DrJ

Hawk, the grandaddy. Even Lester, great as he was, honed his distinctive sound as a foil to the Hawkins sound. What Hawkins did was staggering. Still, like many here, I don't listen to Hawk as much as many of the others listed. So in the category of great tenor artists that I never tire of listening to, wanted to put in a plug for Ben Webster - one of the most imminently accessible yet truly great musicians there ever was - Lucky Thompson (my sentimental favorite for this poll), and Stan Getz, who few seem to mention in such competitions but who created a way heavenly sound.

I'm envious, Ed. I have never been disappointed yet by a Mosaic box, so I pretty much want everything they put out (with the Four Freshmen a probable exception - fine music I'm sure but really not my thing) so generally go in chronological order by earliest release date (unless something is slated to go OOP out of sequence). Can't wait to get to the Johnny Smith! The GOOD news is that I ordered the Kenton Presents Cooper/Holman/Rosolino, and for the True Blue $5 off stuff ordered the Benny Goodman Trio/Quartet RCA 3CD box (been eyeing that one forever) and both the Elmo Hope Beacon and Celebrity LPs (OK, had to pay full price for one of those but what the heck!). I'm hoping this package will arrive today - it's due! I will be pulling the trigger again REAL soon, sometime in early August. Too good to pass up these rare deals.

I must confess to being totally mystified when people make a big deal about great artists' vocalizing. Sorry to sound crabby, but the mention of these Lewis albums triggered my ire a bit - they are really quiet and full of space, so of course you're going to hear a few grunts here and there, but I would not have dreamed in a million years that anyone would ever have singled them out as problematic in this area. At least with Jarrett, you can understand the comment because it's so prominent, but even there, I just have to shake my head and conclude that some people are just looking for things to complain about. If the vocalizing helps/helped these artists come up with the bliningly brilliant music they do/did, then more power to them - grunt and groan and moan away, dudes! It's really not that hard for anyone involved enough in music to listen carefully to jazz to simply train your ear to listen to the music and tune out the groans and grunts. Just deal with it!

Close match, but the Plugged Nickel box beats out the Gil Evans by just a nose. They're all wonderful in terms of the music, though, none are less than essential IMHO. Personally, I'd add in the recent Blackhawk 4 CD set as belonging in the same class as this listing.

Not that I think it really matters except for helping you remember where you filed it, but no, clearly not a jazz album. A very good pop record, though, and that's not faint praise coming from me as it might be from some others.

I'll probably grab LOVE CALL and the Parker HI HAT (got Mogie, Sheldon, 3 Sounds). Although I'm betting that eventually LOVE CALL as well as NY IS NOW will get RVG'd and I'll probably be trading in somewhere down the line...

Been listenin' to a lot of Kenny lately, without knowing it was his birthday - spooky, huh? Savored disc 1 of the INTRODUCING KENNY BURRELL 2-CD Conn the other night...Burrell in fiery form, with the great added bonus of Kenny Clarke. Also picked up MOTEN SWING! THE COLUMBIA INSTRUMENTAL SESSIONS 1961-2 (Sundazed) and have to say that this is not just good but GREAT Kenny, definitely unjustly neglected work. He's amazing.

The bottom line is that I have yet to read anything unbiased that makes even a remotely convincing case for cloth diapers being environmentally superior to disposables. I alluded to this above. The environmental "science" implicating disposables as the worse option is incredibly soft and sadly reactionary - all too typical in the knee jerk "anything new is automatically anathema for the environment" mindset. Here's a nice balanced look at the issue, from Ohio State, that concludes there is no good scientific evidence to suggest either option is clearly environmentally superior: Cloth vs Disposable They conclude something very much like my wife and I concluded: "In areas where land is plentiful but water is in short supply disposable diapers may be the more environmentally responsible choice. In areas experiencing solid waste problems and decreasing landfills, but have adequate water supplies, cloth diapers or a combination of cloth and disposables may be the most environmentally responsible choice." Volume of use is a big issue cloth advocates seldom acknowledge as something that clearly needs to be figured into the equation. Right now, the "market share" for is teensy (only 4% of parents use cloth exclusively, while 15% trade off between cloth and disposable), so a few often holier than thou individuals can go this route and feel smarmy about THEIR not being part of the environmental problem (oh no sir, not me, I'm GREEN!). However, if everyone in the U.S. switched wholesale from disposables to cloth, cloth would entail at least as much of an environmental impact as disposables do currently, and I suspect much greater given the water burden in much of our country. Laundering just one large load of cloth diapers requires 30 to 45 gallons of water, half of which is heated and all of which is processed as waste water. Do the math on that one, and it makes the landfill problem look rather insignificant. This type of scale issue is often a fatal flaw in some of the more blindly "green" reasoning out there - some of the just plain stupid options being promulgated are fine and dandy when a tiny fraction of the population thinks they're the stuff, but they would be completely impractical when considered on a larger scale. Anyway, my point was not to deride cloth diapers as much as to say that I see definite pros and cons to both options. We are a pretty conscientious couple where the environment is concerned, and we thought this out a lot before going disposable. Alexander's and my joking aside, I have not a whit of guilt about the choice. As a related aside: more people ought to read Jack Hollander's book THE REAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS. Hollander is a Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley, a physicist and long-time champion of rational environmentalism. His book is full of wake up calls for anyone who automatically assumes that all industry and technological advances are inherently bad for the environment.

