Shrdlu

Well, it's good to see that the set will include some of the extra (that is, not strictly Jazztet, but closely related) albums in the Fitzgerald discography. Several of the ones that will not be in the Mosaic (such as the Prestige stuff) are already available, though I have no idea where one could purchase those Savoy Fuller CDs these days. (Like Kellogg's Sugar Frosties, they're Grrreat!)

I have the Spotlite Norvo CD. It just has the tracks listed above (from the LP), that is, all existing takes of the four titles recorded that day. Needless to say, it's a superb collection. A favorite moment: the groove on the next-to-last take of "Get Happy". This is far better than on the final take, and it's a pity that there is a fluff as they play the tune out at the end. I intend to edit that off, with Nero, to leave a great take that could have been used originally.

Getting back to the topic (and I have not read pages 2 through the end), what a petty policy at AAJ. You are very gracious about it, Jim - but we already knew that, of course. I guess the Blue Note board also does not mention this one.

It would be nice to see all this http://www.eclipse.net/~fitzgera/jazztet/ - through 1962 - in the Mosaic set!

We use exPressIT - it has easy-to-use templates for booklet covers and back tray inserts. You can stretch or compress your images to get an exact fit, and even change the colors. I'm not sure who makes this, as the details flashed off the screen when I opened the software just now, but a Google seach would bring it up.

I think it is also a matter of what kind of music you feel comfortable with. I could never feel at home with Stan Kenton, or revivalist "trad", but for some reason I never found Monk's tunes hard to play. I like them immensely, and I could not understand it when a commentator said that it would throw you off if Monk was comping behind you. I would love to have played with Monk! I did have a real treat, as for years in Johannesburg, South Africa, I got to play with the English pianist Stan Jones, who did a 6 month tour of the U.S. playing opposite Monk. Stan could do all the Monk voicings and so we could get the "feel" right. I especially remember playing "Friday The Thirteenth", for which Stan would play the intro heard on the Prestige recording. We also played "Nutty" a lot, but that's a very easy one. Red, I recommend listening a lot to the Monk recordings; and pick some of the simpler ones, such as "Nutty", to begin with. You might want to leave "Trinkle Tinkle" for awhile. One thing's for sure: you have chosen to try some prime material.

You know, I have listened to this set many times, and the one album that I really like is that first one, with Hank Jones and Pepper Adams. I think that album is far and away the best of the set. It's now the only one that I want to hear anymore. Some of the later stuff gets a bit tedious, especially after Pepper had left. I especially find the tracks with a "rock" beat and long, supposedly funky/macho tenor solos, kinda boring and "samey". But the first album has an elegance and a freshness that makes it a masterpiece, thanks partly to some arranging by Bob Brookmeyer. The use of a rhythm guitar adds a lot, too. An individual reissue, using the session tapes, not the LP masters with the reverb, and done by Malcolm Addey, would be most welcome. (Not wishing to be contrary, Sidewinder )

No "probably" to it, they did! Well, I know they did, but my "probably" referred to it being connected with the arrangement for MPS to issue some Prestiges in Germany. This would explain why Prestige issued some MPS recordings in the States.

With sets like those Columbia Miles sets, there is a sizeable risk of damaging the CDs when removing them from, or inserting them into the original cardboard or paper sleeves, so I always put them into jewel cases. Also, if the CDs stayed in the original covers, they might fall out while a person was reading the notes. The outer box covers gather dust on top of a bookcase. I think "custom CDrs" is also a good way to go, though I haven't done that. When I take out an OOP Mosaic CD to play it, I often feel that I should really back it up and just play the CDr. With Mosaics, I always leave everthing in the box. I was sad to read that one poster does not get the books out. Mosaic goes to a lot of trouble to prepare these, and not to use them is to miss out on a treat. I like to have the notes open when listening, especially when the notes are by someone good such as Dan Morgenstern. The notes for the new Mulligan set, by Bill Kirchner, are excellent, by the way. They have a lot of information, and yet lack a patronizing, arrogant or pedantic attitude. They get my award for notes of the year for 2003.

