crisp

Found this forthcoming release on HMV. It's listed among the European issues of the next batch of Verve Originals, is on the Verve label and at the same price point, yet doesn't seem to have been part of the US batch. Any ideas what it is? It might fill the gaps on the Mosaic.

Amazon has the next batch listed for August 11: Lonesome Boulevard by Gerry Mulligan Reed Seed by Grover Washington Jr Musical Tribute to JFK: The Kennedy Dream by Oliver Nelson Apasionado by Stan Getz Today and Tomorrow by McCoy Tyner A Tear to a Smile by Roy Ayers Ubiquity Smackwater Jack by Quincy Jones Porgy and Bess by Joe Henderson Tropico by Gato Barbieri 1975: The Duets by Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond

The European RVGs are no longer stated as having copy control and the packaging has been crudely adjusted to reflect that. However, I have found you can copy them on to iTunes whether the packaging mentions CC or not. Don't know how CC affects the sound quality, but it certainly doesn't prevent copying.

Is it any good?

Do you think that should be "Mel Torme Verve"? Yes. If you get a chance to look at the film insert, that's what Friedwald is saying. He even holds up the album. Most of the print story is transcribed from the film. It's worth watching for the chance to drool over the sight of a load of old records gathered in one place. Does anyone know if Will Friedwald's father was also a critic or in the music business?

Print story and clip here. Spot the Tina Brooks Mosaic! A massive jazz music collection built by a local music writer and his late father will soon head to a new music museum. NY1's Arts reporter Stephanie Simon filed the following report. Jazz writer and critic Will Friedwald is a pack rat dedicated to the Rat Pack and much more 20th-century American recording artists. He has been chronicling jazz and cabaret for years and collecting the music even longer. Now, he's donating his collection of about 14,000 albums to two public archives. "This is a collection that my dad starting putting together around 50, 60 years ago when he was a kid and I just kept going with it," says Friedwald. "So it's just grown exponentially to the point where its just too big for one person to have. As far as I know, it is the largest collection of jazz and popular standards albums in New York City." Friedwald's collection fills his East Harlem apartment from floor to ceiling, with the all aspects of the Great American Songbook and jazz. The jazz albums are going to an archive in Washington, D.C., but Friedwald already has a curator's knowledge of his collection. "As my dad used to say, it's a 'heavy record,' A record that's both good and hard to find, he called a 'heavy record.' And this is about the heaviest record of them all - 'The Prestidigitator,'" says Friedwald. The popular music and show tunes are going to the Michael Feinstein Foundation for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook, founded by the city composer of the same name. "I decided to create a foundation to create a place for young people to learn about this music," says Feinstein. "We're creating educational programs, and concerts, and there will be a museum and an archive. And all of this is simply to preserve what I think is the greatest music that America ever produced." Feinstein's music museum, which opens in Carmel, Ind. next year, will be part of a brand new performing arts space. After spending countless hours and dollars growing his collection, Friedwald is glad it will be appreciated in its new homes. "This one I looked for years is going to the the Feinstein archive, it's the rarest Mel Tormé verb, it's a set of duets he made with Margaret Whiting," says Freidwald. The eclectic music collection also includes novelty albums like "Shorty Rogers meets Tarzan," which shows the famed 1950s composer and trumpet player in the arms of Tarzan of the Apes. By donating his music gems, Friedwald will also tame the musical jungle that's been growing in this apartment for years. For more information on the Michael Feinstein Foundation for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook, visit michaelfeinsteinfoundation.org.

I can only agree with the above. Well said, Tommy.

Why not tell Mosaic what you think? It may still not be too late I have emailed Mosaic in the past regarding certain editorial decisions. I asked them to reconsider leaving the strings and vocals sessions off the Johnny Smith set, to no avail (it's still a stunning set). My gut feeling is that once they have set on a certain path it's probably not possible to divert them from it. Or are you implying that there might be some uncertainty on their part regarding the Shaw set?

Yes, it made sense to leave out the vocals from the Goodman set because these are largely available in other editions. But applying this strategy to the Shaw leaves a lot of material falling by the wayside. It's frustrating.

That's odd. This set is supposed to be the 1959 songbook sessions with drums instead of guitar. Or are these three tunes quartet dates? Kessel definitely played on the 1952 Ellington recordings.

This is very welcome news. I don't have any Shaw in my collection (his work tends to be limited to "best of" compilations, which I don't tend to buy). I wonder what Mosaic has against vocals, though?

