six string

Agreed. The technology would only work for me if I didn't miss the other musicians. If the machine reminds me throughout the program that I'm hearing a machine then it spoils it for me. It's like playing along with records.

Ditto on recomending Mark's work. Quality work and fast and easy transaction.

Willis Jackson's Cookin' Sherry (Prestige) Mono Bergenfield, NJ pressing

It might be that his tinitus prevents him from playing in those louder edgier formats. I know that one of the shows I saw had him surrounded by plexi-glass or other clear barrier to shield him from the other instruments. If he has to play quieter music, it's ok with me. It fills a niche for me and I still have his older recordings anytime I want to hear his edgy side.

Ok, so Haden has softened a little from his early days with Ornette but I love this newish phase of his if you can call it that on the Naim label. His duo albums with John Taylor, Chris Anderson and Christian Esconde are beautiful albums. I even like the duo album he did with Pat Metheny, Beyond the Missouri Sky. With these quieter, less busy programs I can really appreciate his tone, rhythm and choice of notes in a way that I wasn't always able to do with louder quartets. Don't get me wrong, I do like his older stuff too but it's nice to have someone like him playing music I can slowly wake up too with my cup of joe or play during dinner without resorting to sonic wallpaper. The Metheny album isn't on Naim but I tossed it into the mix because of its simiilarity. Yesterday I picked up the cd version of his Private Collection, two concerts a friend recorded with a quartet (Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent and Billy Higgins or Paul Motian on drums. I was surprised to read in the liner notes that it was originally released in 1994. I don't recall ever hearing about it myself. I haven't played it yet because I wanted to wait until I could listen to a complete disc without interuptions. Hopefully that will be tonight. Any fans or thoughts on these?

Leroy Walks! - Leroy Vinnegar (Contemporary) reissue w/Carl Perkins on piano! There isn't enough Carl Perkins on vinyl.

McCoy Tyner's Atlantis (Milestone) followed by Horace Silver's Silver Blue (Epic) Mono Yellow and black label

Reeds and Deeds - RRK (Mercurey) Dutch pressing

To the Ivy League From Nat - Nat Adderley (Emarcy) Mono Blue label with trumpet player followed by Passin' Thru - Chico Hamilton Quintet (Phillips) Stereo It's one of those wierd American Impulse covers w/Dutch pressing from the 60s.

Cecil Payne's Zodiac on Strata East. Thanks again Dan!

Is that the one on 20th near Irving? Yup. I'll have to remember that one. I didn't know about it. I may be coming into SF Friday or Saturday. I'll make an effort to stop in and check it out.

Two lps Steve Coleman's Sine Die (Pangaea) Custom pressed audiophile version Bob Dylan's New Morning (Columbia) I haven't heard this since the 70s. Cd The Band's Stage Fright (remastered version) I just finished reading Levon Helm's This Wheel's On Fire so I'm in a big bad Band mood and for some reason I never bought this one when it came out.

One would think that if it's not possible now, someone should be working on making d/l music the same quality as mfgrd cds. Unless the industry is just waiting on us old farts to shut up and die. I would be ok with d/l music if everyone could raise their bar a little and make it consistent across the boards. Most sights that offer d/l music are compressed mp3s. I'm never going to buy those. With all the ipods out there full of mp3s I don't see any pressure on the music industry to change their format. If people stopped buying mp3s and complained I'm sure the industry would change their tune. It's hard to believe that after all this writing on the wall that the music industry is still pretty much lagging behind the technology and trying to keep everything status quo.

When was that, six string? The last time I remember there being a jazz-only record shop in Paris--other than second-hand, that is--was back in the eighties when there was a shop called Pannonica on the rue Racine, near the Odéon theater. I think they were gone before the CD age arrived. It was June 1998. I was Paris for less than 24 hours so I don't have a lot of information about location other than my friend was staying in the Latin Quarter and we walked to this record store. It was a small shop and I seem to recall that the building itself was just the shop. It wasn't part of a larger building. I know this doesn't help but I wasn't paying that close attention to those kinds of things that day. The shop definitely had cds as well as lps. Now that I think about it, it might be possible that it wasn't all jazz. It was at least predominantly jazz. It was such a small shop and all I remember seeing was jazz, but it's possible that I have overstated that point.

I went into R5 (Russ Solomon's one yr old store that rose from the ashes of Tower) last Friday to buy a cd I knew they had and there were less than ten people in the store and this was at 10:30 in the morning. Forget about opening at 6am with people lined up around the block to get in, there was practically no one there. Of course they had a 10% off everything sale going on and compared to some of the big chain stores that do the big price reductions, I'm sure that there were cheaper places to buy music that day. On that same day I called Concord Music's 800 number to check on an order that seemed a little late to me and I got a recorded message that said they were closed through the entire weekend. So they didn't even have one person there to check on an order's status and their website didn't allow me to do it either. That seemed a little odd, but if they aren't selling, I guess there's no reason to keep someone on the payroll to watch the clock.

