chuckyd4

There's a place called "Value Village" or something like that in Atlanta - basically a thrift store that sells used clothes, kitchen wear, electronics, etc. Definitely not high class shopping, but a great place to go if you're into the thrift store thing. One time I was in there and found a stack of really ratty old musty LPs. Can't remember exactly what I picked up, but got a couple of decent finds (iirc) for something like 50c a piece.

You should definitely check out the group of Swedish musicians he's been actively promoting over the last few years. First of all, his group School Days is fine fine stuff - In Our Times is a live disc well worth checking out. Then he teamed this group up with the Swedish quintet Atomic (who are worth checking out in their own right - their 2 discs on Jazzland, Feet Music and Boom Boom are both well worth the money). The Atomic/School Days group has one double disc out - Nuclear Assembly Hall - which was one of my favorite discs of last year. I'm sure other's will chime in with their personal likes and dislikes on his more common stuff, but this is one sidelight I've become very obsessed with in the last year or two, so thought it deserved some mention.

Actually, yah, I didn't see that it was Diet Coke. I've never drank that stuff, so I have no idea what it is that messes with your teeth. Back to the original thread topic... any more direction to what you're interested in downloading?

Not to be mean, but seriously, how do your teeth look (just for the record, I have far from perfect teeth)? I used to drink a big gulp of Coke every day throughout the first half of work, but when I went to the dentist for the first time in about 5 years, I had 13 cavities. Don't know how old you are, or how often you go to the dentist, but you should probably have that checked out. I'm happy to say I've since cut down to about 1 or 2 every week, and no more big gulp stuff.

*ahem*

You're probably talking about Earwax records, which would not really be your thing unless you are a DJ, or really into underground hip hop. If you are, then fire away. The Tower does not have a great selection, but they do have a used vinyl/cd section, so you might get lucky... and they do have a bigger jazz selection than most other stores in town. It is on Peachtree in Buckhead - at the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont there is a large shopping center (with a Bridgetown Grill and Kroger), and it is right next to the Kroger. Little Five points is still worth a look.. Wax n Facts, obviously, has quite a bit of good vinyl, and Criminal Records has nicely priced used CDs, with an interesting smattering of jazz. Those are both right on Moreland in the heart of L5P, so pretty easy to find. Two stores you could probably hit up on the same trip to the Emory area, and absolutely worth a look: Wuxtry is on the corner of North Decatur (which goes right past Emory), and Clairmont Rd. Frankly, you could just follow Moreland up from L5P until it turns into Briarcliff, then turn right on North Decatur, and it'll take you right there in about 10 minutes. They have a cool jazz selection (and other kinds of music too), both CDs and LPs (the LPs are a bit pricey) and they will let you listen to anything before buying. The guys there are really nice. Then there is Full Moon Records on McLendon Ave right in the heart of Candler Park (if your in L5P, turn right at the Brewhouse and it'll take you straight there). Tiny shop, but packed with vinyl - probably the best selection of interesting/random stuff in town. It's also right next to the Flying Biscuit and across the street from Gato Bizco, two awesome places to have brunch. Finally, if you're in downtown Decatur (just east of Atlanta, and a nice place with shops and restaurants to spend an afternoon), there is one little CD shop worth a look - I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's in a blue building on the main street that goes into Decatur Square. CD only, but a nice selection of jazz, and another place you can listen to anything before you buy. Hope that helps - Atlanta isn't exactly the best music shopping town ever, but not bad at all once you figure out where you're going and take the time to find the nice spots. Good thing is all the stores are basically in the heart of areas where there's quite a bit of good eating/shopping going on, so you can combine it with a bit of hanging out/walking around in some of Atlanta's more interesting areas.

Don't know how far out of your way it is, but if Kansas City is on the itinerary at all, you could end up with some of the best BBQ of your life. I grew up there, but it's been about 10+ years since I lived there, so I'll let some other board members chime in with more specific info. Of course, Gates & Sons and KC Masterpiece are the most famous, but I bet somebody here has some great smaller recs. If Atlanta's on the itinerary, Fat Matt's Rib Shack has a really excellent sauce and it's super cheap.

