Kevin Bresnahan

I don't get it... I have been told that original issues of Dizzy Reece's "Blues In Trinity" are extremely rare. A mono copy? Man, that's gotta be rarer than rare. If you ask me, a collector is probably very happy to get this for under $500. Kevin

Well, my last hope for Jazz SACDs was UMG and now I see this list is totally devoid of any SACD hybrids. Time to cue the bugle boy... well, I prefer "Taps" with the echo so, cue the bugle boys. Bummer, Kevin

Michael Cuscuna is not a big fan of copy protection. This "limitation" might just make[/] him do this two-fer!

It's probably not the monitor, but instead the PCs came in with funky display defaults. I don't like "Clear Type" font smoothing, and that's what Windows XP now defaults to at work. To see if this is the problem, right mouse click the desktop and then click "Properties". Go to the "Appearance" tab and click "Effects". Make sure the box for "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" is checked and set the pull-down to "Standard". Look at your screen again and see if that's better. If the box was checked and you don't like it, try unchecking it. BTW, "clear type" smoothing was put into Windows XP because of flat panel monitors. It makes me nauseous. Kevin

I was in a store the other day and found this really old CD on the Jass label that I'd never heard of: Coleman Hawkins with Henry Allen, "Standards and Warhorses". Not a very appealing title. It looks like "Coleman Does Dixieland" but I wasn't able to play it. Any opinions? Kevin

If you can find them, the Analogue Productions SACDs are phenomenal. Pricy, but phenomenal. I special order them from a local shop and they get them for me for $21. They have the two Bill Evans Vanguard discs and they've never sounded better. Cannonball Adderley's "You Know What I Mean" is probably the best sounding one in the bunch but Chet Baker's "Chet" is pretty close. Sony's SACDs, like Mingus "Ah Um" and Miles' "Kind of Blue", while sounding very nice, are only slightly ahead of the new remastered CDs. Better but only by a hair. UMG has some very nicely done SACDs "on the cheap". Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", Getz "Getz/Gilberto" and Joe Henderson's "Lush Life: Music Of Billy Strayhorn" are all much improved on the CDs. In the rock arena, if you're a Pink Floyd fan, get "Dark Side of the Moon". My favorite though, is Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic"... this has the added benefit of having an incredible multi-channel mix. If Beck is your style, people rave about "Sea Change". However, if you do want this, it's in my trade pile. The music might sound good, but I think Beck sounds like Dylan on quaaludes. The Peter Gabriel discs are all OK, but with brand new remastered CDs out there, the improvement is marginal. Ditto the Police discs. Steely Dan's "Gaucho" is definitely a huge step above any CD version out there. James Taylor's "JT" has some pretty incredible audio. Taylor's guitar is in the room with you on a couple of tracks. If your disc is a muti-format machine and plays DVD-Audio, be sure to get Neil Young's "Harvest", The Eagles "Hotel California" and Yes's "Fragile". All will turn heads, particularly in multi-channel mode. "Harvest" may be the best sounding two-channel rock disc I own. Have a field day with this format. I've been buying them like crazy because I worry about how long they'll be around. Sony sucks. They invent a great format and drop support. Now they make Dual Discs. I wouldn't buy a Sony Dual Disc if it was the last disc in the rack. Kevin

The "Consequence/High Frequency" two-fer looks unlikely. Michael reply to this was, "I was thinking about that, but they are not a real match in terms of personnel or approach." In the past, when he's said this, it didn't happen. It was a nice thought though. Of course, he's also changed his mind about these kinds of things too. Kevin

Aw crap, Mike! I was so hoping there was more material around from these sessions. I really like this stuff. I was even hoping it was like the Buck Clayton jam sessions that Columbia did... you know, maybe an unedited Phil Woods solo somewhere on the tapes? I'll still be on the lookout for it. BTW, if this isn't legit, shouldn't we expect it will be mastered from the tape(s) that produced the Fresh Sounds LP? If the Fresh Sounds LP sounds bad, chances are that release will sound just as bad. Kevin

This material is in print on a couple of labels out of the EU (where the copyright has run out). There isn't a whole lot of sales potential with them when these cheap copies are floating around. Sales would be tough. Who would pay $35-45 for a three CD set when you can get most of it for about $25 from Proper, Definitive, et al? Kevin PS. I E-mailed Michael Cuscuna about the "Consequence/High Frequency" two-fer idea. PPS. A good friend of mine tells me that his two CDs of Kenny Cox material (complete) only clocks in at 80:10. An early fade and it should all fit. It's either that or cut a track. Any votes for the track to cut?

Pure speculation on my part, but I believe if an ignore function was available, we might still have some our "dearly departed" around to chat with. BTW, they have this feature over on Jazz Corner. I have only used it on one person and my posting life over there has been greatly improved. He can still post away and make his points, but I don't engage him. It's a win/win. It's not like I have anyone here that I'd use it on but it would be nice if it was there "just in case". Kevin

Jim, what's the staus on the upgrade? Maybe I'm wrong, but I think an "Ignore" feature would have been a bit helpful in recent weeks. ... You are going to enable that in the new software, right? Kevin

So, selling live bootlegs is legal on eBay now? I remember when eBay would shut a guy like this down within minutes of the listing. And FWIW, no, this post does not mean that I am turning the guy in. I stopped notifying eBay about stuff like this a long time ago. They really don't care. One of their more laughable replies is, "Only the owner of the copyright can ask to have a listing removed." So, a dead guy is supposed to notify eBay that their music's being bootlegged? That'd be difficult. Do a search on the Beatles "Abbey Road" on eBay. See how many copies of the rare Toshiba CD are up there. Most are fakes. The guys on Steve Hoffman's forums track these things and let people know when there's a real one up there. Kevin

