What is the deal with CDs these days?

Remember CDs? They were round and played music. Noted cartoonist “Sketching Sketcher” points out that they’re still on the market, sometimes at prices that seem just a tad bit high for grandpa technology. I’m not a grandpa, although I could play one on TV, but I still buy CDs, because I’m not at all sure that this iPod stuff has the same sonic quality, which I don’t think the kids care about much. Once you get past 100 decibels, it all sounds pretty much the same. And when you buy a CD, the artists involved actually get a little cash.

But it seems that some of them want a little too much. Sketching Sketcher fingers jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb as a likely offender, since some of his discs are listing at around $57, which is more than I’ve paid for the DVD of an entire opera! You can check out Chuck’s site here and decide for yourself. If you click on “Latest Videos,” you can see and hear Chuck in action. Most of the time he sounds a bit “smooth” to me, even in a version of “Giant Steps”, a serious classic from the pre-modal John Coltrane, and even though all the musicians involved clearly know what they’re doing. I confess my favorite is Chuck’s version of “Stomping at the Savoy,” which sounds a whole lot like the way Charlie Christian used to play it with Benny Goodman back in the day. And that’s a compliment.