John Tapscott

Yes, I love this session, even though it's on that same cassette (white case) and is in danger of wearing out from lots of plays. One of my favorite Mobley dates. FWIW, I would have considered it to be a stronger date than "The Rajah" but I'm going to listen to both cassettes in my car over the next couple of days for a back to back comparison.

Don't worry Wes. It's just one horn on one session. I suspect it's a problem with the original tapes which can't be fixed. Overall I think the sound on the set is excellent.

It's not just yours. Mine sounds the same. Stanley sounds echoey and off-mike. It's strange because the other horns sound OK. But you kind of get used to it after a while. It's the fly in the ointment in an otherwise fine session.

Yep, Curtis solos on "Fun Time." Curtis has some nice solos as well on the Basie/Holman disc, "I Told You So." "The More I See You" had been one of Al Grey's features on the band for a dozen years by that point. (Along with Jimmy Forrest he left Basie for good shortly after after Montreux '77).

Almost certainly Dennis. (Curtis Fuller played that solo on his time with the band and Dennis inherited his chair). Mel was a lead player and played ballad type solos, rather than jazz solos. Not that the ballad stuff isn't hard...I have MAJOR respect for guys who can play like that...takes a lot of control and accuracy...and it sounds awful if you don't get it right...

Wes, you'll love this set. I just listened to it again last week and it is truly an outstanding set. My only slight disappointment is disc 6 which is all alternate takes of the tracks on disc 5. But disc 7 is fabulous and more than makes up for my slight disappointment. From beginning to end, the music is great (and for me, that includes the tracks with Buddy Rich). Booker Little's playing alone is worth the price of the set. And I've never been a huge fan of Julian Priester (though I love bop trombone), but on this set he sounds terrific. Easily the best playing I've heard from him.

J.J. Johnson - Disc 2

Jim, fabulous review, and probably just as entertaining as the CD (which I haven't heard yet, but definitely will). What you have said about WM is as close to the truth of the situation as anyone has ever come.

← Yes, you're right Paul. He had a lovely sound, warm and full, well up into the high register. Mel's best known solo was on Part 2 ("Carolyn") of "The Count Basie Remembrance Suite" recorded on "The Legend, The Legacy" - The Count Basie Orchestra directed by Frank Foster (Denon) rec. 1989. He recorded it again with the Basie Band on "Basie's Bag" in 1992. Unfortunately Mel was having some chop problems that night, so the earlier recording is much better. Another example of a studio recording trumping a live recording. (Though Paul, there's nothing wrong at all with the live recordings you made with Woody).

So do I. Toronto closed one of its premiere clubs for international jazz talent a couple of months ago. The Top of the Senator. ← That's sad... I visited the club twice during my short visit to Toronto last year. I really liked the club. ← Years ago, I lived and worked right in Toronto. The clubs were generally pretty well supported - this would be in the '70's and early '80's. Don't know about now - marriage, a daughter, a home and job in suburbia keep me away for the most part, though I did manage to catch a show or two a year at the Senator. But I do think the part about the low Canadian dollar vis a vis the US $ is a bunch of hogwash. For one thing, right now the Cdn $ is the strongest it has been in years (good for Mosaic purchases) and for years Canadians have been used to paying a premium to see American artists of any genre. I think one of the problems is the big summer jazz festivals, which tend to suck the life out of the jazz scene the rest of the year (a problem not unique to Toronto).

A couple of days ago I listened to Oliver Nelson Vol. 48 in the Verve Jazz Masters Series. It sounded GREAT! and caused me to add the Nelson to my Mosaic list, though it will won't be my next purchase by any means. But get ready folks, because this will be a wonderful set.

Just preordered the Hill and the Ervin. I gotta quit this Board or I'm going to go broke!!!!

I thought the samples of the Ory set sounded great. Hope it's not too much of a good thing. I was planning to wait until '06 for my next Mosaic, but just pulled the trigger on this one. One less, so you'd better make up your mind fast, guys.

I just received this reply from cheap-cds to an email I sent them. Hello, We apologize for the inconvenience, but unfortunately we have stopped taking orders. We need to reevaluate our business plan to determine if this company can keep running

Over the past 5 years or so, I have bought a LOT of CD's from these guys. Not always the absolute cheapest price, but always pretty close. They've had pretty good selection and fast service (except when you returned a defective disc), plus they've always been on top of new releases. All this seems to have changed. Their website is still up but there's no new releases listed since around June. Plus an order I placed on Aug 31 has not yet been shipped. They haven't repsonded to my e-mail about it. I tried placing another order but it wouldn't go through. Is cheap-cds.com gone forever? If so, I'm going to miss them.

Max Roach Plus Four - Disc 1

$1.29 per litre this morning in the greater Toronto area. (nearly equivalent to the $6 per gallon gouge in Atlanta) A HUGE rip-off. Hope you all own some oil stocks.

This is the 2nd postive review I've read of this CD, and while I'm no Wynton promoter, I'm certainly interested in hearing this CD. I hope no one disses it until they've heard it, at least.

My first Mosaic order was back in 1993 and consisted of the Tina Brooks vinyl, the Count Basie Live Roulette (on CD) and the Stan Kenton Holman/Russo charts (on CD). I now have about 50 sets and have never gotten rid of any (and would do so only in the case of an extreme financial emergency. )

I actually have one for the very reason that you mentioned. Some in-laws, hearing that I was a "jazz fan," gave me one of his Christmas CD's for Christmas one year. Can't even remember the name of it. I don't let it near my jazz shelves but file it with my wife's Christmas music. To be perfectly honest, it's not terrible, and serves as decent background music for holiday entertaining. The arrangements are OK if a bit pedestrian. On one chart with a bit of rhythm, G "blows" a tenor solo, trying to give the impression that he's got jazz chops. But the solo is so obviously being "read", it's laughable.

Farmer/Golson Jazztet plus the Johnny Richards Select (early '06) Longer term - The Basie Verve set, the Buddy Rich small group set, and possibly the Jazz Crusaders set (I am totally unfamiliar with the JC's music, so I'm really looking forward to peoples' comments on that set).

I foolishly procrastinated and missed out on the big Andrew Hill Mosaic, so Andrew!!! will be my first purchase from this excellent list.

Just curious, Allen, who you think is playing on the last cut, 52nd Street. The liners credit Max but several here (including Chuck, Sangrey and Lon) think it's Sid. That's my guess as well. What do you think? ← It's a great CD, but I'm confused. Small point really. On p. 16, the notes read "....the public prevails and Big Sid remains at the drums for a loping version of Monk's 52nd Street Theme." So the liners are crediting Sid, right? I lean to Sid myself on 52nd St., and without taking anything away from Sid, I think that Max is OUTSTANDING on his tracks.

Elvin Jones - Disc 6

You should get this set because I suspect there will be some great music here. I base this opinion on two Rich Verve CD's I have from this general period - "This One's for Basie" (with a "small" big band) and Gene Krupa- Buddy Rich "Krupa and Rich". I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I bought these, but I was very pleasantly surpised by the quality of the music on these sets. Personally I think Rich ranks with the very best drummers, but quite apart from what you may think of him as a drummer or an individual, the music on these sets is very good to excellent.