J.A.W.

Provided their licensors will allow them to do so.

If you want to see what's currently possible along these lines, go to Pristine Classical. They offer lossless FLAC downloads in either 16 bit (CD quality), 16 bit ambient stereo or 24 bit (studio quality) formats along with dowloadable artwork, track listings and commentaries. I've purchased a half a dozen of their recordings in 16 bit FLAC and they are very nice. Up over and out. That's Andrew Rose's website, the guy whose pre-war blues remasters, sourced from MP3, are controversial, to say the least. Last year his work was discussed on Blindman's Blues Forum. I listened to several of his blues samples and hated the sound. Give me Yazoo and John Tefteller's Blues Images CDs anytime!

Don't forget hysteria

Why not ask Mosaic why they aren't going that route? Criticizing them here is easy, but there may be reasons why they don't offer lossless downloads etc. - or CD-Rs, for that matter.

I tried a mail re: holding back the Donaldson. I did get a short response from them last night saying they are 'sold out'. I'll bet they are fuming over this. No mail here Gee, I really really really am pissed about this! Really in a bad mood ever since yesterday 6 p.m.! Remember there's a 6-hour time difference between Mosaic and Switzerland, and their office hours are 9-5 Eastern Daylight Time or 15:00-23:00 Central European Summer Time.

Well, the Rolling Stones' 1960s albums originally appeared on CD in 1984, so it can also be said that they helped usher in the CD age Wow, was it that early? For some reason I thought the first Stones CDs hit in '86. (They were so abysmal that I held off buying anything but the LONDON SINGLES box for years & years.) Your point would still be taken in either event, though... except for the Beatles Factor.* *i.e., "don't you know, the Beatles did everything first!" I was referring to the Rolling Stones CDs that were released in West Germany by PolyGram in their 820XXX series. They sounded good; the American ABKCO CDs didn't, at least not to my ears.

Well, the Rolling Stones' 1960s albums originally appeared on CD in 1984, so it can also be said that they helped usher in the CD age

Unless it's the Beatles...

Mosaic will not sell copies. Dogma doesn't answer the question. A copy of the CD is, when done right, a bit-for-bit copy. It's exact. It cannot be distinguished from a first generation CD. So I'll ask again: what's holding them back here? Which part of "Mosaic will not sell copies" don't you understand? See also post #44. I'm not that stupid... I tried, of course. It's not available on the website. They must have had very few, and they were snapped up very quickly. Why don't you call them and find out?

Yes, and then a few days later we reach the end of the Mayan Calendar and are all hosed anyway.

I do indeed generally prefer the "Blue Note Works" CDs. As fellow member Claude always says, it's the mastering that counts, not the resolution or the format (16-bit, 20-bit, 24-bit, SACD, HDCD, or whatever), and I agree. But it doesn't matter what I think, just let your ears decide.

Commendable, but in this digital age rather stupid as well. If one wants "copies," it's easy enough to borrow discs from a friend or simply download them. Unfortunate that Mosaic is unwilling in circumstances like this to do whatever it can to accept money from willing customers. I think it's a matter of principle, and maybe EMI won't allow them either.

I don't think that's Mosaic's fault, they didn't destroy the masters etc.

Mosaic will not sell copies. The Dinah Washington is still available, though there's "limited inventory available" as it says in the announcement (see post #1).

A Japanese contact told me that the TOCJ-7XXX series used the same remasterings as the TOCJ-6XXX series. The "TOCJ-LP" series are called "Blue Note Works" series and, as I posted above, they have the catalogue numbers TOCJ-15XX, TOCJ-16XX and TOCJ-4XXX; in other words, they used the same numbers as the original Blue Note LPs - hence the misnomer "TOCJ-LP" series. These "Blue Note Works" CDs were issued in the 1990s. Here's a Japanese Blue Note site with links to the various series (scroll down).

In this century at least

As I understand Mosaic's message, it means that the masters and components were destroyed and it's too costly to remaster everything again and make new ones for the remaining run of those sets.

That one is one of the best Selects in my view. Wonderful music by (in alphabetical order ) Clare Fischer, Russ Freeman, Jimmy Rowles and Richard Twardzik. Yeah, I should get it too. I had it in my cart but dropped it. I just don't see myself listening to it enough. Your loss A little editing...

That one is one of the best Selects in my view. Wonderful music by (in alphabetical order ) Clare Fischer, Russ Freeman, Jimmy Rowles and Richard Twardzik.

They didn't mention that one in their message.

Well, fortunately I have the two Don Pullen / George Adams Blue Note CDs that are on the set.

I am sorry to have revisited this topic ... Because I am working on a publishing deadline I cannot visit here as often as I used to ... so I do tend to miss things ... and my search skills are not very finely honed ... but my intentions were good (like the road to Hell!). :blush2: Garth. Absolutely no need to apologize. I was just wondering...

