Bright Moments Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 All the recent noise regarding supporting Mosaic has me considering this set. I guess I must be a Parker fan. Not counted how many CDs I have but would expect it to be in the region of 30 CDs plus 10 LPs. My question is regarding just how bad the sound quality. How would it compare to Charlie Parker's sessions in Paris ( which in parts sound really terrible) or is it closer to Rockland Ballroom ( which sound pretty good to me) or for that matter any of the following which I have already ??? Boston (Uptown), Montreal (Uptown), Washington (Uptown), Boston ( Bluenote), Storyville ( Bluenote), Sweden (Spotlite) , ....etc this article gives some idea about the sound quality of the various recording sessions. I'm waiting for this one to come off back order status as well. me too - i am waiting for it to come off back order status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Now back in stock and available to order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 The reappearance of this set prompted me to pull if off the shelf for the first time in quite a while. It's really very good. The Bird plays at the highest level. The sound quality is really very acceptable on the whole. Benedetti had the sound pretty well balanced on the whole. So it's easy enough to listen through any extraneous noises ( of which there are many and varied). The truncated solos are all part of the sound universe of this set and simply the way it goes. I'm so glad I have this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElginThompson Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 On 2/11/2004 at 2:53 AM, brownie said: The sound is not good. The performances has all kind of cuts. But the music is so damn good!!! That's one box to get I have been blessing Mosaic for releasing this. I dug up this thread because sharing these thoughts on the "Mosaic Is In Trouble" thread isn't relevant beyond that I did my part in funneling needed cash to Stamford. Also waiting for the Savoy set and others. The addiction continues. Anyway ... Still working through Benedetti, but I've found the sound quality not nearly as bad as disc one of the Ember Birdland set. In many cases, it's pretty good considering how it was recorded. Despite owning a hell of a lot of Bird, I held off on Benedetti for a number of years because of the obvious - 7 CDs of only solos, not full tracks. Why did I wait so long??? This is amazing. It's like discovering the rarest diamond every 90 seconds. In many cases all I remember are Bird's solos from full tracks anyway, so why not just cut to the core truth - Bird, straight, no filler. Now I understand why others have said, if you own only Mosaic (fat chance in any case) it should be Benedetti. This is truly astonishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 Elgin, glad you got it. Some excellent music in there, I especially like the California sides. And what a booklet! Really enjoyed learning about Dean and his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 I can't wait to dig into it this weekend! I'd start it now, but I don't work weekends, and wakeup hours before my wife and son. So that's primetime listening for me. The booklet is quite impressive. I also have incredibly low expectations when it comes to the sound quality, so Elgin'scomments give me hope. And as I've said elsewhere, I wish somebody would have documented Eric Dolphy in this manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElginThompson Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Scott Dolan said: I can't wait to dig into it this weekend! I'd start it now, but I don't work weekends, and wakeup hours before my wife and son. So that's primetime listening for me. The booklet is quite impressive. I also have incredibly low expectations when it comes to the sound quality, so Elgin'scomments give me hope. And as I've said elsewhere, I wish somebody would have documented Eric Dolphy in this manner. Recordings of Dolphy in this manner would be otherworldly. I'd pay anything for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 Folks, you make me feel doubly sorry for not picking up that secondhand copy of the Benedetti set I saw at Mole Jazz some 20 years ago (my, how time flies ...). I was more than tempted at the time but the stack I had pulled from their bins was huge enough already and while certainly affordable that copy was no steal so I figured along the "only snippets" line (that others have mentioned) too and gave it a pass ... oh well ... And now with overseas shipping rates and customs duties ... no go ... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 (edited) I have the Benedetti set on vinyl - will try to give it a spin during the weekend, in between Savoy and Dial set sampling. 1 hour ago, Big Beat Steve said: Folks, you make me feel doubly sorry for not picking up that secondhand copy of the Benedetti set I saw at Mole Jazz some 20 years ago (my, how time flies ...). I was more than tempted at the time but the stack I had pulled from their bins was huge enough already and while certainly affordable that copy was no steal so I figured along the "only snippets" line (that others have mentioned) too and gave it a pass ... oh well ... And now with overseas shipping rates and customs duties ... no go ... Â Was that set hiding upstairs in the dust pile over by the books? Probably around where I spotted that 'Jazz Scene' asthmatics' nightmare.. Edited May 18, 2017 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 No, IIRC the books were on a shelf in the front space ahead of the main vinyl room upstairs. This set was inside the vinyl room upstairs, up on the top of a shelf in one of the corners (IIRC the rows of records underneath were filled with