John Tapscott

I have not yet left the 20th century...

I just received a shipping notice from Mosaic for the Gordon Select. I must have nabbed one of the last ones in existence (or at least in Mosaic's warehouse). Jeff was holding a set for me, and I have emailed him to take it off hold. Thanks for your kindness, Jeff. I'm sure there will be an eager buyer for the set. It's great to be part of the Organissimo family. We may squabble at times, but we know how to stand together when it counts!

Since we're on a Mosaic kick today, let me mention that the OOP Elvin Jones Blue Note set is a great Mosaic and one of my very favorites.

I ordered the Gordon, received a confirmation notice. If it is gone, I am surprised that they haven't emailed me to say that. I know it takes about 24 hours from when you place your order to when you receive the shipping notice. If they CAN'T fulfill the order will I get an email in about the same time frame? In any case, I will call or email Mosaic tomorrow. I have the set Jeff offered me on hold for 24 hrs. Thank you Jeff.

Yeah, and why these particular sets? If one was accidently "destroyed" you'd think it would stop there, once the "mistake" was realized. And then you ask, why did it stop where it did, why didn't the whole catalogue go? There is something we're not being told, not that Mosaic has any obligation to tell us the whole story , but seeing as it has deprived me of a set I really wanted, I'm kind of curious.

As I understand Mosaic's message, it means that the masters and components were destroyed and it's too costly to remaster everything again and make new ones for the remaining run of those sets. I can't for the life of me, figure out how this stuff could be "destroyed". Misplaced in a move, perhaps burned in a fire, but destroyed? It almost sounds like a deliberate act.

That's for pointing that out. I just ordered one. We'll see what happens.

My recent pattern had been to wait until a desired set was running low and then pullling the trigger. Now that sets can be discontinued without any notice, this will no longer work.

Just checked worldsrecords.com. They still have some of these discontinued sets listed. They used to sell them for the same price as the Mosaic website, but now the price for Selects has been hiked to $60. Supply and demand, I guess. J.A.W., I didn't notice the Pullen there, unfortunately.

Dang! I had the Gordon set on my wish list. Really wanted that one.

Dan: Don Brown is definitely not a moron. But I have to say that it's a bit risky to make assumptions about the politics of those who love jazz. One might be surprised. I discipline myself to studiously avoid the political threads on this site.

The thread will probably be overrun with great piano solo performances, so before that happens let me suggest: George Lewis - Solo Trombone Album (Sackville)

Got my Weston yesterday. I like it a lot. The music is strong and engaging. Looking forward to my second listen. It's probably been pointed out before, but the photo on pg 16 of the booket is of Weston and trombonist Quentin Jackson (not Budd Johnson).

I wonder if his gig with Basie was really meant to be long-term, or whether he was more of a temporary fill-in. By this time, Roy was well-established as a trumpet soloist in small groups (though of course earlier he'd played with Gene Krupa and others). It's hard to imagine that someone who was used to being out-front would be happy with a section job and 2 or 3 solos a night. Of course the bread would have been OK, but after a short while one might lose their appetite. Plus the Basie band had cliques like any other; it was tough apparently for new guys (no matter who they were) to be really accepted (and certainly not in 12 weeks). Guys can play tight on the stand but not be tight at all off the stand.

Ordered the Weston. Already have the Jones. For anyone on the fence, it's a fine set and well worth getting.

But maybe the 14,000 refers to vinyl albums. Nothing was said about CD's (of which he may well have a similar number).

Sad news, indeed. R.I.P Jack. Yesterday and Today is a really fine CD.

Pianist Jessica Williams, rather overlooked in my view (I now see that RDK mentioned her near the beginning) . I also like vocalist Roberta Gambarini.

I certainly enjoy his playing, and every album of his that I have. though I probably gravitate more to guitar players whose style is slightly more modern, like Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney, Kenny Burrell, and Jim Hall. But Alden is definitely a fine player. One of his CD's I highly recommend is a two guitar quartet album he made with Jimmy Bruno on Concord. The name of it escapes me at the moment but the guitarists are well separated on left and right channels and make a compatible but somewhat contrasting combination.

Yes, the Shorter/Morgan for me, too. It went to Last Chance at the same time as the Chambers/Kelly set. I figured I could only buy one so I opted for the latter set. I enjoy that set, but I should have bought both. Sometimes you overthink these things and cheat yourself.

I like Reeds and Deeds by Grant Stewart and Eric Alexander; Manhattan Afternoon by Cedar Walton

I have it, but it's been a long time since I listened to it. Will have to give it a listen. I recall that it is very good, though.

Samples are sometimes misleading IMO. I have it and have always liked it. It's beyond OK; it's very good, I would say.

Glad to hear he got over it ... you happen to know who the dismissed pianist having trouble to read Pepper's new tunes was? Yes, I was wondering that, too. I have to think there was more involved. Are Art's tunes all that much more difficult than most jazz comps? As usual, Laurie's notes go into great detail (almost more than we need to know) about Art's problems and the convoluted/difficult background to the session. Interesting to hear Art tell the audience that the previous bassist had to "fly home because his mother was very, very ill."

I second all of that. Yep. All true for me as well, except that I received it yesterday and have only listened to discs 1 & 2 thus far. I am very, very happy with this purchase.