Kevin Bresnahan

This record seems to have been cut up just a bit in the CD era. Most of the tracks are here: But the one long track, "Jammin' With James", was migrated to this CD to keep the session together: I don't have either one... I think I might pick up HiFi Party. Looks interesting.

It seems that Facebook has become the place for tributes & Tom has been getting a ton of them. Good guys like Tom will be missed. From Evan Adler: Just heard that another music industry giant left us. RIP Tom Evered. He was a great guy with great musical ears! He was always so kind to me and all the people he worked with. A Blue Note Records legend! Rest easy Tom and I know you are throwing back martinis with Topsy and Cuscuna. From Susan Fujiwara: I am so sad to hear the news of Tom's passing. I worked with Tom back in the 80's at CEMA. He was and continued to be one of the kindest, funniest, sweetest guys I knew. My deepest condolences to Liz and family. RIP dear friend. From Audrey Singleton: Oh, Tom. I’m so sad to hear about your passing. Working with you in my first industry job was such a highlight. I will always cherish our conversations and I still have that book you bought me on the French Revolution. You were always so kind to me and offered your assistance whenever I needed it, helping me navigate the label manager world at Naxos. I will miss you. RIP. From Saul Shapiro: I was introduced to Tom Evered when I moved to Minneapolis in 1986. Tom was the local rep for WEA. What I didn’t know then was that 6 years later, Tom would get me an interview with then Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall and we would spend the next 15 years working together at the label. I took Tom’s place as head of sales in LA while he became BN’s General Manager. To say we had fun would be an understatement. Very few people I know had the vast amount of knowledge of jazz and classical music as Tom did - and it didn’t stop there. A Bee Gee’s singalong party at his UWS apartment became legendary. He could've also been a great movie critic. Tom’s dry wit and sarcasm didn’t always fly for some. He sometimes had a challenging job as the GM, the self-proclaimed “Dr No” to Lundvall’s “Dr Yes. “ But there was never a better team. Tom, Bruce and and the late Michael Cuscuna, another dear friend to Tom and the Blue Note Recordse family, steered BN into one of the most prolific and successful decades of the label. I was grateful to be in the room when it happened. Tom was gutted after his BN days ended and I’m not sure he ever recovered from that. Many close to him were concerned about the state of his health, he could be reclusive, probably lost in old movies and jazz. I think he just missed NY, the jazz scene, friends and a proper gin "see-thru" at Fred's. A great friend was lost but those memories will last a lifetime. RIP Tom From Kristine England: Tom Evered was my boss for six years. When he interviewed me, I confessed I knew very little about jazz but was eager to learn. He, Michael Cuscuna, and Bruce Lundvall took me under their wings and taught everything I needed to know. He recommended music and books that changed my perspective and gave me knowledge that I will carry with me forever. Tom took me to see Roxy Music and King Crimson, both among the best shows I ever saw (Roxy ranks #1). He told Bob Dorough that my favorite schoolhouse rock song was "Lolly Lolly Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here," which Bob played specially for me at a Central Park concert. I received amazing gifts from him, like both Eno boxes, and Pee Wee's Playhouse box sets. He would go to Virgin Records at lunch and bring back something he thought I should have. Tom was one of a kind. At the end of the day, he would play his "out" song as he was getting ready to leave for the day. This one is for you, Tom. RIP. From Jeffrey Lein: This has been tough one to talk about or even believe, but I am very sad to hear my friend, colleague and a music business legend, Tom Evered, passed away over the weekend. Tom and I were colleagues for several years at Naxos and became fast friends co-hosting the ArkivJazz podcast from 2019-2021 w/ our friend, Kristopher Peck. For those that don’t know Tom, before joining Naxos he was the General Manager of Blue Note Records with the great Bruce Lundvall. To those that know jazz and Blue Note’s legacy, you know exactly how significant that position was. Of particular note, Tom signed Norah Jones, who sold over 50 million units of those famous records. Tom also signed guitarist, Charlie Hunter, and vocalist, Kurt Elling, and launched the careers of so many more on the artist and business side. Tom was also a music advisor to Ken Burns on his documentaries, “Jazz,” and “The War.” Tom was known for his sharp wit and possessed an encyclopedic mind for jazz and classical music. He was a truly kind man and a blessing to anyone who spent time with him. He really was a funny guy and a lot of fun to be around, and boy was he sharp. Outside of work I’d often grab Tom and we’d hit shows together in Nashville. I worried about Tom not being in NYC anymore and missing all that music so anytime a national touring act was coming through, I’d try and get him out. To no surprise of course, he often knew the musicians personally and we’d go hang backstage.. I met Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bill Charlap, Charlie Hunter and several other greats that way, and via our podcast. Being a jazz drummer, Tom liked to learn about what I was into also and we had a great balance and mutual respect for eachother. He would occasionally hit my shows too. The last I saw Tom was earlier this year when I asked him to join me for a concert at Vanderbilt to see the virtuosic singer, Cecile McLorin Salvant and piano genius, Sullivan Fortner. My father-in-law also joined us that night and we were completely blown away by the performance. As we were leaving the venue I asked Tom if he’d like to go with us to grab a drink, as was our custom, but he just said.. “No, no Maestro… I think I’ll let that one settle in a while.” It really was a magical concert and I know he was moved. I’ll miss Tom and his amazing stories and I’ll most certainly miss doing the podcast with him. I hope you’re having great laughs with Bruce, Michael Cuscuna, and all the legends of the music in heaven whom I know you missed, Tom. We’ll miss you down here on earth but will keep it swinging and sharing the music. Until we meet again, my friend. From James Gavin: Farewell, much too soon, to one of the sweetest guys in the record business and a dear friend since 1993. Starting in the '90s, Tom Evered was the right-hand man of Bruce Lundvall, president of Blue Note Records from 1984-2010. Tom served as the calm voice of reason in response to musician-loving Bruce's sometimes overabundant largesse. What a heady time that was - the last golden age of jazz. Holly Cole, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Charlap, Benny Green, Renee Rosnes, Jack Terrason, Us3, Norah Jones, Jason Moran, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Bob Belden, Tom's beloved Bob Dorough, and - good heavens - Lena Horne were all on the roster. Michael Cuscuna, whom we lost this year, presided expertly over the reissues, lots of which I got to annotate. Tom went on to run Angel, another EMI label, until its sad demise. With the record business imploding all around him, he moved to Brentwood, TN, where he worked for the Naxos Records until a couple of years ago. I loved being a satellite member of the Blue Note family. What fun we had! I took the picture below at the 50th wedding anniversary party of the great jazz photographer William Claxton, a pivotal person in my life, and 1960s supermodel Peggy Moffitt. Tom, on the left, was speaking to Jack Larson, who had played Jimmy Olsen on "Adventures of Superman." To me, Tom, Bruce, and Michael were beacons of humanity in a sea of sharks. I'm glad they midwived so much great music to remember them by.

