Lon Armstrong

I'm with you on Helen Merrill; wish I could have seen her this weekend, definitely; a real favorite singer.

Yes I know what you mean indeed, GM is that way with me, I think Freddie Hubbard is pretty boring and I know many find him exciting, etc. What got me into Shepp was realizing that the man is a failed actor. . . . I could see the drama in his work and that gave me an entree. (I also like how he mixed his jazz with soul music in the seventies; really interesting hybrid stuff, with political messaging as well). Evans . . . well every time I sit down and try to play my piano here in the living room. . . I realize how much of a fantastic player someone like Evans is! It took me a while but I have come to really enjoy a lot of his work.

I've never warmed to M's playing and writing, though Lord knows I've had albums with him on them for more than two decades and still don't dig him. But there's some great music in those sessions from Hutch and Jackie and Wayne and Herbie and Tony et alii. . . . B u t I can't say that I am a Moncur fan!

Haven't heard it Ray! Your post makes it seem something that should be on my radar. . . . When I see a good price I may spring.

Was just listening to Dick's Picks Vol. 12 from June 26, 1974. Hard to believe that was nearly thirty years ago! It's a great one. The band was really UP. Who put the benzedrine in Mr. Kreutzman's Ovaltiine? The tempoes are up and the rhythm section is ON. Weir plays with real invention; some great chords going there, and Garcia just has fun on top of it all. The third disc opens with a great rendition of The Weather Report Suite, one of my favorites of Weir's writings, and then moves into a long jam that culminates in U. S. Blues. . . . I just love that segment. Recommended!

I personally prefer the most simple and direct recordings possible. So mono or two track stereo, live or live in the studio performances . . . . I think that these yield the possibility of the most natural playback sound. I actually use recordings I recorded in my garage apartment of the late eighties of bands I was a part of for a standard and referrence; I know the instruments' sound and the room and the material very well!

Anyone looking forward to the first "Pure Jerry" set due out June 8?

Yes, "Steppin' Out" is a good one.

If you can find it the Duke Ellington "Blues in Orbit" SACD on Mobile Fidelity is incredible! A Columbia CD version of this is coming out soon with extra material but it won't sound like this SACD!

I figured this would be a good one and thanks for the precis. Hard not to like the recordings of this band!

Okay. . . opinions differ, as they should. I think that Keith was a fine player for this band, Brent doesn't do anything for me really. I think Donna sang fine; I really like the gospelly things she and Jerry and Keith did mainly outside the Dead. I like Weir a lot, he wasn't always "on" but when he was I dig him. But hey, I like some of the 77 and 78 stuff I've heard, but I don't think that the two drummers are better than Kreutzman alone, and some of the material gets outside of my interest. . . . Still, the Dead was a great band. But I really haven't followed their work after 1980 much and have recently renewed my interest in the 73-75 band and bought some cds that are nice to hear.

Hmmm. . .I find their music quite accessible. My favorite band was the 72-75 or so band with the Godchaux husband and wife team, and just Kreutzman on drums. This was a great, jazzy, breezy band. My favorite studio effort is probably "Wake of the Flood"--a real seventies masterpiece in my opinion. I like the live material from this band that are out in "Dick's Picks" volumes and "Europe 72" (which is indeed on cd) as well.

Okay thanks. I guess it's a matter of opinion whether this was indeed "The first true stereo demo" as the poster stated.

Okay. . . so it was the fist KHorn stereo demo at the World's Fair. . . okay. Thanks

Alright, snicker if you want, but what I see is the voice of INEXPERIENCE.

If you are looking for a standalone stereo component type burner, I recommend the HBH "Burnit" model. It is a professional burner: it uses regular data cdrs as well as digital audio, you can defeat or allow SCMS, you have really flexible fade in and out options, really more flexible level adjustment and even balancing level adjustment, etc. A fascinating and fun machine. A little on the expensive side, but I've had it going for a year with NO problem, whereas I had a Philips burner for four years with problem after problem. . . .

Hmmm. . . I don't quite get the qualification that makes the first "true stereo demo" in 1959. I have an EICO stereo integrated amp from 1959. I have on cd live stereo recordings by the artist Lennie Tristano with Lee Konitz from a Chinese Restaurant in NYC from 1955! (And man they are beautiful recordings!) Plenty of examples of studio stereo, beautiful, from both major and small labels from 1957. . . .

It's been my experience as well that about 2 watts per channel SET is the best sound. . . with the right speakers in the right room of course!

That's right, Lester Young (Pres) had amazing recordings OUTSIDE the Basie band (as well as within the Basie band, of course). I highly recommend these two cd releases (unless you're one of those lp only chaps): The Complete Savoy Recordings: http://cover09.cduniverse.com/CDUCoverArt/Music/Large/79504171222.jpg The Complete Kansas City Six Recordings: http://services.windowsmedia.com/cover/200/drc900/c950/c9505140tsq.jpg I'm very biased where Pres is concerned; I love them all, but these are two excellent starting points into his genius.

Here is a nice discography of Basie from the fifties through the seventies! http://freett.com/basiemusic/cb/disco/1.html

Lester Young played with Basie up to 1940 full time, and then irregularly on special occasions after that, and in 1944 I believe he was back for part of the year as a regular member. Of those lps you list I bet he is only on the very last one listed, and it is possible that he is even not on THAT recording (if it was from a part of 1940 after Young had gone off on his own). If you want to find Basie with Young, look for Basie's Decca Records recordings (recorded pre lp, but reissued on lp and cd) and the early output on Columbia up to 1940 (ditto). He also appeared on a few Verve lps such as "Count Basie at Newport" from 1956? but not many. Those lps you list are good lps. I really like the Decca and the Roulette Basie output best, myself.

Also, here are some threads about Basie recommendations on my favorite board, the Organissimo jazz board: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1814&hl= http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8103&hl=basie&st=15 http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=7132&hl=basie http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=4732&hl=basie http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2123&hl=lester+young http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=5289&hl=lester+young http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3142&hl=lester+young

A very recent thread has been discussing Basie and giving opinions: http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=49885&sessionID={74F4FA25-6F39-4711-827F-18E6ED98AC72}

Well, I'm hoping that this machine plays cdrs as well as I have a LOT of cdrs. The modifier, and several owners of the machine tell me that this model DOES indeed play cdrs.

I've been told many of the Sonys will allow volume adjustment via remote with Sony and some other receivers, amps. . . . I've just purchased a Decware 685 modified Sony that doesn't do the volume adjust, but my Decwqare amps have variable inputs allowing me to not need a preamp anyway (I can understand the need for a remote volume control but don't need one). Will take me a few weeks to get the machine, but I'm ready!