DrJ

Having long had this on vinyl, the CD reissue SMOKES! No complaints here - Malcom Addey is a prince as far as I'm concerned. This also happens to be one of my favorite latter day Basie albums. I can't fully explain why - it's rather "constricted" in some ways in terms of solo space, but there's a feeling that every note counts, and the charts are ultra tight and hip. I love this one.

I've got 55 of these buggers, just did a tally and was surprised at how many there were. But at the bargain price, with 24-bit remasterings that are generally superbly done, they're worth it and there are more on my radar screen. A fantastic reissue series. Some of my favorite of the more obscure titles: 66 Raymond Fol les 4 saisons - Johnny Griffin in great form as a key featured soloist. It doesn't sound much like The Four Seasons to me, but that's not such a bad thing either. 81 Elek Bacsik nuages. Too bad he eventually turned away from jazz. 86 Gerard Badini the swing machine - apt title, really great stuff with Sam Woodyard on drums 88 Gus Viseur de clinchy à broadway - fantastic, an accordionist (I bought this really expecting not to like it but LOVED it)

What BruceH said.

Well, probably my favorite material of all is the Plugged Nickel box. However, in the "would love to have heard more" catagory, the staggering MILES SMILES session would be the winner. Man, do I wish this was one of those dates where they simply recorded way more material than could have been issued at the time. Then again, what would the odds be that they could have sustained that degree of perfection for much longer?

Agree with Joe's comments about Ed Bickert on DAYS GONE BY, that is a killer guitar album (I'd toyed with putting a cut from that on my "jazz from around the world" blindfold disc, to represent Canada, but then felt I should go "more exotic"). Bickert sounds much more to be an individual voice on that than on the cut here, which is a ringer for Hall IMHO. Great disc Jim, you've cemented one purchase for me (aw, I was pretty sure I'd get the Lee Morgan et al Mosaic of Vee Jay material, but that tune nudged me even further in that direction) and definitely got me motivated for a couple more (the Joshua Breakstone and the Guaraldi for sure - I have a lot of Vince but not that one). I may get that Hawes too (if I can find it!).

Off-topic a bit, but it keeps me from having to post a whole new thread for kind of a puny topic: has anyone else come across this CD, which I didn't know existed until this weekend when I found it used? 1. 49th Parallel - 8:41 2. Port of Spain - 5:09 3. Southern Exposure - 7:14 4. On the Lam - 5:46 5. Don't Hurt Yourself - 8:36 6. Homestretch - 6:15 Joe Henderson on tenor, Woody Shaw on trumpet baby! Recorded 1986, and Leonard Feather's liners claim this was Woody Shaw's last studio session (certainly ONE of his last, although I'm not sure this jibes with the timing of some of his Muse leader recordings). AMG gives it 4.5 stars. Not sure yet I'd put it up quite that high, but enjoyable for the playing of these two giants if nothing else.

I don't have that one, but I find the sound quality in this series to be spotty in the extreme - some sound wonderful, others, like they did a low-fi dub from less than great vinyl (not saying they did, just that this is what it sounds like).

Well, I also don't have quite the fervor about it as Jim, but for what it's worth, I totally agree that the Harry Allen Getz act is lame. I'm not quite as deeply offended as Jim, but I can definitely understand the sentiment as I felt a twinge of the same feeling on learning this wasn't actually Getz (probably not quite as deeply because I am not a musician). I might modulate that opinion a little if this is the only track on the album on which he does this, but only a little - it's still not cool and, more importantly, a pointless exercise. Look at it objectively - when I look back at the discussion, pretty much EVERYONE said this is Getz or (as I said, suspecting that because this is a blindfold test, there's gonna be at least a couple attempts to trip us up!) "someone wearing his dirty drawers." To put it bluntly, in looking at my track record of guessing who's who and that of 90% of the other participants here - we just ain't that good. I'm not offended in the least to have "missed" this one, because I miss just about all of 'em (and therein lies the fun of all this!). So for me and all the rest of us to jump immediately on thinking this was Getz, the guy has to have pretty much co-opted his whole sound, phrasing, etc. So it's patently obvious that the guy is flat out aping Getz, I don't even see how there can be an argument about that point. I can't believe a pro would do something like this - it's the kind of thing that a music major in college might do to learn about what makes a great player's style sound personal or something. Strictly academic. So personally, I think that's DEEPLY unfortunate, because like Jim, I don't think this is any way to pay tribute to someone. Maybe slip in a little Getz lick or favorite piece of melody or quote, for humor and affection, but don't take his whole style note for note...that's DIS-respectful in the extreme (hear that scraping sound? That's Getz turning over in his grave). In fact, I don't see how what Allen has done is much different than a writer plagiarising a whole paragraph or chapter of one of their favorite writers' books and then calling it a "tribute." Okay, he didn't play a Getz solo (that I'm aware of) note for note, but we're into splitting hairs at that point. And anyway, Getz was far more about sound and phrasing and style than note choice, wouldn't you agree? I would also point out that I felt the tune was pleasant but didn't really float my boat (I gave it 2.5 stars, saying "there's much better Getz out there), whereas generally I'm a HUGE fan of Getz even on his worst days. So this gets to another crucial point - sounding like someone is NEVER the same as actually BEING that person. Something in our ears usually gives the ruse away, no matter how detailed the deception. Gee, Allen must feel great that he's able to muster a convincing "Getz on a mediocre to poor day" thing. Regardless of whether anyone else agrees with this line of reasoning, perhaps the most salient point is that Mr. Allen certainly won't be getting any of my hard earned shackles in exchange for any of his recordings or live performances.

