Uncle Skid

Oh yeah?? We had Japanese for dinner, and also got to see Cedar Walton! My wife, son, daughter and I all went to Chicago for the day -- checked out the Shedd Aquarium, went to the Jazz Showcase, and ate some teriffic sushi. Didn't get to the Jazz Record Mart before they closed for the day, but that's OK as that surely saved me some $$$!

I'm really glad I ordered my copy before it went OOP. I've been listening to it quite a bit in the last few weeks, and it just keeps getting better and better. Disc #4 ("The Cat Walk" and "Royal Flush") is my current favorite.

My 14-year old son and I recently rented a few of the old Beavis and Butthead videos. His mother wasn't amused, but we were laughing our asses off! A great father-son bonding experience!

Didja get the memo -- free pizza shooters and extreme fajitas, too!!

Andrew Hill 63-66, the Compulsion!!!!! session.

Thanks for posting those, Mark. I always look forward to seeing your photographs, but they always make me regret not making the road trip to Chicago! Maybe next Sunday -- Cedar Walton!

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Slightly off-topic, but I'm fascinated by how quickly prices go up on EBay for recently OOP Mosaics. I can understand those that have been gone for a long time (Hill, Young, etc), but paying a premium for something that went OOP only months earlier? Did people suddenly become huge Morgan/Shorter or Chambers/Kelly fans, or is it just speculation that prices will rise even more in the future? People paying full-price (or more!) for still-in-print Mosaics and Selects makes me wonder if they just aren't aware that they can be purchased direct. I agree with wesbed's point that Mosaic is really under no obligation to make sure long-term customers get any special treatment, but it sure is nice that they appear to be trying!

Good question, Ron! I was wondering how they knew as well.

My copy arrived today - thanks, Chuck!! Like the music, the booklet is also fantastic! I really enojoy reading all of the great historical information, as with the Uptown Mingus release.

Is it JUDGMENT or JUDGEMENT??? Enquiring Andrew Hill fans want to know! (or is it inquiring??)

That's awesome! I also placed my order on Thursday, but it was delivered today (Tuesday). It cost $10 in shipping for a $103 order. The lack of shipping options (ground, 2nd day, UPS/FedEx, etc) is sometimes aggravating, but who I am kidding -- when I place an order, I WANT IT NOW!!!

I'd cry like a little girl if I had to wait 6-10 weeks for a Mosaic order! I guess we're a little spoiled here, used to 1-2 days with DHL.

Mine just arrived a few hours ago -- and so far, I'm feeling the same way! My copy of Bird/Diz Town Hall just arrived today as well. Dang, it feels like Christmas up in here!

Oops! It was Ju Ju, not Night Dreamer. That explains why there was no BMG markings on that one! Sorry about that. Incidentally, I got that one (Ju Ju) for free. When it was first in the queue, I got a message saying it was backordered. They shipped the second item in the queue instead. I received Ju Ju a couple of days later, so I just assumed that I would be charged another $5.99. No big deal. Over a week later, I get an email from them saying that it was a mistake (duh), and that they wanted me to send it back. Now it's the next item in my queue, and it's due to ship fairly soon. I write back and ask them to just charge me for it, as it was really silly to ship it back and then receive a 2nd copy a week later. Well, they said they couldn't do that, so I needed to send it back immediately. I then suggested that they just charge me for the upcoming queue shipment, but keep the CD. They couldn't handle that, either. By now, I was getting a little frustrated, so I gave up. I wrote back and told them I was going to ship it back, at their cost. I also informed them that it had already been opened, and that I expected no additional charges for an opened return. End of long story -- they said just keep it, with their compliments.

The only pattern I've noticed is that the box sets don't have any BMG markings. But, since my sample size is only two (Miles/Seven Steps and Coltrane/Heavyweight Champion), I wouldn't be surprised if there are exceptions to that rule. Of the three RVGs I've purchased from them, two of them had "Mfg. for BMG Direct" on the back. The one that didn't was a more recent RVG -- Wayne Shorter "Night Dreamer".

Dizzy Reece - Mosaic Select, Disc II. I've had this one for a couple of months now, and never really "got" it until just recently. This is some really great, swingin' stuff! "Blues In Trinity" may be the more well-known recording, but I'm also really enjoying the music from "Star Bright": Reece, Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor

marcello - how is it? I kind of hate to admit it, but I really like Hazeltine's version of "The Look of Love" on Manhattan Autumn. I'll just blame it on my parents for playing too much Bacharach when I was young and impressionable!

Jim, Have you read "An Unsung Cat : The Life and Music of Warne Marsh" (Safford Chamberlain)? If so, how does it compare? Is OUT OF NOWHERE a new book? Thanks, Mark

The "Lo-Fi Version" is interesting -- is that a new feature, too?

Turns out, yes. Yes they can.

Sugar Bush Squirrel® - "The World's Most Photographed (and most patriotic) Squirrel

I certainly don't -- just ask Big Al about my taste in 80's hair bands!! B-)

Here's something I've never seen before -- I've received four of these in the last two days, each one slightly different: Subject: Notice:***Your email account will be suspended*** To safeguard your email account from possible termination, please see the attached file. Subject: Notice: **Last Warning** We have suspended some of your email services, to resolve the problem you should read the attached document. Subject: *IMPORTANT* Your Account Has Been Locked Follow the instructions in the attachment. All of these have attachments, which I'm sure include some sort of worm or virus. The "FROM" addresses have all been spoofed as well: mail@, webmaster@, and service@ from a domain that I own. Nice.

Spyro Gyra Groupies!!