues of Top Deck material (Justin Yap's original label... his recording of the Skatalites "Ska-Bo-Da-Ba" session is an absolute classic!). Oh yeah, one other label to check out with absolute confidence is Heartbeat Records... their reissuing of 60's ska/rocksteady/reggae is unmatched! Since I don't have my radio show anymore, I miss all those promos they used to send me! What a great label... Cheers, Shane P.S. -- If there's any consolation to moving out here to Los Angeles, I have to admit that there is a damn good ska scene in this city! Plus, it's home to THE best American ska/rocksteady group... the newly reformed HEPCAT!!! (with much apologies to my friends in the SLACKERS, who come in a very close second!)

Hi Allan, I'm glad you're enjoying the McGhee/Farlow trade... glad I could send it your way! I personally love all six of the 10" series CD's. Some of them are more favored than others (the McGhee's are at the top of the list for me, followed by the Foster date), but I'm glad as hell that Blue Note put these out. Now, if there's anyway we could convince them to put out more of the 5000 series dates, I'd be a happy man... especially the two "West Coast" volumes! I'm also with Brownie on wanting to see the Urbie Green reissued someday! Cheers, Shane

First Concert? The Dead Kennedys in 1984, at the McEwan Hall Ballroom in Calgary. DAMN GOOD show! The largest and scariest pit I think I still have ever seen in the past 20 years!!! Cheers, Shane

Hi SS1, Well, actually..... I have. See, Ron is my neighbor. I am NOT kidding about this! He lives in the same building I do here in Los Angeles. Funny story about the first time I met him... I had just moved into my place, and was just relaxing in the (huge) hot tub this place has when Ron and his girlfriend dropped by for a soak. Imagine my surprise when I look up and see "the Hedgehog" climbing into the hot tub! I was half expecting the porn music to start up in the background somewhere (a-chick-a-wa-wa)! He's actually a decent guy, and there's no wild-n-crazy porn going on 24 hours a day in the building like most people think there would be....... though I keep waiting for it! Cheers, Shane

How do you know? Do you just call up Mosaic and ask them? Hi All, A quick update... just ordered a set at Mosaic, and the numbers remaining for the following sets (as of Friday the 19th, 3:30 pm Eastern) are: 120 - Tristano/Konitz/Marsh 118 - Atlantic New Orleans My advice would be to hurry up on the T/K/M set... I doubt it will last much beyond next week! I hope this helps... don't make Soulstation post that picture of "The Procrastinator" in reference to you! Cheers, Shane

Hi All, As someone who volunteers from time to time at KKJZ, I can't tell you how saddened I am to have heard about Chuck's passing. He was a great guy, and all my interactions with him were enlightening and positive. Thanks for all the wonderful memories, Chuck! You will be greatly missed! Shane