Chu Berry Mosaic Has Entered the Building

[medjuck]

Hey they're way better than Sony. Remember how often the Miles boxes were delayed.

[jazzbo]

Chu is shipping; just got that email from Mosaic!

[medjuck]

I didn't get that e-mail till yesterday but the box arrived today!

[Quincy]

Got mine today. First time the number is less than my age. #42!

Gotta finish my taxes before I can listen to it. It's a great incentive to get 'em done.

I don't want to spoil any surprises, so I'll just say the last photo of Chu in the booklet reminds me of my maternal grandfather.

[jazzbo]

Got set #40 in the mail last night!

[jazzbo]

Well, this is an interesting set. I'm just beginning to get in. . . .

The sound. . . . It's slightly less "brilliant" than I'm used to in Mosaic vintage material. . . but that's not really a complaint.

[medjuck]

A couple of times in the notes Loren Schoenberg refers to the guitarists playing "broken chords". What exactly does he mean? (Where he mentions them in regard to Danny Barker I hear Barker playing every note of the chord separately but where he talks about Allen Reuss playing behind Mildred Bailey I just hear regular chords.)

[BERIGAN]

Strange... On the sound samples page it says that Ted Kendall did the mastering, while Malcolm Addey is credited near the bottom of the discography page; no mention of Kendall there

I really hope it's Addey; to my ears Kendall is a bit too generous with noise reduction.

Mosaic's Scott Wenzel just told me Ted Kendall did the sound restoration.

From personal experience, Kendall uses noise reduction as desired by his customers. Don't blame him.

Man, he did one of the JSP Django sets, and I really wished he had reduced some of the the noise!

[BFrank]

MUSIC: PLAYLIST; Swinging to Beats in the Past and Present Tense

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: April 29, 2007

Chu Berry

Here comes Mosaic Records with another soil-core sample of jazz history, ''Classic Chu Berry Columbia and Victor Sessions,'' a slice through time and context tracing one man's work. The tenor saxophonist Chu Berry (real name: Leon), who died in 1941 at 33, played fast and wisely, with awesome harmonic smarts and a rich, even tone. This seven-disc set amounts to a little less than eight years of recording, but the records came during the end of jazz's bustling innocence, when it was crowded with geniuses and not looking back. Here Mr. Berry moves mostly like a sideman through the orbits of more than a dozen bands, brushing up against one powerhouse after another. There's the plump, easy swing of the Chocolate Dandies records of 1933, directed by Benny Carter; the extreme toughness of Bessie Smith singing ''I'm Down in the Dumps''; the manic energy of Gene Krupa's Swing Band in 1936; the intensive, percussive authority of Clyde Hart's piano soloing in Lionel Hampton's sextet; and Milt Hinton's hummingbird bass pluckings with Cab Calloway's orchestra. And through it all, Mr. Berry sounds ecstatic, playing all over his horn. That he died just as bebop was beginning is a rankling thought. (Available from mosaicrecords.com.)

[tranemonk]

how's the sound on this set?

[Fer Urbina]

A couple of times in the notes Loren Schoenberg refers to the guitarists playing "broken chords". What exactly does he mean? (Where he mentions them in regard to Danny Barker I hear Barker playing every note of the chord separately but where he talks about Allen Reuss playing behind Mildred Bailey I just hear regular chords.)

In my book "broken chords" is exactly what you said about Danny Barker, as opposite to "block chords".

F

[Clunky]

how's the sound on this set?

better than on other issues I have of some of this material ( RCA LPs, Hep Cds etc). Perhaps some extra top-end might have made it better still but it's just fine

[ghost of miles]

Well, this is an interesting set. I'm just beginning to get in. . . .

The sound. . . . It's slightly less "brilliant" than I'm used to in Mosaic vintage material. . . but that's not really a complaint.

I noticed that too, Jazzbo--maybe Chuck's reply re: the sound restoration applies here. Not really a complaint on this end, either. I already have a fairish amount of this material, but there's much that's new to me. My set came two days ago and I finally had a chance to do some listening last night and this morning; fantastic to be able to hear CB solo after solo, and Roy Eldridge more than doubles the pleasure. Great, too, to read Loren Schoenberg's notes, drawn from deep listening to these tracks; he's always pointing out interesting details, not just in Chu's playing, but in that of the musicians around him (a nice cast, to be sure--so far, after two discs, I've heard a plethora of Eldridge and Teddy Wilson).

Probably a crazy question, but was Hank Mobley a Chu fan, by any chance?

[ghost of miles]

Those interested in Cab Calloway's late-1930s big band should check out this set as well... lots of Cab here(including his very good trumpeter, Irving Randolph). Schoenberg points out some of the band's glitches in the studio, but they're still a great unit IMO... often overlooked, I think, because of Calloway's hep/jive persona.

[sjarrell]

I'm thinking about picking this one up. Now that everyone's lived with it for awhile, how much love does the set get?

Edit: Removed edit re: weird technical issue what's been resolved.

Edited December 25, 2007 by sjarrell

[Brute]

Here's my take...

My wife gave me this set for Christmas and while I haven't heard all of it yet, I'm a bit disappointed. I was only familiar with Berry's Commodre sides and I was hoping that this set would be similar. It's not, really. The quality of the audio is a bit of a let down, too. Especially after hearing the recent Hampton box.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy it but I would reccomend that Hampton set if you don't have it.

[Bol]

Here's my take...

