Kevin Bresnahan

Plextor drives used to be a premium-priced product because they made a premium drive. Since they outsourced the drive manufacture, they dropped off my list. I don't see a reason to pay a premium to have the drive say "Plextor". I will say that I have several Lite-On drives and they work fine. I think I paid $20.00 at newegg.com for the last one I bought which is a lot less than the ~$70 Plextor's getting for this drive.

Our Capresso is dying quickly. The Capresso line out now is not getting very good reviews. It looks like the Technivorm is the one to buy today but it's expensive and it doesn't make a lot of coffee. Any advice for a drip coffee maker out there today?

George Coleman is 76 years old. I hope I am long retired by the time I'm 76! Everyone should get the chance to kick back their feet a bit before they die. As for missing being on the road... In my case, being on the road got old. I did it for 3 years and by the end, I was miserable. I would never want another job that put me on the road all the time. I drank too much, ate too much and generally became a slug. I eventually lost the 45 pounds I put on during those 3 years but it was tough. Horace Silver's retirement caused his Alzheimer's? I've never heard of a study showing this. Also, when I talked to Horace during his last visit to Boston, he seemed a bit off. He signed a picture I brought with me and added the wrong date. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I have to wonder if he wasn't already starting to exhibit early warning signs.

The amp is sold.

The amp is on hold pending payment.

Up for sale is a very lightly used Marantz PM5004 Integrated Amplifier. I purchased this for use on my secondary system and I had it in play for only about 3 months last year, which equates to about 50 to 100 hours of playing time. I used it for LP (Moving Magnet) and SACD playback through my B&W Nautilus 805s's and it sounded very nice. I have the original shipping box. I am only offering this up because I bought a Rotel RA-1052 at a significant savings... one of those offers I couldn't refuse. This Marantz amp is not better or worse than the Rotel that replaced it and I would have been very happy sticking with it. My Rotel impulse purchase gives you a chance to buy this Marantz for a very nice price. $320 including shipping to a US address. It's selling for $449 new all over the web. No used units out there right now. Buyers from other countries need to be aware of the line voltage and shipping will be at actual cost (this includes Canada). I prefer PayPal, but if you must use a check, let me know and we can work it out. Specs (from http://us.marantz.com/us/products/pa...oductId=PM5004): THD: 0.05% (20Hz - 20kHz, 8 ohms) Input Sensitivity/Impedance: PHONO(MM): 2.2mV/47k ohms, LINE: 200mV/20k ohms Frequency response: 10Hz – 50kHz +0dB, -1dB S/N Ratio: PHONO(MM): 83dB (5mV input, 1W output), LINE: 103dB (2V input, 8 ohms, Rated output) Number of Channels: 2 Output Power: 35W (8 ohms), 45W (4 ohms) (20Hz - 20kHz) Power Transformer: EI Current Feedback Amplifier Pre Amplifier and Power Amplifier Speaker Terminal: Transparent screw-type x2 pair Tone Control: Bass (100Hz): +/- 10dB, Treble (10kHz): +/- 10dB Source Direct: Yes Speaker A/B: Yes Music Direct has a nice write up on this Marantz amp here: http://www.musicdirect.com/p-12627-m...rated-amp.aspx. They are right about the power rating. It is very conservative. I was easily able to crank this up too loud for the small room it was in. Also, the MM phono input sounds very nice. Kevin

This was issued last month by Candid under the title of "Tubby's New Groove" and very good it is too! Details are: 01 - Tin Tin Deo 02 - Visa 03 - Supper At Phil's 04 - Symphony 05 - Hook's Way 06 - The Trolley Song Tubby Hayes - tenor sax Terry Shannon - piano Jeff Clyne - bass Phil Seamn - drums Recorded: December, 1959 London and you're right, it WAS a tape sent to Alfred Lion by Tony Hall. Apparently it was found by Michael Cuscuna amongst the Lion archive sometime in the 1970's and it then lay in a box in his house until being rediscovered in 2008. Has anyone heard this? I was in Bull Moose Music up in Portsmouth yesterday and they had this on the shelf. Is it worth getting? Kevin

Does anyone believe Bowie's statement that he's officially retired?

