GA Russell

Guy, this 1957 set has two alternates never before released, Crepuscule With Nellie and Abide With Me. There is also one false start and one breakdown (which in my opinion don't add anything to the package) which I am unaware of having been released before, but are not labeled as previously unreleased. There is also a jam called Blues For Tomorrow , without Monk, which is released in stereo for the first time.

Brad, I see that CD Universe has this for $14.89. Of course, you still have to add shipping to that. But the K2s of both albums are available from Concord in their sale for $7.98 each, if that's all you buy. Again, plus shipping.

While I was gone away for the week, this has been the AOTW! Oh, well! Does anyone have any comments about the two albums? I decided to take Chuck up on his insistence that the K2 mono is the cat's meow, and I ordered it yesterday for three bucks. When I was in college, Monk was my favorite. But over the years I'm not sure whether I have just gotten tired of his style or else maybe I have heard the same songs so often that I don't appreciate them anymore. I listened to Disc One of this set, which is mostly alternate takes, while I was driving back and forth to and from Charlotte. I found that I enjoyed the recordings in the car more than I have at home.

Daniel Santiago - On the Way Uh oh. I'm concerned that Adventure Music might be losing its way. The first five albums in this thread I would give four or five stars. But this new one by Daniel Santiago and the last one I can't give more than two stars. Like Marcos Amorim, Daniel Santiago is an acoustic guitarist backed by bass and drums. On the Way has a lot in common with the Amorim. It's not jazz, bossa nova or samba. There isn't the character in the music which makes me think of South America. The sound of the guitar is lush, but the music being played isn't very interesting. The songs here are a little more interesting than those of the Amorim, but not enough to recommend this. There are a lot of people in America who would like this music, but not us.

Having spent $160. on the Concord sale, I think it would be appropriate to drop out of Your Music for a while. It's only $6 a month, and if the hassle is too great I won't. There isn't anything in my queue that I'm pining for, but I will want to have it at my disposal when the time comes to buy Christmas presents. So I wonder, has anyone here quit and rejoined? Do they insist that you use a second email address to rejoin? I would find it hard to believe that they would turn down someone who wants to be a customer. However, if you can quit and rejoin anytime you want, the subscription model doesn't really hold water, does it? So I'd be interested in the experience of the board members in this regard.

Chuck, again you're making me laugh! I'm late to this party. I spent the week in Charlotte on business, and just got home this evening. So after spending three hours listening to a Canadian league game on Sirius (the Ticats won), I placed an order for 33 plus the Evans box. I am being charged the fifteen dollars for FedEx. It will be fine with me if any number of mine are backordered. I won't have time to listen to them all anyway. In keeping with the spirit, I ordered a few compilations that look interesting - The Jazz Giants Play Sammy Cahn, that sort of thing.

Happy Birthday!

I'm not sure that "annoying" is the word I'd use for Spaulding, but I can't think of an album he's on that I've thought was special. I came to Blue Note about 1967, and for the next few years it seemed that all of their records consisted of five of a posse of fifteen label-contracted musicians, plus James Spaulding on flute. Blue Note didn't impress me as a label. I was surprised years later when I read a comment of Michael Cuscuna in a Mosaic flyer that he considered Blue Note to be special among jazz labels. Now I know what Cuscuna was talking about, although I still prefer 50s Prestige to 50s Blue Note. Anyway, I don't blame Spaulding; it's not like he ruined the records for me. But as I say, I don't consider his presence on an album to be a great asset.

I've been looking for Concord items at Your Music. All of the Fantasy titles I was aware of have been deleted. However, I find two Manhattan Transfer Telarc albums still available.

This month's pick is Hank Mobley - Soul Station. I feel like I'm the last person here to get this. It's been in my queue since a I joined a year and a half ago, and now it's finally risen to the top. I'm not a big fan of Mobley's, but I gather that many of you here consider Soul Station to be his best work. So I thought that I would be fair to the guy and give his best album a listen rather than judge him without hearing it.

Sounds exciting! Looking forward to hearing it!

Happy Birthday!

