Ed S

I guess I can tell my Stuff Smith story now that this set is sold. This goes back to the days when without notice, Mosaic pulled the Stuff Smith set off their website with absolutely no notice. It had not hit Running low or Last Chance and I honestly don't remember why it was pulled. At any rate, I had not purchased it and kept my eye on Ebay. Prices went through the roof - well into two hundred+ dollar range. Mosaic sets brought a much bigger return back then. A couple of weeks after the Smith set was pulled, one came up on Ebay. Complete set with box and booklet with a Buy it Now price of $40. I grabbed it. After I paid, the seller told me he had intended the $40 to be the opening bid. I hope it was not one of you who sold it. I felt bad, but not that bad I suppose.....

I cast my vote for Hank. He deserves the recognition. One of my favorites.

Wow - time flies. I still have most of the original McMastered Blue Note CDs I picked up in the 90s. Hope that doesn't start a controversy - but I'm pretty easy to please Congrats to Ron for a long and distinguished career Edit: Just voted for Hank Mobley for the Downbeat HOF. Made me think of all the Ron McMaster Mobley CDs I have. Time to give one or two a spin.

Looks like the Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker set is gone.

Got my shipping notice overnight. Hope there's more to come.

Looks like the Mobley's gone

There were a number of other sets that were on back-order at the time Mosaic announced its trouble last year that were reprinted because of demand - Savoy, Mingus, Goodman, Armstrong, Lester, Jordan. The Jordan Strata East is already extinct, having gone through the Last Chance process. Goodman is in Running Low. JPJ went through that process as well. It is regrettable, that some orders were apparently accepted after the number of available sets had been exceeded. There's definitely a better way to handle the end of life scenarios for a set rather that just accepting orders. But all in all, I think the Last Chance process provide ample warnings for customers.

Was listening to some Abercrombie and thought of this event. Did anyone attend or has anyone heard how it was of whether it was recorded?

I think it is smart of them to gauge interest prior to re-pressing for reasons mentioned above. Going forward I would imagine some form of the same for new sets - either subscription, or solicitations for advance orders, then making a determination of what size of pressing to make. Then, unless the product is jumping off the shelves, limit to a single pressing and work the set through the Last Chance process I would also suggest that they should have made their solicitation for advance orders for a new printing of the Bee-Hive set in advance of running out of stock. That way they could make a decision whether to re-press or allow the set to go through the Last Chance process. As it stands now - there may be a number of customers who had this set on their wishlist but held off for whatever reason - completely unaware that supply was dwindling and Mosaic was at such a critical decision point relative to cash flow. Those customers would undoubtedly be disappointed of the set's cancellation without notice. Not a good way to keep customers happy. I was in the same situation when the troubles were first made public some time ago. The JPJ, Savoy, Mingus and a couple more I wanted (and many others I already had) were on back order with the prospect of outright discontinuation looming. Luckily the surge in volume allowed re-pressing of all of the sets I wanted. I have since pre-ordered their two newest sets.

Looks like they found some Stan Getz Norgran LP sets. It's back on Last Chance

Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris Huge Dexter fan and I love the city of Paris. Perfect.

Came here to post about Dexter's 95th Birthday. So happy to see him already being recognized! I'm checking out a live broadcast of a Dexter Tribute from Austin Texas. Happy Birthday Dexter!

Can't be said any better than this. I was impressed with the diversity of the set relative to the settings in which JPJ plays. To be honest, I expected lots of solo stuff which would have been okay. What I got was what is described above - and it's a delight. Love the vocal tracks. This was perfect for me as I had next to zero JPJ. Here it is - for the taking. Grab it while you can. Highly recommended.

I'm really happy to see that Mosaic is releasing this set. as well as the Wilson and future plans for Armstrong as well. I pre-ordered

It is a bi-annual release schedule according to the website. The actual cover of the box features Wayne Shorter and has the words Blue Note Review on it exactly where the Blue Note Quarterly is written on the image above. However - the actual double album I've seen also says Blue Note Review. Not sure what happened. Must have been some sort of error that was corrected.

