mjzee

I haven't belonged for a few years now, but I do look at their listings. Agreed that it's always been semi-amateurish and frustrating, and agreed that their quality listings continue to drop off. I do still think about rejoining, because they do have some crucial labels. Foremost is Steeplechase; I could probably go through a few years of membership just concentrating on that catalog. Also enticing are Uptown (they don't carry the whole catalog, but do have a lot, albeit without their great booklets), Resonance (ditto), Chet Baker Estate, Motema, Smoke Sessions, and Fresh Sounds. The latter is a special case, as they list every release at the same price, $6.99, which makes for crazy bargains for their multi-disc sets (such as Lucky Thompson Complete Parisian Small Group Sessions). So I'm still looking, but for all I know they'll go out of business next week.

I've been able to consistently log on since it came back up. When I post, it appears much faster than it used to.

Mosaic has posted, in their Daily Jazz Gazette on their homepage, 47 minutes of Coltrane and Dolphy in Helsinki on 11/22/61. Interesting that this concert is not listed in David Wild's discography page (http://www.wildmusic-jazz.com/jcdisc61.htm#611123). While I am not an expert in unreleased Coltrane, this would seem to be notable.

It is a great picture of that era. The set runs from some of the earliest points of jazz (1921) through almost the modern era (1943). In some ways, JPJ is like a Zelig, fitting himself into many different situations and styles, seeming at home in each of them. There's a nice variety between solo sessions, small groups, and larger groups; also, this is the Mosaic to showcase female blues singers: mostly Bessie Smith, but also Clara Smith, Lavinia Turner, Sadie Jackson, Rosa Henderson, Martha Copeland, Ethel Waters, Eva Taylor, and Ida Cox. I'm impressed by the discographical digging that Mosaic's put into this set. In short, this is the sort of set that Mosaic was made for, and it's highly unlikely that any other record company will do this sort of project ever again.

If you'd consider a download...$6.99: https://www.emusic.com/album/3799206/Various-Artists/You-Leave-Me-Breathless

Ever since I read the obit, I can't get "Grazing In The Grass" out of my mind. But not the Masakela version; rather, the Friends Of Distinction version. What a great arrangement/performance/single! Truly a golden era of popular music. I also loved Masakela's original version when it came out - hard to believe there was a time when instrumentals could become pop hits. That was a time.

Looking forward to the new software. Does it have the ability to "like" a post, ala Facebook? I always thought that would be useful here.

Welcome back.

Remember when Andrew Rose was posting here about his jazz releases?

I have no experience with them.

Came across this while looking for info on Bach Guild downloads. Some excellent bargains on box sets: https://www.classicselect.com/collections/september-warner-clearance-boxed-sets-6-cds?page=1

Can anyone confirm that the timings listed on the plosin.com page are the "correct" (as regards to pitch) timings? See: http://www.plosin.com/milesahead/BirdSessions.aspx?s=500517

How would you do that?

Fun fact: the correct date for this concert is February 11, 1949. There was a discussion about this many years ago on either this board or BNBB: Fantasy mistook 2/11/49 [probably noted as 11 (day) / 2 (month) / 1949] for 11/2/49.

Interesting article from medicalxpress.com: Miles Davis is not Mozart: The brains of jazz and classical pianists work differently

I found an LP copy of Milt Jackson Quintet featuring Ray Brown - Just The Way It Had To Be (Impulse AS-9230). It's in "Compatible stereo / quad." The back cover states "This album was mixed for compatible stereo / quadraphonic reproduction, and should provide exceptional and stimulating listening when heard on any high-quality playback system." After one listening, I can state that is not the case. The sound is distant, muddy, and indirect. I can hear all the instruments, but they do not have the clarity and impact they should have. I remember around when this came out, there were two competing technologies: one that was quad-only, and this supposedly compatible stereo / quad. I truly think they were kidding themselves. Does anyone remember other stereo / quad releases? I think Impulse was big on them. Has anyone done an a/b comparison of one of these LPs with a subsequent CD that was remastered for stereo only? And has anyone compared the sound quality of this LP with the other LP from the same session, "That's The Way It Is" (Impulse AS-9189)?

