golfcrazy1984

Maynard Roulette Disk 5, "This Masquerade is Over". HOLY SHIT, this band is kickin'

Listening to my recently purchased Maynard Ferguson Roulette Mosaic set! Woah...! That's a band. Found an "affordable" copy on Amazon, and pulled the trigger. Glad to have this music finally. Just wish I was old enough to have purchased it from Mosaic for less $. Same goes for the Count Basie Roulette Studio set... But I am soooooo glad to finally have this set. Great sound, great musicians and arrangements. Listening to "Secret Love" now on my iPhone.

Agreed about watching over listening. I remember my first Jazz video was "Jazz Casual" and to see the sweat drip off of Coltrane or just McCoy Tyner's finger move across the keyboard brought so much more depth and understanding to the music itself. Love watching Bird or Prez.

I've got the Jazz Icons Count Basie '62 and Ellington DVD, and it's got to be the best quality video AND sound of that era. The sound of both of the DVD's are better than most CD's out there. CRANK it up and enjoy. I will have to ask for this set for Christmas!!!

Absolute bullshit. Hold on to the saxophone in your lap. Perhaps the bus is overcrowded. The world is getting crazier and crazier. Don't let it out of your hand. Plus, most schools, for larger instruments, have horns at school so that kids don't have to transport large horns to a from school....

I own a few recordings on which he is a sideman (I'll look them up when I get home). I've also been out to NYC for a masterclass that he put on. He is a fantastic musician (all woodwinds), and also teacher. I also own a few saxophone study books he has published. Very HEAVY Cat.

J.J. Johnson Mosaic. "Full Moon & Empty Arms". This is a beautiful set, also JJ is one of the top trombonists of all time, in my opinion. How do you like this set? I know a lot of people rank it near the top of Mosaics. I missed out on this and I can't justify paying OOP prices on this... One day though!!!

Well said! I had to go with the Blue Note, as they were better planned. However, there is a lot to enjoy about the Prestiges, more bop and straight ahead swingin' than later on.

Lester Young/Count Basie Mosaic. "Lester Leaps In". Prez was one of the best (and the first). I think I will be celebrating the tenor greats in anticipation of the new Coleman Hawkins Mosaic!!!!

Parlan Disk 4. Grant Green is SWINGIN'! That was a hell of a band.

I think these same sessions overlap on the Hampton, Chu Berry and this upcoming Hawkins set. Also there was a live Flip Philips set that was duplicated on the Buddy Rich set and the Flip Philips and Charlie Ventura set.

What a wealth of music....WOW!!! I really can't wait for this to come out. I will not be waiting for Christmas, this will be preordered!!! Thanks Clunky for posting this.

That's a great price on an OOP set. I think it sold for $68 new...

Lunceford Mosaic. Disk 6. Nice band!!! Even after Snooky and Willie Smith left. Cool arrangements. As far as the Mosaic packaging is concerned, the booklet is very informative and the remastering is excellent.

I too agree with you Peter, Zoot's sound gained complexity with time. And the Pablos are my favorite. Zoot was an amazing player, no one had his sense of rhythm. The recording Basie & Zoot is one of my favorites from that period. I also wish the Gershwin CD was in better sound...

That's a heck of a steal! Considering it sold new for $112 or $119 can't remember which.

Why would you have been disappointed by 1959 Basie or Ellington if you could have gone back in time? Or do I misunderstand what you're saying? Seems like from what you said before that your likely reaction to 1959 Basie or Ellington would have been the opposite. Hi Larry, Sorry for the confusion. Hopefully, my likely reaction would have been quite the opposite. You know how they say, "anticipation's half the fun"? Well, maybe all of my listening, reading and research on these bands have made them better or bigger than they were during their day. I guess what I was trying to convey (in this instance), was, for a long time, I have regarded Ellington's and Basie's band from the late 50s as pure perfection based on the recordings. If I were to go back in time and actually HEAR them live, perhaps my perception might have changed. In short, maybe I would have been dissapointed by the bands...my expectations of what they could do might have been too high. Does that make sense? I mean I'm 27, I didn't get to hear all of the Giants of Jazz. I've heard Eric Alexander several time live and he is a great saxophonist, but I would still prefer to listen to Dexter or Coltrane. So with that said, if I took this time machine to see the Ellington band of the late 50s, I might say, "Oh, well this band is good, but man, that Blanton-Webster band was much better!"

