king ubu

won't play for me, alas, but I bet it's a hoot!

Haha, I was somewhat faster ... but at one time I scored lucky on several early ones (from the first or first two batches), allowing me to fill almost all gaps I still had, then ran into the "Collectors' Disc" (which I had ignored for years, not being aware I ought to buy it ... it was still around when I had learnt) ... two more gaps (the Dinah and Schifrin) were filled with the help of a forum member, cost me quite some ... but most of them I picked up when they were still around, luckily. Great series, too bad it was so short-lived! Come to think of it, as I just mentioned buying the Chris McGregor "Jazz/The African Sound" in Warsaw ... the Quinichette, which was amongst the last ones in the series, I bought in Warsaw, too, 15 1/2 years earlier.

For Dinah Washington, there was the Hip-O-Select box ... wonderful, but not if you're not into that kind of vocal R & B/jazz mix, I guess. The Jack Teagarden, to me, is desert island stuff - an amazing album I fell in love with quickly but only slowly realized how important it got to be for me, eventually. The Ray Brown is mighty fine (I think his best leader album I know ... beats the Brown/Jackson double disc set, I'd say, and "Jazz Cello" anyways). The Louie Bellson is a bit of a mixed bag, some great Tadd Dameron and Wardell Gray (one arrangement and one solo, I think?Just checked ... it's Dameron's "For Europeans Only", but it seems arranged by Don Redman as are all four big band tracks), but mostly it's by a small group with Don Elliott and Joe Puma, that I find quite boring (maybe I haven't yet figured out the subtleties going on there, who knows ...) here's the Dinah box, in case (prices have gone up into the 100ish range, used to be quite a bit cheaper, guess it's on the way out): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fabulous-Keynote-Mercury-Singles-1943-1953/dp/B003YUK8I2 details for the VEE (no active DL link): http://ubu-space.blogspot.ch/2008/01/dinah-washington-best-in-blues-for.html

The James Newton is excellent!

I guess I will bite ... but let's wait and see until we get the list of contents. Likely, I have most or a whole lot of it already, but there are some things I have on dubious releases (being too late to be around to pick up all the vinyl twofers, I have only one that will be in scope here, I tihnk). But Mosaic doing Savoy ... does that open up new possibilities, like complete sets by the likes of Frank Wess, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke, Curtis Fuller, Yusef Lateef, maybe in some smart combinations (i.e. add the Lateef to the Fuller, combine Jackson and Klook ...)?

Care to elaborate on that? I just gave it a first spin and enjoyed it. And I still consider the long familiar "Politician Man" a great track!

Okay, guess I can skip it then ... don't really have all that much by/with Mance, guess he doesn't speak to me as much as others do.

Thanks for solving the riddle and clarifying!

How is Junior Mance "Junior" (Verve)? I might be in for the Milt Jackson/Ray Brown one from Impulse (Teddy Edwards!) Waiting for covers to appear on the BN and Riverside pages, don't feel like clicking on 100 albums.

mine's on the way

lots of favourites have been mentioned already (the Don Byas twofer above is indeed the way to go, I guess ... great music) ... but not this one, which again is the way to go, I think (alternatives being a - faulty, one track duplicated - Proper box or and Avid set and some more such, or a bunch of hard-to-find Savoy/Denon discs splitting the material): here's another thread, specifically on Savoy compilations (CDs and LPs):

Thanks, ordered a bunch (the same one by Garrick, the Morrisey and two Dankworth doubles) ... and added the Maupin one that's not on sale. Wanted that one for a while.

Prices here are pretty fair (no idea about transatlantic shipping though): http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/a/-/3364/Hollywood-String-Quartet/medium-CD They run sales all the time, the last on Testament is just over, I guess they'd offer them 20 to 25% cheaper then.

(if it's any comfort, Grace Kelly has been dead for quite a while) r.i.p. Don Friedman - he's one of those that should have been *much* better known. Always enjoyed his playing a lot (once I got over the bad cover art his records usually came with, excepting the early ones).

disc one - Bach: Goldberg Variations

Okay, one more question: The true bluesmen (therefore excluding many of those "followers" worshipped by "most whites" - after all, Eric Clapton is surely not God) ... isn't their guitar playing so good because it's "vocal" in some or other way? I'm speaking of pitch, of bending tones and bending times, doing that rocking chair thing that makes time stand still (or at least lets you forget time, completely, when you listen) - it's so completely human, no matter how technically adroit it may be (and that's where, say, Gary Moore, totally falls flat in my book, his playing sounds like plastic to me.

I don't even try keeping up to date ... but I will catch his Blue Shroud Band again in autumn when they play in town another time. I missed a few good concerts (such as the Parker-Guy-Lytton set that's on record from NoBusiness), and I will give my best not to let this happen again, as he's always excellent?

I have had the pleasure of hearing a long evening of Barry Guy NO music a couple of years back, first a series of duos/combos, and then for the second set two pieces by the full band. Caught the NO in 2004 for the first time, and the Blue Shroud Band last fall - all three concerts belong to the very best live concerts I've witnessed! Looking forward to exploring the two Mad Dogs sets soon!

Yeah, okay, in light of that most whites (most people, I guess) don't care to even know what "blues" is supposed to be ... the phrase may be true (but then it runs close to being a truism - if you consider white rock music audience, yeah, but what's the point? Not trying to get on anyone's nerves, just trying to figure out what's so interesting about the quote).

Gave this a spin, all the way through on Saturday (in two seatings with a few hours of no music in between) - it's excellent! Have now also got the two previous sets (by New Orchestra Small Formations), finally. Cost quite a bit to get the first one, but I ended up buying it from one of the guys behind NoBusiness, so the money goes into good hands

Just got a few Amado albums last week, will be while before I get around to listening though ... but lest I forget: I bought an LP from him via Discogs a few months ago and realizing he was the seller (it was a Brö LP by Brötzmann), I asked what he'd recommend me to check out his stuff. The first two you mention were on the list he mailed me, further he included "Burning Live", "The Freedom Principle", "Live in Lisbon", and the Wire Quartet (on Clean Feed, not sure there are others). (And just so he doesn't sound too full of himself ... after all I did ask, and he did add a note that it's not easy for him to give such recommendations about his own work.)

Who are those "most whites"? Do you know any of 'em? Seems like an absurd notion to me, honestly. Meaning I'm in full agreement with the first sentence, but double-guessing the second. (But then I don't know many American "whites" other than those here, and I guess those here tend to be more knowledgeable about such things than others).

This one here belongs with the first few Blue Notes ... and is just as excellent, in my opinion: