mikeweil

In the wake of Japanese Atlantic reissues on sale I ordered a copy of Essence: John Lewis Plays The Compositions And Arrangements Of Gary McFarland for less than seven € - what a great album! Some of the best McFarland I ever heard. And how farsighted John Lewis was to feature him! Highly recommended for all lovers of his music. Great playing throughout, featuring Richard Davis, Jim Hall, among others.

The Dizzy Gillespie box set is up again on the last chance page.

Spinning my OJC CD right now, no distortion at all .... The only vinyl issues I have of some of these tracks is the stereo LP Fantasy 8019 Latin For Dancers, again, scratches as these are used and hard to find, but no distortion.

Thanks - I will wait until the CD arrives, which covers only half of the early tracks not covered by the Mosaic. Will do some comparison and report.

I do not remember any distortion. I have the CD issues, everything okay, so it must be the pressing.Is it the trumpet tracks? Recorded rather "hot" but no distortion.

After re-reading this thread from the first post and careful consideration including sound comparison I decided to get rid of the 15 French CBS double LPs even though that means missing some of the earliest recordings. The two CD set "The Okeh Ellington" can be had for € 6 plus postage, and I will definietely order the small group box when it is back in stock later this year. If anyone wants those LPs .... before they go to a local dealer ....

The Charles Williams Jr. on the Jack Wilson LP is indeed "Buster", which was kind of his nickname. Wilson, Williams, ansd Roy Ayers all knew each other from their days in California, and all played in Gerald Wilson's band at some time - I'm not sure about Williams as he was a member of Nancy Wilson's touring band at the time. Roy Ayers' Atlantic LP "Virgo Vibes" has Williams, too - that's where Williams and Hancock may have met. Williams was a member of Hancock's sextet even before the Mwandishi band and can be heard on that beautiful Blue Note album, "The Prisoner", to great advantage. There is quite some praise about Buster from other members of the Jazz Crusaders in the booklet of the Mosaic box. He was and is very versatile. Had a modern approach but a good groove as well.

The three albums with Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band - Mwandishi / Crossings / Sextant He was at his most creative at that time. I was a bit disappointed when he returned to a more conventional style afterwards, e.g. with his great supporting work in Ron Carter's Piccolo Bass Quartet, or Sphere (which was Carter's rhythm section: Kenny Baron, Williams, and Ben Riley.) Those you have listed are indeed very good. There were two trio LPs of Jimmy Rowles with Williams and Billy Hart on Choice that you may like when you dig the Mary Lou Williams LP.

Hmmm ... a nice opportunity to get the endangered Herman box .... or the Jamal? Whenever I try to spend less on CDs, they come up with Last Chance notices or promotional campaigns ...

Well, Cuscuna always was a strong supporter of the Mobley case, and maybe he was able to make an open end deal for the number of copies he licensed. That's the only explanation for the fact it is still in print that I can think of. And yes, Peckin' Time is iclude in the box, sorry for the error. p.s. I too, like Mobley's 1960's albums better and hesitated to buy the 1950's box, but never regretted the decision to go for it. There are plenty nice orginal tunes and great soloing throughout.

I use an electric razor, but recently saw a sharpening device for old style razor blades in some catalogue, maybe this is available in the US, too.

Picked up my box at the local post office - € 25 for import tax .... The music and sound are great, of course. Now I have to get the small group box, too.

Same here.

Not every track on this compilation sounds cool to me ...

Those five discs do not include all of the early Blue Note LPs found in the Mosaic set, and I do not see any alternates: Hank Mobley Quartet (1955), Hank Mobley Sextet, Hank Mobley & His All Stars, Hank Mobley Quintet, Hank, Hank Mobley (all released in 1957), ... and it adds four sessions not in the Mosaic that Cuscuna reissued as single Blue Note CDs: Peckin' Time (1959), Soul Station, Roll Call (both released in 1960), and Workout (1961) Again, no alternates. Seems they left off anything that stayed in the vaults at the time of the original releases. Mobley deserves it. Get the Mosaic and the single reissues.

FWIW - Fresh Sound released a CD some months ago with the Savoy LP and the Pete Brown as a bonus ...

No, never would have thought of that - thanks!

Sorry to hear this. I once saw him perform in a small local club with Eddie Harris - his reggae leanings were obvious, but he played nice jazz guitar. R.I.P.

All the best to the grandest poobah of all!

This needs an update more than ever - I think I will find the time during my summer vacation. Things are gradually settling to a regular pace ...