Rob C

I just played part of this for the first time and really dig it. BUT--there's a "buzz" in the right channel (whenever Drake hits one particular drum, sounds like) that is driving me crazy. Do I have a bad copy or is this just how the disc sounds? Anyone? Thanks....

I picked up Live in Paris and have been enjoying it. I'd like to point out that I think the liners are incorrect that this is one concert. There's definitely a trap drummer on disc two, unlike the percussion background on disc one. That made me think disc two was recorded after adding Famadou Don Moye to the band. A look at the AEC discography on line (and I don't have the link handy, but I found it through this board, I think) seemed to confirm that these discs were probably from two separate concerts. I like the first one better (and the sound is better on it, too), but I think this was a worthwhile acquisition--and I don't have a lot of AEC, so I want a lot more!!!

UP, because I picked this up at Dusty Groove this weekend. Wow. I hadn't heard a whole lot of Roscoe before this, though I was impressed by his performances at the Chicago Jazz Fest last year. This is a GREAT record, very much worthy of all the acclaim I've been seeing on the jazz boards. I like that it's relatively short. My attention span peters out around 45 minutes for the best music. This is a nearly perfect session, IMO. I saw Air Time there, too, and having just heard them for the first time (found Montreaux Suisse Air on LP), I want it!

I purchased the same machine a month ago. I also got the 40gb Nomad Zen. I paid $250 at Best Buy, plus another $40 for an extended warranty. I read on the Head-Fi forum that Creative's warranty isn't very good, and the extended warranty was highly recommended. I don't know how the unit will hold up over time, but with the extended warranty, I've got 3 or 4 years. I'm incredibly HAPPY with this machine. I know it's a little bigger than the IPod, but it's also half the price (for the 40gb model). It's really a kick taking hundreds of albums with me everywhere I go. I've been encoding a 160k and my estimate is that I'll be able to get a little over 500 CDs on the player. Me too. I had to return the first machine I got, as the battery connection was bad and the power kept cutting out. No such problems with the replacement. I've also had some issues with the software locking up my computer. But--no problems whatsoever with the machine itself, and I've got 368 albums on there so far (mostly at 160kbps) and still almost 12 G left to play with!

iPods are cool and all, but way overpriced. I recently got a 40GB Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra for $300. I'm all about the memory. Let's see, it's a little over half full so far, with.... 264 albums. Not too shabby!

Late: 20 discs is more Lacy than I have, so I'm curious to know, what are YOUR recs? I listened again to Clangs. Good, but very different from other Lacy I've heard. For one thing, Lacy only takes one proper solo. Each tune has only one or two soloists and it's a double-sextet, so everybody only gets one or two on the whole record. And the singing is almost operatic. I really want to check out the Lacy/Waldron 4-disc set on hat soon.... I don't have any of their duo discs.

I'm definitely a Lacy fan, but of the three you mention, I only have Clangs. It's different: almost "classical" in its concentration on composition and on the types of compositions, and there is a fair amount of singing (though as Penguin pointed out, the voices are used almost instrumentally). If you're totally averse to Irene Aebi, you might want to stay away (but it sounds like that's not a problem for you). That said, I like the record. THAT said, I don't listen to it very often. (Though right now I find myself wanting to! I'll have to put it on when I get a chance.) Blinks is very good, but similar (many of the same compositions), and even better, IMO, is Cliches, which I think should still be available from hatology. Lacy's great sextet with George Lewis sitting in. Great record. Morning Joy is also a must (it's the one that made me a fan in the first place), as is School Days which I recently picked up--very exciting record.

That is (or was--it's dwindling!) the most incredible collection of jazz I've ever seen (they told me it was over 9000 discs). I didn't get near the 50(!) that sheldonm picked up, but I got a few gems over several lunch-hour trips to JRM: ISKRA 1903: Frankfurt 1991 Peter Brotzmann: Reserve Cecil Taylor: The Hearth Charlie Kohlhase: Dancing on my Bedpost Anthony Braxton: Eugene (1989) Exploding Customer: Live at Glenn Miller Cafe Andre Jaume: L'Oc Bobby Bradford/John Carter: Comin' On London Jazz Composers Orch.: Theoria Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Odyssey And I put back dozens that I would have liked to have got. Still, I'm happy with what I found (though I've only listened to the ISKRA 1903 disc so far, except for samples at JRM when I was going through the painful process of deciding what to buy and what to put back). I nearly choked when I saw that stack of Mosaics, but just couldn't swing any of the ones I wanted.

I would say that Sustain, even more than most records, requires more than one hearing to appreciate.

I happened to pick up a spring drum in an instrument store recently. I'd never seen one before. Is that what Cleaver used on his solo piece? Anyone?

I wasn't even planning to register on this forum, but damned if I can let this masterpiece's thread wither away with only 10 posts. This is a GREAT record. Wonderfully atmospheric. I'm thinking about the title, too: I read somewhere the idea that the song cycle reflects life, birth through death, in which case I suppose "Sustain" could refer to sustaining hardships through life, or maybe to music's role is sustaining us through them. It's also more literally desriptive: a lot of the notes, especially on the solo pieces, seem to just hang in the air an almost unreasonable amount of time. Contemplative. I'm also very happy to see Mr. McPhee getting some more "mainstream" exposure courtesy of Thirsty Ear, which is currently one of my favorite labels--in part because of this record. As for his participation being overdubs, I'm just going to pretend I never even heard that.