I've been listening to some Herbie Mann lately, since picking up really cheaply some of those Collectables twofers. Style-wise, they are all over the place, in a refreshing way. I liked xybert's formulation: "it pays to think of him as being his own weird thing rather than someone that was in competition with the jazz Blue Note/Prestige/etc scene of the 50s and 60s." It's also interesting listening to these twofers, since they're paired roughly chronologically by release date, so listening to two of these back to back and hearing such stylistic differences within the same year it's like WTF?!? Yesterday I listened to Our Mann Flute (cheery, poppy tunes backed by a large band, tracks recorded between 1960 and 1966, with material like "Good Lovin'," "Frere Jacques," "Down By The Riverside," "Monday Monday" and "Skip To My Lou"...seriously, a jazz version of "Skip To My Lou"???), paired with the album "Impressions Of The Middle East" (which contains, among other things, a Middle East-inflected version of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"!). These are fun to listen to. Another twofer I've listened to pairs "Today!" and "Plays The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd." I have another one still to get to: "The Family of Mann"/"The Wailing Dervishes."

Listening now to this; has some great Art Farmer:

I really liked it.

Oh, another thing I loved: the titles and interstitials were reminiscent of the old World At War documentaries. Indeed, the use of color was very muted in the film - not quite black and white, but very close to it.

We saw "Darkest Hour" last night; both enjoyed it. Oldman is great, although he is constrained in his role by having to act with Churchill's mannerism and speech. Perhaps all the actors recreating the famous in this film had to do this, but it's doubtful that the public remembers how, say, Neville Chamberlain or the Earl of Halifax looked and spoke, so those actors had more freedom and leeway. And then, of course, there were the minor and fictional characters, as in the Underground scene that kinuta mentioned, but I think they were necessary to leaven the pace and add interest; without them, the movie would be a bunch of British politicians and the King pontificating at each other. I liked the Underground scene as it added a dose of humanity, and helped to show the character of the British populace. Also, for me, it had the ring of truth, as the British truly did show resolve and "a stiff upper lip" during this time of extreme crisis. Ben Mendelsohn was very good as King George VI, as were Kristin Scott Thomas and the other actors (I couldn't resist mentioning "The English Patient" to my wife when Thomas was on camera). We saw "The King's Speech" a few years before, and I loved how it helped me to understand the King's character in this film. And I loved how the movie, and indeed the course of history, were shaped by the King looking out upon London and saying (something like) "I've become aware of a feeling of anger within me." How British!

That's what I have too. I have an iMac with a "fusion drive," Apple's term for a 1 TB HD with a 128 GB Flash drive integrated with it. As Wikipedia puts it, "The operating system automatically manages the contents of the drive so the most frequently accessed files are stored on the faster flash storage, while infrequently used items move to or stay on the hard drive. For example, if spreadsheet software is used often, the software will be moved to the flash storage for faster user access. In software, this logical volume speeds up performance of the computer by performing both caching for faster writes and auto tiering for faster reads." I've had this iMac since 2013, and have been consistently impressed with its speed and reliability (I should knock some wood here).

Re: sped-up vocals: 1) "The half-speed master release is unique and different to all the other releases of this album. The recording runs approximately 2% slower than all the other pressings and has slightly longer track times. Dylan actually sped up the original album by two percent in the mastering. The vinyl "half-speed master" evidently used the pre-sped up tape, which is why it sounds so different." From: https://www.discogs.com/Bob-Dylan-Blood-On-The-Tracks/release/2233061 2) Discussion on the Hoffman boards: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/blood-on-the-tracks-mofi-reissue-is-this-the-correct-speed.366291/ 3) Discussion on Expecting Rain boards: http://www.expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=42949 4) and: http://expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=87324

I was never a fan of BOTT. Too melodramatic, over-emotional and self-pitying. Agreed about the monotonous rhythm section. I also read (somewhere; at this point, who knows?) that his voice was sped up a little, which probably adds to the aura of unreality. I had also read that the tracks that were rejected/rerecorded were because Dylan's lyrics were originally too raw and identifiably against Sara. In lieu of BOTT, I'd much rather listen to Planet Waves, which was/is very underrated.