I DO NOT own any Joe Lovano. I'm 27 and am sure my peers own a lot of his recordings. For me, I am sooooo hooked on Lockjaw, CANNONBALL, Hank Mobley, Webster, Lester, and the Basie Band (esp. 50s-early 60s) and any Ellington band pre 1970 (and many more true artists). I haven't had time to branch out...yet. I'm still absorbing all of that stuff! I do have some recordings from Joshua Redman, James Carter and Ted Nash that come to mind. But out of 1000s of recordings that I have (CDs and LPs) the VAST majority AREN'T even living musicians...is that sad? I went and saw the Lincoln Center Jazz Orhcestra (and Wynton) when they were in town and it was good, ok...Joe Temperly sounded great as always. But let's say I could go back in time and hear 1959 Basie or Ellington. Same seat in the same hall. I would have been disappointed and let down. Perhaps I'm making my favorite musicians out to be better than they really are, putting them on a pedestal...?

From a saxophonists perspective, he is one of the most technically gifted players ever. Especially on alto. Tone wise, alto is a little thin "up top" and his tenor is rooted in a more Lester Young sound. My favorite Stitt recording is with Oscar Peterson, "Sonny Stitt Sits In With the Oscar Peterson Trio". Great technique, repetitive musically. Johnny Hodges, for example, could say more with one chorus of blues than Stitt could say during 24 choruses of Cherokee--in my opinion. I too agree with Allen Lowe about Stitt's earlier recordings sounding more inspired. Interesting thread so far!

Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions. Disk 6. This is a great set, that sadly doesn't get much play. Gonna try to fix that this evening!

I guess last chance, truly means last chance! Here today, gone tomorrow. I didn't bite the bullet, the music samples sounded nice, but I have a ton of music and this was lower on the priority list to purchase. I will certainly remember once something goes on last chance to buy! It's been a while for Mosaic to have so many sets running low. I certainly hope that means more new sets!

The Onzy Matthews Select is great! It took repeated listens to really enjoy it. Great composer/arranger and his bands were top notch. I see that the Jonah Jones is Last Chance, thoughts on it? Don't have it.

Just saw Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Not CRAZY about the LCJO, but they played a few selections from the Vitoria Suite, which was wonderful to hear. Dan Nimmer (piano) sounded great. In fact the whole rhythm section was locked in and swingin' I don't think the saxophones were miked correctly for Orchestra Hall (here in Minneapolis),they were totally covered by the brass. Speaking of brass, Ryan Kisor, always a great trumpet player, sounded particularly inspired. His lead trumpet was truly great...it was soaring, majestic, golden, he really didn't miss a note the whole concert. So he is rounding into shape as a great lead man. The trombones were excellent, especially Vincent Gardner's plunger solos, very voice like...reminded me of Al Grey, Butter Jackson, etc. Wynton was of course Wynton. Perfectly played.... I can't knock him for his trumpet playing...but, suffice it to say, I would prefer to hear Armstrong, Eldridge, Sweets Edison or any number of trumpet players, any day to Wynton. Joe Temperley (baritone) sounded great as usual, great tone and concept...something that's missing with the new players. Packed house, receptive audience, fun night!

WTF?!? It says nothing about the music.

No Select? Well, I hope they will still be doing something with the Lucky Thompson material. I spoke with Fred at Mosaic a few weeks ago, and he still said that a Coleman Hawkins set (7cd?) and a Lucky Thompson would be out before the end of the year...well, keep us updated. Did I hallucinate or was there a post saying there was to be a big box of LT material ?? I would certainly like an LT Big Box!