Kevin Bresnahan

Here at work, we just paid over $2,000 to recover data off of a dead hard drive. This was on the "low end" of the pricing spectrum. Unless you really, really need that data, just get a new drive and chuck the old one. Next, make sure to get a CD or DVD burner. Back-up often. Frequent back-ups can save major headaches in the future. I have a DVD burner in my PCs. 4.5 GB of storage per disc. Nice. Later, Kevin

I called it pretty good on the Pats/Seahawks game... I said their only hope was turnovers and Brady and that's exactly how they won this. Luckily the turnovers turning into points came early. It limited the Seahawks to playing catch up and this usually means "throw the ball". I still think the Seahawks had a chance in the end but I have to wonder why Alexander wasn't being handed the ball more often on their last drive. It's not like the Pats were stuffing him. Oh well, a win is a win. The biggest winner of the day? Bethel Johnson. He is probably still in Belechick's doghouse but he may have earned a reprieve for that incredible catch. Totally laying out like that and then being able to tuck it in so the replay couldn't overturn the call. Wow. Anybody watch the Cowboys blow it last night? Was that bizarre or what? I was thinking it was a lock. All they had to do was hand off a couple of times and try for a long FG. Next thing you know, Testeverde has the ball knocked out of his hands by his his running back and "Wham," they're done. It reminded me of that Giants/Eagles game years ago with the fumble. Quite a boneheaded play by the Cowboys. Of course, Parcells will blame the players, which is who screwed up, but the play calling has to be questioned. Later, Kevin

What a catch by Bethel Johnson! Man, was that a nail-biter, or what? I tell you, Chris Collingsworth truly sucks and his hatred of the Patriots shines through his commentary. First, he calls Harrison "the dirtiest player in the NFL" after Harrison falls backwards into Hasselback to get a "roughing the passer" call. Then, when Brady is clearly dumped by a Seahawk defender well after he threw the ball, a play that's always roughing, he clams up with a chuckle. What a jerk. The other one that showed his bias was when he defended the zebras on that bullshit "unecessary roughness" call when a Seahawk jumped and Warren shoved him on his ass. Collingsworth is saying, "Yeah, that's a penalty... I've never seen it called before, but that's a penalty." This after very early in the game where he blasted the refs for calling taunting on the Seahawks, calling it "totally unecessary". Hey Chris, go call someone else's games. You don't like the Pats and it shows. Later, Kevin

Over on the Jazz Corner's Speakeasy, Lois Gilbert is reporting that she spoke with several people familiar with Max's situation last night and she was told that Max's children sold his apartment so they would have enough money to afford a very good home for Max. She said she's knows the name of the place and it's a good one. Later, Kevin

I can't vote... my heart says the Pats will win but my head says they're gonna get their asses kicked. Rumor today is that Dillon might not play. Brown and Branch are out. Bethel Johnson may get sat again after his stupid comments this week. There's also some stories saying that Brady's shoulder may be acting up. All in all, if the Patriots win, they should prove that they still got game. Later, Kevin

I prefer Ron McMaster's remasterings for some sessions, but definitely not Sonny Rollins "Live at the Village Vanguard". The original CDs were not made from the master tapes... and they sound it. When RVG got these recently unearthed master tapes, he brightened them up in his usual fashion but to my ears, it works well for this. The original CDs sounded muffled. The RVG CDs sound bright, more "live". I would not trade my RVG of "Live at the Village Vanguard" for the older version. Later, Kevin

I was talking to Mosaic the other day and they mentioned that they will be changing their web site soon. I told them that I hope they keep all the directory structures the same so we could continue to access these old discographies. My statement caught them a bit off guard so I explained to them what we do here with the links. They really liked that we still use these discographies and they are looking into having them in the "No Longer Available" section of the new web site. Hopefully this happens. However, in the chance that they don't do this, anyone who wants to back these old discographies up, should do so soon. I have no idea when the changeover will happen but you don't want to wait until they're gone. Later, Kevin

Jackie's currently listed in the Gillespie tribute band's stop at The Regattabar from October 27-30. I have tickets to the 30th show. However, Jackie just cancelled his November visit to Yoshi's so his health might be a problem again. I have to wonder if he'll show up at either Gillespie tribute show. I'm expecting a last minute sub. Later, Kevin

Fuckin' eh... I knew they'd arrive! Now if only Aric would send Soulstation his copy of "Money Jungle", we'd be one big love-fest. Later, Kevin

The biggest change with these CDs is that they will use the US master tapes. These tapes are 3rd or 4th generation and they have had layers of echo and EQ'ed to "max output" (on some tracks).... "Americanized" if you will. I will probably buy them just to have them but by this time, having had the original CDs for almost 20 years now, I am very used to hearing the British versions. BTW, they way they're filling each CD with one of these short LPs is by including both the mono and stereo versions of each tune. Basically, you'll get each LP twice. Later, Kevin

