John L

Well, Mosaic doesn't seem to want to answer my questions about when my set will ship. They are certainly not as friendly as they used to be. From now on, I may just wait and download their new sets that I want from blog sites. John

On another Pops subject, I recall hearing that a copy of the October 1938 session with Fats Waller, Jack Teagarden, and Bud Freeman was found in pristine sound. Has anybody here heard that, obtained that?

I would say that the Decca Big Band box is the most essential of the four Mosaics. But there is plenty of great material on all of them.

There is only one this year, but 4 in all: (1) Decca All Stars, (2) Decca Big Band, (3) Live Columbia and RCA, and now this (4) Studio Columbia and RCA.

I just ordered it, even though I have everything except the previously unissued alternates. I was thinking that I didn't need it, and I don't. But what the hell. Pops is Pops.

I just looked at this list for the first time - mostly all harp bop from the 50s and 60s, interestingly enough. For consistency, I would suggest excluding music from the pre-album era as a rule. It is a bit ridiculous to see a few collections of early Armstrong and Ellington turning up toward the end of the list. The selections are quite curious too. Most fans would not choose those as examples of their greatest work.

They really improved the sound on some of the other sessions, especially vintage 1942-1944. There is also the newly discovered alt of Honeysuckle Rose on disc 2. I am very happy that I have my box.

RIP. His live performances were always memorable.

Nice!

RIP. By chance, I was just listening to Chick when I heard the news. Very sad.

Rabshakeh - You mention the Village Vanguard sessions and Blues for the Fisherman. In my mind, the former come from a time when Pepper was still quite under the spell of Coltrane, and having Elvin Jones on drums must have re-enforced the feel. But I associated Blues for the Fisherman with Pepper's final stage, when the Coltrane influence became a bit less up front and there was more focus on getting maximal impact from each note. Personally, I like both of those periods very much, and prefer them to his earlier work.

I have no idea

Judging from the response, I guess that this must be very old news. I am surprised that I hadn't heard of it.

I guess that some collectors has already heard this, but I hadn't - from the same concert as the Impulse! record.