GregK

I got the reissue. Neither album is as good as I remembered; the first one sounds especially dated. It just reeks of that late 80s, Jeff Lynne sounds that I find smothering. I always thought that Lynne never fit with the rest of them as a performer or writer, but he saw this as his chance for greatness and inserted himself into the group. And then drenched everything in his "sound". But it is nice to hear (and see, in the very good documentary on the DVD) how happy George Harrison seems. At least he was having fun!

The book (and it's a hardcover book, not a "booklet") in this set is very informative. I agree, it is a great box set.

This looks like a good deal: http://ssl.adhost.com/jazzloft/baskets/pos.cfm?cd=5162

which one is the Fripp version? I would select that one.

The Fontella Bass with the Art Ensemble is good, a little different from their usual sound (more funky? I'm not sure how to describe it), not as good as Phase One. The Certain Blacks title is probably not as good as either of the other two Art Ensemble titles in this series

based on the discussions of it at the Hoffman forum (something like 5 threads on it!), you'd think it's the greatest record ever released in the history of music!

I like the Origin box set. Good acoustic jazz.

I thought he was on Pi

I'd throw Gob Iron/ Anders Parker in there too, to keep with the folk-ish theme.

I haven't been in there in almost a year, but I don't recall seeing that cover. I like Wazoo because they give good value for trade-ins; I paid about $45 cash for the Albert Ayler box set 2 years ago after making up the rest of the cost in trades, and I wasn't really selling anything rare or special. Schoolkids will be sorely missed. Since 2000 downtown Ann Arbor will have lost Tower Records, Harmony House (now an ice cream shop), Discount Records (now one of many sandwich shops in the area), SKR (the Schoolkids jazz and classical shop), and now Schoolkids. I doubt the others will last much longer.

I'd like to get this eventually.

Do tell about the shops in Ann Arbor! I have relatives who live there and I'm going to visit them in a couple weeks... Well, get here before the end of July, because the best indie shop will be closing at the end of that month. Schoolkids Records, which was forced 9 or 10 years ago to close their storefront shop and move into the basement of an outdoor clothing store (Bivouac), so you have to go through that store and down their stairs to get to it. But he is now forced to close completely, so he is selling off all stock at 5-20% off; lots of new (very little used titles) mainstream rock and jazz and even more harder to find stuff. And he recently expanded the vinyl section, so all of that is going too. That's on State St, in the Bivouac store. a Few doors down from that is Grand Wazoo, which sells used and new, rock and jazz, CDs and vinyl. And on Liberty is Encore, which has a huge selection of used everything. You can literally spend hours browsing through their stacks and shelves. A few blocks west on Liberty is Underground Sounds, which sells new and used CDs and vinyl also, but it's probably 90% rock (I saw a few Coltrane, Miles and Sun Ra vinyl there recently, but that's rare). There is also Overture Audio on Main St which sells audiophile equipment and vinyl reissues, but they are pretty expensive and a limited selection. Finally there is PJs on Packard, above the Subway shop, another used and new CD and vinyl shop that manages to squeeze a huge selection in a tiny space. They are a little higher-priced than the others but have a wide, varied selection that you probably can't find elsewhere in the area. The staff at all of these places are very knowledgeable about music; I've frequently had to cut off conversations with them to get back to the parking meter before it ran out.

I wonder if that's the same model as Gene Rayburn's

Where exactly are you going? There's some good shops in Ann Arbor, but I don't know anything about places closer to Detroit

What about this one? Anthony Braxton & Milo Fine Shadow Company (2004) Emanem 4113

Not sure why the Embassy would be so bad- it is very close (5-10 min walk) to Kerrytown. From the outside it looks like an older building, but I don't know much about it other than that it is one of the only places to stay downtown that isn't University related. If you don't mind renting a car, there is also the Lamp Post Inn on Stadium, which is about 3 miles or so from Kerrytown (http://www.lamppostinn.com/).

3 titles I am considering buying from a local store: Jimmy Giuffre/Andre Jaume, Momentum, Willisau Matthew Shipp Prism Anthony Ortega Scattered Clouds

there's always Motel 6, hampton inn, holiday inn, crowne plaza, red roof inn and one or two others immediately off I-94 (which you will take from the airport). from there it's 10-15 min (not really that far, just usual downtown traffic and parking) to Kerrytown. There are other, non-chain hotels that I can find out more info on when I have more time. If you want to know anything about the general area then let me know. Yep, lots of great places to eat in Ann Arbor!

happy birthday, host.

yep. me too. Time to pick up that Streaming CD! So, we can stay at your place? Actually, you could if it was happening in November. We close on our new house (we're having one built) in November, but until then I don't think anyone else could squeeze into our little apartment! Of course, if Chuck could somehow get us backstage to meet Roscoe, maybe we could work something out!

yep. me too. Time to pick up that Streaming CD!

Hey, looks like my request for them to bring Roscoe here paid off!

My favorite scientist is ME.

damn you must really want it to be givin' up that!

I've gotten similar comments. I had NPR (local jazz station WEMU) on and someone asked who likes the "E-Z listening" music! Someone else even asked what those show tunes were when I had Kind of Blue playing! And there is always the guy who plays "air trumpet" whenever they hear a horn. Always gets big laughs from his buddies.