The Magnificent Goldberg

Nice! That's expensive - but well done Mike. MG

Thanks for the info Chuck, I didn't know that "At Ease" was part of that disc, guess I'll have to pick it up. Nor me. I have the Garland, but not "At ease". Another one for me. MG

Actually, you could make a very good select of Les' jointly led albums It's about time - with Teddy Edwards Groove - with Groove Holmes & Ben Webster Somethin' special - with Groove Holmes Out front - with Clifford Scott Jazz waltz - with the Jazz Crusaders McCann/Wilson - with Gerald Wilson There's not a dud in there - and only the two with Groove have ever come out on CD. I think the issued material might just fit onto 3 CDs. Again, though, if there is unissued material from those sessions, there's certainly no room. MG

Good idea, but there were eight full LPs and most of two others and some material only issued on 45. Truth Half/most of Bag of gold Shout In San Francisco Pretty lady Top of barrel New from the big city Shampoo Most of Gospel truth Spanish onions and about half of "Les McCann sings" was just done with the trio. A Les McCann live trios on PJ would fit 3 CDs, I'm pretty sure Shout In San Francisco New from big city Shampoo Spanish onions part of Top of barrel a 45 done in France but if there is significant unissued material, there's probably no room for it. MG

Thanks for that rundown, Brownie. When I looked at the whole photo, I only managed to see Rex - and I thought the guy between Mary Lou and Stuff had a fag in hand - but he didn't It's kind of astounding, in the light of the images that have been posted in this thread, that, in all that crowd, so few were smoking. MG

Thanks John. And I DO agree with you about the Onzy. However, the difference is also in the sheer volume of material McCann and the Three Sounds produced. I suspect it wouldn't be reasonable to try to compile a select for either - what goes in and what doesn't? So, if a big box were the rational decision, the numbers would probably be rather different. On the other hand, a McCann Limelight Select looks like a decent proposition - and that is GOOD stuff (mostly). Six LPs, none of them more than 40 and a bit minutes, some a good bit shorter; and if there are extra tracks, particularly from the live albums, "Bucket o' grease" could be ditched to get the rest on three CDs. The difficulty is that the first two LPs come to about 80:18 secs, so you couldn't put them on in the order of recording. MG

I just tried a few Excello LPs from that era. Yes, they do smell just a bit different from the Versatiles and other gospel labels. I also tried a few Nashboro and Creed LPs from the same period - "Slim & the Supreme Angels sing old favorites" smells - but rather different from any of the Excello LPs; and different from the other smellies I have. I did get a strong feeling that this was more to do with the shrinkwrapping that's still on that copy than the vinyl - but after you've sniffed a few... MG

Cab Calloway - The scat song - Quadromania I've played this box a lot over the past year and a bit. Each time, I find something that just stops me in my tracks. This time, it was "St James Infirmary" and Hilton Jefferson's solo on "Willow weep for me". This is wonderful music! MG

YES - on a twofer with Bobby Timmons' "Holiday soul"!!!!! Another twofer Paul Bryant - Somethin's happenin'/Groove time - Fantasy Of course, the idea that Concord would put these out, when Fantasy refused to... Jackie Ivory - Soul discovery - Atco Jimmy McGriff - Black pearl - Blue Note on a twofer with Jimmy McGriff & Junior Parker - Chicken fried soul - UA - both recorded live in McGriff's club, the Silver Slipper, Newark NJ. James Brown's jazz albums on Smash: Grits & soul Today & yesterday New breed The real thing All ten of the Black & Blue "Midnight slows" series as a Mosaic boxed set with full size original artwork MG

The whole problem was that you had an ex-directory number, Chris. If they'd been able to phone you, you might have been quite forceful with them. MG

I see the votes aren't looking good for vinyl - nasty, smelly, stuff - particularly if you buy a lot of Gospel stuff. MG

First "smellie" I encountered was Grant Green's "Easy" on Versatile. Then all the other Versatile albums I bought, until the label moved into Buddha's ambit, smelt like that. And the smell never goes. Now THAT is something I find strange. There were some Gospel companies whose LPs smelt like that. I think Atlanta International/Gospearl was one of them. Some Malaco double LP sets like the Florida Mass Choir's "Let the Holy Ghost lead you" smell the same. But I've ever encountered smelly Savoy LPs that were manufactured by Malaco in the same period. But in all these - and other - cases, it seems to me that it's the actual record that smells, not the sleeve. You only get the smell when you get the record out. MG

