mjzee

I never listen to jazz on the radio. Both our cars have SiriusXM, but I don't even listen to the jazz stations there. With the availability of iPods in the car, I much prefer listening to my own tastes. I think I got turned off to jazz radio with the advent of latin jazz, which became huge on NY jazz radio in the '80's. I don't much care for latin jazz, and it felt like I was being forced fed it. "How do you find out about the music that interests you" - actually, mostly from this board, where knowledgeable enthusiasts discuss the music with depth and passion. I sometimes wish there was more discussion of current musicians; I sometimes feel that with every new thread about Coltrane or Miles, there's another currently working musician not putting food in their mouths or having to work at a day job. But I suppose I'm guilty of that as well; there's only so many hours in the day. The other issue with new artists is that many are not interesting composers. That used to not be a problem: we didn't need Ben Webster to be a great composer because what he played was wonderful enough. While we don't want current musicians to keep playing "Caravan," a lot of their own compositions aren't that interesting. Again, I don't have a solution. There are two aspects that could entice me to listen to a jazz radio show: the personality of the host, and their curatorial talents. An engaging, interesting person (and not a contrived personality concocted for the radio) can be the fabric that holds the whole show together, and makes you want to listen until the music resumes. The music more and more needs good curators or editors. Cut out the dross; play me the wonderful stuff. If a DJ did this, and played mostly current artists, I might be intrigued enough to tune in. (Assuming I'm aware of the show; don't overlook some sort of promotional campaign as an ongoing necessity.) Oh, one more thing: avoid politics on the show, even political asides. There's a snide conviction, especially in public radio, that all "correct" listeners share the same political views, and those with other views must be sneered at. Nothing's a quicker turn-off, and a huge reducer of the potential audience.

Did you see the notes that are part of the set's discography?: Producer's Note: On The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions, Steve Marlowe has used a system he calls Bit Density Processing which performs miracles on the music at hand. Suddenly, one can hear Charlie Parker or Dexter Gordon or Miles Davis in full, rich clarity. The rhythm sections, all but buried on the original 78s, are completely audible and in balance. This system allows us to hear more of what was on Dial's original 1946-48 recordings and later transfers. Unfortunately, that sometimes means retrieving the bad with the good. On some tracks, a whooshing effect can be heard in the cymbals or in a background kind of surface noise, which is actually the wow and flutter of the original transfers. We think these issues are a small price to pay for the revelatory sound of this important music. Our thanks to Jonathan Horwich who introduced us to Steve and who oversaw the whole restoration and mastering process. - Michael Cuscuna We have developed new processing to better reduce the distortion on these discs...For example, Miles's muted trumpet throughout the last half of the C take of "Out Of Nowhere" - virtually all notes were distorted. We can now actually see the distortion wave forms and process just those, note by note, improving their tonality. No EQ or tricks. We literally get rid of much of it, leaving the pure note intact. Similarly, on the Dodo Marmarosa trio sessions, the pieces were very often distorted on each note. Going note-by-note, we are now able to restore the performance to a degree not previously possible. And so much better than the various high-end noise software, all of which we have found to be entirely unacceptable because they alter rather than restore.. We've been very careful to not induce sonic artifacts. The idea is that with the great improvement in tonality and fidelity one can hear and enjoy the music as never before. But there may be some trade-offs. When the music is all tinny and thin and totally buried, and when all the surface noise is covering it up, you don't hear what's really there. Sometimes the cymbals and noises have tremendous wow and flutter. In the process of simply hearing more and hearing better what is on the tapes, these flaws will be more audible. -Steve Marlowe

I'd like to update this topic. I find my new Emotiva power amp suddenly shuts off a few times a day. It looks like the fuse is protecting the system. The front panel button blinks red; I press it twice and it turns on again, no problem, but obviously something's going on in the power lines. I'm thinking I need some sort of protection, with perhaps something to smooth out the power. Some research on the web, including this thread and a similar one reveals people going for the PS Audio P300, a Monster Power that looks more like a surge suppressor, TrippLite LC1800, Belkin PureAV PF31, Shunyata Hydra 2, and some others...many of these seem discontinued. So I was wondering if people here use power conditioners that they can recommend. It seems the TrippLite has some enthusiastic users. Thoughts?

My two would be The Jackie McLean Quintet (from 1962) and Nature Boy.

My 2001 edition of the BN discography also lists the recording date as December 9, 1961.

