Kevin Bresnahan

Updated with a couple of price drops... Cheap Jazz CDs! I have a bunch of Jazz CDs that are either dupes or just stuff that I am not listening to right now. Some oop, some not, but all for less than I paid so you win. Shipping via first class USPS in the US and Canada is $3.00 for 1 CD and $1 for each additional CD. International shipping is actual charge. Did I mention cheap?? In the event of multiple requests for a disc, first PM gets it. Most CDs are M-. I will note if there is anything wrong with the disc. $15 each Herbie Hancock - Flood (Columbia/Sony SRCS 9341) Only issued in Japan. Made in Japan for Japanese market. Note: Small crack in case. McCoy Tyner and Jackie McLean - It's About Time (Blue Note CDP 7 46291 2) Disc made in Japan for US market. $4 each Joe Holiday - Mambo Jazz (OJCD-1786-2) Frank Catalano - Live At The Green Mill (Delmark DG-536) Benoit Delbeco - Nu-Turn (Hybrid SACD) (Songlines SGL SA1543-2) Note: hole punch in UPC and front of case has two small cracks. Dave Liebman - Trio + One (Owl OWL051CD 3800512) Note 1: Disc made in France and has a few very faint scratches. Note 2: Booklet has sticker that says "NON RETURNABLE"). Kaufman - Gertz - Bergonzi - Dreaming Out Loud (Whaling City Sound WCS 020) $3 each D.D. Jackson - Peace-Song featuring David Murray (Justin Time JUST 72-2) Jesse Jones - Family (9Winds NWCD0197) Tim Hagans - Audible Architecture (Blue Note CDP 7243 8 31808 2 0) Note 1: Line through bar code and promo writing on disc face. Note 2: disc has a few faint marks. Thanks, Kevin The following are sold: Tubby Hayes - With Clark Terry "The New York Sessions" (Columbia CK45446) The "JFK" Quintet - New Jazz Frontiers From Washington (OJCD-1924-2) Gene Ammons - Fine And Mellow (PRCD-24281-2) Curtis Counce - You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce (OJCD-159-2) Gus Mancuso - Gus Mancuso and Special Friends (Fantasy FCD-24762-2) The Mangione Brothers Sextet - The Jazz Brothers (OJCD-997-2) Brett Sroka - Hearsay (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 140CD) Leo Genovese - Haikus II (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 201) Kris Davis - The Slightest Shift (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 256)

Cheap Jazz CDs! I have a bunch of Jazz CDs that are either dupes or just stuff that I am not listening to right now. Some oop, some not, but all for less than I paid so you win. Shipping via first class USPS in the US and Canada is $3.00 for 1 CD and $1 for each additional CD. International shipping is actual charge. Did I mention cheap?? In the event of multiple requests for a disc, first PM gets it. Most CDs are M-. I will note if there is anything wrong with the disc. $15 each Herbie Hancock - Flood (Columbia/Sony SRCS 9341) Only issued in Japan. Made in Japan for Japanese market. Note: Small crack in case. McCoy Tyner and Jackie McLean - It's About Time (Blue Note CDP 7 46291 2) Disc made in Japan for US market. Tubby Hayes - With Clark Terry "The New York Sessions" (Columbia CK45446) Note: Label side of CD has "WEVD-FM CONCORD NH 03301 603 228 8910 (2/90)" written on it. I asked - the store I bought it from (in Concord, NH) said it was legit. $5 each Joe Holiday - Mambo Jazz (OJCD-1786-2) The "JFK" Quintet - New Jazz Frontiers From Washington (OJCD-1924-2) Gene Ammons - Fine And Mellow (PRCD-24281-2) Curtis Counce - You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce (OJCD-159-2) Gus Mancuso - Gus Mancuso and Special Friends (Fantasy FCD-24762-2) The Mangione Brothers Sextet - The Jazz Brothers (OJCD-997-2) Frank Catalano - Live At The Green Mill (Delmark DG-536) Benoit Delbeco - Nu-Turn (Hybrid SACD) (Songlines SGL SA1543-2) Note: hole punch in UPC and front of case has two small cracks. Dave Liebman - Trio + One (Owl OWL051CD 3800512) Disc made in France - A few very faint scratches. Note: Booklet has sticker that says "NON RETURNABLE") Kaufman - Gertz - Bergonzi - Dreaming Out Loud (Whaling City Sound WCS 020) $4 each D.D. Jackson - Peace-Song featuring David Murray (Justin Time JUST 72-2) Brett Sroka - Hearsay (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 140CD) Brett Sroka, trombone; Avishai Cohen, trumpet; Aaron Stewart, tenor sax; Jason Moran, piano & electric piano; John Sullivan, bass and Eric Harland, drums. Leo Genovese - Haikus II (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 201) Phil Grenadier, trumpet; Nathan Biehar, tenor sax; Leo Genovese, piano; Damian Cabaud, bass and Francisco Mela, drums. Kris Davis - The Slightest Shift (Fresh Sounds New Talent FSNT 256) Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Kris Davis, piano; Elvind Opsvik, bass and Jaff Davis, drums. $3 each Jesse Jones - Family (9Winds NWCD0197) Tim Hagans - Audible Architecture (Blue Note CDP 7243 8 31808 2 0) Note: Line through bar code and promo writing on disc face Note: disc has a few faint marks.