Tom Evered, who some of you might have interacted with at the old Blue Note bulletin board, where he posted as "tomatbluenote", has died. I have no details or a link to his obit, but two of his friends have posted this sad news to his Facebook page. From Janet Grey: I just found out the very sad news that my dear friend, Tom Evered, has passed. He was a true gem of a guy, such a jazz enthusiast and connoisseur, a complete gentleman in every way… I didn’t have enough quality time with him, but the little time we spent together was extremely special and sweet. I will treasure the memories. I’m sorry we had not been in touch recently. Another reminder of how important it is to reach out to those you care about - even if they’re far away… Rest in peace, my sweet friend! Love you always… From Sid Chen: I’m posting this for Tom Evered’s friends on behalf of Liz Henly, who's not on Facebook. Tom passed away this weekend at home in Nashville. Liz is in Chicago and doesn’t have many details yet. This is from me: Tom was such a nice guy. I was lucky to meet him a few times during his time with Blue Note. One night, we went out to a few gigs around New York City, including the unusual show at Aaron Davis Hall with Jackie McLean, Bobby Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Scott Colley & Billy Higgins. On our way back from that show, we had to make a stop to drop off Joe Chambers' cymbals for a gig he was playing. So I got to meet Joe, but I still have yet to see him play. One of the coolest things was when Tom visited Rudy Van Gelder's studio and had Rudy sign a few posters. He had one of them signed for me. I love this poster & think of Tom as much as I think of RVG whenever I look at it.

I don't have this one. How is it?

Boy, that brain worm did more damage than I thought!

I'd post about the dead bear cub in Central Park as a "weird news story" but since it's about a political figure, I'll pass. But boy, is that a weird story!!

