sidewinder

Over here it’s just the old and vulnerable who are scheduled for a booster at this time. The rest of us later this year I guess. Last time I was in the office there were a number off sick with covid. Fortunately, I can limit my exposure.

A great box - as is the ‘Nucleus at the BBC’.

That’s a regular check every Spring. Boxes and booklets. Fortunately it wipes off easily.

I usually end up drowning in it when I look on there. The worst is when Tone Poet threads turn into a discussion of road cycles and gear options.

CD2

The context of the time as I remember it was that classic jazz of this type was pretty well dead in terms of LP releases so Pablo was a tonic in terms of what was commercially available. Here in the UK they got good distribution and could be picked up in most high streets in branches of WH Smith as distinct from rare expeditions into obscure London record shops impervious to the jazz non-believers. There were plenty in elder generations who were keen to snap up new Basie, Ella etc.

Our equivalent in the UK was Rex Harris’s introductory book on ‘jazz’, which must have put thousands of people off.

The CD555 is about the same vintage as the CD12 and presumably they were going after the same high-end audiophile market. Production stopped a few years ago but unlike Linn, Naim have put aside spare mechanisms for each player built. They also have a better pedigree when it comes to supporting their older kit, in fact I’m still running a 40 year old power amp on one of my setups, which just needs a recap every decade or so. Not to knock Linn, who make some absolutely superb kit and who themselves have transformed old LP12s with great upgrades over recent years (Keel, Urika, Karousel etc.) In your scenario porcy I would recommend a really good streamer with NAS drive etc. One thing I really do like about CD is no faffing about and I find these days I use it more than the turntable, strangely enough.

Yes, you can open and close the lid via the remote or alternatively wave a hand next to the built in sensor. The lid even has a built in calibration facility which you can use if the lid mechanism ever goes out of kilter.

Banned.

My most recent CD upgrade was one of these - Naim CD555. Solid aluminium block and I run it with separate power supplies for the analogue and digital circuits. Weighs a ton ! I figure that this will be the last CD player I ever bother with. When it is no longer supportable I can retain the supplies and just switch to Naim’s 555 reference streamer. Although vinyl playback on my LP12 setup is still superior for the most part, this beast runs it fairly close. You can even do an ‘open sesame’ with the hands and open the lid !

2CD set

Still have my old 1974 copy of that LP. Good stuff.

I remember when Mulgrew toured that album - no Henderson and McBride but Nelson was in the lineup as well as Wallace Roney. Good stuff.

Yes, the circular breathing technique was very prominent in those gigs. Over 2-3 years I caught several appearances by the Quartet plus two I think by the Octet so he was a frequent visitor (Ronnie Scott was a personal fan I think). Billy Higgins almost seemed like a fixture, as he appeared each time with Cedar Walton’s group as well. Happy days ! The Octet had an interesting lineup. Danny Moore, Mario Riviera plus Frank Strozier on at least one occasion. Not to forget Harold Mabern and Iris Muhammed as well.

Saw that group at their next Club visit, with Herbie Lewis in place of Ray Drummond. Coleman was phenomenal in that period.

You capitulated then?

Wouldn’t have thought that the isolation between the fluffy carpet, stands and turntables would be the greatest.

The last Hubbard release I recall creating a bit of a stir was ‘Live at Fat Tuesdays’. I remember being in a rental car in central NYC circa 1992 and (of course) turning the radio on to check out some radio jazz. On the airwaves was Freddie featured on that album with a very OTT enthusiastic DJ who in retrospect must have been Alan Grant. In the cold light of day, that album, although lively, is somewhat erratic.

The blue denim suit with laces was in a David Redfern photo of Miles taken at Newport I think, around 69/70. A print of that photo is still on the side wall at Ronnie Scott’s.

Kenny Wheeler 75th Birthday Big Band Concert, QEH London, 2005.

Two of my favourite Turrentines too.

Only have those recordings on the Mosaic CD set but agree, excellent sound.