jazzbo

Man that felt nice! You're right, the man is overlooked under either name!

I'm loving my new iBook G4, and we just updated our iMac G3 to OS10 and at home we have an embarassment of riches in computers. My wife is lucky to have an all-Mac office (most of the University actually); me I have a crappo PC at work; would LOVE a Mac at work! This new item should bring more users to the field!

Well yes, I do have some recordings with Absholom ben Shlomo!

Well, I'll disrespectfully disagree with that too SD, I often feel as if Wes is reaching into a trick bag, especially on ballads, and I don't as often feel that way about Grant, though yes he did cut and paste notes and riffs etc. . . . Again I'm not saying Wes is all technique, no soul, but technnique is a larger part of his whole musical identity, and something I think he loved, and gave structure to his expression,and being "soulful" in the sense of emotional expressiveness I see as a large part of Grant's musical character. There is something BEYOND the Blue Note connection that makes Grant a guitar player that people that don't always get excited about guitar players in the jazz world get excited about. I'm not entirely sure of why, but for me it's got a lot to do with the ways he is different from many other jazz players. And in my own experience playing music I got so irritated with busy "verbose" guitarists; Grant is like a fresh breath of air in that way, and I love the way that he set up grooves with repetitive riffs and building phrases, which is firmly in the tradition of soul guitarists of all sorts of styles . . . . It's no contest for me: his playing speaks to me in a satisfying clear voice. I have similar tastes in pianist such as Tom Jobim to Oscar Peterson, or Wynton Kelly to Art Tatum. I can think all four are masterful musicians, but reach for one over the ohter many many times.

Right, Allegro lost distributorship some time back; remember all those half price Classics at cybermusicplus.com? I bought so many it. . . hurt, still hurts, yes it does.

That quote DOES look oddly familiar. . . . I'll remember it soon enough I guess! I just wanted to make the point that I felt both had amounts of soul and technique, that neither was without a good dollop of each!

Well Worlds is the most consistent source as far as availability and information before purchase goes, but their prices are NOT the best. . . .

I didn't say it was JUST technique, or that he had no soul in his playing. But to me the technique outweighs the soul in his playing, the opposite in Grant's, and I gravitate that way. It's all just personal preferences after a point.

Hey, I've heard all of Wes and all of Grant I think. . . . I would say that Wes has so much more technique, and Grant has so much more soul. . . . And soul wins out FOR ME. Just for me do I speak. I reach for Grant about 12 times more than I reach for Wes. And about five times more than I reach for Kenny! But that's just based on my taste and what I enjoy, what moves me most.

As far as the Bird goes. . . the Complete set doesn't suffer from the nonoising that the RCA Diz does. . . . It's weakness may be that there isn't much "sparkle" to the sound, but it is fullbodied and smooth enough. The Master Takes set has the sparkle, and may be just a tad less fullbodied and smooth. Nothing is ever perfect in cd sound!

That Shelley Manne IS a good one; it used to be out on lp called "My Son the Drummer." I like this title better!

That's true the Debut Mingus box is in fact a great listen from top to bottom, such variety. . . as much a rollercoaster as one can imagine an emotional Mingus to be.

I think this is a very good set, it certainly SOUNDS fantastic as well. . . . I've just really become bored over the years with the actual lp itself. I mean I bought this on vinyl so very long ago, and it's very cool, but sort of hasn't held up for me over the years as a big favorite. I really enjoy this set for the other material: the material with Pascoal is really neat as I've always enjoyed the little snippets released before, and "The Mask" I just love, have always loved the thematic/material since I first bought "Miles at Fillmore"! In my opinion nothing here quite matches the original "Bitches Brew" session material, BUT I prefer almost all of it to the extra material in that box set. Which is the reverse of my feelings about the Jack Johnson box!

Wes had a good pr agent on retainer! I think very very highly of Grant, and I really PREFER his style and playing personally (just love the way he manages SPACE in his music) and I think Grant loved to plays as deeply as Wes did. . . . But as Sidewinder notes, Green's exposure has grown in the digital age, Wes had a bigger impact on the general public in the day, and I believe he had more success with his "crossover" music than Grant did. . . .

I'll make a few comments. . . . Not much to avoid here as far as I'm concerned. The Prestige/Riverside/Contemporary/etc. boxes actually to me sound pretty darned good. . . . There IS a difference in remastering between the Parker complete and master takes boxes (the master takes was done by different folk more than a decade later than the complete box) but the complete box sounds pretty good I think.

Interestingly I have been doing some reading on materials made in sound production. There is some scientific findings that the material does not make as much difference as the design. . . . One guy for example built trumpets out of PVC and as long as the valve structure, tubing thickness, length, coil, etc. were identical the sound was supposedly identical. Quite interesting stuff. . . . It would be interesting if Ovation made fiberglass guitars that were identical in structure and design to a Gibson Hummingbird for instance and one could compare the two!

I know you were. The few I've fingered play nice. . . . But I don't really know too much about them.

I don't know, I have an Ovation Breadwinner ('seventies solid body electric guitar, sort of "Explorer" like) and it's one FINE guitar!

Yes, she looks more feminine than he does. . . .

I like that picture where she's looking rather ruefully at her guitar on the other end of the sofa. . . . I can relate!

I have the cd, I have a burn of the French "Jazz Tribune" version and a burn of the original lps. Guess I like it!

Must be a new distribution name for EMI/Blue Note

Definitely agree Mark!

I first encountered this gal from an audio board I frequent, someone was recommending her. VERY talented. And very gorgeous if you ask me. Ultimately, like Jordan, a little dab really does it for me. . . . I wish her b i g success.

Wow, I felt that New Directions was a snoozefest! Give me some Chico!