neveronfriday

I have plenty of Definitive stuff that I'm more than happy with, so all of that might be purchase #3, 4 ... and whatever.

I think that a Kenton record which would fit your requirements well is Adventures in Blues, easily available on a Capitol CD. It has swing, drive, intelligence and surprise (and very good arrangements, mostly by the underrated Gene Roland). I used a track from it for my recent Blindfold test, and I succeeded in fooling almost everyone luca i concur, ditto trop. I think this might be purchase #2!

That sounds like it would be right up my alley and a #1 purchase.

Thanks a million, guys! Those are exactly the recommendations I was looking for. Many excellent recommendations in there. Keep 'em coming ... I've got 10 CDs to buy ... minimum. I'll let you know which releases I bought once I sampled all the recommendations.

I like small group and big band sessions that swing. Swing is the very essence of the music I like. I like big band music that has drive, intelligence and surprises. I love West Coast jazz as well. Period. I also like (love) vocal jazz if it's got those extra elements that I need: intelligence, interesting arrangement, unique voice. I love Anita O'Day (#1), Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday (#s 2), June Christy and Una Mae Carlisle (#s 3) and Dinah Washington (#4). If the session has Anita O'Day, I'm interested in it no matter which of the requirements above are fulfilled ... even if none are. I abhor anything that is free or turns into mindless blowing sessions or muzak big band outings. If a recording has only very few highlights and is otherwise, err, boring, ... nope. I need good sound (I'm not the snap-crackle-pop guy), although mediocre will do if the music merits sitting through the "noise" (this goes for many of the Armstrong or Ellington sessions that I just love, although the sound is close to horrible). Hell, I couldn't care less if I need ear plugs to sit through a stellar session. I have the feeling that too many Kenton sessions might fulfill my requirements from what I've read, but I'm looking for 5 to 10 essential recordings that you think I should have/anyone with more than a passing interest in jazz should have. It's Kenton Christmas for me soon. I won't buy anything else, because it's one of the most glaring holes in my collection. Can you help me out with releases that are a) easily available and b) are must-haves? It would also help if they don't cost an arm, a leg and at least one testicle. Thanks for your help.

I would have loved to see that. There's great chemistry between these guys. And I still believe that Jeff Hamilton is perhaps the tastiest drummer today (and the most skilled) in the vein of, say, Ed Thigpen.

Doesn't fit the bill, but I always liked this one For the Record. The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss, Inventor of the Album Cover. Limited to his work and only some of it is/was jazz, but it's got some great covers.

About 100 times better.

The Mosaic Verve set by her was one of the only truly surprising Mosaic sets I ever got. I expected a pretty good set, as I always do with Mosaic, but found it absolutely wonderful, and one I get out and listen to as often if not more often than most others. I wish this great artist well. Yeah, unfortunately I do not have that one. Unfortunately I didn't get with the Mosaic program until later.

If you know that they have a trillion new agreements with labels and are trying to cover their financed asses, it is no surprise at all. Once the labels have a solid grip on youtube, it'll be down the tubes (pardon the pun) faster than you can say "Told you so." And because I'm venomous today, it serves Arrington right. I DO NOT like that guy. A-list blooger or not. I'll get back to my Rum now ...

Anita O'Day is one of the most intelligent and interesting singers I have in my collection of several thousand recordings. A true legend. I hope she'll get well soon.

Haven't heard the Stanko, but I know that the sound on every ECM jazz recording is heavily doctored i.e. equalized - e.g. there is no cymbal sounding like on those CDs. ??? The Tord Gustavsen CDs I have from ECM are about the best CDs in my collection ... in regard to those two CDs, I can't follow your argument at all.

I feel your pain, but you gotta give them some love and understanding. These are elderly gentlemen doing this as a labor of love. It wouldn't be at all surprising if they've never surfed the web in their lives. It's the label that publishes their compilations, Le Chant du Monde, that needs to get a functioning website up and running. They have one now (http://www.chantdumonde.com/) that just says it's "under construction." You're absolutely right. I'm extremely (!) happy we have these true fans catering to our needs, with a passion. And yes, I've surfed the Net thin for some sites to really give us the info we need, but to no avail. Still, I think if I could find an address to contact them (without my mail getting lost in the white noise that is the Internet), I think we might be able to let them know how appreciative we are of their efforts ... and maybe get them to apply some pressure to go online ... somewhere.

