Brad

I think the best, and I'd call it the gold standard, is the one Bird did for Dial, which also includes the "famous alto break." It's really fabulous. Another good one is from Art Blakey's Night at Birdland, alluded to earlier.

Well, that's some strong stuff and although I disagree with most of it, there's a strong kernel of truth to what SEK about what happened after Alfred Lion left the label. The output is just not as strong.

Since overrated may not be the correct work, I'll settle for don't like. There's very few that I don't like. From the 50s, probably none. I love the music from that period. From the 60s, there's more to choose from. The George Braith material I don't find appealing (sorry, Soul Stream). Also Don Wilkerson's Preach Brother. Although the other Don's are ok. Didn't care for Byrd's Slow Drag and I know it's heresy here, but I don't care for Andrew Hill. That's why I only have Grass Roots in my collection.

For obvious reasons I voted for Dizzy but in a strong second is Miles, whose playing I don't find shaky at all. Miles is part of that fabled Charlie Parker quintet of the late 40s and he was an integral member of that unit. Bird obviously saw something in him to give him the trumpet chair. His future brilliance can be glimpsed from his first session as a leader on Savoy, where Bird played tenor. I like his playing from this period and to pick anyone else other than Dizzy doesn't make sense to me.

I'd have to disagree about Bob Blumenthal. I happen to like the notes he writes and look forward to reading them when I know he's done them. I think the notes he's done for Mosaic are all superb.

I don't know what to say about this album. I haven't listened to all of it yet but it's jazz and folk and american music and part of the great jazz tradition and music inspired by the tradition of early african american traditions. Like the liner notes say, if all W.C. Handy had ever written was St. Louis Blues, his reputation would have been cemented. But I loved the folk spirit imbued in Long Gone. Touched the times when I was a folk music junkie a long, long time ago. I'm not always big on vocals but I couldn't wait to hear Louis sing. Has anyone ever had a voice like that, in jazz or out? I was really touched by what Lon said. It's not often that someone really, really opens up here and it really touched a chord here. While I was reading it, I was saying "Man, he should write his memoirs!" Perhaps his musical transition is what I empathasize with. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Dude, that's chump change for you

Sal, You should definitely wait. This is only one cd, a sort of best of. Even if you don't like strings, you'll be getting material from Jazz at the Philharmonic, the Jazz Scene (absolutely wonderful cd, btw), material from his Quartet and Quintet and the the jam session that took place in Hollywood in 1952 (material with Bird, Johnny Hodges, Charlie Shavers, Barney Kessel, Ben Webster, etc. -- this stuff really cooks!). Now, the strings. Even if you don't like it, he makes this come alive, Bird floating on top of a strings is really good: Just Friends (a classic!), Laura, April in Paris, I'll Remember April. You just can't go wrong. Hey, Lon's right, it's Bird B)

The only quibble I have with this set are the liner notes. I was hoping for some sort of mini book but all Sony has done is reproduced the original notes with some supplemental notes by Eddie Henderson. I would presume that when it comes out in Mosaic, the liner notes will be ample.

Dave, If you want a remastered Blues Walk, have you considered buying LD's Mosaic?

Chuck is THE MAN!!

Considering the number of member at AAJ and here and the number of posts at both places, it's quite startling. There's more than 3 times as many members, but only 1.37 as many posts. That's not startling, that's amazing!

Dan said what I thought. Somehow, A La Modal seems familiar but I can't fiugure out where it's from.

In a word, it sucks! I wonder if Tom Evered helped design it

Sal, What Lon said and more. The music here is constantly great. I mean, what can you say about Dex. NHOP was a real relevation for me as was Alex Riel and Tete Montoliu, artists I never had a chance to listen to. I have been listening to Discs 7 and 8 in the last day or so and am really loving A La Modal and Skylark. I'm finding that all of his SteepleChase material very enjoyable. The packaging is nice and compact and the book has a lot of nice photos and the text, while not offering great insights into the music, is good. At the back of the book, there are reminisences of some of the musicians who worked with Dex as well as bios of Dex's sidemen (although I'm not sure sideman is the right term for people like Barry Harris, Billy Higgins, NHOP or Horace Parlan; these guys are giants) on the sessions.

I got that email and completely missed the one you pointed out. That is definitely one to get: Dexter, James Clay, Charlie Rouse, Herb Geller. How could you go wrong? Thanks for pointing that out Dan.

I was just advised by cd universe that it shipped today so depending upon the mails I may not see this until next week.

Lon, Thank you very much for the answer. Hopefully, it'll show up by Thursday.

This is probably a dumb question. But I preordered this from cd universe. Since it's to be released tomorrow, does that mean they ship tomorrow or they've already shipped and I should receive sometime in the next few days.

Good luck Daniel. I hope you do well with your thesis. See you soon. What's your thesis on?

Can anybody (Lon, Tod) comment on these Wilens.

Bev must be a lawyer. If this poll isn't enough, I've got a few insurance policies, tax codes for him to dissect

Night of the Cookers Volume 1 Dizzy Gillespie - Live at the Village Vanguard - Volumes 1 and2 Cannonball Adderley - Sophisticated Swing Bobby Hutcherson - San Francisco

How would y'all rate the Mosaic they did with the material on the one coming out. A lot of those vocals turned me off. Regarding the Phillips set, I have the Phillips cd Verve put out last year "The Swing'inest Band Ever" and if that was any indication, it would be a great set.

I think it all depends if you can afford to get a new one. If you can, sell it. Over 100,000 more things are going to go wrong. This could be just the beginning. For a car that's already that old, putting in $2000 seems like a lot to me. BTW, what happened to you also happened to me a few years ago and I got rid of it.