Joe Bip

Charlie Parker Mercury & Clef 10-Inch LP Collection Maybe not a box set, strictly speaking, but I'm starting to listen to the Ahmad Jamal Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse 1960s sessions, recorded at the same place where Coltrane performed in 1965 and that I've heard is now a parking lot. On deck are the Black Saint/Soul Note box sets collecting albums by Kenny Wheeler, Roscoe Mitchell, and Oliver Lake, some of which I already have, others are new to me.

The times in the track lists got very messed up. For one thing, so many are way off. For example, on Disc V, I expected the group to stretch out for nearly 17 minutes on "Tea for Two" but the track is nearly 10 minutes shorter than that. "Don't Blame Me" is listed as 15:15 but is 8:54. Another thing is that the track lists assign the exact same time to every different version of a song, no matter how many there are of (sometimes very) different lengths.

For that price, I'd say grab it. Someone will! I noticed a chancer on eBay who's asking that price just for the last disc of the set. I've been making my way through the set starting with pianists I'm the most familiar with. The Earl Hines trio was predictably great. This purchase also led me to revisit pianists I hadn't listened to in years, like Ralph Sutton, Jess Stacy, and Joe Bushkin. When I went for this set, I already owned the latter's Piano Moods album on a CD that also included his follow-up After Hours, which adds in some fine playing by Buck Clayton.

Columbia Jazz Piano Moods set the mood for roughhousing with my four-year-old, a recent purchase (the Mosaic set, that is), specifically the Tatum concert, which sounds much clearer to me than my 1970s Columbia vinyl release of the same date.

(Emerges after ten years of reading and not posting to ask:) How many sales are they losing by having the preorder be "out of stock" during a sale promotion with a specified end time? I was ready to order this but thought I had all of Saturday at least.

Ah, thanks. I was trying to order a couple of Selects in addition to a big box or two and didn't see the red text for the latter.

Am I missing something? How do I get the discount to show up?

How long did yours take to arrive. Still waiting for a shipping notice a week later. I ordered on Feb 22, received confirmation right away, and it came March 6, so 12 days total. I don't know what the stock/fulfillment time situation may be since then, but the price is so good it's probably worth waiting it out, especially since we know they've actually been fulfilling orders on something that I thought at first to be a price mistake.

Miles Bootleg Vol. 2 is available from WOW HD for $15.99 with free shipping. http://www.wowhd.us/CD/miles-davis-miles-davis-quintet-live-in-europe-1969-3cd-dvd/dp/32012157#bc=9de5 I received mine today. It's a reputable site (used to be called CD-Wow).

Earlier in the year, I enjoyed this feature on the Tzadik site. They had over 50 artists choose a favorite disc from the back catalog and write up a short review/recommendation of it.

The Miles set can be purchased for $27 and change from Barnes & Noble using the code N7C7K8T, which expires 9:00 EST tomorrow morning.

The Keepnews Collection reissue of Clark Terry's Serenade to a Bus Seat lists Wynton Kelly as a drummer on the back cover. Terry playing with two drummers and no piano -- that would be a record to hear! Even funnier, I just noticed that Steeplechase's CD of Very Early by Joe Locke credits the song "Nature Boy" (written by Eden Ahbez) to Abba! That's on the disc itself and the back cover. If anyone reading this happens to be from a label that might need a copy editor or proofreader, I do know of a freelancer who is good, has reasonable rates, and knows jazz.

Amazon, etc., links, anyone? Black Saint/Soul Note boxes I guess they don't sell the Bill Dixon one.

I love Bernard Herrmann. Tomorrow night in Portland there's going to be a screening of Psycho with live orchestral accompaniment, but I'm balking. Ticket prices go all the way up to around $80, and if I'm going to go I'd want to be seated where I'd have a good view of the screen.

I spent quite a few years in his hometown and having read his semi-regular newspaper column, Love Notes, I can understand Paul's reaction to some of the same stuff I presume is in the book. He became rather bitter. An interesting psychology emerged when reading many of the columns, I found. I once saw him performing in the middle of the day in the law school cafeteria at Creighton University with practically no one listening. But it's a sad anecdote, and I don't want to come across as saying anything unflattering here about someone people here respect. I can certainly empathize with some of his feelings based on what I know of the business.