Kevin Bresnahan

Whenever I see these old archive pages and see the name Mnytime, I wonder if he really is dead or if he was just a really messed up dude. If it's the latter, is he here on the organissimo forums?

Tonight at the Regattabar in Cambridge, the SF Jazz Collective: Miguel Zenon, alto David Sanchez, tenor Avishai Cohen, trumpet Robin Eubanks, trombone Warren Wolf, vibes Edward Simon, piano Matt Penman, bass Obed Calvaire, drums

Many years ago, I was at a restaurant with a good buddy and we were drinking a nice bottle of wine. I commented on how I always thought they did a good job with their logo by incorporating the ravens into it. He said that in all the years he'd been drinking their wine, he never saw the ravens until I just pointed it out to him.

Jimmy Smith - Cool Blues (Blue Note). Now this is some organ Jazz that I can dig. This LT pressing doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the recent Japanese CD. Like many of these LT LPs, there is a muffled quality to it, almost like there's a blanket over the speakers. Was Blue Note using some sort of noise reduction back then?

Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Gettin' Up (Prestige). This is one beat up record! I don't remember buying it but it must've been in a dollar bin because I never would have bought it for much more than that. I have never heard this date before. Funk Jazz served with a bowl of Rice Crispies. Not really my preferred style of organ Jazz. Edited as I listen to more & more of this... Why don't I like this? It's pretty good music but I can't put my finger on why I'm really not digging this more. The drummer's constant shuffle?

Woody Shaw - Imagination (Muse). Van Gelder original pressing. Steve Turre plays nice on this date.

The Curtis Peagler 4 - I'll Be Around (Pablo). This is a nice enough date and I really can't complain about a record with Billy Higgins behind the drum kit.

Tal Farlow - The Tal Farlow Album (Verve Japan). 1981 pressing that I found sealed in the used bins. Nice clean picking.

So now I'm spinning Kenny Burrell's "Midnight Blue" cut by RVG (dark blue Liberty pressing). A very different presentation. The mids are jacked up on this version compared to the Music Matters version I just spun. I suppose a case could be made for each version. My old ears seem to like a little added EQ on the top but the Music Matters version has a better late night feel.

Kevin how is this? Does it sound really nice? I have the "blue train" and "idle moments" music matters 33rpm reissues and love those but my XRCD of "soul station" sounds so good I'm a bit on the fence as to whether I should get this vinyl? I have the XRCD, the Ron McMaster CD, the RVG CD, the Classic Records mono LP & the King (Japan) LP. I used to own the 1995 LP. This new Music Matters LP is very, very nice. It's the best vinyl version I've heard. Better than the XRCD? Maybe. But certainly not as convenient. If you like vinyl, you won't be disappointed with this one. I bought this new Music Matters LP because I subscribed to the whole series. So far, I haven't been disappointed. In fact, I'm now playing Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue (Music Matters). This is a beautiful-sounding hunk of vinyl. Very quiet vinyl (needed with this late night music) with a "you are there" sound. I am very glad I got this. I am going to compare it to my Van Gelder pressing next.

Hank Mobley - Soul Station (Music Matters) New 33 rpm reissue series.

Yeah, one Saturday a month at their "back-alley office with very low rent in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The space is very hard to find, and was previously used as an apartment by a low-profile prostitute." I think if you visited them there, you'd remember it! No interior pictures of the store at 1180 N Milwaukee Ave. that I can find, but here's a street view of the current storefront (they were on the 2nd floor where the "Young Chicago Authors" program is now located: DG historical site. You should've seen some of the CD shops I visited in Taiwan, Korea & Hong Kong back in those days. Back alley? No problem! They are all a bit of a blur by now though. I used to research local CD shops and plan my business trips around the stores' hours, often staying an extra day (Saturday) to get some shopping in. The one place I've always wanted to go to that has eluded me is the Princeton Record Exchange. I really should plan a weekend trip down there someday.

It says that they also used to open one Saturday a month in 1996 and I'm pretty sure I visited them during that time too. Any pictures of the inside of the Wicker Park store?

I don't think so. How often has Dusty Groove moved? Where were they located 1995-99? That would be when I visited several times.

You're thinking of the Jazz Record Center in NYC. Yeah, the JRC is set up like that too, but Dusty Groove's was a bit different. For one thing, it wasn't as gloomy as the one in the JRC. I remember seeing some (very expensive) rare vinyl in that Dusty Groove vinyl room. I think they had a turntable in the hall where you could ask them to play certain LPs for you. My concern about remembering it right is that I went to a few record stores in Chicago back then and I might be remembering a different one. The location I'm thinking of was near the canals in downtown.

I let a buddy borrow my LP of Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" and it came back with a pop in "All Along The Watchtower". I still "hear" that pop even when I play the CD.

Don Patterson - These Are Soulful Days (Muse). Patterson with Jimmy Heath, Pat Martino & Albert Heath. Killer band but hasn't hit me yet. It's kinda boring. The biggest bummer is that the record looks mint but plays with loud pops throughout. This is what I always hated about vinyl. Never the sound, just these apparently random noises on a perfect-looking record. CTI pressings are the worst offenders but this one is pretty bad.

Ornette Coleman - The Empty Foxhole (Blue Note). Connoisseur LP. I knew I wouldn't really dig this but I found it in the used bins today. I wanted to hear it, now I have. It'll be going to someone else now.

I was bummed when I was told that this show was cancelled. I worried that this might happen. They also cancelled the Jay Clayton/Houston Person show the night before (also due to poor ticket sales). I guess I'll go to the SF Jazz Collective at the Regattabar. I hope they don't cancel that one too. Nice lineup: Miguel Zenon, alto David Sanchez, tenor Avishai Cohen, trumpet Robin Eubanks, trombone Warren Wolf, vibes Edward Simon, piano Matt Penman, bass Obed Calvaire, drums

Kenny Dorham - Jazz Contemporary (Time). Nice original pressing that I found in a bin for $6 today.

Just played my copy and yes, I agree, too "relaxed" for my taste, nice playing, but the choice of the tunes is definitely on the dull side. I remember being all excited to hear this date when I finally found a copy and how disappointed I was when I finally played it. Snoozer is right.

Now spinning vinyl on my new VPI Scout SE turntable that my wife got me for Christmas. Gerry Rafferty - City To City

Tonight at the Regattabar, Ron Carter, Donald Harrison and Billy Cobham. Should be a good one!

I went there quite a few times in the 90's and it's looks very different. Also, there used to be an archway about halfway down the wall that led to the LP section, which was another room by itself. Of course, I could be remembering it all wrong too.

Herb Geller - Fungi Mama (Comet Records). Live date from Siegen, (West) Germany in 1984. Looks like a boot but sounds like a professional recording. Polite playing by all. I've never heard of anyone in the rhythm section: Hartmut Sperl, paino; Bernd Wolf, bass & Achim Brauer, drums.