Kevin Bresnahan

Except that you can only pre-order this new release. The upcoming Japanese CDs have "Send Arrival Notice" on them, not pre-order. With their system, this button is pretty useless unless you just happen to get the E-mail right away and get your order in before anyone else. It's one of Dusty Groove's biggest weaknesses as a "go to" store for me. I'd rather pre-order them at CD Japan and know that I will get them rather than ask Dusty Groove to let me know that they are in, possibly after all of the stock is already sold.

Ed Blackwell - Shades of Edward Blackwell (Mosaic). From the Strata East box.

Being the trekkie that I am, I am really enjoying the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks" on Paramount+. The premise, if not obvious from the show title, is of life aboard a Federation starship for those who work in the lower decks. Considering how the shows have all concentrated on the members of the bridge staff, this humorous look at the rest of the crew's daily lives on a starship is pretty fun. The immediate and most obvious joke is that most of them wear red shirts. During one episode, the ship is in dire trouble and while the captain and bridge crew fight to save the ship from oblivion, two of the crew from the lower decks are having a heart to heart as the windows in the background have scenes of a major battle with phazers flashing and stuff blowing up. I was laughing more at that scene than I should have.

Are you just paying the extra shipping rates for DHL due to the Japan Post restrictions or are you ordering with the expectation of waiting until the restrictions are lifted? I ordered a bunch of discs and told them to hold them for regular Airmail but I am beginning to wonder if that was a bad idea. They don't appear to be willing to resume this service any time soon.

It isn't rated very highly on Amazon. I might still give the first one a try.

I picked up "Mess Of Blues" a few years back and I didn't like it much at all, mainly due to the poor audio. I'm also not much of a fan of Wild Bill's style of organ playing.

I bought my daughter, a kindergarten teacher, an Epson "eco-tank" printer about 3 years ago. It used a bunch of ink, printed terrible color pages and died very quickly. She just replaced it with an HP ink jet printer because that's what I've been using for about 9 years now, admittedly with much less use than my daughter intends. I did try to get her to spend the extra money for a laser printer, but she didn't think the extra money up front was worth it.

Since nearly their entire catalog is listed as "unofficial" on discogs, I would think they are a bootleg label.

I concur. She is, without a doubt, my favorite pianist on the scene today.

Better audio on this video than on any of the bootleg tapes I've heard. Too bad there isn't more. I'd love to see & hear the whole set.

Amazing to realize that Hank was only 38 when this video recording was made and yet his performing & recording careers were just about over. Saddens me to realize this.

Look at the CD art. Do they mention the label they licensed the material from? They may claim that they have clearance from the artists' estates, but that is not all that's needed. I get that you like these releases, but I spoke with a couple of people in the industry, and they tell me they are not legit. It's probably just not worth the money for a label to fight it in today's limited market. I was really surprised Universal (Verve) didn't go after them for that Stan Getz release.

The saddest one I saw was when Toshiko Akiyoshi came into Boston to play with her quartet, which included her husband Lew Tabackin on tenor. There were probably 20 people in the crowd. Great show that very few saw. I don't think she ever came through again after that show. Actually, now that I think about it, I once went to see Jeremy Pelt's quintet play at the Equinox Jazz Festval in Boston in the early 00's (the festival ran from 2001-03) and there were about 10 people in the crowd... and this was in a very large performance space. I was not surprised when that festival went bankrupt in 2004. I was spinning Joey D's "Organic Vibes" earlier today. If you haven't heard this, you should try to pick up a copy.

There's a reason Kevin Gray stopped cutting vinyl for this label. He doesn't work on bootlegs.

Vintage ADS speakers, like the AR-5's mentioned by the thread starter, will likely need updating in many cases. If you do decide to go the vintage route, check the surrounds and considered re-capping the crossovers. Both are relatively easy and not too expensive if you do it yourself. I have a friend who re-capped his 1980's era B&W towers and the improvement in the sound was substantial.

I have B&W speakers on both of my systems and I agree that they are pretty damn fine sounding speakers. But even used, they are pretty expensive.

That ping you heard 30 years ago may still be there with your current speakers. It could very well be that your ears are no longer capable of hearing it. You should be able to pick up a pair of fully restored (re-coned/re-capped) AR-5's for under $1,000. Just be prepared for them to sound different from what you remember. Many of our memories of things from 30 years are colored. Some would say "rose-colored". What I'm saying is that you might find yourself disappointed.

Joey at the organ at Scullers. My buddy Bob took this shot.

Aw shit... this is terrible. Too young, He was an incredible player who I always tried to see when he came through town.

I miss it too. I think the reason many of us miss it is precisely why it's gone - they used to sell Japanese imports priced well below anyone else. They had to be losing money on those things. I remember getting in Japanese CDs with $28 price stickers on them and thinking, "How are they selling this to me for $10"?

Yeah. you're right! We are very normal over here. Oh... wait a minute... you're being sarcastic!

While I was not a big fan of the CTI sound, he helped keep jazz alive and moving forward into the 70's. I sometimes wonder what would've happened if he didn't do these CTI albums. For some reason, I always thought that Taylor was a black man. Don't know why, but I did. I was pretty caught off guard when I saw his picture in the linked obit.

Yeah, Michael said that Addey re-did this analog stereo master from the original 8-track analog tapes for this Tone Poet LP. I don't imagine there are too many mastering engineers out there who mix in analog these days. It would seem to be a dying art. I've had enough trouble making a good cassette dub of a stereo LP. I can't imagine setting the levels right so that 8 tracks of audio don't drive the signal into overload.

Michael Cuscuna never identified the label but did say that it was a UK label and that they were compensated for the mastering work they already did. I didn't hear that they planned additional material. I wonder what they were planning for side 4?