Thanks for the recommendations regarding Herring. I'll have to check them out. I once saw Col Bruce Hampton and the ARU at the Montreal Jazz Festival back in the nineties. I enjoyed them but never checked them out further. I'll give them a listen for sure. Who knows - I may have seen Herring without ever knowing it.

I'm only familiar with his work with Widespread Panic - which I love. There are tons of videos on YouTube. I'd go there first. There are also quite a few Jimmy Herring videos in various contexts.

John McLaughlin kicked off his farewell tour of North America (we'll see) last night at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts. I took my son Edward - who is the third Ed Swinnich currently inhabiting the planet -who also is a grad school student in engineering at UB - to the show for his 23rd birthday. The show was billed as Jimmy Herring and John McLaughlin - A Meeting of the Spirits. I had never seen McLaughlin live - and did not want to miss the opportunity. Along the way I discovered he was 75 years old. Holy crap - I had no idea! Herring opened the night and played a nice set of fusion. His band had a drummer, bass, keys/violin, B3, and Jimmy. Nice set, not inspiring., but very enjoyable nonetheless as the musicianship was clearly evident. The only song I recognized was "The Brothers in A-Minor". I'm a big fan of Herring's work with Widespread Panic. This set was nowhere close to that zone. After a very short break, John McLaughlin appeared with his 4th Dimension Quartet. I had not really followed McLaughlin closely after the Mahavishnu Orchestra days, but there were a number of songs I knew and some great moments musically, regardless. The guy was on fire. The band was really excellent. If the night ended at that point, I would have been happy to have seen both of the guitarists, but the show would certainly not have ranked among the most memorable I'd ever seen. BUT - that's when the whole night did become one of the most memorable concerts I have ever seen. After a super short break of like 3 minutes - McLaughlin's quartet was joined by Herring's entire band for an extended set of Mahavishnu Orchestra material. I've heard the albums on vinyl and CD and enjoyed them. Back in the day, I was a big fusion fan ( still am) - and Mahavishnu were among my favorites - though slightly behind RTF and Weather Report. I had never heard the Mahavishnu Orchestra live and while this was not the "official orchestra" live - I do not give a shit. This was among the most powerful musical performances I have ever witnessed. All I can say is holy shit - I am so glad I got to hear this music live. On several points throughout the performance - I actually had goosebumps. The power and feel was overwhelming. McLaughlin was a maniac on the guitar and Herring went into full-on Widespread Panic mode on the extended pieces. The violin player was phenomenal. The dual guitar plus violin lines were flawless Dual drummers gave the whole proceedings a really nice groove feeling. Two bass players added a dimension on that level that I had not experienced prior. Exchanges between the keyboard guy from McLaughlin's band and the B3 player fro Herring's were excellent and interesting. Just hearing the B3 in the mix was really cool from an overall color perspective. The whole ensemble just created such texture and feel that it was truly awesome/overwhelming. I'm not big on song titles - but they opened the Mahavishnu portion of the night with Meeting of the Spirits followed by Miles Beyond. Along they way they did some stuff from Visions of the Emerald Beyond - those vocal numbers that open the album - which were superb, btw and a tune call Earth Ship. They did Birds of Fire and some additional stuff that sounded like it was from Inner Mounting Flame but I'm not sure. I recognized the melodies but I'm no expert the the album content. In the end - the show started at 7:30. Herring played about 40 minutes followed with like a five minute bread followed by JM and the 4th Dimension Band for about the same. After that it was 2 hours of awesomeness. Show ended around 11:15 Special moment. So glad I decided to go.

