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Consolidated list from past 3 weeks (basically everything except the Last Chance and most recent two lists). Scattered price drops throughout. Virtually everything has been mailed out, except for a few things on hold. Thanks so much! I won't be checking PMs quite as frequently until the weekend when I hope to have a truly massive listing. HOLD 5 Ornette Coleman Skies of America (Columbia) HOLD 10 John Coltrane Live in Seattle (Impulse) 2 CDs, light scratch on CD2 HOLD 5 Walt Dickerson To My Queen HOLD 8 Bobby Hutcherson Un Poco Loco (Koch) sawcut in spine HOLD 5 Marty Paich The Broadway Bit/I Get a Boot out of You (Collectors Choice) Holepunch in UPC - sticker residue on front case (not artwork) can replace if desired HOLD 5 Oscar Peterson Trio at the Concertgebouw HOLD 9 McCoy Tyner Asante (BN) HOLD 9 Larry Young Of Love and Peace

Yeah, I'm with you. Tone is so hard to convey. It is sad, but it isn't precisely tragic, when a long-time abuser dies, because most of them were offered plenty of help. And it isn't like anyone born since the 1960s doesn't know that hard drugs will probably mess you up at least a bit, and then to go ahead and take them anyway...

Whoa, Jim. You're running close to Ebert territory here (he actually had his Facebook page blocked for a while for saying unkind things about the death of the Jackass star, who pretty clearly had been drinking and driving). Maybe you need some more time to reflect on this before people's feelings get bent. ( ) Anyway, Lindsay Lohan has considerably more talent than Paris Hilton at least. Though it may be a while before we get to see her act again. I do think she is more likely to get her shit together than Amy Winehouse, though the odds still aren't better than 50-50 she pulls it off.

In the tradition! Amy Winehouse got trashed for your sins... In related news, they have cancelled the rest of this tour. In all honesty, I hope she can get some help and get herself together, but I think that is fairly unlikely. I feel the same way about Lindsay Lohan, who is quite a trainwreck herself. The main difference being that I no longer think Lindsay is going to die of a drug overdose.

Or at least that she's gotten herself high somewhere. I think we can all agree she's managed that.

Quite accidentally I have booked myself to arrive in Vancouver on the last day (July 3) of their jazz fest. I might go to some of the free stuff and also am thinking pretty seriously of catching Atomic's 7 pm show. Anyone else going to be there?

More than I should... I'm not super big on lists of CD collections, but maybe I will post it on a blog somewhere (now that I have my UPC scanner!). Briefly, I am keeping nearly all my classical CDs, particularly the Living Stereo Box, the Bernstein symphonies box, that Glenn Gould OJC collection, a few other OJC and EMI collections, some of the new RCA slimline sets (like Leinsdorf conducting Prokofiev) and the Kronos Quartet 25 year anniversary box. I am keeping most of my world music collection, which is focused on African music. I'm getting rid of almost all the rock/pop except for my New Wave collection and the Beatles. As far as jazz, I'm keeping a core of mostly bop/hardbop centered on Blue Note recordings, along with most of Andrew Hill records, Coltrane's classic quartet on Impulse, Miles Davis on Prestige and Columbia, and pretty much everything put out by Monk or Mingus. So I'll be left with kind of a traditional collection with a few oddball choices that still grab me.

What do you think of the two Black Lion CDs with Barney Kessel? Kessel seems a strong enough voice to me.

Thanks for the orders! I'll be settling up today and tomorrow for most orders. Then I'll be away for a few days but hope to have another long list over the weekend (broke down and got a UPC scanner, which gives you some idea how many more are left to process!). New listings (6/20/2011): HOLD 15 Teddy Edwards-Howard McGhee Together Again (OJC-Contemporary) HOLD 7 Teddy Edwards Heart and Soul (OJC-Contemporary) HOLD 7 Teddy Edwards Good Gravy (OJC-Contemporary) HOLD 8 Teddy Edwards Nothin But the Truth (OJC-Prestige) HOLD Booker Ervin The Book Cooks (Bethlehem) HOLD 22 Jimmy Forrest Most Much (OJC-Prestige) HOLD 12 Jimmy Heath The Quota (OJC-Riverside) HOLD 6 Jimmy Heath On the Trail (OJC-Riverside) HOLD 6 Jimmy Heath Triple Threat (OJC-Riverside) light scratches not affecting play HOLD 5 Jimmy Heath Really Big (OJC-Riverside) Keepnews Collection HOLD 5 Freddie Hubbard Hub Cap (BN) HOLD 6 Harold Land In New York (OJC-Jazzland) Rest consolidated

