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Kid Ory Mosaic


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I recently purchased the Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions Mosaic and have been loving it! I've been eyeing the Kid Ory set but, having no knowledge of his music, was hoping people here could post any thoughts they have on this set, his music in general, and any similarities to the Atlantic N.O. set. Also, it seems like this set has been around for a while and hasn't sold very well. Is the license due to expire anytime soon?

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I have and like this set. IF you like New Orleans Style jazz, this has a treasure trove of good stuff in it. IF you're not too crazy about the style, it may be too much of a good thing. . . . Sound is very good and lots of good playing here.

The sound and the playing is more polished here for the most part than in the New Orelans set. The singing may take some getting used to. . . I reall love it but then I'm weird! :lol: But this band worked and worked and that shows in all the good ways. And there is a fun spirit throughout the set that these musicians brought to the studio and stage with them.

I'm not sure how much longer this will be around, a year or two more I would say.

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Not much pre-WWII jazz is marketable in Japan. That's the nature of the market.

I have a lot of Kid Ory: the two chronological classics, most of the Good Time Jazz material, other stuff on American and Storyville. Is there really a compelling reason to get the Verve recordings as well? Are they much different?

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For what it's worth, this set will have been released five years ago this summer. ASSUMING a five-year lease period, Mosaic will probably be selling down their current inventory until it is exhausted. (In light of how slow a seller this set has been, I cannot foresee Mosaic running another pressing unless they have very little on hand at present. Consider also that storage space has been a problem for Mosaic in the past. I am only speculating, though. Anyone really worried about this set disappearing soon should ask the kind folks at Mosaic for their input.)

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I'm very fond of this set. One of the first things that stood out to me was how remarkably rich and powerful Ory's tone on the bone was even though he's in his 70s on many of these recordings. The sound Ory produces is just so warm--it's a beautiful thing.

A fair amount of tunes on this set are blues and standards that run about 8-10 minutes. So it's not all New Orleans polyphony, instead there's a lot of room for solo space. Generally, this is fine although there are some moments when things slow down a bit (like a bass solo here and there punctuated by a riff that consists of a quarter note at the beginning of each bar).

An added bonus is the appearance of Red Allen on a couple of these CDs. Red sounds great and opportunities to hear him in 50s hi fi are not too plentiful.

ALso, I agree these are extrememly unlikely to be released by Verve when the license expires. It'll be up to the European companies, who'll have to dub from lps.

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ALso, I agree these are extrememly unlikely to be released by Verve when the license expires. It'll be up to the European companies, who'll have to dub from lps.

Why should they dub from LPs when they can dub from the Mosaic set?

That is what JSP has already done with the Bunny Berigan Mosaic.

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An added bonus is the appearance of Red Allen on a couple of these CDs.  Red sounds great and opportunities to hear him in 50s hi fi are not too plentiful. 

Even though he gets a bit raucous at times... this is a good reason, but you have to like traditional jazz

Edited by P.D.
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Anyone familiar with Ory know about this LP I picked up today

"The Legendary Kid Ory in concert". It's on Vogue with Tracks recorded live at the Shrine in 1949 ,1951 and 1952 and Panama (sic) 1951.

Presumably a Gene Norman originally but is this a compilation? AMG list nothing .

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  • 1 year later...

A :tup for the Kid Ory set. I was a bit 'on the fence' on this one, New Orleans Jazz being a bit of a peripheral taste for me. I shouldn't have worried though. There is much good music, period, on this set - beautifully recorded and remastered. Indeed the sound quality is quite astonishing. It's a real pleasure to hear the relaxed swing of these guys caught in extended performance, with the infectious Ory tailgate sound prominent but not OTT. Added bonus is a nice booklet with some very cool photography work by Ray Avery - his photos seem to really capture the essence of Ory the person.

And again I ask - have Mosaic ever done a 'bum' set?

Edited by sidewinder
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:tup  for the Kid Ory set. I was a bit 'on the fence' on this one, New Orleans Jazz being a bit of a peripheral taste for me. I shouldn't have worried though. There is much good music, period, on this set - beautifully recorded and remastered. Indeed the sound quality is quite astonishing. It's a real pleasure to hear the relaxed swing of these guys caught in extended performance, with the infectious Ory tailgate sound prominent but not OTT. Added bonus is a nice booklet with some very cool photography work by Ray Avery - his photos seem to really capture the essence of Ory the person.

And again I ask - have Mosaic ever done a 'bum' set?

Yeah go ahead - make the procrastinators suffer...

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