gmonahan

The two Nat King Cole Bear Family boxes. I got 'em for myself for Christmas. What an *amazing* variety of music on those two monsters!

I revived this thread to wish the great Frank Wess a happy birthday--85 today. He's one of those artists who never disappoints. I love his tenor, of course, but that flute--man, I do love his flute playing. Happy birthday Mr. Wess!

Oh, I don't know--those sessions really should get remastered. Maybe we should make the Revolution!

Yeah, it's hard going without food, shelter, and clothing. 'Course, I DO it, but it's hard!

My first Mosaic and my first box! That's 'cause it was THE first Mosaic and THE first Mosaic box! A treasured possession, even if Blue Note did reissue the music on a fine cd set a few years ago. Can't ever have enough Monk!

Oh man, you should know by now that when it comes to jazz, resistance IS futile!!

Love those lincoln logs. I had those! (tinkertoys too!) Showing my age, I *think* it was the old 3-LP set that accompanied George T. Simon's book The Big Bands. Or maybe it was the old 3-LP Ellington Era boxes; memory fails. Or the original Goodman Carnegie Hall concert?? Still have all those. I'm a hopeless pack rat. The Big Band set was unusual in including individual LPs from Columbia, Victor, and Decca--rare case of "inter-label" cooperation back then.

How does it (and others) compare to the Lomax book included in the recently issued box? Apples and oranges?

Thanks! I'd asked this question some time back, but I continued to keep an eye out for a reply. I looked up the Lomax book on Amazon, and you can get a used copy pretty cheaply--a lot less than the price difference between the newer and older boxes--just in case you don't yet have it and want it! I'm definitely going to have to get the set.

Count me in. I've been bugging them about doing a big band set forever. I'm waiting to order the small group set, though--I just bought the Bear Family Nat Cole sets for myself for Christmas, and my checking account is yelling at me!

Like that's possible. The pain of digging through all of Crouch's BS to find actual nuggets about Bird we haven't seen is too awful to contemplate. Volume 1? Lord help us....

Neither would I. That's why I have the 10-cd set! (And the Decca set and the Commodore and the Columbias!) And there absolutely IS some great Billie during this period--especially the stuff with Sweets. But there is also some pretty *awful* Billie during this period, which is why I'd hesitate to invest more money in yet another reissue.

How *does* the sound compare? I've got the 10-cd set, and I'm not much interested in upgrading unless there's a pretty good-size difference! Likewise, it's become kind of a cliche to say that Billie's voice could sound pretty ragged on the Verve stuff sometimes, especially compared to her earlier work, but I have to say it's one of those cliches that's kind of true.

Now, THIS is a guy I would have had fun talking to almost as much as I've already enjoyed hearing him on records. A sad loss.

I'd definitely go for an Art Pepper Complete Contemporary box. We've had most of the rest of his catalog in nice boxes for a while.

I think you mean Contemporary. I have virtually all of his available recordings on Contemporary, and they are uniformly top-notch (and have that wonderful Contemporary sound). And don't limit yourself to just the trio stuff, with his wonderful quartet recordings, e.g., 3 "All Night Session!" volumes--with Jim Hall on guitar, "Four!" with Barney Kessel on guitar and Shelly Manne on drums, and "For Real!" with Harold Land on tenor and Scott LaFaro on bass. A non-Contemporary Hawes trio date I really like is "Blues For Bud", which was recorded in Europe in the late 60's and is available on the 1201 Music label (it was originally on Black Lion) here. And one last trio CD not to be overlooked is "Bird Song" on OJC--a couple of terrific sessions from the late 50's not released until 1999. See here. Yes, absolutely, it was Contemporary. Sigh. When I start confusing labels like that, I sometimes think I should hang it up! Thanks for the recommendations on other Hawes. I'll check those out!

It's taking me a fair amount of (wonderful!) time to get through my Concord haul. How on earth did I miss Hampton Hawes??! I've been listening to three cds of his piano playing, including the wonderful Trio, Vol. 1, and he could really move on piano. I'm SO glad I got those cds! Caused me to go in search of more, especially the trio stuff he recorded for Prestige.

Was this material reissued on the mammoth 24-cd Centennial box? Yes, Greg. "RCA 22/15" quote means "RCA Centennial Edition, disc 22, track 15" Sorry--didn't get the code! Thanks for the quick response!

Concert at the Civic Arena. Jazz Piano Workshop. Duke Ellington & Earl Hines: Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, p; Larry Gales, b; Ben Riley, d. TPA3356 RCA LPM-3499 RCA:22/15, L&R:1/15.2 and SDT:19 House Of Lords -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I devoted my radio show to her on Sunday. Played a couple of the Krupa and Kenton things, then concentrated on the great Mosaic Verve set. I thought about playing something from "Indestructable," her last record, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess I wanted my listeners (it's a very small college station) to hear her in her prime, and frankly, that last record is pretty painful to listen to. She really was a great singer, and that Mosaic set is a prize.

I wish all the Victor stuff was available in a tight set with *good* sound. I have the "Indispensable" 2-cd set from French RCA, but the sound is pretty lousy, and the Victor stuff is spread all over the Bix Restored cds. I do love the Mosaic, but it doesn't include the Victor material. I have a particular weakness for Bix's solo on Whiteman's "Dardanella." There's this huge orchestra, lumbering along, trying and failing to sound "jazzy," and suddenly this amazing clarion-clear cornet comes exploding out with a wonderful solo. Still a goose-bump moment after all these years!

The Mosaic Verve set by her was one of the only truly surprising Mosaic sets I ever got. I expected a pretty good set, as I always do with Mosaic, but found it absolutely wonderful, and one I get out and listen to as often if not more often than most others. I wish this great artist well.

"Woody's Winners" was always my favorite of the Herman Columbias. I had sort of hoped Mosaic would combine the Herman Columbias with the Phillips for a box, but this singles release would appear to cut off that possibility. That said, all three Columbias from which this singles release is culled have been available in the recent past on cd, so I'm not bowled over by this particular selection. Now, if we could get a Select box with all the Herman Phillips recordings, that would be sweet!

Yeah, I'll be patient. Not my most prominent quality though. If you find out if there's another box by these two guys (and it's not the piano one, I have that), post about it here, will you? I'm sure I'd jump on it. This is all new to me. Do these boxes repeat material from the "Jazz in Paris" series? Or are they just compilations from various labels including American recordings?

I want to reiterate a recommendation for "New Orleans Suite." I've been listening to Ellington for a long time, and I like just about everything he did in the 60s and early 70s, but this suite really sticks with me. "Blues for New Orleans," with Johnny Hodges' last studio solo and duet with Wild Bill Davis, is absolutely majestic, and Cootie Williams is wonderful on the "Portrait of Louis Armstrong." I don't think there's a weak piece on this disc, and it really does capture the spirit of the Crescent City. Very highly recommended.