Allen, I notice you mention CEDAR in your first post here. Obviously, you realize that system has more enemies in the world of audio than it has friends. Many people hate "CEDAR-ized" remasters and won't buy them. I have yet to be able to compare a before & after to give an opinion. Since you mention it, do you think it's a good tool or a necessity for old 78s? Do you use it 100% on these kinds of recordings? Kevin

Allen, I was on the phone with Mosaic right after I read Dan's original post. I didn't even get to read your post(s) when I hit the first "Reply" button. No offense was intended. Kevin

Well, the October Connoisseurs are solidifying. Nothing definite, but it looks like we got in two more "Organissimo Special Requests"!! Michael really liked our idea of putting out the Quebec 45's stuff as a two-fer. It looks like it'll make it. The other title he hadn't thought of was the Kenny Cox two-fer. He still doesn't know if it will all fit but he's going to try. The other titles that are looking solid: Booker Ervin - "(New Titled) Quintet" Don Cherry - Where Is Brooklyn Jackie McLean - Consequence Andrew Hill - Hmmm... which one did he say? Anyway, when they firm up, I'll put the word out. He got his hands on a copy of that Conte Condoli date and he said that it sounds like they used the tapes that Fresh Sounds used for their LP. He said the tell-tale "swooshy cymbles" were there. He also said that because of this release, he's likely not going to do this in the Connoisseur series for a bit because the (possibly) limited sales would be even lessened by this version being out there. Later, Kevin PS - Some people may be proud of me. I did once again push for "The Gigolo" as an RVG. It turns out the reason Michael hasn't included it in these recent batches is because he is using Rudy's recent remasterings. He isn't going back to the first batches because he didn't like the tighly panned stereo Rudy used. In other words, for there to be an RVG of "The Gigolo", it would have to be re-done (I'm guessing).

BTW, I should add that I second the post about packaging!! Contact the seller and offer to pay extra $$ for a double boxed shipment. These 78s break when you look at them the wrong way. It would be criminal if this arrived in pieces. Kevin

Dan, I just got off the phone with Michael Cuscuna and he's going to send me the name of a guy they use and highly recommend. He apparently does this for a living and doesn't charge an arm & a leg. I'll pm it to you. Kevin

Is this a legit release? I have a CD-R of the vinyl and I would love to get this on CD... in stereo no less. It's a very nice blowing date of mostly blues. The LP I had was pretty beat up so it's a bit crackly. I just hate supporting Fresh Sounds if it's a rip-off job. It's not like 1959 is in the public domain in the EU. Unless the CD says, "Under license from CBS/Sony" or "Under license from Sony Special Music Products", I will likely avoid it. I once posted a question to Bob Brookmeyer on the Jazz Corner board where he used to hang out. He never answered. I am guessing that there must be some more material from these sessions. They couldn't have assembled all these guys in the studio and only got two tunes out of 'em! Later, Kevin Edit: Thanks Garth! I want to buy this if it's legit.

I just caught George at a little local club in a trio with Lockwood and a young kid on drums. It was a blast. He played it a little more inside than he does with The Fringe. At the show, I picked up a copy of "Live at Zeitgeist" which has The Fringe with Lovano guesting on a couple of tracks. Very heavy stuff. The first time I ever heard George was at a Christmas concert. Hearing George blowing on "Jingle Bells", with Kenny Werner backing him was pretty cool. Kevin

I am laughing at I listen again to verify what Garth says about who's in what channel. Yeah, I guess Watrous is a little louder in the left channel but I actually had to flip my headphones around a few times to make sure it wasn't my hearing!

Definitely from what I've been told of first-hand experiences with Sonny. The guy was way too into the sauce. It made him a pretty unreliable guy.

Let me guess... the other 97% of the time you're thinking about sex, 1% about work and 1% about Organissimo? Kevin

I am listening to the "Funk 'N Fun" session from the Japanese CD version of this session and while I'd say it's "stereo", it isn't very widely panned. Extremely tight soundstage with a lot of bleeding across the two channels. Kevin

I'm very lucky to have a wife who lets me do this kind of crazy stuff. I finally got my "all B&W" surround speaker system in place (LCR 600 S3's in front, 600 S3's in back). Love the sound. I'm glad I finally broke down (financially) to get them. Now, B&W announces a new Nautilus series... and the new 'Nautilus 805s' is supposed to sound better than the old 805 Signature! Yes, I am going insane. They have Alcoholics Anonymous. Do the have "Audiophiles Anonymous"? I have to stop reading the stuff about audio. Kevin

Well, I'm being tempted again... Denon discontinued the DVD-2900 DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio/mp3/jpeg combo player about two months ago. This unit is highly thought of as a video player and it supposedly has some great audio. I almost pulled the trigger on this unit back in November of last year at $600. Now, my local Tweeter store is clearing out their last 4 units for $488. I'm going to listen to one on Saturday. At this price, I think I'll be a goner. But will it be "better" than my Pioneer? I really like my Pioneer. That's why I held back last year. In fact, if this wasn't a 2900 model, which is the last Japanese-built model and the only one with the Silicon Image video chipset, I still wouldn't even consider it. The funniest thing: the main reason I want this player is video... in particular, it has a seamless layer shift for DVDs. My Pioneer has a noticeable layer shift. Another nice benefit of this machine is that you can switch layers on an SACD hybrid disc by a button on the front of the unit. On my Pioneer, it's buried in a set-up screen. So what do you guys think? Am I finally losing it? Kevin