tatifan

Unless I've missed it, nobody's mentioned the rare J.R.T. Davies sighting in this film!! Yes indeed, he's a performing member of "The Temperence Seven". I had forgotten about him being in this band, but that beard looked kind of familiar! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temperance_Seven

Couldn't find this thread in my search, so created a new one needlessly.......anyhow, I'm porting over my comments from that thread about the apparent high quality master material dubbed and taken either with or without Sony France's blessing by a former high level Sony producer would indicate that these aren't just another typical series of bootlegs. The classical sets in the series are from materials that could not be simply cloned from existing releases. So this may be an ethical quandry of some sorts, but I'd be highly curious to get hands on reports about the quality of these sets, since Sony themselves seems unlikely to be issuing this stuff.

Take a look at this set from France: http://www.united-archives.com/catalog/pro...;products_id=40 For the first time these 10 CDs bring together the musical production of Miles Davis, one of the greatest jazz musicians, outside the studio (in concerts, clubs, radio programmes) from 1948 to 1955. It allows us to appreciate the significant accomplishment from his debut as Benny Carter’s sideman up until his quintet with John Coltrane. All the pieces have been remastered to bring out their original tone. A careful phonic restoration has allowed them to be audible in the best possible way. Well, that sounds a bit cheesy, but have a look at the contents! There's also a 3CD Sarah Vaughan Columbia set, and Louis Armstrong set with concerts from Nice and Philadelphia, listed here on Amazon.fr http://www.amazon.fr/Nice-Philadelphia-Con...TF8&s=music There is much discussion of the classical sets on usenet. It seems someone from Sony France was let go recently, but left with primo copies lots of master material, so I don't know exactly the licensing trail, but apparently the technical standards (and materials accessed) are of very high quality.

By the way, the Atlantic material sounds WAY better on the Mosaic set, compared to the Collectables, which sound very pinched. I'm not a big Proper Box fan, but the Rogers set does plug some gaps in the early RCA material and doesn't sound noticeably worse than the discs they rip off.

Just found the Mulligan at Princeton Record Exchange for $60, not even remembering it had just gone OOP, they must not have known it either, as the prices definitely go up there once it's OOP!....glad I pulled the trigger on it!

Wow, I hope overwhelmed doesn't mean understocked!

Don't buy it from them. It's $49.98! Overstock.com has it for a tad under $30. I wish somebody would issue this material from actual source material, instead of public domain style secondary sources.

Wow, there's a name from my past! I went to high school with Fred in north Wilmington, DE! Not only that, but cello was my second instrument (still playing the piano for my livelihood), and I played in our modest school orchestra (seated ahead of Fred, actually). I had not heard that he was known as a jazz cellist, nor heard anything of him these nearly 30 years!

I've been eyeing that Outlaw unit......for that same use among others......so you're happy with it? I'm VERY happy with my Model 950 processor for my video setup.... great flexibility (bass management options of pieces costing twice that of the Outlaw) and wonderful sonics!

It finally came to me last night watching LaRussa on the post game interview.....he's the missing McKenzie brother, Dave Thomas' long lost twin brother!

I can't remember who first recommended the K2 "Monk's Music", but thanks! I finally got one (from an Amazon Marketplace seller...actually a 2nd try....the first one turned out to be a regular OJC), and it's a revelation, for sure. I'm not going to go trash my stereo version(s), but the mono mix is really gorgeous. Strangely, the ensemble sounds clearer in balance, and less unkempt....I'm not sure what it is about the stereo mix that makes it seem more ragged (maybe the ragged tonal quality makes it seem less together), anyhow, all I can say is grab this sucker before it vanishes completely!

Thanks for that info...I hope they DO get it (sometimes things stay in that category forever!). I need to email Netflix about getting the Jazz Icons DVD series....I find it strange that they get so many of these off brand releases (like those IDEM/Disconforme discs), but have missed the best single series out there!

There's the Internet, of course... Of course, that's the saving grace. But, it's still a big bite taken out of visibility for new releases, to go without the preorders from Tower, since the likes of, say Borders, are not going to carry full catalog, and usually just shove it in regular stock (and often don't even get things on the shelf by release day). It's harder to get the impact of new releases on the internet, it's a steadier trickle. I wonder if this is enough for many companies to survive? I'm not saying it's all Tower, of course, but it's a bigger loss than any other mega-chain to niche and independant labels.

