HutchFan

Yep. I have that one. ...Foogly cover indeed. Such GOOD music though!

DeJohnette is one of my personal favorites. I think he's a wonderful musician and he's made MANY great records.

I just noticed that MPS is making three superb (imho) Martial Solal titles available (as downloads only) on March 11th: Four Keys (with Lee Konitz, John Scofield & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen) Suite for Trio (with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen & Daniel Humair) Nothing But Piano (Solal solo) All three are tremendous, but Suite for Trio was the record that made me a Solal convert.

Bill -- Funny story. Did Kingsley object to the lewdness of Martin's writing? Or was it something else that bothered him?

Oi, yes. Henry James' novels are a tough slog! The prose is so heavy and labyrinthine. I prefer his short stories too. I guess he's more effective in smaller doses! ...Besides, I'd much rather read the writings of Henry's brother, William James, the psychologist and philosopher.

Thanks for sharing, Larry. I'm going to pull that one out and give it a spin. Just the trombone section alone: Lawrence Brown, Butter Jackson and Tyree Glenn! Phew! Great! I think Duke's late-40's/early-50's bands are WAY underrated. I'm surprised that the Columbia studio material from that era still isn't widely available (aside from the material released on LPs like Masterpieces). I have the complete 1947-52 French CBS set on LP. I know that this same set was available on CD for a minute. But both sets are hard to find now. It seems strange to me because that band made some fantastic music.

Allen, what do you find problematic about the notes? I don't have the set (yet), so I haven't read them. I'm just curious.

Me too.

I've really enjoyed that set. The live Tennstedt Fifth in that set is FANTASTIC, as is the Barbirolli Sixth. Some of my favorite Mahler recordings. But I've never quite made my way into Barbirolli's Ninth. I like it, but it's not slayed me like several other M9s have. What do you think of Barbirolli's reading of the Ninth, alankin?

fasstrack, I'm not all that familiar with Ogerman -- but I agree with you that Wave and Stone Flower are both something special.

Sibelius: Symphonies & Orchestral Works / Sir John Barbirolli, Hallé Orchestra (EMI/Warner Classics) Disc 2 - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 Listened to this CD last night and again this morning. Barbirolli's reading of the First Symphony is TRANSCENDENT! The only other version that I've heard that comes close to Barbirolli's magical touch is Stokowski's with the National PO (Columbia/Sony). Sir John's way with the Fourth Symphony is strong too -- even if it doesn't quite scale the heights of the First.

Ha! I hope not! Like I said, they're all very good. Also, don't overlook Patrimony: A True Story. Instead of a novel, it's a memoir. Roth reflects on his relationship with his father, as well as his friendship with Primo Levi. Some of it is very sad, but it all rings true.

Yesterday, I picked up Graham Lock's Forces in Motion: The Music & Thoughts of Anthony Braxton from my local library. I'd requested it through inter-library loan, and they finally got a copy for me. I'm already half-way through it. Fascinating stuff. A few years ago, I went on a big Philip Roth bender. I read maybe a dozen of his books. I enjoyed every one of them. But I think American Pastoral was the best of the bunch. Yes. I agree.

Yeah!!! Love those records. GREAT!!!

Liszt: Harmonies poétiques et religieuses; Sonata in B minor / François-Frédéric Guy (Zig-Zag Territories)

For what it's worth, I like Runnicles. I think he's a fine conductor. He's the Principal Guest Conductor with the Atlanta SO, so there are regular opportunities to hear him conduct here in town.

That's cool, jazzbo! I have an older Rega 'table, the Planar 3. But I don't have any of your tricked-out add-ons, though!

Found this LP today in a dollar bin. One dollar! VG+ vinyl; VG cover. The Jimmy Giuffre 3 (Atlantic) I already have this music on CD. But at that price...

Over here in the USA, the Lifetime Network (!) will be showing the new BBC War & Peace adaptation. It starts on Monday. I'm looking forward to it -- though I suppose I shouldn't expect too much with "only" six hours! Besides, I'm sure the new series will hardly compare with the BBC's wonderful War & Peace adaptation from the early 1970s. Aside from one of the three main characters who is badly miscast (Morag Hood in the role of Natasha), it's some of my all-time favorite television. Anthony Hopkins is PERFECT as Pierre Bezukhov -- even Hopkins himself has said that the role was some of his best work -- and Alan Dobie is an admirable Andrei Bolkonsky.

Thanks ubu!

Thanks for the insight, Home...

Has anyone ever heard this record? Klaus Weiss Quintet - Child's Prayer (MRC/EMI Electrola, 1978) I've never heard it before, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about it. Mal Waldron's presence on the LP is what drew me to it. Here's the personnel: - Drums – Klaus Weiss - Tenor Saxophone – Roman Schwaller - Guitar – Günter Möll - Piano – Mal Waldron - Bass – Rocky Knauer I'm not familiar with any of these musicians other than Weiss and Waldron -- and Weiss only vaguely. Still, I'm intrigued.

I agree, clifford!!! From my point of view, the brightest gems in the MPS catalog are the Albert Mangelsdorff and Martial Solal recordings. But there are MANY more excellent MPS recordings that are much further off the beaten path. Just recently, soulpope turned me on to another MPS rec that I'd never heard before: Clare Fischer's Alone Together. Beautiful!

A great record. A lot of these various artists-type records don't come off for me. They just don't cohere. There's no sense of "album." But I think this one works. I have the Palo Alto 2-LP set. Too bad that they excised those tracks off the CD. If it's not a duration issue, I wonder if it was a legal/permissions thing. (?)

I think it's interesting. I hear the Minnie Riperton thing you mention, Jim. But there's also something "prog-rock-ish" about the music too. I suppose it's the rhythms. And the "power trio" band config. I dig it. Spalding could easily rest on her laurels and churn out albums of bland standards. They'd probably sell like hot-cakes. I admire the fact that she's willing to move in unexpected directions, doing something different. Of course, it's nice that I happen to admire the type of music that she's made.