wesbed

Was it here? >link<

If robots played rock-n-roll music, they would sound like Rush. A group made of, in my opinion, very fine musicians. Very technical and tight playing. And, unfortunately, very machine-like and robotic. For me, Rush doesn't swing and has no soul. Neil Peart, quite the accomplished drummer. Peart plays like a machine, with all the style of a machine. Geddy Lee, the screeching vocalist -- like that of a broken machine. Maybe, add some oil to quiet the squeaking? I wonder if Geddy is in as much pain as it sounds like he's in? Rush. Musicans with much promise, skill, and technical agility. But, again, with all the heart & soul of a lifeless robot.

Just don't get all excited and decide to purchase the Sonny Stitt Mosaic box. I don't have it (yet). Your purchase of said box might lead to me having feelings of jealousy.

Hey. C'mon man! Your Mosaic order should be placed in this thread. Don't you know the rules around here?

There are Konitz solos here and there. It appears, to me, that most of the soloing on the 'Birth Of The Cool' sessions is done by Miles, Mulligan, and Konitz. And, no, I don't have the Konitz with the Thornhill band you mention.

I didn't realize Konitz was on the 'Birth Of The Cool' sessions till just yesterday. What's the matter with me?

Whoops! I took a more critical view of Mosaic in this post. But, yes, Mosaic still got my money.

Don't forget that fekking DrJ. He made me purchase TWO Mosaics that I was not going to purchase. B)

or sell it to someone on the board..... or ebay. There's no way to get stuck with a Mosaic! Errr... except for that Four Freshmen box (and, possibly, the Duke Pearson Select).

Mosaic creates very nice box sets. The good-quality sound, the large booklet, the nice pictures, the detailed documentation, and the MUSIC. Music that is, generally, not available from other sources. When I received my first couple of Mosaics, I knew they were very nice, even exquisite. I liked having the Mosaic boxes and played them from time to time, but not near as often as I'd have thought. Having so much music, the Mosaic boxes seemed overwhelming. Over the years, I've found that my Mosaics have become more and more indispensable to me. I've learned that, for me, there is no point in trying to listen to the entire box just because I 'have' it. You can listen to only so much music at the same time. One of the ways I will enjoy/consume a Mosaic box is that I will investigate the original albums via a site such as www.allmusic.com. I will then program my CD player to play only the given album along with anything else Cuscuna/Mosaic document as being applicable to the original session. With that session enjoyed, I might play it again, move to another session, or place the Mosaic box back on the shelf. Often, I'm surprised and quite pleased when I'm doing some jazz research, jazz reading, or jazz learning, and I find a listed album/session where the author will write something like, "This is a fantastic session. Unfortunately, it hasn't been available for years. Good luck at finding it in the used record bins. Make sure to pick it up if you do." I'll get a wicked little smile on my face as I pull a given Mosaic box from my shelf, scan the discography, and discover that Mosaic has included, in the box, the hard-to-find session. You just can't lose with a Mosaic box. If you don't like it, you can send it back to Mosaic.

My ear is very well oriented to the sounds of bebop. I can listen to bop all the live long day and never tire of it. I enjoy the rhythm and the soloing. I've been listening to the Louis Armstrong Hot Fives & Sevens Columbia and the Bix/Tram/Tea Mosaic boxes recently. All of this music, to me, is a New Orleans Jazz based sound. The Armstrong and Bix/Tram sessions led me back to the Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Mosaic box. As my ear becomes more tuned to the New Orleans style of jazz, I'm enjoying the music more and more. Through repeated listening, my mind has detected more details in the New Olrleans Jazz music. It's not so much about the soloing, here, as the group effort. There is so much going on in this music that it produces a euphoria and/or frenzy in the mind of the attuned ear. From the muted trumpet and trombone, to the screaming clarinet, to the old-timey piano, this is terrific music. The New Orleans Atlantic Jazz Mosaic box presents the music in all its glory with excellent playing and terrific sound quality. After listening to Armstrong and Bix/Tram, I've never heard the New Orleans style of jazz sound so crisp and clear as on the Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Mosaic. The instruments sound bright, real, and well-defined. The New Orleans box offers some 'stereo' New Orleans jazz sessions, for crying out loud. I have to ask, as with so many Mosaic boxes, why is this box still available in Last Chance? Get it while you can.

According a reservationist at American Airlines, if you buy a ticket through Priceline (or other like sites), if there is a problem with the ticket, if you get sick, etcetera, there will be no refund issued by anybody. So, use Priceline/Hotwire at your own risk.

I don't care if the pilot's dressed like Bozo the Clown as long as he/she knows how to fly a jet airplane safely.

I believe $360 is a reasonable (even good) price.

Yeah, that thought occurred to me as well. I always found the best prices using Expedia. I'd get Expedia's best price for a given flight, then check the same flight on the airline's own web site. Sometimes the airline would price their own flight better, most times not. I flew about seven times, last year, all for pleasure and paid-for by me. I was able get reasonable prices by planning ahead searching various sites. I would think a three-way flight would increase the price too.

From my experience, if you attempt to book a flight with less than three weeks remaining till the departure date, the price can go up. I flew several times, last year, between Tucson, Arizona and Columbus, Ohio. The price of tickets was several dollars higher during the summer months than during the Spring/Fall months. I've read that the increased price of oil has been passed to the consumer by way of increased airline ticket prices.

