John Tapscott

FWIW, I'm going for the single CD's. So far - Seven Steps to Heaven, In Europe, Live in Tokyo, Miles in Berlin. It's strange, but the indvidual CD's in total are cheaper than the box. Haven't decided on Funny Valentine and Four and More yet, since I already have the double CD set on Columbia from more than a decade ago.

The second Cd "Deep Cove" listed on her website is a 2003 CBC recording by the Ryga/Rosnes Quartet. (Campbell Ryga is a Canadian saxophonist). I picked it up yesterday and it is excellent in every way. Superb sound. Wonderful playing and writing by Renee (and the others), plus a couple of standards. Not to be missed.

I don't have "Crystal Comments", but I have the others you mentioned. "Yesterday, Today and Forever" would be my first choice of those two, but they are both worth getting. Also a quartet session on Concord recorded between these two called "Heritage"'. All are bop oriented blowing sessions. Bud is a player who has really grown over the course of his career. By the time of these recordings, he had become a monster hard bopper with a distinctive sound and was right up there with the best altoists of the day (and still is).

Voted for studio, but a tough call. Years ago I would definitely have said "live." But over the years I've come to see that the studio is where most jazz masterpieces come from, not all mind you, but a quick tabulation will reveal, I think, that it's true. Live recordings not only capture musicians at their best, but also at their most grandstanding (think JATP). For sure, you often lose a bit of intensity in the studio, and gain a bit of polish. But that may not be a bad thing for a permanent record of a musician's work. The studio seems to be the place where the creation of new music and the most thoughtful statements take place; again not always, but often true. "Live" recordings are often a rehash of the musicians day by day repetoire. The opportunity for studio "fixes", the opportunity to record new music, the generally more reliable sound quality, and the more concise solos, make the studio albums slightly preferable in my view. And it depends on the musicians, too. I generally prefer Bill Evans' live recordings to his studio dates; whereas I generally prefer 'Trane's studio dates to his live dates. But note the key word "generally". In any case, I would have both live and studio dates in my desert island collection.

Me too. I'm never heard Higgins play with anything other than taste and finesse, and yes, an intense, swinging drive. When I see a recording with Billy in the drum chair, I always have a good feeling about the music, even before I hear it. In fact, I will buy a recording based solely on the fact that Billy's the drummer. One of my all-time favorites.

Simply, because I love jazz music and in any one Mosaic set you get hours of great jazz! I enjoy losing myself for hours in the music and the notes of a Mosaic box set. I don't have time to do it as often as I would like, but when I do, it's wonderful. You love jazz, you gotta love Mosaic. I know it's simplistic, but that's it. I am currently listening to my recently purchased Elvin Jones Mosaic and I cannot speak highly enough about this set! I knew it would be fine, but it's GREAT! Exceeds my expectations, even though I had heard at least half of the music before. Excellent sound.

I recently received the Elvin Jones Mosaic set and there is some tremendous saxophone playing throughout this set. But the most "inside/outside" playing on this set must be the Liebman/Grossman Lighthouse sets on Discs 7 & 8. I had the double Lp years ago and enjoyed it, but now to hear the night's three sets straight through and to reflect on the fact that Liebman was 26 and Grossman 21 at the time of the recording makes it even more amazing. IMHO, this is saxophone playing for the ages. Magnificent stuff.

Jim Snidero Plays the Music of Joe Henderson (Double-Time)

Just got my set on Friday and have listened to it all the way through. Sidewinder pretty much nails it. Great compositions & good sound. Beyond essential for Hill fans. 5 stars or close for Discs 1&2; I'm a little less impressed with Disc 3 on first listen, but it has its moments too, especially Woody Shaw and Hill's crazy organ sounds! Love that. But the "Chained" session from Disc 2 is my favorite from first impressions. Ron Carter was a monster in this days (on both Discs 1&2). Dig Teddy Robinson too, and Bennie Maupin. Very strong.

Best wishes, Claude!

I don't think that's quite right. There is NO WAY Graettinger himself could have put together the orchestra necessary to play that music or get it recorded. It took Kenton's top-flight band, vision and determination to bring that music alive. Also, it never would have been recorded without Kenton's pull at Capitol records. I remember reading that the thing sold less than ten thousand copies, so it couldn't have been a huge money-maker for Capitol. Kenton was reported as saying, "I don't know whether this music is genius or garbage" but he recorded it anyway, thereby putting his own musical stature behind it. And it didn't do anything for Kenton at all, since the music actually turned off a lot of Kenton's traditional fan base. Like him or not, Kenton actually deserves a lot of credit for this music being available to us today.

I just checked the site and was surprised at how many of these PM LP's I either had or still have in my collection, at least a dozen. Perhaps it was because PM was one of the first labels outside Canada to broadly record Canadian jazz artists (and not just the "stars"). There is some great music here, folks. I highly recommend the PAT LABARBERA disc.

Actually, his name is Bernie Senensky - don't worry, lots of people seem to get an "m" in there. Stylistically Bernie is a modern mainstream pianist - roughly from Red Garland on the one side to Tyner on the other, and mostly somewhere in between. Some Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock influences. He's a very fine player, if not particualry original. I believe the PM disc is called "New Life" and has Michel Donato on bass and Marty Morell on drums - a pretty good fit for Bernie. It's a decent record though I haven't played it for a long time. Senensky was the house pianist for years at Torooto's now defunct Bourbpn Street club and backed a wide range of American soloists - Art Farmer, Art Pepper, Bill Watrous, Pepper Adams, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims etc. etc.

