mjzee

I liked George Winston's "Autumn." I think it holds up as music; whether it holds up as jazz is a different conversation.

I find the concept of buying speakers online (without auditioning) problematic. How can you know in advance whether you'll find their sound appealing? Having said that, I'm nonetheless intrigued by Monitor Audio's Silver 500 7G loudspeaker. They're $3,200/pair, which doesn't seem "middle class." However, in the realm of other speakers reviewed by Stereophile, they're comparatively dirt cheap. I was especially struck by the quality of the rave review - this is not a typical positive review in Stereophile for anything less than $20k/pair. The review ends: "At $3200 for the pair, the Monitor Audio Silver 500 is one of the great audio deals of the pandemic era." See for yourself: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-500-7g-loudspeaker

I have this. Disc 3, with Cookin' The Blues and Another Bag, sounds awful. To replace them, I downloaded from Amazon the two titles (instead of Cookin', I d/l At The Jazz Workshop, which is Cookin' plus additional cuts).

My current stereo has many components from Emotiva. They sell direct to consumers from their website, and their products sound great for the money. (I wouldn't recommend their CD deck, though.)

I find it interesting that they're combining BN and Impulse. This might open the door to present other artists on both labels (and Argo, etc....Universal owns so many labels).

I see you are correct. Ya learn something new every day...

Just started listening to this box, put out by Atlantic in 2008 and compiled by Joel Dorn. Already, on side 1, there's something interesting: the track Listen Here by Eddie Harris is 7:42. The original, on the album Mean Greens, is only 3:37. No indication in the book that this is the unedited version, but it appears to be.

The venue, located at Broadway and 106th Street, is scheduled to fully reopen for the first time in more than two years on July 21st. https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/smoke-jazz-club-rises-from-the-ashes-after-pandemic-shutdown

Sad to hear. I was working in a jazz record store when his vocal albums appeared (and sold well). I guess they were positioning him as the new Billy Eckstine. I barely believed he was the same guy who played on those Miles albums. Very talented, always in the pocket. RIP.

The Hoffman Forum is reporting that Craft will issue "a 60th-anniversary edition of The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra." Does this mean that Fantasy/Craft owns the rights to the Savoy catalog?

Allen, I hope all goes well with you health-wise (and music-wise). The music is obviously keeping you going.

Great; let me know your thoughts. My reaction was: it reaffirmed (or reminded me of) many things I learned in the '70's, which was the last time I paid a lot of attention to the subject; and it brought me up to date on developments since that time, especially connections between devices and the digital/streaming revolution. Obviously, it can't replicate the actual aural experience of testing/comparing systems, and it (sadly) reminded me that so much of this is a rich person's game. I wish there was more guidance as to putting together a "middle-class" home system - not too rich, not too poor, but just right. But in terms of what goes on inside those electronic boxes, it's a good resource.

It's been a brutal summer here in Houston, but not as bad as in Dallas.

The Freddie will be 7 CDs, so will probably cost $119. It consists of 10 albums, so each album costs $11.90. While it won't have original artwork, it will have a new essay that will lend historical perspective and continuity to the period in question, and will probably have striking Frank Wolff photographs, many perhaps never before seen. Bonus tracks are still an open question.

I think you need to enter a round number, with no dollar sign and no decimal.

Click the link in the first post on this page.

Me, for one. As I've said, I own some of these albums, but Freddie was never one of my favorites. I much preferred Lee Morgan - a little more relaxed, less continually intense. But tastes change as we get older, and maybe I can hear more than I could before, or maybe it's just that those times are gone, they ain't makin' 'em like they used to, and this is still a frontier to explore. On the contrary, I wonder about those people who need to own every Blue Note title. There's such a wide range of styles and quality - doesn't discernment also play a part?

When you see that, click "log in." On the screen that follows, click the x in the upper-left corner.

Start by being on someone's Twitter feed page. Start here (just as an example): https://twitter.com/bluenoterecords

Twitter tip: When the sign-in pop up appears, click “Log in.” On the next screen (“Sign in to Twitter”), just click the X in the upper-left corner. The pop up will then disappear and you can resume reading.

I might get this. I have 4 of the albums: Goin' Up, Here To Stay, Hub Cap and Open Sesame.

Interesting interview with Kevin Gray in Stereophile: https://www.stereophile.com/content/kevin-gray-vinyl-mastering-master This stayed with me: Matson: Are most of the Blue Note tapes in pretty good shape? Gray: Yes. They have been so well archived and cared for. I can only think of one or two tapes that we've had to reject because there were problems. That's unlike a lot of other companies. The condition of tapes from the '50s and '60s is fine. The older tapes are in way better shape. Around 1974, you start getting problems with sludge. Ampex tape in particular—they changed the formulation. Ampex later figured out that you could bake the tapes to help. I have a convection oven, and all those kind of tapes from that era have to go in the oven.

Very nice reminiscence about Mr. Cherry: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mes-après-midis-chez-don-cherry

https://nypost.com/2022/07/11/james-bond-theme-music-composer-monty-norman-dead-at-94/

Back around 1970, I kept hearing about Charlie Parker but never saw any actual albums. I didn't know what he sounded like, and so didn't know if I would like his music. In a budget bin, I found this album: I was too young, and couldn't relate to it. In 1978, around the time the Warner Bros. set came out, I bought all 6 Spotlite Dial albums. Now it made a lot more sense.