I loved John Abercrombie's music. Back when I was a lot younger and first delving in jazz in the early to mid 70's, Abercrombie was one of the guitarists that I really came to appreciate. At the same time, were Scofield, Towner, and Metheny. All these years later, I have followed each one of these guys. Abercrombie has always been my favorite. I have enjoyed him in all his settings - Gateway, the Organ trio albums, his various ensembles for ECM. Great stuff that I will continue to enjoy. I wish I could have thanked him personally for the enjoyment he has brought to me but that never happened. On a side note, back in the 70s, there was a jazz festival at a local venue called Artpark in Niagara Falls area. I took my then first wife there to see the John Abercrombie Quartet. Oregon was also playing. Oregon opened. At intermission, I asked my wife how she liked it so far. Her words were - "get me the fuck out of here". I drove her home, turned around and got back in time to catch Abercrombie's show. A couple of years later, we were divorced. There were many reasons, but that always stuck with me. I am so sad to hear of his death. Last week, when I was in Grand Rapids for the Organissimo performance, I googled Abercrombie to see if he was performing anywhere. I read about his ill health and recent stroke, so it was with a great deal of trepidation that I decided to check this site. Needless to say, this news is tough to take. RIP John and thanks so much for the years of great music. As an aside, the John Abercrombie channel is my number one on Pandora, If that means anything.

Regarding the re-pressing of sets, here's my take. The announcement a couple of months ago caused an avalanche of sales which capialized the re-pressing of sets with sufficient orders placed against their back ordered status to justify limited runs of those sets. I do believe that Mosaic realizes that just closing up shop with so many sets on back order would be a pretty shitty thing to do, as so many of their clients depend on the last chance process to help them decide when to pick up a set. My guess is that those sets had enough orders to justify a run of 250 sets. The sets that remain after back orders are filled will be allowed to dwindle and go through the last chance process. My only conjecture related to the Goodman and Turrentine sets is that they did not or have not made the cut insofar as demand goes relative to their backordered status. I know that until the "JPJ Pressure Group " formed, I was unaware that ordering the set while back ordered could impact a re-pressing decision. That set was originally thought to be doubtful. Then, as orders piled up, I think they changed their mind. Personally, if I had questions related to their status, I would contact Scott. I did relative to the JPJ and Mingus and was told they were not likely. Several weeks later, Scott emailed me to let me know that the decision was made to re-press them. Still hoping for the Wilson and a trickle of Mosaic sets going forward.

Mingus arrived today. I received notice that it was ready to be shipped on 7/19. Seems like the back log of orders for Mosaic sets has subsided. Now what?.......

Got my notice the same day. Big win for the "JPJ Pressure Group". Happy to say the set arrived today. Looking forward to giving it a spin.

PM sent on the Charlie Parker Live Savoy, Coltrane Afro Blue Impressions, and the Ray Charles.

Hans, I was referring to the new Teddy Wilson set that was announced some time ago. I think I got my Teddys mixed up. Sorry about that. I have not seen any anticipated release dates or pre-order notices, so I'm unsure if it is still in the works. If it is, that's great news. I'd be happy with a Mosaic Records still putting out a couple of sets a year BBR, The thing I know I'd like answered is how many back ordered sets they did order. I think it's honorable of them to have had the back ordered sets repressed as there were customers like me who had placed orders for them. Their original communications had cast some doubt on JPJ, Mingus and a couple of others. But I think that orders placed for them convinced them that just dropping them from the catalog. Assuming they did order the minimum of 250 sets, I guess it will be interesting to see if they simply let the go the last chance route. Maybe going out of business was too strong a statement, but it seems they are at least reducing the size of the catalog and inventory. We'll just have to see where this all goes.

As of today, 10 of the 26 sets Mosaic has on its website are either running low or last chance. A few are currently on back order. Several have said it above or in other threads, but this has all the looks of a going out of business sale. I'll be curious to see how soon many of the sets that were recently back ordered and recently repressed (e.g. Mingus, JPJ, Savoy) - hit the last chance list. Just got the notice that the JPJ and Mingus sets are coming my way and am glad that they - along with the Savoy, were repressed. Not much action on the coming attractions front. I know of the Edwards set, but don't know the status. I'd be happy if they went to a subscription thing or a reduced output/packaging change/whatever if there is still interest on their part. If not, it's been a great run...