gmonahan

I found one of the Sam Most discs on Amazon. Anybody know where one can find the others? Dusty Groove lists them as due some day. gregmo

I didn't know that about Crouch on Bill Evans, but I'm not too surprised. I found myself wondering whether Crouch's low opinion of Evans played at least some role in the decision of Burns to ignore the great pianist in his (much discussed here in other threads!) documentary. gregmo

Steve, the verse is sung in the McGlinn video posted by Jim Sangry, not the Shaw version posted by Larry, which is indeed the studio cut (chorus only) with some visual stills thrown in for youtube. gregmo

I finally finished the book. I had thought that Teachout's bio of Satch was actually a bit too admiring. I wonder if maybe he felt that and decided to go the other way with Duke, and simply went too far. It seemed as if *every* time he had the opportunity for a balanced appraisal, he went to the negative, and I thought he gave way too much space to the opinions of various critics. Because the tone was so negative, when he did stress Ellington's accomplishments or mention his genius, it rang hollow, as if he were only paying lip service. Disappointing book. gregmo

I also loved the film and was genuinely surprised to hear "Jeep's Blues" (an old favorite of mine, but then, I've always loved Johnny Hodges) featured in a mainstream Hollywood movie. It would be nice if more directors turned to America's greatest art form for inspiration! gregmo

Getting back to Larry's original post, Helen Forrest was a great band singer. I thought Jasmine did a fairly good job with the Helen Forrest/Artie Shaw recordings (missing from the largely instrumental-only Mosaic set). gregmo

Well, of course, you're right Ubu. I guess I could have actually *looked* at the Dig Ben booklet before I posted that question, couldn't I?! Once I did I saw that all those things were recorded in Denmark, Sweden, and London. Odd that this Holland box isn't on the Amazon US website. It's listed on some of the European ones, but Dusty Groove doesn't have it.

Are any of these sessions duplicated in Storyville's "Dig Ben" box? gregmo

You guys are nuts! The rust box was the worst package EVER created, and the accompanying booklet was incredibly difficult to read. Music, of course, was wonderful. That was one of the first ones I ever bought that I repackaged into jewel boxes. gregmo

I hope the material goes to someplace like the Jazz Institute at Rutgers, so it can be properly catalogued and made available to scholars. gregmo

I adore Toots. There are few artists whom I buy "on sight," that is, whose music I buy whenever and wherever I see it. Toots is one of those artists. My favorite is "Affinity," the album he did with Bill Evans, but they're all wonderful. Happy retirement, Toots! gregmo

Yeah, what's up with this? Suddenly, the new content found thing doesn't work, and I haven't done a thing with my settings! gregmo

It's reviewed in the newest issue of Down Beat by Ted Panken. He gives it a mostly positive review, though he does refer to Crouch's "florid argot" and finishes the review by recommending "Gary Giddins' authoritative, more linear" _Celebrating Bird_ for "impatient observers looking for the entire picture now." gregmo

GREAT post, Ricky! Like so many others, I'm following the progress on this one very, very closely. I visited the Armstrong house where I bought a bunch of your very fine Ambassador cds, and I'm really looking forward to getting this Mosaic set! gregmo

I had a similar problem to skeith. Ordered the Duke Ellington Treasury Shows. They shipped a little over a third of them, I waited, nothing, so I emailed them, and they told me they'd cancelled the order for the rest because they weren't in stock. Yesterday, I ordered the rest of them *again*. We'll see what happens. The prices are good, but I guess you get what you pay for. I'm liking the Treasury Shows that I did get! gregmo

Some of my favorite Pepper. gregmo

I have the Davies-mastered JSP box of their 30s recordings and enjoy it (and I love the two Basie albums). Is there some near-equivalent for the 40s Decca material? gregmo

I used to be one of those "Free Milt from the MJQ!" guys, but listening to the Mosaic set sort of turned me around. Interestingly, I caught this thread as I was listening to "Modern Jazz Quartet: Lost Tapes, Germany, 1956-1958" on SWRMusic (a Twilight Zone moment), and I too have trouble imagining the group without all its voices. In particular, I think Jackson and Lewis quickly developed a really lovely rapport. Particularly on the ballads, they interacted in very intricate and subtle ways, such that the performances would have been much the poorer without both of them (and Heath and Kay) working together. gregmo

Lots of pics of original keynote 78 labels, some in color, as well as some small thumbnail-size pics in color of original 78 album art and, on one page, thumbnails of 6 emarcy album covers taken from the Keynote material. It also comes with an insert with thumbnail (B&W) photos of every musician who played on the sessions. They also appear in the booklet along with a fair number of session photos. It's a cd-sized booklet, so it's all small. While I found the contemporary reviews of discs interesting as historical documents, I would have preferred a Mosaic-style analysis by a good liners-writer, but somehow, I don't quite expect to get that from Fresh Sound! gregmo

I think Medjuck's point is that the only person getting paid by Macy's is Irving Berlin's estate by way of ASCAP. gregmo

I liked the Carroll album, and didn't somebody point out it's his only "leader" album? One of the only ones anyway. It is an odd set, though, that's true. gregmo

I'm up to disc 4 on the set. The sound seems pretty good to me, but I'll bow on that score to the audiophiles on the list. I was fascinated by the book that came with it--a fairly good, if not overly critical, history of the label by (who else?) Jordi Pujol, who appears to have quite an affinity for Harry Lim. Lots of photos, some in color. For "notes" on the tracks themselves, he has used contemporary reviews of the original records from Metronome and Down Beat magazines. No doubt, this choice was dictated by the fact that he's cheap, but it's fascinating to read just how incredibly critical some of these reviews were. Packaging is similar to the Felsted box from a few years back. I'm glad I got it--lots of stuff I didn't have, and I have most of the "essential keynote" series on cd. gregmo

Yeah, that version of Porgy and Bess sort of left me flat too. 'Course, I've always adored the version by Satch and Ella. Any other version (including the one by Ray Charles and Cleo Laine) suffers by comparison to that one, IMHO. gregmo

I have to admit that the Hackett is not one I get off the shelf much. Beautiful tone, but--and it has been a while since I've listened to it--a bit sleepy, if memory serves. But the Herman First Herd Columbias? Essential! gregmo

Good Lord, Chris. All of them?! More like "C'est la mort"! I'd be in mourning for *years*! gregmo