Now Spinning: The Jazz Version™ Thread

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I still wish I'd had the $$$ to get that big Miles box. It was even cheaper (after exchange rate and shipping) to order it from the UK. Now it sells for crazy money.

There are both Herbie Hancock and Earth Wind & Fire sets out, or coming out soon, that would be great collection-fillers. I have just about all the EW&F albums anyway so that one is not really essential (unless some are better masterings than what I have), but I own very little Herbie Hancock. Not sure I'd want that many of Herbie's, though--I think I read it was a 31-disc (or 31-album?) set.

Legacy has some nice 5-disc sets also--Mahavishnu Orchestra, Al DiMeola, etc.
 
BTW, spinning:

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Yeah, I saw that Hancock set of all his Columbia recordings, but some of those were pretty bad, especially those funk and hip-hop projects he did. As for Miles, it seems every year or two another box set comes out. As much as I love Miles - and I have a ton of his music - I don't know if I would want to spend more money on yet another version of the albums I already have.

I've seen those Legacy sets. I was tempted to get the Weather Report ones, but they have them split up into two different sets. I'd probably only be interested in the first set since it contains the Live In Tokyo album that was only issued in Japan. Some of that album is actually on I Sing The Body Electric. Those early albums were killer!



Capt. Bacardi
 
I guess I'm lucky that I grabbed that Bill Withers set--that was the first appearance of 'Bout Love on CD. Ironically I had just finally gotten the last of the import Withers CDs to complete what I had, and then the set came along!

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sussex-Columbia-Albums-Collection/dp/B008S80PCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382924688&sr=8-1

I paid a whopping $23.10 for the set, plus $2.98 shipping. They can still be had under $30. Neat part were the mini LP sleeves that reproduced the originals, like the split folding cover on Still Bill. And the additional booklet is nice.
 
I just saw that Columbia is issuing a Miles mono box set of some of his 50's-early 60's stuff. It includes an album called Jazz Tracks which was from a French film, and was the predecessor to Kind Of Blue. The box set includes:

'Round About Midnight
Miles Ahead
Milestones
Jazz Track
Porgy And Bess
Kind Of Blue
Sketches Of Spain
Someday My Prince Will Come
Miles And Monk At Newport

But for $96 I'll probably pass on this one.


Capt. Bacardi
 
That is a bit steep, based on other sets and packages out there.
 
I received the Brubeck box set yesterday and am listening to some of it right now while the Steelers/Patriots game is going on. The sound quality is great! No brickwalling here. Nice, crisp highs. They did mini replicas of the albums. I have to use a magnifying glass to read the liner notes, though. The booklet that comes with it just lists the songs and recording dates. I have the Angel Eyes album playing now. I've only had a scratchy LP of this before so it's great to hear this clean. The title track is playing as I type this. Joe Morello's brush work sounds incredible behind Desmond's lyrical sax solo.

There's 19 albums in this set. Some have bonus tracks added. It's going to take me a while to listen to all of this, but I'll have fun doing it!


Capt. Bacardi
 
I can probably order the set in January--I just hope it is still at a decent price then. I have a handful of Brubeck on CD (all of the "Time" albums included). It will be nice to have others in clean versions as well.
 
Yeah, this is one of my favorite electric Miles albums. John McLaughlin is outstanding!

It is good even despite Teo Macero's cut and paste assembling of all the various parts. :laugh: "Right Off" reminds me of a time in high school when we were looking for a new drummer for a band we were in together. My buddy Louis on guitar, and I on keyboards (with the lower octave or so being bass keys), we cranked the amps all the way up and jammed with the drummer for at least an hour non-stop, just playing whatever came to mind (although for some reason, most of the jam was in the key of "F" major bouncing back and forth to a blues scale). I think I had more fun that night than any other time, as we weren't trying to cover other bands and other music. :D
 
Encore performance of The Art Of Tea. My favorites on the album these days are "St. Elmo's Fire," "Nightmoves" and especially "Mister Blue" which IMHO is one of his greatest underrated songs.
 
dmp Records was an all-digital audiophile label featuring a lot of great talent. This one is my favorite:

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And for those who aren't aware, since the day I bought it when it was released, I have called it the Great Lost Yellowjackets Album. After saxophonist Marc Russo left the band, Bob Mintzer was a guest saxophonist on the Yellowjackets release Greenhouse (another of my favorites of theirs). While Bob would be an official Yellowjacket shortly thereafter, he returned the favor by having the group record this CD with him (with Don Alias on congas, which are fairly low in the mix). Excellent compositions throughout, and the playing is top notch by all. The focus may be more on Bob's playing and compositions (he composed all but three of the tracks), but there is no mistaking the Yellowjackets signature throughout. It may also be their best sounding CD, having been recorded by Tom Jung.
 
My favorite big band album of Bob's is Art Of The Big Band. :thumbsup: He always had a top notch big band!

He hasn't been as active with the big band, especially since he moved out to California a couple of years ago to take a teaching position at one of the universities. In fact, since dmp Records wound down, I don't think he's even released much under his own name.
 
Amazing what 66 cents can buy you these days. :D I'm spinning a few tracks from this one right now (and quite frankly, glad I only spent 66 cents on it :laugh: --it's sort of one dimensional to my ears):

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I went to the Salivation Army on Halloween. Most of the selection was in sad shape, but I did unearth a few gems. I found a copy of Live's Throwing Copper that looked like it had never been out of its case (to replace my worn copy) so, nice score there also.
 
When I talked to Mintzer at the YJ concert a couple of months ago, he said he released an album last year, and does one every other year or so. I've seen a couple on Amazon on small labels.



Capt. Bacardi
 
I went to the Salivation Army on Halloween. Most of the selection was in sad shape, but I did unearth a few gems. I found a copy of Live's Throwing Copper that looked like it had never been out of its case (to replace my worn copy) so, nice score there also.

Nice score on Throwing Copper. Great album, too. My brother and I used to play the living heck out of that album back in the '90s. Even the "hidden track" on that one is great, too.

I've been checking out thrift shops more and more lately for musical treasures myself. A Goodwill superstore recently opened near us, and it's amazing some of the things I've found there in the few months it's been open. A lot of excellent CDs in top-notch shape for just under a dollar, i.e. Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms, Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, etc.. My vinyl finds there have been even better; my best vinyl scores have been a copy of Leon Russell's triple-disc live album in absolutely pristine shape (you'd swear it had come straight out of the wrapper) for fifty cents, and, even better, a fully-intact vinyl edition of Nick Drake's Fruit Tree 4-LP boxed set, which is an amazingly tough find on vinyl, for two whole bucks! You've got to love thrift shops. :D
 
The thrift stores I've been to locally are usually on the ratty side. Most CDs are in terrible shape, yet you can pull out one in good condition in a rare good moment. LPs amount to nearly unplayable multiple copies of Andy Williams, Whipped Cream and Eagles Greatest Hits (along with the 100 or so other standard LPs you see everywhere). LPs and CDs both, tons of generic Christmas releases...compilations of artists we may or may not have ever heard of. :laugh:

I can probably unload the Kenny Burrell disc for a few bucks since it is out of print, but will have to give it a new case and see if I can clean the discs up. Playing one disc of that album was enough.

I have the original vinyl release of Throwing Copper. Pretty good sound except the inner grooves are pinched. There was a recent 180g reissue I may pick up.
 
Here's one I pulled out today. I haven't listened to this in a long time. I first saw him perform on Saturday Night Live back in the 90's:

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Everybody should have a great tuba album on hand! :D


Capt. Bacardi
 
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