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From WSJ: Breaking News... Hedge-fund billionaire William Ackman’s special-purpose acquisition company is nearing a transaction with Universal Music Group that would value the world’s largest music business at about $40 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The deal would be the largest SPAC transaction on record, exceeding the roughly $35 billion that Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab Holdings Inc. was valued at in a similar deal recently, according to Dealogic. It would have a so-called enterprise value, taking into consideration Universal’s debt, of about $42 billion. It’s not guaranteed Universal and the SPAC, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. will reach a deal. If they do, it could be finalized in the next few weeks and isn’t subject to any additional due diligence, the people said.

I’ll miss Captain Howdy’s posts, and can’t help but wonder whether tensions could have been defused a bit more amicably.

This looks really good. I hope to get it. Amazon's currently out of stock.

Bob Dylan record returned to library 48 years after it was due Bob Dylan’s “Self Portrait” album was ahead of its time – and 48 years overdue at an Ohio library. Howard Simon finally returned his borrowed copy of Dylan’s quirky double LP to the Heights Libraries, where he checked it out as an eighth grader in 1973. ... The album wasn’t in the best shape when he borrowed it and it hasn’t gotten much more “wear and tear” in the decades since he took it out, he said. “This is true primarily because ‘Self Portrait’ is among Dylan’s least-loved albums … and the library’s copy has spent most of these many decades in my collection quietly sandwiched between its predecessor and successor releases (“Nashville Skyline” and “New Morning,” respectively), which were, and remain, far more listenable,” Simon wrote. He included a $175 check to the library as atonement for what he called a minor transgression “given the weakness of the album.”

Wait till you spend hours correcting/annotating the ID tags. Fun! Glad to hear of your success.

MicroCenter was a good buying experience. Amazon keeps pushing these no-name Chinese brands that kinda suck.

Larry, I do what you want to do all the time, without hiccups. You may have a defective CD player (sorry, "Superdrive"). I'd try a different CD burner. I bought an LG recently from MicroCenter for less than $30. https://www.microcenter.com/product/485814/lg-super-multi-portable-dvd-rewriter-with-m-disc BTW, have you tried it with a few different CDs?

https://pitchfork.com/news/roger-hawkins-muscle-shoals-rhythm-star-dies-at-75/

I loved Desire when it came out. Would love to hear a good-sounding version of that album - the EQ is compressed because it had almost 30 minutes per side. I also loved Hard Rain. That was a great band, and Howie Wyeth was a perfect drummer for Bob.

My guess is Dylan intended "Self Portrait" to tell the hippies that the other half of the country (the people who liked country music, men with short hair, coiffed women) were not bad people, and that he identified more with the "straights" than with the hippies. Hence the sweetening and the lack of a rock beat in these recordings. This would be in congruence with his declaration in his memoirs that at this point in his life he wanted to be a family man and protector to his kids. The problem was that he didn't have the voice to make the concept succeed: he doesn't have a strong George Jones voice, he has a weak and warbly voice and constitutionally can't sing a line the same way twice - meaning he couldn't sound like a real country singer. Instead of sounding like a working man, he sounded effete and like a dilettante. It sounded jarring juxtaposed against the strings and Lawrence Welk voices. The result was a mess, or in Greil Marcus's famous words, "What is this shit?" (The irony is that Marcus saw music almost exclusively through a sociological and progressive lens - music was only of use to him if it furthered progressive goals. In other words, Dylan wanted to frustrate people exactly like him. That's why I say "Self Portrait" touched a nerve: it worked.)

Two more tracks for the potential Sony Legacy box: Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers With Guests Lee Morgan, trumpet; Barney Wilen, alto sax; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Bud Powell, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums. "Theatre Des Champs-Elysees", Paris, France, December 18, 1959 Dance Of The Infidels Fontana (F) 680 207 TL Bouncing With Bud - * Fontana (F) 680 207 TL Art Blakey, Bud Powell, Barney Wilen, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan - Paris Jam Session = Epic LA 16017, BA 17017 Art Blakey In Paris Featuring Bud Powell And Lee Morgan

Happy 80th birthday, Bob.

OMG! Feel better! Here's hoping for a full recovery.

I found this an interesting read. It's the history of the Reservoir label, with remarks by Mark Feldman, its current status, and some comments about Rudy Van Gelder: https://www.stereophile.com/content/reservoir-story

Yes, thanks. I have a Canon PowerShot SX730 that's a pocket camera with an insane 40x optical zoom. So even though I was sitting pretty far away from the stage, I got some good shots. Here's one of Patty:

Sad to hear. I saw him backing Patty Waters in 2018, along with Burton Greene and Barry Altschul. I believe he was self-taught. RIP.

Nice. Worth watching. I liked the moment (around 2:00) reminiscent of the cover of Mobley's No Room For Squares.

