Shrdlu

I've never seen that Smith anywhere either. An e-friend of mine got it and recommended it, but I've never heard it in any form. I do remember that it was in the very first batch of domestic RVGs. The prices were higher at first (too high!), and that may had led to it's being ignored by some. I passed over it because I have so many other Smith albums.

The short tracks and talk between the musicians are not in the Fantasy 8 CD box (apart from a short last track with a bit of fun with some classical piano).

I lived in Ottawa years ago: 1977-78, and the pickings were very slim - both for record stores and live jazz/jam sessions etc. But, that's where online retailers come in.

You know, Greg, I have been too hard on Dave and his group for years. I was a big fan as a kid, when they were very popular, then moved on to Bird and Trane (who are superior jazzmen, no question), and kinda disdained Brubeck in my youthful combination of enthusiaism and immaturity. But recently, I have re-investigated them, and I have to say that they are top quality guys musically, and very nice people to boot, with a good attitude. Paul Desmond's command of harmony is dazzling, and both he and Dave were originals with a lot of ideas of their own - no warmed-over licks here. Joe Morello was a fine drummer, and during one of his solos, I thought "this is very similar to Philly Joe, and just as lively". The bassists with the group were competent, but not in the Paul Chambers class. Such albums as "In Europe" sound terrific to me today. It's hard to consider these "time" albums, especially the first two, as they are (rather like "Kind Of Blue") so familiar to many of us. They are excellent albums, and now, after all these years, the then odd time signatures don't sound odd at all. I never did get to hear the "time" albums after "Time In Outer Space", so I don't know what those are like, but the first three have some great moments and are well worth a listen if anyone has never heard them. Just don't expect to hear Sonny Clark, or Bud Powell, or Bill Evans, or McCoy Tyner, ... It's a different bag. Recently, I was listening again to the piano solo on Herbie Hancock's "The Egg" (on the "Empyrean Isles" album), and it struck me: hey, there's some Dave Brubeck influence there. Interesting. And, of course, Miles recorded "Someday My Prince Will Come", long after Dave's first version, and surely he was spurred to do it because Dave had made a recording of it. The two knew each other. There is a 1962 version of that on the "Time In Outer Space" album, incidentally.

This is really hard to answer, as there is so much material: virtually all of the catalogs of Prestige, Riverside, etc. So, perhaps your question is: what's the sound quality like, considering that most are fairly old 16 bit CDs. Generally speaking, they've always been very good, and I have never been disappointed with any of them. At the risk of flogging a topic to death, let me warn you against getting any German (ZYX) produced OJCs that are 20 or 24 bits - which they all are now; those are rubbish. I don't especially like the artwork - kinda depressing in a way - but that's really unimportant. So, go for it!

"Shhh, Peaceful", as released on the LP, is virtually a re-composition by Teo. It was a great shock to hear the original in the recent box set - though even that sounds as if it has a splice or three (I don't believe that it is an "as it happened" version either). It is the most amazing editing feat that I can think of, and I also think that this LP version is way better than the originally planned version. Funnily enough, the repeated main theme that the musicians played does not even appear on the released track.

Lon (and others) put it well, Tony. The sound quality is very good (I have never disliked it), even though it's a few years old. Fantasy, as you know, never suffered from McMaster, and all of their 16 bit CDs that I have heard are great. In fact, as we have seen recently, their ZYX 20 bit CDs are seriously bad. (They are now into 24 bits, by the way, but I will never buy another ZYX OJC CD.) I do not doubt that the individual, more recent, Japanese CDs from this collection are better, but it would cost a fortune to get those that are available, and, of course, not everything in this set is separately available. So, I don't think you would be disappointed with the set. I do recommend that you get the separate CDs of the sessions with Trane and Gerry Mulligan, though. There are several tracks that are mono in the box set, but stereo on the OJCs. Also, the OJC has a spliced version of "Epistrophy" which sounds better than the box set version, which just fades out. (The take broke down at some stage after Trane's solo, and the OJC and LP have a version with the ending of the master take neatly added. It works well.)

