Adam

I bought about 20 CDs there on Monday. Sorry I got there after you though; one of those boxes would have been nice. Where did you find them? But the pickings are thinner now; I mostly got things that looked interesting but weren't on any list of "to get." A couple of ECM Rarums, a couple Tzadik releases; George Russell 80th Birthday concert; Pee Wee Russell "Ask Me Now" and this amazing new Roswell Rudd with a Mongolian quintet album. Some blues and other discs - Big Jay McNeely and Jimmy McCracklin Chronological Classics; Burning Spear; David Grisman, etc. I've certainly spent thousands at Aron's over the years. I almost went again tonight with a friend who worked there in the mid-90s. You guys are in LA? Let's all get together for a show, with RDK and anyone else. A

Norah better watch out!

There are still a couple of independent stores on Pico near the Best Buy, but they are pretty much exclusively used, without the delights and wisdom that one could get at Rhino back when it was still good. But Rhino probably never should have moved south. I'm sure the rent had something to do with it, and it probably seemed like a good idea - a new, much bigger space and parking lot. But I think they got just a bit too far from Westwood to lose walk-in traffic from UCLA students and westwood village in general. Amoeba also hurt, but Rhino should have been able to hold onto West Side patrons; it's 35 minutes to Amoeba from there. It's really sad to see them go.

Don't mention such things! And to figure out how to make your DVD player region free, check this site: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks I have followed the suggestion and used it successfully with the Cyberhome DVD-300, which also plays PAL & NTSC, and will output PAL as an NTSC signal to a NTSC monitor. For $50 at Best Buy, you really can't beat it. I recently picked up the Region 2 PAL version of Delicatessen, and it was rather nice to watch it.

My apologies.

Hi Kyo, Welcome. We'd be less paranoid if your first posting to the boards wasn't marketing. You can probably understand how that looks. Please try posting in a few threads without trying to sell CDs. We'd love to have your opinion on other records, or the Album of the Week, or live shows. Best regards, Adam

Yes, but people don't ask to borrow the jazz; the want to borrow the other musical genres. They ar egood friends. And I still keep a slip of paper on which I list who borrows what. After a few montsh I ask for it back. No big deal.

So the basic idea is to fill them in so that each row, column, and 3x3 box has the numbers 1-9, each number appearing one time only in each row or column or 3x3? I was in a bookstore in England that had a whole display of Su Doku, and i had never heard of it before.

And a few days ago: http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/c...2,3465659.story Indie record stores doing slow fade out Aron's Records and Rhino Westwood are just a few of the shops that find themselves going the way of the dodo in the digital age. By Geoff Boucher, Times Staff Writer It'd be harsh exaggeration to say independent record stores are going the way of typewriter repair shops, but in Southern California it's been painfully evident of late that grand, eccentric music merchants are wheezing badly in the modern marketplace. Rhino Westwood, a Westside landmark for more than three decades, announced its closing on Thursday, news that follows the November shuttering of Aron's Records, the storied shop that sold music for 40 years (and practically invented the used-LP sales practice), first on Melrose Avenue and then Highland Avenue. Rhino founder Richard Foos, speaking in dejected tones, said Thursday that it "had become very apparent that it was too difficult to go on." The store's lease expired and Foos opted to lock the doors. The store plans a Jan. 21 parking-lot sale that will be part wake, part fire sale. "But we are hoping now for a white knight to show up and buy the inventory and the name and hopefully carry on the tradition," he said. "It was a very emotional decision but this is where it's at. Now in Westwood you have no free-standing record stores. You have one of the largest colleges in the country and no independent record store. That says a lot." The causes of death for Rhino and Aron's are numerous and unsurprising. Album sales are in decline, music consumers continue to migrate to music downloading and CD-burning. The loss-leader approach to CD sales at giant chains such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy have smothered mom-and-pop outfits. And when prerecorded CDs are sold, more and more often it's through new-approach merchants that are as varied as Amazon.com and Starbucks. Closer to home and to the heart, a new competitor arose from within the indie ranks with the 2001 arrival in Hollywood of Amoeba Records, the Bay Area brand-name that opened a colossal indie store on Sunset Boulevard that siphons offbusiness from stores far and wide. Amoeba has learned well from the history of indie-store successes; Rhino is a significant part of that history locally. In 1973, Foos launched the Rhino brand-name after finding success reselling the rare LPs he had cherry-picked at weekend swap meets. The first Rhino shop brought in a clientele that included Harold Bronson. The two self-avowed music geeks hit it off and Bronson became an employee and strong hand in shaping the oddball charm and pop-culture safari spirit of Rhino. In the back of the shop in 1978 they launched their record label, also called Rhino, which has become a potent force in audio and video reissues, novelty projects and the musically esoteric. In 1998, Foos and Bronson sold Rhino to the giant Warner Music Group in a multimillion-dollar deal that financially rewarded their longtime fandom handsomely. While the label grew, its retail namesake contracted. Its retail space gave way to comic books and pop-culture trinkets and then later to a row of video games. Its music inventory in recent months was far less than its imposing collection in years past. That's a metaphor for music retail as a whole, which as seen its floor-space given over to video games and DVDs as the prerecorded music CD has lost favor with consumers. Jim Donio, president of the National Assn. of Recording Merchandisers, the New Jersey-based trade group, said the closing of Aron's and Rhino comes clustered with the shutdown of Crow's Nest in Chicago, a past winner of the trade group's retailer-of-the-year award. "There will be more casualties, I'm sure," Donio said. "There's a conspiracy of market factors right now. It's not just one thing ... there were only two albums in 2005 that sold more than 4 million copies and there needs to be many, many more than that. In 2004 there was a small but encouraging growth in music sales after three years of decline. Then in 2005 the numbers were down again." Donio said the loss of singular shops such as Rhino are emotionally hard to take in an industry that puts a premium on free spirits and maverick successes. "There's a real sense of community in these stores and discovery," Donio said. "Rhino was a great place. Aron's was a special place. It's sad to see them go away and it's not good for anyone." The group that calls itself the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, based in Los Angeles, has in its database the names of close to 1,000 indie stores that have closed in the past three years. A decade ago, according to the group's stats, there were about 5,000 music shops flying independent flags; now there are about 2,800. The woes go well beyond small and locally owned stores — large chains such as Tower Records and Wherehouse Music, for instance, have seen their fortunes battered in recent years and have sought bankruptcy protection. "There's no secret here that times have been tough, but every time you hear about another closing, it's still hard," Donio said. "You hate to read nothing but doom and gloom into it, but it is hard, isn't it?"

