Big Beat Steve

I figured you weren't. I just found it strange upon listening to these records that reviews published elsewhere (or general write-ups on these releases) elevated them on such a pedestal.

Interesting impressions. I was in a somewhat similar situation. Having been a fan of Swedish jazz from the "classic" period (i.e. Swedish Cool from the 50s, as far as modern jazz goes, and then some ... a bit, really ... ) for a long, long time I came across references to and enthusiastic reviews of the Jazz Pa Stampen (Jazz At The Pawnshop) releases. It wasn't until during the past 1-2 years that I came across the Vol. 1 and 2 CDs (on the Proprius label) at prices you can't refuse (nor go wrong at) at local secondhand record clearout sales that I took the plunge. Like you say, quite nice indeed but I find them not nearly as adventurous (particularly Vol. 1) or earth-shattering as some enthusing reviews made them out to be. Not that I would have minded - I am quite happy with the Bengt Hallberg/Ove Lind (etc.) recordings from roughly the same period too.

I've often heard this remark about pre-war blues reissues which many reviewers find really fine if taken one (or two) at a time but not a whole CD in a row. For the reasons you named. And I've adjusted my own listening habits somewhat to this with quite a few pre-war (or 78-rpm/single era) records. It can happen elsewhere too if people get into the music based on records. A friend of mine who is very much into older styles of country music and is a pretty good steel guitar player has got a new band project going (a side project for several of the other band members who play in other bands - mostly leaning towards rockabilly) that focuses on 50s "honky tonk" country music (Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Lefty Frizzell, Ernest Tubb, etc. etc.). Real hard-core honky tonk, expressly not leaning towards hillbilly bop (as other bands on the circuit do when they dig into these precursors of rockabilly). The other day they had their first gig. Well done, nicely played and with a real feel, each tune taken by itself came across well. But listening to the whole set left rather an overwhelming impression of sameness - hardly any song taken at more than mid-tempo (mostly leaning towards the slower side of mid-tempo, in fact), so listening through all of them their act somehow did not really make you get on fire, except with diehard country buffs, maybe, who find anything taken at a pace above sentimental "country weeper" slowie tempo really exciting. I am pretty sure those honky tonk acts from the 50s had their hitmaking formula for their records too and exploited it to the full (I for one could not stomach listening to a Bear Family completist set of Lefty Frizzell and his ilk, for one) but when they appeared on stage no doubt they had their repertoire of more catchy, uptempo and hotter tunes too (like earlier bands had had) to keep not just the lonely souls weeping into their beers happy in those roadside joints but the dancers too. So the records they left behind may not show their FULL on-stage versatility. Hard to get this point across to my buddy, though (so far, at least) ...

Bought, you mean ...?

How about calling it "the bees knees", then ... Thanks for your encouragement - I will check it out (and make some room eventually ...).

Thanks for pointing out this book. Sounds very interesting. Will have to investigate a bit more to see if it is worth adding to my overcrowded music bookshelf. I sincerely hope it is more to the mark than these two: https://www.amazon.com/Melody-Lingers-Scenes-Golden-Years/dp/1564741516/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501232938&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=%22Music+lingers+on%22+Fox+West+Coast Not that bad but more about West Coast pop celebs than about WCJ proper and some of it rambles on quite a bit. Not very focused and little to really complement the books by Gioia, Gordon and Tercinet. https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Southwest-History-Western-Swing/dp/0292708602/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501233044&sr=1-1&keywords=oral+history+of+western+swing Not bad either but mainly for want of a better and more comprehensive book. Clearly this book (and its subject matter in the form of an oral first-hand history) was written waaaay too late when most of those from the real heyday of Western Swing had already passed on or were unable to remember or contibute due to advanced age. So this book mainly focuses on post-war (i.e. post-1950) musicians and bands and therefore just manages to grab the VERY tail end of the music.

Talking about "blowing sessions"?

Is there really such a first name as JAZZmeia in the US these days or is this just a "nom de plume" (stage name) to bring up certain associations? Sounds contrived anyhow ...

