John Tapscott

I received an email from Fred at Mosaic this afternoon asking me to mail the box back to their new address(at their expense). I did so, and it wasn't any more expensive to mail than I had expected ($27.92 Canadian). They are going to resend my order (wonder if they've heard from the guy in Belgium yet), and for my trouble, asked me to pick out another set to add to my order. So I selected the Basie '50's Verve set. Yes, I know it's a large and expensive set and it's one I've been looking at for a while. And because I picked that set, I told Mosaic not to bother reimbursing me for the postage. I think this is a pretty good deal for me.

In case anyone is interested, I thought I'd give an update on where it stands. I sent an email to Mosaic Tuesday monring, saying I was standing by, awaiting instructions. I received no reply, so called this afternoon. I was told that FedEx delivered the wrong boxes to Mosaic's new location, so everything has been set back a couple of days. Still no working computers or internet connection at Mosaic. No orders or emails have been getting through since at least last Thursday. Perhaps they will be up and running by tomorrow. One hopes.

Just finished listening to the Curtis Amy set - enjoying it more with each listen, really glad I picked this one up.

I believe that it has a lot to do with the sender. If they put a customs sticker on it, you might have to pay. But many shippers (including Mosaic who used to value the CD's at $5 each) often reduce the value significantly, so that the package comes in under whatever arbitary limit the government/post office sets. But if there's no customs sticker (much more common now), my sense is that the post office employees can't be bothered to open the package up and figure out what it's all worth. The Canadian and US dollar are roughly at par, so there's no big gain there, import duties are now either zero or almost zero between the 2 countries on sound recordings, and the only thing you could really get dinged for is sales taxes. That could be somewhat significant, but it rarely happens to me anymore. On this big box I have, the way the labels are attached makes it seem like the box was actually mailed in Canada. There is a Mosaic sticker attached, but another one which says "Mail Services Inc." with a Canadian P.O. Box & address . (I presume it might be those guys who pick it up if that is what is arranged.) In any case, a quick glance at the stickers would lead you to believe that it originated in Canada.

I only looked at one of the Mobley sets since they're all individually wrapped (quite tightly) and they're a bit hard to get out without ripping the bubble wrap. The one I looked at was #7441. I scratch my head over how it happened since you would think they would fill and label one order at a time. But to be fair to Mosaic, they really didn't tell me to call back next Tuesday. They were apologetic and said they would contact me and straighten it out on Tuesday. What the fellow (it could have been Scott or maybe even Michael) said was that they were in the midst of moving locations, and I presume the Memorial Day weekend is a good time to do it. Having moved offices a couple of times years ago, I know that once the phones and computers are disconnected and the boxes packed, you're helpless for a couple of days. Nothing you can do. I definitely want to send the box back as I have no need for duplicate copies of sets I already have. Furthermore, I want to see Mosaic thrive and this would be a fairly significant loss to them. Mistakes happen (I've made my share) and friends have to help one another out. I've been a fairly decent customer of Mosaic over the years and I greatly enjoy their product. I know it's business but there's a bit of a bond there. I have a UPS store almost directly across from my office and the post office is just a little further up the street. So it would be no problem to send it back as long Mosaic has some mechanism to pick up the cost or agrees to reimburse me. In fact, I offered to send it back yesterday, but the fellow said wait 'til Tuesday.

In fact, there is no postage amount on the box, just a bar code sticker, so I can't tell what the postage was to Canada, and of course, it would likely be twice as much to Belgium. It also didn't have any kind of customs form on it, which is pretty typical for Canadian shipments now (I don't know whether European shipments would have one). I haven't paid duty or taxes on a Mosaic order for a number of years (what with free trade and all). What's interesting to me is that our orders were not close in number though the 5/18/10 ship dates were the same. His order # was 384041; mine 384803. I could see a mix-up if the order numbers were one apart, but this gap makes the screw-up a little stranger. I have the rogue box sitting in my office by a book case across from my desk. Everytime I look up a see it. My goodness, it's a big sucker. I hate to think what it will cost me to send it back.

In the most recent Mosaic sale, I ordered the Gillespie and Turrentine black box sets, plus the Andrew Hill solo and McCoy Tyner Selects. Today, a huge box arrived at my office, much bigger than I had anticipated, not with my order but with an order for a customer in Belgium (with my name and address on the outside of the box). Actually, his order was quite interesting - 2 Andrew Hill Selects (small groups) 2 Sonny Stitts 3(!) John Handy Selects 2 Stanley Turrentines 2 Hank Mobleys (And no doubt the customer in Belgium has received or will be receiving a much smaller box than he was expecting). Now that wouldn't be a bad take at all except that I have them all except for the Handy and the Turrentine (which I had ordered). I called Mosaic and the fellow told me they are moving and currently have no internet and just one phone line, so I was told to just hold tight until next Tuesday, when they will sort it all out. No problem, (though I am sorely tempted to listen to that Handy set)! When Mosaic changed their warehousing/shipping arrangements a few months ago, I posted a mild concern about it, hoping that customer service would be still as good as it has always been. This incident is going to cost them a bit of money and I sure hope it is an isolated incident. Yes, I know the changes were designed to save Mosaic money and perhaps even save the company, and I know mistakes happen, but I sure hope Mosaic didn't jump too soon with their changes or they may cost them more than they had anticipated.

