DrJ

I have a line on the 3 LP Teagarden comp KING OF THE BLUES TROMBONE (Epic). Tea's discography is, to a relative newcomer like me, confusing to say the least. Can anyone comment on how much (or little) overlap there is between this LP set and the Tea/Bix/Tram OKeh and Brunswick Mosaic set, which I plan to get eventually? I believe Sony owns all these labels' holdings (Epic, OKeh, Brunswick) and don't want to get the LP set if most of the material is in the Mosaic. Trying to piece it together at All Music and Mosaic, it appears there is at least some overlap.

But that's just it - AM I BLUE? just doesn't sound very soulful to me. They're gamely trying, but "missed it by that much," as someone on TV used to say. Not trying to "convince" anyone to feel the same, by the way, you and others will continue to disagree I am sure. But I personally stand firm on this. I've tried and tried and tried to get more into this session - from back when I had the TOCJ version, before the RVG - hell, it's got the GREEN AND PATTON AND DIXON axis - but just can't say I've really warmed to it, whereas I love dozens of other similarly inclined recordings (I'm not a "straight ahead or nothing" guy). BTW, none of this means I'm planning to trade in my RVG - I do listen occasionally, and enjoy (the title track to me is the best-realized piece here and if the whole thing played like that one it'd be in the changer a lot more), but its one of my least played Green discs and will remain so. I also disagree that IDLE MOMENTS and STREET OF DREAMS can be called more "straight ahead jazz" albums. Both are fresh and far from the usual beaten path, at times almost hallucinatory in their beauty and floating quality, and the latter is as quietly soulful as anything I've ever heard. In sum, I just think people need to leave the possibility open that a similarly broad-minded listener simply might not like this one a lot!

Interesting info, thanks. One thing though - I doubt the Mosaic LP has the high end rolled off, rather I think we're all used to the "digital brightness" inherent in CDs...not saying it's a bad thing, necessarily, but I think our ears are accustomed to a slightly over-emphasized high end from CD rather than the other way around.

To me, once you've seen the original cover art a couple times (you can do this with the cover art books if you haven't seen the LPs or CD reissues), it's burned into your head anyway and I don't miss it. The Mosaics are the best way to go with this stuff IMHO. Most are in very good sound and the booklets are usually far more useful than the liners from the original albums (some of these are actually included in the booklets). They are LP sized (except for the new Mosaic Selects which are slightly larger than usual CD size) and most are outstanding, with discographical info, essays, commentaries, etc. Don't limit yourself to the BN dates Mosaic has reissued either! But if you're the type of person who really likes to hear the original album sequences etc and doesn't want to hassle with programming your CD player, then you might not like the Mosaics.

Interesting reactions and discussion. Kevin's comments about Johnny Coles' sound have me wondering if his presence here may be one thing that is offputting to some. Let me say I am a huge fan of Coles' playing, but I know that others aren't as thrilled, and I also am not 100% sure this was the best setting for him (not that he couldn't play beautiful ballads, but I don't really hear him as a "funky" or "down home" player although that could be my own lack of exposure - educate me if so!). I wonder how people might react if there had been someone like Blue Mitchell in on this date instead? Personally I think AM I BLUE? is a slightly below average Grant Green recording. I enjoy it in small sips, one or two tracks at a time when I'm in the mood. But it palls over extended listening. I don't think there's anything really to say except that it just flat out didn't come off as well as it should have, nobody's obviously at fault, but the magic just wasn't in the studio that day. I think it's all the more noticeable BECAUSE a) it's a Green recording and usually he was the absolute master of these types of concepts, and b) because the near dead-stop slow tempos on IDLE MOMENTS came off so well by contrast.

Amazing collection, I wish I was independently wealthy!

Yeah, it might - but I've now got that LP on CD-R and will avoid playing that section. It's only a $10-15 LP that can still be found so I will probably get a clean new copy eventually for that reason.

I think he was talking about "later period Neil Young," Brandon. If you'll notice he only talks about stuff from the 80s on.

I'm less familiar with all the titles of the individual albums within the set but I really like the Verve 2-fer issued a few years back that included the early Emarcy stuff with Cannon and Nat Adderly, really bright, intelligent hard bop. I voted for this stuff. The slightly earlier 2-fer on Savoy jointly credited to Cannon and Nat is also nice, if a little less fully realized. I've also been digging the hell out of another Cannonball date for Emarcy - JUMP FOR JOY - recently, maybe not a masterpiece but really interesting stuff what with Duke's tunes, Bill Russo's contributions, and a great supporting cast.

I don't know if I have a "favorite" but since he hasn't been mentioned yet, I want to give Kevin Hays some props here. Most will know him as a pianist, if at all (I find him to be a little under-rated myself). I've only heard him play Fender Rhodes a couple times, like on Eddie Henderson's DARK SHADOWS album, but he's really quite a talented and tasteful player. I'd like to hear a lot more.

I tend to agree with Chuck and Brad. No offense, but this would have been a major windfall and it just didn't pan out, so hard to really see how CDUniverse is really at fault. I was all set to not get the set and it didn't bother me in the least.