The problem with the Diaper Genie is that it picks up with the changing process only AFTER you've managed, though a combination of luck, skill, and sheer force of will, to extract the loaded diaper from the baby without hopelessly contaminating his "onesie," his feet (yes, they LOVE to flex and wriggle their legs around so their feet inevitably go right into the open, soiled diaper), your own hands, the changing table cover, the adjoining wall...well, you get the picture. Not to mention the added complexity entailed by having a little boy baby - let's just say poop is not the only bodily fluid you have to have a healthy respect for. Jim - how's THAT for graphic! So here's an open call to the scientific community: someone should work on cleaning up this pre-disposal part of the diaper changing procedure...I'm envisioning something like one of those hermetically sealed cleanroom clear plexiglas containers, where you put your hands into the container through cut-outs while wearing a nuclear suit. The Nobel Prize is there for the taking.

Your wish is my command! There's an actual "how to use" on the Web: go to this page Diaper Genie How To and click on "How to Set Up and Use." By the way, totally agree with Alexander. Our little boy was 2 weeks old this AM, and he's already doing stuff that I know babies are not supposed to be able to do until 2 MONTHS. He smiles purposely (not just gas), reaches out for my face (again with purpose, not just lucky flails), and has amazing neck control. Then again, when have you ever met a parent who DIDN'T think their child was light years ahead of the curve in terms of intelligence, cuteness, and motor skills! -_-

WHAT??? We've been had! Me and the missus figured since it was called a Diaper Genie that the waste and plastic and all were just whisked away into beyond by magic when you turn that there top doohickey! You mean there AIN'T no miniature genie sittin' under that plastic cover? Sheesh...talk about false advertising...can you say "class action lawsuit?"

That was one reason I checked in on this, Kevin - I have heard general comments about DADs that were not glowing. Oh well, my guess is it will be superior to the Savoy FIERY standard CD (they are the same, I believe). Will try and remember to post an opinion after it arrives.

Hell yes! On a briefly more serious note: I continue to vacillate about whether I should feel guilty or not re: the environment and disposable diapers. The water waste and the amount of gray water and need for processing generated by cloth diapers is not insignificant in terms of envirnomental impact according to my research. Many environmentalists feel it's basically a coin toss between the two in terms of which is "worse." We thought long and hard about it from this angle and decided that, in a drought-prone, water-poor state like California, disposables were probably the lesser of two evils.

I've always loved "The Procrastinator." The intro sounds Russian to me, damned odd for Mogie but effective.

If you're a new daddy, then you GOTTA belive it is all that AND a bag of potato chips. Brilliant.

Temple Jazz, that one has always been one of my favorites of Byrd's, Griffin's, and Pepper's. No muss, no fuss hard bop.

Ah, more fuel for the fire! Thanks Berigan. I will be ordering this one today. B)

I stumbled across this single CD 1993 reissue from BN in NYC a few years back at a used store. Had never even heard of it, but the line-up alone made me take the plunge without hesitation: Joe Farrell - tenor Marvin Stamm - trumpet Garnett Brown - trombone Chick Corea - piano Richard Davis - bass Elvin Jones - drums Recorded live at the Vanguard - October 1, 1967 Produced by Sonny Lester for Solid State; remix/restoration by Malcom Addey It turns out this was recorded the same afternoon as the more well-known Dizzy Gillespie recording LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (BN, 2 CD set). The liners peg it accurately as "a friendly jam among musicians whose paths had crossed often in a variety of settings." Everyone plays well, and it's a real pleasure to hear people like Stamm and Brown get some extended solo space. Of course Farrell and Jones are always a pleasure to hear, and I just can't get enough of Corea in this early phase of his career, where his playing was so fresh and new. You get three longish performances: 13 Avenue B (Farrell) - 22:51 Stella By Starlight (N. Washington/V. Young) - 22:06 Bachafillen (G. Brown) - 15:03 The first two tracks were issued in edited form as sides 1 and 2 of the Solid State album (SS-18052) while "Bachafillen" was not issued until this CD. Sound quality is very good. I highly recommend this one if you can locate it - if for no other reason than it sits nicely alongside beauties like NOW HE SINGS, SONG OF SINGING, TONES FOR JOAN'S BONES, and the IS sessions and rounds out any "early Corea" collection.