Apparently "The Story of Vocal Jazz" (10 discs each) is also shaping up to be a series. So far, two boxes have been released: "L'histoire du jazz vocal - 1911 - 1940" "L'histoire du jazz vocal - 1941 - 1953" I saw both for 20 Euro each on ebay but missed them, otherwise I would have jumped on them. Close to Euro 50 is too much for me, especially if there is lots of stuff on there I already have on other boxes. It's a pain in the neck that there isn't a website dedicated to Francis' and Schwartz' remastering efforts and multiplying boxed sets. It's getting a bit confusing. Someone should tell them to get off their rear ends and put a concise list of what's on where online. I wish I knew how to contact them.

Same here. The few that were never delivered were always refunded soon after I complained and a couple of meters worth of CDs arrived here in good shape (sometimes they are a bit slow though). For me Caiman is a good way of getting around European protectionism. Single delivery also means that I don't have any hassle with customs Nazis and other idiots (which we have plenty of). I gladly pay the few bucks extra to avoid having any of those monkeys in my life. Just don't order stuff that's obviously out of print ... you'll be waiting forever.

That page also lists this one: "JAZZ IN PARIS : THE 100'S MOST BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL MELODIES" Interesting title. Would that be the 19-100's? P.S.: It really does say that on the cover as well.

Hm. I pre-ordered mine at Amazon.fr for 34,68 Euro. I'll stick with my Amazon order, but I wonder why the hell they aren't stocking it if it's available? Grrrr Got mine delivered for 34, 68 (who the hell comes up with 68 cents?) as well. It's green. Dark green. Lots of good stuff on there. I'm enjoying it as I write this (presently playing: "Cross Walk" by Lennie Niehaus, recorded 30th of March 1955 in LA). Just a note for those who maybe want to order from Amazon.fr in the future: I've ordered tons of multi-CD boxes from them over the years and I've never ever gotten one with so much as a dent. Maybe I'm just lucky, but compared to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de, the French division rocks in the shipping department. Everything I got so far was mint (but also often a bit more pricey than elsewhere). Now, one looooong year to wait for the 1956 one. I wonder if there's anyone there to take over when these guys are pushing the daisies. I'm afraid there won't be. Besides, I wonder how well these boxed sets are actually doing, meaning if they are profitable enough for someone else to continue the legacy. Presently, the next 15 years would be enough for me, until 1970 ... but who knows if I might not be interested in the 70s stuff once those years roll around for the "Trésors du Jazz".

Same here. Christmas time! I'm glad I preordered. One should always do that ... or pay 10 -15 Euro more when the darn things finally come out.

It depends on how you rip them obviously. You can get terabyte RAID arrays for under $400 nowadays. That would hold plenty of losless stereo music. That would have been 200 cheap OJCs etc. from "Zweitausendeins" not so long ago, which also have that haptic quality digital files don't have.

Which is why Francis and Schwarz don't have time to take care of a dedicated website. Could not find any site on this Trésors séries, not even at Le Chant du Monde which distributes them! Yep, I've found the "sites" and they suck. That was a while ago ... don't know if they still exist. Chant du Monde has a pretty good site, just under a different umbrella (too lazy to look now) and none of the jazz that they distribute is on there, only classical. Shame, actually. This series should be presented prominently on the web, along with all the other work they do with those other boxes.

Are you sure that's not a rug?

The other 10CD box is Big Bands Story. This one. Hm. I've got lots of big band jazz. Don't know about that one. Are the others that Tom mentions above also by Francis and Schwarz? I guess so? I'm not going to run next door now, but the Piano one is (that fluorescent green one). I think I have to sit down one weekend comparing track listings between all of these (if I can find track listings). I do think there must be quite a bit of overlap ... otherwise these guys would have to be remastering 26 hours per day. Thanks for the heads up, guys!

What do you call a pi**ed off guy from Germany? A sour Kraut. Har. Har. Har.