The Pullen Select was on my list.

I just got this message from Mosaic: September 9, 2009 We've all become accustomed to bad news for the past five years, both in the United States and globally and in the arts as well as the world economy. But what we just discovered is a first in bad news for Mosaic Records. Each of our sets is manufactured by the label that owns and licenses to us the masters contained in the set. One of our major licensors changed pressing plants for the tens of thousands of titles it manufactures. Unfortunately a number of Mosaic titles (mostly Selects) were deleted and all of the components and masters were destroyed in process. Mosaic Records cannot afford to remaster and remanufacture components for the remaining run of these titles and due to contractual issues there is no relief from the responsible parties. We have no choice but to prematurely retire these titles. For some, we still have some inventory. But for others, we are forced to tell you without warning that we are out of stock and these titles will never be available again. As champions of the completist concept, we know how important collecting a complete set of releases is and heartfully apologize for this set of circumstances. Limited Inventory Available The Complete Blue Note Lou Donaldson Sessions (#215) "Hear Donaldson in such an orgiastic feast as this, and he becomes something of a monster player - gorgeous sound, capable of playing in all manners of contexts and always dripping with such blues-based earthiness..." - Jeff Simon, Buffalo News 6 CDs - $96 The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Recordings (#227) "No matter what she sang, Dinah operated by a simple philosophy: 'When you get inside of a tune, the soul in you should just come out. You should just be able to step back and let that soul come right out.'" - Nadine Cohodas, liner notes 5 CDs - $85 Mosaic Select: Bennie Green (MS-003) "His execution is clearly defined, non-exhibitionistic and liberally impregnated with the devices and characteristic phrasing of the be-bop style, yet he always manages to retain something of the real jam session atmosphere." - Raymond Horricks 3 CDs - $44 Mosaic Select: John Patton (MS-006) "This set came into being as a result of a desire to celebrate and make available the first three John Patton albums that Blue Note released: Along Came John, The Way I Feel and Oh Baby! These were a pretty heady triumvirate with which to launch a solo career." - Michael Cuscuna, liner notes 3 CDs - $44 Mosaic Select: Curtis Amy (MS-007) Texas tenorman Curtis Amy had a long and distinguished career as a jazz artist, studio musician and record executive. During his years with Pacific Jazz, he recorded six superb albums that revealed an artist who constantly challenged himself as an improviser and as a composer. 3 CDs - $44 Mosaic Select: Duke Pearson (MS-008) Duke Pearson's watermark runs through Blue Note's output in the '60s. As a recording artist, he led lyrical trios, soulful sextets and a roaring big band. But his final Blue Note sessions showed his palate expanding to embrace Brazilian rhythms and melodies and impressionistic harmonies. 3 CDs - $44 Mosaic Select: Bud Shank/Bob Cooper (MS-010) "...the cool tag can be pretty safely applied to Bud Shank and Bob Cooper. Both were West-Coasters who served apprenticeships with Stan Kenton and both employed lightly swinging rhythm sections and all kinds of arranging devices." - Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes 3 CDs - $44 Mosaic Select: Pacific Jazz Piano Trios (MS-019) "The six tracks that represent virtually the entire legacy of Richard Twardzik as leader are of special interest, but the set succeeds on the strength of the contributions of Freeman and Fischer." - Duck Baker, Coda 3 CDs - $44 The following titles are no longer available: Mosaic Select: Bob Brookmeyer (MS-009) Mosaic Select: Don Pullen (MS-013) Mosaic Select: Dexter Gordon (MS-014) Mosaic Select: Art Pepper (MS-015) Mosaic Select: Johnny Richards (MS-017) Mosaic Select: Freddie Slack (MS-018)

Like Reinier said, there are several Japanese Blue Note series with the TOCJ prefix, with both Blue Notes and albums on other EMI labels, such as Pacific Jazz. The Blue Note CDs that were issued in the 1990s in the "Blue Note Works" series have TOCJ-15XX, TOCJ-16XX and TOCJ-4XXX catalogue numbers. Later series, including the Rudy Van Gelder-mastered discs Reinier was referring to, have TOCJ-9XXX catalogue numbers and they don't belong to the "Blue Note Works" series; they're reissues of Blue Note, Pacific Jazz and other EMI label albums. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Toshiba reissued many Blue Notes in the TOCJ-6XXX series to commemorate Blue Note's 60th anniversary; they also issued Pacific Jazz and other EMI label CDs in another TOCJ-6XXX series. All late 1990s and 2000s TOCJ-9XXX and TOCJ-6XXX CDs are 24-bit remastered; unlike Reinier I don't like the sound on many of the ones I've heard, to my ears they sound too harsh and some are too loud to my taste.