mjzee

At London’s Royal Festival Hall, pianist Daniel Barenboim is playing all 11 of Franz Schubert’s completed piano sonatas on an instrument he designed. More here: WSJ

The nice thing is, this series is very hospitable to English-speaking, non-Japanese consumers. They reprint the original liner notes (in a reasonably-sized typeface, no less), and have a new message, again in English, from Cuscuna. There's never a point when you think they only had Japanese purchasers in mind.

Was thinking about the track with Ornette that Yoko Ono included on her "Plastic Ono Band" album. Was there a contract, either before or after recording? (Probably not, since Zappa complained about something similar regarding the "Sometime in NYC" album.) Will Denardo go after Yoko next?

OK, here we go again. Amazon is out of stock for the Acryl-It platter, but Crutchfield expects to get it in on 5/29. Crutchfield is offering it for $129. Is that OK or high? I thought it would be about $100. Finally, is there any need to upgrade the cartridge of the Pro-ject? If so, what would you recommend that would be an obvious improvement, but not too good for the Debut Carbon? Really, they're getting it in? I've had one on back order from Audio Advisor for, like, forever, so it'll be interesting if they ship. $129 is the new going rate. I haven't upgraded the cartridge. Megosh! I got a shipping notice today! I'll let you know if it's drool-worthy, or more like chrome bumpers. I got the platter. It looks pretty good. Sounds good, too, though I did no comparisons with the old platter.

Does anyone have a photo of Shepp smiling?

Happy birthday, Clint.

Double-check your sources. I doubt there's milk in there, regardless of what it says on the label.

Also, you can be right and still not be right. Think about the Ayler estate and ESP suing Revenant for Holy Ghost. They put Revenant out of business. Regardless of the legality, that wasn't right, and it was predictable that it would happen. And what did the Ayler estate really get out of all that?

The thing is, it's a seriously affecting album. Frank (of all people) took someone you'd either laugh at or avoid and humanized him. Gail has said she thinks it's a novelty album that cheapens Frank's legacy, and that's why she doesn't want to release it. I think it has partly to do with an incident at their home when Fischer almost seriously harmed one of their children. I'm hoping she'll see licensing it to you as a good "third way."

Ah, you want all the tracks of the core albums; I misunderstood.

While this 5-CD box, released late last year, seems to have some of what you're not looking for, it seems to have everything you are looking for:

They have an update on their home page dated April 21, 2015: "Mobile-friendly design for iPhone and Android Smartphones."

Has anyone considered that Denardo might be another Vince Wilburn?

Happy birthday, Pete!

I know, but maybe she'd license it to you.

Individual CDs now listed on Amazon, but no prices or release dates: http://www.amazon.com/Xanadu-Africa-Night-Flight-Dakar/dp/B00WV7ED2Q/ref=sr_1_356?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868285&sr=1-356 http://www.amazon.com/Plays-Tadd-Dameron-Barry-Harris/dp/B00WV7EDDK/ref=sr_1_349?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868285&sr=1-349 http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Heath-Jimmy/dp/B00WV7ED9Y/ref=sr_1_348?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868439&sr=1-348 http://www.amazon.com/Kwanza-First-Albert-Heath/dp/B00WV7ED3K/ref=sr_1_339?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868439&sr=1-339 http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Love-Cohn-Jimmy-Rowles/dp/B00WV7ED4E/ref=sr_1_334?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868584&sr=1-334 http://www.amazon.com/Attic-My-Mind-Sam-Most/dp/B00WV7EDB2/ref=sr_1_332?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432868584&sr=1-332

Although not jazz, it would be great if you could reissue An Evening With Wild Man Fischer. Seriously.

The Munch is included in the first Living Stereo box.

I'm in agreement with Jim re Patti Smith. I don't think she has much talent regarding song melodies, I don't like her voice, and her lyric content doesn't interest me. I have one unfortunate memory seared into my mind. Around the time "Horses" came out, a friend dragged me to the Bitter End to see her and her band. The Bitter End was a long, narrow room. The stage was set up at the midpoint of one of the long walls, so there were some tables in front of the stage, but many more to either side. We were at one of those side tables. Smith was wearing a tank top, and every time she raised her arms while singing, I saw her big thatch of underarm hair. This happened many times during the performance. Still chills me.

Here's an open question, from someone who hasn't heard (and has no desire to hear) the album: The Jazz Times article states that these are recordings of teaching sessions, much like someone leaving a tape recorder on a table while the session is in progress. Ziv's response says "The album is the end result of multiple deliberate and dedicated recording sessions". Does the album sound like a homemade recording or more professional?

Toscanini (1942 or 1953) does not do the second tympani hit. Munch 1956 does do it, but in the background.

Could it be that Ornette vaguely gave his permission, but didn't fly it by Denardo first?

OK, here we go again. Amazon is out of stock for the Acryl-It platter, but Crutchfield expects to get it in on 5/29. Crutchfield is offering it for $129. Is that OK or high? I thought it would be about $100. Finally, is there any need to upgrade the cartridge of the Pro-ject? If so, what would you recommend that would be an obvious improvement, but not too good for the Debut Carbon? Really, they're getting it in? I've had one on back order from Audio Advisor for, like, forever, so it'll be interesting if they ship. $129 is the new going rate. I haven't upgraded the cartridge. Megosh! I got a shipping notice today! I'll let you know if it's drool-worthy, or more like chrome bumpers.

All Texas area board members: how y'all doing? The bayous overflowed in parts of Houston; Meyerland got hit pretty bad. We got through it OK - the water filled our street but didn't reach the house. 8 inches of rain fell in 3 hours overnight.

Nice cover.