xybert

Lovely story page, thanks for sharing. I can't think of a particular story or moment right now, but you got me thinking. When we were kids, pretty much every year around Christmas time (which is summer time for us), my cousins from Australia would come over and spend a couple of weeks in NZ. The three kids were a little bit younger than me, but we were all into the same stuff: cartoons, video games, music etc and we got on like a house on fire. I just have such fond memories of playing together on those hot summer days, going to the dairy and getting lollies, ice blocks and comics, walking/making the trek on the hot concrete to the video shop to rent a game, playing epic games of 'spotlight' at night, going to the beach etc. And when inevitably they had to go back to Australia i would just cry and cry for a few days after. It just left such a hole, ya know? It was like, for a couple of weeks my life had been filled with light and now it was just so lonely. I just missed them so much, and i wasn't going to get to see them for another year at least. Even though i had my brother and other friends etc, there was just something special about my cousins from Australia. Having them here kind of elevated everyone, the adults included. Everything was special while they were here, with them gone life returned to normality. As we all got older, grew up and got jobs and had other responsibilities, my cousins started coming over less and less, and if they did come over it wasn't like when we were kids and had the whole summer off to hang out. By then email was a thing and it was easier to keep in touch. In my early to mid twenties i got myself in to a particularly negative space, and one time i responded to one of my cousins emails in a pretty insulting way, kind of lashed out at him. It would have been a real slap in the face, out of nowhere and unwarranted. He took it hard and i apologised, explained that i was a weak, insecure piece of shiz. I had such low self esteem, and i never thought that, i guess, he kind of looked up to me. And here's me hurting him. I'm not big on regrets, and I know that we're cool but that was ten odd years ago and i still profoundly regret insulting him like i did. Again, i know that we're cool, but i always just feel like something was broken, regardless. Sorry it got a bit sad at the end, but man, i just have such fond memories of spending time with my cousins for a brief time once a year growing up.

Cheers guys. Ha ha, yeah i'll never forget when it happened to me. Was the 1932-1940 Brunswick etc set. You've paid, you've waited excitedly, it's finally arrived, it's in your hands, and then in the blink of an eye you've snapped a disc trying to get it out and that could not possibly be more of a buzz kill. You hold the disc in your hand, thoughts racing. "Maybe it'll still play!" you think, insanely. Nope, it's snapped. You've got a snapped disc in your hand. It's over. "Yeah i've got the treasured Mosaic Ellington set, minus that one disc that i snapped. Yeah fantastic, fantastic music, although there's one disc that i never got to hear because i snapped it." Obviously you compose yourself and with bated breath send an email off to Mosaic, but for a while there it's pretty dark.

One would think that it wouldn't be too hard to tell the difference between Paul Gonsalves and Harold Ashby! Then I read this sentence on liner notes: “Alerado” is a straightforward swing number, it features Wild Bill Davis on the organ, and, most notably, Cat Anderson on the trumpet, who provide a foundation for striking concepts of sonority and solo performance. I'm pretty sure that the soloist is NOT Cat Anderson and that's not a trumpet. Most probably the soloist is Fred Stone at the flugelhorn. Welcome to the board!

Welcome SimonC. Prior to having this set i had all the albums, and with these type of things, where i'm familiar with the original albums, hearing them in a different sequence just sounds wrong. I think there is also an element of wanting to hear it as it was originally heard. However, in the case of Beauty is a Rare Thing, it's taken on a life of it's own as a major release of this music in it's own right rather than just being a collection or compilation. I've read so many blogs and articles over the years where the author bypasses the original releases of these albums all together and essentially refers to Beauty is a Rare Thing as the definitive release. The impression i get is that at the time this was a major release and it was the first time hearing the music for a lot of people. So obviously it's very subjective, but for my experience it's like both the original albums and Beauty is a Rare Thing are legit ways to experience this music. There's been so much talk and reverence for Beauty is a Rare Thing that from a fan's perspective it's almost like that is the legit way to hear it. It's definitely an either/or thing anyway. So from that sort of vicarious ''i want to hear it how it was originally heard'' perspective, this is how a lot of people originally heard it, and so for me it still provides that experience. Hearing the tracks in a different order can also be a refreshing way to re-experience the music without being on autopilot. Again, you could always just cue up the original albums and hit random, but at least for me there's the added dimension of listening in the sequence of the legendary Beauty is a Rare Thing box.

Thanks for checking HutchFan. I actually feel a bit foolish for having brought it up. In the end i just couldn't help myself, i had to ask. Yeah i've always had great service from Mosaic, they've replaced a disc for me with no hassles when i accidentally snapped it (i still have post traumatic stress disorder from that moment ). In this case i don't think it's worth bothering them: the fingerprints are on the label side and the disc plays fine. The fingerprints being permanent as they are... they're kind of neat and tidy, not like if someone had smeared their greasy mitts all over the discs or anything and i don't think they'll affect the discs in the long term. I'd rather save Mosaic's goodwill for if or when i really need it. I'll survive. The music on this set is amazing. I don't have an exhaustive Ellington collection (70 odd discs is a fraction of what has been released) but the music on this set is among my favourite of his. Absolutely essential for any Ellington fan i would say.