Playing now, Bobby Hutcherson's "Spiral". Up next, Hank Mobley's "Quintet" (now called "Curtain Call").

Was it Richard Pryor who said that they never could have made "Amityville Horror" about a black family? When the disembodied voice says "Get the fuck out", a black family would be running out the door. Seriously, but along this line of thinking, if this person is freaked out by this situation and thinks it's the old dresser, she should burn the dresser. It's a dresser for crying out loud. You can find another one. Have a bonfire and say goodbye to sicko granpa, if that's what's happening here. BTW, I have to think that her prior abuse at the hands of her grandfather is not helping her in this situation. I would be willing to be that she sees her grandfather in many ways, especially when she gets upset or frightened. I hope she's seeing a therapist.

Make sure to read the fine print on those things! There is language in the stock purchase agreement that states that the commissioner can fine you $500,000 for saying something bad about an NFL player or team and another stating that you can be fined $5,000 for betting on an NFL team. Kevin

You mean this one? I finally found a copy of this elusive LP. It is a very good date. I could do without Tiny's vocals (on one track) but they're not too bad. The same day, I also found another one I'd been looking for - a copy of Joe Farrell's "Skateboard Park". A good day at Stereo Jacks.

I thought I read somewhere that Hiroshi's family was affected by the earthquake/tsunami earlier this year. Things like that tend to put your every day life into perspective. Why run a store that's barely making ends meet if you're financially well off enough to retire? As much as I'll miss Hiroshi, I wish him even better luck as he exits the jazz CD/LP business. Kevin BTW, he still lists the CD of Ronnie Ross's "Cleopatra's Needle", which is extremely rare, for around $2300 Yen. Great deal for this CD. Until Hiroshi got it in, I was looking at much higher prices.

No "buy it now" so I'm out.

You know the FDA will never allow Lipitor to go over the counter. Just look what they did with red yeast rice. It used to be you could buy it in health food stores and take it to lower your cholesterol because it contained a kind of natural statin. The FDA made all manufacturers take that out! Anyone who's buying red yeast rice in a pill form as a natural method to lower their cholesterol is wasting some serious money. It won't do any good. From Wiki: "Regulatory restrictions The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) position is that red yeast rice products that contain monacolin K, i.e., lovastatin, are identical to a drug and, thus, subject to regulation as a drug. In 1998, the FDA initiated action to ban a product (Cholestin) containing red yeast rice extract. The U.S. district court in Utah allowed the product to be sold without restriction. This decision was reversed on appeal to the U.S. District Court. (Moore, 2001) (see Further Reading: PDRhealth). Shortly thereafter, the FDA sent Warning Letters to companies selling red yeast rice. The product disappeared from the market for a few years. In 2003, red yeast rice products began to reappear in the U.S. market. As of 2010, there are at least 30 brands available. Many of these avoid the FDA restriction by not having any appreciable monacolin content. Their labels and websites say no more than "fermented according to traditional Asian methods" or "similar to that used in culinary applications." The labeling on these products often says nothing about cholesterol. If they do not contain lovastatin, do not claim to contain lovastatin, and do not make a claim to lower cholesterol, they are not subject to FDA action. Two reviews confirm that the monacolin content of red yeast rice dietary supplements can vary over a wide range, with some containing negligible monacolins.[6][7] In 2007, the FDA sent Warning Letters to two dietary supplement companies. One was making a monacolin content claim about its RYR product and the other was not, but the FDA noted that both products contained monacolins. Both products were withdrawn.[8][9] The FDA also issued a warning press release (see Further Reading; FDA 2007). The crux of the release was that consumers should "…not buy or eat red yeast rice products…may contain an unauthorized drug that could be harmful to health." The rationale for "…harmful to health…" was that consumers might not understand that the dangers of monacolin-containing red yeast rice might be the same as those of prescription statin drugs".

When you get Lipitor (or any statin for that matter), the material that comes with the prescription has all the warnings and one of the possible side effects could result in death. I highly doubt any company would go over the counter with that potential lawsuit hanging over their head.

Yeah, it's killin' alright. It's killin' me! 80's drum sound, cheesy synths, horrible bass... what the hell is there to like in this? Sounds like Mannheim Steamroller on acid.

