jazzbo

The thing I "feel" about Chambers with Wayne (and with Bobby, et al) is that he's a composer at work. He is inside the composition and he's composing his contribution in a way that someone who is "just" a drummer (that is not also a writer and instrumentalist on other instruments) just wouldn't. Ears wide open, mind in charge. That said, on some of the pieces in this release he's just cooking and rocking his ass off, and always with that sensibility, as if he could turn on a dime if he got the signal. Chambers . . . what a drummer and musical mind.

I watched "Letters From Iwo Jima" last night — "Flag" is on order. I just watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," Sidney Lumet's last film (2007). As you watch it, you wonder what will happen. After you've watched it, you wonder what did happen. An interesting story with effective, fractured chronology, but it all comes together. Still want to know what happened to the Ethan Hawke character. All three of those films are excellent . The Lumet came out of nowhere, he'd had a string of undistinguished films prior to that, and hadn't made anything especially memorable since The Verdict (1982). Maybe he's been down to the crossroads. Clint has made one great film after another over the last few years. I admire the way he made Iwo Jima, basically letting the cast do their thing without any Hollywood tinkering. The result is dead on authentic without a single mistep into cliche. Check out Gran Torino next, I think you'll enjoy it. Gran Torino is excellent. . .should have one the Oscar for best pic.

Love the fiery insistent drumming!

1968. . . Fantastic.

Where did you hang your jacket when it wasn't on your person? A few weekends ago I met a woman from D.C. who was hot enough to melt that phone if it were in my jacket and I draped it across her shoulders!

That was a good one, I agree. Hope he makes more films!

I've been reading that Playstations don't always function completely well with Blu-Rays, for example menus don't always "pop up" as they do on the dedicated players You can apparently get by with them, but it's not exactly the same thing. . . .

I have two: the first ES Series Sony, the BDP-S2000 ES for the main system, and a BDP-S550 for the bedroom. I would definitely recommend the BDP-S550 as it has been trouble free and has great DVD and Blu-Ray picture and sound. It's not the cheapest of the Sony players, they're about to release a cheaper model to replace the cheaper model they just discontinued. I've experienced two other players in people's homes, the cheaper Sony and a Panasonic. THey were fine, it's hard to tell for sure comparisons unless you are watching on your own system. I felt my Sony TV was better than either of the other two TVs these machines were in use with. Here's the Sony page for the BDP-S550- http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores...552921665368407 It looks as if that will be replaced soon as well with a BDP-S560. Here's the Sony page for all their players: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores...ategoryId=27898

Yeah, I bought an expensive one because I could. . . An amazing format. Perhaps even better in my opinion to the video improvement is the incredible audio playback and potential.

This is on RLR ("Rare Live Recordings") an Andorran (I believe) label. I don't have this release but have heard the concerts. I find it interesting to hear Jeffrey in the saxophone chair, he breathed a little fresh air into the goings on. And Monk plays fine here, in my opinion.

Last night watched "Flag of our Fathers." Eastwood is such a clear and focused director.

I think in this circumstance, where she is inclined for you to have the set because of your friendship, you can safely offer less than market value. Offer what you feel comfortable with. I would say that in your shoes I might offer between sixty and one hundred dollars. You wouldn't buy this otherwise I'd wager, you would get the Blue Note set for much less. There is a difference in both the mastering of the set and the booklets. The sound between the two is not dramatically different, when I had both sets I preferred the sound of the piano on the Mosaic and the bass and drums had more "oomph" on the Blue Note. I kept the Mosaic because I preferred the booklet. Both booklets are very good, offering different takes on Nichols and the material, and both feature different photographs. The Blue Note set includes some fascinating photos of the musicians in the Van Gelder living room. Photos unlike usually seen.

I prefer the sound of the Blue Note set to the Mosaic but it's marginal as Clunky states. The material on the two sets is not identical.

Not on cd, no. They've circulated among collectors, as have most of the RLR previous releasese.

Allen, we'll miss you! Please take the best care of yourself.

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Blu-Ray

These are interesting tapes. Why not steal a concert photo for a set of live recordings?

Ron Hockett is an incredible player, I've seen him with Cullum.

Randy, I have a Peachtree Audio Decco integrated amplifier that has a built in DAC (designed by Scott Nixon to be similar to his Benchmark DAC) and USB, Toslink and Coaxial digital inputs. Sound is very good. . . Tube preamp and solid state ampllfiier section. I use the DAC in the pramp for an iPod (using the Wadia i-Transport) and a digital TV and occasionally a laptop iTunes. This is the heart of my bedroom stereo system, driving the matching speakers (very nice sounding, rich and warm sounding, well designed for this amp). Decco page: http://signalpathint.com/index.php/decco/the-decco.html iTransport page: http://www.musicdirect.com/product/82178?g...CFQxKGgodXjKdJg Peachtree Audio also makes a more powerful amplifier, the Nova, with a supposedly even better DAC and I think the same input formats.

Flurin, I think that about two thirds of the Coltrane Verve Originals are US versions of Japanese Impulses from several years back. I have an LP facimile version of Ascension from Japan and it seems to have the very same transfer by Kevin Reeves of both takes of Ascension on it as the new Verve Original version in the third box set. There's a very slight difference, mainly in output, one is louder than the other by a hair. The sound on the albums in the first box set is a bit different than those in the second and third, which are all Kevin Reeves transfers. Still any of the fifteen cds is the best sounding version compared to others I've had (even better than the K2 versions, by a hair; okay maybe not better, different, both sets are really really good transfers.) I really like having these in album configuration, because I'm very familiar with these in album form.