There are some superb transcriptions of Fats Waller (fine performance-wise and sound-wise), and they remove the 3.5 min 78 time limit, though mostly he sticks to the 78 length, or plays medleys where no single tune is very long. These were made for the Muzak company, if memory serves. There are some from 1935 and some from 1939. One set had some added reverb/fake stereo which one should watch out for, but the same recordings are also available without the reverb effect. Also, I recently found a copy of the MGM 3 LP "Benny Goodman Treasure Chest" set. Sadly, this collection has not been reissued on CD. These are transcriptions from 1937 through 1939 of a lot of the best of Benny's repertoire, and the performance quality and sound are excellent. There are a few rare items in this set, such as a duet between Jess Stacy and Lionel, with Lionel playing two-finger piano in the upper register at lightning speed. There are also many trio and quartet items, including a version of "Avalon" where the orchestra most surprisingly comes in at the very end. Finally, I would mention a version of one of my favorites, "Mr Bach Goes To Town", with a wonderful clarinet choir with two bass clarinets. (There is also a regular studio version of that piece.)

This is already very interesting! What a fascinating post. Where do you start, when interviewing a guy that you've known about for so long ... I can answer a couple of the above questions. (Not wishing to be impertinent.) (1) MPS Saba issued several Prestige albums in Europe in the 60s (better quality vinyl, too), so probably the flip side was that Prestige put out some of theirs in the U.S. (2) The Miles date with Bird was produced by Ira Gitler, not Bob, though maybe Bob was also present. Ira wrote the notes to the "Collectors' Items" LP and gave a harrowing account of that tense session. So you might omit that question and use the time for something else. I would like to hear more about the "Bags' Groove" session! (Who wouldn't?)

I have had some CDs in these for a few years, and so far, so good. Bear in mind that it's the label side that carries the music - I don't know whether you know this or not. That side is facing you and it is easy to hold the plastic away from it when removing or inserting the CD. I have not had scratches on the other sides, but you can get around minor ones with that plastic spectacle scratch filler. I have never had any CD or CDr "die" on me, not even the silver CDrs that were said to be dubious. I think the question is going to be: how many decades do CDs last, especially CDrs. It's still too early to know. The main thing, probably, is not to leave CDs in the car or on a window sill in hot weather. And avoid labradors!

I nearly made that comment in my post. Actually, after reading that someone had gotten around the protection but felt that there might be skips or jitter in the resulting sound, I tried a few seconds of several 'N Sync tracks, but they were so jittery and jerky sounding that there was no way that I could tell if there were any technical flaws. They use a lot of rapid staccato and it just sounds like a mess. Anyway, I'm not going to get a European BN CD, to test it! I'm glad that I have pretty much all the BN that I need by now. Many are TOCJs that do not need an upgrade.

I didn't mean anything heavy by that - the remark was by way of a joke. All the same, Pres's language is very coarse in that interview (contrast it with the interview with Chris Albertson), and Pres himself says that his Dad "did not curse like I do". I don't think "slang" is quite the word, or, as François would have said, le mot juste. But it's an absorbing interview once you get your personal curse filter going. Very sad, too, as you can hear the booze that killed him being poured, and matches being struck.

I've not had the pleasure of seeing a copy-protected Blue Note, but this might help. A few days ago, my daughter wanted to play one of her pop CDs on the computer while hanging in a talk-room online. No copying or selling pirate copies in the street: she just wanted to play the thing. She called out to me that it would not play. I tried to read it in Nero, but was unable to get at the music. Now, a few years ago, when the subject of copy protection came up somewhere, I bookmarked this page against a rainy day http://www.sonicspot.com/alternatecdfsvxd/...atecdfsvxd.html It had been sitting dormant on my favorites list since that time. Anyway, I downloaded the software (a substitute driver for the CD drive) and my daughter's CD played fine after it was installed. Since then, I have made a couple of custom burns (of unprotected CDs) for myself (editing the announcements out of two Gerry Mulligan concerts) and the CDrs sound fine, so the new driver has not harmed the operation of the computer, and, specifically, Nero. But I would point out that they do advise you to keep a backup copy of your original cdfs.vxd file, as there is a possibility that their version might not work. I use Windows 98, by the way. I don't know whether this software works with later versions. Also, my daughter's CD may have a more primitive form of protection than on the Blue Notes - her CD does not give details. (It's an 'N Sync CD.)

