Face of the Bass

I think one of this site's biggest problems is that too much attention/focus is put on this consumerist ideal that you have to have all the cool box sets and reissues. The cheerleading for that kind of stuff, especially in some threads, can make it seem like one is an "outsider" if one does not conform to the model of raw accumulation of sets. But that is not the way this board should be.

Armstrong on hold.

Shaw is gone. Armstrong and Peterson are still available.

I am selling the following three Mosaic sets. Prices include shipping in the U.S. Will ship at cost to other countries. Paypal only. PM if interested. MD7-244 Classic Artie Shaw Bluebird and Victor Sessions (Box, booklet and discs all in like new condition. Set #1261) -- $80 MD7-243 The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946) (Box and discs in like new condition. Booklet has significant creases along spine, because it traveled with me to Namibia, in South-western Africa, for ten months while I was doing field research in Ovamboland, near the Angolan border. So it has character. Set #1056) -- $70 MD7-241 The Complete Clef/Mercury Studio Recordings of the Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953). (Box, booklets and discs all in like-new condition. Euro release, so no set #.) -- $60 -- ON HOLD Thanks for looking!

I'm a big Leandre fan and will look into getting this. Good luck with the new label.

I'm just checking to see if anyone is interested in trading for a Mosaic Oscar Peterson set. The set is opened but in like new condition, Euro release, so no number on the inside of the booklet. I'd prefer to trade rather than sell, but if you are interested, PM me with an offer. Thanks.

Yes, I think Marion Brown in general is very underrepresented on compact disc right now. I'd try to reissue anything by him that has not been on CD, or has not been in that format for many years.

The Benedetti arrived today. The music is absolutely glorious. I can't believe it took me this long to get it. I was so put off for so long by the fact that the sound quality was poor and the recordings were just snapshots of solos rather than full performances, that I forgot that this was Charlie Parker we were talking about here. The music, especially with the hiss of the tape, feels like a warm blanket, like a glass of scotch on the rocks that you slowly take in. I would say to anyone on the fence about the Benedetti, that if you love Parker, you will love this set. Anyway, I'm still going through my first listen so I will have more to say a bit later on.

A Hawkins set along the lines of the one they did for Chu Berry would indeed be a nice set.

My copy arrived today. It seems that the border patrol finally finished having their way with them and are now sending them along to their final destinations.

I'm hoping to get the Benedetti soon because I want to listen to it before my wife sees the credit card bill and puts a shovel to the back of my skull. Of course, I'm joking. Sort of...

For me, I skip the JFK speeches and get to the music (which is beautiful..the Phil Woods 3/4 waltz ballad...beautiful). I agree though, kind of weird. Let us know what you think of the Benedetti set when you get it!!! Oh man, I just ordered the Benedetti. My wife is going to kill me. I've been trying to cut back but then this month a Borders near me had a going out of business sale, and so I picked up a bunch of stuff at reduced price, and now this Mosaic sale, and I could have passed it up but I've been wanting the Benedetti for quite some time. I was still going to pass it up until I heard some sound clips on All Music, remembered again why I wanted it so much, and so I took the dive. But that's it, damn it. I'm swearing off Mosaic for several months after this. I don't care what goes out of print!

This might be the time I finally get the Benedetti. I had the Nelson, listened to it a couple times, then sold it. Some of it was kind of interesting, but listening to the tracks with JFK's speeches was like being forced to swallow my own vomit.

There was a really nice Borders in Albany where I live that had a wide selection of jazz CDs and box sets for years. Then they gutted it, closed it down, and reopened it in a mall with half the selection of books and no music whatsoever. With the condition the Borders around me are in now, it would be no loss if they all closed. I have no reason to go to them anymore.

I'm not worried about when I will be getting the OP box. I only ordered it because it was a good deal. I've got plenty of other stuff to listen to anyways, there's no rush. I don't expect it to arrive any particular day so when it does arrive (whether that be tomorrow or another month from now), it will be a pleasant surprise. The guy is legit. I'm sure he shipped the box when he said he did. It's just that the international shipping system has gone haywire recently.

PM coming on Bob Brookmeyer...

Well, if it makes you feel better I think I ordered mine the same day as you and mine hasn't arrived yet either. (In fact, it was your "what the hell, might as well get this for that price" post that made me do the same.)