I was just about to post what RDK said, as I just read it in today's LA Times. And Amoeba is starting its own label: http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-ca-po...2,5188703.story FAST TRACKS Amoeba follows the Rhino trail The Berkeley-based mini-chain is launching its own label. By Chris Lee, Special to The Times Heard of Amoeba Records? No, not the ginormous 40,000-square-foot indie music emporium in Hollywood. We're talking about Amoeba, the record company. Coinciding with this month's closing of the Rhino retail store in Westwood, the Berkeley-based Amoeba mini-chain is launching its own label. Among the early releases: several previously unreleased recordings by country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. As with Rhino Records, the still-thriving reissue-centric label born in the back of the store in the '70s, Amoeba Records was created to cash in on the chain's access to catalogs of artists dead, largely forgotten or both. Somewhere along the way, the original plan took a left turn. "I was interested primarily in artists who aren't around anymore," says Dave Prinz, one of Amoeba's co-owners. "I wasn't planning on doing live people. It just sort of happened. There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to what we're doing yet." The Parsons recordings, including a live 1969 performance by his band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, are planned for April. In addition, Amoeba plans to offer several Gypsy jazz albums from artists including Brandi Shearer with the Robin Nolan Trio and teen phenoms the Gypsy Kidz, who range in age from 15 to 20. A virtual music store offering Amoeba downloads is also in the offing, although music fans are advised not to interpret the Web expansion as a harbinger of the demise of brick-and-mortar music stores. "There's always room for a good store," said Prinz. "Downloading is still only 5% of the market.

Which raised the question... I've been eyeing this book: Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo , by Ned Sublette Have any of you read it? How is it?

I did find this old thread that went nowhere, as far as I can tell: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...=15262&hl=salsa But it deserved to get some answers, so I'm bringing its contents over here as well: Greg Waits Dec 7 2004, 12:08 AM I have been studying up on the development and history of Afro-Cuban music, and have been fortunate to get some nice books on the subject. One is by Scott Yanow and the other (which I am currently reading) is by Sue Steward and is entitled "Musica". Two questions: 1) Are there any other books on this subject that are worthy of tracking down? 2) I am trying to get a copy of Eddie Palmieri and Barry Rogers "La Perfecta". Is this out on CD? It was recorded in 1962, and is reputed to be a very pivitol recording. mikeweil Dec 7 2004, 05:56 AM Post #3 Move it to the Miscellaneous Music forum, and I will post an answer ....

