riverrat

My policy regarding waiting for remasters vs. picking up mediocre sounding current versions depends on whether the current version is OOP or still in print. If the title is in print, I feel I can wait and see if they remaster it. But if a disc I want is OOP and I see a copy, I usually grab it. As noted above in this thread, some titles may not be remastered for years, if ever, so I hedge my bets and grab the ones that are likely to become harder to find.

Thanks for the comments folks! I will probably go ahead and pick up the Fresh Sounds CD of this session.

I'd like to hear from board members about the the session itself, and also on the quality of the Fresh Sounds reissue. Thanks in advance.

Blakey Mosaic FS on amazon Not exactly ebay craziness, but crazy just the same...

Red Trumpet has this title for $36.99, with free shipping: Sonny Clark Trios 2 CD TOCJ 66125/6 is part of Toshiba's "Complete Series". This seems like a good deal, a lot less than I paid last year at CDJapan anyway. A great sounding 24-bit remaster. The first disc has the same music as the domestic RVG, but in a different order- the alternate takes are grouped with the master takes. The second disc has another session that I actually like a bit more. Here is the track listing: (DISC 1) 1. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (Alternate Take) 2. I Didn't Know What Time It Was 3. Two Bass Hit 4. Two Bass Hit (Alternate Take) 5. Be-Bop 6. Todd's Delight (Alternate Take) 7. Todd's Delight 8. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise 9. I'll Remember April (DISC 2) 1. Black Velvet 2. I'm Just A Lucky So And So 3. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You 4. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (Alternate Take) 5. Ain't No Use 6. The Breeze And I 7. I Can't Give You Anything But Love 8. Can't We Be Friends? 9. I Cover The Waterfront 10. Somebody Love Me 11. Blues In The Night (Short Version) 12. Blues In The Night (Long Version ) (Alternate Take) 13. All Of You 14. Dancing In The Dark

I've been trying to track this one down for awhile now. AFAIK it is the definitive version of one of my favorite Coltrane titles. I'm fairly certain it has been OOP for some time. I may have to break down and buy the domestic Rhino remaster soon if I don't locate the Japanese version. ONce again, the number of the release I am looking for is AMCY 1159. Thanks in advance for any leads...

Hi Brad- I sent you a PM.

This is a very enjoyable session, BTW. I may be in the minority, but I like it more than the apparently more highly sought after "Another Workout", which didn't do a whole lot for me.

Thank you Joe G. I guess I'll have to have an expresso or something to get over being too lazy to use the search function.

I caught that laziness bug from the other thread, and just don't have the energy to dredge through the BMG site to see what's new. Has anyone sifted through their listings lately? What do they have as far as Blue Note and/or RVGs & Conns? Any other suggestions? I prefer late 50's early 60's hard bop, but I have a relatively open mind...

Joining this thread late to add my $.02. We used to bring a personal cassette player with battery powered speakers on Colorado River trips. I know this sounds like blasphemy in one the world's greatest wildernesses, but we never played it during the day, and the trips have a definite social component, especially in the evenings after dark and a few refreshments. Many evenings were fairly calm, spent stargazing, sitting around the campfire (fall trips) and the like, but at least a few times each trip, people really feel like partying. Eight or nine days into a 2-week trip, and following a day of huge whitewater was a fine time to break out the tunes and pop in my "best of" James Brown tape, culled from the 4 CD "Star Time" box. "There It Is" was the first cut, and by half way through the tape we could have even the stodgiest, middle aged, conservative clients dancing on the beach like tribesmen (and women). Really letting their hair down. Nothing did to 'em like ol' JB!

Thank you Late. I will indeed wait for the JRVG. I used to do a search before posting questions of this nature on the old BNBB but failed to do so this time. I guess this is worth doing now. It's a testament to this site that posters have developed enough of an archive in the various discussions to make searches productive here too.

Thanks for the replies. I guess my question would have been better placed in the "Discography" forum. It looks like there are actually 2 extra tracks on the US version- "Melting Pot" and "True Colors". My TOCJ has only the first 5 listed by Mike, so it is probably worth it to keep looking for the OOP US version.

