jazzbo

I couldn't find a "HELL YEAH" option, so voted yes.

One whole session on disc Four was mastered too fast. As Ubu mentions, this has been replaced. . . it's unlikely that you'll find a set with the bad disc these days.

I'm sorry to see Allan go as well, but if he chooses to go I'll honor his choice. I've had a number of pleasant dealings with Allan. I hope he'll stay in touch.

It's all. . . also has the Comet sides with Norvo. . . doesn't have live material that was released on Savoy. . . does have the home recorded jams released on Dial.

That's right, I'm Lon . . . for some reason I wanted to have some fun as jazzbo over here though every where else I've always been Lon, Lon Armstrong, or Lonson (my full first name, a family name). I've had a Decware amp for more than six years, and have my third one on order (the EL34 Monos). I'm going to have to sell one I think soon, but having three Decware amps. . . it's like being truly rich! I love these amps, and I love the Radial RL-2 speakers as well! Glad you have one. It makes you want to listen and listen and listen. . . .

Up for some perusal!

I've been reading Philip K. Dick since I picked up a copy of The Zap Gun in Gianopolis' Book Store in Addis Ababa. I LOVE his work! It's a good time to start because now a lot of his work is in print, more than was in the seventies and eighties when I was desperately trying to find it all. There is an interesting thread that I started that I started that has a lot of suggestions. I'll dig that one up and pop it up for air, and here's a link: Favorite PKD Novel thread I'd say, after Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep you could really enjoy The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch!

Time Further Out is one of my all time favorites, mainly because it was one of the first jazz lps I heard, being in my parents' collection. . . "It's a Raggy Waltz" and "Far More Drums" getting heavy rotation when I could. "Time In" is a great album, if this is in the box that will be a plus! I think this group was on fire during those years, and I like to compare them to the Monk Quartet on Columbia in many ways (in my brain at least).

Whew! I'm glad you really liked the sound!

I'm looking forward to this! I'm a big fan of the Brubeck Columbia albums!

Bol, it's not purely the "modesty" of your system; it's really the nature of the system, as Hans has a topnotch system that tends to be brighter than some others. Hans' system likely sounds FANTASTIC on vinyl and analog tape and some cd remasterings; some cds that sound fantastic on mine don't on his and vice versa. . . . A revealing system will reveal not only the recordings, but how your room interacts with the system, and the choices one makes with cabling, isolation and power choices, etc. AND it takes a while for the sound of the recordings of earlier jazz to register in the ear. I didn't develop a taste for this music overnight, and even when the music grabbed me it took me a while to comfortably mine the material because of the sound. On the flip side of that, I find an immediacy to the best of the earlier recordings that I find very lacking in multitracked, multiperformance etc. recordings of today. A group of guys positioned around one microphone all together giving it their best for that three minute trip the cutting needle makes. . . it demanded a spirit and a skill set that is different than modern methods require. And the music is different. . . . And the sound has an immediacy and directness akin to the immediacy and directness of the medium, or at least. . . that's how I hear it these days.

I think it's system dependent. On systems that tend towards brightness some of the Columbia material can sound strident. On most systems I have heard them on however, they are clearly superior to their earlier counterparts, and sometimes better than Universal releases etc. The interesting thing to my ears is that these sound very much like the 78s that I have heard on my parents' thirties 78 player. . . (used to be my fathers' parents') ! I spent some time listening to the 78s my dad started collecting in the last few years in his den in his house in Ohio late this spring. . . . An ear-opening experience.

Here's a new entry that may well be my next source: Decware SACD/Unversal player with tube output IF I hadn't just ordered their new EL34 Monoblocks, I'd order this today! Deckert's tube stages are amazing.

I don't know what I'm meaning, maybe I'm confused. I think that the most recent remasterings of the Armstrong and the Holiday sound much better than the five or seven separate volumes that Columbia had released of Armstrong, and the nine Quintessential volumes on Holiday, which is what I thought he was talking about. If not, then I am confused, because I think these recent remasterings sound wonderful, and if he doesn't like the sound of them. . . there's not much jazz from the thirties that will be enjoyed. Either way I've loved this music long before I had really good sounding versions; I think that the music itself is one of the wonders of the last century.

I like all the stuff talked about here, but the Columbia is the gem of the. . . ah well Columbia is the stuff. IF you didn't like the sound on that Armstrong volume, don't blame ya; they have really done wonders with that material now since the complete box set was out, and likewise they have improved the sound on the Holiday material. In your shoes I would get the disc with Young accompanying, which I believe is the newest of the single discs you mention, also there is I believe a two cd set from the complete box set that is a wonderful collection. I've learned to like the Verve, Decca and Commodore material deeply, but it was the Columbia sides that years ago made me love Billie and they are among thebest jazz sides put out in the thirties. Try them out and I hope you really like them!

Huh! Interesting. I guess that the sound of these N O bands is an acquired taste I acquired quite some time ago. I don't think these were reissued on Collectables, but I could be wrong. I know that the Wilbur De Paris band cds were, in two on ones and a two cd set or so. . . .

I go to a theater where you can get buckets of beer. . . but I don't. Boy am I TIRED of Russell Crow! I think I'll pass on this one. . . .

I agree about his interpretive skills, and I confess to really liking more and more as time goes by the "laid back, mellow" Lee. . . Sometimes his fiery stuff seems like a rotating bag of tricks, but he manages to bring out the heart of the song with his lyrical playing and wonderful sound when he's doing the ballads and the medium tempo numbers. . . .

Well, I splurged and bought the last Philip K. Dick book I need but one, "Gather Yourselves Together." This was an expensive book new, hardly distributed, and I paid a premium for it but still found it cheaper than a number of other places were selling it. . . . This is a powerful, and very modern novel. I kept thinking how a man in the beginning of his twenties could have written such a great novel in 1950 or so. . . . It was probably his second novel-length work and the earliest published, and it is very well-crafted and a great read. It has a jazz element: one of the three major characters was a jazz dj. It is a very insightful, in my opinion, coming of age story. . . . As usual the characters that Dick creates are full of life and interesting. . . their interaction seems real and intriguing. I'm glad I finally got my hands on it. My favorite of his novels is still "The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike". . . .

The Toshiba cd I have. . . is remastered by Mc Master! Sounds okay.

Woody Shaw's "Moontrane."

Good selections as suggestions. Either would serve, the Kansas City Sessions being the one I would favor to recommend. If you could find it, the Keynote cd would be great, but it can be hard to get one's hands on these days. And easy to find and not too expensive: any of the Savoy cds out right now would be a good introduction. (Though if you do become the Pres fan I think you will, you'll want the complete two cd set!)

If this is the Caceres Bros. lp I believe it is (and I don't think there were more than one?) it's well worth seeking out! Also from these folks, the Walter Davis and the Barney Wilen are great to hear!

Looking at your favorites, I think you'd like it. I do. There's Massey here, always an ingredient that is nice to see on a Morgan date. Some say "plodding"---I say there is a mellowness to this date that I like in Morgan dates.

NO, you would do better to buy the MCA Brunswick/Vocalian material and sit back and groove!