You mention "tough times" for Mosaic, Reinier. I don't doubt that, but does anyone have any more information about this? I have not seen any comments along these lines in their catalogs. I sure hope that they do not fold, or find themselves forced to be taken over by some commercial company that might try to alter the way they do things. My opinion on the "where to buy" issue is that Mosaic deserves the business, and I bought mine from them.

This is a typical bit of Blue Note frustration, as the music is all top-notch (can never have too much Stanley!) but the remastering is poor. It is painfully trebly, but, as I recall, the sound was worse on the first three CDs, and the later sessions that you are after came out better. If only they could get Malcolm Addey, who did such a superb job with the new Mulligan set, to do the Blue Note/Capitol stuff. All in all, taking into account that some of this set is virtually unobtainable elsewhere, you might as well order it. You are sure to be able to sell it if you wish to do so - I did.

I read almost all the threads and I gain lots of knowledge (thanks everyone), but I do like posting in politics most of all. It's the one place that is always new. Most of the jazz questions were answered a few years back at the BNBB and a lot of discussions have started to repeat themselves. But there are many new board members so it's all good. btw, I won't share my score with ya'll. Pretty pathetic. But I never read the book, so.... I agree with Vibes, Johnny, but you have a point. A lot of hard work was lost when Blue Note pulled the plug. Their board has been "off" for so long now, that I propose that we avoid it if it ever does re-start. One gets tired of moving house after doing it many times. (I have done it literally more times than I care to remember!)

My late Missus was a classically trained violinist and pianist, and hipped me to who was who in the classical world. Check out David Oistrakh on violin. He came from the Ukraine, and appeared as if out of nowhere after WW II. What an awesome, rich tone! When he plays the Beethoven violin concerto, the solo passages are absolutely gripping. I remember one time when we were playing it in the living room, and everyone, kids and adults, just froze, completely captivated by it. Anything by him is well worth getting. There's no-one to touch that guy! The Russkies are sitting on a huge pile of unissued live recordings, including many by him. (A friend with a Russian wife told me that Uncle Joe had them record nearly everything that was broadcast over the radio.) Also, the boss man on the piano is Artur Rubinstein. Terrific, and well represented in the RCA Victor catalog, especially Chopin. He came from a world that can never be duplicated. He trained with a friend of Brahms. A highlight of his recordings is a 1954 RCA Victor recording of Brahms's First Piano Concerto, with the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner (a great orchestra and conductor combination!). It is even in stereo, one of the first such recordings. Even if jazz is your main bag, ah garontee that you will like those guys!

Billie had a recording persona of the badly treated woman, wronged by her man (not surprisingly, considering her awful real-life experiences). She wanted to sing songs consistent with this. This was not really Basie's thing to a large degree, and I think that's why they didn't last long together.

... and he has a lovely sound. Fine musician, always a joy to hear.

My copy of the new Mulligan 4 CD set arrived safely a day or two ago. No thefts in the mail, no Bat Guano, no white chocolate, just a nice cardboard box of goodies. #1142 already! These sure are going fast. I guess we should expect a rapid start for a set like this, though. The sales may slow down after an initial burst. The sound is, as expected, superbly clear - you could say, an honorary Japanese set. Malcolm scores again. They've GOT to get him onto the Blue Note and other Capitol-owned stuff from now on. The contents of discs 3 and 4 are entirely new to me, and are wonderful. They make a welcome addition to the early material, which I've known for so long. I'm sure that these will give many hours of enjoyment. I mentioned before that I had bought the mini LP CD of the Vanguard session. That sounds really good, and would be fine if there were no other version, but the Mosaic Addey remastering is even better to my ears, and has more presence. It will be the one that I listen to from now on. But I'm still glad to have the artwork and notes of the separate version. It would be nice if Mosaic copied Fantasy and included a page with the old LP covers, and even the original notes. I know that opinions differ about this, but that's what I'd like. After also hearing the Paris concert, I think I prefer the versions from that to the corresponding studio versions on the Mosaic CD 1. The group was more experienced by then, and there's nothing like a live perforamance. Gerry said that some of the audience was a pain that night, but you can't hear that on the record.

