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Yeah, forget the "crisis management" expert, the appeal to shyster Jesse, and the vulture lawyer who is reinforcing the illogical notion that some sort of financial reparation needs to be made. The victims have come forward, and Richards can personally apologize. Of course, the comments he made will continue to reverberate, and his public image will not be the same again, but that's his loss. He'll have time to reflect on his stupidity. Indeed, I passed an episode of Seinfeld when flipping thru the channels yesterday and it was like, "turn it off." Makes me chuckle because they just had a DVD set come out, and I'm sure a lot of sales were lost.

I can often overlook certain unattractive truths about artists or entertainers, but this racist name calling is too far over the line and too direct. If he just flipped out, that's forgivable, but to throw logs on that particular fire...well, I'm afraid my lingering fondness for Seinfeld just stopped lingering. It's not something I'm going to be able to "forget" any time soon. I always knew that tidbit about Elvis Costello, but I never liked his music anyway. Nowadays, his name calls to mind birthday cake and how much I admire Gary Peacock.

More than just Rivers' playing in itself, listen to how the rhythm team responds to him in comparison to Miles. Given that contrast, it's not suprising this lineup didn't last, but thank goodness we have the souvenirs. And yeah, the Seven Steps box is wonderful from start to finish. What a great period.

Excellent album, a desert isle selection for me. Visceral. And there's no way I'd ever trade Mariano's playing on this for Dolphy. Some great bass work from Mingus too.

Fearless Leader is the fourth (!) version of SOULTRANE that I've owned, and yeah, it is still a bit "mutilated" in certain spots. Less noticeable than the previous editions, though, going on memory. Still a thumbs up from me for the sound and packaging of this set.

"However, while Coltrane's presence is a constant, the value of his playing is much more significant on the later leader sides than on the earlier Miles sides..." Damn it, I knew somebody would catch that immediately. Scatch the equations, I've obviously been drinking.

Accepting Coltrane, Garland, and Chambers as virtual constants, let M = Miles factor to adjust for the price equivalence of 4 and 6 CDs. In doing so, we can also calculate the unspoken superiority of Philly Joe Jones over Art Taylor, not to mention the negative effect of Freddie Hubbard's few errant phrases: (CGC)*M + PJJ / (standards + beer opener) x ("legendary") - (700 x Steve Allen) x 4 = value N (CGC) + AT + flugel / chord substitutions (- FH + # of blues) x (16 log5) x 6 = value N Rock on. I listened to both boxes today - can't shake the Trane fix.

Gotta plug my "official" review: www.jazzshelf.org/traneprestige.html In a nutshell, I love this set. Despite already knowing a lot of the contents, my appreciation for this Trane phase grew considerably in hearing all the material together. I've been listening to it for two weeks straight now, and about four days in, I forgot the Atlantics and Impulses existed. It's self sufficient and addictive. The sound is really good, as far as I'm concerned. I've checked it out in the car, in headphones, and on the main stereo. Only last night did I make space for it on the boxset shelf, because since purchasing it, I've been toting it everywhere I go. To break the spell last night, I jumped to the mid-60s with "Brasilia". Of course, now I'm hooked on the Impulse box again. Coltrane never fails to inspire awe.

OK, my quick take on the sound. There aren't any K2 remasters in the box; the liners just say remastered by Joe Tarantino. Comparing the tracks from Coltrane and Soultrane to the K2s, I find the boxset tracks slightly less punchy but still of good quality (better than the original CD issues). The Prestige RVG of Lush Life is slightly brighter than the box tracks. Traneing In sounds better here than it did in the K2 version, to my ears. The last three discs were new to me, so I can't compare. They have a softer impact because they're stereo, with bass and drums off in one channel. However, in headphones last night, I was impressed by how clear everything sounded, and that goes for the mono tracks too. The volume level is just about perfect, with no danger of artificial scrunch from over-compression. Long story short, you may find one or two individual remasters that sound slightly better, but the box overall has a very likeable, dynamic sound.

Just popped this open a while ago. Already owned about half of it, but I'm looking forward to the "new" stuff. Booklet is excellent, including a thoroughview from Lewis Porter, a discography, and original album notes. Sound is good so far - it'll be a couple days before I'm thru the whole thing. (I'll leave the technical comparison with the previous K2s to someone else.) Anyway, it's an attractive package.

