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Leeway

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Everything posted by Leeway

  1. Quote JSngry: Jim, I know exactly where you are coming from on Milt's playing. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Milt's playing, and plain enjoyment too. What I do get from the albums under consideration is a sense of Milt and the others playing superbly "in his time," but Monk and Miles playing somewhere "outside" that time, offering that sense of strangeness or "beyond" that always grabs me. What struck me this time around, and what I was trying to get at, is how much alike Monk and Miles are in their way of coming to the music. Maybe because of their personal styles and personal histories, I've often tended to see the differences more than the similarities, between them, but the similarities are there and meaningful. I also want to throw this out for consideration. I was pondering the title, "Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants." I don't know who came up with the title-- maybe Bob Weinstock? Miles? if you know please tell--but it struck me that the title is a bit ambiguous. Is Miles announcing himself as a "modern jazz giant"? Had he earned that right by that time? Or was Miles "riding" on the coattails of these "giants"? Or was Miles saying, "They are jazz giants but I am their leader" thus offering an implied statement of superiority? Is there a message status implied in the title? Or maybe not?
  2. I grew up in Astoria, Queens, new York City. Queens is one of the "boroughs" of New York City, and Astoria is a section of Queens, lying along the East River, just opposite Manhattan. Here's a picture of the "elevated" subway in Astoria: A fairly typical street in Astoria: Another: Astoria Park (Manhattan across the river)-- Astoria was great for little food markets of all kinds:
  3. Leeway

    RIAA Settings

    Interesting how EQs have mostly dropped fromt the high-end audio scene; indeed, most high-end equipment offers very little in the way of tone or EQ controls, on the theory, I believe, that they degrade the signal being processed.
  4. Despite the reported friction between Monk and Miles on this date, the two musicians who, by virtue of their individualistic styles, their idiosyncratic approaches, seem to bracket themselves from the other players are Monk and Miles. They both seem way out in front of everyone else in their musical thinking.
  5. Yes, Cash would be an exception, although one could argue that he was not a C&W artist, especially in terms of contemporary C&W; more of a roots music artist, who incorporates blues, folk, gospel, rock and country. I was admittedly being facetious about C&W, but it remains one of the few genres of music that I mostly cannot abide. Today's version of C&W often sounds like cheezy Hallmark cards set to rudimentary arangements, or songs penned from the start to be used in Chevy pickup truck commercials. "Ooooh, my wife and dog done gone and left me and I sure do miss my dog, oooh..."
  6. What other kind of country music is there? B-) For me, most of it after Hank Williams would qualify, especially current C&W.
  7. Leeway

    RIAA Settings

    Interesting. I'm not surprised that Heathkit would have suitable controls. It also reminds me how popular Heathkits were (maybe still are for all I know) among the electronics set. One of my friends, who went on to become an engineer (unlike very math-challenged Leeway) would build Heathkits almost routinely, and they had a very good rep for value and performance.
  8. That's a big 10-4
  9. Leeway