Sounds like the packaging used for many classical boxed sets (Decca, EMI, DG, etc). I like it. Nothing wrong with cardboard and paper packaging; it's biodegradable and takes up less space. Amazon Canada has this for slightly more than grigorian.com, for those who don't want to register with another online store: link. Thanks to Ron S for clearing up the mystery; simple when you know how! I *think* only four of these albums have been released on CD: Porter, Gershwin, Ellington and Arlen (the last three with the relevant 1952 sessions as a bonus). Plus there was a two-disc set, The Song Is You: Best of the Verve Songbooks, released in 1996. So the 30-odd new-to-CD tracks will probably be all that were not covered by those releases.

UK members might like to know that the latest batch is now available for preorder at HMV for £5.99: search string here. Bear in mind these prices usually go up on release date. I'm holding off on the Oscar Peterson one until we know what the Songbooks box discussed here consists of. FYI the Max Roach is also on the Roach Mosaic.

...but not as crappy as releasing a boxed set of five Stan Getz bossa nova albums, two of which had been released as VMEs and one of which was only available as part of the box. That was annoying.

Sorry to be so late in replying, Sidewinder. Just the Impulse book is on sale, I'm afraid.

If you are in London and still don't have a copy of this book, Fopp in Earlham Street WC2 has a number of hardback editions for just £4.

Spotify seems to have just added several Lonehill titles. I've noticed a number of Illinois Jacquet and Buddy DeFranco titles have appeared that weren't there before.

It's possible that this could be the complete Songbooks from 1959 in Originals-style packaging, like the Coltrane and Getz Bossa Nova sets: Oscar Peterson Plays The Duke Ellington Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The George Gershwin Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Richard Rodgers Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Jerome Kern Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Harry Warren Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Irving Berlin Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Harold Arlen Song Book Oscar Peterson Plays The Jimmy McHugh Song Book Some reasons for thinking it's this rather than the 1951/2 sessions on the Mosaic: 1) Verve is reissuing Peterson's The Jerome Kern Songbook in the Originals series the week before 2) The 1951/2 albums were called Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter, etc. No use of the term "songbook" 3) Although Amazon has it as an import, meaning it could be just another European PD release of the 1951/2 sessions, both Tower and CD Universe have Verve (US) So I'm cautiously optimistic. Good spot, tranemonk!

Thanks - missed that one in the cut and paste.

Amazon has the next batch listed for June 9: Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata - Gato Barbieri Blues in Time - Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond Images - Crusaders As Quiet As It's Kept - Max Roach A Secret Place - Grover Jr. Washington Explores the Music of Henry Mancini - Quincy Jones Plays The Jerome Kern Songbook - Oscar Peterson Virgo Red - Roy Ayers Basie Land - Count Basie

But Mosaic never(?) releases sets mixing music owned by different companies, unless it can be branched off on a separate disc, as with the RCA disc of the otherwise all-EMI-owned Illinois Jacquet set. I think it's because the parent company manufactures the discs for Mosaic as well as leasing the music. Regarding this issue, I'd like to see Mosaic release a select collecting some of the odds and ends left off the big boxes due to these rights issues. It would be an interesting mix. The Bix set was another one affected.

Thanks again for all the useful tips, guys. Like the term "virtual Rolodex".

My mistake. It's not viewable from Preferences. Go to "Get Info" from the drop-down File, and then a window will pop up. The tabs are: Summary ~ Info ~ Video ~ Sorting ~ Options ~ Lyrics ~ Artwork When you click on Sorting, you'll get that song's information (i.e. track name, album name, etc.). You can then enter the criteria you want (e.g. year) in one of the "Sort" boxes (though there's actually no "Sort Year" box; I use the "Sort Album" box). The default for iTunes is to sort alphabetically by artist first name, and then alphabetically by album name. This can be changed with the Sorting feature. I had to play around with it a bit, but now my iTunes library is sorted by artist, and within artist by year. I hope that helps some to clarify! Late, you're a genius. I've done a provisional update using this method on the Various Artists comps and one of the Mosaics and it works like a charm. Many thanks. Still don't understand why Apple changed it, though -- it was fine as it was!

When I started using iTunes I spent a lot of time inputting album info, including assigning all compilations a "Zzzzz [Genre]" label in Album Artist, so they would be grouped by compilation title. The last upgrade wrecked that, arranging them by Artist even when Album Artist was selected. I've looked for a solution on the web, but the situation seems to be that it can't be fixed. Thanks, Apple! That annoyed me so much I lost all interest in using iTunes. I have just upgraded and the glitch is still there. When I have more time, I will look into switching to Winamp in the hope that it is better and won't be subject to sudden destructive changes like this. Really hate iTunes now.

If anybody is still really interested, this is just £17.99 (£53 off) at hmv.com.