MG, Groucho Marx hosted a quiz show called You Bet Your Life, which was a little bit of quiz with a whole lot of Groucho comments. If the contestants didn't win any money, he would offer them a consolation prize if they could answer an obvious question. Others that come to mind are: What do you shoot with an elephant gun? What was the occupation of the famous painter Rembrandt? (I remember the contestants having a problem with that one!)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Paul, you beat me to it! I only knew about Grant's wife because it was a question once on College Bowl with Allen Ludden. Remember that show? It was popular on Sunday afternoons before pro football became popular. For those too young to remember, it was the basis of the high school Prep Quiz Bowls that became popular later. Speaking of pro football, not long ago I was listening to a tape of a 1956 radio show called X Minus One, a science fiction show. At the close, the announcer said, "Listen Sunday to the pro football championship game, right here on NBC!" I was struck by the fact that there was no mention of the NFL, just "pro football". edit for typo

Happy Independence Day! Today I've opened up a Beach Boys album, 20/20, to celebrate being an American!

Here's how I rank them: 1) Sonny Rollins - Definite recommend if you don't have Silver City and aren't going to get it. 2) Joe Henderson - Definite recommend, even if I don't like the last track. 3) McCoy Tyner - Lots of excellent music, but not a cohesive album. 4) Jimmy Smith - He's having a good time, but the music's not memorable. 5) Jimmy Scott - It's good, but it doesn't excite me.

This week a new Hi-Lo's set will be issued on the Jasmine label. It's called Musical Thrill. I can't find it at CD Universe, but Amazon has it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FVQPV...2472843?ie=UTF8 It appears to be a 2-CD set of 50 songs, with a list price of only $17.99! I don't recognize many of the recordings, but the ones I do are all Spotlite or Trend, I think, and are owned by Universal now. I may get this one. If anyone picks this up, let us know what you think!

Milestone Profiles Bonus Disc Each of the Profiles discs comes with the same Bonus Disc. The eight artists are listed above in post #18. As you can see, each of the five artists profiled is included in the Bonus Disc along with three other artists. None of the songs on the Bonus Disc are also included in the Profiles discs. The Bonus Disc consists of 8 songs, totalling 44:58. Each of the bonus discs that came with the Prestige Profiles series had a theme. For example, the bonus disc that came with the Red Garland profile featured pianists. But this Bonus Disc has no theme. This is the sort of thing you used to see at Borders a few years ago for $1.99. Its primary purpose is to introduce the novice to the wide variety of acts featured on the label. The selections are pretty disparate. There aren't going to be many people in America who like all of them. For example, there is McCoy Tyner banging away, Flora Purim singing Dindi, and Hank Crawford with Jimmy McGriff and their soul jazz. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and the price is right - it's free! But for seasoned jazz fans like board members here, the Bonus Disc is not a reason to buy the Profile. I can imagine myself putting it on from time to time. If I ever burn a copy of a Profile for the car, I will add the extra selection contained on the Bonus Disc.

It looks like Concord/Fantasy's relationship with BMG/Your Music is history. Six weeks ago I put the Prestige John Coltrane Plays For Lovers in my queue, and two weeks later I received an email saying that if I wanted it I would have to buy it NOW. (Which I did.) Now I see that all Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans Fantasy/OJCs are no longer listed. So it looks like that party is over.

Congratulations Jim!

Happy Birthday!

Jimmy Scott - Milestone Profiles Steve Allen defined a jazz singer to be one who either sings jazz or sings in front of a jazz band. Jimmy Scott is in the latter category. This CD has 11 songs, all standards, totalling 57:39. The liner notes list 4 Milestone CDs currently available. The 11 songs are from the 4 CDs. The time frame is 2000-2001. The sidemen are some famous names (including Hank Crawford, Cyrus Chestnut, George Mraz, Grady Tate, Eric Alexander, Joe Beck, Renee Rosnes, Lewis Nash, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Willis and David "Fathead" Newman), but nobody does anything particularly interesting here. I don't find any of the songs to be objectionable, but I don't find anything here to get excited about either. If you are curious about Jimmy Scott, this might be the way to go. Its price is low and you get the free bonus disc. If you're not curious about Scott, this one isn't essential.

Topping this for the AOTW. Monk's Music and With John Coltrane - What say you?