Claude

The first chapter of the book "The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik", by Jack Chambers, can be read online: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/workstward.html Another discography: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~chambers/twardzik2.html

One of my Curtis Fuller favourites is the Blue Note album Volume 3. I passed on the Mosaic set, but recently got this album in the "spanish TOCJ" series. Bluesette is another classic.

Many stereo components have a phone jack that mainly fulfills an alibi function (it's parts are worth $5). If you have a good headphone and want optimal sound you should get a dedicated headphone amp. It's no use buying a $200 headphone (such as the Sennheiser) and then using it with a crappy phone output of a CD player. The same was true with phono stages. Ten years ago most amplifiers still had a phono input, but the makers did not invest much into that part as they knew that 90% of the buyers would only use it occasionally or not at all. Now most amps don't have a phono stage, which is a better solution as those who care about LP sound will invest into a good separate phono amp ($100-$3000) Anyway, a phono stage or a headphone amp is something that you buy once and keep for a long time, even if you upgrade other components such as the main amplifier.

For Europeans especially it might be interesting to know that Idem, the european licensee of the Jazz Casual videos has put out new DVDs (PAL & NTSC) which couple 3 Jazz Casual shows each (90 minutes total). Price is 16-20€ per disc. http://www.disconforme.ad/pages2/idem/jazz...zmasterscat.asp Particularly interesting in my view are the DVD with Gerry Mulligan/Art Pepper/Art Farmer and the one with John Coltrane/Sonny Rollins/B.B. King . The former DVDs with 2 shows always seemed to couple one "star" show with a less interesting one and were the same price, for only 60 minutes.

I just received a new "Jazzmessengers" flyer. They have opened a shop in Barcelona: Rambla de Catalunya 99 08008 Barcelona Tel. 93 215 88 46

I have the Sennheiser HD580 and I am very satisfied with them (sound and comfort), except for a problem with the connection cable, which seems to have been fixed for the current production (mine is 5 years old). I also have a seperate headphone amplifier (Musical Fidelity X-Cans) and recommend getting a dedicated amp for the headphones. I assume that you live in the US. The Sennheisers are very expensive outside of Europe (+50%) , so you should also take into account alternative brands such as Grado. But with Grados, you must absolutely try them for a longer period of time, because some people don't like their comfort (sorry, I can't find the suitable word), and this cannot be tested by having them on for just 10 minutes. While a headphone amp is recommended, you should keep the right proportions. Don't spend more than $300 on an amp. If you have a higher budget, consider the Sennheiser HD600. A new high end model, based on the HD600, will also come out later this year. As for a SACD/CD player, there are not that many models to choose from. If you want true high end, go for a Sony SCD-XA777ES, which is being discontinued now and can be bought for less than $2000. If your budget is much tighter (the Sony is not entry-level indeed), consider the Philips DVD-963SA ($400), which also has excellent DVD (and MP3) playback and CD upsampling. Unfortunately, there is not much to choose from apart from those two (but I may have missed some players available in the US)

Well, I have made this too, when I learned I couldn't be online at the time when the auction ended. Increased the proxy bid by a safer amount. But I always stayed within reasonable limits

Despite all the criticism, I would like to see this series (maybe with the sound turned off, as Chris suggests ). No way I am going to buy it on DVD just to watch it one time. This series has never been shown here, and is not available in video rental shops either. It would be a nice documentary for BBC World, one of the few english programs available here.

But there is something that I cannot explain: Why did cabot02 make that >$280 proxy bid when he was already the highest bidder with $205 on June10 ?

If I understand ebay listings correctly, there was no reserve price for this auction, as it should normally state "reserve has been met" next to the price. Or does that dissapear when the auction is finished? But if you look at the bid history you must also check the bid time. I think the scenario was like this: "happycddog" made a $200 proxy bid on June 6. The following days "cabot02" tried to outbid him by increasing his bids by $10 every time. Of course he was outbid everytime by happycddog's $200 proxy bid. On June 11, 4:07, cabot02 - very desperate - made the >$280 proxy bid that won him the auction at the end. In the hours that followed, happycddog made two attempts to beat him, then renounced. Could that be correct?

The highest price for a Jackie McLean Mosaic set I have seen so far: $280 (= $70 per disc) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=2536376605

I was also interested in this DeJohnette/Metheny/Hancock/Holland DVD which looked very promising on paper. A friend passed me a CDR with live music from this band. I don't know if the recording was from the DVD or from a different source (I have seen a 2CD set around). I found the music to be too superficial. Especially Hancock's solos are often pure showmanship. The sound is also too distant, recorded like a pop concert. Entertaining stuff, but a missed opprotunity in my view.

