Kevin Bresnahan

Those are pressed by Rainbo Records in CA and they are from a digital source. While they're supposed to sound fine, I don't see the point of 'em. It's just the CD with clicks, pops & surface noise added.

I never knew about this box set. Does anyone know of a place where I can get a copy? I got turned onto the Electra/Musician "Live!" LP years ago and I'd love to get this completed concert.

Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow (Fish People). Brand new out of the sleeve, these sides have never played without crackle & pops. The first time I played this, I didn't like it that much. I still don't think it's great, but I it's not Yoko Ono bad.

The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn (with Jimmy Giuffre) (Atlantic). Original black label pressing in OK shape. Unfortunately, the vibes distort every now & then and there are some pretty good pops but listenable. Not my favorite LP, that's for sure. Too polite? EDIT: I paid way more than $6 for it!

While expected, this is still an incredible bummer. Horace has always been one of my favorites. I am glad I got to see him on his last tour. It was great to see and hear him that one time. RIP Horace.

One thing I always wondered about this... doesn't it make sense to abbreviate something said out loud as "December sixteenth, two-thousand and thirteen" to 12/16/13? Does the rest of the world state dates differently from the US? I can see if you state today's date as "the sixteenth of December, two-thousand and thirteen", then 16/12/13 makes sense. Is that how it's done there? Numerical dates are simply abbreviations of stated dates and abbreviations typically follow syntax. No one would abbreviate "emergency room" as RE.

The Incredible Jimmy Smith - Christmas 64 (Verve). Black label reissue (with reissue sticker on the cover) but still a Van Gelder pressing.

Many years ago, my buddy Rob talked me into to going and seeing Jim Hall during one of his annual treks to Boston. Previously to this, I was rather ambivalent about his playing. After that show, I never missed him again. He was a great performer and I'll miss him. He just came through town a month or so ago and looked very frail. It was still a great show. RIP Mr. Hall and thank you for all the smiles you gave me.

Al Cohn - No Problem (Muse). This is a nice date, if not a bit predictable. Barry Harris plays his usual stuff, which is very good, but also quite a bit predictable.

Next up: JJ Johnson - J Is For Jazz (Columbia). Nice mono 6 eye record I found in a used bin for $4. I like this Columbia stuff. I should pull out that Mosaic box again. What do you think of this one? Good; not great. Where I'm coming from - I have exactly two Jane Ira Bloom albums, this one and a more recent one, plus scattered tracks here and there. She's someone I want to like more than I do, if that makes sense. I'm not sure what it is, but I can't get into her music that much. That being said, I've enjoyed this album since I bought it - more than anything else I've heard by her. I do think that her use of electronics is organic, and works better than most such attempts. I probably like this a bit more than you but you're right, it's not great. Now "The Red Quartets" on Arabesque, that's great. Never on vinyl though.

Various Artists - Herb Wong Presents Mistletoe Magic (Palo Alto Jazz). Lots of great players on this. Elvin Jones, Art Pepper, Mal Waldron, Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Jerome Richardson, Dave Liebman, Hank Jones and many more.

Bobby Timmons - Holiday Soul (Prestige)

Gene Clark just ended. Up now, Jorma Kaukonen - Quah (Grunt - 1980 reissue with alternative cover).

Gene Clark - Here Tonight (The White Light Demos) (Omnivore). A Black Friday Record Store Day release. Mellow folk-rock with a Dylanesque sound. It's good enough to play again but I wouldn't want a whole bunch of this type of stuff in my collection.

Elusive Disc still has some copies of the very limited edition reissue of this LP: http://www.elusivedisc.com/TONY-KINSEY-AN-EVENING-WITH-MR-PERCUSSION-180g-MONO-LP/productinfo/SPELP002/. It's a very good date if you're a Tubby Hayes fan.

Please accept my condolences. I know it seems dark right now, but the darkness will lessen with time. Try to do things you like to keep active. You'll always have those memories.

What amazes me is how much they get away with charging for these fonts! $229 for a font? One that was invented back in 1905? Wow.

Unless they've changed it, Microsoft doesn't allow you to roll back Internet Explorer. Once you install a later version, you can't go back. They do a similar thing with Microsoft Office. Once you upgrade, it's practically impossible to go backward. I'm glad to see you got it running Hans. FWIW, I have to use IE for some websites, particularly those that use Silverlight.

Buck Hill - This Is Buck Hill (Steeplechase)

I traded in my rainbow LP when I got my hands on a copy of the Connoisseur LP. It sounds better. That weird phasing on the cymbals is not as bad and the stereo separation is better.

My wife went through a big medical scare a few years back so I know exactly what you're going through. Telling her you love her is a start but simply being there for her is even better. Our relationship underwent a shift that day. I have always given my wife a kiss on the way out the door. It just means a bit more today than it did 3 years ago.

Tonight - The Brubeck Brothers at the Shalin Liu performance center in Rockport, MA.

I've had this discussion about sound memory before but chances are people are imaging the changes they claim to hear. There have been many studies showing that a human's audio memory is less than 30 seconds - most have less than 10 seconds. The time it takes to swap out speaker wires makes it pretty much impossible to remember what you heard previously. This gets even worse with the "burn in" argument. There is no way anyone can accurately remember what their system sounded like 100's of hours before. It's just not humanly possible. I guess it's the 4 years of college (BSEE) and almost 30 years of working in a test lab, but wires simply cannot do what some people claim. Buy better cables because they'll last longer and look better, but don't buy them to somehow improve the sound of your system. It won't. As for why I buy Blue Jean Cables... I will never buy another Monster Cable product again because of their lawsuits and I wouldn't buy any Mapleshade products because several artists who recorded for their record label have stated that they were never paid. Most of the esoteric cable makers are just too darn expensive, although I'm sure they make good speaker wires. Blue Jean Cables makes their speaker wires from Belkin's standard heavy gauge wires. They weld the connectors on so they should never fall off. They look pretty good (if I say so myself). They are relatively affordable. To my way of looking at it, they combine the best of everything. I guess my advice in a nutshell is to buy what you think looks good, is well made and fits your budget.

Blue Jean Cables are the best bang for the buck. I have a set and they work as advertised.

Spinning this pressing myself right now.