Head Man

I received my copy this morning and I've played it once. My first impressions are of disappointment. I don't really like the electronic effects and the whole thing seemed rather formless. However that may be because I wasn't really expecting it to be like that and I was looking forward to some straight ahead jazz with Kenny on piano, as usual. I think I need to play it a few more times before making up mind.

I'll fourth it! It was Chuck who put me onto it last year. Cheapish, easy to use & sounds fine - what more do you need?

Just to let you know that Amazon.co.uk are offering this boxset for just under £23 delivered from one of their resellers. That's less than £6 a CD! What it is: Funky Soul & Rare Grooves Boxset Ordered it on Monday - arrived on Wednesday. Lovely packaging and terrific music - who could ask for more?

I don't know whether this has been covered elsewhere on the Board but the first two recordings by Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath have just been reissued on the Fled'gling Label. Apparently they have been remastered and sound terrific. Although the recordings have been available 'officially' and 'unoffically' for some time now it will be great to hear this wonderful, joyful music in all its glory!

I've recently been playing the four CDs I have on the Postcards label: Bruce Ditmas - What if Steve Kuhn - Seasons of romance Reggie Workman - Cerebral Caverns & Summit Conference and was reminded of how good they were. So I thought I'd see what else was available on the same label and was surprised that I couldn't seem to find any information about the label on the web. I then looked on Amazon and found about a dozen releases still available but most of them have fairly lukewarm reviews on AMG (no surprise there!) So, two questions: 1. Does anyone have a link to a discography for the label? and 2. Can anyone recommend any of the releases?

In your dreams!

Well said! My thoughts exactly!

Anyone know when these are due to be available in the UK?

I'd just like to say that I've bought dozens & dozens of CDs from Caiman through Amazon.co.uk and have had virtually no problems at all. OK there have been some delays but they do respond to e-mails and on the odd occasion when there has been a problem I have managed to sort it out satisfactorily. I think we have to accept that dealing with a large 'virtual' retail organisation is not like dealing with a small on-line shop. If you want personal service and are prepared to pay for it, then this is probably the way to go. However I must say that I have had more problems with smaller retailers, particularly about postal charges and delivery times, than I have with Caiman.

Listening to the new Bobby Hutcherson Mosaic Select has reminded me just how good his music is, so I have decided to try and replace a couple of his CDs - 'Stick-Up' & 'Natural Illusions' - which I have on the Applause label. Apart from the very poor liner notes the sound on these two CDs is also poor. I know that 'Stick-up' is widely available as a Connoisseur but I can't seem to find any other version of 'Natural Illusions' other than the one I already have. Does anyone know whether 'Natural Illusions' has ever been released on CD by Blue Note or whether there are any plans to do so?

I bought 'Lola' by Zbigniew Namyslowski's Modern Jazz Quartet last year. Very nice, especially the cheesy version of 'Ol' man river'! There's a very good website for Polish Jazz: Polish Jazz Network Very friendly service and quick delivery.

Here is the link to some vinyl I'm currently auctioning on ebay: Vinyl on ebay Good luck if you decide to bid.

I agree! I particularly like their big band recordings from the 1970's on RCA. Unfortunately they are only available as Japanese imports at the moment but are well worth seeking out. Having said that I also enjoy his Concord recordings from the 1990's: 'I'll be seeing you', 'What a little moonlight can do' & 'Tenority'. Of the three I prefer 'Tenority' but they are all excellent sessions

And why this one, which was a collection of outtakes (good as some of them are) when originally issued, instead of 'For Losers' or 'Things Have Got To Change'? Let's hope the person responsible got 'downsized'.

I'm looking to buy this set once it comes down to a reasonable price. Does anyone have any info when Universal will be putting it out on 'special offer'?

Every CD is 16 bit/44.1 kHz PCM. Sometimes, the mastering engineer will convert the analog to digital at 20 or 24 bit and work on the digital at that point, but it always has to be converted to 16 bit PCM for CD. If the CD is encoded in HDCD and your player can decode it, there are two extra bits at play, but I'm not sure that both bits are always used. FWIW, I've never been a believer that 20 bit or 24 bit equates to "good sounding CD". It's all in the mastering, not the bits. I've heard just as many crappy-sounding 24 bit masterings as 16 bit ones. Later, Kevin Thanks for that Kevin. I was really thinking more of downloads that I have copied to CDs. For instance I have a significant number of CDs created from e-music which seem to vary in quality. I know when I look at the downloaded .mp3 file I can identify the bit-rate at which it was created eg 256kbps, 320kbps etc, but when I then burn it to CD this information seems to disappear. Is there any way of identifying it from the CD?

