Kevin Bresnahan

It's excellent. Features JR as the only horn and the trio of drummer Joe Abodeely, pianist Dale Oehler and bassist Gary Allen - all based in the Quad Cities at the time. Monterose had a stand at the Tender Trap in Cedar Rapids for almost a year, I believe, in 1964 - Chuck probably knows more about this. If you wind up paying big bucks for this, be aware that it's only about 33 minutes long. It's a fine 33 minutes for sure.

The used copy of TOCJ-66015 Ike Quebec Quintets and Swingtet - "Blue Harlem" that I thought I had for $25 fell through shortly after I posted this. I still haven't been able to find a decently priced copy. Kevin

It was phenomenal. Gardony opened the set solo, playing pieces from his new solo CD, "Clarity", and then switched to the sextet for another hour and a half. Great night and I'm glad I decided to go on the spur of the moment.

Tonight at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA, a Berklee all star performance: Laszlo Gardony, piano John Lockwood, bass Yoron Israel, drums Stan Strickland, vocals, flute, bass clarinet WITH SPECIAL GUESTS: Bill Pierce, sax Don Braden, sax

Yes to the VSOP discs too.

Johnny Griffin's last tours included many of the same of the same songs with many of the same introductions. The intro to "The JAMFs Are Coming" was supposed to be funny... Maybe it was the first time I heard it. Johnny always got a big laugh out of it. JJ Johnson played pretty much the same sets two tours in a row near the end of his life. It's because of this that I skipped what turned out to be his last tour through Boston.

Which is exactly why he released "Straight No Filter" on CD this way the first time. They only reverted to LP order due to complaints.

Ah, darn, you're right. But no matter - once one of these companies put out "No Room For Squares" or "The Turnaround" using the LP sequence of tunes, all of them should come out that way or else you get duplication of tunes.

It's the same as the original "Straight No Filter" CD released in the late 80s. It's not the same as the LP of "Straight No Filter" so Music Matters decided to give it a new name & cover. Remember, when "The Turnaround". "Straight No Filter" and "No Room For Squares" were first released, Michael Cuscuna put the music onto CD in session order, which was very different from the original LPs. When they reissued these CDs (two in the RVG series and one in the Connoisseur series), they reverted back to the LP sequence. The thing I really don't get about Joe Harley's decision here is that he already reissued the original LP version of "No Room For Squares", which has two tunes that will be reissued on this new double LP. Why not just reissue the original LP sequenced version of "Straight No Filter"? Anyone who bought Music Matters version of "No Room For Squares" already has two of the tunes and when you're talking about a 45 rpm release, that's almost two LP sides.

Is that Greg Hopkins the trumpeter? He performed in Hartford last Friday with Earl MacDonald and the Hartford Jazz Society's New Directions ensemble as a last minute replacement. Yup. Trumpeter Greg Hopkins is a Professor of Jazz Composition at Berklee: http://www.berklee.edu/faculty/detail/greg-hopkins

The disc is probably stuck on the spindle. Just reach in there with a soft tool and try to loosen it up and bit and then see if can be pulled out. You may also want to try putting another CD in and see if the two of them come out together but be warned that you may damage your player. I used to have a Savoy CD by Ralph Moore called "Who It Is You Are" that I had to throw out because the hole in this CD was too small and it used to get stuck in several players. Luckily it never happened in a car player.

I'm in for my usual.

Tonight at The Sahara Jazz Club in Methuen, MA, The Cryogenic Renaissance Orchestra, otherwise known as The Greg Hopkins Nonet will be on stage. Should be a great time. The cost? A whole $10. Kevin

Nobody is really recording much these days. Look at the latest new releases from... well, *any* label. Jazz, blues & classical are all suffering from this.

This past Saturday, I saw Gato Barbieri at The Regattabar in Cambridge, MA. Gato should be retired. He is clearly in fading health - barely able to walk (almost fell down taking one step after his helper let him go), can't stand for very long (played the entire set from a chair, making it nearly impossible for anyone to see him) and just in general looking like a very old man (he's 78 or 80 depending on the web source). I felt like I was seeing my grandfather up there just before he died. But most importantly, he's just not capable of playing at a high enough standard any more. He can't hold a note without an off pitch waver. It was not a pleasant sound. The people we sat with were very disappointed. It was hard not to be. If it wasn't for a pretty decent backing band, it would have been even worse. It was sad, really. Afterward, I went up to talk to him and maybe get an autograph and he was yelling at a woman (wife?) to get him off the stage because he was tired. Actually , he was yelling at her that he was "too tired" to stand there any more. The crowd, who up until this point were standing around thanking him for the show and shaking his hand, heard his shouts and silently parted. There was a hush as he shuffled off. The poor guy. I truly felt bad for him. It seemed like he didn't even want to be there. Actually, somebody uploaded a video from the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVswQBufptk

I saw Gato Barbieri last night at The Regattabar in Cambridge, MA. Depending on the source, he's either 78 or 80. I'm sad to report that he should strongly consider retiring. His ability to play has faded too much. His intonation is barely there and held notes waver pretty badly.

Gene Ammons - The Gene Ammons Story - Gentle Jug (Prestige). Nice early morning music. I play the Analogue Productions gold CD of this date quite often at dinner time. Beautiful ballad playing.

Cal Tjader - Trio (Fantasy). Record store day orange 10" vinyl. Like the Brubeck, some warble here too. Maybe it's the vinyl itself? It's always worse on the first track. It ain't the turntable because nothing else is showing it.

There is currently no such thing as an "LED" monitor. Currently labeled LED monitors are LCD displays with LEDs used as a backlight instead of CCFL (where FL stands for fluorescent). For a computer monitor... well maybe even for a TV, LED backlighting is not the panacea that the manufacturers are making out to be. There is a high chance of "flashlighting", which is when the edge LED cause brightness in the corners on dark scenes. Either LCD or LED will work fine. For computer monitors, I currently stick with Dell Ultrasharp or Samsung monitors. LG will work well too.

The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (Apple)

The New York Jazz Quartet - Song of the Black Knight (Sonet)

Dave Brubeck - Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals (Fantasy). 10" red vinyl from record store day. Tons of tape warble on the first two tracks. I don't get why so many were raving about the sound of this on the Hoffman forum. To my ears, it sounds like the tapes are pretty beat up. Did an original sound this bad?

Sonny Stitt - Personal Appearance (Japanese Verve)

Kinda hard to believe the accuracy of this when they write "Rudy Van Gelder 24 Bit Mastering - 1987 Digital Remaster" when 1) RVG was not doing masters for Blue Note in 1987 and 2) there wasn't a 24 bit mastering station in 1987.

Herb Ellis - Nothing But The Blues (Verve). I don't know why, but I really like this date. Great CD, OK LP. Lots of crackle. Am I the only one who can't seem to get decent Verve vinyl?