mikelz777

27 votes in and we're still neck and neck The thoughts and comments so far have been excellent and I'd welcome anyone else willing to add their 2 cents. I've been listening to sound samples of both sets (*) at AMG and it raises a question about the Gerald Wilson set. One thing I really love about the samples I've heard so far is when a soloist breaks out of the big sound of the ensemble. As I was listening to samples of the 5th disc (which many feel is the weakest as it contains so much "pop" material) it seems that it was mostly ensemble work. Is that the case with the more pop oriented 5th disc? I know it's hard to judge by 30 second samples but I was just wondering if that was the case. (*) The sound samples for the Wilson set are messed up. What should be the sound samples for disc 2 (tracks 17-32) are actually those for disc 3 (tracks 33-52) so there is a repeat. What should be the sound samples for disc 4 (tracks 53-68) are actually those for disc 5 (tracks 69 to end) so there is another repeat. I reported the error to AMG.

I'm trying to decide what my next Mosaic purchase will be somewhere down the road and currently I'm torn between these two. It's tough to choose because they are so different it's like comparing apples and oranges. The Wilson set sounds dynamic and exciting and I love how the soloists sound framed by the big band. From the samples I've heard, the soloists/solos are fantastic! On the down side, the pop stuff makes me wonder and I'm not especially a big band fan but this one seems to make me want to dive in. Hodges has such a wonderful tone and the smaller groups would be more of what I'm accustomed to. It seems like it would be more desireably even/consistent. On the somewhat down side, it's very Ellingtonian and doesn't stray far from that sound. The Wilson would be more challenging and stand apart from what I currently have in my collection so I would be stretching a bit. The Hodges would fit in with a lot of the type of music I would already have. What are your thoughts?

The Lou Donaldson Mosaic covers 1957-1960 but for some odd reason also includes "Gravy Train" from 1961. (but not "Here 'Tis" also from 1961)

Oh, you mean surnames are allowed?

Sonny and Cher Peaches and Herb

Thanks for the heads up. I see that it already has 10 bids on it. I'm pretty certain it will go for much more than I'd be willing to pay for it. It would be really nice to have the set but I don't want it so badly that I'd pay a big premium price for it. Maybe someday I'll trip across someone who just wants their money back (or a little extra) from the set but until then, I'll just have to enjoy his in-print stuff.

Thanks Soulstation, much appreciated.

The J.J. Johnson set is one I regret missing out on. Would someone be kind enough to post the discography and show me what I'm missing? Thanks.

I still don't get Mark Wahlberg's nomination for an Academy award. That wasn't an Oscar winning performance. IMO, it was an over-written part that was over-performed.

Louis Armstrong Hot Fives and Sevens

"Never speculative" in the sense of not being sure if I'm going to like the artist/recording or not.

Na-da in south central MN. I'm kind of in the mood for a big blow-out snow storm before spring rolls around. We've barely had snow this year and I've only had to use the snow blower once this year.

Mosaic sets are very nice but not that compelling that they deserve such idolatry. Who cares what people do with them once they buy them? As long as they aren't buying such large quantities that it denies someone else a reasonable chance of acquiring one if they want it and that's highly unlikely in any case. For me, the big boxes are never going to be a speculative, completist or novelty purchase. I won't buy them unless I'm very fond of the artist or I've been able to listen to enough samples of the set of an unknown artist (Farlow and Parlan for me and Farlow cuz it was only $50 new) that I know I'm really going to like it. I've only ever been disappointed by one set which fell a bit on the speculative side (I preferred the artist in a different phase of his career) but I knew I would be able to sell it for at least what I paid for it if not more. (and did) The Selects lend themselves more to speculative purchases and all 5 of mine were unknown artists to me but going into those buys with my eyes open, they all turned out very enjoyable. The market drives the prices and some of these sets have fetched insane amounts. Knowing the market for them, I've purchased 1 or 2 that I found for a good deal and sold them at a profit (but still a fair price) so I'd have more money to make other music purchases.

The last time I checked you could still buy the booklet from Mosaic for $10. I was wishing that they would have them online like an OOP reference library. You know about this thread, right? No I didn't. Thanks a lot Jim, that's very helpful.

The last time I checked you could still buy the booklet from Mosaic for $10. I was wishing that they would have them online like an OOP reference library.