I can't find the old thread discussing the "troubled" treatment of Fania & Alegre labels through the years. In today's LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cot...1,5434052.story Spicing up that beat Releases from Fania Records, the label that set the world pulsing to salsa, are being reissued with refurbishments. By Agustin Gurza, Times Staff Writer ONCE, a record label of the humblest beginnings turned into an international powerhouse by gambling on unknown talent in a minority community overlooked or underestimated by the industry at large. Its success was fueled by tirelessly promoting artists intent on asserting their cultural identity and seeking recognition within the U.S. mainstream. In the '60s, that label was Motown Records. In the '70s, it was Fania Records, the barrio label once peddled from the back of a truck in the streets of New York that single-handedly set the whole world dancing to a salsa beat. Starting next month, Fania's extensive and vital music vaults will be rejuvenated with the first in a series of reissues, as well box sets available for the first time. The label's catalog of salsa classics are being rereleased on CD with refurbished sound and fresh liner notes after its recent purchase by Miami-based Emusica Entertainment Group. Just as Motown shaped soul and R&B, Fania created its own sound in Latin dance music. It was based on traditional Afro-Caribbean styles with an array of rhythms — son, guaguanco, bomba, plena, rumba, merengue, mambo. But Fania's savvy promoters were the first to market the modernized versions under a single catch-all expression that became a readily recognizable brand in any language: salsa. The music was so influential that it inspired Carlos Santana to create Latin rock, turning Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" into a crossover smash. At its peak, salsa became so popular that the Fania All Stars, the label's supergroup, went from playing small Latin clubs to selling out Yankee Stadium. Their concerts, many recorded for live albums, were electrifying events that drew wild fan followings from the Congo to Tokyo. "It's almost like every release they had, small or large, had artistic value," says veteran music executive Bill Marin, Fania's West Coast promoter in the mid-'70s. "The music made a difference. It gave you the pulse of something fresh and new." Fania's catalog includes many historic recordings and several musical milestones. Among the notables: • The very first albums made by a then-beardless Eddie Palmieri with his groundbreaking 1960s band, La Perfecta. • The early works of singer-songwriter Rubén Blades, including 1977's "Siembra," his second album with bandleader Willie Colón, considered the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" of salsa music for its fresh sound and complex songs. • The first collaboration between Dominican bandleader and Fania co-founder Johnny Pacheco with singer Celia Cruz, 1974's "Celia & Johnny," one of the bestselling salsa albums of all time. • The career work of the late Hector Lavoe, a brash but beloved street singer specializing in quick-witted improvisations and exquisitely soulful boleros. This revered folk figure's tragic life is the subject of a new movie to star Marc Anthony, now in production. • The early live recordings of the Fania All Stars, especially 1971's "Live at the Cheetah" (Volumes 1 and 2), which was featured in the documentary "Our Latin Thing," helping spark the '70s salsa explosion. * It began with ambition THE label was launched in 1964 by Pacheco and his Brooklyn-born attorney, Jerry Masucci, a former New York cop who had handled the bandleader's divorce. The pair set about signing unknown bands led by artists who would later become salsa superstars, including trombonist Willie Colón, pianist Larry Harlow, bongocero Roberto Roena, conguero Ray Barretto and bassist Bobby Valentin. Their company became so powerful it soon gobbled up the catalogs of older Latin labels, such as Tico and Alegre, bringing into the fold almost every significant salsa artist from that era, outside of Cuba. The long-awaited purchase of Fania comes at a time when sales of new salsa CDs are down dramatically. Still, it's a testament to Fania's strength that it was able to survive exclusively on catalog sales long after its heyday faded in the early '80s and its stable of artists scattered to other record companies. Until the recent sale of its assets, the label was shrouded in a web of lawsuits from aggrieved artists and a confusing trail of ownership after Masucci's mysterious move to Argentina, where he died in 1997. The corporate and probate entanglements stalled previous acquisition efforts even by the most eager and resourceful of suitors, such as Zach Horowitz, president of Universal Music Group. "I'm just happy as a fan that this stuff is going to come out again," says Horowitz, who settled for a distribution deal with Fania's new owners. "It's the first time in 30 years, maybe ever, that somebody has done the historic treatment this catalog deserves." Music executive Giora Breil had been trying for five years to acquire Fania. But only after sealing the deal last summer did he realize he may have unearthed previously unreleased gems in the bargain. In trying to match paperwork to some 13,000 tracks on 1,300 albums, Breil was led to a storage facility in upstate New York, near a farm once owned by Masucci. But instead of files, the new owner found a stash of original, multitrack tapes, used to mix and master the original releases. Some of the studio tapes were too old and unstable to play without risking damage. Thus began the process of actually baking the salsa tapes to loosen the old emulsion and perhaps liberate a trove of forgotten or discarded songs from one of the great Latin music eras of all time. "We haven't been able to hear everything," said Breil, a former advertising and Spanish television executive. "It's quite possible we are sitting on stuff we don't even know yet, because it's kind of hard to put your arms around 40 years of recording." The first batch of 30 Emusica reissues is scheduled for Feb. 28. They are all being remastered and repackaged with original art, new liner notes and lower prices. (The old Fania rarely discounted.) The new owners (Breil and partners Stuart Livingston, Bob Grever and David Good) also recently acquired the Kubaney label, respected primarily for Dominican merengue. * No ordinary restoration ALTHOUGH much of the Fania catalog has been issued previously on CD, many of those digital versions suffer from poor sound quality, far inferior to the original vinyl releases. Many were digitized without being remastered, sometimes transferred from vinyl copies rather than original master tapes. Much of the work to prepare the old recordings for a digital rebirth is being done by Grammy-winning mastering engineer Bob Katz at his Digital Domain studio outside Orlando, Fla. Though the quality of the old masters varies widely, Katz said, state-of-the-art mastering equipment can fill in sound gaps, called dropouts, and reveal even richer detail than the originals. "This is more than a restoration," said Katz, who is married to salsa author Mary Kent. "It's what I would call a renovation." The discovery of the multitrack studio tapes opens even more tantalizing possibilities. It means new mixes would be possible, using separate tracks that hold discrete elements — Cruz's voice, Barretto's congas, Puente's timbales. The thought tempts veteran sound engineer Jon Fausty, credited with raising recording standards on scores of Fania productions. "I'd love to get my hands on those multitracks," says Fausty, who worked with Wilson Pickett, Gene Pitney and others before becoming staff engineer at Fania in 1971. "They're my recordings, and it would be very exciting to take part in the reprocessing of this wonderful old music to make it sound as good as we did back then." So far, however, there are no plans for making remixes. Breil, a German immigrant who moved to New York the year Fania was founded, says the first reissues will remain true to the originals. "We inherited a cultural responsibility here," he says. "Fania is part of the patrimonio latino, the wealth of Latin culture."

