jimac51

Check out your local FYE(Trans World) stores. There is a 7.99 bargain bin in most stores,usually located in the back.As of this writing,they are taking 50% off at the register. I got this set for four bucks. There was a Sinatra box from the same source carried by FYE a couple of years back-10 discs,which I scooped up at 20 bucks,only to see it later for 15.

A few years back,I found a used copy of the Benny Carter/Phil Woods MusicMasters CD,MY MAN BENNY,MY MAN PHIL. My copy has Sharpie marker autographs over the titles,which made me wonder if they were done as part of the artwork,or if they were actually signed. As far as is known,MusicMasters is out of business. With some guidance on a couple of forums,I found a picture of the CD at Benny's website(it also appears at Amazon,though you have to go through lots of pages to see it). No Sharpie autographs appear,so I suspect my copy was signed by the two players,though I cannot verify authenticity. It doesn't matter,it will never be on ebay or anywhere except in my collection.

I suspect Michael Cuscuna and not Tom may be the person with the story of the missing calendar. The photos are from Mosaic Images and they are Wolff photos and do not duplicate the album covers. There have not been any BlueNote logos,nor have trademarks been listed on these Universe calendars. Universe/Rizzoli published the photo books as well. Though EMI has a substantial interest in Mosaic(1/2?),the Image part of the company may be seperate from the music part of the business structure. BTW,from my experience in the book retail business,calendars are one of the highest markup items in a bookstore. When a store marks down their calendars half-price after the new year they are still making a pretty nice margin. 75% off?-still profitable and remember all of the ones they sell at Christmas at full list. Printing up one of these is like a license to print money. Mac

According to amazon.com,they will be stocking a 2004 Blue Note calendar printed by Universe Books,available in August. The format will be Francis Wolff photos and not actual covers. Mac

Currently I am listening to the Benny Carter/Phil Woods CD,MY MAN BENNY,MY MAN PHIL,made when Benny was a young pup of 80 or so,a nice unpretentious set that sounds just as relaxing and fun as it seems to have been to record. I have a question about the cover,though,and if anyone has this in their collection,could you clear this up. I got this CD used(don't remember where or when)but my copy has what appears to be a Sharpie signature of both Benny & Phil on the front cover where the title would be. The phrase MY MAN PHIL appears above Benny's picture but is obscured by Benny's "signature". Likewise,Phil's "signature" appears above Phil's shot. Does anyone else have this album(Musicmaster 5036-2-C) with the signatures appearing on the cover? Hard to tell if they are authentic or machine reproduced a la many a baseball card that I collected as a kid. In any event,this album is not leavng my collection-it's too good to let go. Thanks,Mac