mjzee

Hi, Alexander! Glad to see you back.

With great sound, great photos, and great liner notes.

Skeith, don't sweat it. Honestly, I didn't even understand what you posted, and if you have to explain a joke, well, you know...

Great stuff, very nicely arranged.

Pony Poindexter/Booker Ervin/Larry Young, Gumbo, $5.99 Any good?

I liked the parts where McLaughlin talks about how Miles treated him kindly. He was a complex guy.

Just got Unity. The cover is a little on the thin side, but there's a nice color inner sleeve showing various BN releases (perhaps those that are part of this reissue series). I don't have a copy of the original cover, but it looks to me like they may have used new type for the musicians listed on the front cover. Can't wait to hear it; heard it when the CD first came out and wasn't thrilled with it, perhaps I'll like it better now.

Just received a notice from Amazon that Free For All is delayed in shipping; new delivery estimate April 8 - April 22.

The conversation turned to Davis, whom Mr. McLaughlin joined in 1969 in time for the sessions for "In a Silent Way" in New York. Unaware he'd be playing on the Joe Zawinul composition that served as the title track, Mr. McLaughlin was unprepared. He recalled Davis telling him: "Play it like you don't know how to play the guitar." Later, talking about the 1970 album "Bitches Brew," Mr. McLaughlin said of Davis: "He didn't know what he wanted. He only knew what he didn't want. "He was like a Zen master," Mr. McLaughlin added. "It was amazing to see. It was like seeing Picasso work. He had this gift. He'd say things to musicians to knock them out of their ordinary state of mind. In this way, he was able to get the best out of all his players." Full article here: WSJ (If the article doesn't open, try Googling the topic title.)

Very well written, Indestructible.

I ordered 2 of the LPs: Free For All and Unity; they should arrive today. Can't wait to see them.

This was a very nice sampler series from Concord/OJC, appearing around 2002. Most can still be found at great prices. and... there's one for Jazzland too (I reached the limit for posting images here).

A second thumb's up for the 2 RCA Victor anthologies pictured above.

I noticed on the Amazon Japan website that they have 5 copies of the Ray Charles: Pure Genius box for 3,626 yen, which seems like a steal (especially for Japanese pressings). http://www.amazon.co.jp/Pure-Genius-Completed-Recordings-1952-60/dp/B007TLCU2Y/ref=pd_sim_m_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1G2DN98TTHWEDFA481A1

This is a fun series of compilations (with great covers!). They were put out by a European label named Disky, but tracks are from the Blue Note/EMI stables. Still readily available on Amazon. It is a Membran box. I don't have it (I have a lot of the material in other ways), but I wouldn't be reflexively against it. Most of the negativity here towards Membran (aside from the usual anti-P.D. stuff) has to do with the degree of noise reduction they use. Not having heard the box, I can't say in this case. But it's a great bargain for the money, and some people like noise reduction. I'd encourage the OP to try to hear some of the box for themselves.

This may be the only collection you'd need for early jazz: It's a 100-CD box set that Amazon is currently selling for $99.99. A detailed track listing of the first 35 CDs can be found at Amazon UK (see the customer reviews section).

Here's a weird one...released on the Garcia family's label, no less! Release date is tomorrow. 1. Got My Mind Made Up (Langhorne Slim & The Law) 2. Jokerman (Built To Spill) 3. Brownsville Girl (Reggie Watts) 4. Sweetheart Like You (Craig Finn of The Hold Steady) 5. You Changed My Life (Ivan & Alyosha) 6. Night After Night (Deer Tick) 7. Dark Eyes (Dawn Landes & Bonnie Prince Billy) 8. Waiting To Get Beat (Tea Leaf Green) 9. Wiggle Wiggle (Aaron Freeman of Ween & Slash) 10. Congratulations (Elvis Perkins) 11. Covenant Woman (Hannah Cohen) 12. Every Grain Of Sand (Marco Benevento) 13. Series Of Dreams (Yellowbirds) 14. Unbelievable (Blitzen Trapper) 15. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky (Lucius) 16. Pressing On (Glen Hansard) 17. Death Is Not The End (Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket)

A lot of the actual threads do not seem to have been archived, just the thread titles.

I also gotta say: I wonder what the listeners in the club were thinking when they heard this. This is not your typical organ room music! What these guys are playing is fast, intricate, and intense.

Listening to it now. What fun! These guys are young, full of piss and vinegar, smokin' their asses off. Martino is especially notable for the fire and attack of his lines. Sound quality is very good, and the quantity of music is very generous (78 minutes). As Jim said, the packaging is nice, with excellent liner notes by Bill Milkowski.

I was until they moved from $7.99/month to $100/year. If I could break that up over months I would do it but I don't really have $100 to blow at once. I'm sure there's a good reason they did it that way, but it's a little frustrating. Exactly my situation. Can't drop $100 like that. Maybe institutions (college libraries, etc.) find it easier to pay that way.

The reason it hasn't come out to date is that it's Neil's least favorite record. I like it, though it's a mess. It's interesting as much as a psychodrama as for the music. Neil's doing too much drugs, he fires his friend Danny Whitten on the eve of a huge, high-profile tour, Danny then dies by his own hand, and Neil has to go out and face huge audiences expecting to hear Harvest. The record is an incredible document of those encounters. As for the format in which it's being re-released, it's been noted since the '70's that those 4 records are "of a piece" - call it The Danny Crronicles (I know, I know, Bruce Berry too). It's the journey of a man going through hell, and emerging the other side. As for why now, and in this format, it's for Record Store Day. it's good to support the survival of record stores. Not exactly. He hasn't reissued it yet because of the way it was mastered. The recording and mastering were done straight to the CompuDisk (or what his producer David Briggs called the CompuFuck), so there is no way now for it to be remastered, remixed, anything. He has said that it would sound terrible on CD. Hmmm. The album has tracks from (IIRC) 5 or 6 different concerts. Also, it's not like Tonight's The Night is high fidelity.

Don't forget

Looks interesting...release date April 8: "Wilko Johnson, legendary guitarist with Dr Feelgood, and Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock giants The Who are to release a joint album GOING BACK HOME on the world famous Chess label which has been resurrected specifically for this record. The album features 11 tracks, ten of which are Wilko originals from both his Dr Feelgood days and solo years, whilst the sole cover on the album is a version of Bob Dylan's HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED classic 'Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window'. The album also includes the track 'Turned 21' which has never been properly released or performed live."