Check out the ticket to the record-breaking Pats/Dolphins game: Notice the subliminal tuff? Add the players numbers togther... 2+6+3+8 = 19. The referee is number 19. The best is on the wall behind the play... "Sec. 19"... "in"... "a"... "row" . BTW, speaking of the Pats next opponent, over on patsfans.com, they have former QB Steve Grogan analyze the games each week. This week, they asked him about the Seahawks. Here's what he had to say: R.R. Marshall: This will be the first quality opponent the Patriots have faced since the opening week of the season. What’s the game plan for Seattle? Steve Grogan: I hadn’t seen Seattle play much before last Sunday and I was really impressed with their running back Shaun Alexander. I assume Alexander is what the Patriots will try and take away. He is the kind of back that hesitates to wait for a hole to open up, so it is going to be really important for the defense to swarm him and not give him time for that hole to open up because he can accelerate quickly. Matt Hasselbeck is a good quarterback but the Seahawk receivers seem to have a lot of problems with catching the ball, so if you can neutralize their running game it will give the Patriots a great shot at extending their winning streak to 20 games. This is exactly the way I feel about this game with one exception... I am worried that the Patriots offense might get shut down by the Seahawk's D. They need some of their receivers to get back in the game. Branch's absence is going to hurt when the opponents start doubling Givens on every play. Patten is going to have to get open and catch the ball, which he wasn't able to do agianst the Fins this weekend. Later, Kevin

I watched that Rams-Seahawks game myself. I was watching Alexander run all over the Rams and thought, man, we're dead next week. Even against Miami's no-name running game, we still allowed some long runs. But then I saw the Rams comeback and I figure we're about even with the Seahawks. Maybe BB & co. can tighten up the run D before next week? No matter, this looks to be a good test for the Pats. If they Pats win, they may be going up against an undefeated Jets team that next week. I'll be there. Later, Kevin

Blue Note surely knows some of their stuff escaped the vault and they would absolutely prosecute anyone they caught dealing in it. They're not particularly happy but they also know the "genie's out of the bottle". Without going the legal route and trying tracking down every single copy (which they must know is impossible now), they'll just have to keep their eyes & ears open. Obviously, this conversation we're having would not have been too cool on the old BN board. BTW, it took me years to get something to trade the guy who had this. He told me about it, dangling the carrot, but everything I offered, he already had. I tried to get something valuable to trade. I even got some musician's personal stage tapes. No doing. He wanted some vault stuff. I finally got my hands on another vault tape and that did the trick. After all the work it took, this is not a tape I'll be duping and blasting all over the place. As I said, BN would go after me then. I think they'll just leave me alone if I keep low. We should all do the same. I do think if I sent MC and mixed down copy, he'd give it a spin probably laugh at the effort. He might also change his mind, but I doubt it. FWIW, the same guy who traded me this tape has more vault tapes and live boots than anyone I've ever met or heard about. Cuscuna even knew about his collection. He named the guy when I told him I finally got my hands on a copy of this Blakey date. This same guy had a copy of the "Kind of Blue" masters years ago. I remember him playing that for me one night and there's a point where Cobb's brushes are swooshing away. The booth calls for a halt and tells Miles that their mikes are picking up Cobb's brushes. Miles leans to the mike and rasps, "You're gonna get that, yeah." Oh yeah, this guy also claims to have gotten that unissued Wayne Shorter date (the one with the weird tune titles like "Bee" and "Cee"). He says it sucks. Too bad he moved out of Boston. I heard he's somewhere in the Providence, RI area now. I wonder if the phone number I have will work? Later, Kevin

I swear sometimes MC listens to these things once, forms an opinion, and simply won't go back again. I also think he's overstating the problems with this date. I do believe there wouldn't be a way to put this out by simply "choosing takes" as nearly every take has a little problem, but with some judicious editing, even I could make this a decent Jazz Messenger's CD. I just don't have the editing software or, at this time in my life, patience to do this. BTW, MC has downplayed this date for as long as I've been talking to him... maybe 15 years by now... and when I got this, I was rather shocked at how it sounded. Not great, but not a bunch of high schoolers! I still think Morgan was the star of the date. FWIW, MC has said similar things about other dates and after re-visiting the date later, changed his mind a released some of them. Grant Green's 1st date certainly fits this description. He gave that a "thumbs-down" for many years but gave it a fresh spin and found it acceptable. He does change his mind. It's one of the things about him that I like. We may see this date someday. Hey, if someone has this session and is handy with editing tools, edit the session down to just the 5 tunes and send me the finished product. I'll get it to MC "blind" and see how he reacts. He could be swayed. Later, Kevin

The squares marked A and B are the same shade of gray.