I've been listening to this one lately and enjoying it. I have the TOCJ. I seem to recall that the long OOP U.S. version had an extra track. Is it worth searching for a copy of this disc for that one track? What's it like?

Man With the Golden Arm: I checked some old orders from Hiroshi- it looks like MWTGA is correct and I was mistaken. I found an order for 2 CDs for which I was charged 500 yen, or exactly 250 yen per disc. This is much, much less than any other Japanese source and another reason to order from Early Records.

"You might try contacting Hiroshi at Early Records. He may be able to get it for you at a reasonable price. " Hiroshi does indeed have good prices and great service, but he can't ship from Japan for less than about 1300 yen/~$11, so it isn't very cost effective unless you order multiple discs. He charges about 2500 yen/~$21 for a JRVG, but sometimes finds mint used copies that sell for about 2000 yen/~$17. I still highly recommend ordering from Hiroshi- he's great to work with. He is willing to look for, and can often find CDs not listed on his website.

I recently got the JRVG through a seller on Amazon for $22.61 plus $2.49 shipping. Still semi-pricey, but not as bad as it gets, I suppose: Bottom's Up!

Just noticed this thread. Dredging up the issue of "Lush Life" again, it sounded way too smooth for me as well. Moreover, I felt suckered in by the 5 star rating on AMG. I started to dabble in 50's and 60's jazz after vectoring into Wayne Shorter via Weather Report, but was baffled by the jazz section in music stores. Dozens of artists I had never heard of, who often had numerous releases spanning decades in some cases. With a limited budget, it was really hard to tell which discs I might like. Locating and buying a hard copy of the AMG Jazz Guide was a revelation. Here at last was some guidance on what artists and sessions, out of the thousands available, I should buy. I spent many hours perusing the entries, learning about the lives and careers of people like Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, etc etc etc. Finding the updated online AMG site was similarly revelatory. Bottom line for me is that there are bound to be disagreements and inconsistencies with subjective ratings of jazz music. AMG is certainly not infallible, and the rating of "Lush Life" is, IMO, a perfect example of that. But I continue to use it to guide my purchases, and find that Scott Yanow's entries at least seem to be consistent with my tastes most of the time.

While we're on the subject, has anyone compared the JRVGs and RVGs of Blakey/JM "At the Cafe Bohemia" discs? I do know that the RVGs have some extra tracks...

I recall that many members of the old BNBB were of the opinion that the JRVG of "Leeway" was one of the worst in that series. I never picked up the JRVG after hearing all the bad reviews, and eventually found a copy of the Conn version, which was pretty good. The RVG was a definite improvement though, and sounds great, so I think its safe to say that one sounds better than the JRVG. On the other hand, the domestic RVG of "A Fickle Sonance" sounds pretty harsh to me, and I'm not real discriminating, nor do I have a really great sound system. I believe this has also been mentioned in another thread. I think the JRVG of that session may be better. And, of course, there are a considerable number of people who prefer the TOCJ series over any RVG or JRVG. Personally, I have quite a few CDs from all three series, because I purchase them on an opportunistic basis whenever I see a disc that I want for a decent price. The TOCJs are often great sounding, especially the 20-bit ones, and the concensus seems to be that they are very consistent, whereas the RVGs and JRVGs are quite variable in sound quality.

At the risk of having the TOCJ and JRVG partisans line up on each side, what can those of you who have the new JRVG of Hubbard's "Ready For Freddie" tell me about the sound? Is the JRVG the definitive version? The TOCJ was definitely a considerable upgrade from the Conn version of this session, which is one of my favorite Blue Notes of all time.

Mine has the distortion as well.

Seems that there is at least SOME demand for Three Sounds sessions- a TOCJ of "Feelin Good" just went for $49 on ebay...

I checked the site a few times before ordering a couple of weeks ago, and noticed that it was down sporadically during that time. I would say to keep checking back.

"Soul Trombone" is worth looking for, available as a Japanese import.