Don't know the one in the 18th, but j lee is absolutely right about the stores near the Pantheon. There's one called Jussieu Jazz which has a really interesting little selection (don't remember the address, but a Google search should bring it up), an especially great experimental section, if that's your thing. Otherwise, there's Paris Jazz Corner, which has a nice selection of both new and used stuff. And of course you can check FNAC (any, really) or the Virgin on the Champs-Elysees; both have a pretty excellent, broad jazz selection (along with all other kinds of music). They can be pricey no doubt, but they both also have a lot of sales, so it's worth looking for some stickers or sale sections. In fact, at Virgin today I picked up a Charles Tolliver Music Inc. "Live in Tokyo" on Strata East, Atomic "Feet Music" (great Swedish quintet), an Eddie Henderson Rare Groove, and one of the limited edition 3-disc Trojan sets (the RAS Reggae one), none of which was more than 14 euros (and that was just for the 3 disc set, the others were more like 10). As far as the guidebook goes, the Lonely Planet is highly recommended, but maybe more than you really need for 5 days. That said, it has great maps, lots of good info and recommendations, and will get you just about everything you need. One option is to wait to buy one until you get here - for that I would recommend going to the WH Smith store, an all English book store on the Rue de Rivoli right near Concorde across from the Jardin des Tuileries. They'll have just about any guidebook, magazine, newspaper, novel or other reading material you need, and all in English. Enjoy Paris!

To be fair, I can see where you're coming from - the air he gives off can sometimes err on the side of "hipster cool," but as if from the 1950's. And I have to admit, not too much since Friendly Fire, or maybe the Nonet dates, has really grabbed me (I make a special exception for the disc with Hank Jones from last year - but that was more for hearing Hank than Lovano). Still, to be sure, Lovano has been around for decades... he was paying his dues in bigbands with some of the greats before some of us around here were even born. I don't think it's a real contrived hipster-ness, just - much like his playing - something that feels natural to him, based on the time he's put in and the environment he came out of. But I don't really know him, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass here.

Volume 1 is definitely worth checking out if you dig his playing elsewhere; haven't had the chance to check out Volume 2 yet. I believe they are both available on eMusic, though for those who are interested.

I nearly forgot... I read this article recently and found it fairly interesting. I don't know enough about it to know whether or not he's talking out his ass...

Let me throw in a recommendation for Lacie external drives, while we're talking about it. I tried both Lacie and Seagate, and have found the former to be more stable, quicker, and easier to store. I had one big foul-up with my Seagate, which kind of put me off of them, but I've had the Lacie for over a year, and (knocking on wood) no problems yet. If you can afford it (I can't), the real thing to do is get a couple of these drives and get some redundancy going.

PS... does anybody know how proprietary the iTunes store stuff is? I really haven't used it before, but I'm wondering if I'd be able to burn a copy onto CD and then play that CD in any normal stereo?

This is a nice little album. I found a vinyl copy a few years back, and thoroughly enjoyed it when I had a working turntable. Cool to know that it's available in digital format, I'll have to investigate. Too bad Verve isn't doing more with the great DeFranco that's available in their vaults. He's really underrepresented by in print albums.

Yes, no, and not a meth lab, but you're on the right track. In any case, all that stuff was like 5 or 6 years ago, so maybe they've cleaned up their act since then.

That's right, I read about that. The amazing thing to me was that they took in the 19 year old girl that worked there. I'm a dude, but I was 19 when I worked at Norman's... I tried my hardest to avoid the illegal stuff going on while I worked there, but I needed the money bad, and had a lot of trouble finding other jobs in the city. I would have been more than a little pissed if I had gone down for some of the stuff they were doing there.

Okay, so I did get something on sale, but not really in the range I was thinking. But I was so excited to see it, I couldn't pass up. Sanhedrin - Masada (1994-97 - The Unreleased Studio Recordings) I unequivocally love Masada, and have most of the studio records, so as far as I'm concerned (and based on the evidence of the live discs), 2 discs worth of alternate takes/extras is money well spent. Can't wait to dig in.