You're welcome! I'm just glad that my post was worthwhile. We sure have to move quickly with a lot of those Japanese CDs. And they take a bite out of the bank account. They sound so good that the domestic CDs are usually disappointing by comparison. Ironically, most of my Japanese CDs are of lesser, or obscure albums, purchased partly because they simply aren't available anywhere else. This Evans album is an exception to that, of course.

Grant's playing was so consistently good on those early 60s BN sessions that I really can't settle on a favorite album. I think, perhaps, the most amazing single track is "It Ain't Necessarily So", with the special appearance by Art Blakey. It would be hard to beat that one. Grant's albums with Elvin are particularly effective, and my favorite of those would be "Talkin' 'Bout" as there is just the trio and you can focus on Grant especially well.

In the interview with François Postif, taped just days before his death, Pres mentions a plan to record with strings. It's sad to think that he was already barely able to play anymore. The interview is in the 8 CD Verve set, by the way, complete with vocabulary similar to the thread starter's.

Just received the Newport "Concert In The Rain" CD. (Jazz Band Compact Classics EBCD 2129-2, not to be confused with DCC Compact Classics). It turns out that this was issued in England in 1996 by an outfit called Flyright Records, which is a little surprising, as it was recorded in the U.S. This is well worth having, as, even with the Mosaic set and the other three CDs of this band's output, one could still say that there is a relative paucity of available material, considering the quality and importance of the band. The details are: Gerry Mulligan (leader, bars, piano), with Don Ferrara, Phil Sunkel, Conte Candoli (tp), Bob Brookmeyer (vtb), Wayne André (tb), Alan Raph (btb), Gene Quill (cl, as), Dick Meldonian (as), Jim Reider (ts), Gene Allen (b-cl, bars), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (d). July 1, 1960. 1. Introduction by Willis Conover and Mulligan; Utter Chaos (theme) 2. Broadway 3. Theme From "I Want to Live" 4. Out of This World 5. Manoir de mes Rêves 6. Eighteen Carrots 7. Walkin' Shoes 8. Sweet and Slow 9. I'm Gonna Go Fishin' 10. Blueport 11. Utter Chaos (theme) There's plenty to enjoy here. It is great to have alternate versions of several pieces, and this set includes the only extant recorded version of "Eighteen Carrots" and a version of "Walkin' Shoes" (not on any of the surviving Verve tapes, though it is on the CD of the Zurich concert). The sound is not perfect - the stage acoustics probably being the main culprit here - but it is still good and the music comes through very well. Although the band is not quite as fluent and tight as it later became, and there was still just a little fine tuning to be done (mainly unwritten, I think), the performance is still at a very high level, as one would expect from these musicians. (Possibly the only thing that was not the best was the acoustics, which I've already mentioned.) A highlight is "Manoir de mes Rêves". This is a lovely chart, of course, and they do a fine job with it. Also, "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", the only item for which they already had an approved take in the (Verve) can, is very successful here - it would be hard to decide which is the better version. I get the impression that the noisy crowd may have led Mulligan to shorten some of the performances (remember that the charts always left room for extra solo choruses etc.), though they were probably watching the clock, too, to fit into the Newport schedule. There is a little piano: there doesn't seem to have been a dedicated mike for it, so it's hard to pick up, but I can hear some on "Broadway" and "Eighteen Carrots". It's comping only, though, no solos. (Despite the notes, there is also some piano on the Zurich date, too.) I decided to make a CDr excluding the announcements, and I prefer it significantly; I found that it helped me to concentrate on the music better. So, recommended! It is listed on the Amazon site, and my copy came from "Mperich", who gave quick and friendly service.

