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I really started buying jazz records only at the very beginning of the CD era, when I was about 30 years old. An older friend of mine, a real "cat," was my Pygmalion. He bought many CDs for me in England or directly in the U.S. I think the first box set (if I can call it that) was the wonderful Ellington's "The Blanton-Webster Band," four discs of pure joy. In the following years, I was really an addicted: I often purchased box sets only for the beautiful package (i.e. the Billie Holyday's Verve), and in some instances i discovered music i didn't know at all and so the boxed sets expanded my horizons... I'm very grateful to them!

I clearly remember the first box set I ever bought: Rahsaan Roland Kirk's Mercury Complete Box. It was really good. The top shelf of my closet is filled with Mosaic and other LP-sized box sets, and recently I discovered a Mosaic box set of Mildred Bailey that I had completely forgotten I had bought. Thank you, past me! Back in the day, Mosaic would send paper catalogs and pamphlets to Japan, and they were a valuable source of information on Jazz at the time. I feel like there was a stronger sense of belonging to the community than there is with social media today. Nowadays, you can often listen to the audio from CD box sets via music streaming platforms. You don't even need to rip it from a CD anymore. The other day, I found Woody Herman's Mosaic Select at a used CD shop in my neighborhood and bought it in ecstasy, but it is available as The Philips Recordings on many streaming services. In the end, most of the value of box sets today lies in the liner notes, which contain information you can't find anywhere else. However, that would be meaningless unless you're a jazz researcher or enthusiast.

February 1 Sadao Watanabe - 1933 - 93 today!

I had to think a little but now remember: It was the "Blues Box 2" 4-LP set on MCA that I bought in 1977 when I was 17. As this was Vol. 2 I wondered about Vol. 1 but this was nowhere to be found at our local shops. Then a school buddy's father (a collector himself) stepped in and inquired with the right people at the local record shop where I had bought the first one (a shop that sometimes carried interesting stuff you did not see elsewhere but was kind of pricey). And soon afterwards the "Blues Box Vol. 1" was there for me to pick up. I still have both and whenever I see a secondhand copy memories of my school days come up. https://www.discogs.com/master/955304-Various-Blues-Box-2 https://www.discogs.com/release/5371665-Various-Blues-Box-1 Re- the Count Basie Roulette box sets on Mosaic: I never had had my eyes on the studio box set as I had accumulated all the Basie LPs on Roulette over time (except 1 or 2 vocalist LPs that I wasn't too hot about anyway). But the Roulette "Live" box set I recently scored was too good an opportunity to pass up, particularly since most of the contents really is new in any form. So I am looking forward to explore it.

Re C. Brown at Basin Street Could you list the tracks? There is IMO more than one recording with that title. Thanks

Sonny Red Website

Same experience over here, the Roulettes and Capitols seem much easier to find...

Uh Kevin you just started a political discussion as a moderator. That feels pretty weird.

Out of curiosity, I did a quick search for "Frank Tiberi Tapes," and one of the first hits was a Facebook post by Pat LaBarbera stating that Tiberi had made a deal with Ravi for their release. If so...😲

Thanks guys great to see there are more Rega fans out here. I know @Rabshakeh also is. very happy with it. The cool thing about this RS edition is that it comes standard with quite some upgrades: - the same High Pressure Laminate as the P6, P8 and P10 models as plinth - Rega ND5 cartridge - Rega Neo PSU power supply - Reference Belt Thought slightly more expensive than the regular P3 the package price is pretty competitive for all what you get. I definitely expected improvement over my P2 but not in this way. Especially very happy the ‘solar panel noise’ is finally gone. I had a big smile on my face all trough the first side of the LP. Then I called my wife to come and listen. She smiled, looked at me in a pity full kinda way and said: I really don’t hear what you’re talking bout but hey as long as your happy with it….

I didn't buy the Basie Roulette Studio box when it came out. Later I became a big Basie fan and searched a long time for a copy. It was pretty expensive but you are right, it's glorious. For months after I got the Roulettes I played little else. The first Basie I bought from Mosaic when it came out was the Verve/Clef box. Eventually I had to have them all. Plus the Savoy Sessions. And this new V-Disk set...

I'm gonna have to update my answer. I forgot about vinyl... silly me. The Brownie sessions was my first CD box set. I guess to be accurate, I bought both the solo and group box sets of Art Tatum on Pablo before the Brownie box. I still have them but nothing to play a Lp on. I guess I could give the Lp's to Goodwill, but I'd rather give the boxes to someone who would play them. I suspect if someone paid the shipping, I'd be willing to part with them. They've been sitting on the shelf for more than 25 years.

Link: https://thomkeith.net/2026-organissimo-blindfold-tests/ Enjoy! Some whitespace to avoid spoilers: . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .

This evening, Hamilton de Holanda Trio at Windmills.

He was a masterful artist, he will be missed.

Salary caps are evil. Value is to be rewarded, not stifled. Lazy ownership and management seems to always be rewarded in some form or fashion. Put a salary cap on them, eh? Then we can talk.

His first name was Grady?!?!! RIP Rev. Wilson.

I favor a hard salary cap in MLB (both ceiling and floor) based on negotiated % of league revenue, even though my local team (Phillies) is one of the bigger spenders. With the difference in local income streams, teams like the Pirates, Royals, Indians, Reds, Twins, Brewers, Rays have little to no shot at competing with the big boys, even though some of those teams (Indians and Brewers come to mind) are run extraordinarily well. I like how it works in the NFL, where GM skill is integral (makes me very thankful for Howie Rosen!). It doesn't take a genius to go spend $2 billion on the best FA's money can buy.

This again: Amazing artistry.

Just ordered it. Tani Tabbal often plays in this area. Listening on bandcamp, it was really cool to hear his recognizable drumming.

Cartola – Cartola

RIP. Sad news. I always enjoyed Sanford and Son, and Wilson was great. The episodes featuring his buddy Rollo were always hilarious.