Jim R

Well, no, not exactly. I mean, not all were reissues of two complete LP's (nor was all of the material previously unreleased, but I know you didn't say that... just pointing it out). The Stanley Turrentine was not entirely comprised of previously unreleased material. The hard-to-get material I referred to (with Pearson arranging) was in fact previously unissued (and most has not been reissued since on LP or CD). The rest of the tracks on that twofer came from previously issued BN LP's ("Hustlin", "A Chip Off The Old Block", "The Look Of Love", and "Always Something There") and a few tracks were also issued on "New Time Shuffle". Similarly, I remember the Dexter Gordon twofer in the same series being a compilation of tracks from different sessions, most of which I believe had been released previously.

Deborah DeWilliams Brandon De Wilde Jack London

Not ugly, but unimaginative in the sense that they were not really jazz related - a small photo insert of the leader would have been sufficient. This has been discussed at length in at least two different threads (one quite recently), and I'll just say that I disagree with you. The eloquent one, Mr. Sangrey, has expressed it better than I could, but... The photos themselves (by themselves) may not have had anything to do with jazz, but the images were, in many cases, clearly associated with the album title in their application. In some cases, the association required more of a stretch of the imagination (and may have failed for some, even trying to apply their imagination... hey, it's subjective). At any rate, a small photo insert of the leader against a large white background... that would have been a REAL disaster, imo.

How about Untitled? The Stroker sounds kinda...kinky. As does Uncle Rough. How the hell can you mention those, and neglect to mention "Mr. Johnson"?

Donald Pleasence The Pleasure Kings King Pleasure

Point taken. It's pretty hard to defend him on the grounds that anger alone created the things that rolled off of his tongue. Still, I'm not prepared to pass judgement on that. I'm not sure it matters whether he can be proven to be racist or not. He said what he said, and (apparently) quickly realized that he had made a very large mistake, and quickly apologized. Like I said, I'd never pay to see him anyway, but what else do we need from him here? Well, I see your point there too, although I think it's a bit unnecessary to talk about a scenario where he would be beaten for doing what he did in the wrong environment. He would have been just as wrong, and would have deserved the same scrutiny, but not physical violence (and maybe that's slightly idealistic too ).

Ray, I agree completely. I didn't elaborate on the point as you did, but that's what I meant by: "it spiraled out of control (yes, insanely... and hard to understand for a veteran performer of his age). Hasn't our culture been moving closer and closer to "the edge"? Isn't comedy these days increasingly agressive, loud, nasty, vulgar, offensive? Well, I've been around long enough to answer that one myself. Yes. Richards pushed it too far, and in his anger, lost control of any semblance of sanity to control the "comedy". " Just bizarre. But then... this guy's approach to comedy always bordered on the bizarre. I need a performer to be a bit more than simply bizarre in order to make me laugh... but that's another discussion.

Seems perfectly normal to me... best dairy cow, best bowl of chili, best Japanese Blue Note LP, best tater pie...

Exactly what I was going to say. Do we need to start over (from where Chuck left off)? I don't remember the twofers that clearly anymore... 30 years is a long time. Anyway, most of the twofers I had included material that has since been pretty easy to find on CD... but I'm sure there were some others that were outside my area of interest that have remained somewhat difficult or scattered. The one that I think of (and still have, actually) is the Stanley Turrentine twofer (mega-close-up color photo, or "ugly colored dots" series ) with the Duke Pearson-arranged session that hasn't seen daylight since. Oh, and once again, I'm not going to agree with the LT covers being referred to as "ugly".

The only thing those two comments had in common are the word "fork", period. I think that was kind of the point being made. One "fork" led to another, as it were. I think we all agree ("doesn't make it right"). I think the guy obviously tried to "push the envelope" (trying to shock the hecklers into submission), and it spiraled out of control (yes, insanely... and hard to understand for a veteran performer of his age). Hasn't our culture been moving closer and closer to "the edge"? Isn't comedy these days increasingly agressive, loud, nasty, vulgar, offensive? Well, I've been around long enough to answer that one myself. Yes. Richards pushed it too far, and in his anger, lost control of any semblance of sanity to control the "comedy". He blew it. Big time. He may have been harboring racist tendencies for years, and maybe not. None of us can know that for sure. It's a huge gaffe, an offensive gaffe, but he didn't kill anybody. Whether or not you like(d) him as a comedian, I think it's best to try to forgive the guy (not in any way to condone, but to allow for the fact that he's a human being who made a huge mistake) and move on. I remember him from a time before Seinfeld, and I never thought he was very funny, fwiw. edit: Just for the record, my post was made before I saw the two previous posts. So, my "we all agree" comment may have come at the wrong time...