This seems to me like a really myopic reaction to Tower's demise. Sort of a "What Tower could have done for me, but didn't". Apparently only what she considers the only worthy genre and form of music is important to the industry and consumers. If all that's needed are the two "best" cuts from an album, her business model is already out there in the form of online download vendors.....while we're at it, just tell those silly bands to stop recording those other 10-12 crappy cuts, it clogs up my computer screen! Good riddance? You mean good riddance to a good many of those very independent labels that have no place to sell their wares now. Don't these people realize that to say screw Tower is to screw one's self?

funny you say that - i thought the same thing. the packaging is waaaaaaay nicer. for me, i never picked up the previous prestige box due to mastering and packaging... -e- Makes me feel better about missing on the big box during the Concord blowout.....also makes me much more inclined to pick up "Fearless Leader" knowing it won't be a "hanging chad" of Coltrane's Prestige output.

Chuck, It seems that a lot of people disagree with your assessment of the label. (On the sound, not on the legality.) Reviews I've read suggest this set has better sound than the Savoy/Dial set. I will probably pick this up over the next few weeks and offer my comments. Guy If that opinion stating this set has better sonics is from this Amazon review: I own both the Complete Dial and Savoy recordings, and the sound on this set blows both of those away. As another reviewer pointed out, the first disc contains a bit of hiss, but other than that, this is the best sounding CP I have heard. I'm not sure I'd but much stock in it.....seeing that he seems to equate a "bit of hiss" with bad sound.....I should hope there's a bit of hiss! All the same, the earliest material included here is worth having in some form, and is not duplicated in the other releases up for comparison. JSP has been a maddening crazy quilt of stolen AND original remastering work of late. See the thread on the new Fats Waller set (apparently the 1st of what is promised as a "complete" Fats Waller) for an example of the positive in recent releases......despite some reservations about Kendall's transfer work (I wonder if JSP subjects submitted masters to some of their own handiwork?). Under no circumstances should you pay money for JSP's Bunny Berigan set (stolen from the Mosaic set, minus the previously unissued takes they unearthed). They also have numerous Blues sets out that are (often rather poor sounding) rip-offs of the transfer work of previous releases.

Did a little a/b on the solo material vs. the 2 cd Bluebird set....the JSP is VERY clean, with maybe just a teeeny bit too much digital NR scrubbing. Maybe it's that that gives a slightly synthetic feel to the top end. The Bluebird is strange to compare...I don't prefer it in the end. The plus to the Bluebird is that the top end is not molested too badly, but it's got a slightly out of phase swishing problem that negates some of the more natural quality tonally. And no question, it is dirtier sounding, and not in a pleasing way, even for one that prefers a more natural sound. I'm just a bit surprised that Kendall seems to be inching away from J.R.T. Davies ideal of judicious NR but preserving the full quality of the original recording tonally. Really just quibbling here (buy the darned thing already!), but I expected it to blow the Bluebird away (and away from my collection...but I'm keeping it now), and it only sideswiped it. P.S. Listening to more of the set tonight. I must say the piano solos are the ONLY tracks to bother me as described above...the other sides sound really superb. The "Fats Waller and his Buddies" sides w/Gene Krupa even manage to reproduce his 4 heavy beats per measure with presence, but without muddying up the rest of the ensemble, which is easily possible!

I have a room about the same size that has become my dedicated audio room (away from the video stuff in the bigger room) and I got the Revel Concerta F12s http://www.ultimateavmag.com/speakersystems/1205revel/ and they are VERY comfortable in a smaller space. They are not as wide as they are deep, which helps for space saving as well. They are efficient as well (I'm told -- I've got them on a 10 yr. old 200 wpc Adcom amp and Conrad Johnson preamp) I find they sound wonderful with so many different types of recordings, and preserve the individual quality and flavor of those differing periods of recordings and different genres of music really well. Not that I'm trying to steer you away from the B&Ws, but if anyone else wants a full range speaker in a smaller room they're worth checking out for the pretty reasonable $1300.

That's funny, I heard this exact joke, but the tune was "Fly Me to the f___ing moon"!!

