DrJ

Dredging up this thread to second the nomination of Cobb's OKeh sides. This past week I found a CD reissue of the OKEH JAZZ LP that Mike mentions. The CD I found is a Sony Special Products reissue from 1992, and the remastering is quite well-done. Lots of other good stuff on OKEH JAZZ too by the way - including Ahmad Jamal's 1951-2 trio with Ray Crawford on guitar (6 of the 8 tracks included in Mosaic's COMPLETE JAZZ PIANO MOODS SESSIONS); Wild Bill Davis' organ trio with Bill Jennings on guitar; and an all-star small group (including Dexter Gordon, Willie Smith, Jimmy Rowles, Howard McGhee, and Red Callendar) backing vocalist Mary Ann McCall. Well worth it if you find it in a used bin somewhere. Oh, and one more I forgot and I'm adding in as an edit: there's a few tracks by "Little Johnny Griffin," yes that's Johnny Griffin to us, with Babs Gonzales doing vocals! Stuff that was recorded shortly before he began working with Blakey, then started recording solo under his "familiar" moniker!

1. Some JRVGs sound great when played with "normal" polarity - LEAPIN' AND LOPIN', NIGHT DREAMER, HERE 'TIS, the SONNY CLARK TRIO 2-fer (this one is quite spectacular), and some others 2. I have more than a few that don't sound great unless the polarity is reversed (and I agree with Lon that it's not subtle - in fact, sometimes it brings out such a huge increase in the depth of the soundstage it's almost holographic) - CLIFF JORDAN is a good example. I hardly ever do this because it's a pain - so I've basically stopped buying JRVGs because I think it's silly that you have to do this in the first place, they sould "get it right." 3. Finally there are some that sound lousy no matter what I do - examples include STAR BRITE, FICKLE SONANCE (I actually traded this in for the U.S. version which I think sounds better), HAPPENINGS, OFF TO THE RACES (traded that one in when I bought the Byrd/Adams Mosaic box) 4. Overall I agree with Chuck - the U.S. RVG series sounds superior and for those of us living here it's way cheaper. I also hate mini-LP sleeves as a rule, so have no problem with the jewel boxes. I am gradually replacing all my JRVGs with US RVGs (although there will probably be some I'll keep as I'm sure not all of the Japanese series will be duplicated here - stuff like LOU MECCA) 5. The more I listen with a good tube system, the more I feel that Japanese CD reissues are in general way over-hyped - and that includes both TOCJ and JRVGs. The U.S. versions are generally more dynamic, sonically detailed, and sound "truer" (e.g. not like the high end has been rolled off as is the case for so many of the TOCJs, which gives them a smoothness but also a dullness).

This looks like a great series, I'm particularly keen to hear the Braxton stuff.

Thanks for posting the album and your impressions dsgtrane, and for your thoughts pryan. I'm such a nut for both Woody and Dex that I will keep an eye out for these even given the limtiations you mention.

Recently I asked Mosaic to send me a different outer box for the Kid Ory set - the one I'd received had flaws in the pressing of the adhesive photo on the outside, it was all wrinkled in one corner. As usual they graciously agreed, but when I opened the box that arrived a couple days later it turned out to be a JAZZTET box - the whole thing (not just the outer box), including a press release! Weird one, they couldn't figure out how I got what was a reviewer's copy. The booklet didn't have a number, just "promo" written in the space. Anyway, this one tested the limits of my honesty, let me tell you, but I fessed up and shipped it back! They sent the correct replacement Ory box and it was perfect, so all ended up happily.

Revisting this thread, it's a really good one. A couple things: Whoah, this kind of slipped by me the first time through this thread. Sounds really interesting to say the least...is this one that pops up often in the used bins? Anyone else heard it who can comment? Here's what's in All Music Guide: Montreux Summit Vol. 1 Montreux Summit Vol. 2 Montreux Summit - "First Divide" (???) Appears to be only SOME overlap among the material on a couple of these. Also it is not clear to me whether it's all from one year or whether these were done in a few different years. Whatever, the line up of artists on the first one sounds tantalizing. Also: am I crazy or did I hear some type of rumor that there were going to be further live Woody Shaw dates released by some small label this year (neither High Note nor Columbia but someone else)? I could SWEAR I remember seeing that a few months back somewhere on the board, but have not heard a thing since and haven't seen anything during in-store or on-line browsing.

