Kevin Bresnahan

There was not a domestic version. I looked for this session on CD for a long time. I jumped on this Japanese version when it came out. I paid a lot but it is a good one. Later, Kevin

I bought that Francis Wolff calendar back in 1996 maybe... the one from Pomegranate that had 14 x 14 B&W shots that were perfect for framing. Anyway, I have had many of these signed at shows and they almost always get some great comments from the artist. I remember Stanley Turrentine saying "Who is this handsome young man in this picture? It can't be me!" Curtis Fuller's came out the best... but I think that might be mostly because the picture is just awesome. It's an uncropped photo of "The Opener" cover (I think). It came out great. Horace Silver dated his but he dated it with the wrong date! He was off by a few days. Elvin's was nice. I had Bobby Hutcherson sign 2, one was the cover shot, and I had it framed for my best friend who gave me the extra copy from his calendar. BTW, the funniest autograph I ever got wasn't a Jazz artist. I went to see raunchy comedian John Valby (who tours as Dr Dirty). After the show, and probably a few too many beers, I bought several CDs and took the verbal abuse to get autographs for them. Valby is such a funny shit. Anyway, Valby signs "Compact Dirt Digital Ditties" with "Duyd hwq hwh hsa fuck hjs ah shjh - John Valby". Being Valby, I ask him, "What the fuck does this say?" He says, "Look you moron, it says 'Dust her off and fuck her for days'". It might say that. Later, Kevin

As I posted recently over on the All About Jazz board, the last time I saw Johnny about 2 or 3 years ago in Boston, he was drunk and swayed on the bandstand. Many of his normally humorous chats between songs were babbles that hardly anyone understood. He thought they were very funny and most times he was laughing his ass off by himself. It was sad. I know he was drunk because I talked to him between sets and got an autograph. If I had lit a match at the time, I think he would have ignited! His autograph is a blob of silver ink on my "A Blowing Session" CD booklet. However, even in that condition, he played his ass off and it was a decent show. Unfortunately, the set list was pretty much the same as the other times I saw him. I bet I saw him 3 or 4 years in a row back then and the set list hardly varied. I hope he comes through town again. I'd like to see him one more time and see if I can erase that one "off" memory. Later, Kevin

For nearly 10 years, I only bought Onkyo receivers. The last one I bought was back in the early 90's and it still worked when I stuffed it into the attic when I switched to multi-channel. By the time multi-channel audio (read: home theater) entered my life, the word on the street was that Onkyo, like Yamaha, and to a lesser extent, Nakamichi, had decided to lower their quality to get the costs down so they could enter the mass maket. I don't know what their reputation is now. I now have a Denon receiver. Before this, I had a Pioneer. Now Pioneer is interesting. They have always been "low budget" and available at all the big chains. Sometime in the mid-90's they began making some pretty decent stuff. I was very happy with that Pioneer receiver. It too is up in the attic just waiting for one of my daughters to ask for it. I have no idea if they are still making good stuff. I do have a Pioneer Elite DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player and it's been great but it is in the Elite series so I can't say for sure that their regular line is as good. BTW, I have heard/read more complaints about Onkyo's CD players than praise. Later, Kevin

I once saw the Bird Mosaic CD set in a used store for around $30. I had the store play some of it for me... man was the audio terrible. I could barely make out a saxophone on some tracks. I left without buying it. I figured someone who was really into Bird got a good deal and it would get a lot more play time than I would give it. Kevin

Interesting using Elway as a comparison. I lost all respect for Elway ever since he stiffed the Baltimore Colts... and I'm a Patriots fan who could've cared less about the Baltimore Colts. I always thought Elway was a punk and I always rooted against his Broncos just because of his presence on that team. I imagine people in Indianapolis must love Elway. It was partly because of Elway sticking it to the Colts that the team moved to Indy. And since Rachel's tagline is Indianapolis... Does anyone know what was so wrong with San Diego anyway? They have had some good to very good teams lately. They have the same salary cap as everyone else so it can't be about money. It isn't about playing in CA because he supposedly wanted to play for the Raiders. What was wrong with San Diego? Drew Brees? I wonder if San Diego's trade may work out like the Herschel Walker deal worked out for Dallas? The Giants gave up a lot for this guy. If he can't get it done, it could get ugly. Oh, BTW, when the Patriots get beat, I revert to rooting for the Giants (in my early days, the Giants were the only NFL team in New England). It's going to be tough rooting for Eli and the Giants when I think he's a spoiled punk for sticking it to the Chargers. I suppose I can take comfort in knowing that at least the Chargers got a good QB and some draft picks out of the deal... yeah, maybe I can forgive the guy... unless he starts losing! Kevin

Doc, you're getting way out of my comfort zone with this one. I am not big on outboard D/A's as I think they can be another way to get some serious $$ out of your wallet for very little gain. Today's CD players are putting out some amazing audio. I swear I can hear a flea farting in the studio. However, I cannot hear the flea's fart echo off the right rear corner wall. Should I be worried? Nah... I have better things to worry about. Later, Kevin

Roxio EZ CD Creator must be updated to version 5.0 (or was it 4.0?) or better to work with WinXP. Earlier versions will not run. Norton requires Anti-virus 2003 or higher for WinXP. Don't blame Microsoft for these snafus... both are the software suppliers doing. They chose WinXP as a means to force people to buy upgrades to their software. In Roxio's case, it seemed to hurt them pretty badly. They hit hard times since XP's intro and their decision to force people to buy a new version coupled with their decision to charge more for the OEM version (causing Dell to switch to Nero for while) really put a dent in their market share. Nero is coming on strong. Unfortunately, I still prefer EZ CD Creator. Later, Kevin

Because of this thread, when I placed my order for the New Orleans & TKM boxes last week I asked Scott if he could send me boxes with removable lids. Sure enough, both came in with removable lids. I'm happy. My receipts self destruct in about a year. The ink fades away. Maybe I should look into this "acid-free baggie" set-up... Later, Kevin

Aric has his own web site: The Aric Effron Fan Club! I love some of his better quotes: "Principal Skinner, I got carsick in your office."

I thought about picking up the DAD of that Red Rodney date but I have it on a Savoy CD called "Fiery" and I think that CD sounds very good. How many different names was this session put out under anyway? Does that belong in the "Stupid question" thread? Kevin PS. I looked through my stuff and it turns out that I don't have the DAD of Sonny Clark's "Cool Struttin'" but I do have Freddie Hubbard's "Open Sesame". I can't believe I forgot that one. It's probably one of the best sounding DADs. My brain synapses are saying that the Lou Donaldson is very nice but I'd have to listen again... it's been a while and because it's a DAD, I can't spin it in the car.

Oh oh, Aric's stoned again...

Hey! Why does it only show the first picture? I guess people can click the link if they want to see the others.

I'm having trouble figuring out if this: or this: http://us.st5.yimg.com/store4.yimg.com/I/d...786_4176602.jpg is this best graphical representation for this topic. I just love these pictures... any of you ever check them out at Despair.com? I always loved: http://us.st5.yimg.com/store4.yimg.com/I/d...786_7440911.jpg Kevin

I have yet to hear "The Gathering". It sits in many cheapie bins in the used CD stores around Boston and I've often wondered how "bad" it could be. I love Allen's work with Ralph Peterson. The trio date, "Triangular" is especially nice but the other two, "Volition" and "V" have some great moments too. Kevin

Classics' DAD discs are 24 bit 96 kHz stereo. Any modern DVD player should play it fine (early players didn't have the 24/96 processor). Sound? Well, I have "Roll Call", Adderley's "Something Else", Donaldson's "Lou Takes Off", Clark's "Cool Struttin'" and Art Davis' "Time Remembered" and all sound fine. However, they aren't in the "WOW" catagory like some of my SACDs or DVD-Audio discs. In fact, I would almost say that I like the regular TOCJ version of "Roll Call" better than the DAD. The DAD is a bit bright. Since Blakey's already recorded "hot" on this date, brightening his cymble work doesn't improve the sound. Kevin