As I was waking up this morning, Garrison Keillor was giving a small Monk birthday tribute on his "Writer's Almanac" feature on NPR. He read this interesting Stephen Dobyns poem as well: Thelonious Monk A record store on Wabash was where I bought my first album. I was a freshman in college and played the record in my room over and over. I was caught by how he took the musical phrase and seemed to find a new way out, the next note was never the note you thought would turn up and yet seemed correct. Surprise in 'Round Midnight or Sweet and Lovely. I bought the album for Mulligan but stayed for Monk. I was eighteen and between my present and future was a wall so big that not even sunlight crossed over. I felt surrounded by all I couldn't do, as if my hopes to write, to love, to have children, even to exist with slight contentment were like ghosts with the faces found on Japanese masks: sheer mockery! I would sit on the carpet and listen to Monk twist the scale into kinks and curlicues. The gooseneck lamp on my desk had a blue bulb which I thought artistic and tinted the stacks of unread books: if Thomas Mann depressed me, Freud depressed me more. It seemed that Monk played with sticks attached to his fingertips as he careened through the tune, counting unlike any metronome. He was exotic, his playing was hypnotic. I wish I could say that hearing him, I grabbed my pack and soldiered forward. Not quite. It was the surprise I liked, the discordance and fretful change of beat, as in Straight No Chaser, where he hammers together a papier-mâché skyscraper, then pops seagulls with golf balls. Racket, racket, but all of it. music. What Monk banged out was the conviction of innumerable directions. Years later I felt he's been blueprint, map and education: no streets, we bushwhacked through the underbrush; not timid, why open your mouth if not to shout? not scared, the only road lay straight in front; not polite, the notes themselves were sneak attacks; not quiet—look, can't you see the sky will soon collapse and we must keep dancing till it cracks? for Michael Thomas I think I'll spin the Jazz Icons DVD myself today in celebration (well, and because I just picked it up Sunday!).

Pat's Steaks.........mmmmmarrggghhhmmmmm! (Homerspeak) At least they didn't throw batteries like they did to JD Drew once!

How many times did the Cowboys run a play in which Bledsoe got clipped as he was throwing? You'd think they would have recognized the blitzes were coming more frequently once that happened. What can I say. As an Eagles fan, to see T.O. irrelevant to the outcome, going off on anyone within earshot ("I was wide open"??? Bull....he changed speeds at times that did NOT fool the Eagles coverage, but DID fool Bledsoe enough to make it impossible to throw to him) and being his usual immature, absolutely useless to anyone but his own worthless ego self was a supreme vindication for him having ruined the Eagles last year! He is the ultimate un-teammate and will bring down any team around him. In any case, he's obviously not Parcells first or even second option, and will only be a first option when they play teams with no ability to cover anyone. When that next happens he will take full credit, as usual. Come on T.O., admit that YOU sucked yesterday, not that you didn't get enough "touches". Despite being able to stand on that freakin' Dallas Cowboys midfield star now without being knocked over, HIS own star is clearly on the decline! Touch this, T.O.!!! Apologies to Cowboys fans for the rant, but you'll hate the guy as much as us Philly fans soon enough!

Thanks for your thorough and thoughtful review! I've picked up the Blakey, Monk and Gillespie discs, and couldn't be happier to have these. My ONLY gripe at the production is the strange imposition of the Jazz Icons screen over the first few seconds of the beginning of the discs....I assumed it was a start menu of some kind, but you miss the starting few seconds of the original VIDEO of the performance. I, for one, would like to see the original credit screens, if there are any. Certainly, there are way too many positives to let this detract from the excellence of the productions here, but I hope the message gets through to refrain from this on future releases. (I suppose it's some way to combat the rampant piracy of the Disconforme group?). Strangely, Netflix doesn't offer these for rent, which would be nice for the 3 or 4 I don't want to buy. Considering all the crappy Jazz discs they rent, it's a major goof on their part.

I guess you learn something every damned day! Thanks! I need to spend some time in that woodshed, actually!

I went searching for (I'm assuming you mean JSP?) Vol. 1, and they seem to have started with Vol. 2! I've got mine coming from Wherehouse.som, with the extra 30% off (code: bigsale) it's a steal. Finally picked up the Bear Family Nat King Cole tome for about $161 too!!