My favourite jazz movies are: "Jazz-theme" movies: - Round midnight (main character played by Dexter Gordon) has a lot of concert scenes with Dexter, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, etc Jazz Documentary: - Straight No chaser (Thelonious Monk) great studio and live rehearsals! - Jazz on a Summer's Day (Newport Festival 1959) Jazz concerts: - Miles Davis - Miles in Munich 1988 (much better DVD than Miles in Paris) - John Coltrane - Jazz casual series - Keith Jarrett Trio: Standards I & II I haven't seen Miles Davis Story, Triumph of the Underdog (Charles Mingus), A Joyful Noise (Sun Ra), which may also be very interesting. I found Bird ok, but not great.

Concering Louis Armstrong Hot Fives/Hot Sevens: I'm wondering if major labels have any interest in reissuing music that has no copyright protection anymore (70 years in the US, 50 years in Europe). They would have to compete against other legally issued box sets by small labels such as JSP or Definitive.

This sale is only available at Zweitausendeins. I have never seen these no-frills box sets in other stores. ZYX also made "deluxe" boxes in LP format with a complete booklet (like the US boxes). I have the Dolphy Prestige and Rollins Freelance Years sets - made by ZYX - and I've seen fullsize Bill Evans Riverside and Art Pepper boxes which had a ZYX sticker on the box. Maybe Zweitausendeins only wants to get rid of their stock. These boxes have been offered for the past 5 years at least (at very competitive but not insane prices). The Fantasy material has been licensed to ZYX (formerly Bernard Mikulski) since the 80's or even earlier, so I don't think it has something to do with the licensing contract. But I would really want to see a different company release this material in Europe. ZYX's recent remasterings are horrible, the packaging isn't great either.

I have doubts that the the info on the Blue Note website is accurate. This specialized SACD page says Blue Train is stereo only, while the other Blue Note SACDs also have a multichannel mix: Blue Note Sets June 10th For Five SACD Releases

VAT has always been charged when physical goods were sold, for example on online CD orders. This new directive concerns "digital transactions" such as downloads or other online services where no goods are shipped. Ebay has to apply VAT on their auction fees. Professional sellers on ebay already had to charge VAT on their auctioned goods, so no change there. Unlike the US, Europe never had tax exemptions for online sales. The VAT rate of the seller's country is applicable. That's why AOL moves to Luxembourg, which has the lowest VAT rate in the EU. VAT rates in Europe

Hello Evan Are "Kazaa"and "Napster" drinks? Sounds tasty

I have a good hifi system (Dynaudio Contour 1.3 speakers, Sennheiser HD580 headphones) but I cannot hear a significant difference between good CDs and SACDs. Particularly Sony SACDs (KOB, Miles Smiles, Mingus ah um) fail to impress me. Others sound better (some just different) than previous releases (the OJC material releases by Analogue Productions), but this must be due to the remastering, because the CD layer shows the same improvements. The difference I hear between Sony CDs and SACDs is in the range of sonic differences between good CD players. Something you hear only in direct A/B comparision, and not with every music.

I would like to see reissued: The Chico Hamilton Special Woody Shaw: Stepping Stones They could license them to Koch Jazz (like they did with Tim Berne and others) if they don't want to release it themselves. Remasterings wanted: - Shakti (the first album) - Duke Ellington - Blues in Orbit (currently OOP) - Weather Report - I sing the body electric

This album is available from www.candidrecords.com http://candidrecords.com/acatalog/Online_C...Insist__42.html It is usually filed as "we insist"

info@jazzmessengers.com Tel. (+34) 93 440 71 05 (international customers) Tel. (+34) 93 440 65 20 (spanish customers) Fax (+34) 93 448 47 23 No website configured at jazzmessengers.com No street address indicated (!), only a post box: Jazz Messengers P.O Box 23477 E-08080 Barcelona Good luck. I know a spanish friend who had made on online order just before Planetmusic went bankrupt. He did not receive his order by post, but managed to get his CDs directly from their store in Barcelona before it closed.

"THE MOST VITAL PART TO BOOST THE PRICE OF THIS RECORD IS THE OBI STRIP"

I've read many times that the Miles Davis 180g LP reissues (by Columbia/Sony) don't sound very good. Maybe they are made from the tapes used for the first CD reissues. Sample them before "upgrading" your CDs.

I don't know this Pioneer turntable. It may have a heavy arm, for which the choice of cartridges is more limited than with light arms (Dual, Thorens). Thorens and Dual also have the advantage of much better replacement parts availability. As a general rule, you must be prepared to change the cartridge of second hand vintage turntables. Even if it has barely been used, a cartridge suffers from being 10 or more years old. No need to search for replacement needles, as those usually cost almost as much as a new cartridge. Cartridges start at $30. Better spend $50 or more and get a good one.