So, she was just hindered by booze (as opposed to completely wiped out) and only trying to put a new (presumably "jazzy") spin on some old chestnuts because, poor thing, she must be sick of having to sing all those tunes straight by now. I was kind of thinking that with the stints in rehab keeping her off the road, she was kind of like a red-shirt freshman and should have some spare enthusiasm. Anyway, the comments are runnning roughly 98-2 in favor of calling the author of the piece a complete wanker.

An interesting contrast between Grappelli and Stuff Smith can be found on a Pablo release of four tracks they did together in 1957, called "Violins No End." I also prefer Smith to Grappelli, finding the latter too sweet, although very easy to listen to. The band is good, too: Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Jo Jones. (The final 3 tracks have Grappelli only). Actually I believe the final three tracks are Stuff Smith only (my copy of Violins No End just turned up). He does seem most interested when "pushed" a bit by a strong second instrument or indeed a violin duet. I am was still waiting on Violins No End, but have been listening to the JiP Stuff and Steff. The MPS date Violin Summit is quite good, and the violin/mandolin pairing in Grappelli & Grisman is interesting. Not as interesting when all the backing instruments go electric, as in Ponty/Grappelli. Some people really like Uptown Dance, but I'm not that taken with it (Dusty Groove had a somewhat beat LP I just transferred). It's very easy listening, perhaps a precursor to smooth jazz. That said, it is surprising the label didn't release it on CD as it might have done quite well. Probably too late now. C'est la vie.

I'm embarrassed to say I've had the new Ellington set (#248) for about a month and I've not even cracked it open. I'll listen to some of it today, probably starting with the last two discs and working forward.

I'm not sure that an hour's worth of color move has more bits of data than an hour of a black and white movie, as far as transferring to digital is concerned. Really it depends on the bitrate that is used in the mastering. I've seen 2 hour movies in B & W as well as color squeezed onto one side of a DVD, but it is more typical that either type will take up 75% or so of both layers (most DVDs being dual-layered). It is true that older source material that hasn't been painstakingly restored (and which would generally be b & w) is more likely to be encoded at a lower bitrate.

I guess it is hardly surprising that the quality of the books in my stack are going down when I am specifically going through the ones that I expect to leave behind. Nonetheless, this one was a disappointment -- Seafaring and Civilization by De Souza. To me, this was basically like reading a history book based on Wikipedia entries. Shallow in many places and without a coherent central argument. On the plus side, it is short. Then I read The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead. My gut feeling about Whitehead is that he has been struggling to live up to the hype over his first novel (The Intuitionist). However, he has at least kept going, and didn't get totally frozen on a follow-up novel a la Ellison (who to be fair certainly kept writing *and publishing* non-fiction). This isn't a novel at all. It is probably best described as prose poem about Manhattan that sort of riffs a bit on E B White's Here is New York. I think the earlier sections are the best ones where he indulges in a melancholy reverie. I wonder if he is/was aware of Ben Katchor's work, since some sections seem very much in that same vein. A quick read, but absolutely a disposable book. Speaking of Ben Katchor, Cardboard Valise has finally been published: Valise. I don't feel as deep an attachment to Katchor's work as I did 10-15 years ago (probably for the simple reason you can't find his strips in the alternative weekly papers anymore at least not in Chicago), but at one point it resonated strongly with me.

Well, it's probably this: Fascinating-Rhythms or some material from the sound board that was used to construct this album.

Rudresh Mahanthappa is in residence at the Jazz Showcase starting tomorrow (June 16). I intend to make the Sunday matinee.

