Д.Д.

hear, hear! those recordings are very important to me, too... Yes, 'Closeness' was an early purchase for me. Be nice to see 'The Golden Number' on CD/mp3 - I've never heard it. It's on Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/5IXxc60gtLLSNY3OgpWLAj

Handel - Dixit Dominus by Choir of Westminster Abbey & Simon Preston.

New one on Fataka - Tilbury, Edwards, Sanders. Could be good. http://recordings.fataka.net/products/529458-a-field-perpetually-at-the-edge-of-disorder-john-edwards-mark-sanders-john-tilbury-fataka-9

Data is very expensive in the U.S. And comparing Austria to the U.S. is impossible to do since Austria is about as large as South Carolina, which is our 40th largest state. That makes for a logistical nightmare. OK, what I was saying is that data costs are decreasing dramatically everywhere, in some countries this happens a bit faster, on some slower, but it is happening, and it is inevitable. Actually, I thought that in the US music streaming services have contracts with mobile operators (Spotify just got one with Sprint), so streaming music through your phone does not even count towards your data plan. Ain't happening here in South Carolina, Austria. I'm not talking about "common jazz musicians", I'm talking about the best of the best. Musicians whose CDs you probably own, and probably have seen playing in concert or at a club. I can believe that in Vienna, there are some musicians who can make a living playing music (not necessarily jazz), because the mania to replace live music with technology is not as prevalent in Europe as it is in the US, Very true. Live music is used even for some of the most insignificant social occasions here (might be to an extent due to abundance of competent and versatile musicians who charge low fees). I'm takin' me the first flight outta here to Austria! Your employment opportunities here would also depend on what instrument you play; my understanding is that bassists and drummers are in highest demand ( and tough luck if you are a keyboards player ). Also, schmoozing skills (and language knowledge) would matter. My friend takes a lot of shitty jobs because it is an opportunity to meet people who would give him better ones, and also he says that once you start refusing gigs you would very soon find yourself without any offers at all. Ha plays literally everything - weddings, funerals, theater, parties, hotel lounges, political party gatherings, corporate events - you name it - with anybody. This gives him enough money (but not enough time) to maintain his own trio where he plays his own stuff.

Data is very expensive in the U.S. And comparing Austria to the U.S. is impossible to do since Austria is about as large as South Carolina, which is our 40th largest state. That makes for a logistical nightmare. OK, what I was saying is that data costs are decreasing dramatically everywhere, in some countries this happens a bit faster, on some slower, but it is happening, and it is inevitable. Actually, I thought that in the US music streaming services have contracts with mobile operators (Spotify just got one with Sprint), so streaming music through your phone does not even count towards your data plan. Ain't happening here in South Carolina, Austria. I'm not talking about "common jazz musicians", I'm talking about the best of the best. Musicians whose CDs you probably own, and probably have seen playing in concert or at a club. I can believe that in Vienna, there are some musicians who can make a living playing music (not necessarily jazz), because the mania to replace live music with technology is not as prevalent in Europe as it is in the US, Very true. Live music is used even for some of the most insignificant social occasions here (might be to an extent due to abundance of competent and versatile musicians who charge low fees).

Data costs very little money where I live, and it is getting cheaper by the day. But, to be fair, Austria has some of the lowest mobile internet prices in Europe, as well as some of the highest penetration of high-speed internet. No point discussing it further, we'll see (very) soon. I guess we can agree that it is moving in this direction.

I don't see downloads going anywhere any time soon. Even young folks still like to own copies of their favorite tunes. They may eventually go away, but I'd be willing to bet that is still another generation away. Well, let's see. I think it's a matter of five years, maybe less. When everybody is permanently online with high-speed internet connection available everywhere there won't be much need to own downloads.

I have a good friend here in Vienna, an excellent saxophone player. He makes a living playing music. However, most of the time he plays the stuff that he does not like that much, but it is OK for him. Work is work, nobody says that you are supposed to enjoy every second of it.

Whether we like it or not, the streaming is the (near) future of how vast majority of the music is to be consumed. Vinyl might still survive (and there has been a certain resurgence of vinyl in the last few years, as I understand), but downloads and CDs will be probably gone very soon as the streaming technology (for mobiles, in particular) develops further. Spotify has more than 10M paying customers already (and growing), so with their 70% royalty pay-off rate they will pay more than $1B in royalty fees this year. This is a lot of money, and if artists negotiate better deals with labels (or better, disintermediate them entirely), they would receive a large share of it.

