Jazz for aficionados

I knew my ears were burning this morning for some reason . WOW! They really worked me over. That CHAZRO is a caution, ain't he? You would have thought that a guru from stereophile had been spotted in bestbuy, the way he was howling and foaming at the mouth.
Archie Bunker?? I think I remeber him. All in the family. He was the one with the JOB. It could have been worst, he could have called me The Meathead!! And all this over a 'discussion' to which he was not even a party. I hate to think what would happened if anyone spoke to him directly.

Learsfool:
"There is no one on this board anywhere near as knowledgeable as Frogman in the subjects you have been trying to argue about with him."

According to....??????? And exactly what 'subjects'. I hope he is not 'self appointed' If he has a position, he should have kicked his credentials.

Cheers

Orpheus10:

I listened to Nina Simone today. The Philips recordings 'Four Women'. All the usual adjectives just don't seem adequate. This is really some seriously great music / singing. She makes even pop songs special. The wife and I sat down and listened to all 4 CDs without break. It is that good. What a talent!
Better get it before it's listed by 'these sellers' for 900 dollars.

I have about 5 of the Chucho Valdez CDs. He is a good player. As you said, without qualifier. I don't have him with the Afro-Cuban messengers, but I did listen to him 'At the Village Vanguard'.

I was so moved, I thought I was back in Baghdad or Seville or some other hot-bed of Jazz.

Get the Nina thingy. You won't be sorry.

Cheers

I've been in the wings here but it seems to me that everyones experience, points of view and preferences are valid and of use to someone.
I know of Mosaic, Analogue Productions and Mobile Fidelity and just recently Pure Pleasure with respect to remastered reissues. What about the Japanese labels, and what are some other quality remaster and reissue labels in general?
I can digitally accommodate a frequency of 192 kHz which I'd like to put to the test. As a side note, I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to vinyl since I only own a mono cartridge (no I did that on purpose).
Any advice is gratefully appreciated.

Rok, I've already got Nina, I'm going to have to catch up with you on Chucho Valdes. Where do I start?

Orpheus10:

I did listen to Chucho valdes today. His 'Live at the Village Vanguard'. This guy is a monster on the Keyboard!! He is brilliant! The question is whether or not the music grabs you. I will leave that up to you. I like Jazz with a beginning, middle and end. His sister sings on one of the tunes. One reviewer said: "valdes' command of the keyboard is so technically staggering as to be stupefying". hahahaha That sounds a little scary! Check it out on youtube if it's there. It's a keeper for sure. "Must Have'? That's a different question. Overall it came across as too much of an 'exhibition'. A few horns would have helped. This may have been a case of just too much piano. The percussion only got a chance to solo on one track.

Danilo Perez -- PanaMonk

This Cd was much more to my liking. Perez' take on Monk. I didn't hear much Monk, but the tunes were familiar, so maybe that's why they sounded so good. He is a great Piano player also.

Irakere -- The Best Of Irakere

I am not sure what to make of this. Some great music for dancing. And some Jazz. But sometimes I got the feeling I was listening to someone trying to play like WAR or Santana or EW&F. I think everyone was trying to 'out-play' everyone else in the band. The Mozart thingy, by Paquito, was very cute. 'Xiomara' was my favorite.

Mario Bauza & his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orch -- My Time is Now

A very important founding figure in the whole Afro-Cuban Jazz scene. And there is one thing we can say about this CD. The name of the group states very clearly what type music is being played. Good stuff.

I didn't get a chance to play Mongo. Will save him for another day. He was my first introduction to afro-cuban Jazz back in the day.

One other thing. Read the liner notes on all of this music. It's fascinating! Read them and then say there is not a battle going on for the soul of Jazz.

FROGMAN: Do you write liner notes? I read some stuff thst sounds just like you. :)

Cheers