Doesn't it get to you that just about everything is a limited edition anymore! I don't know about Japanese remasters of Kit Kats, but the U.S. remastering of Cadbury's Diary Milk, by (you guessed it) Hershey, is as bad as Ron McMaster's work. Tony: my son's house is next to a Nestle candy factory! It isn't really Nestle, but they have bought out so many companies and deleted their names.

Can anybody clarify this issue of the running order? I haven't got my set yet, and I can't work out why they selected this order from looking at the discography posted on the Mosaic site. David, they used the order on the original LPs, following that with the unissued related tracks. Thus, CD 1 is the first LP, with the 4 or 5 unissued items at the end. I am not annoyed about this, but in these circumstances, I would prefer chronological order.

My Mosaic/True Blue stuff has always arrived quickly, and I always have them sent by ordinary U.S. Mail. Clunky, I don't have the Hamilton set, but surely someone will send you a burn of the defective CD. A few years back, I made a last-minute decision to order the Buck Clayton set (am I ever glad that I did!), and all they had left was a set without CD 3. I was happy to get that, and very soon a friend burned CD 3 for me, too!

A couple of years ago, there was an eBay seller, with a name which we changed to Bat Guano, in the San Diego, CA, area, who was selling partial Mosaic sets, without the outer boxes or books. It was suspected that these were stolen from plants where the CDs were maunfactured. But this died out, I think. Mosaic probably took some steps to close down that operation. In the U.K. the expression "it fell off the back of a truck" would be used for that.

Eddie was a great soloist, no question. I really like the famous "Compared To What", with Les McCann (whom I also used to like - you never hear about him anymore). When I was driving around L.A. in 1991, Chuck Niles on KLON was featuring his album "A Tale Of Two Cities" a lot. The long "Chicago Serenade", recorded before an enthusiastic home audience, is REALLY funky. It is almost, as the French would say, le dernier cri in funk. Highly recommended for when you are tired of more "serious" material.

I think Cedar was an upgrade, too, Guy. His sound is very smooth and subtle, and is an important factor on many a session - such as "Mode For Joe". I didn't like Timmons back in the 60s, mainly because I think his block chord passages are ugly, unlike Red's, which I really love. But, when I got the Mosaic Blakey set, most of which I had never heard before, I really enjoyed Bobby there, largely because he avoids the block chords for the most part. And then, with the explosion of CD reissues making it possible to hear BN sessions which were very hard (if not impossible) to find in the LP days, I have liked Bobby's contribution to those.

Lee Way was recorded in early 1960, when Lee was still playing regularly with Art Blakey. He did leave the scene for awhile the next year, but not in 1960.

The 40s Ike Quebec stuff, which was in a long-OOP Mosaic, is all excellent. There are single CDs of some of it ("Swing High, Swing Lo" etc.) I think it fair to say that Ike and Illinois are similar - both out of the Hawkins and Webster school. If you like Ike, the Jacquet set would be a safe buy.

What's that, BFrank? An instant heart attack?

It's a superb album, Jerry! So are "Mosaic" and "Free For All". I've played those many times since I first got the LPs, and I would never tire of them. There's so much to enjoy. I love the quintet sessions with Lee and Wayne, but the addition of Curtis Fuller's trombone makes a huge difference all round. The balance is just perfect. I don't like the sound on the JRVG of "Mosaic" - Wayne sounds very off-mike. So I hope the RVG, if made, will be better. The TOCJ is good.

I'm not buying the accusation against Blakey! And now we read that Bird was invited to spend a few days in Nica's apartment. I was enlightened to read the following "word of knowledge" though "you can fit 16 16th notes into a single bar of music, or 32 32nd notes."