Leeway

Oprah. If you can get featured on her show, it's probably good for 50,000+ copies B-) Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I don't think there are any jazz writers with that kind of clout. Ben Ratliff at the New York Times has managed to turn a traditionally influential post into an irrelevancy.

Sidney Bechet - BLUES IN THE AIR RCA France, "Horizons du Jazz, No.2" 430 216. Brownie, do you have this one? I actually bought this in Paris. And: Randy Weston, BLUE MOSES. Thankfully, NOT-CTI'd, if you know what I mean. A really fine album. And: Hendrix, Band of Gypsys.

Wasn't Wagner's music once described as moments of sublime beauty, interrupted by hours of tedium? B-)

Luke, I don't know if you'll get a chance to get back to this thread, but, if you do, could you explain a bit about how Mr. Ash was recorded. I quote from the CD Baby site, but I think this is the same description that appears on Smalls website. My attention was caught by the following comment: Thanks. I'm looking forward to my copy.

Wolff, I assume the 10" are originals? ( I know there was a reissue series). What is the sound quality like on them?

It seems that the consensus is that anything after 1968 is either iffy or just plain . Frankly, I agree with that. But I'd be interested in hearing why the 70s and later work is deemed inferior or deficient. Does the problem lie with Sonny's playing? His musical conceptions? The material? Or the sidemen he has chosen?

They are what's worse than bad, namely, mediocre. B-)

Capitol ST-2442, with the Apple logo on the record label. This LP sounds good. One of my top Beatles LP. I like verything about it, every cut, even the cover picture. United Artists, foldout Lp with a cool, huge Traffic photo. My copy is Cadet 613.

Late, I assume you have the Schumann String Quartets 1, 3, by Zehetmair Quartet? I almost hate to admit this, but I like Keith Jarrett's Handel recording: Handel Recording

Good looking lady Has a sort of Gloria Estefan look.

Hmmm, can't quite recall. It was either the Mobley box or the Parlan on vinyl.

Thelonious Monk - "Monk's Miracles" Columbia Record Club - DS 338. Mono. Bye-Ya; Crepuscule with Nellie; Four in One; Stuffy Turkey; I Mean You; Well, You Needn't; Bemsha Swing. Nice little cover photo of Monk.

Good discussion folks I'm curious to know if the alternate takes of "I'm an Old Cowhand" and "Come Gone" were recorded before the master takes or afterwards? The alternates are longer, and in the case of "Cowhand," much longer. (The alternate take of "Way Out West" is only 9 seconds longer than the master take). It might be interesting to know if the group was cutting longer takes as the session went on, or if the master takes were a shortening, and /or distillation, of what had already been committed to tape. It also occurs to me that it might be kind of fun to listen to Copland's "Billy the Kid" or "Rodeo" in conjunction with "WOW." In both cases, traditional American folk themes are naturalized into another genre, in once case classical, in the other, jazz. There's really a lot going on in "WOW," perhaps one more reason why it is a sort of "touchstone" work.

OTOH, there's always that popular critical game: hip, hipper, hippest. Debunking "touchstone" works is part of that game too. No doubt, it's always good to question and re-evaluate, but to go into "debunk" mode merely because something has achieved widespread respect or enjoyment, is not necessarily good. I was watching the movie, Andrei Rublev," and the great, old icon painter says to an admirer, who tells him how much his work is admired, "yes, today they admire, next week they tear it down."

I think Alberto Gonzalez covered that in his memorandums, and it's OK

How about: Ladies Get The Blues Edit: Since we are now all co-producing the show - how about: "Ladies Sing the Blues"

Tete Montoliu -- WORDS OF LOVE - Steeplechase SCS 1084 (LP), recorded March 20, 1976, Holland. Copyright date on LP sleeve @1978. Just picked this up recently; need to give it a spin.

If the particle board has already started to weaken, it won't need a puch to fall down; it might do so on its own, unexpectedly Jim is right that support rods will help, although the joints on the particle board can still collapse from too mushc pressure. Dmitry has it right, with both hardwood and supports. Great looking unit! Here is another option: Tonys Wood Shop

I would recommend Rega, P3 model or above.

I haven't read any of the background on the cover photo, but I find the photo interesting as a piece of iconography. In 1957, the cowboy in the white hat was always a white man. The significant role of the black cowboys and soldiers "way out west' was neither known (to the general public) or discussed. Here comes Sonny, appropriating this essential symbol of Americana for himself, and, by extension, for African-Americans generally. And he looks like the biggest, toughest cowboy out there . I don't see how the cover could have been a mistake of some kind, as the programming of the album clearly seeks to include and transform western themes. In a sense, the cover conveys what is happening musically and culturally. Maybe too theoretical, but I find the photograph liberating. As for the music, I find that this album has some of the hallmarks of the "cool" or "West Coast" sound, or perhaps is a hybrid of East and West sounds. I attribute this mostly to Manne. I think it creates an interesting tension. I love the open, clear quality of the music. I don't miss the piano, because Rollins seems to have a bounless fund of melodic and harmonic invention going on throughout the session.

Polydor Japan pressing

That didn't last long

I agree with both parts of your statement, and the second part was what I was getting at. At the time he would have gone, there would be handlers from the State Department and from Intourist, and I'm sure the security services (of which Intourist was a part) would have been surveilling the musicians' activities. No doubt though that USSR had plenty of junkies and massive alcoholism.

I note that these shelves are particleboard. Unless it's the heaviest guage, it might not hold up to the weight of LP records, and might bow. Records are amazingly heavy. Ever lift a full moving box of them B-)

Thanks Patricia for the information. Yes, the sleeve does say "Jazztone Society," so it must have been a commercial "club." I was really pleasantly surprised by the crisp, fresh and full sound of the records, which is on fairly heavy vinyl. One gets the sense of what it must have been like at Minton's or 52nd Street from such records. I probably got the record in a box lot or in a rummage sale or something. I have to check through my stacks to see if I have any more