mjzee

From the Stamford Advocate: The smartest and most intriguing movie I've seen lately won't be playing at a theater near you. It's "The Jazz Baroness," Hannah Rothschild's documentary about the adventurous life her great aunt led when she turned her back on England -- and much of her legendary family -- after falling in love with New York City and the jazz scene she found there in the 1950s. The story of Pannonica Rothschild has more drama and more to talk about in it than a half dozen contemporary Hollywood films put together. The movie hasn't been rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, but it's a true story of love, friendship and art that should delight viewers of all ages and backgrounds. I'd also like to think that the film will introduce young, non-jazz fans to the glorious music of the man Pannonica loved and supported for years, Thelonius Monk (along with such Monk friends and associates as Charlie Parker). The picture is debuting Wednesday at 8 p.m. on HBO2 and will be screened several times through mid-December. Continued here: Stamford Advocate

I meant the former. I only move music to my iPods using Autofill (= randomly), so I just don't know otherwise. But give it a shot. Especially since, with the newest version of iTunes, it allows you to specify artists to sync to the iPod. Choose an artist, uncheck some songs, sync, and see what happens. Sorry I can't be of more help there.

"iTunes DJ" is just a new name for the shuffle (or "party") feature. That's the main way I listen to music. I don't use "Genius," and, in fact, I turned it off (you do that in Preferences). Allowing people to vote...that's (I think) for social situations where many people can access the same iTunes database. Probably appropriate for college students or those in a roommate dwelling. To sum up, I only know of two uses for those checkboxes: 1) To not play something in shuffle (very useful if a track just bugs you, but iTunes loves it and insists on playing it over and over) 2) To not import a track from an album. Alternately, if it's an anthology, and you only want to import a few tracks, uncheck the others.

This reminds me of something I wanted to ask about. I've always noticed, but never found any need to use, those small checked boxes to the left of each song title in the iTunes music display. I've figured out that by un-clicking a box, that song will be skipped during normal continuous play. I suppose that it would also cause that track to be omitted from any drag-and-drop (to an ipod or to a playlist) of the album it belongs with (just a hunch, I haven't tried it). Other than that, are there any useful or imporant functions of these boxes that I should know about? If you uncheck a box to a song before importing the CD, that song won't be imported. Also, if a song is unchecked in your library, it won't be included in iTunes DJ.

Oh, one thing I discovered in the latest version of iTunes: you can now rip with VBR. For example, I used to rip @ 192 kbps; I now rip at 192 kbps with VBR (I've heard this makes the sound quality equal to a CD). To do this, click "Import Settings..." (in the lower right of the screen), then Setting: Custom..., then check "Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR)," with Quality: Highest.

And didn't they put out a "Jazz In Hollywood" boxed set that was better than the Fantasy single discs?

Yeah, the time has come that I need to think proactively about this stuff. I think fondly of all my Beta tapes that I had to junk because I had nothing to play them on. Before you know it, audio cassettes may face the same fate. After all, they are inferior technology, so they won't have the same loyalty that vinyl has. Nonetheless, they were the only thing available for the longest time. An interesting little factoid: VHS hi-fi or Beta hi-fi have the same dynamic range as CDs (and might sound warmer because they're not digital). I tried using them as audio-only decks, and let's just say they weren't very user-friendly. The possibilities always intrigued me, though. And hey, Brute, no problem. Welcome to the board!

