Ron S

Guess what I just read!!! Miho Hatori is the supposedly the illegitimate daughter of Sun Ra(!). (Source) She was also born on Venus (or so she claims, same source as above). Another pic of Miho: Probably another case of immaculate conception. Gee, I dunno--Venus is a hell of a long way from Saturn. Think she's making it up?

And you'll probably notice that in the "used" listing it's under the subcategory of "like new," and the description says it's BRAND NEW. Fact is, my understanding is they don't sell used stuff, but they'll occasionally list a brand-new item under the "like new" subcategory of "used." There's not doubt their inventory system sucks. But they appear to be honest and won't rip you off. You just have to be prepared to deal with occasional glitches in their stock listings.

Columbia Small Group Swing Sessions, Disc 3 (Has anyone else gotten this yet?)

Well, it doesn't make up for last night. But it helps in terms of the Mosaic budget. Thanks.

Now THAT sounds like a PLAN!

Amazon charges the credit card at time of purchase and transfers funds to the Marketplace seller (probably taking its cut). So refunds are processed by the seller through Amazon. I also agree that the shoddy inventory-control system is lame, and have expressed that repeatedly in Caiman feedback on Amazon. But now knowing about it through lots of experience with Caiman, I still place orders with them (when their price is right) with the understanding that I may cancel it if they don't ship within a few days--they're always good for an immediate refund.

Maybe you should try posting something other than photos of the Invisible Man.

I've ordered a lot of things from them. I've found that their stock information isn't always accurate or up-to-date. When they have something, it is shipped very quickly and is brand-new. Occasionally, if an item doesn't ship quickly (the Amazon Marketplace sellers are supposed to ship within 2 business days), I'll get impatient and email them, and often will cancel the order. They're usually very quick about processing a refund. They're also good about returns of defective CD's. I received one and emailed them, and immediately received a response with a link to a COD return label. I had to inquire by email a couple of weeks after I sent it back, but they did then send me a new one. You can get to any Amazon Marketplace seller's listing page for an item through a rather circuitous route, and I try to check Caiman's before I order to see if they list more than 1 of something in stock (they often have more than one listing of something at different prices, I think because of their inefficient stock control system). My impression from many dealings with them, and from reading lots of feedback about them, is that they don't intentionally try to mislead about stock availability. I think their stock control system just isn't the most efficient, and leads to occasional situations where they don't have in stock something they've listed on Amazon. But I've never found them to be unresponsive to inquiries or requests for refunds. And about the "sealed" issue: everything I get from them appears to be brand-new (I'm very particular about that and inspect all CD's and cases/inserts thoroughly). Once or twice I've gotten an import from them that, although appearing to be brand new, was not "sealed" (i.e., wrapped in plastic). I inquired about it, and they stated that imports often do not come wrapped. I've seen this stated in several other places and by other merchants, and have no reason to doubt it. As I said, it's only happened once or twice with Caiman, out of tens of purchases, and as I recall the last time it happened the CD was a European Blue Note which appeared in all other ways to be brand spankin' new.

Now you guys have MY interest peaked. I didn't have this set on my Mosic radar screen, but it seems to be near the top of a lot of people's lists. The current issues I've been thinking about (but won't necessariy buy) are (in no particular order) Johnson, Eldridge, Stitt, Hodges, Herman Columbia, Roach, and Parlan. I already have Mulligan, Farmer/Golson/Jazztet, Byrd/Adams, Columbia Small Group Swing, and I have on order Mobley and Farlow (as anyone who reads the Mosaic threads knows ). Any input would be welcome. And tranemonk, I don't mean to hijack one of your threads (again ), but maybe this will be of help to you, also? Wait, what do I care what helps YOU--we were supposed to have a victory parade here tomorrow, and instead it'll be in BOSTON.

Congrats to you and your Beantown buds, tranemonk. Wow, what a year for you guys, between the Pats and the Sox. Yeah, like every other Eagles fan, I was screaming at the TV when they kept breaking for huddles towards the end. Maybe Andy Reid didn't want things moving too quickly in light of McNabb's 2 previous interceptions. It obviously didn't help, since he then threw interception number 3. The Eagles have brought us sooooooooo close for the last four years--one step closer this year--but still no Promised Land. Oh well. As they're saying around here now, NEXT YEAR IN DETROIT! [We now return you to the Gerald Wilson thread already in progress]

The Gods of Photoshop

See ya there.

On nights like that you gotta make your own good music. Well....., if you put it like that, the night was a complete success. B-)

On nights like that you gotta make your own good music.

Hopefully? I just never ordered from them before... I've done other Amazon merchants and its' always been fine... so I'm sure this will be great... thanks for the tip!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll take care of you--I know where the federal courthouse is in Miami and if Caiman doesn't come through, we'll sue 'em!

Ruby Braff Revisited I've given the Ruby Braff sessions (Discs 1 and 2) a second listen now, and I have to retract what I said about them earlier. The playing on them is marvelous, and not slick or too "commercial" sounding as I previously implied. I think what put me off on my first, casual listen was the way Braff was recorded, especially in the first quartet session. His horn is recorded with a lot of reverb, whereas the rhythm section is recorded with no reverb, making Braff sound a bit remote from the other musicians. There is less reverb on Braff and the rest of the front line in the other sessions, although there is still some to varying degrees. Personally, I could do without the reverb altogether, but at the time these sessions were recorded Columbia obviously thought it was desirable. In any event, it's not overwhelming and doesn't really detract from the music (many may not even notice it). So, my apologies to Mr. Braff and company for my first comments. This is great music and, along with the rest of this set, I highly recommend it.

(And the Nabors! Don't forget the NABORS!!!)

Hopefully?

Looks like the current bid's around $60 with a couple more days to go.

The Farlow was the only one I found looking quickly today. Of course, I only looked for ones I'm interested in, including the Eldridge (and, of course, the wonderful Nabors set ).

The thing is Brad, as I mentioned in the European Mosaics thread in this same forum, this particular European set is available from several legit U.S. online merchants (CD Universe, Amazon, Tower) for similarly low prices ($48-67). And, from what I've read in several posts from European members, the European versions of the recent Verve Mosaics (distributed there by Universal) are identical to the U.S. Mosaics except that the catalog number is different (NOT a 2XX-MD-CD number) and the booklets are not individually numbered (although they do indicate that the edition is limited to 10,000). Given that the European Farlow set is the only one now widely available in the U.S., I'm wondering (as I said in the other thread) if maybe it's not selling as well overseas or here as originally anticipated given the commitment to issue 10,000 (compared to, e.g., Mulligan CJB at 7500), leading to the discounted European sets being sold here. It might be a solution for Mosaic that still allows them to maintain the standard price on their site. In any event, I can't imagine that all of these legit vendors (including one--CD Universe--which is in Mosaic's home state of Connecticut) would be selling the European Farlow set in the U.S. at the prices their charging if it violated Mosaic's legal rights. At least not for long.

Do that. And I'll let you know when MINE arrives. I've dealt with Caiman a lot and, at worst, they're good for an immediate refund if for some reason they don't have what you ordered or it takes too long to ship. In my experience, they'll ship within a couple of days, and email you notification of shipment, if they have it (by media mail so, depending on where you live, it can take a while to get to you). If for some reason they don't ship soon, I can advise you on how to deal with them.

That all depends on what the definition of is is.

I'm happy to have gotten the Brookmeyer for $36 w/free shipping from VH1.

VH1 has the Brookmeyer for $36.20 with free shipping. http://vh1shop.vh1.com/product.aspx?sku=63...&search_store=6 Thanks! Just ordered it.