This album was recorded in 2012:

Thanks; set it to a fan friend.

What a great rock pianist. I saw him with Bonnie Raitt around 1980. He made any band he was in sound better. RIP.

Can you please provide a link to this news release?

Yup. Brilliant keyboardist, imho.

Alan Shorter - Orgasm... Walt Dickerson - Impressions of a Patch of Blue...

Some nice pickings throughout. Miles David @ Isle of Wight, lots of McCoy Tyner on Impulse, also Yusef Lateef, Coltrane's complete Africa/Brass for $4.99, on Verve: Ray Brown, Yusef, Stuff Smith...I don't think I went through all the pages yet. Charlie Haden duets that were on Artists House... The Abbey Lincolns on Verve... Johnny Smith's last album on Verve... Pee Wee Russell's Ask Me Now...

Release date December 9:

Amazon is having a huge $5 jazz mp3 album sale. 73 web pages with 24 albums per page. A lot of Impulse titles, most if not all of Sinatra's Reprise albums, and a wide variety of good stuff in general. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_3?rh=n%3A163856011%2Cn%3A%21624868011%2Cn%3A625036011%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625150011&page=3&bbn=2384464011&ie=UTF8&qid=1417655442

Broke down and bought the box. Liner notes are wonderful; maybe I'm just a sucker for pictures of reel-to-reel tapes. Oh, the box included a flyer for a new Dylan album, "Shadows In The Night," to be released next year. The cover design will be very familiar to Blue Note fans. I suppose it comes full circle because Reid Miles created the cover for the 1975 release of The Basement Tapes.

TMG, I think you'll find this interesting. I just bought the Dylan box of the complete Basement Tapes. This was in the liner notes: "I'd like to know what you were listening to at the time of these recordings, Mr. Hudson?" she asked soon-to-be 77 Garth. Took a while, yet eventually Garth responded, "Well, Bill Avis, our manager with The Hawks had his 45s collection stolen during one of our shows at Pawhuska [Oklahoma reservation]. We'd hear them on the record player in the living room of Robbie's mother's home at 193 First Avenue where we lived while still based up in Toronto. Luckily 10 or 12 Vee-Jay and Savoy label Gospel singles survived. As we settled into Big Pink following those tours with Bob, we just picked up where we left off and kept listening to them. There was a Caravans song called 'To Whom Shall I Turn?' that Richard [Manuel] listened to over and over." What were some of the other gospel artists? "Oh, The Argo Singers...Shirley Caesar...these were from the era 1958-1960 when the gospel groups' piano/organ work was at its peak." Robbie Robertson often cites The Staple Singers from this era as a big influence as well. "Mmmmm," continued Garth, "There was Alex Bradford who played keys on many of 'em...hadda fast right hand, gave it a 3/4 feeling - maybe 9/8ths."

I saw Jackie, backed by Cedar Walton's trio, at the Vanguard in (IIRC) December 2004. Cedar's trio opened up, and they did a great set. Then Jackie came out, and it just didn't get to me the way Cedar did. It was professional and all, but didn't really dig deep. Maybe it's because it was the first set, I dunno. Here's where I get to trot out my one Jackie McLean anecdote. Before Cedar came on, I had to go to the bathroom. Someone pointed vaguely towards the kitchen. I enter, and there's Jackie on a folding chair, warming up. I listened for a little while, then said "Mr. McLean, can I ask you something?" He looked up and said "Sure." I said "Where's the bathroom?" He laughed and pointed the way.

Per Siri, the pianist is Paul Berkowitz.

Larry, I just got from a board member the Lennie Tristano Mosaic box, and I noticed you quoted Charles Rosen in your liner notes.

This was a good week for Mosaics for me. Through a board member I got the Tristano, and just got word from Reckless Records that they're shipping the Serge Chaloff.

Ah, OK. I have this on a Collectables twofer, where the cover is reproduced so small that I'd never noticed before. Thanks.

Nor the one-record effort of Ferris Benda. This is his Prestige Records thread....... It's evolved into Jackie's 50's thread, to compliment the 60's and 70's-and-beyond threads. Having said that, "Ferris Benda" must be one of those cool, inside references I don't know about.

Let's not forget this almost magical pairing with Art Farmer:

Martha Argerich: 5 Classic Albums. $8.96 + shipping from an Amazon reseller.

Review of Bob at the Beacon - NYT Two Dylan Songs You Probably Never Heard Of, but You Can Buy Them - NYT