Brad

2 of Dexter's Black Lions have been reissued by 1201: Take the A Train (excellent sound) and Body and Soul. I've seen them quite a bit on ebay for cheap prices. There's also an excellent 2 Cd set Black Lion put out called "Sunset Swing". If you see this grab it; it's worth the money. I got this from Ebay, from a seller I think called cello700 or cello7000 and he may have a couple extra lying around. Here's an amg review: This CD contains 22 generally exciting performances from jazz's transitional years. While the music technically falls into the swing idiom, one can often hear the influence of bop (and even early rhythm & blues) creeping in. Nine different groups are heard from. Trumpeter Howard McGhee and tenor-saxophonist Charlie Ventura head a sextet, the 16-year old pianist Andre Previn makes his recording debut on a trio version of "California Clipper" and joins trumpeter Buddy Childers, altoist Willie Smith and the tenor of Vido Musso in a sextet, McGhee, Willie Smith and tenor great Lucky Thompson join forces on another date, guitarist Les Paul is heard in a sextet with trumpeter Harry Edison, pianist Arnold Ross duets with bassist Red Callender, trumpeter Emmett Berry, trombonist Vic Dickenson and altoist Lem Davis swing in a sextet and drummer Ray Bauduc leads an unidentified group. Recommended. — Scott Yanow

Sure they are, you just have to be creative. I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

He ain't part of the gang in my view. Unless it's the chain gang!

I don't know how you can criticize PS2. I just saw a demo for the Getaway (I won't let my son have the game) and the graphics are quite impressive. Same thing with splinter cell. Anyway, getting back, it depends what the person you're buying this for plays. I'd check out a local retailer and see what more they stock of in your son's friend interest and then buy. I don't think a dvd is that big a deal unless you don't have one. I like PS2 because I'm a soccer fan and like to play the FIFA games, although I'd love to play the European PS2 soccer games but they're not compatible with the US unfortunately.

Love both the Blakey set and the Lee 50s set, especially some of his work with Benny Golson. Reggie from Chester is a classic for me. The book from the 50s set is also phenomenal. In talking about these sets, it's like saying one is best and one is bestest.

They've put out some very good sets, especially Bebop Spoken Here and Coleman Hawkins, not to mention the Dexter Gordon set. I think the books are well written. They're a bit more than starter sets, as somebody has said. The Bebop set has some things that others more knowledgeable than I said they hadn't seen anywhere on disc. This set served as an introduction to me to Sonny Berman, a great trumpeter from the mid 40s. The Hawkins set has a lot of Keynote material, which is very hard to find on disc. You should know that these are master takes and there are no alternates and I don't believe these are remastered but they bring together some hard to find material. I'm especially interested in their recently issued or soon to be issued Johnny Hodges set. Really recommend these. There has been some concern about ripping off Mosaic but I haven't really examined that issue too closely yet.

A while ago, somebody (maybe Ed) posted something about emailing Michael about this coming out as a Select. Couldn't find the post about the reply (if there was one). Did he ever reply and is this on their radar screen?

Thank you for the input. Sounds like something I'd rather avoid. May be for others but not for me. These days, after having just installed a new septic system, I have to spend wisely.

Hans, What Proper sets are you talking about? I know they did a Mildred Bailey set recently and that might be the case but their Dex set wasn't like that nor is their new or upcoming Johnny Hodges set (although it may intersect at the end with the first Mosaic set).

Lon, I have to confess that I don't know the Mizelli Bros. Are you referring to the upcoming Caricature. I plead total ignorance here. If the Bartz has that many vocals, I'll probably pass anyway. Thanks for your input on Candido. I want to pick that one up.

You guys talked me into it. I'm on the lookout!

Yeah, he and Chris are still getting into it. It's nice to see somethings never change. The bigger question that nobody raised is where is Shrugs. He's not at AAJ and I haven't checked jazz corner. So I don't know if he's over there. Kind of miss old Shrugsie. Remember once when he and Jim R got into it over Shrugs' multiple posting on the Offering forum.

How much vocals are we talking about on the Bartz. I don't know much about him but I try to avoid vocals. Also, any views on Candido's Beautiful. Looks like a good lineup. Interestingly, AMG lists this originally as an RCA release. How did BN's parent get the rights to that.

John Patton's Oh Baby is tough, even in Japan. Saw it on ebay but got outbid. Let's hope it's part of the repressing of the RVGs they're doing now.

The one name that came to mind that could cause confusion, which somebody mentioned, is Sonny. There's 3 that come to mind, Rollins, Stitt and Clark. Which one comes to your mind first? To me, it's Stitt, but objectively, it's probably Rollins and probably no one would think of Sonny Clark.

Man, that's a real shame. I was really forward to getting that. Guess I'll have to figure out other ways to get the material.

Chuck, Any word on a possible release date?

I'd have to put some of his 50s work, the Rajah, Charisma and Infinity before that. Just my vote. BTW, if the present gig doesn't work out, perhaps being a polltaker for some less than democratic regimes might have possibilities .

What about this co-led session with Oscar Peterson: The Newport Years, Volume 3: Oscar Peterson and Roy Eldridge, Verve MGV-8239?

No idea really. Perhaps the US online sellers didn't want to carry it (although amazon uk has it so that may not be the reason) or perhaps the publisher appointed Jazz Record Center as its US distributor because the owner, Fred Cohen, can get it into jazz stores, where it is more likely to be purchased than online.

In looking at the book, Red appears to be right. The first five chapters are bios of each of the musicians up until the concert, the sixth examines the concert and the last five follow them after the concert. In that sense, it may be a little disappointing, not apparently an Ashley Kahn-like treatment. It's also available on amazon.uk

Has anyone heard of this book about the Massey Hall concert, which apparently contains mini bios of the participants. I was at the Jazz Record Center in New York yesterday and was about to leave when I saw this book, which said this was the only place in the US you could buy this book, so I did. It was issued by Aurum Press in England. I'm interested in any reviews of this book.

Some of the offering posted by SS look interesting, like the Dexter Gordon, esp. since he didn't record too much in the 50s, plus the latest Stan Getz. Pretty soon they'll be moving into the hard bop era and I'd expect to see an Art Blakey disc.

Since we're talking about a couple of good upcoming sets, didn't Mosaic say a while ago that they're working or were thinking about an Errol Garner set. Wonder what happened to that one.

I found McCoy Tyner's 13th House a bid dud. I didn't realize it had Hubert Laws on it and when I realized it that kind of ruined it for me. Music is too all over the place to suit me. It's probably ebay time for that baby. Regardin Don Wilkerson I like all his stuff but Preach Brother just didn't do it for me, which is surprising when you consider that Grant and Sonny Clark are on that record.