Maybe, but I'm still disappointed that since the rumors of a Rivers set started swirling last year and there was the possibility for it coming out at the end of 2010, instead we've seen reissues of Ellington and the MJQ. Not to denigrate those sets, but it just seems to me that the Rivers stuff, because it has been much less available, is far more significant musically and historically. As a huge Mosaic fan I want to see them continue to produce more sets in the mold of Braxton, Threadgill, and Carter/Bradford, among others. To me there's a lot more potential for growth there than there is in going over the more mainstream stuff from the 1950s and 1960s. That said, I'll probably get the MJQ at some point because it is not music that I own (except for maybe one or two albums). But it doesn't generate the same kind of excitement for me as a Rivers set would have. I see your point and I'm looking forward to the Sam Set too, but I wouldn't denigrate the musical or historical significance of having coherent reissues of the Duke or the MJQ. Especially the Duke set, which is the first coherent reissue of this material on CD, and the first of any kind for 30 years or more. And as many people have pointed out, the bigger names probably subsidize the Rivers , Threadgills and Carter/Bradfords to some extent. I don't mean to denigrate it. I get that there is a real value and significance to having these coherent (as you say) reissues. And I get that Mosaic is running a business. I'm just disappointed, that's all! A harmless emotion, really...

Maybe, but I'm still disappointed that since the rumors of a Rivers set started swirling last year and there was the possibility for it coming out at the end of 2010, instead we've seen reissues of Ellington and the MJQ. Not to denigrate those sets, but it just seems to me that the Rivers stuff, because it has been much less available, is far more significant musically and historically. As a huge Mosaic fan I want to see them continue to produce more sets in the mold of Braxton, Threadgill, and Carter/Bradford, among others. To me there's a lot more potential for growth there than there is in going over the more mainstream stuff from the 1950s and 1960s. That said, I'll probably get the MJQ at some point because it is not music that I own (except for maybe one or two albums). But it doesn't generate the same kind of excitement for me as a Rivers set would have.

Thanks, sorry for the messed up link the first time. I don't claim any special knowledge or talent about this music, but I just hope that some of it resonates in some way.

Good morning all, I just wanted to let those who may be interested know that I've started up a new blog, where I'm basically just going to collect my thoughts on the Mosaic stuff that I'm listening to, as I'm listening to it. I guess I just wanted the chance to stretch out a little bit more and look at some Mosaic stuff at times other than when a set is first released or when it is about to go out of print. Just a way, I guess, to try and make some sense of my obsession. Anyway, the site is simply called Mosaic Reviews, and the address is http://mosaicreviews.blogspot.com I've got three posts up so far, and some thoughts on the Lionel Hampton set and the Carter/Bradford Select. Thanks!

Anybody who ordered the discounted Peterson Mosaic from England get their copy yet in the States?

This is a good category to ponder, the category of music that doesn't sound like anything else you have. I think the Jazz Crusaders definitely fall into that group. Another Mosaic that I have that I think falls into that is the Bobby Hackett. Anyway after listening to lots of samples over the last few days I'm putting the Johnny Smith at the top of my list to get. I'm still wading my way through all the amazing music I got for the holidays, but the fact that this is Running Low will make it a priority for me. (I know it will likely last a few months but once I make up my mind to do something, I usually do it as soon as possible so that it won't be on my mind anymore. This is both for good and ill--it can make me more productive with my own writing and research, but it also means that I rarely delay gratification on anything.)

As far as Mosaic sets go, this one is okay but I really wish they had done the Sam Rivers set first.

As an aspiring Paul Chambers completist, I am having mixed thoughts about a couple of the Fresh Sound/Lonehill offers. I am wondering whether I should spring for the two-fer of Wynton Kelly's It's All Right/Undiluted available on Lonehill. I'm not sure if Undiluted has ever received a CD release, but the It's All Right album has only been released on CD through Japan (so far as I can tell) and it would seem to cost me at least $30 to get it, whereas the 2-fer on Lonehill is half that price. Would it be better to get the Lonehill release or to get the It's All Right Japan release and then maybe track down a vinyl copy of Undiluted? I have similar qualms about the Complete Recordings of Jimmy Cleveland. I need to get the Cleveland Style release and can only find expensive Japanese pressings. But for much less I could get the Lonehill... I generally don't like these European poachers but I'm tempted to bend the rules a little bit....