riverrat

I do the exact same thing, except with the cd booklet. For me, the album cover sets the tone for what music is inside and its part of the whole listening experience for me. Reid Miles has a lot to do with that along with other album cover artists that really had an uncanny ability to produce in art, what the musical artists were laying down in sound. I heartily agree with these statements. I know its off the original topic, but I find this discussion regarding the importance (or lack of) original album art very interesting. As a child of the 70's (and 60's to some extent) I came of age during the vinyl era. At first, we thumbed through crates of albums front to back to select one, viewing the art on each album as we went. Viewing the cover was part of the "gestalt" of choosing one to listen to, and for familiar music, subliminally reminding us of contexts and associations in which we'd listened to it before. As time went on and lp collections grew, we started to store them bookshelf style and selected them by title printed on the spine. We lost the ability to view each cover as we searched, and I learned to make sure to select a copy on which the title lined up with the spine, which was not always the case. But even then, once an album was chosen, the cover was on display. The cover art was an art form unto itself, and while not the main focus, still a part of the listening experience and conveying the artist's "vision" for the music and/or the "image" of the artist or group and also to some extent the record label, e.g. Blue Note. With the switch to CDs, the art got a lot smaller, but retaining the original art remained and remains important to me. Some of the cheesiest CDs to me are ones that do not retain the original art, regardless of the recording quality. Don't get me wrong, this does not make or break a decision to buy a CD but quality original art adds value to what I'm willing to pay. Now that we find ourselves on the brink of a wholesale switch to storing our music in complete virtual fashion, completely free of any physical copy, I'm trying to figure out how to retain the album art in my music files. I know itunes and various other media players can help with this, but I hate itunes and do not use it. So I need to figure out a solution. Among the myriad different options for digital music servers and PC-based playback, the only options I will consider as a semi-permanent solution will have to include a screen and capability to view the album art in decent size. I'd love to find an option that displayed a small, high quality image of the album art as part of the filename for each recording I have stored as a digital file, so that I could retain my old process of triggering memories and seeing the art when choosing music. Ideally, these icons would be "clickable" to bring up a larger version of the cover art, and additional content such as the back cover art (if any) liner notes, reviews, etc and other info regarding the recording. I have 1200+ CDs worth of CD-quality music files at my fingertips. It is incredibly convenient, and clearly the wave of the future. But something is definitely lost when all I get to look at while selecting one is hundreds of identical little yellow file icons...

I think this is absolutely the way to go. DAC capability is evolving at a rapid pace and is by far the most important influence in CD playback quality. Some people believe that running a very cheap CDP as a transport compromises sonics even with an external DAC. So it might be worth it to get a decent quality older unit for a transport. For example, used Sony DVP-S9000 ES DVD players go for around ~$3-400 on audiogon giving you a high quality CD transport and SACD capability as well. The DVD circuits in this player are good but now obsolete, but you can completely bypass all of that and run it straight audio. This player is solid as a rock with bunch of copper shielding, weighs 27 pounds. Very high build quality, was TOL around 2001 or so, $1500 new. Redbook CD playback is pretty good stock too. Then put the rest of your budget into a DAC. There's a thriving used market for DACs, you could try a few different ones out. I plan to get one with USB, but also coax and digital so I can run a couple of CD players and also a music server. Benchmark is out of my price range, but the Paradisea 3 non-oversampling DAC with USB and tubed output is looking good. I'm also considering the Citypulse DA2.03e...

There are a couple of copies of this CD on half.com right now for $29.99- not really a bad price for a very rare CD and an outstanding performance including some smokin Woody Shaw. One is a new copy. Usual disclaimers apply- I'm not affiliated with the sellers, have nothing to gain, etc...

Both of those Tina Brooks discs are "must haves".

Black Hawk label number: BKH50205CD Now I am looking for it too!

Is this the same Mombasa? HERE is the link where I found this...sure sounds like the same group, and the timeframe is correct EDIT, its the same group: Label: WIND Records Catalog#: WIND 002 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: Germany Released: 1980 Genre: Funk / Soul, Jazz Style: Jazz-Funk, Afrobeat, Modal Credits: Bass - Ed Wright Congas, Percussion - Tom Nicholas Congas, Percussion, Vocals - Darryl Wilson , Donald Coleman Drums, Percussion - Tony Nahar Trombone, Vocals, Percussion - Lou Blackburn Trumpet, Percussion - Carmell Jones Notes: Recorded January 1980 at Cornet Studio, Cologne, Germany. Published by veraBra Music Tracklisting: A1 Requiem For The Third World (4:40) A2 Kumbayah (3:32) A3 Devi Devi Den Beintu (4:48) A4 Drums Of Mombasa (2:41) A5 Diana´s Venti (1:55) B1 Call And Response (4:53) B2 Tathagata (2:18) B3 Zimbabwe (5:30) B4 O'Bachulli (2:22)

They made four! albums: Mombasa: african rhythms & blues - Intercord/Spiegelei 1975 Mombasa 2: african rhythms & blues - Intercord/Spiegelei 1976 Ode To Kalahari - Intercord/Spiegelei 1979 Peace Maker - Pläne 1981 Really been enjoying Mombasa 2 (picked it up at Dusty Groove) thanks again Rooster. I think I can assume this one and "Peacemaker" aren't available on CD. Well I can only hope!!

