Ron S

I received my European Farlow Mosaic from Caiman today, and am thoroughly enjoying it right now. It appears that the European sets are manufactured in the US and, except for the numbering, are identical to the US issue. So it's $80 extra for a US Mosaic number.

Do you have any change?

hmm.... this is making me nervous.... I assume all else (particularly the music/tracks/band) is the same....? Oh yes. Don't misunderstand me--this is definitely the genuine Farlow Mosaic designed for sale by Unviersal/Verve in Europe. I was just curious if others had these same details as mine, given that these are distributed by Universal and not Mosaic. But once you have it, you'll see (and hear) that it is definitely a genuine Mosaic box set. EDIT: I should have looked at these posts in a previous Farlow European Mosaic thread, which confirm that my European Farlow Mosaic from Caiman is exactly like those purchased elsewhere, right down to the goofy "Concert Band" reference on the spine. And this thread discusses the European Mosaics in general, including the removable information sheet attached to the back of the box.

Allen, I've said it before and I'll say it again: to EVERYTHING you say, I do this

Did my father log on to the Board?

You're brutal!

I received my Tal Farlow European Mosaic set from Caiman today. Some interesting details I noticed: 1. Unlike the sets you get from Mosaic, the entire box was shrink-wrapped, while the jewel cases inside were not. This makes sense because, unlike the US Mosaic sets, this set has a page containing Mosaic's description from the catalog rubber cemented to the back of the box. 2. Although the outside box doesn't have the name "Mosaic" on it, the CD's themselves do, and state that they're made in the U.S. 3. The spine of the box says "The Complete Verve Tal Farlow Concert Band Sessions." I'm wondering if that mistake is only on the European sets, or is that also on the American Mosaic sets? I know that the American Mosaic Mulligan CJB box says "Concert Band" on the spine as opposed to "Concert JAZZ Band." Somehow this got carried over to the Farlow box, or at least the European edition. Are the above 3 items consistent with the European Farlow sets that others have gotten?

Caiman comes through for me again. I received my Tal Farlow Mosaic set today. FWIW, I've purchased almost 40 items from them, and I've never failed to receive an item they'd said had shipped.

Sounds like you have it under control.

Hey Ron... Do you remember where you got the "Exclusively for My Friends" box and for how much? I remember looking at it when it came out but it was running for $60 or so in stores.... Can you provide a little more info about those recordings? Band? You said it was live - Where and when? How would you rate it compared to the 1990 Telarc set??? thanks MAN, you ask a lot of questions. The 4 CD's in the box actually cover several sessions recorded from 1963 to 1968. They were recorded for a German record producer in his private studio in his villa, in front of a few invited guests. So, while they're live recordings, there is a very intimate feel to them (as if you had Oscar and friends come play for a few friends in your house). The first 3 discs are all trio performances with, depending on the session, Ray Brown or Sam Jones on bass and Ed Thigpen or Bobby Durham on drums. The fourth disc is just Oscar perfoming solo. I haven't done an A-B comparison of "Exclusively for My Friends" and "Live at the Blue Note," but in general I'd say that "Friends" is a bit more mellow than "Blue Note" and, as I said, it has a more intimate feel. The recording of "Friends" probably doesn't have the immediacy and presence that "Blue Note" has, as you'd expect given the different times in which they were recorded, but it sounds great. I got my copy of "Friends" from . . .[drum roll] . . . CAIMAN! They have it now for $43.43, as does jazzclassicaloperashop (from whom I've also made several purchases and who is EXCELLENT--IMMEDIATE first class shipping with tracking). BTW, speaking of Caiman, the Farlow set was delivered today.

I didn't see anything on the Telarc site about the box being remastered, but the Chicago Tribune review excerpt quoted on the site refers to extra tracks in the box. I haven't compared the tracks in the box to the original single CD's, so I have no idea if there are any extra in the box. And I can't compare the sound since I don't have the original CD's. I, too, have other Oscar Peterson CD's not previously mentioned in this thread, but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere--Oscar's been quite prolific, and apparently is still going strong.

Hey, Man, you didn't have to KICK me down those stairs: I could've walked.

[just kidding ]

So will I.

I have that CD (and recommended it above). It's terrific--the interplay between OP, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis is phenomenal, and MAN, they really swing. As I said above, I also highly recommend "At the Concertgebouw" and "Live at Zardis" from the same period.

What's the label on that Olympia set, and do you know if it's still in print? (I want to buy it for Allen Lowe for Valentine's Day )

I ordered that box the day it was released from--guess who--CAIMAN. It IS great (and what Allen Lowe neglected to say is that he's never sober anyway and, hence, is quite the OP fan). I enjoyed this box so much I ordered another one--again from CAIMAN--for my father. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a big OP fan. If you don't have it, you should also try his 4-CD box, "Exclusively for My Friends." Those recordings are from the mid-60's, and were made in Germany in front of an intimate gathering--VERY nice. I also love the 50's drummerless trio with Brown and Ellis, including "Live at Zardis," "At the Concertgebouw" and "At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival." Then of course there's "Night Train," . . . . But you didn't ask about all these others, did you?

I think credit cards are charged (regardless of actual availablity at caiman) because Half.com or Amazon.com initiates transcations. I only bought CDs from them once, but when I got a wrong item, they quickly send me a refund. That is correct. Earlier in this thread, I posted a link to Caiman's page explaining how Amazon Marketplace sales work, but I'll post it again here. As I said before, I think a lot of complaints I've seen about Caiman and other Amazon Marketplace sellers (such as about charging credit cards at the time an order is placed) are mistakenly directed at the individual seller, when it's Amazon's system that is the culprit.

You know what it's like to be in each other's shoes?

It has its ups and downs.

Well, I figured I could live without it for an extra 2 or 3 days. Besides, I just got an order of 11 CD's from AllDirect.com to keep me busy for a couple of days. Their free shipping (for orders of $99 or more) is FedEx Ground, which usually gets to me in 2 business days from Nashville.

All Amazon Marketplace orders are normally shipped Media Mail unless you spend extra for a shipping upgrade. My Caiman orders usually take anywhere from 2 to 7 business days to get from Miami to Philly via Media Mail. It's amazing how variable it is. But for $50.58 for a brand-new Tal Farlow set delivered, it's worth the wait.

Shut yo' mouth!

So you can take the train down to Philly to hear it?

Any word on your Tal Farlow set? no Ron.... For some strange reason even though I'm in a major city - the mail kinda gets slow.... Did you get yours??? Same here. Hopefully it will arrive on Monday. They said it shipped last Monday (2/7), but they use USPS Media Mail and that can take forever. Did they say yours shipped?