With special-interest products this is often the case if the subject matter fits one's interests. I've acted in the same way when I sprung instantly for Bill Birch's self-published "Keeper of the Flame - Modern Jazz in Manchester 1946-1972" (from what I seem to remember he told me I was only the second German to have bought a copy of his book, and I hope he has met with as much success as you did). I have no particular affinity with Manchester but the subject matter of (1) early post-war "Eurojazz", (2) pictorial jazz history was right up my alley so there were no hesitations and no regrets. Books like this add (literally) to the overall historical picture and are bound to cover territory that remains uncharted elsewhere. For similar reasons I've bought books on the history of jazz (focusing on the early years) in Munich, Cologne, Vienna, Stockholm and Göteborg (and Boston, Detroit and Newark, N.J. too ). Alas, no book on the history of jazz in my hometown (and its greater metropolitan area) so far -which would add a third reason for buying: local history (like David Ayers said), which no doubt accounted for part of your sales in your own area). Anyway, VERY well done ... Hats off ... Agree with Kevin Bresnahan, BTW (in a way): Is there any website where sample pages of the book can be checked out - just to see what we've missed?

Probably. But overall THAT "Edwards" person is irrelevant and immaterial today. So why fuss about this in any direction anyway?

That's a reissue of the recordings he did for those French jazz record club labels? Some of those original 10-inchers fetch totally silly prices. File under "cheesecake". Nothing really wrong with it IMO in that context. And anyway - we're not going to admit that the 2010s are pruder than the 1950s, right?

I wonder if Jazz Messengers will get the JPJ box set in stock again.

Ah, those budget labels that couldn't even muster TEN measly tracks on one LP. I remember this always had me baffled when I came across them in my early collecting days - usually in the form of US pressings - to the best of my recollections ten sides really were the bottommost bottom of contents on European LPs, even in the budget price range.

@Stonewall (and others in a similar situation): Of course that's good follow-up and quite commendable. But wouldn't it be better still if they used bullet-proof packaging in the first place to avoid all this to and fro and replacement mailing etc. to EVERY extent possible? If you figure in this extra outly this means to THEM then this cannot possibly improve their bottom line either. AGAIN this seems to boil down IMO to straightening out the shipping department.

+2

Not uusually. It used to be so on older turntables (up to late 60s or early 70s) that the cartridge could be flipped over (33/45 on one side and 78 on the other) but on the system I use these days (turntable manufactured by DUAL, bought in the very early 2000s) the cartridge tip with the stylus can be pulled off easily and replaced with the one you need - one for 33/45s and one for 78s. Other manufacturers may use other systems again.

If you don't have an old-style grammophone to use (not really recommended anymore due to the - average - weight of the stylus) you just use a turntable that still (or again) has a setting for 78 rpm (and not just 33 and 45). Some turntable manufacturers still produce these (or in some cases - produce them again). So getting a turntable to spin 78s is not really a major problem - contrary to 16 rpm records.

Again ... following up on what Scott D. said - the way I understand all this debate it still isn't about not getting items as fast as from Amazon. I guess anybody in his right senses can and will live with the fact that they might take longer to ship - provided that he knows what he is up against! To me it rather seems to be that shipping promises are made ("will ship within X days") and then these promises are not kept and you don't even know what's happening because you do not hear from the "shipping service" either and cannot contact them. So it looks like it's become a bit of a hit and miss affair of whether you get your stuff the way you have been told you would (and of whether you will be made aware of any problems/delays etc. or not). Now what baffles me in all these testimonials is this: If this entire reissue project is such a labor of love (and I will concede any time it STILL is to them today) then can you really afford to let things slip in that one place where you can get the MONEY that will keep you afloat and (hopefully) not only allow you to make ends meet but to actually make some money, i.e. in the selling and SHIPPING department? Is there any sense in creating a bottleneck (or allowing one to happen) right there in this not so unimportant area to your entire business venture? Is it really wise to create the impression (correct or not) that in this entire project order handling and shipping is being treated as a sort of tedious afterthought? Because even if you are swamped with orders at one point, getting the word out ANYWAY to those concerned what's happening and how and why there is a delay is a KEY factor in making people understand (and I guess if they did they could could count on everybody understanding). But leaving things in a limbo by not communicating the status of the orders maybe is not the best idea.