I am a huge fan of Fela. With more lead time, this would have been a perfect opportunity for us to travel to NYC, do the touron* thing, and take in this show. Oh yes, and visit a West African restaurant! *touron: term from my ski patrol days meaning a clueless person visiting the area for the first time, who appears lost. Etymology is tourist crossed with a moron.

I am lurking, so there are at least 4...

Rooster it is probably that I just haven't been paying attention, but it seems you've started posting again after a bit of hiatus? At any rate, THANK YOU for this. As a fan of African music from reggae to afrobeat and all types of afrojazz, I really enjoy the first Mombasa album, which I learned of here on an older, different thread. But that thread made no reference to a second album by these guys! I see Dusty Groove has it, I will have to track it down ASAP.

PM sent RE Perez Prada...

PM sent RE Barney Wilen Alain Jean Marie Dreamtime

Drat on the Shaw Setting Standards

PM sent re Paul Bley, “Not Two, Not One” (ECM) [trio w/ Peacock, Motian]

PM sent RE Jazz Crusaders AT THE LIGHTHOUSE '68 (Pacific Jazz, BMG issue)

I would have to agree. This one has been in heavy rotation here since it arrived a few days ago.

These guys have some nice DACs: Obad Imports I'm not affiliated and have never ordered anything from them. EDIT: Forgot to mention that you will probably need a DAC with USB input capability. Most DACs do not but your choices are expanding rapidly.

I suppose I should say "grabbed" AFTER I get them in my hands. Hopefully our orders will come through since these two were just listed...

Thanks for the heads up. Just grabbed both of these, they've been on my list for awhile...

I've had nothing but cordial relations with robert, and received all of my CDs. Perhaps he is having issues with his email or something...

Keep the recommendations coming folks! Really appreciate the "heads ups" you all are providing for obscure stuff in some of my favorite genres that I would otherwise never find. I just ordered used copies of both of these for a total of less than $11 shipped. FWIW, here's the AMG review of MandinGroove: "Over the years, the musical exchanges between Africa and the West have been fascinating. African rhythms have had a direct or indirect impact on a variety of musical genres that started in the West -- everything from jazz, blues, R&B, and rap in the United States, to salsa, bachata-merengue, plena, samba, and cumbia in Latin America. And things came full circle when many of those western art forms influenced African pop in countries ranging from Ethiopia to Mozambique to Nigeria. The western influence is also quite strong in the Afro-pop of Mali, where Cheick-Tidiane Seck was born and raised. Recorded in 1999, 2002, and 2003 in three different cities (Paris, New York, and Los Angeles), MandinGroove thrives on the sort of east-meets-west energy that Manu Dibango, King Sunny Ade, Habib Koité, Mahmoud Ahmed, and the late Fela Kuti are all known for. Kuti, in fact, is among the many influences on this 76-minute CD, which combines African sensibilities with a healthy appreciation of soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop. But MandinGroove, Seck's first solo project, doesn't get into the really extended jams that Kuti often favored, and he has an appealing personality of his own. Although most of the lyrics are not in English, MandinGroove is full of American influences -- which can range from an Isley Brothers-minded guitar solo to an Earth, Wind & Fire-flavored horn arrangement to a Charles Earland-ish use of the Hammond B-3 organ (an instrument that Seck plays extensively on this release). Seck wears more than one hat on MandinGroove; in addition to singing lead and playing various instruments (keyboards, piano, and acoustic guitar on top of his B-3), he produced the disc and wrote most of the material. MandinGroove is not only an album of hypnotic, memorable grooves; it's also a demonstration of how enriching multiculturalism can be."

For literally years now I've seen this curiously titled thread, "Funny Rat". This evening, I decided to finally have a look. Hmmmm...

Brrrn can decode and burn FLAC files directly to disc. It is freeware as well.

Please do report back! I see this is their second release.

CD changer, and "high quality" are largely mutually exclusive. If it were me, with that budget and if I absolutely HAD to have a changer, I'd probably buy two players. Does your wife care about SACD? If not, look into the Marantz CC 4001 changer. If the changer needs to read SACDs, look at a used Sony SCD-222ES. With the remaining $800, look at the Marantz SA-8001 SACD player. Another option would be to go with one of Sony's newer SACD changers, e.g. SCD-C2000ES for ~$400, and put the rest of your budget into a good used DAC from eBay or audiogon. Most of the Sony players sound quite good on SACD but redbook playback leaves something to be desired. Using a good quality stand-alone DAC would address that issue.