Back when I had a home studio, I did just that, adding some disortion and a subtle underpinning of really long digital delay. Running a slow, stomping kind of rock drum pattern through that, it literally sounded like Godzilla slowly plodding down a city street...added a guitar part that consisted of picking the open high strings up above the nut headstock nut), which sounded strangely Japanese, like a koto played through a blazing Marshall. I called this magnum opus "Tokyo Falls." Good for a laugh or two.

The Hill/Richard Davis combination was a real winner, one of the great piano/bass combinations of all time Hill/Joe Henderson/Kenny Dorham - awesome (OUR THING, POINT OF DEPARTURE), would love to have heard a WHOLE bunch more from this axis

I'm strictly a leatherette man. Seriously, thanks to the powers that be for setting up this forum, as we had suggested!

So far no such problems, Jim. However, don't recall if it was in this thread (too long to go back and search) or another - but I do agree that the remastering for the 2nd session on SONIC BOOM appears to have been botched (or, the master tape used was not the cleanest copy). There's all kinds of staticky-sounding distortion on the left track that was definitely NOT there at all on the TOCJ which paired the same music with PROCRASTINATOR. I did an A/B comparison and it's obvious, not something you'd have to strain to hear. Although it's less prominent on the first tune, it's there too, but it really gets obnoxious starting with "Stormy Weather." This is too bad because McMaster did a really good job with the original SONIC BOOM cuts - IMHO they sound much better than they did on the TOCJ of that date, which (unusually for that series) sounded very compressed. Bummer...had planned to trade in that PROCRASTINATOR TOCJ, but guess I'll have to hold on to it now.

Ah, I'd forgotten about AFRO-EURASIAN ECLIPSE, that definitely belongs right at the top.

Thanks for the review Stefan - I haven't seen these yet but plan to buy the set this weekend while I'm doing some CD/LP shopping in the Bay Area (assuming it's on sale, of course). I've also seen these movies a million times, so I should be able to tell you if I agree that scenes have been changed/cleaned up/etc. Bummer about lack of commentary - what is it with Spielberg, Lucas, and DVD - some type of personal vendetta? Takes forever for them to get to releasing the DVDs, then they do things like that. The first two movies I love; RAIDERS is just a flat out classic. I've never really liked the third movie at all - painfully slow and boring IMHO, wish it was possible to just buy the first two - but getting the set will be a chance to give it (yet another) chance.

Interesting idea. Not too radical to consider at all, however, I'm not sure the RVG sound is well-suited to the Beatles...a more expansive sound (at least on the later stuff) would fit the bill better IMHO. Maybe Rudy could do some of the earlier titles. Their catalog is certainly WAY overdue for a state of the art remastering, preferrably hybrid SACDs. RVG MIGHT just fit the bill with the Beach Boys though, particularly some mono mixes.

I've been hot and cold on this series. On the plus side, they have worked in some very worthy obscure stuff (Billy Mitchell, Al Grey, the Rivers mentioned above). I'm not a big fan of the mini-LP sleeves, and compared to the old Elite series (which would probably have been a much better option for the obscure titles noted above) the liners are skimpy (the originals are there, but frankly that was never Verve's strong suit in the old days, and the Eliltes had things like new interviews with the artists). The sound quality is fair on some, good on others, but in general I thought the Elite remasterings were superior. Most importantly, the lack of extra material seems inexcusable to me, particularly considering the price point. Often the Elites would add rare EPs, related sessions issued under other artists' names, alternate takes, etc. So I've been passing on many of these mini-LPs, mostly in a form of protest at the poor price for value ratio...Universal can and has done better. I'm also not sure anything posted here would really verify that they are going OOP any sooner than they are advertised to...just because some individual retailer is putting them on what appears to be a closeout doesn't mean they'll disappear altogether before the "expiration date" listed on the packages. I wonder if anyone has any info directly from Universal that this is the case?