Pharoah Sanders, Joe Chambers, Reggie Workman, Cecil McBee, Joe McPhee, Don Moye, Billy Harper.

Barbier is on Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/5VZsO3MrhfLyhw2s1dbQVR and I listened to it, good. I liked John White better, but Barbier is good too. Still, de Leeuw is the one for me. Yes, I used to have Pascal Roge's Satie, hated it (and his Debussy too).

Checked it out on Spotify, it is very nice indeed. Spotify link: https://play.spotify.com/album/5vvYpqZmpdW4BWkHR18iCL

Love this one! The recording is quote hissy, but somehow it fits. And yes, very very slow. Have Ciccolini '80s recordings, don't like them that much.

I will buy Daley's set, but I am sorry to say I cannot imagine it being a good seller. Hope I am wrong.

Scott Ross complete Scarlatti sonatas box on Erato is reissued by Warner at attractive price: http://www.amazon.de/S%C3%A4mtliche-Sonaten-Ga-Scott-Ross/dp/B00IUPNBW6?SubscriptionId=AKIAIVGTH525N57WM2NQ&tag=pricenoiade-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00IUPNBW6

Always happy to follow a recommendation like that - especially knowing how highly you rate AB, colinmce Just snaffled a second hand copy off amazon.uk for £10. Still another one available I got rid of mine years ago, I thought it was pretty silly, but I don't remember any of it now. Not as bad as 100-CD "standards" sets on Leo that would follow (which killed remainders of interest I had in Braxton), in any case. This reminds me that I still have a lot of Braxton I doubt I will ever listen to. Anybody's interested in Solo NYC (2002) on Parallactic, for example? Send me a PM.

Man, this sounds horrible. Such a dull, colorless sound. And these Rhodes players seem to have tempo issues, as I hear it. And as far as "rewrite" is concerned, I thought they would at least improvise or something... This is a Decca / Universal release, it will be well distributed, so it will appear on EU amazons soon.

Complete Poulenc on EMI / Warner (20CDs) for eur 30 at amazon.de: http://www.amazon.de/Das-Gesamtwerk-S%C3%A4mtlichewerke-Pretre/dp/B0091JQH76/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395479675&sr=8-1&keywords=poulenc+gesamtwerk

I saw Blaser in duo with drummer Pierre Favre. I found his playing extremely boring - a lot of notes, a lot of repetition, few ideas, shallow sound. I have his solo CD, and it is OK, not great. For me, THE trombonist is Conny Bauer.

Just downloaded this one, it's excellent. http://recordings.fataka.net/products/513486-stonecipher-axel-dorner-mark-sanders-fataka-5

I might go for this Milhaud box.

Thanks, Bev. I doubt I would watch any of these more than once. And I don't even have a TV set. I would rather experience it live, and we are fortunate to have a lot of live opera options here in Vienna.

I don't get Ades. This one could be interesting. First known opera!

Attended the staging of Rameau's Platee yesterday. Great experience (this is the first time I saw opera live - in full, at least). The music is just great. Most of the singing was very good (with the exception of soprano Simone Kermes, who seemed to be struggling with the dynamics and tempos of the baroque singing), basses and choir in particular. The playing by Les Arts Florrisants, Paul Agnew conducting, was fantastic - punchy and energetic. What equally impressed me was acting skills of the singers. I had been expecting not much more than stodgy figures standing most of the time, waving arms occasionally. Not so. The acting was excellent and - this being a comic opera with a lot of sexual references - without going (too much) into platitude. Marcel Beekman as Platee was outstanding (and this is a tough role to play tastefully), bringing some tragicomic elements. On the downside, dancing - of which there was a lot - was inane and looked under-rehearsed. And the director's choice to make this a sort of a satire on the shallow and vain world of high fashion I found unimaginative. If anybody's interested, here is the full cast: http://www.theater-wien.at/index.php/en/programme/production/123466 Checked out YouTube, I wish Mireille Delunsch was singing that soprano part - she is something:

Nice piece, a bit too long for what it is, reminds me of Zappa's "classical" works.