Such a great musician. I really like the stuff he did with Lovano and Frisell on Winter & Winter, especially the Evans stuff. He'll be missed.

I am pretty sure that there's one "Maiden Voyage" US CD out there with the Japanese master tape because the US master is pretty beat. I am also pretty sure that both of the "needle drop" masters, "The Jody Grind" and "Sweet Honey Bee", had the Japanese masters pulled to see if they were any better (I don't think they were) and they were probably used on their US CD as well.

Funny you should mention this one as I just picked up a copy at Stereo Jack's a few weeks ago. The session is usually called "Curtain Call" now. I agree that King pressings sound very good. I was under the impression that all of the King & Toshiba pressings are made from 2nd generation masters that were created in the 70's when some engineer fro Japan came over and made dupes of all the masters. Even today, Blue Note (US) will sometimes pull one of these masters from Japan if the US master is trashed. I believe that several of them were used on US CDs. Kevin

Whenever I hear "Tighter, Tighter" by Alive N Kickin', I am immediately transported back to July of 1970, when my family used to drive about 7 hours to Lincoln, ME for our annual two week vacation. This song seemed to be played every 30 minutes on the AM radio bands available back then.

Unfortunately for your argument, in 1976, the US revised copyright law (the so called "Micky Mouse Law") to automatically extend all copyrights to their "full term", which, in the case of sound recordings is 75 years from the date of publication. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf. At the bottom of page 3: "Federal copyright could also be secured before 1978 by the act of registration in the case of certain unpublished works and works eligible for ad interim copyright. The 1976 Copyright Act automatically extends to full term (section 304 sets the term) copyright for all works, including those subject to ad interim copyright if ad interim registration has been made on or before June 30, 1978.

Lady Gaga offered her *entire* last album for 99 cents on amazon.com for a week. It sold in the hundreds of thousands. Using this "door buster" to artificially claim that album sales are making a comeback is stretching it pretty thin. I highly doubt these buyers would have bought Gaga's full album if it was $9.99 like most of today's mp3 albums.

I thought I made it clear in my other post but I'll state it more plainly - It costs 10's of thousands of dollars to bring a copyright infringement lawsuit against these labels and/or distributors. Most labels (or copyright holders of defunct labels) cannot justify spending $50,000 in legal fees to stop the sale of a CD that *might* generate a few thousand dollars in sales. Years ago, I worked for a small electronics company that had some really cool technology that they patented and made into a product. It sold OK. Not enough to keep the company afloat (by itself) but nice extra income to help. Another company violated their patent. It was blatant. I was in the meeting with the lawyer where we were told that it would cost between $50,000-200,000 to take them to court and the likely outcome would be a percentage of their previous sales and a ban on future sales. He estimated that this lawsuit would take 2-4 years to settle. Our little company didn't have the money to fight it, so we let it slide. This is most likely what is happening here. I know people in the industry and believe me, they know when their stuff is being stolen. They also know that the accountants and lawyers discuss most violations and choose which ones to go after. There's a reason most of the stuff the Andorran crew go after is small label stuff - no one's around to stop them. BTW, did you ever wonder why Dusty Groove doesn't seem to sell any new Lone Hill/Fresh Sound PD stuff? They stopped right around the time that they started up their own reissue label. I sure that the companies they were obtaining licenses from had something to do with that. I read this as saying that this is how royalty payments are made period. Nothing in this document states that all someone has to do to violate copyright is pay 3%. If this were true, some Andorran company (25 years for PD in Andorra) would come out with "The Complete Beatles" for $50 and pay the 3% (and make millions!). Who says that Pujol doesn't get "the express authorization and consent of the copyright owner of the musical compositions embodied on the phonorecords, even if the phonorecords were manufactured lawfully outside of the U.S"? Who says he does? I'm sure Laurie Pepper knows about Art's copyrights. She says he doesn't have permission. I've heard of more people saying he doesn't than does.

I love the quote, "All I know is that Fresh Sound's CDs are available for sale legally in the U.S. at major online retailers". Legally? Really? So everything Pujol is issuing was recorded over 75 years ago? I thought not. Wake up - these CDs are *not* legal to sell in the US. It's just that the legal costs to get these illegal CDs off the shelves are prohibitive. Pujol knows this. He's lying if he says he doesn't.