Recent Acquisitions (October 2011)

Back from my much-needed extended holiday way down south, as close to the Sahara as one can get short of floating in the water just a few miles offshore. Twenty-five to thirty-something degrees Celsius each and every day, nary a cloud. Great places to see, a breathtaking landscape and lots of insiders’ tips in my back pocket.

Recent Acquisitions

“Recent Acquisitions” has been something I’ve had around for quite a while on this site, in one form or another. And looking back on past posts or drafts that never came to fruition, there’s one single aspect that stands out immediately. The shopping sprees of the past are long gone. It could be that I have reached a saturation point somewhat, although I do doubt that. It’s just that I have so much to listen to that whenever I stumble over more “Want-Need-Will Have” items, I’m reluctant to shell out the dough, mostly because my bad conscience (left shoulder, far right) parades those CDs in front of my inner eye that I haven’t really listened to intensively yet. Continue Reading →

The Perfect Dinner CD: “For You” by Frank Chastenier

I know that from the few regular readers I have around here, I might get some severe flack. And from all others who have probably written this site off as another one of those useless and uniformed vanity projects, I’ll probably get a “told you so”. Still, I’m not going to back down.

I don’t know about you, but if you have a larger collection of music, you might well have an imaginary section or two entitled “Perfect Dinner Music” or “Soft as Soft Can”. I do.

And I’m about to tell you a few things about a CD that has been so severely criticized by just about every mainstream and dedicated critic that it’s almost become a point to ridicule said effort. It is certainly in the vain of the kind of criticism that I abhor; you know, the kind that simply can’t get off its high horse, the one that aims the most poisonous of arrows at someone who might have had simple passion driving him- or herself, even with commercial interest at heart. Continue Reading →

Jan Johansson in Hamburg (with Georg Riedel)

As readers of this site know, I am a huge fan of Jan Johansson‘s work.
This month, ACT will finally release a much-anticipated Jan Johansson CD, which can already now be pre-ordered from Amazon.de. Continue Reading →

George Shearing – Classic Album Collection (1951-1956)

George Shearing/George Shearing Quintet. Classic Album Collection. Golden Stars/IMC Music Ltd, 2008.

This 3-CD box (3 jewelcases in slip cover) was produced in Portugal under European public domain law, and although it does state that the music presented on these CDs was licensed from Intermusic S.A., George Shearing probably won’t see a single cent.

It is the first time that the first two albums included here have been reissued and the remastered sound is more than OK. I sometimes do wonder though what the earlier Shearing material could sound like. Up until today I have mostly heard cheapo remasterings only, and this one is heads above some of the dreck I have had the misfortune of owning. It’s not Mosaic, but for 11 Euro one can’t complain. Continue Reading →

Claude Williamson: ‘Round Midnight (1956)

It’s funny to see how much mail I get via this website from people who hope that I can help them out with this or that. Funny, because I’ve never considered myself to be someone who knows all that much about music in general and various artists and bands in particular. I am a listener, first and foremost, albeit a passionate one, and what I write about here and what is published on this website usually helps me to get a broader understanding of what I’m listening to. That it also interests one or two others is more like collateral damage (or a fringe benefit, whichever you prefer). The following is then perhaps a good example for what I’ve just been trying to state. Continue Reading →

Sony botched the “Miles Davis: Complete Columbia Album Collection”

Although the various Amazon sites around the globe are ripe with absolutely crushing reviews of an otherwise great collectors boxed set,”Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection”, I have to add my two cents as well.

I have seen some badly-produced reissue boxed sets in my life, simply because I seem to be buying too many of them, but this one really is the icing on the cake. One could argue that for a reasonably low price, customers shouldn’t complain that much, but collectors being a larger part of the target audience for this one (despite the fact that collectors already have most of the Miles Davis they’ll ever need), Columbia/Legacy went out of its way to ruin this one. Continue Reading →

“My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost compulsively reach for perfection in music, often—in fact, mostly—at the expense of everything else in my life.” (Stan Getz)

Ed Thigpen: Gentleman of Jazz

A Profile of Sorts

I pride myself on hardly ever having misjudged people. Naturally, I have been completely wrong at times (and when I am/was wrong, I am/was completely off), but as far as I recall, the number of blunders were rather limited. It is my profession to evaluate people and although that is often quite difficult, I usually get it right at some point, especially if I am able to spend longer periods of time with the people in question.

That’s why I would state that Ed Thigpen was not only a cool guy, but also a true gentleman. Now, I have absolutely no idea if he walked around at home throwing terrible tantrums or if he had a tendency to easily go off the rails in more private settings, but whenever I had the chance to experience his personality up close, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would be a great friend to have. Continue Reading →