Yes David, Una Mae is another great example of someone who either could have her own box or at least have some stuff in a "grab bag RCA classic jazz" box. My discographical knowledge of pre-40's RCA stuff is weak, but I'm pretty darn sure there's a treasure trove of material that has never received properly mastered and documented CD reissue the way Mosaic could do it. If Scott Wentzel's hunches about the Sony/BMG merger are true I would definitely say we should expect to see classic jazz on RCA being issued by Mosaic the way we've seen Columbia and EMI classic jazz holdings being put out by them recently. Bring - them - ON!

Yep, it's a good one for sure. Funny to think back at how working with Blue Oyster Cult's producer was so "controversial" for a punk band to do...with years of hindsight it's easier to see how much hard rock and punk had in common from a sonic/guitar standpoint, but back then it seemed miles and miles apart. To my ears, the Clash didn't really make anything mediocre until COMBAT ROCk. Funny enough, I'm often not that taken with their more overtly political lyrics - that's a general thing for me, few if any rock artists do it well. I loved their sound, and some of the lyrics when they weren't trying so hard to "be political" (ironically it's at those moments that their stuff hits the hardest - one of the reasons why LONDON CALLING is an utter masterpiece while SANDINISTA! is full of interesting material but fatally flawed).

Wow, sure would be nice to hear at least SOME of the Sonny Rollins unissued stuff. There's more than 3 JJ's on RCA, I have: The Total J.J. Johnson Broadway Express Goodies J.J.! And there may be more, one would hope anyway. Another idea would be to combine JJ's recordings for Verve and RCA into a single box (there are some musical commonalities to my ears). There's the RCA Shorty Rogers stuff someone already mentioned, and I dig the Phineas idea. Lots of older classic jazz on RCA (exemplified by those "Jazz Tribune" French reissues for example, with people like Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, and others having entries) and I'm not too clear on exactly how much hasn't been out - but I'm sure Mosaic might be able to improve on many of the other reissues sonically and with better photos and documentation. A good example would be Sidney Bechet, right? There was a "complete" on RCA series of LPs a long time ago but to my knowledge there hasn't been a complete collection of these recordings on CD (at least in the U.S.). I have the "master takes" CD set and it's heavenly. There are also a whole lot of "one off" dates for RCA that I think are really intriguing. Koch has put out some in their reissue series but they tend to come and go out of print quickly. RCA France has done others. Stuff like the Sextet of Orchestra USA stuff with Dolphy, and Willie the Lion Smith's "Memoirs," the Four Brothers reunion recording that was done not too long before Serge Chaloff's death, and the Ran Blake/Jeanne Lee classic, Freddie Green's "Mister Rhythm," Martial Solal's "fake" live album (great anyway) from Newport, and others. There's some Ruby Braff dates in there too. A "grab bag" type of box with a range of performers and styles would be fun and revealing. I'm sure there are a lot more obscure one-off dates that haven't seen light of day on CD but are worthy. Let's not forget about later RCA material - top of the list for me would be the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin big band stuff. This SCREAMS out for a Mosaic treatment, and I would have to think there's be at least some previously unissued material they could include.

Yes, pretty easy to locate and WORTH it, definitely worth it. Personal favorite stuff is that which was on GLAD TO BE UNHAPPY. A gorgeous, gorgeous aggregation.

First things first, sorry for the blunder - people are of course correct, no RCA material in the prior Shorty Rogers Mosaic. Duh! I did think of one other Mosaic with prominent RCA material - the Desmond/Hall box (although again that was a LONG time ago). Anyway, thanks for the good news Mike - reissue of RCAs jazz material from ALL eras has been really spotty at best in America, so this is GREAT news. Back to Burton on RCA: DUSTER is the one that I've heard so far that is absolutely essential, just a breath of fresh air and great music. I'm surprised there's not a lot more discussion of this one.