I've been grooving to Art Pepper in recent days. Why did it take me so long to 'get ' him? His saxophone shines so brightly out in front of who ever he's playing with. He's got a great tone and a terrific style. His playing grabs my attention and holds it tight whenever he plays. But, ohhhhh, does Mr. Pepper look all used up in this photo. I wonder if it required his life to be so hellish for him to produce such sweet and poignant music?

I like Hallowell. I read one of his books. To me, he is a very good writer. He uses his education and experience combined with common sense to present information to the reader.

I have nephew like this. He was never offcially diagnosed as having a problem although, I'd say he was 'crazy' too. He went to see a doctor on a recommendation from his teacher. The doctor did recommend he take some drugs to calm him down. My sister, his Mom, is a registered nurse. She works with doctors everyday, so, is not afraid to question their authority. She disregarded the doctor's suggestion to drug her son. She took it upon herself and her husband (yes, her husband is her son's father!) to bring their son around, drug free. He is nearly 10 years old, now, and is doing much better. With age and the effort of his parents, his is becoming quite normal. He's no longer 'crazy' but has become much more aware of his actions. He's learning to self-manage his emotions (the same as we all must do). I wonder how many of the 'crazy' kids are simply 'kids?' How difficult must it be to grow up in this modern society and be normal?

It looks like the couple of Selects that are currently available at CDUniverse are on backorder. I'd rather pay the extra couple of dollars, give 100% of my money to Mosaic, and be able to depend on Mosaic's excellent shipping service. From my experience, Mosaic always ships the product on the day immediately following the order date. For those people who aren't aware of ordering from Mosaic directly, I hope the CDUniverse offering helps Mosaic to sell more of the Selects.

Neither do I, LAL! I'll admit that I'm actually tired of hearing the "Wonderful World" song. I wouldn't miss it if I never heard it again. The song has been played, way too often, on late-night televison, as the background music, when the advertisement is to get you, the viewer, to send your money to help malnourished and/or diseased children. Or, children without a home, family, or hope. My words are not meant as being against these children. But, I like my jazz to remind me of 'jazz.' I want to think of hot playing and cool sounds. Not some depressing scenes I saw on late-night TV. The "Wonderful World" song seems, to me, more like a worn out, easy-listening pop tune, and nearly nothing like the vibrant, New Orleans influenced, Louis Armstrong of old.

I discovered the Hot Fives and Sevens after I'd already spent some time with the HRS and Bix/Tram/Tea Mosaics. The Louis Armstrong Columbia box is at least as good, sound-quality wise, as the Bix/Tram/Tea Mosaic. I suppose my ears were already tuned to the 'old' sound. In fact, I believe the Armstrong Columbia sounds brighter and crisper than the Bix/Tram/Tea Mosaic. I suspect early Armstrong might be a turn-off if you were a music listener of more modern jazz (1950s and 1960s bop and such). Louis was definitely from the 'old-fashioned' New Orleans jazz school. At the same time, he was oh-so-much more. To compare music of the same time period, I don't hear the brilliant and emotional playing from Bix/Tram as I do from Armstrong's group. Nobody has vocals like Louis Armstrong. Listening to Bix/Tram helped me to appreciate Louis Armstrong. Conversely, listening to Louis Armstrong helped me to appreciate Bix/Tram. I think of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Seven recordings in the same way as I do about watching a foreign film with subtitles. After about 20 minutes of watching a sub-titled film, if the film is good, I forget about the subtitles and start enjoying the film. Yeah, I'm still reading the words but I no longer notice I'm reading them. In the same fashion, when I listen to jazz from the 1920s and 1930s, if the music is good, I forget about the quality of the old sound. My mind tunes it out. I played all four of the CDs from the Hot Five and Seven Columbia box, one after the other, in order. By the time I reached the fourth CD I had to check the dates on the liner to make certain these were still 'old' recordings. My mind had become so accustomed to the old sound that I was seriously believing the recordings sounded more like they were from the 1960s than the 1920s. I was thinking that, possibly, Columbia had snuck some 1960s Louis on to the fourth disk. The more I listen to New Orleans jazz (or, jazz from the 1920s & 1930s), the more I hear in it. Thanks, now, more than ever, to Louis Armstrong for showing me the way to really 'get' the music. There is so much going on in some of the 'old style' recordings (Armstrong, Bix/Tram, for example), it can become quite euphoric. However, it takes time and experience to get the ear tuned to the 'old' sound and style.

I've enjoyed Phish very much through the years. I mean nothing bad toward the group. But, breaking up, again? Yeah, till Trey and the boys start needing a little more cash inflow.

Do you not go to the dentist often? I avoided going to the dentist for many years. I brushed my teeth all the time hoping that nothing bad would happen. Finally, the anxiety of it made me go to the dentist. He found nothing wrong except that I needed a good cleaning. He suggested I don't wait so long next time. I get a cleaning every six months these days. I can't take the dentist-avoidance anxiety again.

My dentist always asks me, "Would like some music, to kind of... relax you?" I always respond, "No thanks, it will only aggravate me." My dentist gives me a confused look every time. For me, the silence is better than the dentist's music.