Bump. Anybody? I know this is a weird request. I'm curious more than anything. Fingerprints on the disc when it's brand new and apparently factory sealed is one thing, but the fingerprints are also, like, 'hard' (can't think of a better way of putting it right now. They are immovable, don't even smudge slightly). I'm obviously not an expert on CD manufacture, but the only possibilities i can think of are that someone touched the disc and had some sort of adhesive on their fingers, or is it possible that someone touched the CD equivalent of the stamper or mold and this left an impression on all the copies of disc 2 made that day? Or, can normal finger grease eventually fossilize if left on a disc for a long enough period? I really don't know. Anyway, i don't have an angle with this, not going anywhere further with it, i'm just genuinely curious and if anyone else has fingerprints on disc 2 (or can shed light on the manufacturing process and whether fingerprints at any point would be possible) it might help me to make sense of it. Cheers.

Really want to see that doco, will have to get around to it at some point.

Recently ordered: Duke Ellington - Treasury Shows Volume 6 (i only have Volume 18, wanted more but wanted something earlier. A bit of a random pick) Duke Ellington - A Drum is a Woman Ken Vandermark - Side A: In the Abstract

Have been immersed in the Ellington small groups set over the last couple of days: discs 1-5 on Sunday, discs 6 and 7 Monday night. Majorly enjoyable.

Looks like this will be out on July 10th: http://www.amazon.com/Conny-Plank-Session-Ellington-Orchestra/dp/B00WAONRY0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436065513&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Conny+Plank+Session

Cheers man, yeah i found it quite interesting.

Hey, just wondering if anyone else that has this set could do me a favour. Does anyone one else have fingerprints around the outer edge of the label side (not the playing surface) of disc 2 of this set? I noticed them when the set first arrived, and it kind of bugged me, but obviously not enough to bother contacting Mosaic about it. I decided to leave as is rather than potentially make a mess of the disc trying to clean them off. Listening to the set again today, i decided to try and carefully wipe off the fingerprints but it appears that they are permanent. Weird. Discs arrived sealed, brand new direct from Mosaic. My booklet is numbered 3211 however it's slightly scuffed and yellowed and i suspect it was an older booklet that they had lying around when they assembled the set that they sent me, as the outer box appears new and i got mine around the time the set was coming off backorder. Anyway, the fingerprint thing is weird, i wonder if it's possible for something like that to occur in manufacturing. Anyway, discs play fine and are otherwise pristine, i love the music, Mosaic are awesome, not trying to start World War 3, i know my place, first world problems, won't somebody think of the children, i'm a petty petty man, back in my day we were the greatest generation and we really knew how to appreciate music and not worry about fingerprints and we had our shirts tucked in and our socks pulled up to our knees when on stage... buuuuuuut i'm still just curious as to whether anyone else had fingerprints on their disc. Cheers.

Interesting interview. Touches on the MacArthur grant, breaking up the Vandermark 5, starting the Catalytic Sound label among other things.

Accidentally posted without having logged in. Interesting that it'll let you do that now!

Excellent album.

Ended up buying this set, my copy arrived yesterday. Clam-shell and cardboard sleeves are standard, the booklet is squarebound and of excellent quality. So far i've only listened to the first two discs and have really enjoyed them. Although i have all the original albums on CD, there's always been an aura about this set and it's fun to finally hear the music in this sequence and in this form (yeah i could have made my own mixtape/playlist minus the bonus tracks, and yes it's on Spotify but it's not the same for me).

Condolences to friends and family. RIP.

Thanks. Cool, things to look forward to.

Sounds good! Any plans for release? No hassles but any update on when 'Matthew Shipp Plays...' is due for release? Cheers.

Quite looking forward to this set. I think it'll be a fun program. The vast majority of the material is new to me. Coincidentally i've got some time off work around the time this comes out; looking froward to just chilling at home, putting my feet up and tripping off on Miles.

One of his last albums for Columbia; maybe he was finally hitting his stride! Not sure if it's available as a single CD, but it's part of the Columbia box:

Old Donald Duck cartoons on Youtube.

I recently picked up Mingus' A Modern Jazz Symposium. I already had an older version, and one of the tracks was plagued with digital glitches, as handily noted in the below Amazon review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1DCTWN3V008PF/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00B2KDD56&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=5174&store=music "This review concerns production defects in both the Shout! Factory (2005) and Avenue Jazz (2001) reissues of one of Charles Mingus' best recordings. I purchased the Shout! Factory reissue of "A Modern Jazz Symposium", hoping that the digital ticks on the previous issue of the CD (Avenue Jazz, ISBN: 0-8122-76678-2) had been corrected. They have not been fixed. Ticks can be heard on Track 4 ("Duke's Choice") at 2:29, 4:40, 5:40 and 5:42 on both the 2001 and 2005 releases of the CD. This means that Shout! Factory reused the same defective master that was released in 2001." It thought i'd take a chance on the 2013 reissue and was happy to find that it is glitch free. Worth noting! A link below to the glitch free version: http://www.amazon.co.jp/ア・モダン・ジャズ・シンポジウム・オブ・ミュージック・アンド・ポエトリー-3-チャールス・ミンガス/dp/B00B2KDD56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434762110&sr=8-1&keywords=mingus+symposium

It's also amazing how much he wrote. Right from the get go, Something Else!!!!, album after album: "all compositions by Ornette Coleman."

I know that i suddenly got the urge to finally pull the trigger on some Ornette purchases that i'd previously held off on: ordered the recent remasters of Love Call and New York is Now! to replace my old second hand copies of the original CD releases, as well as The Empty Foxhole to replace my 'CDR on demand' version, and Chappaqua Suite which i've never had.