I always recommend Chateau Ste. Michelle's Cabernet Sauvignon when asked for a good cheap red. Another excellent one, that may be just above $15, is Beaulieu Vineyards' Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. However, to get better red wines at this price point, I think you should look at the Australian Shirazes. Rosemount is a great bargain at around $12. I personally favor one called Woop Woop ($10), but it's gotten good reviews and subsequently been tougher to find. Avoid Greg Norman's stuff. Not because it's bad, but because it's too expensive. It ain't worth what they're charging for it around here, which is around $20. Another great Shiraz is called Parenga but you're unlikely to find it... it has a strong little following (mostly because it's around $9/bottle). I have friends that swear by Yellowtail Shiraz but I thought it was wimpy. YMMV. Kevin

I used to have an LP of Def Leppard's "Hysteria" that clocked in at around 62 minutes and I remember when it was issued that they had a tough time fitting it all onto one LP. If my memory serves, the grooves went so far into the vinyl that one of my record players picked up the needle before the record was done. Later, Kevin

As I said recently when someone posted a recent picture of Brigitte on the Jazz Corner board: I hope my wife looks as good as Brigitte Bardot does when she is 69! You guys are in for a rude awakening if you think your significant other is gonna look like a fox for the rest of your life! Hell, I don't even look that great and I'm only 41. BTW, she looks a hell of a lot better today than Charlton Heston does! Later, Kevin

It wasn't too long ago, before this was reissued, that someone paid over $300 on ebay for this one. Pays to be patient sometimes. The older version of the CD of "Straight No Filter" is sequenced very differently from the one in print today. Because of that, it still has collectibility and does still go for over $50 on ebay (when one does show up... it is pretty rare).

Who told you it couldn't be cleaned? If it was an authorized NAD service center ir even a service center with extensive NAD experience, you may be out of luck. If the volume potentiometer is sealed, you may have to buy a new one. This could be expensive but should be much less than a new unit. If I were you, I'd open the thing up and look at the trouble spots. If you can see the potentiometers, simply stop into your local Radio Shack and pick of a can of contact cleaner. Spray the heck out of the back of the volume knob while rotating it. You may have to do it several times. It might be enough. If some of the spray drips onto the circuit board, don't worry, it will evaporate, but look to see if any junk is floating in it. NOTE: Let it dry for a bit before turning it back on. Kevin

You bastids.... $172... the wife is steamin' but she knows I can't pass up a Mosaic that's going oop.

Verizon DSL has been great for me. Up time is awesome. Speed is almost always 720 kB/s. A friend of mine who lives closer to town gets twice that but they only guarantee 720. Unlike cable, it is a dedicated line so it should never slow down. I agree with you on the MSN crap... but you don't have to install it to get on line with Verizon. Just follow the installation instructions and quit out when you get to the "Install MSN" prompt. That's what I do and I've done about 3 of these installs in the last 6 months. BTW, if you have Windows XP, you can pretty much plug in the modem, connect the ethernet cable and "bam!" you're on-line. The "installation" kit from Verizon is pretty much a "stupid-proof" package. Most slightly advanced PC users could do it without the prompts. Kevin

I grew up in the 70's. Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks" were part of everyone's LP stack. Everybody was digging Aerosmith back then. "Walk This Way" was fun, raucous and loud, just how us young 'uns liked our music. "Big Ten Inch" was raunchy and loud and even managed to get a song about blow jobs onto the radio, which was loved even more. You know not of which you speak. Kevin

What about that 2nd half of 'Back from the Gig'? Nah, not criminal... That's just a misdemeanor because the song titles all suck.