Thanks! Though in the case of Ray Conniff I would not even be half as surprised (or "in pain"). But "Basie playing the Ray Conniff songbook" (or something like that)? Uh oh ....

Yikes .... VERY "period-ish" indeed. Among my dozens of other Basie LPs I have a couple of Basie items from that period too (e.g. those "Baise Way" LPs on Command) but not this (and would not go out of my way., I guess). But if you're in the mood it is bound to be fun ... Though that "Happiness Is .." really is a PAINFUL way to start off ... Can you imagine lyrics that are more contrived than this ...?

Sh.t ..... Those boxes hold more prerecorded jazz cassettes than I've probably ever seen in any record shop through that "cassette" period at any specific moment in one place. Those prerecorded cassettes always were a total niche thing here, particularly in the jazz field. I think the only place where I ever saw more than 5 or 6 jazz items at one time was at our local library.

Reading this as an interested observer (I did not buy many Mosaic items through the years and those that I DID buy were bought from resellers/shops. BUT ... While I would be prepared to cut Mosaic some slack too (like I have done with other mom-and-pop operations in other cases and fields) the gist of all these threads sounds like this to me: Ever since they outsourced their shipping operations things decidedly went downhill. I can understand those who get sort of uneasy about this, seeing that they paid what is no giveaway price for their goods. And if I cared about my business and the product I make available I would not allow this to happen to that extent (in fact it's not just that I wouldn't allow this to happen - I cannot AFFORD to let this happen - I am half of a 2-person office myself and have to see to it that my customers get their stuff on time too). So isn't it about time they get their hired serfs out there in those warehouses to clean up their act - fast?

Indeed. Flourishes (on an admittedly limited scale) over here too (ever since its outburst in the mid-90s) and it IS fun and very worthy of encouragement. And it introduces people to jazz (centered on PARTNER-dancable jazz styles, of course, but there's nothing wrong with that anyway). I had wondered about this aspect in this discussion too but had refrained from bringing it up (I did it before elsewhere) because you know there'd invariably be those who consider al this "old hat" "imitation", "superficial" - whatever high-brow, snobbish attitudes there are out there ... There is far more to this than that, though, as long as it introduces people to one or the other style of jazz (which it does), reminding everyone willing to learnand listen that today's jazz need NOT be all "far out" at all if it is to be labeled "jazz". There ARE more strains and styles in jazz than that, even today, and as long as there are bands that play the music (and make it EVOLVE because outside "dixieland" the days of copycats are largely over anyway) even those "older" styles of jazz will continue, even if only on a niche scale. I've witnessed programs where Norma Miller appeared in those circles of lindy hop dancing clubs, teachers and fans, giving on-stage interviews etc., and she seemed very supportive of that scene. Not to forget Frankie Manning who went out of his way to teach and encourage generations of dancers (who could have been his grand-children) at events and dance camps almost everywhere with incredible stamina almost up to the day he died in his mid-90s. So no need to be condescending about that subculture ...

You've got a PM.

I have it on a VHS cassette that I could probbly copy onto a DVD but the movie is not exactly a first-generation copy. It was copied from some foreign TV station showing a long time ago and I don't know after how many intermediate copies it ended up on that cassette friends in France gave me in the early 90s to copy the movie for myself. It IS watchable, though. (BTW, the Youtube excerpts from that movie aren't really in much better picture quality either) As for the contents - ho hum ... trying to squeeze the older-generation stars into some (non-?) plot around how to cope with (and rein in??) R'n'R. To be taken with a fair grain of salt and just for the fun of it as a document of its times. Though I can see you'd like to watch it for Cal Tjader (right? ).