Kevin Bresnahan

RIP Ken. Nice guy to deal with. We lost a great resource with his passing. I bet I bought more CDs from him than just about anyone. Kevin

I just ordered a bunch of vinyl from Euclid Records. They list tons of great titles and their prices are reasonable. I've bought CDs from them in the past. This will be my first LP order so I wonder how well they pack the discs. Shipping was only $4 for 5 LPs. My only caveat is that their on-line catalog is also their store catalog so what you order may not be on the shelf when they go to pull it but this is only a minor inconvenience. Also, I spent a few hours at Integrity 'N Music just outside of Hartford. Tons of great vinyl but not in the greatest condition. They had a copy of McCoy Tyner's "Cosmos" for $6.99, which I thought was reasonable. I bought a Mickey Tucker Xanadu date with Ronnie Cuber on bari. I hope the bass isn't too whiney on this... I hate that 70's bass sound. Later, Kevin

Yum Yum! Merry Xmas Yall.. And those of you living in the northlands, watch the booze if you're going to be driving home from a party.. I'm lucky(?) in that my wife's sick and on meds that forbid alcohol so I have a designated driver. Tonight, me and my firend Art will be sampling a bunch of nice beers. I have to watch myself... it wouldn't be a good thing to fall asleep on their couch. Well, as long as I stay away from the rum & egg nog... Later, Kevin

Merry Christmas from the Bresnahans! I hope you all spend some time with friends & family. I am looking forward to opening up all those CDs that I've bought myself over the last 6 months. It's gotten to the point where I've almost forgotten what I bought! Here's this year's yule tree in the Bresnahan's NH house. Later, Kevin

Where can I get my hands on some of these sealed Xanadu LPs? I've seen them listed but not in a while. I'd love get a set of the live Montreux LPs so that I can test out my new turntable. Later, Kevin

I put various at the end but at one point, I had them under 'V' for various. I've only had few that were hard to file. The Sonny Clark Memorial Band was a tough one (I finally chose 'S'). Fourplay is a another. It feels like Jordan's band but it states "Fourplay" on the spine, so it goes under 'F'. Does everyone file The Three Sounds under 'T' or does anyone file them with their Gene Harris discs? Am I the only one who continually mis-files Maria Schneider's discs? I am always finding them all over the place among the 'S' discs. Later, Kevin

Albany's not too far from Northampton, MA. In the basement of Thorn's Market of downtown Northampton is Dynamite Records. Decent vinyl selection but a bit overpriced. A bit further south in Hartford is Integrity 'N Music. Should be about 40 minutes from Dynamite. Make a day of it. Integrity is better than Dynamite. BTW, I'll apologize in advance if Dynamite has shrunk their Jazz section again. The place has been going down hill since Dave Hart left. Good luck. Oh yeah, and if you feel like taking a long trip, Stereo Jack's in Boston is worth the trip and the Jazz Record Center in NYC is too. Bring a thick wallet to the JRC, they're too expensive for my wallet. Later, Kevin

While these are generally considered high resolution technology, they're not technically SACDs. These Classics discs actually utilize DVD video technology to reproduce the audio using the 24 bit/ 96 kHz decoder that's in every DVD video machine. They're one step "below" DVD-Audio technology. I use quotes because there are some fans of the sound of the audio from DVD videos. I have several of these Classics DAD discs. I find some of them to be a bit bright for my ears. Mobley's "Roll Call" is one of them. I prefer the TOCJ CD to the DAD. In fact, I think I'd even say that the US RVG CD sounds on par with the Classics DAD. FWIW, if you like the sound of these Classics DAD discs, grab all you can find now. They've been deleted and Classics does not plan to make any more in the future. They've switched over to SACD. Later, Kevin

