Kevin Bresnahan

I've been told that these Blue Notes are being made by Scorpio Records out of Philadelphia. Supposedly, this is the group that ran Evidence Records which is now defunct. Later, Kevin

Excellent site! Many of their titles show at Stereo Jack's in Cambridge for a bit less but if you don't have Jack's place, this website would be a godsend. Those Epics are well worth the $9 or $10. Those Donald Bailey discs are both great. Ditto the Charlie Rouse. Curtis Fuller's "South American Cookin" is very good... Zoot Sims plays his ass off on this. I see they have Fuller's "The Magnificent Trombone". I don't have this one. Any good? Later, Kevin

I hope to be able to post more of Ron's words on Claude's thread about the "NoNoise sound" of the Moncur select. Ron's a pretty nice guy to talk to. He swears he is only trying to get us "master tape sound". I go back & forth with his work... ditto RVG. I tend to dig RVG's remasters for the piano and maybe organ, but the cymbles sound like crap on quite a few of his remasters. RVG also has missed on a couple that sound like AM radio. I don't know... I can't say for sure which I like better. FYI, the latest batch of Connoisseurs sound very good to my ears, even Mobley's "The Flip", which I though sounded bright on vinyl. I thought Ron McMaster did a good job flattening that out. Lon, there seems to be a lot of us that think RVGs are bright, and since I read where you felt "The Flip" sounds better on LP, is there a chance that your set-up has a high fequency dip? I mean no disrespect, but it would be worth checking out. If it turns out to be true, I may try to dupe your set-up. I find a lot of today's rock & roll remasters are too bright as well. Later, Kevin

It's unfortunate that some of the biggest proponents of EAI over on the Jazz Corner are also some of the most arrogant people on Jazz Corner. Their put-downs of fans of stright-ahead jazz get old fast. This board, while open to all styles of Jazz, is much more into straight-ahead styles. If the less open-minded EAI fans from other boards drift on over, I can see this discussion going nowhere but downhill... and fast. Look, I ain't gonna stop ya, and I ain't gonna engage ya in it either. Every EAI disc I've sampled just hasn't been my style at all. I don't dig it. Hey, if the discussion stays in this thread and I simply ignore it, I guess I should ju...............

Sonic1, isn't there plenty of discussion about this over on Jazz Corner? It has become a contentious topic over there. It seems to start up the same ol' "What is Jazz" stuff. Why bring that over here? I'd just as soon see it stay over there. If anyone wants to do some research, the first thread they started over there about this music can be found here. They eventually closed that one (because it got too big) and started a new one here. Later, Kevin

It depends on which redbook CD you buy. If you buy the old, pre-SACD remasters, the SACD hybrids sound much better, even the redbook sector. If you're talking about the new remastered CDs that just came out last year, those are simply the redbook sector of the SACD hybrid discs. They sound identical. The thing is, these latest remasters seem to be priced about the same as the hybrids. I'd get the hybrids just in case your next player has the capability. Later, Kevin

For the record, there is one LP in this set that has never been on CD, "Midnight Sun". I know I've gone back and forth on this set just because of this. I like the "Midnight Sun" session quite a bit but if I pick this set up, I'll have a bunch of TOCJ CDs with the same material. I still may bite. Later, Kevin

I'm sure I've told the story before, but my introduction to Mosaic was pretty wild. First, back in the late 80's, I saw an ad in Downbeat and called the phone number to get a catalog. When it came in, I saw a few great looking sets like the Ike Quebec 45s Sessions, the Tina Brooks set and the Freddie Redd set. I called to order all three but the Redd was sold out. I ordered the other two and was about to hang up when I was told something weird... "Call back for the next few days and we'll see if we get any returns on the Redd set". I was saying to myself, "Who the hell returns one of these?" Well, for the two weeks, I called. I called one day and by that time they knew who I was... the guy looking for the Redd set. The person on the phone (Scott maybe?) said, "Nope, no returns... oh wait a minute... there is one in the return bin. Let me check." A few anxious minutes went by. They came back and said, "Someone's supposed to have that set on hold." I was crestfallen. I joked, "How much were they willing to pay? I'll pay more." The guy laughed and said, "Kevin, tell you what, the person was told the set was in and they didn't call back so the set is yours." But wait, the story gets more twisted... I asked why it took two weeks to get a return and I was told, "This set was returned from Italy. The buyer died." Talk about a crazy way to get a Mosaic! Later, Kevin