My wife gave me this set for Christmas and while I haven't heard all of it yet, I'm a bit disappointed. I was only familiar with Berry's Commodre sides and I was hoping that this set would be similar. It's not, really. The quality of the audio is a bit of a let down, too. Especially after hearing the recent Hampton box.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy it but I would reccomend that Hampton set if you don't have it.

I would be interested in what others think of the music on this set in comparison to Berry's Commodore sides. I wasn't going to get this set since it has so many big band dates and I tend to not enjoy those. But I was just listening to my single CD collection of Hawkins & Berry Commodore sessions and really enjoyed Berry's sound. Do others also think that the sessions on Mosaic are different from, and inferior to, the Commodore sides? Thanks in advance for the response.

Edited February 22, 2008 by Bol

[papsrus]

I've been looking at this set as well. For some reason I can't get the sound samples at the Mosaic site to play here (using a macbook). No biggie ...

But now that you fellas have lived with this one for a while, and considering the excitement surrounding this release, whaddaya think?

[Chuck Nessa]

Berry was a wonderful/important tenor stylist. Everyone should know his music but most of it is in short sideman solos. If you can't deal with that, avoid the set. I had all the music (minus some alternates) already so I couldn't see going for the box, sound improvement notwithstanding.

If you can accept the big band limitations of the bulk of the set and want to learn about one of the founding fathers of the tenor, go for it.

YMMV.

[papsrus]

Berry was a wonderful/important tenor stylist. Everyone should know his music but most of it is in short sideman solos. If you can't deal with that, avoid the set. I had all the music (minus some alternates) already so I couldn't see going for the box, sound improvement notwithstanding.

If you can accept the big band limitations of the bulk of the set and want to learn about one of the founding fathers of the tenor, go for it.

YMMV.

Thanks. Appreciate it. I ordered the 1937-41 Classics release tonight after sampling to wet my whistle. This is a period (30s-40s) that I'm currently getting to know (and love), and big band is definitely no obstacle here.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Berry was a wonderful/important tenor stylist. Everyone should know his music but most of it is in short sideman solos. If you can't deal with that, avoid the set. I had all the music (minus some alternates) already so I couldn't see going for the box, sound improvement notwithstanding.

If you can accept the big band limitations of the bulk of the set and want to learn about one of the founding fathers of the tenor, go for it.

YMMV.

Thanks. Appreciate it. I ordered the 1937-41 Classics release tonight after sampling to wet my whistle. This is a period (30s-40s) that I'm currently getting to know (and love), and big band is definitely no obstacle here.

Some excellent bits of the Chu Berry box can be found on the Lionel Hampton Mosaic. There's also a serious amount of Chu on a Cab Calloway set I have. Personally, I think I prefer to listen to him (and others like Benny Carter from that era) within the context of each bandleader's work. So when Chu, or Benny, come on, you say, "WHAT!!!" Well, to each his own.

MG

[Guest Bixieland]

Anybody care to comment lately on this Berry Box?

I don't have any of this music (except what may be on the Hampton Mosaic) so, I'm really not familiar with any of it. How's the listenability? Does it play good? -- if that makes sense. Historical importance is nice, but the reality is often..."how much do you play it, and does it put you in a nice place?"

And I'm a little curious about the sound quality? I notice some were down on it, having not been mastered by Malcolm Addey. But--I'm sure it's not an issue

[Stereojack]

I've had the set for nearly a year now, and have a few comments. I like the sound a lot - it's clear and detailed, and I don't hear any excessive noise reduction that others have noted. One thing, though - I have to turn the volume up much louder than I do with other CD's. For some reason, the set is mastered at a low volume.

The music is wonderful. We get to hear Chu in all kinds of settings - the big bands of Cab Calloway, Teddy Hill, & Fletcher Henderson; small group sessions with Wingy Manone, Putney Dandridge, Henry Allen, Mildred Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, & Lionel Hampton, and two sessions led by Berry that compare favorably to his Commodore dates.

[Guest Bixieland]

I've had the set for nearly a year now, and have a few comments. I like the sound a lot - it's clear and detailed, and I don't hear any excessive noise reduction that others have noted. One thing, though - I have to turn the volume up much louder than I do with other CD's. For some reason, the set is mastered at a low volume.

The music is wonderful. We get to hear Chu in all kinds of settings - the big bands of Cab Calloway, Teddy Hill, & Fletcher Henderson; small group sessions with Wingy Manone, Putney Dandridge, Henry Allen, Mildred Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, & Lionel Hampton, and two sessions led by Berry that compare favorably to his Commodore dates.

Yeah -- I noticed the low volume when listening online. I wondered if it was just those clips or if it was the actual volume on disc. I wonder if they were concerned about dynamic range, et al. I know there's been a lot of negative buzz about "hot mastering" and jacked-up signals, digital clipping, etc, etc. It must have been done for a reason. If not, I'd imagine a producer would have cought that.

[Brute]

Here's my take...

My wife gave me this set for Christmas and while I haven't heard all of it yet, I'm a bit disappointed. I was only familiar with Berry's Commodre sides and I was hoping that this set would be similar. It's not, really. The quality of the audio is a bit of a let down, too. Especially after hearing the recent Hampton box.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy it but I would reccomend that Hampton set if you don't have it.

It's been 5 months since I posted this and I admit that I was wrong about this set. The more I listen to it, the more I am enjoying it. I really like the variety of settings that Chu is featured in. However, from a remastering standpoint, the Hampton box still sounds better to my ears!