I think Quincy has a good question there. I've noticed alot of folks make multiple posts when listening to a Mosaic box, one post for each disc. That could kind of skew the results... I'm sure you're right and that is why I said that this was by no means a scientific method of determining which Mosaics were most popular. I merely tallied a set whenever it was mentioned. The results are probably skewed toward the sets with more dics, the ones that were new in the last 2 years, the ones that went out of print or circulation in the last two years, or towards the tastes of the most avid and voracious posters. Excellent points. I was going to try to bring up a few of them yesterday, but I managed to forget. Anyway, definitely not scientific, as you say. If we wanted a real answer to the question (especially considering what Lon mentions... the fact that we are not the center of the universe here ), maybe we would need to have access to all the details of Mosaic's sales records over the years. Some personal favorites: (big boxes): Paul Desmond; Grant Green (a real blockbuster for me when it first came out, after years of searching for Japan-only LP's);Chet "Live"; J.J. Johnson; T-Bone Walker (I mean, for T-Bone fans, how essential can you get?). (selects): So far, the Carmell Jones stands out. It represents the best of what a Mosaic (big or small) should be- fine undersung artist; nearly forgotten albums that are otherwise practically impossible to get; and of course Mosaic's standards of quality and detail.

Meathead Archie Edith

I had an original copy of this (perhaps it was mono) that had a very similar cover, yet slightly different. Simpler, as I recall, with less printing on the cover... but I can't bring back a clear image of it in my mind.

91... wow, what a run. He definitely maintained a very high level of musicianship as he reached (and passed) the age where most players begin to lose something... whether it be technique, the ability to hear if they're still in tune , or energy and passion. I hadn't heard him over the last few years, but I have a feeling his standards were maintained to the very end. I became a big fan of his before I was seriously into jazz (30+ years ago), and he was one of those blues arists who helped me to transition into listening to and playing jazz. I was already aware of him from his recordings with Little Walter, but his personality really came forward on the stuff I heard later. I used to love his "Does 12" LP on Trix (his wife had given him an electric 12-string guitar, and he created a trademark sound with it very quickly), and his "Contrasts" LP on the same label was also pretty sweet. My favorites, though, were "Steady Rollin' Man" (Delmark, I think?) and "Live in Japan" with The Aces. Like a fool, I let go of all those LP's years ago... might be time to track down some CD's. RIP, Mr. Lockwood.

Thrilling. That's why I posted it dude... I guess I should have added one of those silly faces to add to the comic effect. Randy, I think Joe's sarcasm was aimed directly at the braintrust who decided that was "top story" material, not at the fact that you chose to post it (at least that's how I saw it). No real need for either of you to post emoticons, imo.

OR...

"Yeah, but you should see the other kid. They're trying to remove him from the school flagpole right now."

"Oh, did I say he was my son? Silly me... actually he's my wife's sister's husband's cousin... I think he's an exchange student... I just met him yesterday..."

Lionel Bart Black Bart Blackbeard

Bottom line- get plenty of Bird... and don't forget the stuffing, cranberry sauce, some nice yams, maybe some red potatoes, string beans...

I don't think I follow you there. You're tired of "changes"? Considering how much of jazz in general has been in the "head, solos, head" form, I don't know whether to feel sorry for you that you're bored to tears, or simply wonder if you've been stuck in the wrong genre all this time. No offense, really, I just think your comment sounds kind of extreme considering the company you're keeping here...

"George, they're not going to believe us... everybody thinks that pterosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago." ===== "Well, you're happy with your baseball cards, and I'm happy with my hay!" ===== "Ah, that was a lovely party. Honey, do you think the Wilsons noticed the hairy mole on my back?"

Well, all I can say is I'm with you in spirit, and I admire your optimism.

I always forget about that one... and I own it. For some reason, I always forget that although it's got Daver's name on it, it's not just about David Stone Martin. Anyway,

One of the best overviews, imo, focused on a variety of design approaches, was the Japanese book JAZZICAL MOODS. Unfortunately, it's been oop for years (afaik- I'd love to be wrong). A couple of years ago, there was a release called "In The Groove" by Eric Kohler (goes back to the 78 era, and includes sections on great cover artists like DSM, Alex Steinweiss, Jim Flora, Burt Goldblatt, Reid Miles and others). Not as diverse a variety of artists, and not the same quantity, but pretty good. There's also a webpage I remember seeing, with a long list of books on the subject... I'll see if I can turn it up (also, you may want to search the board for previous discussions).