The Don Grolnick two-fer was his complete output for BN which consisted of two septet dates that produced "Weaver of Dreams" and Nighttown". It was not a compilation, they were complete. $24.99 was list price, which I thought was pretty good for two complete albums. I paid less, maybe $19, but no matter, it wasn't a "ransom". If I had bought these two sessions by themselves when they came out, I would have paid a lot more than this. I rather doubt these would be considered for reissue again. They've been out twice and not sold too well. FWIW, I see that two-fer in the used bins around Boston often. I wouldn't consider that to be hard-to-find. Later, Kevin

I sent this to Michael Cuscuna and he forwarded it to Ron McMaster. If I hear anything back, I'll let you know, If you check out Capitol Mastering's website, you can see that they have two mastering benches, one with NoNoise and one without. I specifically asked Michael to see if maybe Ron used a different console for this title. Later, Kevin

Kevin, Do you want to forward the information here (at least suggested titles) to Cuscuna? Let us know how we might facilitate giving our "dibs" a voice. Thanks! Sure, I do it all the time. Keep 'em coming. I was going to try to give him a call today but with the storm... Later, Kevin

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't care if it was or wasn't a fumble. It was balanced the karma for that atrocious "roughing the passer" back in '76. And remember, the league reviewed that "tuck rule" fumble in the offseason of that year, said it was called correctly and even refused to modify the rule. It's still in place. Later, Kevin

Is that Atkinson? Yes it is... right over the border from Haverhill, MA, who reported 34 inches on one channel tonight. I think the snow drifts are messing up some snow totals. Luckily it was fluffy. The snow blower ripped right through it. Shoveling the dog path was a PIA. Later, Kevin

If you refer to Blue Note LPs 1512, 1514 and 1525 all titled "A new sound, a new star, Jimmy Smith at the organ: These were on a double CD in 1997 in the Doubletime series: Nope, I've got that one too (thanks Erik!). JS at the Organ with Blakey, Burrell and Donaldson was part of the Smith Feb '58 Mosaic, but otherwise has only been out on disc in Japan. Jimmy Smith at the Organ Vol. 3 is one of the ones that they're thinking about for the June RVGs.

I just finished clearing the driveway. It looks like we got around 20 inches. I even had to clear a path out the back door for the pooch. Here's a (rather dark) picture out the back door. Later, Kevin

I have anywhere from 18-22 inches outside my door this morning and it's still coming down pretty hard. My poor dog had a tough time "takin care of her business" out there! I'm just glad that this stuff is of the "fluffy" variety. If this was heavy, we'd have roofs collapsing. Later, Kevin

Michael Cuscuna sends me titles and he'll either say, "These are OK to post," or he'll say, "Don't post these yet." These RVGs titles came into my E-mail box with a "hold off on posting" note. The weird thing is that the list included catalog numbers, usually a sign that it's pretty firmed up. In looking at the list, I have to wonder if Michael isn't trying to get a couple of changes. When I asked why one title was on the list because I thought it was a poor seller, he responded something like, "These titles were already done for the Japanese series." Maybe US BN doesn't want to spend the dough to get RVG to do new titles? I don't know. I hope to get the OK early next week. BTW, in the last E-mail I got from him, he said, "Starting to plan the next Connoisseur series. Get your dibs in now." Later, Kevin

Lately, a lot of the places I like to chat have switched over to canned software. I believe 3 of them, Jazz Corner, All About Jazz and Steve Hoffman's forum use vBulletin. It has a nice feature that changes the icon for a thread if it's a thread you replied to. Does the Power Board software have options for stuff like this or is that a vBulletin "special"? Kevin