Brownie - Which FNAC did you find those at, and where is the sale section with stuff for €3? I see a lot of stuff for €8 or so, but I must have missed that part of the store. I could go on a nice little shopping spree this afternoon.

Anybody with any ideas about where to go with Jorge Ben after "Africa Brasil"? That's one of my favorite discs, but I've been a little confused about how to branch out from there.

I have some of each of these (the French reissues and the "Bluebird Firsts" reissues), and to my ears - notably, not audiophile at all - there is little advantage one way or the other in terms of sound. Both sound damn good to me, and a heap better than the weird black/brown reissue series you showed that one picture of. That said, the US versions undoubtedly trump the French ones in terms of extra goodies (i.e. having them vs. none at all). I think the French idea was to present the original albums on CD as closely as they could (i.e. the original cover art without extra graphics, and the original track listing), whereas the US idea was to do a proper "reissue" experience - meaning giving a complete idea of the context of the sessions as far as possible, by including alternate takes and extra tunes that didn't end up on the final product. My 2c.

I just got my catalogue, and hadn't checked this site or the Mosaic site in some time. Sad to say I missed this one... I have Royal Flush, and would have dug this without a doubt. Also, I just spent a 100 dollar gift certificate on some Selects a few months ago, and could have saved it for this one. Too bad.

Clare Fischer and Jimmy Rowles on one piano set? Sorry to be a pain, but where did you hear about this set? Those are two of my favorite "undersung" musicians, and will absolutely start salivating when I get some more info on this one. What period? What label(s)? Tease...

