LJazz

Thanks Peter and funkogre.

Anybody else see a conspiracy among the record companies to get us to spend our hard earned money on the same thing every couple of years?

That was my experience with the Sonny Rollins K2s and his Complete Prestige set. I imagine the mastering comparison is similar with the Coltrane recordings. Thanks all for the input.

Has anyone done a comparison of the sound of the Coltrane box against some of the individual sessions that are (or were) available as K2s? I purchased the box from the Concord sale but also purchased the K2s that were available (probably because I was in a hurry when I did it). I haven't opened any of them yet. I figure there may not be any need to keep the K2s since all of it is on the box, but if the sound is generally that superior it may be worth keeping them also. I know I could just compare them myself, but what fun would that be? Seriously, I figured I would get some opinions here rather than open the K2s because I might wind up selling or trading them and I figure it might be better to keep them sealed for now. LJ

PM on the Moncur Great set! PM sent on Dexter Gordon set.

It's a Mosaic set but was issued by Universal records outside the US. It's the identical set to what is offered through Mosaic, except that it doesn't have an individual number (instead the book says it is "one of a limited edition of 10,000"). Also, they seem to seal the entire box instead of the individual CDs inside the box.

Thx, GA. 65% of sale (great for multi-disc sets, better than the yourmusic prices) - code AU06PM2 This 65% off sale has free shipping too. (the best part) Not sure the no shipping applies to multi-disc sets for this particular deal. I put a 3 CD set in my shopping cart and it was still adding shipping.

I am selling a new/sealed copy of the Universal issue of the Count Basie Complete Clef/Verve Fifties Studio Sessions Mosaic set. $100 plus shipping. Paypal only. If interested send a PM. Othewise to Ebay it goes. . . LJ

I know why I do- it's because those songs cost valuable cash and take up valueable CD/shelf space, and so having them repeated is wasteful. I think maybe you understand me!

Thanks for all the interesting views/responses. I've never really had any issues or hesitation buying compilations of Pop, R&B, etc. because like others have stated, I often am only interested in certain tunes and feel these genre's are often more "hit" oriented. I don't know why, but I have a thing about having duplicates of tunes, so I am much more hesitant to buy a Jazz compilation because I am more likely ultimately to go buy the individual sessions. This probably doesn't make much sense, especially if a particular musician is new to me, because buying an inexpensive sampler could prevent me from buying CDs from a particular period of the musician's development that doesn't agree with me.

Oscar Peterson at Birdland. Tickets were a small fortune, but I've never seen him before and he's getting up there, so I figured I would regret it later if I didn't take the opportunity. Really looking forward to it.

When, if ever, do you buy a "best of" CD or box from an artist rather than the individual CDs/LPs? With the vast catalogues of material that many musicians have, it seems it is just not economically feasible or practical to buy them all. I started wondering about this because I was looking to increase my Dexter Gordon recordings and saw that BMG had a 2 CD set of "the Classic Blue Note Recordings" (which has 18 tunes) for a little more than $8 in its current sale. Alternatively I could buy each of the individual Blue Note CDs that they have (which is not all of them by a long shot) at about $6.00 each and search out the remainder. The same kind of question/analysis comes up with almost every musician whose music I buy. So, I got curious when others decide to put aside the "collect 'em all" idea and just go for the highlights.

You guys are going to wind up getting me into trouble. I have a turntable but never got into collecting LPs. The vast majority of my purchases have been made since CDs came into existence and I've continued to build my collection. Now I think I'm going to have to start scouting out LPs too. Where am I going to find the space (not to mention the $$)

Don't have much of his music, but "Virtuoso" is great and I believe often recommended as a first choice. Only caveat is that it's solo guitar -- just in case you aren't into that. His stuff on Pablo (of which there is a ton, I know) is often regarded as his best.

Sent you a PM re: Swamp Seed.

Have to put my vote in for Brian Lynch. He really doesn't get the recognition he deserves, IMHO.

I have not, personally, but I know someone who has purchased from them and the reports were that it was a very positive experience.

On the listening list for later in the day. Now I can't wait! LJ

Received the following in the mail today:

Maybe atypical, but not alone. I also am not really concerned about the completist aspect (that's my story and I'm sticking to it ). Before starting with Moasics and this board, my jazz collection was reasonably small and, while it's still not huge, it seems to be growing exponentially. My wife bought me the Phil Woods Mosaic as a gift because she knew I was interested in it and am a fan. That was my first set. I was very pleased with the quality and since then Mosaic has introduced me to the works of Lennie Tristano, Woody Shaw, Anita O'Day and others (I may have heard some of their music on the radio, but I didn't own anything before purchasing the Mosaic sets). In some other cases I might have had a CD or two by an artist before purchasing a Mosaic box, but in most cases, the Mosaic set represented (and still represents) the vast majority of my collection by that particular musician. I suppose that may change over time, but that's how it is at the moment.

That was my first one and I agree - it's amazing - I wasn't too familiar with his solo albums. A great way to catch up. Great. I was on the fence about this one. Now it looks it's going on the "get it" list.

I HIGHLY recommend the Stitt if you like that style. One of my favorites.

I have 14 plus the Jazz Crusaders w/o the box or book.

One of the perks of being a member of WBGO (aside from the biggest perk of helping to support what is, IMHO, a great (and unfortuantely one of the few remaining) public jazz radio station) is that they have freebies available to their members from time to time. One of the current freebies available is a copy of Hank Mobley's "High Voltage" CD. If you are a member, and want a copy of the CD, you just have to give their "gift line" a call and ask them to send it to you. Looking forward to receiving mine soon. Short public service announcement: For those not familiar with the station, they broadcasts out of Newark, New Jersey and online at WBGO.org (I have no affiliation)

Fair enough.