Leeway

The Guide really couldn't go on in its present format without Richard Cook. You might say Cook-Morton were the Lennon-McCartney of review teams. I thought they were the most literate and perceptive of jazz reviewers. I often go back to read --one can't always call them reviews--exegesis of a particular artist's work. They have that Brit public school ability to talk learnedly but lightly about the music. I will not be getting the new volume. Speaking of 100/1000 best jazz album-type books, etc, this book helped guide my early approaches to jazz. Still recomended.

The set that will not be discounted! Has to happen sometime, doesn't it?? I recall at one time, maybe about a year ago, Concord was having a sale; discs were averaging about $6 or $7 each. I think the Mingus/Debut was included.

I agree with using music with which you are very familiar. I distrust "audiophile" productions. Too often they are aiming for sonic effects that "wow" but are not natural over extended listening. If you want a completely unfiltered recording, try something like Trio X from CIMP, or pretty much anything from their label. About as transparent a CD yyou ar elikely to find. I would add: don't compare systems to systems or discs to discs. Compare each system to what you have heard "live." The more you go to live shows, the better you will be able to identify those audio components that come closest to how musical instruments actually sound.

Steve Lacy, TRICKLES. Count me among Steve Lacy fans. This is a good one, with Roswell Rudd, Kent Carter, and Beaver Harris.

Not a Jamal fan . Vastly overrated methinks. The guy has been riding the meal ticket Miles Davis handed him in his comments about Jamal's use of space, etc etc. To adapt a phrase from Gertrude Stein, "There's no there, there."

The box set and shipping (quite costly) would come to just a sliver under $300. My bank charges $40 for the bank transfer (apparently the bailout wasn't enough). So, $340 total for the 12 discs and book(let). That is just too heavy, for me. The cream of the box is: CD 02 (FMP CD 138): In Berlin / Steve Lacy - Solo 1975 & Quintett 1977 CD 04 (FMP CD 140): at Quartier Latin / Schlippenbach Quartet 1975/77 CD 05 (FMP CD 141): Wolke in Hosen / Brötzmann Solo 1976 CD 08 (FMP CD 144): Close Up / Die Like A Dog 1994 CD 02: (FMP CD 137): Baden-Baden '75 / Globe Unity Orchestra & Guests 1975 I suppose I'll just grab the single issues. Would be nice to have the book though!

Hi guys, thank you so much. I really appreciate it

I got the Braxton Iridium box from them for a very good price. The slipcase came a bit bent at the corner, perhaps thanks to the Post Office, perhpas the reason for the discount; not a big deal and I would buy from them again. I find I buy a fair amount from Newbury, MovieMars, and Import CDs, although there have been a couple of glitches with Import, again, nothing serious. Movie Mars is generally excellent. I have had only one really bad experience with an Amazon Z-Shop reseller; in fact, it was shockingly bad, so much so it put me off Amazon for a while. All I'll say here is that the guy operates out of Illinois, and sells books (which forms part of his business name) and CDs.

Art is the musician who got me interested in jazz, for which I am forever grateful. I was fortunate to be able to see him live. There are few other musicians who could put so much emotion and feeling into a ballad. And he could swing for sure.

John B, PM sent on all the Kowalds.

I'd love this set, but, not surprisingly, FMP makes it that much harder to buy it. Bank transfers sounds a bit 19th century. You would think PayPal would be easy enough. This is not going to be inexpensive either. The set is about $247.00 (a sliver more than $20 per disc) and shipping is another $41.00 (and that's not even for air, only surface post). You gotta really want it. I do. But they ain't making it easy.

Last weekend was particularly musically fulfilling. On Saturday, saw TRIO X, with McPhee, Duval, and Rosen. A very substantial concert, with two 45 minutes sets around a short break. Highlights were tributes to Bill Dixon and Fred Anderson. The group was really "on." On Sunday ( a tough day for me to go out, as it usually leads to bleary-eyed Mondays), caught the NU Band with Roy Campbell, Mark Whitecage, Joe Fonda, Lou Grassi. Excellent long set; these guys clearly like to play together. Campbell is the most incendiary member of the outfit. Worth seeing.

Please hold for me: Evan Parker et al., “Free Zone Appleby 2004” (Psi) [duos, trios w/ B. Guy, Lytton, Wachsmann, J. Ryan] AMM, “The Nameless Uncarved Rock” (Matchless) [quartet w/ Gare, Rowe, Tilbury, Prevost] Thanks.

