jazzbo

Yes “Tales of Topographic Oceans” Atlantic 2 LP, LP 1 I have a long history with this 2 LP set. I was in a band with a great guitar player that I had spent a year beforehand just jamming with and helping him work out his original songs and favorite covers. We were blues guys who had that as our bedrock, but when he launched the band he wanted to branch out into more rock territory. Before he had urged me into a Mitch Mitchell style, and I had been practicing to Kenny Clarke and Jack DeJohnette drumming and shifted some of that into my “style.” All of a sudden he asked me to study this Yes release because he thought he and I both needed to “reign in our busy playing” and he also liked how Alan White had a bit more of a laid back “feel” and how he structured the drum patterns for each segment of these long full-side recordings. I liked Yes, but I was mourning the departure of Bill Buford, and I didn’t “get” what my friend was after for a while. I made tapes of the four sides here and did practice to them, and listen to them over and over and then tried a new approach in practices and what I thought was not a great idea at first became a good thing for us. And then the bass player quit. The first bass player that quit. It seemed with this band every time we would get “there” and get a gig someone LEFT. Sigh. That was a long time ago! My vinyl playback is the best it’s ever been and I’m enjoying revisiting this music and hearing it so well reproduced.

MTB “Solid Jackson” Criss Cross cd

Just played the last two tracks on my copy of the Dorham and they play perfectly. Anyone have any new thoughts on which Charles is the drummer?

Tom Harrell “Prana Dance” High Note cd Tom’s run on High Note has been great. Tom Harrell – trumpet, flugelhorn, producer Wayne Escoffery – soprano and tenor saxophones, producer Danny Grissett – piano, Fender Rhodes Ugonna Okegwo – bass Johnathan Blake – drums

I listened to them in the batches as they were mailed out. . . and I'm now re-listening. I won't say this one is a favorite but it is far from my least favorite so far--the way it is recorded presents a fascinating tableau on my system, I dig it.

Marquis Hill “Modern Flows Vol. 2” Alto Saxophone – Josh Johnson Bass – Junius Paul Drums – Jonathan Pinson Vibraphone – Joel Ross Marquis Hill “Modern Flows Vol. 2”Alto Saxophone – Josh Johnson Bass – Junius Paul Drums – Jonathan Pinson Vibraphone – Joel Ross Joel Ross! He shines here.

Renee Rosnes “Beloved of the Sky” Smoke Sessions cd Bass – Peter Washington Drums – Lenny White Piano – Renee Rosnesi Saxophone, Flute – Chris Potter Vibraphone – Steve Nelson

I’m glad I got the complete series of these concerts. Each recording is different. Horace Tapscott, Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra “Live at IUCC 11/25/79” disc 2

Re-listening to this one as I got interrupted halfway through last night. A good one. . . enjoying Tom Harrell’s involvement a lot. Wayne Escoffery “Like Minds” Smoke Sessions cd

Wayne Escoffery “Like Minds” Smoke Sessions cd This one is waking me up from an after dinner slump!

Horace Tapscott, Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra “Live at IUCC 11/25/79” disc 1 of 2

I find it hard to believe how great the system sounds. Moving on to music from this century. . . . “In Common” Walter Smith III - tenor saxophone Matthew Stevens - guitar Joel Ross - vibraphone Harish Raghavan - double bass Marcus Gilmore - drums Recorded at the Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY December, 2017

Last night Lucinda and I watched Brittany Howard on “Austin City Limits.” Wow! The system sounded great and the performances were stellar! Now this warm morning on the main system more Prestige Coltrane. John Coltrane “Fearless Leader” 6 cd set, disc 5 Coltrane with Harden, Garland, Chambers and Cobb

John Coltrane “Fearless Leader” 6 cd set, disc 6 Haven’t listened to any Prestige Coltrane in some time. Correcting that!

Wes Montgomery “Movin’–The Complete Verve Recordings” disc 1

Grateful Dead “Sunshine Daydream” box set, Set 3 disc.

More Ellington, mid-forties. Duke Ellington “The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)” disc 15 486×500 30.1 KB Ray “Triple Threat” Nance 300×241 7.01 KB

Doubtful imo--their method seems to be to master from label tapes or what the label sends and then EQ, master etc. I have both the Mobile Fidelity and the Analogue Productions, and the latter sounds a bit better to me on my system, less "digital" in a way and a bit deeper sound and sound stage. Differing ADCs (newer in the case of the AP, and there are quite a few years and digital developments in between) used is my guess as well as differing EQ choices. I never think "this probably could not be improved upon" in the digital reissue world; transferring and mastering seems to always have incremental improvements possible. Right now More Ellington, mid-forties. Duke Ellington “The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)” disc 14

Hope everyone had a nice Easter. Starting off a cool morning with a great recording and great reissue: Duke Ellington “Blues in Orbit” Analogue Productions SACD

The cold is back after a warm (if wet) yesterday. We had a fun outdoor “protest” event yesterday, today we travel a few hours to visit one of Lucinda’s sister and brother-in-law for a holiday meal. Starting off with Out Of/Into “Motion I” a really nice gathering of Blue Note “young lions” that I have been enjoying since its release.

“Bill Evans - Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969” Elemental Music 2 cd set, disc 2 [IMG]450×450 32.4 KB Bill with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell

Charles Mingus “The Clown” Atlantic/Analogue Productions SACD An excellent sounding edition of this fantastic album. I love all the work this group did. . .the front line is just glorious.

Going to be a wet, slightly soggy day. Getting some listening in before I have to get ready to go to a public gathering in Mentor with my wife and a few neighbors. Supposed to be a bit rainy, hope we can avoid a lot of the rain. I wanted to start off with the second disc of this set. . . but it won't load in the transport. Sigh. I'll try again in another transport later. "Bill Evans - Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969" Elemental Music 2 cd set So on to Joel Ross "The Parable of the Poet," Blue Note cd. I've been wanting to revisit this excellent disc for a while.

“Bill Evans - Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969” Elemental Music 2 cd set, cd 1

“The Unheard And Seldom Heard Ellington - Vol. 2” Blu-Disc T-1003 LP All test pressing sides but one which was an ARC disc for theaters only (not sold in stores). Sound is surprisingly good. I bought this about 7 years ago and haven’t listened to it much. Mostly small group sides, 1933-1941