Still working my way through several boxes. Many more Blue Note and OJCs to come, particularly Teddy Edwards, Jimmy Heath and Arnett Cobb. I'll probably be consolidating the lists soon, dropping some prices and moving more to last chance by the weekend. For the most part, I'm not looking for trades, but there are a couple of CDs that I have some interest in: Bud Shank Fascinating Rhythms (2009) Charles Mingus Jazzical Moods (OJC, 1995) Oddly, I don't think I've ever heard this Mingus. New listings 6/15/2011: HOLD 4 Kenny Dorham Blues in Bebop (Savoy) HOLD 12 Teddy Edwards Out of This World (Steeplechase) HOLD 8 Duke Ellington Live at the Blue Note (Roulette) 2 CDs HOLD 5 Duke Ellington Afro-Eurasaian Eclipse (OJC-Fantasy) HOLD 4 Duke Ellington New Orleans Suite (Atlantic) HOLD 4 Frank Foster Well Water (Piadrum) hole in UPC HOLD 8 Dexter Gordon American Classic (Discovery) HOLD 4 Johnny Griffin The Big Soul-Band (OJC-Riverside) Moved to Last Chance

I've been in a new house for a couple months, and I finally cleaned out my closet, literally as well as metaphorically. Got rid of all the clothes that I will never wear again. Probably am hanging onto a few too many clothes that I might be able to wear again if I got my act together. Also thinking how ironic when I was emerging from winter hibernation and starting to exercise, I threw my back out something awful. Doctor says that this week I should finally be able to start swimming again, but no biking until July.

Congrats on the move. Yeah, it looks like I'll be doing the same general thing, moving in Oct. with the wife and kids to join in mid-Jan. (longish story). However, there's no question I will be getting the better end of the deal, so I will have to be really nice to her after they move back in. One good thing about the Pacific Northwest is that people are generally more active there, and I might end up biking to work most days (I did in England, but it is only about once a week here in Chicago). Don't think I would commit to walking to work every day, however.

I actually went to the trouble of tracking down the two Mole Jazz LPs. I might lean more towards going the download route ($22), though it isn't clear what the bitrate is (I would suspect 320 but I'll try to find out). It's classy that they (CD Baby) let you read through the very interesting liner notes by Laurie before committing either way. The Widow's Taste website has had other AP releases in flac - but not these as far as I can see. http://www.lauriepepper.com/Blues_For_The_Fisherman/The_Album/The_Album.html So this is what CD Baby has to say about it -- What bitrate are the MP3s for album X? All of the MP3s available through CDBaby.com are encoded by us using the standard preset of the lame encoder. This means that you get Variable Bitrate MP3s with a target bitrate of around 200kbps. That's awfully low. I could see going for 320 and maybe even 256. But 200? I guess I'll end up ordering the physical product, but slightly fewer. Maybe just Widow's Taste #1 (Abashiri) and #6 (Blues for the Fisherman).

I'm sure it's good news for many, but I could never see myself ordering or enjoying this set.

Do or die time. The obvious factor is that every game has been won by the home team, so I suppose that gives Vancouver the edge. Guess we'll all find out soon...

I actually went to the trouble of tracking down the two Mole Jazz LPs. I might lean more towards going the download route ($22), though it isn't clear what the bitrate is (I would suspect 320 but I'll try to find out). It's classy that they (CD Baby) let you read through the very interesting liner notes by Laurie before committing either way.

Like playing a DVD on a laptop or desktop? Interesting thing about computers is that they are region locked, and if you pop one in from the wrong region, it will ask if you want to change regions. However, there is an internal firmware thingie* that only allows a maximum of 6 or 7 regional changes, so you don't want to get into the habit of doing it. I don't believe anyone has found a way around that, but I could be wrong. Of course, given how cheap laptops are (I picked up a reconditioned one for under $200 the other day), you could have a laptop for nothing but playing region 2 DVDs. So yes, that is a bit of a drawback. Now my impression is that it is possible to unlock Blue-Rays, but it is somewhat harder. This is one of the main reasons I have been a Blue-Ray hold-out (that and I don't want to buy more stuff). * Note the technical jargon here.

One of the solo Monk CDs on Black Lion has a fair bit of clicking from his fingernails (apparently much longer than usual). I'll see if I can track down more on this.