Re: Mapleshade The thread at Jazz Corner discussing some of Sprey's dirty moves is here: http://www.jazzcornertalk.com/speakeasy/sh...read.php?t=4740. In this thread, Jazz artists Frank Kimbrough details what Sprey has done to him. It is not rumors or heresay. Later, Kevin PS: I'll paste in one of Frank's quotes to save people from opening my link. To quote Frank Kimbrough from the thread: "This label has been given too many passes - they routinely mislead their artists, and though they have paid mechanical royalties (after a couple calls from an attorney), they illegally deduct them from artist royalties in a "profit-sharing" arrangement which Sprey charmingly presents to the artist as a plus, but of which there are never any profits. I speak from experience, having done 15 sessions there between 1986 and 1992, most of which remain on his shelf. My latest indignity involving the label was having to hire an attorney in order to have a CD on which I appeared withdrawn from their catalog. It was released without my permisson, and I was never paid for the session (nobody ever is) or notified of its release, and never even received a copy of the CD. It was a CD by a saxophone quartet whose names weren't listed on the cover, but mine was, as were the other "accomplices" (this from the jacket), even though I only played on one 2 1/2 minute tune....misleading at best. Their "audiophile" recordings are done using two $50 PZM mics from Radio Shack, tweaked by Sprey's cronies from the Pentagon (he gave us the F-16 and A-1 bombers, and was a designer of anti-tank artillery). If you have a fortune invested in stereo equipment they may sound pretty good - otherwise we're talking pro-walkman quality, and no better. His sound absorbing materials include buckets of lead pellets, and I've been at sessions where the plywood sheet he puts over the drummer's head to direct the sound fell in the middle of a take - luckily the drummer wasn't injured. These guys are strictly bush-league, and in my opinion, a class-action lawsuit waiting to happen. My advice to any musician considering a deal with them is to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. And if you're a consumer who thinks that buying CDs on this label supports its artists, think again. I could go on, but I think I've made my point."

This is the second person to recommend Mapleshade recently. I have to interject that the guy running Mapleshade is an absolute thief. I will not give that guy another cent of my money. There was a thread over on Jazz Corner with several Mapleshade recording artists who have been and continue to be ripped off by that guy. I'm boycotting them. It's too bad because Norris Turney's "Big, Sweet & Blue" is a great date. Later, Kevin

Guys, I am not fond of "tube-like" either. In fact, I avoid using the term. In the case of my Rotel, these words are not mine, but rather the words of the many Internet posters that discuss these things. I spent a long time reviewing the on-line write-ups before dropping the $$ on this and the words most used by users of Rotel was "tube-like". I just happen to think this receiver sounds very good. To heck with "tube-like". BTW, you guys must go nuts when people use the terminolgy like" SACD is the closest you can come to vinyl sound". Later, Kevin

I have a feeling that the yourmusic.com website used the wrong pictures for those 3 titles. They have the same stock # as the BMG standard CD versions. If they arrive and they are the MoFi SACDs, please let us know ASAP. They won't last long at that price... I'll order them in a millisecond. Later, Kevin

The search for audio nirvana among us audophiles will likely never end until they close the casket cover. SACD is a very inexpensive way to get someone just starting out into audiophilia at a very high-end starting point. If someone moves from a cheapo HT receiver to a super-expensive tubed amp, they will likely perceive a lot less benefit than by simply hooking up an SACD player. If this SACD also improves their RBCD, like my Pioneer DV-45A did, than it's a double upgrade. FWIW, I switched from Denon to Rotel and I hear very little difference, even though Rotel is considered more "tube-like". I may have passed by my ability to reach audio nirvana. My ears are still aging and as this process continues (with the help of that Foghat concert in 1975), my hearing will continue to degrade. But I'm still enjoying the heck out of my SACDs. Back to Mike's reasons for this thread... Mike, why not try a cheapo machine to see if you hear anything? Go to your local Best Buy and buy a Pioneer 563A. Should run you around $125. If you like the sound but want to step up, join the crowd. You'll be running alongside me and DrJ and Lon. Later, Kevin

I order mine from Bull Moose Music in Salem, NH. They have a website as well but I've never used them. They list APO SACDs for $20.54 each, which is a pretty good price. Sure, it's not $11.99 like a standard OJC but I really believe you owe it to yourself to pick up at least one (I'd recommend Adderley's "Know What I Mean?"). Later, Kevin

I'd have to count them, but it's definitely more than 50. Anyone who's into jazz and hasn't picked up any of the Analogue Productions SACD hybrids must do so... they'll be in for a real treat, both sonically and musically. I just ordered another 5 of them for Christmas. I love it when my wife lets me shop for myself. Later, Kevin

Good catch, Claude! Speaking of BMG and SACDs, I see where they added another 5 titles today from RCA's Living Stereo series. I've been meaning to check some of these out and now I'll be able to do so cheap. Later, Kevin

When I got in my Jackie McLean box set from Mosaic, it had two discs with cracks like this. As you can imagine, I definitely had those replaced! Kevin

Lon, since this an SACD thread, did you see the 2 SACDs that Hank has for sale? These two sound pretty good and Hank's price of only $7 each is very good. The Quintet at Massey Hall is definitely improved over the other versions out there... even if it is only stereo. Kevin