One of my favorite record shop and tourist experiences ever was in Paris. I had been in Avignon all week and a friend had been staying in Paris in the Latin Quarter during the same time. I took the train to Paris to stay overnight with him before flying out the next day together. He took me to a shop that only sold jazz but I can't remember the name of the shop. Not only was the owner happy and friendly but unknown to us, he spoke to a friend on the phone who arrived with four glasses of Pouilly Fume'. The friend had been a jazz club owner at one time and the four of us had some wonderful conversation about our favorite shows, albums, artists, etc. When we got ready to leave, the owner not only recomended a restaurant, he called the place to let them know we were coming. So where are those snotty Parisians I've heard so much about?

My experience in record shops of pretty limited interaction - everyone is burrowing away looking for their own choice of CDs, no different than people hunting down their provisions in a supermarket. Yes, I've known shops where I've got to know the owner and had a nice chat - but it's hardly the norm for most buyers. You are also forgetting that by purchasing online rather han trawling the record stores we might be reducing isolation and increasing social interaction. The time liberated from hunting for records can be used reconnecting with family and friends. I don't spend a fraction of the time searching for CDs online than I used to spend on a trip to town on a purchasing hunt. Two good points.

I feel pretty lucky having four used record stores in town plus R5 (raised from the ashes of Tower) is now carrying new vinyl, although less than the other stores. I still buy most of my music at brick and mortar stores. Usually when I buy something on line, it's something difficult to find or not likely to be carried in town. If it's real hard to track down, you'll probably find it quicker on line than searching the bins in a record store. That's an advantage of on line, but it's a little disappointing when you find something on line and then you have to wait a week or so to get it delivered. Kind of kills the buzz of discovery. I also enjoy the experience of talking to people at the store. I'm either on a first name basis or at least recognized when I go to the local stores. One of the local owners is also into microbrewed beers and we frequently have conversations of recently tasted ales, etc. and I sometimes bring in a bottle of something new to give to the owner. On Sunday evenings this guy will sometimes close the shop at the end of the day and open some interesting beers for his "select" customers to sample behind locked doors. You won't get that experience on line. I guess I do a bit of socializing during my hunter/gathering, not only with records but other things too. It will sound grumpy but I think people should interact with their fellow humans and not live in a bunker and eat soylent green. We have become so isolated in many ways.

The Wire is a great classic, one of the best tv series of all time. The Shield is just as complex but faster . rougher and with more action. It 's about how power , police power, corrupts and how ruthlessness in crime fighting turns the cops into monsters. It's quite roughly made with a lot of cinema verite style camerawork that is rather jarring at times. I think it'll take some adjusting to (for me), much like The Wire, but it appears to be well done.

John Phillips (not Sousa) - eponymous solo album (Dunhill) Warlok label.

Paul Horn = Altura Do Sol (Epic) Orange "Bullseye" Stereo

Strange coincidence is that I watched the pilot last night for the first time. I finished The Wire a month ago and I've been searching for a replacement. The ending of the pilot, while not surprising in some ways was still a bit of a shock. It's quite a difference between The Wire and The Shield due to their locations. The Shield has a higher energy feel to it. It may take some adjusting but I'm getting it from Netflix, so I have all the time in the world. I assume you watched The Wire too. Does The Shield have a similar complexity to it? The characters and the many shades of grey in the stories is what drew me into The Wire.

Agreed. These days I listen to them more than other similar bands, Fairport, Steeleye Span, etc. Their first album is still my favorite of all of them (that I've heard). WP Jack Wilson's Brazilian Mancini (Vault) Stereo NP Harold Vick's Caribbean Suite (RCA)black label mono Thanks Dan!

I read this too late though no harm to my computer. By strange coincidence I bought some records from a board member and from Concord records within 24 hrs and a few days before I expected the packages I opened my email and there were two emails with subjects USPS tracking number #######. I thought nothing of it and clicked on the first one and got a message from my protection software that there was a trojan bug in it and it had been quarantined. I deleted both emails off my computer and so far everything seems fine. Close call? I hope so. If I hadn't bought those items I would have been suspicious, so it was just a coincidence. I should have been more wary since I had only been communicating with the board member through this site and didn't give him my email address. So yeah, it's for real folks. Be careful.

I picked up Bennie's new one, Early Reflections a few weeks ago and I can't stop playing it. It is one of the best "new" releases I've heard in a long time. He does a new version of The Jewel in the Lotus which is good. Overall it's a softer, more, dare I say reflective sound, but boring it isn't. The simpatico of the musicians, a young Polish group really makes the album special. Everyone has big ears on this recording and it shows. If you like The Jewel of the Lotus album, I highly recomend this one.