Didn't really expect to see anyone else mentioning Deller MG

Yup. But not just the iPod--I've been using portable audio devices of one sort or another since the days of the Sony Walkman for audio cassettes. Always with earplugs, I find over-the-ear headphones inconvenient. So it was a long and gradual slide, and I hasten to say that I don't have serious impairment of hearing, just somewhat accelerated loss in the upper frequencies in relation to my age. Basically, the doctor said, "Nip this in the bud or you'll be sorry." So I did. Glad to hear this isn't serious. I always use earplugs, too. Less frequently now that I'm not commuting to work. MG

Lat time I looked, the single "Best of" Les McCann on Pacific Jazz disc was going for well over $100 at ebay. I want a McCann Mosaic box as much as, or more than, anyone. But do e-bay prices really indicate demand? I should have thought it indicated that there were a couple of well off buyers. Unless, of course, e-bay info can tell you how many bidders there were. MG

SODS!!!!! And the rest of that CD is stuff that I've got (or soon will have)! I HATE it when they do that! MG

I'm not one for music videos. And this one doesn't say who was in his band, or when it was done. But I don't think Jaws' playing deteriorated much, if at all, towards the end - certainly he's in fine form on "Tough tenors back again" which was done in Copenhagen a couple of years before he died. It does say there's not much of his on film so, if you go for videos, it looks a reasonably safe bet. MG

Thanks Shawn. That pic actually comes from the sleeve of the Muse LP "Lockin' horns" by Willis Jackson and Von Freeman. They picked the wrong musician (and reversed the pic). MG

Antonio Carlos Jobim Sergio Mendes Heitor Villa-Lobos

I don't think there can really be any competition here. The worst one is clearly Willis Jackson's "Bar wars", which I can't find on the web. But this features a photo of Von Freeman, not Willis, as Chuck pointed out a couple of years ago. I mean, really... MG

Oh, and let's not forget - well, I did, but not for too long - that it was Jaws who pioneered the tenor/organ combo in the late forties or early fifties (there seems to be some dispute about the date). THAT'S an innovation that affects a very large proportion of my collection. MG

Sorry - thought it was Mercury - didn't check. Here are the details for the Cobblestone Neal Creque (p,el-p,clavinet,org,bells,comp,arr) Billy Butler (g) John Hart (el-b) Al Foster (d) Richard "Pablo" Landrum, Steve Kroon, Leopoldo Fleming, William Bivins, Jr., Jimmy Morrison (perc) Selwart Clarke, Alfred Brown, Winston Collymore (viola) Kermit Moore (cello) Kenya Help yourself Bacalau Happy go lucky Just a moment D Train Love and life Jasmine Two loving hearts All this world has to offer MG

That set is certainly excellent but $162.50 per disc!!! Wow, I need to tell my wife that we have our retirement covered with the shelves full of Mosaic box sets. Watch out! A world cruise will soon wipe those Mosaics out! MG

I sold all but one of my classical records in the early seventies because I knew I couldn't afford classical music as well as all the other stuff I wanted to buy. But my favourites were (and actually remain) Debussy - Chansons de Bilitis - Vera Zorina - Columbia (that's the one I kept because I went to the British premiere) Debussy/Ravel - String quartets - The Vlach Quartet - Supraphon Daniel-Lesur - Symphonie de danses - Edouard Lindenberg - Erato Elgar - The dream of Gerontius - Sir John Barbirolli - HMV Delius - Songs of sunset - Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk, cond Charles Groves - HMV Ives - Symphony #4 - Leopold Stokowski - Columbia Liszt - Via crucis - Francis Jackson (on organ) - Saga Bloch - Violin concerto - Yehudi Menuhin - HMV Satie - Piano music - Aldo Ciccolili - HMV Rodrigo - Guitar concerto - Narciso Yepes - Zafiro Alkan - Concerto for solo piano - Ron Smith - HMV and a recital Alfred Deller - Duets for countertenors - Vanguard I'm not sorry I got rid of those albums - I can still think of them. MG

Try Mike Fitzgerald's discographies - there's a Mercury discography there, though I haven't looked to see whether there's the detail you want there. http://www.jazzdisco.org/mercury/ MG