A little bit of xmas cheer... Must Be Santa - YouTube

It's not that hard to understand. I have audio cassettes that I want to transfer to mp3. I was using an old tape deck to do so, but it is now eating tapes. Since tape players use things like rubber rollers, belts and such, it's not unreasonable to think that time, rubber drying out, misalignment and such are to blame, and that such conditions could be present on any used tape deck I might find at a garage sale. In any event, I don't want to sacrifice some more tapes to find out. I therefore want to buy something new. However, since I plan to only use this unit for a finite time (ending when I've finished transferring tapes), I don't want to spend a lot of money. However, I would like something that sounds musical (since that's the whole point of this exercise). Kapish? Marla suggested the Grace. Since Marla likes good jazz, I respect her opinion. Since I'm also open to other ideas, I'm considering a (cheap but new) TEAC deck, since it has auto reverse and would make the transfer task a little easier. Finally, another way to say "asking...for someone else to do your homework and comparative shop for you" is "Can anyone offer some advice?" As you might have noticed, people do that often at this friendly bulletin board.

How is the sound?

Nah, I want a new one. I have an old one, and it's creasing my tapes.

I don't get it. That's a picture of Grant Green. Is that an actual Tiny Grimes album?

In the booklet for Proper's "Art Tatum - Piano Grand Master," they discuss Tiny's work with Tatum: A chance meeting between Art Tatum and guitarist Tiny Grimes and Slam Stewart at a New York after-hours spot sometime in 1943 led to the formation of the Art Tatum Trio, a combo that was to bring Art his greatest commercial success so far. The piano, guitar and bass combination had become a strong commercial proposition with the success of the Nat King Cole Trio. The Nat King Cole Trio certainly perfected and popularised what became known as the "Cocktail Combo", but they did not invent the combination. Combos like The Three Peppers and The Three Keys were there before the Nat King Cole Trio and Pete Johnson and Clarence Profit had recorded in that format in 1939 but the success of the King Cole Trio must certainly have inspired Art to form his Trio in early 1944. Tiny Grimes and Slam Stewart were working together as a duo around New York at the time. Guitarist Grimes had started out as a self-taught pianist and drummer in amateur shows around Washington D.C. during the mid 1930s. He played piano and danced at the Rhythm Club in New York in 1938. That same year he started to play four-string guitar, again self-taught, and joined the string group Cats and a Fiddle in 1940. He soon left the Cats and a Fiddle to form a duo with bassist Slam Stewart, half of the legendary duo Slim and Slam, after Slim Gaillard had been called up for army service. Tiny Grimes was the weakest link in the Art Tatum Trio, something he confessed himself in Stanley Dance's "World of Swing" when he stated, "We never rehearsed, everything was made up on the bandstand. Why in the world did those two guys keep me? I knew I was the weakest thing in there, but after we started working I'd go downstairs during every intermission with my guitar and work on whatever song we'd been playing, trying to catch up with them as best as I could. I did that every set, every intermission, and they would have to come and get me. I think that's the only thing that kept me with them. They knew I was trying so hard..... I tell you it was an honour playing with them, but playing wasn't too much enjoyment. It was a struggle, because nobody would teach me anything. I had to catch it as it went by, and it was so fast all the time."

A question about the new ipod shuffle. Do you have to use the phones it comes with or can you use your own? I'm not fond of the usual ipod phones. Just saw this in the Apple store: Belkin Headphone Adapter Allows you to use any headphone with the iPod Shuffle.

Thanks for the feedback, Marla. I saw that Amazon carries the Grace. Many reviews there were positive but some were not, so I appreciate the word from someone who uses it. I'll probably choose either that or a straight TEAC auto-reverse tape deck.

So I have a bunch of audio cassettes I want to load onto my computer. Normally, I'd just play them on my stereo and record on my CD recorder, then rip the CDs on my computer, etc. But I now find that, probably due to inactivity, my tape deck is shredding the tapes. I don't want to pay too much money for a tape deck that will be of limited use. Also, I'm not sure they're manufactured anymore! I see some tape-to-mp3 solutions, but they're getting bad reviews. Can anyone offer a solution?

Great clip. Yeah, Cosby's definitely a historical figure. Great man. And consistent in his outspoken love for jazz.