    RIAA Settings

    Thanks Chuck for the article, which does explain qwhat the RIAA curve is all about. The following is from that article: I was just playing an original Prestige pressing (West 50th Street) of "Hip Harp, which bears the following instruction: Users of wide range equipment should adjust their controls to the RIAA curve for best results. What I am curious about is was there an RIAA control knob or dial on preamps or amps that allowed these changes to be made? Was this an original feature of equipement of that period? And how did the home audio user know how to make this calibration? basically, I'm interested in knowing how the typical listener of the period would actually make these adjustments.
  10. Prestige 7140. This is a West 50th Street pressing. Riverside, this copy a Victor Japan pressing. In one of those weird coincidences that I've been running into lately, these two albums (not shelved together) turned out to have something unusual in common.
  11. On many of the old LPs I come across, ther ewill be a liner to the effect: "For best results use RIAA playback equalization" - or words to similar effect. The instruction usually says to set your controls to the RIAA curve or setting. I believe RIAA stands for Recording Industry Association of America. But what was "RIAA playback equalization" or setting, and how was this adjustment made? Is this an adjustment to the turntable or the amplifier control?
  12. Posted a few days ago about enrolling in www.yourmusic.com. Well, first bit of bad news is that my order for Ellington's "Piano in the Foreground" and Von Freeman's "The Great Divide" were backordered and CANCELED! No notice of that either, just checking my account I saw the cancellations. Also, an inquiry I made to them about some other items has gone unanswered. Looks like this might be a short relationship
  13. From my nonexistent "M" section: "The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance" - Jazzland, Victor Japan reissue. AND: Prestige LP. AND: "Mahal" - Eddie Henderson. Capitol
  14. Has anyone ever seen a copy of "Music Dial"? How long was the magazine in operation, and how many issues did it publish? ?
  15. Joe Johnston, a drummer mentioned in the Herbie Nichols article elsewhere on this boar. So what is it about the first letter combinations? Do they make jazz musicians? Jazz musicians seem to have a higher than statistical coincidence for this kind of letter match.
  16. Bev, I heard about the Nguyen Le some time ago and have meant to give it a try. Thanks for the reminder. I like that ACT group of musicians.
  17. I wish! I promise you neither my vinyl or CDs or in ANY kind of order. We had planned to move, so much of it remains in boxes, and what's on the shelf was basically put there simply to get it off the floor. When I look for a record, it's like going to a rummage sale . It's taken me a week to find my copy of Ayler's "Spiritual Unity," and then only by happenstance. Ther eis neither an "M" section, nor an "C" section ( ) nor any other kind of section (although I wish it were otherwise). So, never overestimate the obvious dear Couw
  18. Wolff, thanks for the heads-up. I don't know much about the Raney or the "Jazz for Hi-Fi Lovers," but they look tempting. I spotted this one too, apparently mislabeled as a Hank CRAWFORD album:
  19. Leeway... Can you tell me a little more about the Melle? I have most of his BN stuff in one form or another, but haven't heard anything else. These are 2 different sessions, recorded about a week apart, the first session with Art Farmer, the second with Kenny Dorham. I really liked this album the first time I heard it, and like it more with each listen. The arrangements are interesting and swinging. Perhaps oddly, these sessions seemed to me to have a cousinly resemblance to "Birth of the Cool," especially in the way that the larger group instrumentation is used, and the care given to the arrangements. There is fine playing throughout. Joe Cinderella on guitar was new to me, and, to carry the BOC comparison a bit further, I thought he filled the role that Bill Evans did on BOC. He is a fine guitarist. I fyou like Melle, grab this one. I wonder what the fascination was with using tuba players? I thought Ray Draper on the McLean session gave a more virtuous performance that Butterfield on the Melle (but then I don't think the Melle session was trying to showcase virtuosity) But listening to a tuba player solo is akin, in my book, to watching a dog walk on its hind legs-- fascinating but kind of unnatural, and maybe not somethingyou want to see (or hear) too much One last note. Jackie Mclean give a wonderful, vigorous, youthful performance on his album. These early Prestige dates usually don't get much respect, but Jackie's playing here is something to listen to.
  20. Sharp as ever Brownie . I actually missed the Weinstock connection. But to the three you mention, let me add that both are Pestige dates, and that both have liner notes by Ira Gitler. So, 5 points of similarity (so far). In addition, they were recorded within about 8 months of each other, the Melle in August 1956, and the McLean in Feb. 1957. The odd thing is that I pulled these two LPs off the shelf at random, and only later noticed the connections.
  21. Leeway posted this on Dec 16:
  22. From what I understand from the linked article, each unit can be slowly revolved, and takes an hour to complete its revolution. I suppose the primary purpose of this is to allow the occupant to alter the view from any particular room. I would expect the movement to be quite gradual. Probably no different feeling than after having one too many beers B-)
  23. We aim to please I have "The Trip" in a Japanese k2 issue, sounds great, and I really like the album, especially the title cut, and "The Summer Knows."
  24. Quick now, no peeking, but what are the three things (there might be more!) that these two albums have in common?
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