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Confirmation on Teddy Wilson and Mosaic update


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The reality is that the material that Mosaic tends to issue is de facto public domain by now, for better or worse. On top of it, LP sized boxes filled with cd's might have worked 20 years ago, but not so much now. Would it be impossible for them to licence some of this material for high resolution transfers and put them on blu ray discs? I would be very interested.

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Advocate arise, convincers, convince, now is the time. My wife just retired and our monthly income has been reduced by at least 25&. I've looked the discography over pretty good, so here's my points to please rebut with something other than aw gee, Mosaic, GOTTA get it:

  • I am more than slightly familiar with Teddy Wilson. He was quite literally one of the first jazz musicians I ever heard, long before I had any idea what jazz was, and then once I did, he was on the radar, always.
  • Looking at the discography, most/much of this stuff seems be solo material, some of which I already know, so there's nothing here of a "type" that I don't know anything about.
  • The ensemble dates, like wise, I know some, but not all. Other than Hodges and Ben, nobody jumps out at me as somebody who I don't have a reflex reacxction to, and even then, I know Rabbit & Ben really, really well.

My point is, if our monthly income was at per-retirement level, I'd have per-ordered, Now, though, I'm not sure if I'll order at all. Anybody who can point to specific inclusions that are genuinely "must-hear" that will only be found in this set, speak up, I'm willing to be convinced. But it's going to need to be a level-headed, sober convincing.

I have always loved Teddy Wilson, especially of this vintage. But that's why I already have a "good selection". How much better does it need to be?

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Quite obviously so... but Mosaic has produced quite a few LP boxes recently and they all seem to have sold out. if the secondary market's prices are any indication, there is still demand for most of them.

About 15-20 years ago, they would have been crazy to produce LP sets. But in today's market, they're almost crazier not to.

Quite frankly, I might be interested in this if there were an LP option.

Also, I should have said, "offered it in LP & CD" like they used to back in the early days.

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I agree that the demand seems to be there. I think that going to CDs exclusively in today's market is a mistake. There are not a lot of us dinosaurs buying CDs these days... and certainly not at $17/disc.

Sorry to say, but Mosaic doesn't seem to be following the latest trends in the industry, which appear to be reflected in their own sales of LP-only box sets.

Edited by Kevin Bresnahan
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Formats aside, informed opinions welcome - how "essential" is this set going to be for somebody who already has a good grasp of Wilson? If it was your money and you at best maybe had it to spend on this one, would you cut a corner someplace else to get it?

Serious question, serious situation.

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On 11/15/2017 at 1:54 PM, jazzbo said:

I'd say if you are questioning this. . . give it a pass.You have likely the most important material.  At least for now let it be. It should be around a few years at least if things change and you have a larger discretionary pool to dive into.

I don't know, Lon. Given Mosaic's parlous state, I pre-ordered at least in part because I wondered whether they'd press any more copies once the preorders were filled! As for Jim's query, I've long wanted on cd the Wilson instrumental small-group material that was issued years ago by Columbia on a 2-LP set. I thought it was on a par with the Hampton Victors of the same period. For me, the relatively rare big band things are a great addition, and while I'm not super-wild about the trio/solo stuff, I may change my mind once I hear it! Of course, Mosaics ain't cheap, so each potential buyer obviously has to make his/her own decision about whether it's worth plunking down the money. It does seem to me that the risk of waiting has risen considerably, however!

 

 

gregmo

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I don't know, I'm choosing to look at the half full glass and thinking all the water won't evaporate before Jim has made a long-considered opinion with more input from persons who get the set in the meantime and talk about it. We'll see.

I do think, knowing what I know of Jim's musical priorities and a "retired" status that this may be one he can let pass by and keep on the back-burner as a potential future capture.

Edited by jazzbo
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For me this set will mean that I have most of it in one package in the best possible sound and with a Mosaic booklet. I allready have most of this music on Clasics/Neatwork and Masters of Jazz. The other day I have been listening to a number of the Piano solo’s and I was more impressed than I remembered. So this set is a defintive yes for me.

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I have a vague memory (many of my memories are vague) of Columbia Canada issuing a 2 Lp set of Wilson sessions that was never issued in the US . I think John Norris had something to do with it (or maybe he was the one who told me that it was only issued in Canada). I've always regretted not buying it so I'm making up for it now by pre-ordering. 

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the Columbia LP reissues of Wilson's group work - and the Japanese CD of same - have been in horrible sound. I don't know what their sources were. Hep did a much better job but, to answer Jim's question, I hope to pick up the Wilson because of the sound. From what they say on the website, they found a lot of masters, laquers, etc. Because even the European double CD of Wilson solo piano has a lot of bad-sounding cuts. And since Doug Pomeroy, the greatest restorationist in the world, worked on the Mosaic, I have complete confidence.

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I have the 3 LP French CBS Piano Solos (plus trios) box and several of the Hep small group CDs, so I'm playing the cards I'm holding
Jim, I wouldn't presume to offer advice to you on whether to go for the Mosaic or not, except to say that you might want to step back and think about how your life is changing and how you may want to change with it. But you're no doubt already doing that.

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