Okay, I had little idea about a lot of this stuff, other than players.... I liked the mix fairly well, though - I love the development of it. Track 1/Track 2 - I hope I'm not off base putting these two together, but they seem to go as a piece for some reason. I definitely heard "Waltz for Debby" in there, after the lush intro of Track 1. Doesn't sound at all like Evans to me, though. I understand why you would start the test with something like this, but it's not really my cup of tea. I would need to hear more to make a better decision. Track 3 - The strings and the rolling, repeated trumpet line seem designed to really get you pumped up for this track, but that's just the problem for me - it seems way too "designed" to really get me into it. Is this through-composed (including the trumpet part)? Not even worth guessing, cause it could be Wynton, Terence Blanchard or one of those guys, but I rarely if ever listen to them. Maybe someone I love normally, but this one would be a misfire for me. To me that first melodic piece on trumpet is not strong enough to keep bringing back time and time again... would have liked more development of it. Track 4 - Okay, now we're talking. Sounds like Gabor Szabo from those Chico Hamilton Impulse dates to me - but that's not Chico. This is a really killer groove, though, I could listen to this for like 30 minutes. The tenor sounds super familiar - the pithy high notes and then the way he descends across a phrase remind me of Charlie Rouse (?!?). Clearly never heard this detour in his career if it's him, though. I will absolutely seek this record out though when I find out what it is. Track 5 - AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I swear to god I have this in my collection, but I checked all the Joe Henderson and can't for the life of me figure out what album it is (must be something where he's not the leader, but I don't have the energy to look through all those right now). But that bass line is the kind of thing that makes me want to take up the bass again - you could just sit back and play that for much longer than the 3 minutes-something included here. Brilliant. This test is really starting to cook. Track 6 - The obvious choice would be something from Miles' electric 70's period... maybe something post-Bitches Brew? I dig it... it's like, groovy, man. Trees, trees, anybody got some trees? Holla atcha boy. Holy shit, that hi hat groove is awesome... I love the way the bass locks onto that figure in and around the hi hat-percussion beat. Track 7 - A little sad I couldn't positively ID the tenor player here, but I really like the dynamics in this piece... one of those slow burners that never really all-out cooks, but keeps a tough smoldering intensity. Sounds like maybe it comes off an OOP Lp? This is that period in post-bop jazz that I could just listen to forever... I never get tired of this feel in my music. The head's a little "meh," but the solos and build-up are top notch. Maybe Herbie Hancock on piano? Track 8 - Another one that I feel absolutely positive that I have in my record collection, but I couldn't for the life of me find it. It's really gonna bother me until I get an answer, too. Sounds a bit like Charles Tolliver to me - one of the great underrated trumpeter/composers... sounds a lot like the stuff on his criminally underrated Strata East lps. Only complaint here is that I wish the drummer would have pulled back more during the piano solo (kind of reminds me of Andrew Hill, who always needs some delicateness in his drummers, I think). Track 9 - Solo trumpet? Reminds me a lot of Don Cherry. That kind of improvising where the rhythmic feel and choice of notes develops naturally from the first melodic line. Very cool stuff, and if this is an entire album of this solo stuff, I'd like to hear it. I can only imagine how hard it is to fly high totally unaccompanied on trumpet. Track 10 - Whoa, that's gotta be Rahsaan, man, based on the grunt and the overall tone of the horns.... no idea which disc this is from, and not sure the need to include it here, but hey! Rahsaan's always a cool idea. Would have liked a longer piece though... not much to say about 22 seconds! Track 11 - Probably Woody Shaw or one of those guys... not that good at ID'ing trumpet players blind. The tenor has a bit of a Booker Ervin twist-off to the end of his notes, but I don't think it's him. I'll quote myself from Track 7 here: "This is that period in post-bop jazz that I could just listen to forever... I never get tired of this feel in my music." Track 12 - Again, one that sounds aggravatingly familiar, at least the melody. I would say Chick Corea, from his Circle days, or just thereafter, but I don't have much of it, so it come up when I looked through my Corea collection. I have to be in a very particular mood to dig a piece like this, and I'm not so much right now. Don't feel like this is the best example of interplay these guys are capable of... sure they play in and out of a couple different moods, but it seems a little contrived to me here. Rather just here them go totally free... hear more close interplay without the structure to fall back to. Track 13 - You've got me on this one... but it's funny, based on Track 9, to hear how many more options the drums allow this trumpet player. He's already got the beat laid out for him, so listen to how he concentrates on all kinds of other things. Though he seems to have a very different style from track 9 anyway, so I would be interested to hear a totally solo piece for comparison. This would have been awesome if it was just an intro, and then a whole band burst in absolutely burning... the trumpet player sounds capable of some awesome stuff. Track 14 - Ah, good callback on some of the earlier tracks - back in that same mode. I don't know why, but half the trumpeters on here sound exactly like Shaw or Tolliver to me. Oh crap, hold on - Jackie Mac, my lord. No idea which album this is. Actually, it sounds more like the kind of group Gary Bartz would play in, and despite the almost exact tone, some of the note choices just don't sound like Jackie to me. Who knows. I like this track, but don't feel like it's extraordinary... don't know why, maybe my ears are just getting tired. Sounds like something I would like to own, in any case. Track 15 - Whoa, way to scale it back. Sounds like "Beatrice" era Sam Rivers. One guy I've seen in concert plenty of times, and could see dozens more. I love some of his more free stuff, but it's so awesome when he pulls back and just plays a gorgeous, mid-tempo balladish piece like this. Is that him? I think so, crap I don't know. The intro sounded so much like him, but it would be so rare to hear him just calm down like this for a whole tune. Also, no idea what backing band this could possibly be. In any case, good straight ahead track. Track 16 - Oh man, this track is gonna make me tired... or anxious... or some combination. Too much sinister energy, but in a good way. You really love these tracks with the repeating bass ostinato and the super twitchy cymbal work, eh? That's cool, I do too. And clearly a trumpet connoisseur... More so than me, I feel, even though I love this stuff. Really, my brain isn't working well enough to put a positive ID on this one without embarrassing myself, but I think it's the perfect track to close it out... brings a lot of the previous stuff together in one track - the avantish hard bop trumpet of many of the tracks, the dense piano work of some of the tracks, and that underlying groove of the electro-funk tracks throughout. Nice stuff... I'd be interested to pick this one up. Overall, a really cool mix - I thought it was put together with a lot of thought and care, and seems to be primarily stuff I don't have, but which is right up my alley. I'll eagerly be checking for the answers!

Okay, so I'm about to go post my guesses on BFT 25, I swear, but I couldn't pass up a chance to do Jim's, since that was the first, and pretty much only test I participated in before. (Oh, and I didn't sign up for 26, so I'm off the hook with that one )