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Mosaic's Black and White label box set


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4 hours ago, BeBop said:

I'm not within reach of my 78s, but wasn't one of the Black and Whites issued under Leonard Feather's name?  I don't see on the Wikipedia page, so probably just my failing memory,  Spirits of Rhythm?

Yes, Spirits of Rhythm (Black & White 21, 22 & 23).

 

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5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Do they have all the missing parts now? Hope so, this is a set I could preorder without hesitation.

He didn't say, but my guess is that the fact the release date is that far out might indicate they're still searching.

 

 

gregmo

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4 hours ago, scooter_phx said:

Hello All -

Any recent word on this box set?  Maybe in 2022?

 

On 4/23/2021 at 4:12 PM, JSngry said:

Do they have all the missing parts now? Hope so, this is a set I could preorder without hesitation.

I wrote offering to preorder sight unseen and received this reply:  We’re not set up in the system yet for the B&W set – we’re looking for it to be released sometime in March. We’ll send you an email when its ready.

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According to the discography on the Mosaic website Jack McVie is included - click on "discography":

B&W set

A Comprehensive Historical Release
Black & White Records

Rescued from extinction – music you’ve likely never heard.

Expected release date May 31

At Mosaic, presenting music that’s been hard to find — or completely overlooked — is as exciting today as it was in 1983 when we assembled our very first package of Blue Note recordings featuring Thelonious Monk. Sometimes we unveil just a handful. Other times, dozens.

So, can you imagine how exhilarated we are about an 11-CD set where nearly every track has been unavailable for nearly 75 years?

Unearthing the music on our new collection, Classic Black & White Jazz Sessions, has been a dream for decades. Unlike most of our sets, the original masters of these sessions are not known to exist anymore. Confusion over who owned the copyrights and who owned physical recordings we could use as source material raised additional obstacles.

Again and again we were forced to push the project to the back burner. Finally, after years of research, and after generous help from a great family of record collectors around the world, the music of this incredibly neglected label, is finally available for us to release in the comprehensive, documented, and definitive fashion for which Mosaic is known.

From 78s, LPs and CD compilations that were all in private collections, we’ve gathered the mind-boggling 243 titles that make up this collection spanning the years 1942-1949. Knowing the spotty re-release of just a small number of titles, we can safely say that almost all of these recordings have never been heard by more than a handful of living humans.

Creating Classic Black & White Jazz Sessions was done with the same vision and labor of love that brought together in boxed set form our re-issues of the independent labels Commodore and the HRS. Those collections are long sold-out and forever out of print; they will never see the light of day again in that form. We guarantee the same for this set, so please order today to own this long-hidden treasure of 1940s jazz.

 

The Black & White Label

In a fascinating way, what makes this set so significant is that it is a microcosm of jazz in a time of transition, encompassing traditional, swing, big band and bebop.

Black & White never had a grand presence and distribution of the label was slim with only two recordings becoming hits: “Call It Stormy Monday” by T-Bone Walker and “Open The Door Richard” by Jack McVea.

Yet, for jazz fans, you could find genres of all styles – that is if you could find them in your local record store or even now at a thrift shop, antique store, flea market or vintage record shop. The label has been underestimated and these rarities, lovingly culled together in one package, are perfect examples of what Mosaic is all about.

Based initially in Brooklyn before moving to California, Black & White documented the kind of jazz you’d be hearing on any given night in New York or LA. The label’s owners gave shots at leading sessions to those working musicians who were not typically leaders, many of whom called in “name” musicians to work alongside them. Though somewhat more obscure, these session leaders took every advantage to make music that was fresh, lively, and expressive.

A Who’s Who of ‘40s Jazz

Some of the artists featured will be unfamiliar to you and will be a delight for you to discover. The others?

How about pianists such as Art Hodes, Cliff Jackson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, James P. Johnson, Phil Moore, Lil Armstrong, Meade Lux Lewis, Art Tatum, and Erroll Garner. Trumpeters include Jonah Jones, Buck Clayton, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerald Wilson, Red Rodney, Howard McGhee, Al Killian, and Snooky Young.

Woodwind players are represented by Mezz Mezzrow, Pee Wee Russell, Sidney Bechet, Rod Cless, Art Pepper, Lucky Thompson, Barney Bigard, George Auld, Joe Thomas, Jack McVea, Marshall Royal, and Charlie Ventura.

Trombone players include J.C. Higginbotham, Melba Liston, and Jimmy Knepper. On bass you’ll find Jack Lesberg, Pops Foster, Oscar Pettiford, Charles Mingus and Red Callender.

Drummers include George Wettling, Baby Dodds, Lee Young, Chico Hamilton, Shadow Wilson and Denzil Best.

The set includes many, many more artists such as Barney Kessel, Teddy Bunn, and Laurindo Almeida, plus vocalists Ivie Anderson, Helen Humes, Ernestine Anderson and Etta Jones.

 

The Mosaic Records Creative Process

It was a label screaming for attention and to be a part of the Mosaic catalog. Classic Black & White Jazz Sessions has been on our minds for years. But for lack of not knowing who owned the material, after much research and communication with collectors and label companies, we came to a dead end. The last possible owners, Pickwick, were out of business.

It was only after DJ, researcher and collector Lloyd Rauch and jazz film historian extraordinaire Mark Cantor came to us and asked why not put out a set of the rich Black & White catalog did we decide that the time was right to re-visit and assemble a collection of this amazing and diverse record label.

Mosaic’s Scott Wenzel listened and decided what were favorable candidates to the set and then it was time to cast a wide net to an all-star cast of collectors all over the world and help locate the recordings we needed from this rare label and find them in the best sound possible.

But finding the original recordings were not easy to come by. Many releases weren’t of the highest quality shellac and this post-war / independent label had to take what they were given. However, with pristine copies of original 78s found, Andreas Meyer and Nancy Conforti of Swan Studios, who have garnered many Grammys and kudos from around the world on their work both in the jazz and classical fields, have brilliantly extracted more of the music you would ever find anywhere of these precious and neglected gems of jazz.

Our booklet accompanying the set includes essays by Dan Morgenstern, Billy Vera and the producer, Scott Wenzel. You’ll also be treated to the most accurate discography ever of this material plus extremely rare, invaluable, and in some cases never-seen photos amassed from collectors around the world.

 
 
 
 

Audio Clips To Come

 

 

Edited by J.A.W.
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42 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Pre-ordered as well. gotta love that $20.00 pre-order discount!

Yup!  If they did that with more (or all) of their sets, I would have probably preordered a LOT more over the years — but I realize the economies of every set are different (especially based on the size of the set) — and I’m not complaining, I swear!

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