Leeway, if you're still there, I would not bother with the Kelly/Chambers set. It's kinda ho hum (and I really like those players). They can both be heard to much better advantage elsewhere; for example, in the Mosaic Morgan/Shorter set. It's kinda late now (Dec 27), but I strongly recommend the Mulligan Concert Jazz Band set. That's got to be one of the best in years, and the remastering by Malcolm Addey is worthy of the Japanese at their best. After just a few minutes into CD 1 you will be glad you got it. If your Visa card is heavily strained, you might consider the Paris 2 CD set, which is by no means left behind by the Mosaic set.

MMilovan, I am pretty sure that Riverside started at take # 1 for each tune, rather than using the Blue Note system of using the next number after the last take of the previous tune. Anyway, it needs to be realized that, not every take is a complete performance of the tune. We have "Jingles", takes 8 and 9 on the CD. These are probably the only two complete takes of that selection. The other 7 are probably just short snatches that were stopped because someone made a mistake, or because the feel wasn't right. Guys like Wes and Milt (and the rhythm section) normally wouldn't need to make many complete takes. Just think about a live performance. You only get one chance with each tune, and if you're a reasonable musician, you can play a good version. I'm speaking as one who has played for many years. If a group DID play a piece 8 times, they would probably get very stale after two or three goes. How many fresh solos on one tune can a guy come up with at the one session? Of course, if you have a large band (say the Mulligan Concert Jazz Band) then you are going to have to make several takes of each piece in order to smooth out the ensemble parts. I recently saw the discography for the famous "Peter Gunn" album, and my eyebrows went up when I saw that the title track was something like take 16! That tells us that our Henry was a perfectionist - the end result sure was a masterpiece of an album.

The TOCJ's of the albums in this set are, as usual, way better, Chris, no question. This Mosaic is one of Ron's worst efforts. The snag is that (unless you can find a rare LP copy) the "Hipnosis" session is not available elsewhere. Get a burn of that and the TOCJs of the rest - just about every other track has been released in Japan. I think the TOCJs remain the definitive Blue Note CD reissues. If only the guy who did the recent Japanese Sergio Mendes CDs were given access to the BN vaults! It's ironic that I have better CDs of lesser music like that.

The greatest irony for me is the fact that Columbia apparently didn't know that the Miles Davis "Milestones" and "Green Dolphin Street" sessions were recorded in stereo, and issued (horrible-sounding) fake stereo LPs of this music; not only that, they deleted (similar to what you said, Chuck) the mono versions, which sounded fine. It wasn't until the 6 CD box set came out that we got to hear the real stereo versions of all of these performances; a little earlier, a CD entitled "58 Sessions" had the stereo version of the "Green Dolphin Street" session. Mind you, they also put out the first three tracks of "Kind Of Blue" at the wrong pitch. It's a wonder that Miles did not notice this and ask them to correct it.

I think the first I heard her was on the album with Gil Evans. I was already a big Evans fan, and was mighty disappointed with the album. which I view as a waste of Gil's time. The main problem was her intonation. I think any musician HAS to be in tune - it's a basic that you learn right at the start. But Gil and Creed Taylor knew more than I do, and who am I to question people of that caliber. It would have been great to have an Evans-Jobim project instead.

If Blue Note has some way of assessing customers' reactions to this, surely they will dump the "protection". Claude, you're probably right. It is hard to keep up with settings on the computer, stoves, cars etc. There is so much trivia to remember. I'm usually tired when I look at this site, too. That low clarinet IS sometimes called a contra alto clarinet, Daniel (daft name, isn't it?), but they should still give it a correct name. When I first saw the listing, I was expecting to hear the real alto clarinet, which is just a fifth lower than the standard Bb clarinet. Getting back to the Hill album, my favorite track so far is the title track, a modal piece somewhat in the vein of several modal classics.