After spending a week with it, I think it's a good package. Better tracklist would make it great. The DVD is okay; I don't know how many times I'm going to want to watch "Young and Fine" or a repetitive "Birdland", but there you go. Just recapped most of the WR catalog here: www.jazzshelf.org/weather.html

Sound is improved over the initial CD issues (like Night Passage, which hasn't had a remaster yet), but not necessarily better than those that were remastered in recent years, like Black Market. A/V of the DVD is pretty good. Packaging is nice. I'm not thrilled with the track selection. Several classics are absent, and there are some tracks here that I would no way no how put on a "best of" collection. The rarities (like a studio Directions) are okay but very slim in number. The inclusion of Silent Way & Super Nova are a waste of space, IMHO. I guess for the newcomer this is all wonderful stuff, but I've got all the albums up thru 1980 so I've got more of a critical ear. One thing that's clear is how fresh the earliest stuff remains. All hail Vitous and Gravatt. Why'd I buy it? Well, I'm a completist, and I wanted to check out the DVD. If you've got the original albums, though, you're not missing much. www.jazzshelf.org

This problem was mentioned in the RVG thread, but I'd like to place a separate query: does anyone know how to get these misprinted booklets replaced? Seems some unrelated pages (for a different album) snuck into this RVG's booklet. Blue Note's site is of no help yet, unlesss they've got the answer in the basement behind the door labeled Beware Of Leopard. Meanwhile, the music is good...

Sad. I was just listening to his string quartets a few days ago. The barrel organ and metronomes keep up a memorial din...

OK, thanks. I think I also made a Mingus reference in my reviews to "Pictures of a City", where those bluesy scales were so obvious. "Construkction of kcrap" - ha.

Just fired up Jackie's It's Time. Hancock and Haynes, fantastic. Got Hill's Pax saved for later tonight.

Don't know if there' s been a recent King Crimson thread (I couldn't get the Search to work today), but I've recently put up a lot of KC reviews at my site. Thought Crimso fans might enjoy: www.jazzshelf.org (under rock artists, of course) Not much of a "current" fan anymore, but I enjoyed most of the group's extensive history. When the Great Deceiver box came out in the early 90s, that gave me a good taste of free improv, which carried over to my jazz listening as well. (Can't say Crimson led me directly to jazz, but they were in close quarters in my musical evolution.) Fripp's guitar playing circa 1980s was pretty influential on me, and Bill Bruford is a model musician in my mind. For favorite lineup, I'd have to flip a coin between '73-4 (the Starless quartet) and 1980s (Discipline). The interesting thing about the 80s band is the way they basically rearranged the hierarchy and functions of a rock group.

Certain tracks from Birds of Fire are my very favorites - Hope, Resolution, 1000 Park Island. The debut knocks my socks off, and I really dig the first three tracks on the Lost Trident Sessions (the same tunes that wound up on the live album). Jan Hammer's "Sister Andrea" is terrific - love the off center vamp and the Moog solo. The first M.O. I ever heard was Visions of the Emerald Beyond, so I have a soft spot for that one. I remember playing it over and over, and it restored my faith in chops guitar.

I would say you are. Two weeks is right at the cutoff point where I would personally want my money back. Good luck with it. My wife is currently locked in a dispute with a seller who is basically a thief - no item and no refund for over two months now. Tons of excuses from the seller, who has been putting up plenty of other auctions in the meantime. Ebay has finally decided to get involved, but still, the seller's main concern is not getting negative feedback. Let's just say that was enough for me to use her email to sign her up for a few things...

I'm not thrilled with the Burrell/Coltrane disc's sound - big boomy bass and some fuzzy bits at the piano and guitar peaks. The bass feels jacked ex post facto but the other less-than-pristine-ness has to do with the original tapes, from my experience. I've heard better from the period (mid to late 50s), but I've heard far worse as well. I don't think I'm going to check out any more of these Prestige RVGs, unless it's an album I don't have already. I'm quite happy with the earlier K2 remasters of things like Saxophone Colossus, etc.

By the way, Prior and Wood have been a write off for me for quite a while. When they're starting the season on the DL, that's no ray of hope. Meanwhile, Zambrano is the Cubs ace, and even if Wood and Prior were in the lineup right now, I'd still have Crazy Carlos as the number one guy. The Cubs have as valid a chance as any NL Central team, and I hear that the Brewers will be a team to deal with this year. I don't think the Dodgers are in trouble; in fact, they're my pick for the NL West. Not that they're going to have to be an outstanding team to win it. I added a baseball book report to my jazz site recently: www.jazzshelf.org/3books

I just watched the season's first Baseball Tonight on ESPN and nearly puked. I did crack the remote. "There's more to this season than Bonds" they say, before giving us us twenty minutes of Bonds minutia. Blecch. Apparently the Cardinals are the only team in the National League, the White Sox bandwagon is in full cruise, and Joe Morgan is still an idiot. Kruk and Reynolds have perfected the art of saying nothing. To be positive, I am looking forward to the season very much, but predictions right now would be foolish. Go Cubs, go A's.

A sad surprise to see the title of this thread. The passion in his music will definitely live on for a long time.

Wherever I heard him, he was always a welcome presence, sometimes an outstanding one. RIP.

Thumbs up for this release...I was hoping it wouldn't be forgotten, what with the Hill Mosaic set, etc.