CDs for sale. Artist, title, label, other info. Condition all VG++ or better, some new. Shipping $2.50 first CD, $75 cents each additional CD. PM for questions, orders, payment instructions. Pay Pal only please. Barron, Kenny. WANTON SPIRIT. Gitanes. With Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden. $9.00. Brecker, Randy. IN THE IDIOM. Denon. With Joe Henderson, Dave Kikoski, Ron Carter, Al Foster. $9.00. Bryant, Ray. SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE. Label M. Solo. $5.00. Doldinger, Klaus. SHAKIN' THE BLUES. $4.00. Harris, Barry. LIVE NEW YORK. Reservoir. With Charles Davis, Roni Ben-Hur, Paul West, Leroy Williams. $5.00. Holland, Dave Big Band. WHAT GOES AROUND. ECM (in slipcase). $5.00. Jarrett, Keith. RADIANCE. 2CD. ECM. $5.00. Kisor, Ryan. AWAKENING. Criss Cross. $8.00. LeDonne, Mike. ON FIRE: Live at Smoke NYC. Savant. With Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Joe Farnsworth. $6.00. Mahogany, Kevin. PUSSY CAT DUES: The Music of Charles Mingus. Enja. With Charles McPherson, Jimmy Knepper, Dennis Mackrel, and WDR Big Band. $5.00. Marsalis, Delfeayo. PONTIUS PILATE. Novus. Joshua Redman, Kenny Kirkland, Branford Marsalis, Tain Watts, et al. $3.00. Marsalis, Wynton. THINK OF ONE. CBS. With Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Tain Watts. $3.00. McPartland, Marian. IN MY LIFE. Concord. With Chris Potter. $3.00. Minasi, Dom. THE VAMPIRE's REVENGE. CDM Records. New, in shrink wrap. 2CD. $4.00. O'Day, Anita. THERE'S ONLY ONE. Quicksilver. New, in shrink wrap. $6.00. O'Day, Anita. I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU. Evidence. $5.00. Pastorius, Jaco Big Band. THE WORD IS OUT. Heads Up. SACD-CD Hybrid disc. New, in shrink wrap. $7.00. One last thing: BOOK: Marian McPartland. ALL IN GOOD TIME. NY, Oxford UP, 1987. Nice hardcover copy in dust jacket. This copy Inscribed *& Signed by Marian. $9.00. Shipping $3.50.

No doubt about it! The Nessas go to the top of my "Buy" list. I'm particularly excited about the Roscoe and AEC. I consider Roscoe one of the very greatest of improvising musicians.

You've provided me an opening to describe some recent CD scores I've been yanking out of an antique consignment shop on the outskirts of Athens. They're in a ramshackle building about a half-mile off the old Atlanta Hwy. How about: $40 for the Mosaic 3-CD box of 'Complete Candid Recordings of Charles Mingus' (#3201) $40 for the 10-CD box of 'The Complete Mercury of Roland Kirk' (W. German press) $10 for 'Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury' (4-CD, Japan) $10 each for 3-CD sets of Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury (Vols. 1, 2 and 3, Japan) $7 for Capt. Beefheart 2-CD 'Dust Blows Forward' (still sealed), and $130 for 38 single-disc CDs, mostly OP jazz. (They're $4 each, $3 when you buy more than 10.) All of these came from the collection of a Univ. Georgia Art professor, who died within months of retirement. They've been priced by Gail, who runs the antique shop. There's easily 2,000 more CDs in piles, boxes, and shelves. I've been casually dropping by about every two weeks and everything stays where I left it, with just a couple sold. As downtown Athens is full of music hipsters, clerks and jerks -- you'd think the action would be fierce. Great stuff! Definitely great finds. Too bad the Prof couldn't get a chance to enjoy them.

Miles' BIG FUN. It is!

A lousy article by someone who, despite (or because) being an "entertainment editor" (what's that?!) clearly knows nothing about Grimes, or why he is iimportant. Instead, we get the usual 30 second "human interest" story that adds nothing to the subject. If you are interested in Grimes, check out the article in the recent Siganal to Noise; a bit fawning perhaps, but still well-written and intelligently observed.

I love Noah's early stuff; definitely "Fire Music." I'm lucky to have a vinyl copy of "Patterns" on Altsax Records. It's available on CD; grab it, it's heavy-hitting, with a fantastic performance by Han Bennink ((Noah too of course!). "Black Ark" is another favorite. However, I disagree that his later, post-ESP, work was an improvement. The fire is definitely gone, and much of it treads perilously close to New Age music. I suppose some might like that, and it is probably not possible to burn as brighly as he did early in his career, but I treasure the ESP and other work of that period.

Don't think anybody mentioned it, but Chico was hip enough to bring a young Eric Dolphy into his group:

I split my listening between vinyl and CD; never MP3. My twenty-something kids listen exclusively to MP3s (maybe a reaction to my over the top LP/CD habit . OTOH, I was scrounging vinyl in a local thrift shop, when a trio of guys, probably 18-22, hit the record bins, obvious vinylphiles.

The more I listen to electric Miles, the more I dig it, the more it grows in my estimation. Keeping the groove going, with a cool combination of Detroit jazz, funk, soul:

The CDs arrived fast and lovely. Thanks.

Sort of a "Box Set Weekend:" Jimmy Lyons: The Box Set Cecil Taylor: Two T's for a Lovely T Complete Mosaic Sam Rivers Blue Note Sessions Jim Hendrix Experience (the MCA box with the velvet cover). Atomic: Retrograde. All highly recommended.