Can anyone tell me whether there is any way of checking the quality/bit-rate of tracks on CDs? I have some CDs which seem to sound better than others and wondered whether they were recorded at a higher bit-rate or what(?)

Does anyone have a link to where future releases are identified?

I have a number of LPs for sale including some rare 1970s free jazz: Vinyl on ebay Thanks for looking

His 2003 CD on Soul Note, 'Big Chief Dreaming' is a good listen but for me his greatest recordings were those he made in the 1960's with the then cream of the New York avant-garde - Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Reggie Workman, Don Moore, Milford Graves etc. If you like that kind of music then I wholeheartedly recommend: 'The New York Contemporary Five' with Don Cherry & Archie Shepp (Storyville STCD 8209) 'Consequences' with Don Cherry & Archie Shepp 'Mohawk' with Roswell Rudd 'Rufus' with Archie Shepp Unfortunately, apart from the Storyville CD, all of the others are very hard to find but I know that Downtown Music Gallery has them available as CD-Rs which is probably the only realistic way of getting hold of them now.

Most (all?) of his recordings are available as downloads on emusic.

I've always found that a little Gil Melle goes a long way.

It was included in the e-mail I received from Jazz Loft. If you go through the checkout process you will find that there is no charge for shipping. I know, I've done it! BTW Since my post I've seen the CD available from Downtown Music Gallery DMG for $13. With shipping it will be cheaper than Jazz Loft.

Who said jazz re-issues are dead? Following on from the recent re-issue of Horace's quartet recording 'Dial 'B' for Barbara' there is a second re-issue now available of his Big Band, 'Live at I.U.C.C.' Jazz Loft are doing a special promotion for 24 hours of $23.99 with free shipping anywhere in the world, so get in quick. It's a great recording.

I see that Downtown Music Gallery DMG have made this very rare Selwyn Lissack BYG recording available on CD on their own in-house label. It's remastered from vinyl and is claimed to sound better than the original BYG recording (That shouldn't be too difficult to believe!) I can't comment on the music since I've never heard it, but anything with Mike Osborne playing with elements of the Brotherhood of Breath is likely to be worth hearing. One thing you can be certain about is that you won't be humming along with the tunes! Here is some of the blurb from DMG et al about the recording: THE FIRST RELEASE ON OUR 'DMG ARC' LABEL [after two years, finally!!!] SELWYN LISSACK'S FRIENDSHIP NEXT OF KIN With MIKE OSBORNE /MONGEZI FEZA/KENNETH TERROADE/HARRY MILLER/EARL FREEMAN - Facets Of The Univers (DMG ARC 702; USA) The First Release on our newly formed DMG ARC label is considered by many fans to be one of the rarest late '60s Euro/Brit avant jazz recordings Originally released on the BYG associated 'Goody' label in France [in fact the only one of seven Goody releases that was an original release, and not a questionable reissue], the LP has commanded high prices ranging to $100 to $300 from collector's shops and auction websites including eBay. "Recorded September 1969: London, England. The career of white South African Selwyn Lissack is a mysterious one. It is unclear when he left, but he was in England in the late '60's. He played in a group with Lol Coxhill; recorded Facets, his only album as a leader; and played on The Sun is Coming Up by Ric Colbeck (whatever happened to him?). He then gave up music and is now a well known sculptor, working mainly on holographic sculpture. This album has a stellar lineup, including alto flamethrower Mike Osborne and fellow South African Harry Miller. It also borrows two participants and the side-long track format of Kenneth Terroade's Love Rejoice (BYG/Actuel, 1969).Free Jazz is best categorized geographically. Groups like the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Iskra 1903 cast the mold that will forever be equated with improvisational music from the UK-sparse, understated and often quite tedious. However, this is definitely NOT what Facets of the Univers or its players are about. Players like the always-intense Mike Osborne, like Harry Miller, who could and did play just about everything with everybody, like Kenneth Terroade, who participated in the American expatriate free jazz scene in Paris that was well documented on the BYG Actuel series. The approach to extemporization is in fact closer to the Actuel model than one might expect. The brief march-like melody of the title track is merely a jumping off point for various solos, both unaccompanied, and in tandem with others. Lissack plays with an appealing sense of urgency, each line always rolling out towards the next phrase, keeping the music mobile. The piece ebbs and flows as three horns simultaneously ascend to frenzied peaks, then descend into near silence. The second piece "Friendship Next Of Kin" is more influenced by contemporary classical music in its sparseness. It does not disappoint in energy as the intensity rises steadily for the second half. It is perhaps only marred by some bizarre spoken word that is unfortunately common to this kind of music. The liner notes did not originally identify the piano player or speaker but it can be safely assumed that it is Earl Freeman [and passerby Louis Moholo provides some incidental percussion]." Andrey Henkin, AMG Ltd Ed CD for $14