John Tapscott

Well, count me among the fans of this set. I don't find the music fatiguing at all; lots of variety, in my opinion. Now sure, if you set out to listen to discs 1-12 all in a row, it's a bit of a marathon, but breaking it up a bit helps. (That's true for all the big Mosaic sets, though). Yes, there's a couple of unusual personnel decisions and not every session is a masterpiece, but overall, I find the music very stimulating.

Tastes and ears vary, don't they, because I really like it. Now:

FWIW, my reaction was exactly the same as yours, Jim. At first, I thought - OK, but after about 3 or 4 listens, my opinion of it went up considerably. Really good stuff. Got to say - Rex Stewart was taking no prisoners that day. He was great with Duke but then kind of lost his place when Cootie came on. But he is on fire here. Cutty Cutshall, too. They all sound good. Funny comment about Bud Freeman, BTW. I met him once at at a WGJB concert when I was a teenager and he was very kind.