I'm frankly amazed anyone could be anything other than ecstatic about all three of these releases. With the Curtis Amy and Duke Pearson we have two of the most under-appreciated excellent artists ever FINALLY getting some due. You can quibble about minor details - who did the remastering, whether some previously unissued tunes made the final cut - but the fact that we're seeing Selects of these artists is just wonderful to me, and the fact that there is some honest to goodness really scarce stuff included is a major bonus. And the Eldridge - this is WAY cool. Finally, those of us who came into jazz in the fairly recent past can delve deeply into his music without having to hunt high and low for scarce vinyl. Mosaic is on a major winning streak IMHO.

Such Sweet Thunder

TOTALLY agree, and said so on the recent Weather Report discussion thread (actually it was the BLACK MARKET Album of the Week discussion, now that I think of it). The spirit comment is also dead on - kind of a similar thing to the "she's never boring" comment I made. Whatever she does, she almost always sounds totally committed. In other words: if you're gonna fail, then fail "Paprika Plains" big, I always say!

I do think there is a readily noticeable improvement in the CD sound with the newer version of HEJIRA - like you I had always preferred the LP sound to the CD, but once I got the newer version I got rid of my vinyl. Let me know how your revisit of WILD THINGS goes...have fun!

Well, my personal favorite in the box is WILD THINGS RUN FAST, but objectively probably the strongest album is NIGHT RIDE HOME. My guess is you'd enjoy the latter more, and in fact you might want to look for a used copy of that 1991 CD (it sounds real good and shouldn't be too hard to find). But if you're not a huge later-period Joni fan, I would STRONGLY suggest delving into the slightly earlier stuff originally released on Asylum...have you ever checked out the albums that came after HISSING (1975 actually), but well before the Geffens, particularly HEJIRA (1976) and DON JUAN'S RECKLESS DAUGHTER (1977)? For me, HEJIRA was and will always be her crowning achievement, an astonishing accomplishment from start to finish. Mitchell at her most dizzyingly romantic, creative, and clear-headed, with lyrics so good you feel like you've read a great novel by the end. Chock full of great, sympathetic bass playing by Jaco Pastorius, to boot. Start with that one - it's been reissued in a HDCD remastering within the past few years and it sounds really good. DON JUAN, the follow-up, is certainly a comedown when taken as a whole - here Joni was far less clear-headed, falling prey to over-ambition and probably a healthy dose of vanity - but the first 4 or 5 songs are great, particularly the opening salvo of "Cotton Avenue" followed by "Talk to Me," she should have stopped about midway through the original side 2 with a nice, short single LP. Again Jaco comes on strong, probably even a bigger force here because he's having to carry a greater load with slightly less compelling tunes and a fuzzier concept. Many people also love the live SHADOWS AND LIGHT but to be honest I'm not a huge fan, solid but not nearly up to the level of the studio stuff. Finally, MINGUS is fascinating and good for an occasional listen, and has more jaw-dropping Jaco, but honestly I feel like it's in the heartfelt but ultimately kind of self-indulgant category much of the time. Nice version of the ubiquitous "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," though, and some fun stuff elsewhere. You're no doubt seeing a pattern - Joni's recordings are, a few amazing ones (BLUE, COURT AND SPARK, HISSING, and HEJIRA for sure) aside, uneven - it's just a fact of life. She hits soaring highs and a goodly number of lows. But one thing you can never say is that these albums are boring - never a dull moment, or seldom at least. And I don't know about you, but I find sometimes those types of artists are the most interesting and the ones you find yourself returning to over time.

Hmm, 24 views but no further comments - nobody has any love for Joni's wayward years?

Jim, as usual, you have hit it right on the head. I was listening in the car the other day and almost spit out my coffee on hearing just HOW close Philly comes to losing it altogether in a couple of spots (but yet, as you mention, then he reigns it back in and plays some really grin-inducing stuff). Remarkable, really, that they released the material at all - BN had certainly rejected takes for MUCH less than this, although I'm really glad they didn't can it. Maybe that's one difference between Lion and Wolff, that tolerance for the raw and spontaneous seemed NOT to be one of Lion's many strong suits. Anyway, THE FLIP is cool and I feel like I can really enjoy it for the first time now that all the reverb and muffle have been stripped away.

How about these later-period BN's as RVG's: Hutcherson - TOTAL ECLIPSE (PLEASE!), or maybe SAN FRANCISCO (the LIVE AT MONTREUX disc would be great too, but I doubt we'll see it). Heck, even CIRRUS would be good. Byrd - KOFI Elvin Jones - LIVE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE (in the fine tradition of the other live 2-fer RVG's out so far) I would also love to see an RVG of the last Lee Morgan BN session, LEE MORGAN, that one just keeps growing in my estimation. Would sound splendid. Tyner - EXPANSIONS would be a superb choice, agree! Ornette - LOVE CALL and NEW YORK IS NOW! as a 2-fer