I’m eagerly awaiting Schizophrenia in September and trying to fill in the Wayne Shorter gaps in my collection in the meantime. I’ve got some Speakers Corners and Music on Vinyl versions of Weather Report albums, but can’t seem to find a good version of Heavy Weather at a decent price. I recently received the 2008 Sony Legacy version for free from my local store (reward points for buying from them), but I haven’t opened it yet. Is it as bad as the discogs reviews suggest, or has anybody found success with this version?
Just picked up a copy of Bill Evans At Town Hall and Dexter Gordon Doin’ Alright delivered for £35.98. The Bill Evans just didn’t feel essential first time around but at £20… Dexter Gordon has grown on me since this record was reissued in 2019(?) and at £16 it was an easy decision. Thank you
Recently picked up Moment Of Truth and Katanga! Love the way both of these records swing. Anyone have recommendations for further listening from the Curtis Amy and Gerald Wilson catalog?
Blue Trane is not something I felt like I needed to have, but when a sale hit recently, I got it (the stereo). Unfortunately, the side A label is kind of beat up near the spindle hole and the record is slightly warped (not things I'd normally return for) but on both the first and second track of the B side, there are easily visible scuffs and scratches that very much affect play. Going back. It's dispiriting, but my returns from the BNC/Tone Poet series have mostly been Tone Poets over the last 12 months or so. Optimal is doing better QC than RTI these days, it seems.
I've had similar issues with both Blue Train Stereo and Mono. Wondering if it's related to the number of records they pressed. I heard something about having to put other TP releases on hold while the pressed the larger numbers of Blue Train. Agree about Optimal quality. Slightly more consistent than RTI recently. But, for whatever reason, I prefer the sound quality of the RTI pressed TP's over the Blue Note Classics
Hey @Greenmonster2420 thanks for recommending the 1973 UK Revolver a while back, in this thread I think! Finally got a clean one after a looking for a long time. Great great pressing. Love those off topic tangents!
The backstory on the solo "In Memory of His Father" is enough to make Town Hall a winner for me. Gets me every time. Good finds!
Any Weather Report album should be readily available as a first pressing in VG+ shape for $5-10 a pop
I followed McCoy with the BNC Herbie Nichols last night. This is a record that manages to astound me every time. His playing is like listening to an unknown language to me. Every time I feel like I am about to grasp what's supposed to follow, a sound comes up that I have not seen coming at all. All that despite the fact that I know his compositions by heart, heaving heard them dozens of times in reinterpretations by other musicians. One of my favourite records ever is the fantastic tribute to his music by Steve Lacy/Misha Mengelberg which I know almost by heart. And yet when he himself plays, I' sitting astonished and I do not recognise where some of the chords come from and why. I'm saying all this in the most appreciative way possible. His personal story is one of the saddest in all jazz history. The little music he left is a must listen for any jazz lover. I am very happy we're getting a TP of his music this year. I actually think the BNC should have been a TP, given how few people even recognised the name before the set came out.
Great post! But look at the 10/6 Tone Poet release. I think Joe went with the better record even though that BNC is still a great one as well. Will pull that one out for a spin before MLB Opening Day blasts through all of my TV's. And to quote the legendary Chico Escuela, "baseball been berry, berry good to me". Already have "Mr. Shing-A-Ling" ready to go as well. What a wonderful day it is!
OT, I know, but I can't remember a year when I've been less enthusiastic for opening day. I'll give these rule changes a chance, but I kind of feel like they have ruined baseball with them, which is sad.
I can't remember being this excited for opening day in years. I'm still skeptical of the pitch clock, but thank goodness they finally banned that stupid shift! And Jordan Walker (20 years old) is starting in his first MLB game, hooray! And leave the ball and bat boys and girls alone, you mean old commisioner, you are the one that needs to be fired. Back on topic, I'm about to go downstairs, fire up the stereo and get things started with "The Kicker".
The shift was an evolution in the game that was incredibly great. If stats show that a guy consistently puts the ball in a certain place, then good managers would put their players in those places. It rewarded ingenuity and study, and put the onus on the hitters to adjust. But they had to disturb 100+ year-old rules because.... why again? Because defensive positioning... worked? I mean, JFC how stupid have fans become?
You may be familiar with Matthew Shipp's Black Mystery School Pianists article. Black Mystery School Pianists - New Music USA Your post on Herbie Nichols reminded me of it. Worth a read, or a re-read.
I agree that the shift should have been left alone. Make the hitters do more. The pitch clock on the other hand, that is decades overdue. Ghost runner in extra innings, no. That should go away IMHO.
I must know at least 50 fans of baseball, especially being from St. Louis and until today I have never heard one person that said they liked the shift, everyone I know despises it. It forces players to to go for the long ball more, this way it brings back normal defense and should produce more offense. Play the game like it used to be played (but do speed it up). I don't need home runs all of the time...I watch at least 150 Cardinal games and over 100 Braves game every year along with many other games as well. Next to music, baseball is my passion and I will respect your opinions. Okay, so back on topic again, now only two more weeks until my two most anticipated Tone Poet releases (In April) will be going for a spin, starting to get withdraws and need my fix.
The pitch clock I'm fine with as long as the players eventually take to it. It was bitterly opposed, and although it would speed up the game, I'm lukewarm on rule changes that significantly change the game, that the players don't want.
but the players are the ones causing games to go well over 3 hrs. I pretty much stopped watching baseball a few years ago - way too tedious for me. Guys don't need to adjust their batting gloves and step out of the box after every pitch. Pitchers don't need to step off three times between pitches, grab their crotch, toss over to first, grab the rosin, do 6 other things not related to game action, etc. Some of the postseason games, it's like a full minute between pitches. Besides, some of the news i've seen indicates the players didn't like it at first, but are ok with it now, including managers. They'll have to adjust, or MLB will continue losing fans. IMHO baseball is not a museum piece. If it were, it would go extinct. It must evolve and adapt.
Whether one likes this stuff is a matter of taste, for sure; my problem is at the fundamental level - there is no reason make new rules to force "play it like it used to be played." First of all, there is nothing inherently better about "the way it used to be." If it makes sense to do something a certain way, do it. If that no longer makes sense, don't. Teams evolved their understanding of the game and evolved strategy to give themselves the best chance to win, and I would think that evolved fans could appreciate the application of strategy instead of insisting on things being like they always were. These new rules changes are broadly emblematic of the insistence of far too many people these days who don't like reality in general to be enabled to put it on "ignore" by any number of means, and by making new rules to force things to "be like they used to be." Defensive shifting can be reacted against by having more hitters who hit to the entire field, or by teaching the affected hitters to bunt. Home runs can be decreased by moving back the fences (as we know, there is no fixed distance for baseball fields, and outfield sizes have trended in different directions of the eras of the game) or deadening the ball. Crushing common-sense evolutions to the game like innovative defensive positioning? IMO it's just crude, blunt, shameful stupidity. I'd support a rule that changes balls hit out of the park to ground rule doubles or triples before I'd support defensive positioning restrictions.
