Claude

Mnytime, I found them on the Mundo website, which may not be up-to-date. An alternative resource is the wellknown Mr Tanno

As the $ exchange rate is very favorable for Europeans right now, I consider ordering some japanese imports directly in Japan (Mundo has it's prices in $). Most are albums not available on the domestic market, but a few would be upgrades of old CD reissues from the 80's. Can someone comment on the sound of these japanese reissues, compared to the domestic release? 1) Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud (Fontana PHCE-4181, 24bit 96kHz Spectrum) $19 2) Gil Evans - The Individualism of Gil Evans (Verve POCJ-2460, 24bit remastering) $19 3) Michel Legrand meets Miles Davis / Ben Webster/ Hank Jones / Donald Byrd / Paul Chambers / John Coltrane (Philips PHCE-3074, 24bit 96KHz remaster) $19 (seems to be the same material as on "Legrand Jazz") 4) Cecil Taylor - Live At The Cafe Montmartre 2CD (debut TKCB-71261, limited LP style paper sleeve edition) $36 5) Cecil Taylor - The World Of Cecil Taylor (Candid TECW-20594, limited LP style paper sleeve edition, Hi-Bit-Hyper mastering) $23 ... and the Candid reissues in general (Cecil Taylor, Mingus) 6) Cecil Taylor - Looking Ahead! (Contemporary VICJ-2168, 20bit K2 mastering) $21 Thank you

In jazz, the US still have a big advantage in education, as there are jazz bands at school and university, something that is almost non-existent in Europe. Music education is exclusively classical, young musicians play jazz on their own initiative.

I found a mint LP of Julian Priester - Love, Love (a rare ECM collector's item, not reissued on CD) last week at a local store. It's been there for the last 20 years at least, in a box hidden behind the counter. I got it for 5 Euro.

There is also a small risk that Jimi Hendrix plays on a track and that the box has to be withdrawn for legal reasons

Miles Davis in Hollywood 1957. Scanned from a calendar with William Claxton photos.

Many Audio Asylum posters find that Sony SACDs are generally among the worst sounding, meaning that they don't sound better than the corresponding remastered CDs: Let's shake the SACD tree and nominate our WORST SOUNDING SACDs

I have no Monk book to recommend. I have a german book from Thomas Fitterling Oreos which has a good commented discography but only a decent biography. But you absolutely need the Straight No Chaser movie, which has amazing footage of Monk performing in the studio and live. Not too many interviews. It's a documentary that can be watched several times. The DVD is preferable because of the optional subtitles. I wasn't able to understand Monk's mumblings without them.

If shipping costs and Euro rate are not an issue, check the two shopping links on this page: http://www.rondomagazin.de/jazz/v/vache/wv02.htm

Is this a "sex sells" stategy or just an embarrassing error? JAZZ AT THE PORNSHOP 2LP SET (NICE)

Tom Waits' grandfather?

Maybe I wouldn't be a jazz fan today without the Penguin guide that I bought in 1992. I also had the Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide from 1985. There was no internet at that time of course, and both guides were the only introduction into jazz for me. Magazines cover mostly current musicians and releases, so they don't help as much in discovering the music's past as books do. When I was living in Brussels as a student I regularly went to the public library (Mediathèque de la Communauté Francaise) which has a gigantic selection of CDs, including japan imports. I limited myself to borrow 5 CDs per week (at $1/CD), and without a guide I would have been completely lost in the choice and I would have missed many essential discs. And even today I discover many interesting musicians in the Penguin guide that are not present by other media. The european jazz scene is very well covered. It's true that the authors favour free and avantgarde jazz and neglect some straight-ahead styles, but I personnally have no problem with that as it corresponds to my preferences.

I saw a complete 25CD (or more) box set of these spanish Blue Note reissues in german stores some 5 years ago. The discs were also sold seperately. So these are not new reissues but probably old stocks that will dissappear fast at that price.

I'm using both, but the AMG is more of a database for me and not so much a guide. I'm wondering if anyone of you takes note of AMG's strange "Music Expert check" poll for every album. The resulting ratings ("Elegant, Sophisticated, Intimate, Ethereal, Elaborate, Ambitious" for the Osby album) are of no practical use for me.

There are no mono CDs, only stereo CDs with the same signal on both channels (= mono) If you listen to mono sound on a stereo system, the sound of all instruments will appear to come from the middle of the speakers (if you sit in a perfect stereo triangle), with a headphone the sound will appear to come from the middle of your head.

Kudos to Dan for this diffcult choice of selecting only 10 Wynton albums for this poll. The 3 "Soul Gestures in Southern Blue" volumes would have been natural candidates as well, and some of his ballets and thematic compositions

My favourite Marsalis record is Black Codes (From the Underground) Because it is not on the list, my vote went for J Mood, which is quite similar in style, although not as good.

Yes, install a virus scanner that blocks harmful attachments. This isn't a perfect protection, but it will prevent most viruses and worms from being opened if the virus database is regularly updated. And make a backup of your personal data at least every week. This includes the mailbox, e-mail contacts, bookmarks, and all the data you created yourself (letters, photos). Except for photos, the data will probably fit on a single CD-RW that can be updated (incremental backup, only new or modified data are saved) Here is a freeware tool that can do an automatic backup: Backitup!. You need to know where your mail, bookmarks reside, this depends on your operating system and the internet programs.

What would Jesus do? Seriously, while it may be good for the sound of an amplifier (which otherwise needs one or two hours to attain the optimal quality), there is no need to leave a computer on all the time. CPUs draw alot of power, especially if they don't have idle management (AMDs), and this will certainly be noticed on the electricity bill. There are even some hard drive brands that need to be powered down every few days according to the manufacturer.

How does the Weston Select sound? And does anyone know how the Randy Weston "Little Niles" 2LP sampler from the 70's sounds? I've recently started buying vinyl records again, and if McMaster produces the same NoNoise disaster as with the Moncur Select (I know some like the sound, but I find it artificially clean) I might get this LP collection instead.

I had to check the All Music guide to see who Cleo Laine is. Is it a good thing that she seems to be unknown outside of the US (although she is born in the UK)? The picture on the AMG page reminds me of Barbara Streisand

I don't listen to much rock anymore, but my 70's favourites are Jimi Hendrix and Can.

Norah Jones and jazz purists loved this USA Today headline : http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/inte...leb-jones_x.htm

Today's pickups from the second hand vinyl bin: James Newton - Romance and Revolution (Blue Note, 1986) A brilliant set, comparable to the better known "African flower" Andrew Hill - From California with Love (Artists House, 1978) A solo recording. Haven't listened to it yet. A gatefold LP with an 8 page booklet