Clunky

Gil Evans/Kikuchi is excellent. I wasn't aware that the CD offered more music.

Duke Jordan ------Trio--------(Vogue UK) 10 inch. Rec NYC 1954 for Vogue France by Henri Renaud Very fine set. no doubt this must be on that enormous Vogue CD boxset

I've been trying to arrange my 78 into some kind of order. I keep getting distracted because I fail to resist the urge to play them. Slow progress. This afternoon 2 great Fletcher Henderson sides Spanish Shawl/ Clap hands here comes... ((harmony) November 1925 I'm coming Virginia ----------(Parlophone / Columbia ) April 1927 Only 18 months between these dates but very different . The Harmony is acoustic where as the Columbia is an electric recording. Despite being acoustic the Harmony is very well recorded but pales in comparison to the later session. Both have Hawk , great arrangements , what more could ask for. The reverse of R2540 has Delirium - Charleston Chasers : Nichols N Mole also nice and like the reverse a master pressing.!

Monk-------- At the It Club----- ( LP4 Mosaic ) Gallop's Gallop just finished playing. A bit of a mess but it has that edge as a result. I had the French 2CD set which mirrored the original release. I miss it's editing but not it's sound, which was muddy. This Mosaic set really has as much of Monk's quartet as you might need. Great tunes, well recorded.

I was playing an LP of some of the Condon sides and struck how great they were ( regardless of sub genre) and how rubbish the transfers were . Tempted especially as I've not bought a Mosaic in some while .

Incredible sacrifices were made. I hope that the (relative) peace that Western Europe has enjoyed since extends eastward. I hope this is made more of priority by all sides.

slacker.... slacker.... I just don't feel comfortable spending big on a single title no how matter how good or rare it might be. Even if I could afford it the sense of guilt that the money should have been spent more wisely would more than likely take the shine off a rare "once in a life-time" acquisition. Of course that statement is full of contradictions given the total I've spent of LPs/CDs, 78s, books and live concerts. But that's just me....

I've just noticed that the Hawk Mosaic only contains half of the session. Low Flame/ Allen's Alley are missing. The former is all Hawkins and a very fine performance. I'm aware is not a "complete" set but it's omission is somewhat odd given the small number of tunes from that session.

Picked up a bunch of 78s in really excellent condition , four by Hawk including a pair of very nice sides from Paris with Grappelli/ Reinhardt and a pair by his 52nd St band with Mary Osbourne and Allen Eager. Great to have the opportunity to buy some good jazz 78s again.

I've not listened to Vols 3 or 4 in years. I recall thinking them pretty messy. I played both RCA albums last night with mixed reaction.

Duke Jordan--------Jazz laboratory series, Do it yourself Jazz Vol.1-------(Savoy) Side 1 one has the piano trio (Duke Jordan, Oscar P. & Klook)and is pretty pointless given that a soloist is obviously missing. The soloist in question is Gigi Gryce who is added on side 2. From the liners it appears that Gryce's contributions were overdubbed. If you ignore side 1 you have some nicely recorded and played hardbop. Gryce is superb playing in his earlier style which is less bluesy than it became as he moved to Prestige. Next up will be DIY Vol.2 which has Hall Overton on piano and Phil Woods on alto. A better combination would be the quartet sides on one LP. IIRC it has been issued in that way ( possibly on the original Signal edition)

He's a great pianist. Seen him once live and was really impressed by the scope of his vision coming from Teddy Wilson via Tristano and Monk. He swings, he stutters and of course has great humour like most of the Dutch players. His duo album with Han Benninnk is great . He's a very suitable replacement for Misha in the ICP.

Don't think this has been mentioned, the best late Bud for these ears. His playing is of the highest order with only a little to suggest of a decline in standards. Dexter Gordon's ------ Our man in Paris

Yes

The Mars / IHF/ Daisy sounds like a promising line up.

Happy Birthday Alex !!!!

Bennie Green--------Swings the blues-------(MVM) 1959 date on the cheapest of budget labels. Pressing makes most Jazzlands seem pristine. None the less, strong playing by Bennie, Jimmy Forrest and Sonny Clark. None of the band are credited on the label/cover.

Dexter Gordon ---------Our Man in Paris -----------(BN) Music Matters 33 This is still probably my favourite Dexter album. It was my first as I recall. This new edition is up to the usual MM standards and sounds fantastic. I'll be keeping the CD for the bonus track which i love as much as the rest of the album.

Likewise I've only got the 1958 in it's first CD incarnation. I'm game for all periods of MIles. As long as they keep coherence and quality going I'll surely continue to go for these Bootleg sets.

Used copies available later? considering the price of some jazz bios, I think the £18 asking price is pretty much a bargain given the work and skill that has clearly gone into it.

That's what I have

that Philips reissue of "100% proof" may have a poor cover but it sounds great. Way better than the domestic CD ( which I've long since ditched) Is that the CD that purports to be in stereo but is in fact mono? I remember there was some controversy about the sound of many of his re-issued CDs from Universal. I guess the masters could do with being given some TLC and reissued again. Wonder what are the chances of that happening.....? I don't recall if it was mono but it and the reissue of Mexican Green came in for particular criticism. The latter was especially poor having a sound akin to an AM broadcast. Proof as I recall sounded very compressed. I'm pretty tolerant of CDs which other abhor but these two were very poor issues with the added insult of microscopic liner notes. Not anyone's finest hour. edit : playing the CD of Mexican Green - stereo . I've perhaps been a bit harsh. Bass and treble seem ok. Something odd going on in the mid range - EQ rather than compression?? It's listenable.

Nicely produced set in good to very good sound. I can sort of understand the decision to make it a 3 Cd set as it emphasises the distinct identity of each recording session. This however means, disc One lasts just 20 minutes, disc two 44 minutes and disc three 46 minutes. Given the sensible pricing one can't really grumble but it's certainly a different strategy to normal.

This has the better cover but "Showboat" also on Time, is the better album. "Jazz Contemporary" is decent enough but I play "Showboat" much more frequently. I've an Oriole pressing of the latter, which is really not a great pressing. Just a bit fuzzy and unfocused.

that Philips reissue of "100% proof" may have a poor cover but it sounds great. Way better than the domestic CD ( which I've long since ditched)