jazzbo

Well, I'm still reading this a month later. . .but I only have 300 pages to go! I'm into "Joseph the Provider." Fascinating stuff, nice translation.

Sorry, what was a joke? That they've taken the squeak out? I'm sure someone has tried to, and I'm further sure that a lot of people who know nothing about recording think it's possible (whether it's the pedal or the throne). I've heard the same thing coming out of piano pedals, too. (It's a good reason for every engineer to carry some Three-In-One or WD40 along with the mics...) I guess the squeak never bothered me enough to notice it on Candy. I'd think it would be easy enough to determine whether it's a pedal or throne by the regularity of the noise. On a similar note, I know someone who hates Ben Webster because they can hear his breath through the horn. I think it's an essential part of his compelling sound... It was just a JOKE. Or an unsuccessful one! He was making a funny that they had removed it with oil . . . Ah well. Squeak never bothered me. In any of the recordings. I had a throne that squeaked that way. . .even after oiling!

It was a joke. And I think it might be the drummer's throne squeaking.

Thanks, I hadn't been able to find that thread! My comment on it being explored before was simply that this might be of interest and avoid some duplication.

We've done this in depth before folks. . . .

Yes, AS LONG AS THE LABEL REMAINS with eMusic.

That cracks me up! "My time is running out." I got married at 35, that was absolutely the RIGHT time for me, and I had eighteen years of growth and comfort. And now. . . I'm looking at getting married again in the future, because I loved being married, and I am certain that it's just as "RIGHT" in this near future as it was then. You have plenty of time my friend! I had one "internet" (match.com) date in May. It was VERY interesting. And when I told one of my friends for the longest time about it it upset her. . . she said basically "Why aren't you going out with ME?" And as a result I'm terribly happy at the moment!

Many many more happy returns!

Wow, another year to the Centennial. Wonder if we'll have anything new or exciting from one of the labels then. What a man.

I think that Cary is onto something, and I also think they have this as a response to the market. Someone browsing may purchase for 10 bucks something they wouldn't for 15 or 17 . . . and not complain about lack of packaging which has never amounted to much with ECMs. Slick move I would say, possibly successful.

Dang it. Now I went and ordered both volumes! I've never heard them.

Flurin, I'd steer clear of the Fantasy and look for the Timeless version.

Mark, fantastic job, keep it up!

Probably often. And sometimes it can be the very sound. In my case it's the very sound in a lot of ECM instances. Sound that I think I connect to better on lps than on cds. And in some cases it's the music itself though not necessarily because of a lack of "American" roots. Sometimes it's attitude or intent. I mean. . . I don't like the Lloyds on ECM much. And it would be wrong to say that this did not contain elements of black music. But the vibe, mood, attitude doesn't touch me (and more often than not I would say seem "insincere" to me, don't ask me why, it's an emotional response). Conversely there is quite a large segment of music from Europe outside of ECM that is very "non-American" and that I really can enjoy. Chalk a lot of it up to having so so so much to listen to and waning interests in some types of music.

An email from Mosaic shows that the Peterson box set is shipping starting today.

This box set is now shipping. . . .

I can see that as the case with music in the American, urban tradition (which may or not be played by Americans - I suspect that most jazz made in Europe is still in that tradition). But there's a lot on ECM that, to my hearing, because of the very nature of the music actually benefits from that spacious acoustic. To take a non-European as an example, most Ralph Towner's recordings. I can see why this might not appeal. (Afterthought - I'd suggest a fair bit of the music on ECM is actually composed/created with that house acoustic deliberately in mind. In much the same way as church composers compose music with the acoustics of a large, echo-y building in mind, actually making a virtue of those acoustics. I'm thinking particularly of John Surman (who started in music not in a sweaty basement jazz club but in a church choir!) or some of Kenny Wheeler's music (especially those multi-tracked things he does that don't sound a million miles from the sort of baroque instrumental passages you hear in Monteverdi or Handel).) ************** 'Drum Ode' is readily available over here. It's even on iTunes. See, we're just different because I would love to hear the Towners without that signature sound. . . . Ah well, I'm just not going to, and that's okay, there's plenty of other things to listen to. After the seventies, ECM sort of fell out of my listnening rotation with the eception of Jarrett. Partly I think it's an lp vs. cd thing; ECM is less impressife to me on cd. I almost entirely listen to cc.

Probably the case with the examples you give. But I sometimes think this idea that ECM albums would be more enjoyable with different production values misses the point that most of its output is very different from the US mainstream, regardless of how it was recorded. (Especially on cd). I don't find the recent ECM recordings of Italians like Bollani, Trovesi or Rava as engaging as what I've heard elsewhere (on Splas(h) or Label Bleu, for example). But I don't think it's just the sound...I think the music itself is set up rather differently. There's something a bit solemn and self-consciously serious about it. Bollani is a player who is full of fun but you'd never guess this from his ECM recordings. With music like that in this Touchstone series I have no problem - this was one of the ways I first heard jazz in the 70s so it fits my expectations; whereas I first got to enjoy Italian jazz elsewhere and have been a bit disappointed with the ECM releases. I think a fair amount of the criticism levelled at ECM simply comes from bringing one set of expectations and finding them not met by a very different approach. With people like the AEofC that's hardly surprising, given how extensively they were recorded elsewhere (though I first heard them on ECM so never had a problem with the sound of those records). Leaving out the "European/American" aspects I simply personally feel I might enjoy hearing some of the ECM catalog in a different "sonic" signature. Sometimes the sound doesn't always serve the music to my hearing. I understand others may hear it differently.

Same problem with early Beatles stereo: vocals in one channel; instruments in the other. Yet all of the Monk/Messengers CD reissues, if I'm not mistaken, are in stereo. More marketable, for sure, but less listenable. I'd love to hear that I'm wrong about this. Anyone know of a mono CD Monk/Messengers?) The mid-nineties Rhino version in the slipcase. Can't check it right now, I think it's mono, or very narrowed stereo.

Amen brother.

I have to agree, counseling is hit or miss but there are winners out there and success stories.

This is solid advice. I tell you I was scared about buying a house. . . I fled from the idea as much as I could. It was the financial commitment that derailed me, I'd never had credit and never had such a big purchase. But my wife explained to me that she had two dreams in her life since she was in high school: to be married to just the right person, and to have a home of her own. She said she had found the right person after so much searching and she wanted that second dream. So I got behind the idea. This was perhaps one of the most life-changing things I've done. We bought a house that allowed us to not have a car for ten years. We paid extra on the house payment every month and almost completely paid the house off in ten years. Now I have that house. . . and it's paid for, and it was our haven, our world, we could not have been happier in any other residence, and the security of having it paid for and having "YOUR" place is hard to describe. Since losing Helen it is still my biggest comfort, and I've also even been able to use it to shelter a friend in need for a spell, which is a good thing for the soul. Looking back it was the smartest thing I'd ever done, and it was the one thing I would not have done if not for the love and dream of my wonderful wife. Just one way in which she transformed my life for the better, and being able to help her in this way really bonded her to me in a different, deeper way.

I feel the way Jim does about this book. Sure wouldn't want it to be the ONLY Mingus bio ever available, but I learned from it and I had fun reading it.

I'll echo Marcello's sound words. I don't have any direct experience to offer. . . . Hope all goes as well as it can.