Rooster, I just saw it on Jazzmatazz under "2003" upcoming, no date was attached - hope someone else has more info!

Jaki Byard - HI FLY (OJC) Bud Powell - THE SCENE CHANGES (BN) Kenny Burrell - MOTEN SWING! (Sundazed/Columbia) and INTRODUCING KENNY BURRELL (BN Conn) Disc 1 Baby Face Willette - FACE TO FACE (BN Conn) Joe Henderson - MODE FOR JOE (BN) Stan Getz w/Rene Thomas, Eddy Louiss - DYNASTY (Verve) AL GREY/BILLY MITCHELL SEXTET (Argo) Andrew Hilll - SHADES (Soul Note) ART ENSEMBLE 1967/8 (Nessa) Eddie Lang/Joe Venuti - 1920's/30's (JSP) Various - JAZZ FOR A SUNDAY AFTERNOON - LIVE AT THE VANGUARD (BN)

I actually totally agree about Quartet West, EXCEPT for that first album - everyone, including Watts, plays with heart and soul. It sounds substantial and fresh, rather than like a dredging of the past which is how I think the rest of the Quartet West albums sound. Should have quit while they were ahead.

I actually agree, Mike - what I was getting at is that if you make the definition of concept loose enough, which some folks seemed to be arguing, then you can end up including even some blowing sessions that have a little kernal of theme or idea behind them, however small. I'm arguing against that - I think personally to qualify as a concept album, there has to be a whole lot more continuity/thematic unity/overt structure throughout the recording than many of those being listed actually have. For example, how would EMPYREAN ISLES be considered a concept album? Great music, but a pretty thin "concept."

I have a Sony burner, just use the analog input (Technics turntable to Denon AVR-3300 receiver to burner) and nothing else fancy and they come out sounding great.

Yes I've picked up one of the more hard to find Konitz Verves - TRANQUILITY - and it's excellent. Lee himself was reportedly not happy with a lot of his output for Verve, so perhaps that's why so little has appeared in the U.S., but I agree it would make a killer Mosaic. I always figured there was probably a lot of previously unreleased material/alternates in this body of work, given what finally saw the light of day in the 3 CD version of MOTION from a couple years ago. Glad to have you confirm that, Lon! Complete Don Pullen/George Adams BN Sessions And forgot - Pacific Jazz also needs to be better represented! Complete PJ Buddy Rich Big Band Sessions (this would include the unreleased material alluded to in the single CD reissues out on BN in the past few years) Complete Harry Edison PJ/Roulette Sessions Glad to see the Brookmeyer stuff will be making it onto a couple of Mosaic Selects soon. An assorted United Artists/PJ/Roulette/Liberty/Capitol female vocalists box would also be interesting - there are some real nice obscurities there - in fact Red Trumpet is stocking a whole series of Toshiba mini-LP reissues by vocalists from the 50's/60's like Pat Healy (arrangements by Fred Katz), Ann Phillips, Sue Raney, Carole Simpson, Beverly Kenney (w/Johnny Smith), etc. Granted, not to everyone's taste, but what I've heard of these are much better than you'd expect, and highly collectable.

Agree with the Keynote box - that one MAY happen! Also the Reece Select, I think we'll see that eventually. And Mosaic is trying to license Farlow's Verve stuff according to an e-mail reply they sent to me recently, so I have hope for that one. For those we'll likely never see: Complete Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin RCA Big Band Sessions Complete Warner Bros 50's/60's Jazz Sessions (see recent thread on this) Emarcy Classic Jazz Sessions (this would collect the many one-offs and obscure but excellent recordings for the label, not the biggies like Roach, Cannonball, etc but stuff like George Auld, Thelma Gracen, and others) Complete Yusef Lateef on Impulse! Complete Strata East Sessions (or maybe even just a Charles Tolliver focus - Strata East and other leader dates, like PAPER MAN on Arista/Freedom) Complete Horace Tapscott Nimbus Sessions How about some kind of Clarke-Boland Big Band box? Not sure of how to "theme" it. Complete Slide Hampton Atlantic Sessions Complete Jazztet Argo/Emarcy Sessions Complete Hutcherson/Land Sessions (cross-label, including Mainstream, Cadet, BN) Complete Roland Kirk Atlantic Sessions (if Joel Dorn never gets around to doing this, as I thought he was going to a while back) And I'd still like a Lucky Thompson Mosaic - he DESERVES the honor. Maybe a complete Milt Jackson/Lucky Thompson Savoy sessions (probably small enough to be a Select). But I'd really like a box that pulled together a large chunk of Lucky's scattered work as a leader in one place, although the licensing intricacies alone would probably preclude it ever happening. Maybe just his European sessions? I don't know.