I have and enjoy the JSP box and have no problems or issues with it. Plus, you'll be able to get a new set for less than what you'd probably pay for a used Sony set.

I guess my excitement/disbelief is showing! It's a set I wish I had, knew that I'd never be willing to pay what it would go for in the market and then discovered I could actually have it in another form very reasonably. I think the Ike Quebec 45 Sessions is one of the OOP Mosaics that is also readily available elsewhere. I got that one for the cost of shipping ($5.58) via BMG.

The winning bidder ended up paying $300.00 for this set (before shipping) which translates to $75.00 per disc. I hope they really, REALLY enjoy it. I'm not that beholden to Mosaic sets OOP or not. If I can buy the entire contents (less 1 song) for significantly less than what that bidder paid for one disc, I don't have any problem deciding which way to go.

They don't care either. Just follow the money. I'm sure Caiman generates a lot of fee income for Amazon. Amazon isn't going to do anything about it.

With 5 1/2 hours left, the set is up to $71.25 per disc.

Thanks for that info J.A.W. There is such a market for OOP Mosaics, I think that Mosaic should make all of the discographies of their OOP material available. I know the mystique, collectibility and status factor involved in getting the Mosaic but if you were interested in just having the music, I was able to find new copies of all the material in the Desmond/Hall set delivered for about $56.00 (less the 1 track on the Playboy release) and that wasn't even bargain shopping. I think those titles will have to go on my wish list for when I take myself off of my self-imposed buying ban.

As of the time of this writing (3:34 CST) there is a Paul Desmond/Jim Hall Mosaic which currently has bidded up to $242.50 which translates to $60.63 per disc. Isn't everything included on this set readily available on single discs that could be had in total for a fraction of this cost?

Disc 1 which contains "New Jazz Conceptions" and part of "Everybody Digs Bill Evans". At the moment, disc 2 which contains the remainder of "Everybody digs Bill Evans", "Green Dolphin Street", and part of "Portrait In Jazz".

It's because of their blatant dishonesty and outright lying. If they never intended to honor the sale then why are they telling me that the order is delayed and then that the item is in back-order yet continue to offer the very item for sale? They are intentionally lying to me and with each successive contact, they are perpetuating the lie. Then when confronted with their lie, they completely ignore the question at hand and stonewall by giving totally non-responsive replys. If they make a mistake, they should own up to it, apologize and save face. Instead, they openly lie and deceive, anger the customer and spread a lot of bad will. They only reminded me that I was free to cancel my order because that's exactly what they wanted me to do in the first place so that the non-completion of the transaction would be due to my "impatience" rather than because of their lies, avoidance and poor customer service.

I've said it before, I use them because I am a bargain whore. Just hope that nothing goes wrong with your order and you have to deal with their customer dis-service. While most of my orders have been fine, they've jerked me around several times. Just their stats are pretty telling. On the surface, 91% would seem like a decent rating. At their current 7% negative rating, that amounts to 2670 negative ratings in the last 30 days for an average of 89 negative ratings per day. Their 90 day negative ratings amount to 7448 people or an average of 86 negative ratings per day and their 1 year rating amounts to 27,750 negative ratings for an average of 76 per day. Were I a businessman, I would find this level of dissatisfation unacceptable. My latest experience with them was for the Jazz Icons DVD box set which they had listed on Amazon for around $38.00 new. I snapped it up immediately in the off chance they'd actually honor it and hoped for the best. What bothers me is that they lie to me unnecessarily. After about 7 days I emailed them asking when it would ship. I was told there was a delay in shipping. Another week later I emailed them and was told it was in backorder and that it would ship in 2-3 weeks. I noticed in the 2-3 weeks following my purchase that caiman continually offered the item for sale at Amazon and had even changed the price several times to compete with other sellers. When I confronted them and asked why they continued to list the item for sale if they were out of stock and that they were in violation of Amazon's listing requirement that the item has to be available to ship when it's listed, they completely ignored the question and gave canned/non-responsive answers. It was clear to me that they never intended to honor the sale. Why couldn't they be straight with me up front, cancel the sale, refund my money and apologize saying that the item was mis-listed and that they couldn't sell it at that price? Instead, they stall and outright lie and repeatedly invite me to cancel my order. If I had purchased it for the $124.00 or whatever it lists for now I'm sure it would have shipped within a couple days. I can't say I won't ever use them again, but I try to avoid them whenever it is possible.