Kevin Bresnahan

I assume you re-did the woofer foam surrounds? Even if they look good, if they are original they are likely not working as they should. I once had a friend say that his woofer surrounds were fine but when he lightly touched one, it crumbled before his eyes. After re-foaming, they sounded great.

Three more bari sax LPs that never made it to CD for the "needle drop" pile: Nick Brignola's "New York Bound" (Interplay), "Northern Lights (Discovery) & "Signals... In From Somewhere" (Discovery). Cheesy covers for sure...

Did it ever get mastered but just didn't make release on CD? I'd go for a download at this point.

Oh man... he was such a big part of Kenny Barron's trio. Great bassist. RIP Kiyoshi.

I'm in the process of "needle dropping" several LPs that have never made it to CD or download. I started with Joanne Brackeen's two Tappen Zee LPs, "Keyed In" & "Ancient Dynasty". Next up will be a couple of Lew Tabackin LPs, "Tabackin" (Inner City) - also called "Let The Tape Roll" & "Tenor Gladness" (Inner City), which has been released on CD in Japan but I never got around to ordering. After that, I'm planning Cecil Payne's "Bright Moments" & "Brookfield Adante", both on the Spotlite label. I'm a sucker for baritone sax dates. I'll probably also do Don Joseph's "One Of A Kind" (Uptown) as I've kinda given up on the expanded digital release that @Chuck Nessa hinted at a few years ago. I used to needle drop LPs a lot years ago but got tired of the process after stupidly agreeing to make about 75 of them for a fellow in Florida in exchange for being able to keep the LPs afterward. I have all of Kamuca's Concord LPs as needle drops. I listen to them often.

I think T.D. is right in that Watanabe got rolled up into the "smooth jazz" side of things and he rode that for quite a while. He's like the Japanese David Sanborn.

The tune I really liked was "For RJ", where Reeves plays the cello instead of a bass. It gives the music a lighter feel.

Nat Reeves - Now In Time (The Side Door). Excellent new CD release issued to celebrate Reeves' 70th birthday. Killer band: Eddie Henderson (tp), Eric Alexander (ts), Steve Davis (tb), Orrin Evans (p), Reeves plucking those bass strings & Jeff "Tain" Watts (d). Nat is 70. Wow. It blows my mind that he's 70. I guess when you get to my age and realize that guys you've been watching up on stage for the last 35+ years were a bit older than you, it shouldn't surprise you that they're getting up there too.

I used to play this CD quite often back in the day... time to pull it out again.

A lot of great pictures are showing up on Facebook. I liked this one: He was good friends with John Fedcock. John posted this tribute on Facebook: The world lost someone special today. There are few people who touch your life in a way that makes an indelible mark, and Paul McKee was one of those people. He was one of my oldest and dearest friends. I first met him in 1984. An opening came up on Woody Herman’s band, and I was given the task of hiring the new trombonist. In reviewing all the audition tapes, Paul was the clear winner, without question. His soloing was so mature for someone in their 20s, and the charts he shared on the tape were professional level. I still have that tape! After only a day or two on the band, we just clicked and have been close ever since. We shared so much in our likes, dislikes, musical heroes, best-liked movies, favorite comedians, the way we thought about music, etc, it was like I had known him my whole life. We both left Woody’s band on the same day in the summer of 1987, and although going our separate ways to different parts of the country, we stayed in close touch and continued to work together. On the road, we developed a special musical connection, first born from us playing unaccompanied choruses together, inspired by our mutual love for bootleg recordings of Carl Fontana and Frank Rosolino doing the same. That developed into a special kind of telepathy when playing in small groups over subsequent years, to the point of us many times falling into the exact same line for a quick few beats amidst an involved counterpoint. That never failed to crack us up. My experiences playing with Paul were some of the most important moments in my musical life. But he was not only a master musician. Paul was also just a fantastic guy. Someone that everyone loved. A great hang. An amazing wit. A BBQ & grill master. To be able to call him a true friend is a privilege I will never take for granted. My heartfelt love, thoughts and unending support are with Angie, Sam and Julia in this immensely difficult time. I feel honored to have been with Paul during his last days on this earth. I will miss him for the rest of my life. But I’m also so glad to carry with me all of the special memories from everything we shared. Rest easy, my friend. You will be in our thoughts forever.

I didn't know he was sick. I've seen several Facebook posts from his numerous students. He was a well-respected teacher, with stints at University of Colorado, DePaul University, Youngstown State University, Northern Illinois University, the University of Missouri at Kansas City and Florida State University.

We have one day in Rome during our October cruise and we've booked a 10 hour city tour, so I doubt I'd have any time for music shopping.

Never been to Rome but going for a day this fall. I doubt I'll be hitting any record stores on that city tour.

My CDs are still stored in a Can-Am unit like this one: https://www.can-am.ca/CD-storage-DVD-storage.htm