J.A.W.

As far as their big boxes go, I am sure you are correct. However I notice that the 'Blowing a Fuse' series finishes in 1955. Suspicious or what? I suspect that with this series they are just as 'guilty' as Proper, JSP etc ... Bear Family would be the LAST label I would group with Proper, JSP, Definitive! You can complain about their pricing, some of their mastering decisions, but NOT their licensing, or lack thereof! Considering their ability to issue compilations from multiple labels from actual licensed source materials I think they should be commended as a model in this regard. I fully agree. I think it's outrageous to suggest otherwise as was done earlier in this thread, the facts don't lie.

An excellent CD with 18 of Nat King Cole's 1943-1947 and 1949 piano trio sides is The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Instrumental Classics, Capitol 98288. The CD was released in 1992; the transfers were done by Jay Ranellucci and Malcolm Addey. Highly recommended!

As far as their big boxes go, I am sure you are correct. However I notice that the 'Blowing a Fuse' series finishes in 1955. Suspicious or what? I suspect that with this series they are just as 'guilty' as Proper, JSP etc ... The Blowing the Fuse series does not finish in 1955. More volumes will follow this year, up to and including 1960, so I'd suggest you get your facts straight before accusing them of anything. Here's what's on their website: A NEW GOLD STANDARD IN R&B REISSUES Here's why Bear Family's 'Blowing The Fuse' will be the standard for R&B reissues now and forever! YEARS! YEARS! YEARS! Many companies have issued compilations of out-of-copyright recordings (ie. records more than 50 years old). That's why you'll find that their series stop in 1953. Bear Family's 'Blowing The Fuse' starts at the dawn of the Post-War R&B era in 1945, and will continue through until 1960! And, unlike the out-of-copyright labels that won't get to 1960 until 2011, we'll get there in 2005 because Bear Family pays the companies that own the music. PACKAGING! PACKAGING! PACKAGING! Other labels lift photos from old books and magazines, and commission quickie liner notes that tell you little or nothing, and often get it wrong. Bear Family's 'Blowing The Fuse' will have detailed song-by-song notes, stories behind the songs, and incredible never-before-seen photos in huge booklets ... booklets so big they won't even fit inside the standard plastic case. They'll go in specially designed DigiPacs. COMPILATIONS! COMPILATIONS! COMPILATIONS! Most out-of-copyright labels do their compilations from chart books compiled by Joel Whitburn. Compiling from Whitburn is taking the easy way out. We hired Dave 'Daddy Cool' Booth, a guy with one of North America’s biggest R&B collections and the dee-jay experience to know how to program music. He went through his incredible collection and then he went through 'Billboard' year-by-year, and picked out more than just the hits. We selected the absolute best music, some of it never reissued on CD until now, as well as the biggest hits, and we have no more than two songs by any artist on any CD. These are true, properly thought-out compilations in the spirit of Guy Stevens, Paul Oliver, Mike Leadbitter, and the others who compiled groundbreaking blues/R&B LPs back in the 1960s and 1970s. SOUND! SOUND! SOUND! We used the absolute best sources from the original labels, then carefully remastered for the absolute best-ever sound. Beware! These will cost a little more than some of the out-of-copyright reissues, but they'll be worth it. If you're sick of R&B reissues that look and sound like a proper mess, then the best is on the way. And you won't have to wait until 2011 to get the complete story of R&B's golden years!

I don't have the Mosaic set, but doesn't it contain mostly jazz-oriented trio dates? What kind of "filler/novelty-type stuff" does it have, non-trio sides, or? We just switched to a new iMac (and a broadband connection! ), so I can't pull up my database right now, but that set contains a ton of (forgettable) novelty compositions that have probably never been done by anyone since. Cute little numbers that were hip in the 40's, like what Slim Gaillard and people like that were doing. So yes, great trio, great musicians, I'm just lamenting the amount of less-than-great material they recorded. As I say, it's well-executed and fine in small doses, but I wouldn't have wanted to pay $15/$16 per disc for it, and certainly not $19/$20 like this BF set. Come to think of it, I think the song titles are listed in one of those "Mosaic discography" threads, if you want to see what I mean. And again, I really do love Nat (and Oscar Moore!). It's hard not to like a lot of the material based on who's performing it. There's just SO much of it in that set... Thanks for the explanation.

Here's an interesting post in the "other" Nat King Cole Bear Family box thread about the contents of the set.

I don't have the Mosaic set, but doesn't it contain mostly jazz-oriented trio dates? What kind of "filler/novelty-type stuff" does it have, non-trio sides, or?

I like it, though. But that's just me being dull. I'm one of the dullest persons I know, so no wonder I love that date.

Sure!

One man's honey is another man's vinegar...

That's right, the Mosaic was jazz-oriented; it had all of Nat King Cole's trio dates, while the Bear Family seems to have his popular sides, with orchestras and all that. Very little overlap - if any - I would think.

I've just listed a few Japanese Miles Davis and Pink Floyd mini-LP CDs on eBay. Thanks for looking.

He doesn't, he told me he doesn't know anything about classical/pop and can't provide the same service. Though I must add that he occasionally got me rock CDs when I gave him the specific details of the items I was looking for. Like Daniel said, you can always ask him.

He doesn't, he told me he doesn't know anything about classical/pop and can't provide the same service. Though I must add that he occasionally got me rock CDs when I gave him the specific details of the items I was looking for.

He doesn't, he told me he doesn't know anything about classical/pop and can't provide the same service.

Couldn't disagree with you more on this one. There are days when I prefer "Another Workout" over "Workout". The 1960-63 era Mobley Blue Notes are my favorite and this one fits in perfectly. He was still blowing that hard bop but he was getting funky. I prefer it over the Mosaic material. Mobley's Savoy and Prestige sessions sound like blowing sessions to me. Kevin And I couldn't agree more with you, Kevin. I still have those Prestiges, in the separate Japanese K2 versions, but I might be tempted to sell them

Kind of gives a man... ... ideas, eh Hans? Hmm, I'd rather have lots of these

Wow, already on $480 with 8 days to go!

I can, no problem

Just getting the word out on an awesome and rare cd. Sorry for spamming the board Well, you can delete your spam by using the moderation option at the lower left hand corner.

It's that time of year, apparently...

His "promotional" threads are gone. I would think he deleted them himself. He did - I asked Jim. Good riddance, I'd say.

Anyone?

Does anyone know who remastered the Clifford Brown set?

I didn't compare the 1992 box to a more modern mastering; many modern remasters sounds just awful, maximized/compressed and sometimes no-noised, and with aggressive highs that make your ears bleed. It's just that the box sounds "dead" to my ears, as a result of the noise reduction.

Couldn't agree more.