we were discussing this in another thread - maybe record stores in Los Angeles. I need to go by there once more. 'Tis quite sad.

Any email from Paypal that asks you to click on a link to their site is fake. Paypal emails always say to type in "www.paypal.com" yourself and enter your information. That said, those scam artists sure do a lot of work.

This came up in a former thread about Folkways. I remember posting that link. Hmm, can't find it. It's good to give Folkways it's own thread anyway. A

Where is the John Lindberg material available? What label is it on?

I got each of the Nuggets boxes for about $40. That's a good price for them, and they are both pretty darn great. Anyone have "Children of Nuggets?"

Interesting. I've seen Nels multiple times, and never perceived him in that fashion, well, except for the last show, where he, Gauthier, and Wickam were accompanying a painter at Club Tropical. But for example, I saw Thurston Moore with Nels and others at All Tomorrow's Parties at UCLA a couple of years ago. To me, Moore was "bullshittin'" (in Allan's terms), just playing skronky and loud for the hell of it. Cline was clearly more musical, more compelling, and better at actually listening to his bandmates for that performance. And the live perfomrance of Cline & Bendian performing "Interstellar Space" was just fantastic.

....do you mean his wife (Peggy Moffitt-Claxton) or do you mean Peggy Lipton from the Mod Squad??? m~ Yes, I had a brain error. I mean Peggy Moffitt-Claxton. I shoulda double checked. A

I went to Taschen, bought the book (for $200! ah, well), and Claxton signed it. Peggy Lipton was there him. People from teh bookstore were having hime sign other copies for people who weren't present, but there wasn't really any line for his signature. Mostly Beverly Hills gallery people were there, it seemed. I bought the Claxton desk calendar as well for my Mom. People had wine, but it wasn't out in the open. They also had a duo of bass & vocalist there, but only the bass seemed to play while I was there.

You'd think the person who was going to go to the trouble of pirating that clip from a DVD that is not yet out could have at least used a tripod to shoot it off their TV, and not done it hand held!

What language is that in the sub & supertitles? This is leaked slightly early.

This is the best site tracking releases of noteworthy DVDs: http://www.mastersofcinema.org/

Looking at the Taschen site http://www.taschen.com/ Claxton will also be at Dutton's Books on Thursday the 8th, and at the Strand Bookstore in New York on Dec. 13, and ICP in New York on Dec. 15