montg

I picked the RVG up recently--I LOVE this session. I'm surprised to see negative comments about the sound, I had the opposite reaction, thinking it's one of the best RVGs I've heard. Billy Higgins lays down such a wonderful groove with those shimmering cymbals...this is what Blue Note is all about to me.

Still waiting for my order from 12/26 to be shipped. I guess I'm just not patient enough for yourmusic. As soon as they send me this stuff, I'm canceling out.

I thought Freddie's lip was shot. I hope this new label gives a somewhat lost generation its due--the generation that paid its dues in the 60s and 70s and was kind of pushed aside in the 80s and 90s by the young lion thing.

The description of the forthcoming Tolliver CD on Mosaic's website implies this is the first in a series of "new recordings by legendary artists". This is exciting news to me. Does anyone have any more information about which artists might be recorded for the new label? What qualifies as 'legendary artist' status. People who have recorded for Blue Note in the past (sidemen or leaders)and are still active? Hutcherson, Billy Harper etc? A MOSAIC RECORDS FIRST! The Debut of the Mosaic Records/Blue Note jazz label. New Recordings by Legendary Jazz Artists[/b].

I preordered it and the Tyner (and ordered the Lloyd and Blakey singles) from their website earlier in the week. The Blakey single is terrific....can't go wrong when Jackie Mclean is on the front line, imo. Great studio sound too.

This is one I'll likely preorder. I love Hutcherson & the samples on the Mosaic page sound great.

I just pre-ordered this from CD universe. I remember reading glowing accounts of this band's live performances last year and wishing somebody would record them. Thanks to MC for making it happen.

Is there any company, other than Mosaic, who is willing/able to lease this material in a way that is profitable (and does justice to the material)? It's a lot to expect Mosaic to carry the load....the Verve holdings are massive (Decca, Commodore, Keynote, Emarcy, Argo/Cadet, Impulse etc). Don't get me wrong, I love Mosaic and news like this motivates me to support their efforts as much as I can. But I wonder if they're going to be able/willing to do much more than what they're already doing in the way of reissuing the verve catalog.

I joined yourmusic right after Christmas--to make some holiday bucks go a little farther. If I had read this thread first, I probably would have passed, given the crummy customer service. Anyway, I ordered Jackie Mclean's 'Consequence', Dave Douglas (Meaning and Mystery), Joe Lovano's CD with Hank Jones (Joyous something or other), the Gil Evans Conn, and Blakey's 'Mosaic'. BMG's prices are a little higher, but I've found their customer service to be pretty reliable. And with the 6.99 change coming, the yourmusic price will become pretty comparable to the BMG buy one get 4 free deal--I'll probably cancel out of your music once/if my order comes through.

I have both, thankfully. The Condon Mob is one of my favorite Mosaic sets. There's some beautiful playing by Bobby Hackett. The Condon/Wettling sessions stand out, as do the Rampart sessions--dig Eddie Miller and Abe Lincoln

My sentiment too, I really like Michael Blake on this CD and writing is very strong.

WM is offering a free album on his website beginning Jan 1. web only

Communicating what? To whom? How? For what reason? To what expected/desired end? On the one hand, that's one of those statements that is so obvious as to not question, but otoh, it's also somewhat of a copout, akin to saying that cooking isn't about blending/contrasting ingredients, flavors, textures, etc., it's about getting food on the plate. I meant 'communicating' a much deeper part of the artist's consciousness, I think - a place that doesn't tell you what you already know or answer the same old questions, but asks new questions, and puts you in a space you never before inhabited - that ain't fiction either, but a deeper kind of reality - My feeling is that the grammar of jazz has the depth and elasticity to sustain creativity for the next 100 years and beyond. The problem with a lot of 21st centruy jazz, as I see it, is that it is being played by musicologists rather than poets.

From jazztimes news page verve downsized Doesn't sound too promising, though I suppose it couldn't get much worse, Verve's reissue program has been pretty moribund the last six months or so. In a holiday shake-up, Verve Records, the renowned jazz label owned by Universal Music, has been downsized and put under the helm of Bruce Resnickoff’s Universal Music Enterprises. Over 25 percent of the label’s employees have lost their jobs; however, subsidiaries like Verve Forecast will remain untouched. Verve general manager Nate Herr will take control of label operations—including the signing of artists. Once one of the largest jazz labels in the world, Verve still boasts a large roster that ranges from Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter to Abbey Lincoln and Dee Dee Bridgewater. The label’s recent releases have included albums by Diana Krall, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole and re-releases from Stan Getz and Bill Evans.