The masters licensing is always an issue, David, but Mosaic does seem to have been able to work out deals to get RCA material in the past (some of the Shorty Rogers stuff, some of the Illinois Jacquet, and there's probably others I'm forgetting). Probably not insurmountable.

This idea occurred to me while listening to COUNTRY ROADS AND OTHER PLACES last evening. I must start by saying that I'm by no means a mega-Burton fan, but I do find that during this period he was really saying something worth hearing (I'm also a huge fan of his slightly earlier work with Stan Getz although there's not enough of it!). The compositions are nice, too. And the supporting casts were so great - Swallow, Haynes, Hahn, Coryell, etc. The middle to later sessions from his tenure on the label, like COUNTRY and DUSTER were also arguably the signal of the birth of "fusion" - or at least one kind of fusion - in its earlier, in my view mostly positive sense. The earlier stuff signified one of the only fresh new voices on the vibes in the post-bop era. Come to think of it, Mosaic has NO sets of any vibraphonist leaders' dates. Time to remedy that! The final thing that would make this a nice box is that many of the sessions have been hard to find or never issued on CD. I have some of the Koch reissues of certain sessions, and they are remastered well enough, but I suspect Mosaic could do a better job with someone like Addey at the helm, and it would be nice to have a LOT better documentation and liner notes than Koch gives you. Now I'm no expert, but just based on what's in All Music we'd have: 1961 New Vibe Man in Town 1962 Who Is Gary Burton? 1963 3 in Jazz (just the Burton part) 1963 Something's Coming 1964 The Groovy Sound of Music 1966 The Time Machine 1966 Tennessee Firebird 1967 Duster 1967 Lofty Fake Anagram 1967 A Genuine Tong Funeral 1968 Gary Burton Quartet in Concert [live] 1968 Country Roads and Other Places We all know AMG is rife with errors, so feel free to jump in and correct or add other sessions if you're in the know. What do other people think about this?

WAY up for this - I just got an e-mail from CD Baby about this 2nd volume of Hewitt recordings now being available: Cats, The second volume of Frank Hewitt recordings is now available in stealth release, through CDBaby and Cadence Music. It's entitled "Not Afraid To Live". This is Frank's final session, a very energetic date with Louis Hayes on drums and Ari Roland on bass. The rest is explained best in the liner notes. We have some other new releases you might like too (at Cadence now, up on CD Baby in a day or two)! CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/frankhewitt2 Cadence Music: http://db.cadencebuilding.com/searchresult...rch_text=smalls Smalls Records new releases: www.smallsrecords.com/releases.htm Thanks to all, Luke www.smallsrecords.com **************** Hewitt is a definitely "find" for those of us who heretofore (due to geography and lack of awareness) had no chance of enjoying his artistry. Thanks again for turning me on to him, Jim.

I have all 3 volumes of the Mosaic Complete Commodore LP set on the way after getting lucky with a local auction. I will be doing a lot of listening to Bushkin in many of those recordings. Sad to see an old master go.

Still haven't had a chance to catch up with those, sal, I'm especially interested in the Blanchard though as I've become a pretty big fan of his playing. Will let you know what I think of Harland's contributions when I do!

I have a hard time getting into Yes as much these days as I once did, and I have no idea why. But damn, I still love CLOSE TO THE EDGE, what an utterly incredible masterpiece that one was, especially the first side. This is an interesting little discussion, the R&B influence, you can definitely hear it.

I saw this at my local Borders (which otherwise has a pretty sucky jazz section) and was interested if for no other reason than it's a chance to hear Cables with other world class musicians. It looked promising, and now it seems I have more reason to grab it! Thanks for the heads up.