I wonder if Laurie can release the 1953 material with Sonny Clark: Art Pepper With The Sonny Clark Trio Art Pepper, alto sax #1-3,5,6; Sonny Clark, piano; Harry Babasin, bass; Bobby White, drums. "The Lighthouse", Hermosa Beach, CA, March 30, 1953 1. Brown Gold Straight Ahead Jazz SAJ-1001, (J) 24EL6005; Vantage (J) NLP-5012 2. These Foolish Things - 3. Tickle Toe - 4. Tenderly - 5. Strike Up The Band - 6. Night And Day - Art Pepper, alto sax; Sonny Clark, piano; Howard Rumsey, bass #2; Harry Babasin, bass #1,3-5, cello #2; Bobby White, drums; John Levine, congas #2. 1. Deep Purple Straight Ahead Jazz SAJ-1004, (J) 24EL6005; Vantage (J) NLP-5012 2. Bluebird Straight Ahead Jazz SAJ-1004, (J) 24EL6006; Vantage (J) NLP-5013 3. S' Wonderful - 4. Pennies From Heaven - 5. Holiday Flight Straight Ahead Jazz (J) 24EL6006; Vantage (J) NLP-5013; Venus (J) TKCZ-79005; Vantage (J) NOCD-5629; SSJ (J) XQAM-1624/5 * Straight Ahead Jazz SAJ-1001 Art Pepper With The Sonny Clark Trio - Straight-Ahead Jazz, Volume One = Venus (J) TKCZ-79005 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio - Holiday Flight - Lighthouse 1953 = Vantage (J) NOCD-5629 Art Pepper Quartet Featuring Sonny Clark Live At The Lighthouse '53 = SSJ (J) XQAM-1624/5 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark - Live At The Lighthouse 1953 - Holiday Flight * Straight Ahead Jazz (J) 24EL6005 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio, Vol. 1 * Vantage (J) NLP-5012 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio, Vol. 1 * Straight Ahead Jazz SAJ-1004 Art Pepper Quartet - Straight Ahead Jazz, Vol. Two = Venus (J) TKCZ-79005 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio - Holiday Flight - Lighthouse 1953 = Vantage (J) NOCD-5629 Art Pepper Quartet Featuring Sonny Clark Live At The Lighthouse '53 = SSJ (J) XQAM-1624/5 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark - Live At The Lighthouse 1953 - Holiday Flight * Straight Ahead Jazz (J) 24EL6006 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio, Vol. 2 * Vantage (J) NLP-5013 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio, Vol. 2

Thank you; fixed.

It just occurred to me: 1) Sony Legacy could release a box set "Bud Powell - The Complete Columbia, RCA and Vogue Albums." It could contain A Portrait Of Cannonball, A Tribute To Cannonball, Summit Meeting At Birdland (Bird), One Night At Birdland (Bird), 2 tracks with Sarah Vaughan from After Hours, Swinging' With Bud, Strictly Powell, and various Vogue tracks including the Oscar Pettiford Memorial Concert and the Kenny Clarke material on Swing. Also, the Bud Powell Trio, released in the U.S. on Roulette, were originally recorded for Vogue. Did the rights for that go to Parlophone/Warner, or do they remain with Vogue? There's also a track on an RCA Italy album "Various Artists - More Jazz At Comblain La Tour!" from 1961. 2) Warner could release a "5 Classic Albums" set: Bud Powell in Paris (orig. Reprise), Bud Plays Bird (Roulette), The Return of Bud Powell (Roulette), Inner Fires (Electra Musician), the track from Mingus At Antibes, and maybe the Vogue material if Warner now has the rights.

Interestingly, The Blues And The Abstract Truth is being re-released on vinyl on June 25.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/5/12/22432919/bob-koester-jazz-record-mart-delmark-records-obituaries

I picked this up recently from Dusty Groove. It is great! Full, lush tone, propulsive, great band; makes me want to hear more Buck Hill:

Release date May 21: Never before entirely released concert recorded on 9 November 1969 at the Berlin Philharmonie. These emotionally intense concerts are all the more remarkable because of the artists high wire act, a balance constantly maintained throughout between her professional savoir faire (a vocal technique at the apex of her art and her interpretive skills) and her emotional abandonment to the moment as she gives her all. The entire performance, with Vaughan pouring out her heart, seems in hindsight at once perfectly timeless in terms of its formal classicism yet thoroughly in the fleeting moment. At the end of the day, these recordings are invaluable. As Vaughan explores the most lyrical, emotional aspects of her art, she overwhelms her listeners as she bares her soul. Her virtuosity in using her imagination to deploy all her technical skills and the extraordinary range of her tessitura are restrained rather than ostentatious. She literally reaches the stars and gives us a unique lesson in music as a form of the art of living.