Considering that there is not a lot of it exported, we will likely never know. In my area, we only see Tsingtao beer on the shelves, which may be because Anheuser-Busch owned as much as 27% of the company until 2009. I actually like the stuff, even though that leaked video of someone urinating into one of their vats kinda soured me on it a bit. That story might've made for a "Weird news tonight" post on its own.

Teddy Edwards - It's About Time (Pacific Jazz). Teddy with Les McCann's trio backing him. I thought this would be really good but I rarely play it.

Having seen Ralph perform live several times over the years, I wonder why he hasn't made more of a name for himself on the Jazz scene. The dude can play. Is it because he liked playing in big bands? Did he not get the opportunity?

This is exactly what I'm worried about. LPs are so subjective. Even though I consider my grades to be conservative, others may not agree. For instance, I will never buy another used record from Dusty Groove, as I don't agree with their grading at all. I've bought a few LPs from them over the years & their VG+ rating is pretty close to my "Poor" rating. I once got a VG+ LP from them that had a large, audible scratch across one whole side.

The reason that disclaimer was there is because Steeplechase did use CD-Rs for a short time. I received a couple of them.

I'd love to open a discogs account and start selling stuff, but I hear so many horror stories about it that I haven't been able to take that step. I am particularly worried about selling LPs. Visually grading LPs is so subjective and today's buyers seem so unforgiving that I can imagine getting quite a few returns. I've toyed with listing LPs here but as this thread shows, most of us are looking to sell, not buy. I'd list them at the Steve Hoffman forums but most of those posters return LPs for the dumbest reasons so I'd be afraid to grade anything higher than VG-.

I once had an LP slide off the top of an end table and land behind it. I found it a few days later. I also had a CD slide behind a large dresser. I didn't find it for many months.

That cheese looks really tasty.

I caught a bunch of fish over a two week vacation. My sisters-in-law have a boat that we take out on the Indian River Inlet down in Delaware. My wife caught almost 100 more fish than me though.

I didn't realize that Papa John just passed in late June: https://www.wrti.org/wrti-spotlight/2024-07-01/papa-john-defrancesco-philly-patriarch-of-the-hammond-b-3-organ-is-dead-at-83

Arturo Sandoval is playing at Jimmy's Nov. 8 & 9. I haven't seen Arturo in a while. Maybe I'll go? Let's check ticket availability... wait, what?!?! $157.50 a ticket + fees? GTFOH.

I have this in the 1st Mosaic LP box and it's a good one. Too bad the only way to get this on CD is from the Andorrans. I wish Mosaic was doing CDs then.

We'll see how the do the next game against the US. They were getting beaten pretty soundly by Puerto Rico until Jose Alvarado twisted his ankle.

Sorry, but that's not 10cc. As Lol Creme said in 2012 when asked about Gouldman forming a band he called "10cc": Lol Creme: I understand Graham's need and want to go on the road and tour but maybe he could call the show, 'Graham Gouldman of 10cc' instead of just 10cc. I feel that as things are, the name is quite misleading to the fans. I know that Eric still gets emails from fans who were disappointed that he wasn't at these "10cc" shows. It really gets under his skin. I've still got a lot of respect for Graham and he was certainly an integral part of 10cc.

Eddie Harris - Mighty Like A Rose (Vee Jay). I have this as one half of a Collectibles two-fer (with the other half being "Goes To The Movies"). This is a nice & mellow date from Harris.

I've been buying records for over 50 years now and I have never seen a "listening booth". I have been in many stores that have a turntable at the checkout counter where they might play a record for you, but nothing self-service. As for CDs, there was small store on Newbury St in Boston that had portable CD players laying around and you could listen to used CDs before buying them but they disappeared when the headphones broke. Most portable CD players back then had really cheap plastic headphones that snapped easily. I was also told that some assholes started opening new CDs so they could listen to them.

Ed Krech at the now-closed Integrity 'N Music in Wethersfield, CT used to play his promos all the time. If you asked to buy it, he usually pointed you to the racks where a regular copy sat. Ed kept most of the promos he played in the store. Don't get me wrong, he would sell promos, but if he liked the artist and played one of their promo CDs in the store, he wanted to play it, not sell it.

Gone fishing...

Being retired has the added advantage of allowing you to travel and see weekday shows. In the past, if I wanted to drive down to New York City to see a show, I'd have to do it on a weekend, when the hotel prices are much higher. Now, I can head down on a Tuesday, see a few shows and head back Thursday.