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Mosaic Vinyl


Matthew

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Ever since getting a turntable two years ago, I've been trying to pick up the Mosaic lp sets at various places, Ebay, used record stores, etc. For my money, I have to say that every set that I've bought has been well worth the price, and I'm up to ten lp sets. The biggest surprise for me has been the sound quality on the Jimmy Smith set -- it beats any cd I have (I have all the JRVG's). Plugged Nickel is also great. My next purchase, I hope, will be the Complete Bud Powell, it would just be so great to have all his BN stuff on vinyl. Does anyone know if RVG mastered all the Mosaic BN vinyl sets? The ones that I have sound really alive.

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As far as I know, RVG only remastered the Mingus/Candid and De Franko/Clark(?) sets. The liner notes say he did the Hodges/51-55 but he did not. Of course, he did the original recording of most of the sets.

That brings up a question I've had regarding lps: Would BN lps be "remastered"? It seems they would stay with the original RVG mix. Did Moasic actually "remaster" the lp sets?

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As far as I know,  RVG only remastered the Mingus/Candid and De Franko/Clark(?) sets.  The liner notes say he did the Hodges/51-55 but he did not.  Of course,  he did the original recording of most of the sets.

RVG definitely remastered the DeFranco/Clark. The runout on the LPs in this set has those immortal words 'Mastered by Van Gelder' . B)

Big thumbs up for the Mosaic vinyl, particularly those Q-LP 180g issues. In terms of sound quality, there are quite a few highlights but honourable mention in terms of my own favourites must go to the Bill Evans 'Vanguard' set, the Thad Jones 'Complete Blue Note', the Sam Rivers and the Horace Parlan.

I like all of the Miles sets too - although in some cases the 'soundstage' does tend to differ a bit from the original Columbia issues (CS and CL). The 'Miles/Gil' and 'Plugged Nickel' are my faves from this grouping.

Edited by sidewinder
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In love with Mosaic vinyls? Definitively, YES.

I'm still mad at Mosaic for dropping vinyl with too rare exceptions.

The Miles Davis Plugged Nickel vinyl was just incredible. So was the Miles Davis/Gil Evans box. Much better than the CD versions.

One other later Mosaic box that was also a stunner was the Bill Evans 'The Final Village Vanguard Sessions'. Malcolm Addey's analog work on this was proof of the beauty of the vinyl process.

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I only have very few Mosaic LP sets. The Pepper, the Brooks, both of which are not 180gram LPs, but sound alright. Then I have one with 180g-Lps, the Buck Clayton - and that sure sounds incredible, in my opinion.

I usually buy the CD versions, the LPs would be too expansive, but these three, I picked them up when they were OOP for a long time, and I got them for quite nice prices...

However, I would sure like to have some of the MD sets on LP! How's the one with Coltrane?

ubu

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It goes without saying that a good vinyl pressing will kill any cd, unless you have a super high end digital playback which will cost at least 5k.

However, I found the Mosaic Thad Jones set was bettered by a United Artist blue Note pressing made around 1970.

Vinyl lovers would be better off picking up those pressings since the Mosaic goes for a ridiculous price considering it is only a 3 lp set.

Needless to say, guys who have original Blue Notes will tell you the United Artist reissues sound like crap!

Its all relative in the audio world.

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However, I found the Mosaic Thad Jones set was bettered by a United Artist blue Note pressing made around 1970.

Vinyl lovers would be better off picking up those pressings since the Mosaic goes for a ridiculous price considering it is only a 3 lp set.

Needless to say, guys who have original Blue Notes will tell you the United Artist reissues sound like crap!

Its all relative in the audio world.

This one's a 5LP set - interesting comment about the UA pressing. Was this 'The Magnificent Thad Jones' I guess this must be one of those UA gems with the 'RVG' in the runout ..

I'll second that thums-up for the Buck Clayton too. It's almost as if you are there in the Columbia 30th St studio, wonderful acoustics and all..

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My two favorite Mosaic sets are the McLean & Plugged Nickel LP sets. Both musically and sonically, they're incredble. The Horace Parlan LP set also sounds wonderful on my system. I would love to get my hands on a MD/Gil Evans LP set - it sold out right before I became a Mosaic addict. I bet it sounds great. Someday, someday...

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

Now that I have my Rega P3, I have started grabbing Mosaic LP sets on Ebay. I appreciate that the Miles, Parlan, Thad Jones, Bill Evans, Don Cherry sets are top notch. Have you got any reservations on any Mosaic sets? Are there any other sets you would strongly recommend? The Don Cherry sounds amazing.

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