records by artists who were represented by HUGE quantities of records - Basie, Ellington, Kenton, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said: No, IIRC the books were on a shelf in the front space ahead of the main vinyl room upstairs. This set was inside the vinyl room upstairs, up on the top of a shelf in one of the corners (IIRC the rows of records underneath were filled with records by artists who were represented by HUGE quantities of records - Basie, Ellington, Kenton, etc.). Aha - I know where you mean. On one of my last visits there that rack had a Thad and Mel vinyl set on display, for about £130 I think. Already had it so I passed. You are right that that long rack had the entire Kenton 'Creative Word' catalogue in it and loads of Duke and Basie, I recall. As well as ancient dust by the barrow-load ! Edited May 18, 2017 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted May 20, 2017 Report Share Posted May 20, 2017 Well, I have to say that keeping my expectations low concerning the sound quality of this set must have really worked wonders, because while a track every now and then might be a bit noisy (All The Things You Are from disc one is particularly bad), I'm finding the overall sound quality to be FAR better than I was expecting! I'm loving this set as much, or even more than I thought I would.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 I finally bought and started listening to this set, and I am fed up. Sound quality doesn't bother me. What does is the incoherence of the presentation - just to get basic discographical info of who is playing what and when I have to constantly shuffle pages, put up with Schapp's invented b.s. (I just don't believe anything he says any more; he has no documentation and too much of what I have known in the past has been distorted by him). The notes don't even have a basic order of playing, and I really can't stand it. It has made me even crazier than I already him. My copy is in great shape, discs are mint, some even still sealed. Make me a decent offer, and my problem becomes yours. Selling this piece of crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 ??? Isn’t the music far more important? Benedetti set out to document Bird’s solos, not the rest of the bands he was playing in. I mean, I do understand your frustration, but to call this important historical audio documentation a piece of crap seems incredibly harsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 (edited) I have tons of other Bird which is as good or better. And coherently presented. I just cannot stand this level of disorganization in presentation. And I won't support this level of shoddy historicism. As I said, the music if fine, but I have other sources that are as good. Many other sources. Edited December 22, 2018 by AllenLowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 Fair enough, brother. It’s not as though the music is going to be revisited many times, even by those of us that appreciate the box set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 I realize I am probably a little over the top here; after dealing with Phil for about 40 years (and I like the guy) I just have reached a level of max tolerance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 52 minutes ago, AllenLowe said: . As I said, the music if fine, but I have other sources that are as good. Many other sources. I thought the point of the release was that if you want it, this is it. Nowhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 yes, this particular music; what I meant was that I have other Bird sources with him playing as well as this. That are absent any Schaap-isms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quasimado Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 Does Mosaic still own this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 It is out of print, they mentioned that they were not doing another pressing even though they owned the rights to it s as d it wasn’t sold as s as limited edition. It was likely due to diminishing returns if they manufactured additional sets, which had likely been acquired by almost everybody with an interest in them. It would be interesting to know how many sets were sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 I once suggested that they make it available as downloads but (IIRC) Scott responded that they didn't own those rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 (edited) A contemporary band should record these tunes in full and fly in Bird's solos where they occur. Â They could use AI and de-mixing technology to isolate the sax. At least that would make for a cohesive listening experience. Â Edited May 7, 2023 by Teasing the Korean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stompin at the Savoy Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 (edited) This is something you can get after you've got all the Dial, Savoy, and Verve recordings and possibly a few others. In small doses it's kind of good, IMO. Some fragments are so short you barely have a sense of the key or structure of the tune and it's over. But hey, there was this legendary guy who followed Bird around and recorded his solos and these are the actual recordings he made! Edited May 8, 2023 by Stompin at the Savoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 7 hours ago, medjuck said: I once suggested that they make it available as downloads but (IIRC) Scott responded that they didn't own those rights. I wonder who does?  Who held on to that, while selling all(?) the other rights to Mosaic? And doesn’t Mosaic outright ‘own’ (literally own? the material otherwise (whatever ‘otherwise’ means in this context). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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