This is slightly off-topic, but can someone please tell me why anyone would bother playing a "straight" tenor? I think Joe played it on the Sinatra session, perhaps on the Trio Fascination sets, and obviously on this one, but he seems to have gone back to his regular tenor lately When I saw Joe live 5 years ago (one of the 2 or 3 greatest live jazz concerts I've ever attended), he played the regular tenor exclusively (no other horns at all, actually). To me, the straight horn looks like an awkward instrument, with the microphones down around the player's knees. I didn't notice any real difference in the sound of the horns, so I guess I'm back to my original question? Why would someone play the "straight" tenor?

Placed my annual Mosaic order yesterday: Elvin Jones Max Roach Andrew Hill Select

Once again, thanks for the rec. I've been enjoying this now for a week. A beautiful CD which opens up more and more every time I listen. Every track is a gem but I especially like Thad Jones" "The Summary."

Thanks for the info. Here is the line up for the concert I was considering going to: Sunday 3 July 2005 8.00pm An evening with Oscar Peterson Ulf Wakenius guitar Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen bass Alvin Queen drums Surprised to see Alvin Queen as the drummer. Any of you British folk know what's happened to Martin Drew - Oscar's regular drummer over the past twenty + years? In Oscar's 2003 DVD - A Night in Vienna, Martin looked very overweight and uncomfortable, though he played well. Wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear that he has suffered some health problems. I agree with Nate. I wouldn't spend 40-60 pounds to see OP today, though I do recommend that Vienna DVD. You can likely buy it for less than half the price of the concert ticket. You'll get a very good idea of how OP plays these days. I think he still plays quite well and puts on a satisfying show overall, though his left hand is very restricted. He plays with his left hand at a funny angle over the keyboard, sort of how Carl Perkins used to play (I've seen that in photos). I guarantee that OP's concert set list will be 90% the same as the DVD set list.

No doubt about it. The folks in Stamford Ct. would be hearing from me. Mostly black boxes, but a few Selects, as well.

All these ideas are great. I especially like the way of dealing with the junk mail. I kind of feel sorry for the people who HAVE to work for call centers. The callers are under enormous pressure and the turnover rate is incredibly high. My sister-in-law worked for a call center for a while. She said not to worry about being rude when you're called. They don't care. In fact, she said the caller would much rather have people hang up immediately or be rude right off the top, rather than the caller going through the whole sales pitch and then having someone say "No," at the end. I'm really annoyed when my own bank calls me offering some new product or service and offering to charge the "low monthy fee" to my credit card "for my convenience. " I can't even call my local branch anymore which is 2 blocks away (all calls are taken by someone 1,000 miles away) , but they can always find me.

My personal favorite has always been the Kenny Barron, but I would say start with where your tastes lie. I have them all and it's hard to say that there are any to be completely avoided for they all have good moments. I've never really warmed to the Mike Wofford, though the next time I listen I may really enjoy it. I also thought the Cedar Walton was below par (why didn't he explore more of his own compositions?) And the Ralph Sutton seems a bit flat compared to some of his other solo recordings. But the Hank Jones is excellent and perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the series for me was the Andy Laverne. A few years ago, I did my own star rating of all the Maybecks so if you're interested, send me a personal e-mail and I'll send it to you. Of course, your rating may be totally different, but it will give you an idea of how one person ranks them.

Donaldson, though I must say that the other name which popped into my mind before I saw the choices and Chuck's posting was Schildkraut.

Absolutely. I believe those recordings are the place to start if you're new to Florence's music. Then work backward to a great Bob Florence CD called Name Band 1959 (Fresh Sound) if you can find it, and/or forward to Bob's '90's and beyond recordings. You will hear a fascinating evolution in all this. Florence is a very engaging writer, no doubt about it. Also, I noticed the original poster asked about big bands with lots of solo space. Try Danny D'Imperio's recent "Big Band Bloviation" CDs Vol. 1 & 2. If anything, I think they have too much solo space for a big band, but they're pretty good. Very strong personnel.

If you can find it - Bob Curnow and his L.A. Big Band Plays the Music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays (Mama) Superb! Almost anything by Bob Florence, though if you're new to his music you might start with his earlier CD's, say mid 90's and earlier. His last 2 or 3 like "Whatever Bubbles Up" (Summit) and "Serendipity 18" (Mama) are quite challenging listening, even for long-time big band listeners. Don't get me wrong, I think they're great, but not everyone appreciates the edginess Bob seems to have put into his recent music. Phil Kelly and the NorthWest Prevailing Winds - "Convergence Zone" (Origin) Highly recommended.

The first MJQ album I bought was "The Last Concert'. There was something special going on that night and I've never found the other MJQ albums I've heard to be quite as stimulating, though often very enjoyable (especially the live sets). I agree with the earlier poster who called "For Ellington" a brilliant album. It is often overlooked and underrated. One of their very best, IMHO. I have the MJQ 40th Anniversary box and was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it the last time a gave it a spin. Also agree that I couldn't listen to the MJQ on a regular basis, though there are certain times when I need to hear that sound.

Went with the first option. I am in general agreement with that statement. There is one thing I don't like about Brubeck's playing which I notice more on his 50's & 60's recordings than on the more reecent things. He starts off a solo swinging nicely and then about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through gets into some block chords and altered rhythms which almost bog the rhythm section down. The swinging flow and momentum of the piece is nearly lost. It takes a really strong drummer like Joe Morello to keep the piece going at all and to maintain a semblance of swing during one of these episodes. It's a relief when they return to the head and Desmond starts taking the tune out. But otherwise, for me, Dave Brubeck is