colinmce

Looks more like Monk in those pictures.

In all honestly, I think Clifford's direction is the way to go. I love the Braxton Mosaic and I love Henry Threadgill, but I think it's alright to say that these sets aren't for everyone. While the Braxton contains wonderful, accessible stuff like New York, Fall 1974, Five Pieces 1975, Montreux/Berlin Concerts and Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (which given your tastes I'm confident you'd LOVE) a full half of the set is given over to much more challenging work like For Trio, For Four Orchestras and For Two Pianos. And Threadgill's conception is very idiosyncratic too, though there's lots to enjoy and he never goes "way out" (imo). Better off tracking down some of the original LPs than drop $150 on something you might not like. The Ornette, though, is a must.

I sure wish there were more boxes like the Albert Ayler and Jimmy Lyons ones ... so many figures that could benefit from this treatment, most notably (imo): Marion Brown-- check his online discography ... TONS of unreleased sessions from a man so painfully underrepresented on record, especially in his prime Sam Rivers-- we know the recent Select just scratches the surface of what's sitting around, both from his creative orchestras and the old trio Horace Tapscott-- again, so, so many private tapes from a major artist who was rarely recorded Bill Dixon-- Odyssey is there, but I'm sure there's much more. I'd say the same for him as for Tapscott: too rarely recorded. Joe McPhee-- John Corbett has done great putting out early private recordings and gigs but I'd love to hear more from the late 70s and 80s. Sunny Murray-- probably the Major Figure least acknowledged as such. An anthology of his career would do wonders in asserting his eminence. Black Artist Group-- Mentioned about as often as AEC but not much original recordings to point to And while there's certainly no shortage of their stuff on the market, I'd always welcome odds & ends boxes from Taylor, Lacy & Braxton-- gigs, rehearsals, speeches, etc. Also, why not an official Ornette bootleg series? Sorry, I'll be back to reality in a minute ...

The Carter-Bradford Select is one for the ages.

Berlin '88 is one I will have before I die.

I'll put this here as this is where the set has been most discussed. I've been spinning Jeffcrom's old Lunceford Decca/GRP discs and have found that while I love the band's sound-- the harmonic sophistication of Ellington plus the small-group drive of Basie, to make a rather obvious comparison-- I've found the vocals to be just awful. And it's not that I'm not acclimated to the singing of the day but I find that this is crooning at it's worst. And maybe it's just these discs, about 45 songs total vs 100+ on the Mosaic, but there are a LOT of them. Not sure if this is the case with the box set. Thoughts?

Can't be too long ... they started filming on October 31 and I know last season they were finishing filming while the season was about 1/4 way through its broadcast. I miss the show and the city. My wife and I split half our time there from mid-March to May while our son was in the hospital, and this is while we watched the first season and the second started airing. That whole vibe has been gone from our life since we stopped going. Lafayette, which is where we live and is in the heart of cajun country is really, really not the same. NO is much more our speed.

Discs came terrifyingly fast, thanks.

One last bump for the Konitz. I imagine most here own it, but if you don't you're missing out in a big way!

Not quite as nice as when BestBuy.com was shipping the Coltrane Side Steps box for 12 bucks.

PM on Braxton and Crispell's Nothing Ever Was.. and One Dark Night...

Fantastic.

Sounds about 100% like I was expecting. I'll keep my eyes out for a cheap copy. Right now the ones on Ebay run $25-40 for this "very rare, sealed, private press" record. Which is definitely window dressing for a cheaply made record that someone has a crate of in their garage.

Unexpected indeed. I stumbled on this on Ebay and was wondering if anyone has heard it. Looks very interesting.

Really hope to see more of those, but fear the usual.

If you like Dogon, you will like those two, FOJS in particular.

What's the feasibility of doing Sonny's Time Now? I see it was mentioned upthread, but only briefly. Seems like a perfect candidate.

Up with a new title. Finally scored the Elite!

Checking back for interest in these titles.

Bill Evans Trio - Waltz For Debby (Riverside/OJC)

I'll take the Luncefords.

I'm light on his leader dates, but I will certainly be spinning him with George Russell, Lee Konitz, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley and Geri Allen today. Links on a chain breaking each day ...

Wow, a shock. I am so sad. One of the undisputed masters of his instrument.

Not really a box set, but Horace Tapscott - The Dark Tree is on sale for $16.97 at Jazz Loft. As good a price as you'll see for this amazing, wonderful record. http://www.jazzloft.com/c-36-hatsale.aspx Some Braxton, Lacy, Shepp/Roach dbl CDs on sale too.