My Favorite Xanadu dates are Billy Mitchell's "Colossus of Detriot" and "De Lawd's Blues" and Ronnie Cuber's 2 dates... although I do dig Sonny Criss's "Saturday Morning" and Jimmy Heath's "Picture of Heath". Hmm... and there's the Joe Farrell's "Skate Board Park". Actually that Dolo Coker date is pretty damn good too. The Xanadu LPs I've been looking for are the live from Montreux dates they put out. They were listed at http://www.jazzatharbor.com for a while but that website seems to have gone belly up. Later, Kevin

On some of the latest rock & roll multi-channel SACDs, the multi-channel audio is better than the stereo audio. Elton John's stuff certainly fits this description. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" has a very nice-sounding multi-channel mix. The only thing to know about multi-channel audio is that you need good surround speakers, not the usual rinky-dink "surround" speakers. I put B&W 600 S3's back there. A little thin on bass but smooth. My only problem with them is that I had to mount them pretty far up the wall to avoid heads boinking into them. I am thinking about lowering them to improve the soundstage, head boinking be damned! Later, Kevin

There's room for all of us on this, Lon. I bet your player sounds fantastic. I just think that my un-modded unit sounds pretty darn good too. I suppose I could send it off to one of the modders out there (there is one who seems willing to convert it to a tube output stage) but most of these modders charge around $600 to mod my already expensive player. If I didn't already like the sound I have, I'd jump all over it but right now, I just can't see the cost benefit. I looked long and hard at Decware last year when I was in the market for a new reciever but the cost for a multi-channel set-up was just too much. Unfortunately, I'm also not a big fan of the terminology they use to sell speaker wire. I have not been convinced that wires affect music as much as they claim. If they'd just stuck to audio terms, I'd be less critical but I personally could not buy a wire from someone who uses the term "Midrange Liquidity" to rate their speaker wires. BTW, I work at Analog Devices and once a year, we get offered incredible deals on Denon gear. I came sooooo close to selling my Pioneer DV-45A and buying a Denon 2900 or 3910 but after reading 1,000's of posts on the AVS forum, I decided that the slight improvement in video might have actually resulted in a degradation in my audio. Audio is of prime importance to me and most Pioneer buyers report that their units sound better than Denon in head-to-head competition. There's also quite a few reoprts of dying Denon 3910s (as it's their first DVD player made in a Chinese factory?). I'm sticking with my Pioneer for at least another year. Later, Kevin

We'll have to disagree on this one Claude... my Pioneer DV-45A definitely sounds better with the high rez layer than the RBCD layer on my SACD hybrid discs. The only "problem" I see is that this Pioneer is a fantastic RBCD player; the best I've ever owned. It's so good at regular CD playback that I'd recommend it just for that. That may make some people think it's not a better SACD player but not me. Not only that, it plays back DVD-Audio discs as well. Some of my DVD-Audio discs sound great too. As another bonus, some artists like Neil Young have started issuing discs that utilize standard DVD audio and the results can be stunning. Neil's latest "Greatest Hits" package is really good on the DVD video disc. I would recommend my Pioneer player highly. It goes for less than $400 right now and it's well worth it. Best transport in the industry. I have to say, from what I've read, caveat emptor on Sony units. There are many very upset buyers who feel that they paid big bucks for a lemon. It's a long-running argument over on the High Rez Highway (Audio Asylum's High Rez Highway) about this. Whatever you do, do not buy a Philips unit! They are almost guaranteed to die an early death and Philips closed down all their factory service centers in the US. BTW, as much as Lon likes his Decware, it is very expensive. Personally, I don't think it's worth it, although if money were no object, I'm sure I'd consider it. I just think that an un-modded Pioneer will sound perfectly fine for you. Later, Kevin

The Japanese Fontanas have not impressed me sound-wise. In fact, they used a mono mix for "Mexican Green". I imagine that the live dates can't get much better than the Redial CDs, which sound OK to me. They are live dates so the fidelity is only so good to begin with. I am a big Hayes nut. They are not many dates of his that I don't have. One is the big band date that was issued on CD many years ago called "200% Proof". Big band turned free jazz. Hectic and wild and not my style. I sold the CD. Of course, that was years ago. I might play it today and like it. Too bad it's not easy to find any more. Later, Kevin

"jig uh low" or "gig uh low" I've always wondered why most people pronounce gigolo as jig uh low insteag of gig uh low. I was just corrected (again) the other day by Michael Cuscuna when talking about lee Morgan's CD of that name. I've always said gig uh low. He said, "haven't you ever heard the tune, "I'm just a gigolo?" (which he pronounced jig a low) Later, Kevin

Walkman, kleenix and formica were all trademarked names that I believe have become "public domain" by court rulings. I cannot imagine monster will be treated any differently. They've just got to come up against someone using "monster" who has the $$ to oppose them in court. Later, Kevin