They upped the forecast for my area to 18-24 inches. I'm just glad it's supposed to stop around noon tomorrow. I have quite a few people coming over to watch the Pats (in HD - yeah!) and I gotta get the driveway cleared. I'm lucky I got this Honda snowblower. This thing just eats it up. Highly recommended if you're in the market for one. The variable speed is a must. I used to snap shear bolts all time before I had this machine and variable is key, especially when you get to the pile at the end where the plows leave you a nice "present" every storm. Later, Kevin

I did get a preliminary list of June RVGs but I haven't been told that it's OK to post it yet. None of the titles mentioned here are in that RVG list. I did ask why he hasn't done "Where Is Brooklyn" and he replied that he was planning to make that a Connoisseur release. Later, Kevin

I have a lot of these "Deluxe Editions". My favorite is Lynyrd Skynyrd's "One More For the Road" which has the concert without the studio overdubs. The only drawback is that they don't include those songs with the original LP mixes. Space maybe? Another good one is Marley's "Catch a Fire". The bonus material is the LP as originally made by Marley before it was remixed. I still like the material remixed better but it is very interesting to hear it as it was originally intended by the Wailers. Kevin

Oh... I completely forgot about "Black Dahlia"! That is a great multi-channel recording. Thanks for reminding me of that one. I guess what I get out of well-made multi-channel disc is more "involvement". It's not just in front of you, it's all around you. It gets your mind listening for the sounds regardless of the location and to me, that's fun... just as you've described. So far, I'm digging it but I will admit that there have been a few discs that I've switched over to the stereo playback... and that's another beauty of SACDs... there's always a stereo mix. Now, believe me, I only recently converted my audio system to multi-channel because originally, I felt it was just a gimmic. But I have really enjoyed a number of these multi-channel discs. The Eagles "Hotel California", Yes' "Roundabout", Neil Young's "Harvest" (although I think that's one that sounds better in stereo), Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic" and others. Now, looking at this list, you'll see there aren't a lot of Jazz dates there. This is true. Most Jazz dates don't really lend themselves well to surround. Who needs the piano player's left hand in one speaker and his right hand in another? Well, truth be told, most Jazz SACDs are stereo, not multi-channel. Even the "multi-channel" "Kind of Blue" is only 3 track. They simply put each of the original 3 tracks off the master tapes into the left/right/center speakers with some echo in the back that's hardly even audible. In the end, this just gives me a great playback of the 3 track master and that's all I want. Later, Kevin

Berigan's story is one I've read time & time again. Confusing to use. Slow. Poor video quality. Incompatability. Problems with certain media. I don't think this technology is ready for prime time yet. I still think S-VHS is the way to go. BTW, for reference, store-bought DVDs are dual layer. They only put about 60 minutes onto each layer. Therefore, it only makes sense that unless you record only one hour on the blank, the video quality will go down from store-bought DVD video quality. In 6 hour mode, to my eyes, it looks no better than standard VHS in EP mode. S-VHS in SP mode will get you 2 hours on a T-120 tape in better quality than most DVD recorders. Later, Kevin

All I know is that I have recorded off the air onto "standard" VHS tapes with "S video" on and off and the difference is very noticeable. I will have to look into these S-VHS blanks. I will check out the links you gave for longevity but it's off to volleyball for now... gotta get some exercise. Later, Kevin

Please say you've heard surround sound on a good system and that you're not just riffing on a topic here, Jim. Truly, surround sound in a good system with good source material is simply phenomenal. If you've heard and disagree, I don't understand why. It's more "live" than stereo. As you say here, the world is not in stereo. Therefore, it makes sense that hearing a movie or music in surround would be more lifelike. I was skeptical, to say the least, when I first heard surround sound. The early movie soundtracks with surround used it purely for effects and many were simply gimmics. It's much more integrated with the movie today. As for "surround" music, it's really just the engineer working with the multi-track masters trying to plunk the listener down inside the recording session. In some cases, particualrly rock sessions, it works. In others, it might not. In either case, it's a lot more like being in the studio than two-track stereo. Even a "bad" multi-channel SACD of DVD-Audio disc sounds more like "you're there" than any stereo mix of the same session. Later, Kevin