Eric Dolphy - The Complete Prestige Recordings - one of my all-time favorite box sets.

Happy Birthday, Chuck!! Thanks for the music. I just pulled out Warne Marsh's All Music CD for a spin. You looked younger back then.

After reading through this thread and looking at my overflowing shelves at home I have concluded that I have (almost) enough recorded music to keep me content for many years to come! (It's true, but let's see how long I can hold that thought!) or maybe

Sam Rivers - disc 1

Strong words, but yeah, some days I feel like that. Similar numbers on the CD's too, but no '78's, a bit heavier on the LP's/cassettes - yes, I used to buy those for listening in my car, still have a bunch. I once overheard someone ask another person why they didn't quit smoking. The person replied, "I like it too much to quit." That's my trouble, really. I like jazz way to much to ever quit, at least completely. Cut back, yes, but quit - not likely.

I heard Rivers and his trio about 5 or 6 years ago in concert. It was a very stimulating show, free - yes, but structrued too, with a sense of direction and purpose so that it never seemed like just free blowing. Rivers toured with Dizzy Gillespie, back in the mid' 80's, I believe. I recall that Diz was quoted as saying something like "He (Sam) knows the changes better than anyone."

Just last week I just listened to Hank's "Upon Reflection- the Music of Thad Jones" with Geroge Mraz and Elvin Jones - really good stuff. I love Hank's playing, but I don't have that many recordings with Hank as a leader, perhaps 10. Two of my favorites are 'Bop Redux and Groovin' High which I have on Muse LP's. Really enjoy his recent CD's with Joe Lovano, as well. You knew that Hank had been around a while when he referred on his Maybeck solo disc to "Joe Bushkin, one of the newer writers around these days." R.I.P. Hank Jones and thanks for all the great music.

A tough year for losses in the jazz world. Rob and his various bands (Boss Brass and the Tentet, plus his trio with bass and guitar, which sometimes became a duo, sometimes a quartet), made some excellent recordings over the years which I really enjoy. I think I have his full discography on my shelves. Rob was also a great valve trombonist who wrote very creative yet swinging and accesible arrangements (at least for the listener). Musicians often found them very difficult to play, apparently. Rob had a great sense humor, personally and musically. Bascially, I loved his work. Thanks for the music, Rob. R.I.P.

"Live" is the way to go if you really want to hear Joe Lovano at his best. Joe is a great player but he's one whose tone does not always record well. There were other players like that. It was said to be true about Lawrence Brown (though I never heard him live).

Sorry to hear about Genes Lees. R.I.P. He was a very good writer and lyricist (and Canadian, too). I have several of his books, including his bios of Oscar Peterson and Woody Herman. He was, in my mind, more of a reflective writer rather than a historical researcher. These books spend much time on the period when Lees had professional and personal interaction with these players, rather than giving a balanced view of their careers. For example, the Peterson book talks a lot about the trio with Herb Ellis, but glosses over Peterson's even longer association with Joe Pass. Still, these books are very interesting and contain a good deal of historical information. Lees' masterpiece IMO was "Meet Me at Jim and Andy's." The word portraits of Paul Desmond, Bill Evans and Frank Rosolino (among others) in that book are very memorable and often very moving.

Honestly, the 2 CD set was sufficient, when it was all we had. But no longer. The 7 CD set is definitely the the way to go. It's a fabulous set. Hearing the 4 nights worth of music in sequence is a fascinating, often stunning, and completely satisfying musical experience. This set goes with me to the desert island.

What Jim says. Excellent.

Quincy Jones - just received, now spinning disc 1.

Modern Jazz Quartet - MJQ 40 (Atlantic) - a very nice and comprehensive 4 CD overview

Totally agree. Unless those draft picks yield some superstars for the Eagles (unlikely), this could go down as one of the dumbest trades in sports history. Incomprehensible. Edited to add - My initial reaction was -- to a team IN THEIR OWN DIVISION???!!! I know full well that the Eagles and Redskins are in the same division, but no kidding, I had to check just to make sure it was so.

Allen's right. I've removed the lyrics. Give me a break. You guys are kidding, right?

I really liked Herb's playing, and the blues feeling he brought to everything, not really overt, but there was always a subtle undercurrent of the blues. Will be listening to some Herb later today in tribute. And that Roll Call CD on Justice that Dan metioned is very good indeed.

Charlie Parker - Now's the Time (the Verve recording) - in my view, the ultimate jazz solo - spontaneous obviously, but a perfectly formed and logical story ending with a climactic phrase which Bird has already hinted at earlier in the solo - exciting, memorable and even singable, everything you could want in 3 blues choruses - the product of a brilliant musical mind.