A slice of the top

Seriously they are dirt cheap at DGA. I think the last two I got in this series were the Hamptons. Got them for the 4.99 for which they were selling as you mention above. Not really that in to Hamp, but it was the Jazz in Paris series so for 5 bucks a piece I gave them a whirl. Easy call. Also, for the poster before asking about the O.P. I have them and thoroughly enjoyable as O.P. always is.

Come next Tuesday you can add "Back at the Chicken Shack" and "Midnight Special" via the new batch of RVGs!

I went through hell and back here in Chi-city to get some of this new batch this afternoon, release day. Without Tower and Virgin, the city is in sore need of a jazz oasis. Borders on State is horrible, FYE (let's not even go there) and even Jazz Record Mart didn't have the Willette. JRM had nothing! At the Borders on State I scored with KD's "Afro Cuban", "Gravy Train" and "Takin' Off" but they didn't have Baby Face! The guy working the floor says they are usually only shipped one copy! And according to the floor guys at JRM, EMI releases "always" arrive a day late. Maybe so, but if I were a jazz record shop, I'd get on the horn to EMI and find out why Borders has the RVGs on the Tuesday they are supposed to come out while I don't. I finally got my Willette at the Borders in Oak Park, but this was way more effort and schlepping around the city than I wanted to do after work on a Tuesday. Nevertheless, I am pleased as punch, especially with the Willette (at both Borders there was also an apparently newly re-released version of "Behind the Eight Ball" and "Mo Rock" on a single disc from Groove Hut Records). Still next time I will order through CD universe or Amazon. The effort wasn't worth having it 24 hours before the rest of my boys have their copies from online orders. Bottom line though this stuff is great. It is great to finally have "Afro-Cuban" on CD and I'm enjoying "Takin' Off" for the first time. And I finally have some Fred Jackson in the collection! He is truly hootin' and tootin' on this Willette.

It is sad to see that there are three pages on our town's jazz fest and probably a third of it is taken up talking about overrated touristy attractions, especially wrigley. But I guess I should expect it given how many visitors we have coming to town for this. So..who has been so far? How was Wess? And did anyone go to the A Night in Havana concert - that sounded most excellent.

Which Mosaic am I enjoying right now? Sonny Stitt...just in case I forgot how bad he was - and I never will.