Kevin Bresnahan

From someone at the Hoffman forums: "But now the issue I experienced. On the last song "I Thought I'd Let You Know" about 90 seconds through (don't quote me on the exact time) starting on the right channel and going to the center and then left is a constant pop. It's not loud but it's very noticeable. The record itself looks fine, and this does not sound like a normal scratch but almost an issue with the tape which I don't believe it is though and more in the pressing itself. I played the same area two more times and it's not going away. It lasts for about 30 seconds or so." But don't worry, Blue Note will fix... ummm... actually, no they won't. They don't care if they screw up a cut. Why don't they do test pressings any more? Why isn't someone playing at least one of the first pressings just to make sure they don't press thousands of defective LPs???? Stupid company.

Thelonious Monk - The Complete Thelonious Monk At The It Club (Mosaic). Spinning LP2 now. I don't think I've ever gotten around to spinning all 4 LPs yet. Maybe today's the day?

Supposedly changed after Playboy magazine threatened a lawsuit.

WTF is Joe wearing? He looks like Forrest Gump back there.

I pre-ordered the LP from Amazon. I'm looking forward to it. I do hope Amazon offers AutoRip on this so I don't have to buy the CD version later.

The Schitt Vali 2 is a straight up headphone amplifier. There is no DAC. It only accepts line inputs. So to hook this to your PC, you would need to get a mini jack to RCA adapter cable and connect your PC's line out to the RCA inputs (labeled "In") on the back of the Schitt unit: As mentioned above, this might not necessarily give you better sound through your headphones. Usually, a headphone amp allows you to drive the headphones to higher volumes with clean sound. Most headphone amps, like the one that is driving your PC's headphone output jack, use a single chip solutions like this: These are designed to drive most headphones to moderate levels and their distortion numbers are not great when you turn it up. A better headphone amp is designed to drive your headphones to much higher output levels and keep the signal clean from distortion. Usually, but not always, better headphones have higher input impedance and this can make it even harder for these little headphone amps (like shown above) to drive the headphones cleanly.

It was legally challenged and held up a permissible. A company can say "No jab, no job". https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/more-150-fired-resign-over-covid-vaccine-requirement-houston-hospital-n1272071 More than 150 fired, resign over Covid vaccine requirement at Houston hospital

It looks like my workplace is going to put their mask mandate back in effect. So now I am going to have to mask up again because those few who have refused to get vaccinated have put us in this situation. I wish my work would just say, "Get vaccinated or find another job". It's working in the medical field. Covid? No Covid here.

Next up in the ZZ Top train - Tres Hombres (WB). Again, I picked up the 2008 remastered LP mastered by Hoffman & Gray. I still had my original London pressing and back then (with ears that still worked great), this remaster was much better. The only negative was a noisy runout groove. It just reassures you that the record is over.

ZZ Top - Fandango (WB). I picked up the 2008 LP when it came out. It was mastered by Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray. Doesn't make much difference. It was a always a muddy recording. No amount of care is going to clean it up. But for what it is, it's great. RIP Dusty Hill. I saw the Top several times over the years and they never failed to entertain.

I remember when I first heard this, I thought, "Man, that crowd at this Basin Street club is really quiet".

Not to rub salt in your wounds, but I've almost always felt the opposite. I almost enjoy torturing some of the "salesmen" I've encountered through the years. I use quotes because in my experience, in the world of audio, not many deserve that title. One of my favorite shopping experiences ever was when a CD player (Pioneer maybe?) came out with a button to turn off the digital filter. I always wanted to hear how this would affect the sound so I made my way to the local hifi store to test it out. When I got there, I asked the salesman if they had this new player. He brought me over to it. I checked it out - there it was - the button to turn off the digital filter. I asked him to set it to one of their nicer speakers and started a CD. I listened and then switched the digital filter on & off. He was standing there wondering what I was doing. I told him, "I want to see if I can hear a difference with the digital filter on & off". He said, "You can't shut off the digital filter on a CD player". I showed him the button. He just stood there insisting that I didn't understand the button's function. I had to have him get the manual for the floor model. He still couldn't believe that the music sounded fine with the digital filter turned off. I left that store laughing.

Andy Zimmerman - Half Light (Newvelle). Nice date. The mellow numbers are perfect for this rainy evening. Andy Zimmerman on tenor, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Kevin Hays on piano, and Matt Penman on bass.

I do like enjoy his Bee Hive recordings, especially the one with Brignola. I would love to hear the story about how Silvio Smiraglia became Sal Salvador.

Unless Gearbox is including a download card in the LP edition, it's a smart move to buy the LP from Amazon. When you buy from Amazon, they usually offer a digital download of the LP via their AutoRip feature.

To be honest, I only bought this because I was in a local shop and saw it in the bins... pumping a little money into the local economy. I actually compared it a bit to my "go to" CD version (UCCI-9030) and I think the CD sounds a bit better. I'm not worried though because this is my only vinyl version.

Just finished - Oliver Nelson - Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!/Analogue Productions). Now playing - William Parker - Petit Oiseau (Shortwave Records/Aum).

"Cue For Saxophone" & "The High And Mighty Hawk" are really great albums. Someday I'll hear the rest of them.

I just ordered a NM copy from a discogs seller for $12. Looking forward to hearing it.

Paul Brusger - Go To Plan B (Consolidated Artists Productions). This was listed in this thread a while back and the lineup intrigued me, Cuber & Hicks in particular. Very well done date. I ordered another of his titles (on Steeplechase) that was listed here as well and I'm waiting for that one to come in. If it's as good as this one, I'll be a very happy camper.

Hank Mobley - Blue Bossa (SSJ). Subtitled "Live in Copenhagen 1968"

If you Google "Hank Mobley lung cancer", several on-line resources say that he had lung cancer. I suppose it's not important now.

Lung cancer isn't like a switch going off. By the 70's, it had supposedly limited his playing ability but there is a chance (likelihood?) that it was affecting him earlier as well. That's why I implied that this might be what we hear on these recordings.

Bertrand was reminding me of this Copenhagen recording that was issued in Japan as "Hank Mobley with the Kenny Drew Trio - Blue Bossa", so I am spinning it again this morning. While this CD was definitely made from a better tape than the one I had for years, the sound still isn't great. What's funny is that on this CD, NHOP's bass is actually recessed, not boosted, so I have to wonder if the person I got my old cassette from was a bass fan. And while I hear Mobley "stretching out", I also hear him straining quite a bit. It makes me think that his lung problems were already limiting his playing. On fast tunes, he seems to chop off notes instead of playing in his usual flowing style. I wonder when he started moaning after notes like he does in places here? I don't recall it happening on his live Messengers recordings. Maybe it was something he always did but he minimized it on those Jazz Messengers recordings?

I ordered an autographed copy of Ron Carter's Golden Striker Trio LP from his website. Looking forward to spinning this later.