Lon Armstrong

My name is actually Lonson Earl Armstrong; I was named after my great-uncle Lonson Earl Armstrong who died in 1920 after serving in the first world war. I guess my biggest claim to fame recently is a nice interview I conducted with Michael Cuscuna about Alfred Lion, one of the two founders of Blue Note Records, in which Michael revealed some information not otherwise recorded. The interview can still be found on the www.allaboutjazz.com website. The interview was also quoted twice in Richard Cook's recent book about Blue Note Records!

Agreed! And I love his and everyone's work on "Kelly the Great". . .

Yeah, how hard is it to type in "September 18, 1965" on the back of a cd case for Cornbread? I think my favorite Lee Morgan is the VeeJay period. . . .

I saw a stupid tv show last night (Wife Swap) in which two adults of one family had switched to drinking coffee through straws because they religiously bleached their teeth and their theory was that their teeth stayed much brighter this way between bleachings because the coffee went past their teeth. . . . Could it really work!? Yes, it's definitely Monday. I'm in the middle of a huge Excel spreadsheet with expenditures. . . and with some Lester Young at the Savoy going to help (or hinder as the case may be).

My Sunday morning started with some Hampton Hawes too, on the new three cd set called "Bopland" (nominally under Dexter Gordon's name) that reissues for the umpteenth time the material that has been out on Bop! and then Savoy Records ("Jazz Concert West Coast" in three volumes). I moved from there into a string of Barney Wilen cds. .. .

My favorite trumpeter is Ray Nance. No it isn't, it's Punch Miller. No wait---it's Fats Navarro! Okay, I confess, it's Eddie Gale. I mean Wild Bill Davison.

My absolute favorite SACD so far is "Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy." This recording is a sentimental favorite of mine; I bought the vinyl back in 1972 and I've had two cd versions. The SACD just sounds so wonderful, really brings out the room and the fact that this was a pretty spontaneous affair. . . . The more I listen to this the more I just feel this is one of the real desert island discs for me.

Also Coltrane's contributions to the four cd set "Miles Davis in Stockholm" on Dragon (and also DIW). Coltrane is just bursting out of the seams of the Davis Quintet and playing some remarkable soloes that really move me!

You're welcome. I have been posting there over a year as "jazzbo" and it is my major internet home!

There isn't anywhere that I know a hard and fast guidebook. The closest thing to a way to assess the value is to search how they fare on ebay the last ninety days or so. That isn't too helpful sometimes as the prices fetched can fluctuate from sale to sale for the same item over a few months! One rule of thumb seems to be that of whether the material in the sets is available elsewhere on cd, the set is not as valuable as if it is not. The Clifford Brown material is all easy to find, and the Tina Brooks has been in and out (and one item is going back into) print for some years now. They will likely not command as high a price as others. Here is a jazz board where Mosaics are often discussed, bought and sold, and valued: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/ There is even a separate forum there for "Mosaics and other Box Sets"!

My list would have to include "Crescent". . . for some reason one of my favorites, hits me on an emotional level and is VERY beautiful. And also Africa Brass. . . the expanded edition. . . just fun to listen to the Dolphy orchestrations, quite movingly played.

The first disc of the two cd "Sacha Distel: Jazz Guitarist" set from Jazz in Paris (Universal)

I've inherited an early nineties B&O system that has a different (not linearly tracking tone arm) turntable . I haven't used it too much, but I have found it to be quite a nice turntable. . . best I've ever owned (though I've never owned any GREAT turntables).

Just an update: I've had the Dec 685 for several months now and can report that this modified Sony plays every cdr that I have thrown at it. . . very well. Excellent transport in this changer, and absolutely lovely tubed output stage!

I've been using a Dec 685 for a few months Pete (as you probably know) and it is sounding better every day! Glad I bought it; my Dynaco cd player was a hard unit to replace but this one has bumped it from my system.