T.D.

Isn't there a weird sonic artifact on that album? On one of the tunes (I forget which, haven't listened in a while), you can faintly hear a broadcast of a sports event. As if somebody (in the control room?) was listening to a ballgame on the radio and forgot to pay attention to the session. I'll have to pull that one off the shelf. Maybe the episode is on the CD's "bonus track", which would be more excusable.

I have more live Rahsaan '70s recordings than I need, but this one is primo. This is an excellent reissue.

I'd buy one of those "CD laser lens cleaner" discs. They only cost $10-15. If that doesn't help, then it's probably time to get a new one. Unless you want to take the top off and try to clean the lens yourself...worst case is you mess it up and have to replace it anyway. I saw some links estimating the effective life of a laser unit at 10,000 hours playing time. So if the player is more than 10 years old, there's a good chance the laser is dying.

If you google cd lens cleaner, you can find: Products (discs with brushes) that claim to clean the lens; Videos on how to clean the lens manually. I think the former work to some extent (on at least some players), have never tried the latter. I also think that laser units sometimes just die, which in the price range of players I use means "get a new one". I'm not sure about high-end models...maybe those lasers get replaced.

Enjoying this. Some people don't like Cowell's "later straight-ahead" albums as much as his earlier work. Sometimes they can be slightly anodyne (which is why I was apprehensive about this one on the Japanese Venus label*), but: (a) he never played in a very "out" style; (b) he still plays great on the later recordings. * Amusingly, discogs now censors the notoriously soft-porn Venus covers. You have to log in to view them. 🤣 With a funny West Side Story medley.

That's my favorite Hawes album. I have a fair number of his recordings. Green Leaves of Summer comes to mind as next favorite. I don't have The Seance. Will re-listen to a few titles soon to see if my assessments have changed.

🤮

My most frequently listened to Mosaic.

I couldn't find any info on the interwebs. His website lists no upcoming or past performances and I could not locate a Facebook page. Apparently he and Joshua Edelman led a Jazz Workshop session last July in Bilbao, and also gave a 2-piano concert. That's the only post-2019 thing I saw.

Great story, and Maimoun would be on my short list of "favorite Cowell tunes".

I bought this when it was released, wasn't impressed and forgot about it. During an ongoing Nimbus West / Tapscott binge, I pulled it off the shelf. Now I enjoy it and think it's pretty good.

2 preorders from DG en route:

Oh good grief! After whiffing on the album of #5, it now transpires that: #3 is one of my favorite pianists; I own the album; I make him a near-automatic suspect on almost any un-ID'd BFT piano track. #3 is this.