Unfortunately, the cassette tape that was used to create the CD-Rs that I have had to be flipped over right in the middle of one of the best takes of one tune... I can't remember right now which one. Bill, you got the wrong guy on the squeeky reed. I don't remember how many times Mobley blew a clinker so I didn't write that. My memory is foggy (and I'm at work) but I seem to remember that even where Hank didn't squeek, he was usually the cause for the breakdown in most of the tunes. Well... I seem to remeber Timmons having a tough time too. All in all, the guys just didn't hit it "on all cylinders". It was a group failure. Lee Morgan does play his ass off though. One of the funniest things about this session is that it was the hardest CD backer I ever had to create. The guy who burnt the CD-R created a new track for every take, whether it was a false start or breakdown. I had trouble fitting all the tracks onto the back of a single CD case. FYI, fidelity isn't the best on this. For instance, the background conversations don't come through too well. It's also got a bit too much treble. The guy who converted these to CD-R believes that they are best done with Dolby off, even if the cassette was created with it turned on. I think this comes through in sound. It has a bit of brittleness to it. Later, Kevin

I'm a huge Pats fan and I have serious doubts that they will get through the Seahawks unscathed. Alexander is a premier running back and to my eyes, the Pats have yet to prove that they can stop this kind of runner. Their only hope will be turnovers and Brady... a familiar formula. BTW, if they get through Seattle, their next opponent after that is the Jets. This is the game where they can become the "official" successive wins leader (the NFL does not recognize the playoffs for consecutive wins records). I have tickets to that game. Later, Kevin

I agree with many of the comments here about the rest of the unissued Lee Morgan session. I have listened to the other tunes from this session and they sound fine to my ears. I have no idea why MC didn't include all of them when he tacked this session onto "The Sixth Sense". As for the Blakey session in question, I have it on CD-R but haven't spun it in a while. Most of the tunes have a breakdown or at least one flubbed solo. There might be one or two tunes that could go on record in unedited form but even then, it wouldn't be the Messengers at their best. Very sloppy all around. I imagine with today's editing software, one could splice together all the takes to get a decent record but in the end, it would be a lot of work for a mediocre Messengers date. I wish Blue Note would do it but I doubt they will. I would buy it in a second. I've often thought about sending a copy of this to Bertrand so he could do his research on the 2 unissued tunes. I wonder if they're in the copyright office? Have they been played anywhere else? BTW, someone supposedly has a copy of the master of Tyrone Washington's "Train Wreck" session. This "someone" won't give me a copy unless I get something else for him. If anyone has some weird thing on tape that can do the trick, let me know. Later, Kevin

"Focus" by Stan Getz is the most unusual "with strings" session I've ever heard. BTW, it has also long been one of my favorites. Later, Kevin

Ford = take your pick: Fix Or Repair Daily or Found On Road Dead If a big American half ton is what you want, find a Chevy... it may rust and handle mushy (which I like, BTW) but it'll run a lot better than a Ford. If you can find one in your price range, get a Toyota Tundra. Best reliability out there. I don't think I'd recommend any of the baby trucks, especially the Ford Ranger. I've known way too many people who've had trouble with them. A guy I work with has also had major engine troubles with a Chevy S10 with the 4.3 L V6. It was his 2nd one... the first was great so it might have just been a lemon. Got to Edmunds.com and do some research. Watch out at the forums... there are some shills who hang out on them. Makes it tough to get honest recs. Later, Kevin

As I said on another board to someone asking this same question, if I had one box set to buy from Mosaic out of all that they currently have in print, it would definitely be the Johnny Hodges. This is a phenomenal box and it's one that I play quite a bit. Of course, I'm also a huge Ben Webster fan so the combo of great Hodges with beaucoup Webster puts me in a fine mood. Later, Kevin

2 CDs shipped on 9/8 from Canada? The last 2 transactions I was involved with from Canada took 5-6 weeks each. I wouldn't be surprised if Leeway reports their arrival in the next 2 weeks.

When the word got back to Michael Cuscuna at Mosaic that they grabbed the mono tapes for "Off to the Races", he told me it was mistake on his part. However, he did say that it wasn't a terrible mistake because the stereo mix of this date was typical early stereo by Rudy... rhythm in one track and horns on the other. He gave me the impression that the mono was better. Of course, having the earlier stereo TOCJ CD, I told him that the stereo mix on this date was fine to my ears. Later, Kevin

My main reason for figuring that the master tapes were mono was the fact that there are these 2 extra (previously unissued) tracks. Obviously, they pulled the master tapes to make this CD. If there were both stereo & mono tapes, I would have thought they'd pull the stereo tapes if they had them. BTW, the CD says "previously released as CL 1059". No mention of a stereo release. Maybe it never made it out? Does anyone have the stereo LP version of this? One listen and this mystery would be solved. Later, Kevin

I have the CD version of this album... not that old, really... copyright 1994. It is mono. I imagine that the stereo version of this LP was electronically reprocessed from the mono mix. BTW, this CD has decent audio. It also has 2 unreleased tracks, "Very Good Advice" (5:31) and "So This Is Love" (5:56), making it doubly worth picking up if you dig the LP. Later, Kevin