Kevin Bresnahan

I was at my local Barnes and Noble this weekend and after talking to a few Nook users, it would seem that the current version is not ready for primetime. I am going to pull my trade offer and keep reading my Kindle for now. Kevin

Sorry Jim, but I couldn't stay for the whole show. It was painfully loud for my messed up right ear. I screwed up and forgot the earplugs I usually bring to shows that I think might get a little loud. When Janiva winced a couple of times because of a some nasty feedback, I felt my right ear for blood drops. What I did see was great. Kevin

Interesting username: Vomitself7. I guess if it makes himself vomit, it must be pretty bad.

I was given a 6" Kindle eBook reader as a gift and I rarely use it. I shop far more often at Barnes and Noble than I do at Amazon. I would prefer a Nook. Does anyone have a Nook that they'd want to swap straight-up for a Kindle? If no one bites on the trade, I may sell my Kindle for $200 plus shipping. Obviously, I'd rather go the trade route first. Kevin

I'll see you tonight at the Regattabar, Jim. I'm looking forward to it. I haven't been to a blues show in many years. I've seen Lavay Smith a couple of times and Michelle "Evil Gal" Wilson, so this won't be my first show with a female blues singer. I stopped going to blues shows when it started to seem like they were all getting way too loud for my ears. Why is it that guitar-based blues bands have to have their amps at '11'? Kevin

The thing everyone should know about Facebook is NEVER let ANY "application" run on your account. That means never send or accept a "present" or a "drink" or a "button", never play any games and never use any of the friend/family finder applications. When you use any of these applications, even once, you grant the application provider access to your personal info. If you never use any apps, you're safe. Also, if you get weird friend invites, get out of any networks that you may have inadvertently joined. Being in a network can allow others in that network to "see" you and send friend invites. Once I quit every network I had joined when I signed up, the weird invites stopped.

Aric, what's brutal is reading some of the nutty stuff that Barry states as fact as his sycophants over at the Hoffman forums eat it up & regurgitate back as gospel. I hope you understand that what Barry's claiming is that digitally-identical CDs, even those from the same press run, will sound different, even on the same player. His claim is that the CD player will somehow distort the data so that the analog output will change. Have you ever tried his theory? Buy two identical CDs at the store tomorrow and play them one after the other. Barry says he can hear differences. Do you? If you can, you're better than me. Next thing you know, you'll start quoting "Night Gort" Dave. Some of his proclamations make Barry look normal. Kevin

I don't know when Barry started saying all this crazy stuff or if he always believed it. I do know that in the early days of CD, he was one of the leading mastering engineers for UMG. He did the first CDs for many big name artists like U2, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, Yes, AC/DC and others. Now, he's no longer being used by any major so something must have changed.

Barry Diament's nickname is "Barry Demented" for a reason. Some of the things he's stated as "fact" over on the Steve Hoffman forums read like stories from The Onion. He's certifiable. Don't believe anything he says and you'll be better off.

I would probably vote for Nick Brignola if he were on the list. Of those listed, I really like Leo Parker's two Blue Note dates, but there really isn't enough there to declare him a clear winner in my mind.

Why? Because they were only recorded in stereo. The mono is simply folded-down stereo. There was no mono mix so all you need is two Y-adapters and you can make any stereo LP sound "mono".

I still cringe when I think back to when my mother burned a neighbor's son's baseball card collection. He was killed in Vietnam and his mother couldn't handle cleaning out his room. My mom did it and rather than give the old cards to her 3 sons. She burned them all in a trash barrel in the side yard. She said she didn't think we would have wanted a bunch of cards with all old baseball players on them. Yeah Mom, I would never want an old Ted Williams baseball card.

All of these recently oop Selects seem to getting >$100 these days. The price is going up too as they have become more & more scarce. I saw a sealed piano trio Select go for $150 on Amazon a few weeks back.

Maybe Jim should have said "Carpe amicabiliter dico".

I do enjoy Teddy's "Tango In Harlem". I have never been able to find a copy of "La Villa Live in Paris", but it's been a while since I've looked. Hmmm, there's a couple of inexpensive copies on amazon.com. I might finally be able to hear this. BTW, as big of a Booker Ervin fan as I am, "Booker 'N Brass" rarely gets into the CD player. Don't know exactly why, but it's a bit of a "no big deal" session in my book. Kevin

Ahhh, yeah, cat-chop used to have a whole bunch of mini-LP OJC K2s a while back for around $5-7 each. I picked up a bunch. They also used to carry the mini-LP versions of some of the Akiyoshi/Tabackin Big Band's RCA material for about $8 each. I don't know how cat-chop sells their stuff so cheap and manages to make enough to stay in business.

Uh... Venus has a Red Garland date? News to me.

Isn't that because Venus has a distribution (manufacturing?) deal with the Korean outfit kangmusic? Bought a couple of Venus albums samplers clearly marked 'For Korean Music fans'. Yes, that's what I meant to say above. They are officially licensed product. The Kang & Music CDs I bought from cat-chop are all clearly marked "Not for distribution in Japan". There are several Korean sellers and all of them offer some great deals. The Eddie Higgins two-fers for $13.99 are a steal (if you like that style of music). Some are gold CDs, even though the eBay listing doesn't say so. I have bought several CDs from cat-chop and they were as advertised. Later, Kevin

Disappointed to read the word "boring" next to Eric Alexander's....i'm trying to save some money to buy the Venus Ballads albums : is there anyone else who would have an opinion about them? Thanks I am a big fan of that boring Eric Alexander. Big big fan. I was being as sarcastic because of the many threads we've had here where others have expressed less than enthusiasm for Eric's playing. The cheapest place to find Eric's Venus CDs is on eBay. Dusty Groove carries a few for around $22. If someone is looking for cheap Venus CDs on ebay, check the Korean seller who sells under the name cat-chop. No Eric Alexander CDs, but plenty of other good ones. They are licensed to Kang & Music in Korea and for some reason are a lot cheaper there. Kevin

I do agree that they make loud CDs. At the wine store where I work on Saturdays, I created an mp3 playlist of all ballads. Whenever the tracks from Eric Alexander's "Gentle Ballads" come on, they are noticeably louder. It's to the point where I am probably going to remove them from the playlist. It's annoying when some nice bluesey ballad ends and then when the next one starts, it's blaring away like you cranked up the volume. The strangest thing about it is that the playlist has tracks from many labels and many artists. These Venus tracks are the only ones that get too loud. Kevin

Eh, Venus Records only puts out hard bop albums with guys like that boring Eric Alexander. They're not worth the money. If they were any good, I'd buy a few. As it is, I bet I only have 50 or so.

Even though I was a child in the 60s, I had a coonskin cap. PETA would have poured blood over my head if I wore it today. Today, Fess Parker is more known for his wines. RIP Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

CDs today have: Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Why is this any different?

http://www.jazzloft.com/p-50169-ballads-blues.aspx

I picked up my new bike last week and drove it into work today for the first time. It was pretty cold this morning!