I was told by one artist that he never saw any money from the last Why Not CD issues. Is there any reason these will be any better? There's nothing worse than complementing an artist about a disc you want him/her to autograph, only to hear them say, "I never got paid a dime for that".

Interesting. That's a new one for the history books. Where was the CD made? By 1987, it was probably the US. I'll have to pull a few "Kill 'Em All" discs out of the used bins around the area and see if any of them show this.

Different thread Claude, and yes, I could certainly argue that point... but not in this thread. With all this CD-R discussion, we're already way off the track for this topic. No need to swing it off in another direction.

This is certainly true. Also, I can't recommend using DVD-Rs to back up data. I have yet to find a reliable DVD-R manufacturer.

There have also been studies done that show the opposite. The German magazine Stereo has just published an article to that effect in its 12/2008 issue. This is a moot point. Is this the German magazine that has always proclaimed CDs to be inferior to their LP counterpart. Bias in journalism? Nah, can't happen.

Post a picture of a CD-R where the reflective layer disintegrated. I've never heard of this happening nor seen one. If you have seen this, please take a picture and post it for us. If you read my original statement, I never said that CD-Rs cannot fail. I stated a fact that I have never had an audio CD-R fail. Ricoh and Sony blanks were probably both manufactured at the same Taiwanese factory and are probably of poor quality. Don't let the name on the CD-R fool you. There are only about 5 plants making them. I would never buy CD-Rs from a company named "Platinum". Sounds like one of those cheapies they used to sell at CompUSA. I still say that if you use well-made blanks, they are not likely to fail. Ever. Ah, that German study again. I read that study myself. Note well, that it first appeared on a pro-vinyl website. Also note that it didn't have any "before" pictures, just "after" pictures. As I said above, I have never seen pin holes develop in any pressed CD. Yes, I have many CDs, particularly from the mid-80s, that have a lot of pin holes. They were there when I bought them. As for the Austrian phonographic library's problems, send me a link. I'd like to read up on it. There have been a couple of instances where CD manufacturers in the early days used materials that deteriorated. It was mainly a few classical labels and the problems were well documented and mainly caused bronzing. If there is another problem out there, I'd like to read up on it. Kevin

Dan, immediately download this free software: http://www.foobar2000.org/ Best audio player I have ever used! I prefer VU Player. The conversion tool is nice to have too. Kevin

VBR is not generally assigned a bit rate but rather a "Quality rating". Sure, if you rip at VBR Q3, the average bit rate might be around 256 kBps (depending on the type of music), but the actual bit rate varies from 1 to >320 depending on the amount of sonic content in each second. If I look in the directory of a music disc that I ripped to mp3 using VBR Q2, each song's average rate goes from 192 to 320. People should not be afraid of downloading mp3s ripped using VBR at Q3, Q2 or Q1 quality levels. They'll sound just like the CD used to create them. There have been a bunch of studies that show that normal humans cannot differentiate between the original CD and the rip as long as you rip above Q3. I never understood why anyone would ever rip using mp3 at a fixed 320 kBps. The resulting file size is so close to FLAC, it makes no sense.

Damn, I jumped the gun. I was told that Blue Note was selling mp3s on their website but in looking there now, I don't see any. Maybe iTunes?

Well, Blue Note went "2009" on their own website. You can buy mp3 downloads from them now. I was told when this started that the mp3 portfolio was supposed to expand to include oop titles. I wonder if this Amazon deal will stall that?

Yeah, but those are in print titles. I've told a story before about how crazy Blue Note is about limiting stock. Many years ago, they deleted Ken McIntyre's "The Complete United Artists Sessions". McIntyre wanted to be able to sell them at his shows so he called up Blue Note to see how many copies he could get, figuring he could get some of the returns. He was told that they had already destroyed all of them. The guy who told me the story said that they have to be destroyed for legal reasons. If they give to anyone, including the artist himself, the books have to account for them. If they're destroyed, they're written off as a loss. If Blue Note wanted to reissue "Romance and Revolution", they'd have two options. One option would be to put in a call to the pressing plant and see if they have the old CD master stamper. If they do, have them run off a few thousand copies. Then the pressing plant would pull up the old artwork and print up a batch. A few weeks later, "Romance and Revolution" is back on the shelves. Blue Note did this very thing about 15 years ago - they called it the Collector's Choice series. I am pretty sure that this is only cost effective for Blue Note in higher quantities. The second option is to call Ron McMaster and tell him to pull the masters and get a digital tape ready for CD mastering. There are a whole lot more added costs to this option, not the least of which is Ron's time. New mastering means new artwork. New CD label. Blue Note is definitely getting licensing fees from these CD-R reissues. I suppose if Amazon was smart, they could have tried to get file copies of the artwork as part of the licensing, but Blue Note probably would have wanted more money for that so they figured a scan would do. Kevin

