sidewinder

DJM - That was a strange UK label. I remember when they issued a Stanley Turrentine LP with Laurel & Hardy type cover art. Back in the day their prices were just about the lowest for any jazz LP out there - apart from Embassy, MFP etc.

Martial Solal Trio 'Fafasifa' (French CBS, stereo). Another fine Henri Renaud production.

Milt Jackson 'That's The Way It Is' (UK Impulse black label stereo, promo)

Love the bit where he 'primes' the bagpipe full of wind early on in 'Swing Low' and the cheer goes up in the audience !

The Russell is an extremely good box. Having missed out on the LPs when they came out (Soul Note was never one of my favourites) it's a pleasure to hear them in fine remastered sound. The small print size for the essays is a pain in the neck though !

Big mistake for me to miss out on his music when he was alive. I had the chance to see his trio at a small club over 15 years ago and skipped it. Did exactly the same thing with Diana Krall when the show was about $5-6 !

Cedar Walton 'Mobius' (French RCA) A much funkier Cedar to the one I am used to.

Just picked up a copy of this set today in the 'original' Knitting Factory 8CD version. Working my way into it - great stuff !

Well, having enjoyed all of the first night I have to say that the 'Sonny Rollins 1974 - Rescued' at Ronnie's was damn good. This must be a very significant finding in terms of Rollins video material and it's also notable for the footage of Rufus Harley and Scotts' itself in this particular period (based on what I saw it hadn't much changed by 1979 ). Loved the way that they started on full bore with 'The Cutting Edge'. Those guys meant business. The 'Arena' Rollins documentary was also very enjoyable - I had initial qualms about the way they were mixing the show footage with biographical bits (and Stanley Crouch interjections) but somehow it seemed to work pretty good.

Too bad that they didn't unearth any more 'Jazz 625' or 'Jazz Goes To College'. Or repeat any of those things from the 1970s/80s etc (I can recall seeing Clark Terry Big Bad Band on BBC2 (have the audio of it somewhere), Woody Herman and Buddy Rich at Ronnie Scotts, Lester Bowie and Loose Tubes at Bath - whatever happened to those?) Still - beggers can't be choosers. I'll have my recorder set. I'm looking forward to seeing the Barbara Thompson on Sunday. Caught a radio broadcast the other day when she and Jon Hiseman were interviewed by Libby Purves.

Talk about a 'win/win' for George. He gets to have a relaxing retirement and do the occasional gig to keep his hand in. A very wise man indeed !

Francy Boland Anatole France Roland Rat Gene Roland Tiny Roland

I thought MM had reached the end of the run. i.e no more reissues beyond May 2012. Agree any more LY would be good. Pity though that they've bypassed Big John Patton entirely. Really? I thought they were rolling on through 2012, not heard anything to say they were stopping in May. I've even checked the hype on the Hoffmann board and there doesn't seem to be anything on there to confirm it either way.

I have only a few Carrère LPs and they are fine, generally i've avoided them as I used to consider their CDs a byword for cheap and nasty. That was until I came across the Bernhard Mikulski versions which are dog awful. Not a great fan here of those Carrère pressings. I have a few of them of the Prestige 2LP twofers and compared with the UK or US pressings of the time they are inferior - surface noise in particular.

Yes, I agree re: the flawed ensemble playing on 'Slice'. It's such an inspired session that you can forgive the flaws though. A similar thing seems to have happened on Andrew Hill's 'Passing Ships'.

Damn - I didn't even know about that Alan Grant CD ! It completely passed me by.. This particular Mosaic is one of my all time favourites - so much so that I have it on both CD and LP. I also have the first 3 LPs on Solid State and have to say that the Mosaic sonics wins hands down (although the reverb is quite bearable).

A US label very active in the 70s. Certainly 'legit' - they did quite a few domestic issues of the East Wind material. I've got a couple of Art Farmers on this imprint (and the sonics are suprisingly good..)

This would be a good one to suggest to Music Matters for a 2x45rpm (which would then no-doubt morph into a high quality CD). Maybe I'll ping them a mail.

Judge Dread Nattie Dread Ratty

It's very good - recommended !

The book is - predictably - great. Lots of nice photos of the band in its early performances and details of how it came together, early rehearsals, involvement of Phil Ramone/Manny Albam etc. As as been mentioned on the board before, the sound of the Mosaic (sand reverb) is a lot better than the LPs.

Sorry to hear this, sounds like he was a nice guy. RIP.

Jerry Springer Zebbeddee Brian The Snail

Rendell/Carr Quintet 'Shades Of Blue' (UK Columbia, mono)

I've got the first 'Matching Mole' on vinyl. It's a good occasional listen - any fan of Soft Machine will appreciate it and the follow-on. The front cover of the follow-on always gives me a chuckle. Recorded at a time when 'Chairman Mao's Little Red Book' was 'de-rigueure' with future politocos, Fred The Shreds etc.