For more than 60 years, I've seen recurring obituaries of jazz. The threnodies are being prepared again—in the National Endowment for the Arts' latest survey on public participation in the arts and with such questions as "Can Jazz Be Saved?" in which widely respected music critic Terry Teachout wrote regretfully in this paper last summer, "I don't know how to get young people to listen to jazz again." Both the survey and Mr. Teachout's column attracted rebuttals in print and on the Internet, of course. But the most exhilarating one I've heard is musical— "Confeddie," the debut CD of 19-year-old alto saxophonist Hailey Niswanger, and a work with the joyous feeling of the first day of spring. More remarkable, Ms. Niswanger is still a student, at Boston's Berklee College of Music. It's an institution that continues to have many active jazz professionals among its alumni. She wrote all the arrangements for "Confeddie" in collaboration with three impressive Berklee students: Michael Palmer, Greg Chaplin and Mark Whitfield Jr. More here: WSJ

The Storyville set is still available as mp3 downloads from eMusic: eMusic Fargo

Click the column heading for track numbers; that should get them into numerical order.

I ordered Vonski Speaks from Chuck, and look forward to hearing it. The only Von album I've heard is one on Atlantic from the early '70's (the cover is where he's in a wife-beater t-shirt in front of a crumbling slum). It didn't do much for me.

In that period, he seemed to write a few "biography" songs. If you can find it, give a listen to "Catfish." This is a song about the baseball pitcher Catfish Hunter. It's a hoot!

Thanks mjzee. I've been dreading having to get a new shuffle if something happens to my current one specifically because of this headphone issue. I've been using vmoda and sonix lenntek with both my shuffle and 120 gig. I'm preety happy with them. Hopefully more manufactures will come up with alternatives. Do the phones that come with the current shuffle sound any better than the older phones? Maybe a little. I think I notice a little more bass than I used to. I use the headphones at work (only), and I'm content with them. At home, I listen to iTunes on my computer (and I'm very happy with the program, BTW). I also have a 120 gb Classic, and I listen to that on a JBL Micro Portable Speaker Dock (see Amazon). Audiophile? No, but I find it doesn't often concern me - I get drawn into the music, which must mean that on some level it's good enough. I used to travel often on business, and I bought the JBL to play my music in the hotel room - it's very portable.

A question about the new ipod shuffle. Do you have to use the phones it comes with or can you use your own? I'm not fond of the usual ipod phones. As you know, most of the controls are on the headphone cord. The following is from Apple's website: "Headphones or other audio accessories made by Apple or a third-party that do not include an integrated remote are not fully compatible with iPod shuffle (3rd generation). iPod shuffle can still be used with these accessories, but with limited functionality. "When a standard headphone or audio accessory is connected, you can initiate audio playback by simply switching iPod shuffle from the OFF position to the play in order or shuffle position. The iPod shuffle should be in the OFF position for at least three seconds before switching it back on. iPod shuffle will resume playback of the content that was previously being played at a fixed volume level. This volume level cannot be adjusted from the iPod itself. If iPod shuffle is connected to external speakers or a car stereo, volume adjustment may be possible from those devices. "iPod shuffle will pause audio playback when the device is switched off or when the audio accessory is disconnected." (This was taken from the following page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3472 However, you should note that some higher-end manufacturers are making compatible headphones. One that I've been considering (but I want to hear them first) is the Klipsch Image S4i. You can view them here: Amazon.

Yes, just plunge in. Two more iterations you may want to consider: The new iPod Shuffle: It doesn't hold a lot (4 gb right now), but it's inexpensive, and, what I love is, while music's playing, you can press a button on the headphones and a computer voice tells you the track name and artist. It's wonderful at work; before, I used to pull the iPod out all the time to see what track was playing. This is much more unobtrusive. I also think the voice is really cool (although it insists on reading all Stan Getz tracks in French). The new iPod Touch: While the iPod Classic holds more (160 gb vs. 64 gb), the iPod Touch has wifi and a web browser. This makes it more versatile: in a wifi setting, you can surf the web, send emails and make phone calls.