I asked Michael Cuscuna a few weeks ago if Blue Note had a library of all the CDs they ever made and he said no. I have to think that if anyone knows it would be Michael. He said this company Amazon is using had to acquire original CDs and that he wasn't giving his personal copies to them. I don't blame him. I wouldn't either. Many years ago, I visited Blue Note's New York office and got a mini tour. I saw lots of CDs strewn over a lot of the desks, but nowhere did I see any library. Mostly just cubicles with people working like busy bees. I did see a large cabinet filled with promos, but the titles were just the latest ones they were putting out. There wasn't a warehouse there, just office space. Blue Note is part of EMI and they act like a huge conglomerate, not a small indie label. I doubt they would give Blue Note a budget to store a copy of each released CD. Besides, a few months back, Blue Note cleaned house and laid off most of their staff. I can't imagine there are too many people left there who would care about a CD collection. They probably threw a bunch of CDs in the trash. Kevin

They don't have any archive that I'm aware of other than the analog masters. They probably still have the CD mother stamper somewhere in the pressing plant, but they don't have any kind of library of all the CDs they've ever made. Cuscuna used to keep a copy of each that he produced, but I think even he gave up and downsized. Besides, these CD-R issues aren't "Blue Note". They're licensed for sale by Amazon. This is how Amazon has chosen to do it.

Cuscuna told me the company was having trouble acquiring some of the rarest titles and if you've ever tried to find a copy of "Romance And Revolution", you'd know how rare that CD is!

I was told that these are bit-for-bit copies of the original CD. From what I was told, the company doing it is going to continue to add titles as they acquire hard-to-find original CDs. These are not created from mp3s.

Sorry to pick on you so much, but I can't help it. There have been studies done that show that CD-Rs are not any more prone to read errors than regular pressed CDs. In fact, in one study I read, the CD-R had less read errors than the factory pressed CD that it was made from. If you have stuck a few CDs into high speed drives (like in your PC), you probably hear different sounds. Some older, heavier CDs sound like a helicopter is landing in the room. The ability of the CD player to spin the disc up without wobble is one of the most important aspects of good digital playback. As for bad 1's and 0's resulting in "overall poorer sound", that just can't happen. If a bunch of 1's and 0's were read incorrectly, the resulting music would not have reduced bass or rolled off highs. Enough bad data and you get clicks and drop outs. The flipping of a few 1's or 0's cannot alter the frequency nor the amplitude. That isn't how the audio D/A conversion process works.

What is a "damaged part" of a CD?? A little CD101 is in order here. The 1's and 0's on a CD are NOT a linear representation of the analog signal. After the analog signal is digitized, those 1's and 0's are mixed up in a special way and moved all over the CD to prevent a small scratch from obliterating the complete string of data. When a few 1's and 0's are "scratched out", the error correction uses the 1's and 0's from other parts of the CD to fill those "blanks" back in. What that means is that every "sample" does not have to extracted with 100% accuracy. It's better if it is, but it doesn't have to be. The only other thing I can add is to never use iTunes if you want the best possible copy. Always use Exact Audio Copy. It reads and re-reads individual bits off of the CD to make sure every bit is read accurately. As for CD-Rs going bad... if this is happening to you, I'd suggest: 1) Keep your CD-Rs away from high heat and bright light. Never leave a CD-R laying on your car dashboard. 2) Buy better blanks. I only buy Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui blanks. Yeah, I pay a bit more, but I worry a lot less about the longevity.

I don't see one valid point in this sentence. 5 talking points in one sentence, all with no validity in my real-world experience. 1) If a system is "extremely good", it would have no problems extracting the 1's and 0's from CD-R media. Therefore this "extremely good stereo" would be less able to discern a CD-R. 2) What is the definition of an "extremely good stereo"? An expensive one? Who defines "extremely good"? What piece of the playback chain makes it "extremely good"? 3) CD-Rs don't "disintegrate". There is a slight chance that if one was subjected to high heat and bright light, the dye layer could fade, but the CD will never disintegrate. 4) I have several music and data CD-Rs that are over 13 years old. Not one has failed. I have never had a CD-R fail. 5) Pressed CDs will last much, much longer than 20 years. Where on earth did you come up that number? I have hundreds of CDs that are already well over 20 years old.

Does anyone know where I can find out how and/or where I'll be able to get this in the Boston area?

Where are you buying these? I'm buying them at a local store called Bull Moose Music for $18.88 each. They are listed all over the web at the usual places for around $20-22. Your local shop should carry them. Kevin There is no local shop anymore. Acoustic Sounds has them for $22. New Blue Note LPs or Dusty Groove has them for $18.99.

Where are you buying these? I'm buying them at a local store called Bull Moose Music for $18.88 each. They are listed all over the web at the usual places for around $20-22. Your local shop should carry them. Kevin

Just finished: McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy (Blue Note) Now up: Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (Blue Note) These new LPs are a steal at under $20. It includes an RVG CD that you can give away to someone to try and gain a new fan.

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder (Blue Note) I got a copy of the newest reissue cut from the analog master by Ron McMaster. Sounds awesome and a hell of a lot cheaper than the $50 45 rpm version out there. Best part - not having to get up every 10 minutes.