Good to know Patricia, another push to keep me enjoying the vinyl! 'Course you must be talkin' a lot of 78s if his collection dates back to the 30s, which are a bit of a different ball game...but the main point is similar and well taken! Yeah, I just foolishly did that a couple weeks back by accident, with a reissue copy of Dave Burns' WARMING UP! album (Vanguard) that was otherwise in pristine shape. Now there's a big loud click in the middle of track 2 that persists for a good 30 seconds, in the midst of a great Bobby Hutcherson vibes solo, but what the heck - easy come, easy go, at least there's no skipping.

Nah, they're mostly good quality reissues, and most of those are OOP Mosaics. I haven't really gotten in to tracking down original vinyl and probably won't for a variety of reasons except for stuff that can't be found in other formats. Regardless, you're still on point - even if I play some of the better-loved LPs once every few months, which is optimistic, they're not going to be getting real heavy wear.

Thanks for the input, Chuck. That's what I was leaning toward, but need just this kind of push! I think I'm going to have a bumper sticker made up as a variation on the "I'm spending my kids' inheritance" standard: "I'm wearing out my kids' rare vinyl inheritance!"

Now that I have a nice amp with a good phono stage, I've been enjoying the hell out of vinyl. The CD-Rs I make of the LPs sound really good, but not quite up to the LPs themselves. So my question is: if one is faithful about changing the stylus as recommended by the manufacturer, and careful with the tone arm adjustments, keeping the LPs dust free, etc, how much wear do you actually impart on the vinyl with multiple plays? I definitely don't want to cause major wear on the OOP, hard to find stuff. Any recommendations?

Just finished transfering the last sessions from the COMPLETE SIDNEY BECHET BLUE NOTE Mosaic vinyl set to CD-R - and I have to say that last date with Jonah Jones on trumpet and Buddy Weed on piano is a real sleeper, very much underrated. Listening to the whole set over a period of several days, with close attention, I think it's easily as good as the best of the earlier BN sessions, possibly better.

Well, I voted for Swallow. I've been really appreciating how musical he makes the e-bass sound in listening to Gary Burton's RCA stuff from the later 60s lately, DUSTER, COUNTRY ROADS AND OTHER PLACES, etc. He has a really remarkable dynamic range on the instrument, not just loud and louder. I like the fact that he doesn't try and emulate an acoustic bass either, he has a truly original sound. Jaco was of course a true pioneer, and at his best nobody could really touch him, but sadly I feel that there is a lot more evidence of his bombastic, show-offy side left to posterity than his musical side. I know he's not strictly a jazz bassist, but I've also always been very fond of Daryl "The Munch" Jones' playing, he's forceful at times but usually with a purpose, and quite musical. Finally, what about Bob Cranshaw? I have been appreciating his fine electric bass playing with Mary Lou Williams on some of her Smithsonian-Folkways reissues (e.g. Zoning, Black Christ).

Hi Noj - one minor correction, that's stuff from Blue Note and Capitol, no Pacific Jazz stuff for those guys. Regardless - GET IT, GET IT, GET IT! Full of truly top drawer bop, stuff that should be in EVERYONE'S collection in one form or another. $10 is a great price too. Sound on this set is perfectly acceptable, if not quite up to the Japanese RVGs of the FABULOUS FATS NAVARRO albums.

Likewise Jim, I'm really glad that with each "normal" test some bad things can be crossed off the list, but I'm also sorry that you still don't have an answer. Try to keep your spirits up, things will hopefully settle out soon!

Well the plot continues to thicken. As I mentioned, I had originally checked my order status at CDUniverse to find that the Jazztet item was listed as "no longer available" and so figured my order was cancelled. Then a couple days back I get an e-mail saying it shipped and that it was a single CD. It arrives today and...it's the FULL SET! Most bizarre, but a fortunate turn of events! Thanks Clunky for putting me on to this opportunity.

The Reece is good, no question, but it's definitely NOT something to get primarily because of the sidemen, Pryan. While they're fine, it's Reece who is the hands down star throughout, not just his playing (which is superb) but to me even more so his gift for writing and arranging. There are some fantastic originals - "Blues in Trinity," "Sands," "The Case of the Frightened Lover" just to name some of my favorites, some of the least hackneyed, freshest hard bop writing of the era. Not to mention great takes on standards - perhaps best exemplified by his masterful reading of "Tenderly." I think once you hear all these Reece Blue Notes, you'll be hooked. Why he wasn't a bigger star is beyond me.

That Emarcy disc, CLARK TERRY, is a real killer - fantastic, and has some really nice rarities at the end as was the custom for the outstanding (and much missed by me!) Verve Elite Edition series. Next to that one, I enjoy COLOR CHANGES the most, and don't forget the Big Baad Big Band dates he made for Vanguard with Ernie Wilkins as co-leader, if you're into vinyl these can be had pretty cheaply.

No comment on the DSD output issue, but as I've said in other forums, I agree that a straight up burn of a good condition LP onto CD-R sounds MIGHTY fine. In the recent Mosaic LP set haul I made, I'm working on transferring stuff to CD-R one set at a time. Nearly done with the Bechet Blue Note set.

I want to know when he's going to get around to doing his much-discussed series of boxed sets of his various "eras" (with, rumor has it, many added previously unreleased tracks!). When he does I hope he considers doing some limited vinyl runs.

Yes, that was the one I was referring to in my original post - it's hard to believe there could be this type of disparity, as near as I could tell there were no common bidders on both sets...so I can only assume the people bidding on the Scottish one only saw that one and not the other I got. Lucky lucky lucky!