riverrat

What do members here think of Wilkins' 2nd outing, The 7th Hand? I liked Omega. Wilkins' quartet is inspired, especially his piano player Micah Thomas. So I was looking forward to his new one. But I was quite disappointed. Whereas Omega strikes me as good post-bop, somewhat Coltrane influenced but not cloned, The 7th Hand is much less compelling, for me at least. I suppose it would help if I liked "free" jazz more, which is the style of "Lift" what seems to be regarded as the standout tune on the 2lp set, taking up the entire 4th side. It's pretty much noise jazz in my book, and I found it pretty much unlistenable. A lot of rapid fire notes, to be sure, but definitely not for me. The rest of the set if not as "out" as the 4th side. I'll try to give it another chance, but not sure I'll even be keeping this one. Perhaps Wilkins and his trio feel the need to experiment and push boundaries more than they did on Omega, as they continue to build their body of work. I respect that. But I'll definitely do some spot checking before buying any more of their output.

I searched "Strata East" here and pulled up this thread, after looking at the list of Strata East vinyl reissues being put out by Pure Pleasure in the UK. I have 3 Charles Tolliver titles in this series and am interested in exploring more. Felser's list above is helpful; a few of them are among those being reissued by PP. Anyone here into vinyl should check this series out. They are very nicely done.

Thanks I am going to grab it.

I have a copy of African Nite on hold at my local record store. It is either the original US issue, or a reissue, on Inner City. I'm curious how the sound on that compares to the Owl records French version.

I was able to follow the link and add the colored lp to my cart. I went through checkout up until the final steps, then bailed. So it may still be available if anyone is interested. That all being said, the VMP website is sort of glitchy. I couldn't get the search function to work just now. So they may just not have taken the order function down, or updated that page. Lastly, the regular black vinyl version of Coolin' is available as an Amazon pre-order for $17.99 right now.

This was posted over on the Hoffman forum today: "Don Was, of Blue Note/Universal Music Group and Joe Harley (sic) of Audioquest, announced a reissue program. While the pending reissue series will be under a different banner than Music Matters, it will follow the same level of quality - both in packaging, extras, and sonic quality as the Music Matters series. Two of the first reissue titles will be: 1) Wayne Shorter, Et Cetera, and, 2) Chick Corea, Now He Sobs, Now He Sings. (Please note: I am sure on the Wayne Shorter title and 80% sure on the Chick Corea title)."

I'm sure I DON'T like it, and agree 100% with Kevin that it is a very disappointing trend. The MM 33s are great, really like it that they introduced this series and wish it was going to be as extensive as the 45 series was. On the other hand, Mobile Fidelity seems to have moved from 33 to 45 with their Miles Davis reissues, and as a consequence, I quit buying them. The 45s are unnecessarily expensive and inconvenient, a wrongheaded trend IMO and one that I hope draws to a close soon!

Yesterday I listened to a new-to-me copy of the Connoisseur Series vinyl of Wayne Shorter's Schizophrenia. Sounded fine to me, and was certainly more affordable than an early issue.

Cool! Thanks for the review Laton. I think I will order it- probably my favorite McLean.

PM coming Hope, Elmo All Star Sessions Mance, Junior Straight Ahead Webster, Ben & Coleman, Bill Swingin' in London Nelson, Oliver Live from Los Angeles Stitt, Sonny I Remember Bird Fuller, Curtis Jazz Conference Abroad Coltrane, John Impressions MCA/Impulse and probably a few more

Bumping this thread to mention that oldies.com has two Kloss lps - Celebration and Now - for less than $2 each. Not sure if these are worth hearing or not, but at these prices I can afford to gamble!

Pharaoh Sanders - Tauhid, original pressing on Impulse, VG++ condition for $1.00 Non-jazz category: Stones - Exile on Main Street, original, 4 sides with Artisan stamp, Monarch pressing, including all 12 postcards EX+ condition, $15.

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I'll take the Hill. PM coming..

I'll echo Lon in agreeing that you have hit the nail on the head with this observation. It is quite annoying that its taken the music industry 25 years to finally offer decent sounding CDs of this music.

There's a thread on this topic over on the Hoffman forum. Some folks found great deals on Janis Joplin, Dylan and other vinyl sets at TJ Maxx. I didn't find any at mine, unfortunately, but would have been very interested in picking up the Miles box.

PM sent..

I'm not sure how representative I am but I could be interested in several titles in this new MM 33rpm series depending on how they sound and how much they cost. Sure, I have most of these on CD, often multiple versions. These days though, I just about never buy CDs. Instead I'm gradually building a BN vinyl collection on a pretty tight budget. I wasn't buying vinyl during the period when the Classic Records 200gm reissues were widely available and those often go for a premium today. I have very little interest in the 45rpm series. Decent sounding original pressings are of course cost prohibitive although I do opportunistically pick up reissues. And it is rare to see King Records reissues going for less than $50 or so, usually more, with expensive shipping from Japan. If they sound good and sell for less than the Classic reissues, I bet the MM 33rpm series will sell pretty well.

We listen to Night Ride Home pretty often around here..

The Sermon is available from Amazon for $5.41 new, plus shipping..

Picked up a Wayne Shorter Night Dreamer LP from an online vendor, listed as a "Japanese pressing". For $10 I figured I'd gamble and hope that it was the King Records version. It arrived today, found it sitting in the mailbox in the sun. I quickly opened it and found an unwarped, NM King pressing. Yahoo!

Did you get it yet? How does it sound? I've seen mixed reviews on this series, i.e. some titles are said to sound very good, others not so much. I only have the Blue Mitchell which sounds good to me. Thinking of checking out this McLean and perhaps an Andrew Hill title or two.

RE: Sky Shadows.. AMG: "This 1968 release from saxophonist Eric Kloss has many fine points and a couple of puzzling technical lapses. Kloss, heard on alto and tenor, is definitely one of the strengths. Only 19 at the time of this session, the young sax player is well up to the challenge of playing with his more seasoned bandmates. The set reunites Kloss with guitarist Pat Martino, who was with Kloss for the saxophonist's recording debut at the age of 16. The date features four excellent advanced hard bop/post-bop pieces by Kloss and one from Martino. On guitar, Martino is consistently marvelous, both as a simpatico accompanist and as a soloist. Drummer Jack DeJohnette is also superb, and his playing is captured with tremendous clarity and balance. Unfortunately, bassist Bob Cranshaw is mixed so low he is often inaudible. Also odd, pianist Jaki Byard, while bringing his renowned power and versatility to the session, sometimes sounds separated from the rest of the band. Recording imbalances aside, this is a worthwhile set, particularly for the opportunity to hear Kloss in collaboration with Martino again. This music can now be found on the CD compilation Sky Shadows/In the Land of the Giants, which also includes Kloss' 1969 release, In the Land of the Giants."

I'd like to know more about Heavenly Sweetness and their BN reissues. I picked up Blue Mitchell Bring it Home to Me recently. It's a nice pressing and sounds good. I saw they are reissuing Andrew Hill Black Fire soon. I might pick that one up too.

Bumping this thread to check and see if anyone picked up either of the two Donald Byrd titles and compared them to the sound on the Mosaic Byrd/Adams box set. I'm interested in those, but unless the sound is a lot better than the Mosaic, I will probably pass for now. I also looked at the Dexter Gordons, but those tracks sound pretty good on the 6CD box set that includes them. The two "must buys" for me in this series are the Wayne Shorter titles- Soothsayer and Etcetera. Neither of those sound very good on the CDs I have. I'm hoping for a significant sonic upgrade.