Pryan - THE REAL McCOY is a timeless, timeless classic. Really great, compositions and playing are oh so memorable. You're in for a treat. Next to that, of his BNs back then I really enjoy EXPANSIONS which is way overdue for RVG treatment. Everything he did for the label in the late 60's/early 70's is worth hearing but those are my two favorites. Sal, don't recall in what thread it was but I think you and I had a dialogue about the LAND OF GIANTS disc previously and I agree with most of what you say. I still find Eric Harland's drumming is just not to my taste - clearly has massive chops, but uses way too much of the rock inflection that seem so common in younger jazz drummers. Not that I dislike rock drumming, but not when it sounds like it was dropped into the middle of a mainstream jazz session! Seriously, he's not that bad by any stretch but I would love to have heard this one with someone more subtle and musical like Victor Lewis at the traps. Or even Brian Blade, who is one young guy who I really DO dig for his musicality and ability to ratchet down his volume when it's called for. I see him and Harland as miles apart except for maybe their ages. Charnett is on the game but a little oddly recorded (you actually hear more string vibration and clicking than bass at certain points), a strange blemish on an otherwise impeccable and very natural-sounding recording (I have the hybrid SACD and the CD layer sounds fantastic on a tube DAC/amp set up). Tyner is in great form as is Hutch, which is the most gratifying thing. So in all, really quite a good one, well worth having in your Tyner collection, but when it's time to float off to the desert island, I'd take McCoy and Bobby alone (a la the Blue Note CD of duets they did back about 10 years ago) anytime.

I agree with much of what you say, but I still think Zorn is a great musician - if you consider that to be someone who has massive chops, integrity, a unique conception and sound, and a knack for linking up with simpatico partners. What he IS in my personal view (others may differ) is WAY over-exposed and over-documented on CD. Again others may feel differently, but this is my beef with Zorn, not that he's "over praised." I mean really, how could anyone but the most unbelievably rabid fan honestly say they can keep up with all of his releases and, more than that, truly have time to absorb and understand them? It's a truly rare musician that can stand up to that much documentation without actually having their legacy become diminished by it...everyone has a bad day, but not everyone releases it in deluxe artsy packaging. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Jarrett comes close to this danger for me but miraculously has not crossed the line in my view. That alone puts him into the stratosphere as an artist.

Punch cards. I was on call today so wanted to get my voting in before starting the shift at 8, so went at 7 AM and was done (and being in CA, one of the first to vote on the actual day). Go Kerry.

IF there were more discussion threads like this I'd spend a lot less time here! Seriously, this is kind of lame. "Most over-praised" threads are WAY over-rated... I basically agree with the comment earlier about any jazz artist really having no chance of being "over-praised." Also, it's ultimately a subjective judgement about over/under praised. To see Brubeck mentioned as both over- and under-praised proves that point. Some linguistic precision may be in order - do we really mean "over praised," or is it "over exposed," "not very likeable," "too popular," or what? Seems people read into the question what they will. One other interesting thing: it becomes trendy and hip in some jazz corners (just as lame as knee-jerk praising) to bash certain artists, like Jarrett. I can understand someone not caring for his music, no problem and we agree to disagree, but "over-praised?" Face facts folks, this may be one of the most amazing improvisers ever to touch the keys. That is far beyond rational argument. If you don't like what he does with his immense talent, then OK. I think Zorn is starting to get that bum deal lately too, probably an inevitable backlash in both cases in reaction to heavy (over?) exposure with so many releases. But make no mistake, both Zorn and Jarrett are truly great musicians, regardless of what one may think personally about their music.

I would like to see a Lee Wiley Mosaic myself - I know there's some on the Condon Mob box and I'm looking forward to that, but a comprehensive collection of her Songbooks and maybe some other early stuff in better than previously available sound would be amazing.

Yeah, I agree Stefan - in fact I think this is a particularly well-done box, the notes on the tunes are great and the Dex letters and photos are priceless. I dig the little interview snippets on most of the discs, too.

Box is well done, so not like it's bad or anything, but the RVGs sound better to me.