Man, that is so well-said IMO, contemporary jazz is not about electronics or hip-hop or whatever, it's about communication.

From among those relatively few new releases that I've purchased, I found the Holland CD "Critical Mass" to be very enjoyable, probably my favorite of the year. Loren Stillman, Brothers' Breakfast (Steeplechase) is interesting. Some enjoyable 2005 releases that I didn't get around to purchasing until 2006 include Adam Rogers "Apparitions" (Criss Cross) and Gerald Wilson's "In My Time" (Mack Ave.). From among the reissues, proabaly the one I've listened to the most this year is the new RVG version of the Lockjaw Davis Cookbook CD (vol. 1). I listened to Hutcherson's "Happenings" a lot this year too.

Right on. I would imagine Bunk was a catalyst for all sorts of hosannas from purists and dismissals from 'progressives'.

This was a year for fixing some holes in my collection and discovering some giants that I had mostly overlooked in the past. So, a lot of listening to: Sonny Rollins (Prestige years, mostly K2s from the blowout) Gerry Mulligan (Pacific Years and the Emarcy sextet) Dexter Gordon (mostly his 70s stuff--love Biting the Apple from Steeplechase along with the live Carnegie date) Woody Shaw (Little Red's Fanatasy plus Steppin' Stones) Among newer releases, I'm starting to warm up to Dave Douglas, I've been listening to 'The Infinite' a lot. And Kenny Garrett...don't like his new one much, but there was a period this year where I was pretty much listening to 'Songbook' everyday.

Picked up CLaude Hopkins, "Swing Time" in the blowout earlier this summer--much love for this, particularly the session with the great Budd Johnson.

Comfy chair, late night detective novel and a bag of those pretzels and I'm set. Oh and plenty of mouthwash before I crawl into bed.

I'm taking a break from shoveling 12 inches of snow out of a 20 yard driveway. Good exercise, I guess. Days like these make me miss my days in Gainesville FL.

Wasn't it "Salt Peanuts"? Either way I agree. Guy See? These titles somehow don't connect with the music, so no one can remember the titles of tunes you know like the back of your hand. MG It could have been 'Salt Peanuts', it's been awhile since I've seen it.

Interesting thread, one I seem to have missed seeing until tonight. When I first heard Parker, all I was hearing was a ton of notes flying by, almost like someone practicing playing notes in a scale as quickly as possible. Some time later, I picked up a secondhand book by Martin Williams ("Where's the Melody?") that helped me begin to 'get' Parker. His advice sounds kind of simplistic on the surface I guess, but it helped me: "As I say, I don't think that when we listen to Charlie Parker's Embraceable You we should necessarily listen beneath Parker's improvised melody for Gershwin's outline. The outline is Parker's guide, not necessarily the listener's , and the main point is the melody Parker is making, whatever his guide" " When we remember that Parker...was a player and did his 'composing' as he played, by improvisation, then we realize how astonishing his achievement was...Where's the melody? The melody is the one the player is making. Hear it well for it probably will not exist again. And it may well be extraordinary. TO catch the melodic--and rhythmic-- genuis, I have to attend pretty closely, but if I can get in the moment with Parker and try to keep up with him, I can begin to feel some of what he's doing. I have the complete Dial/Savoy recordings and some other things, but I think the recommendation earlier for the early 50s Verve material with Max Roach (the purple CD, I don't remember what it's called) is a good one if fidelity is an obstacle. And the Uptown Town Hall CD is highly recommended as a starting point too. The excitement there--from the crowd, on the bandstand--is palpable. A true revolution in the making. Say what you will about the Ken Burns Jazz series, but that scene where an atomic bomb detonates as the viewer hears Ko Ko is right on target.

We're looking at a foot of snow beginning at midnight tonight in central Illinois. I need to get some batteries in case the power lines get knocked out. I may be sitting in a dark house listening to some warm jazz on the low fi cd player and watching the snow fall.

I don't know how the FS reissue sounds, but the Japanese/Universal remastering is pretty good to my ears. These sessions must have been pretty well-recorded. It's a mystery why Verve has never reissued them in total.