Stompin at the Savoy

We're not paying Mosaic for the recordings per se. We are paying them for the research and discography work, for finding the best sources, for transferring, cleaning up and mastering these recordings, and presenting them in a nice package. Making these recordings accessible is a service to the artists, virtually all of whom are deceased and don't need money now.

These were funded with US taxpayer dollars to provide entertainment and recreation for the troops 80 years ago. The original plan was to destroy every bit of that great music. I for one am very glad GIs, collectors, and pirate publishers have kept this music available. It was funded by the public and it seems fitting to me that these recordings should now be in the public domain.

There is some interesting info here https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/music-law-101-how-long-does-copyright-57301/ I think the genie is out of the bottle already. These things have been published in various ways and nothing has been done about it. If I read the material in the link above correctly, any conceivable copyright that may have existed is either expired now or just about to expire. Any performer who was 20 years old in 1943 is now 101 if they are still alive.

https://archive.org/details/AfrsJubilee

Well they were broadcast to the armed forces (and incidentally to the public) about 80 years ago. Was there ever even a copyright holder for these? I kind of doubt it. And if there was an owner did they renew the copyright? They were supposed to be destroyed. No idea but they appear to be, de facto, in the public domain now. Interesting reference work: https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/v-discs.pdf

At one time possession of them was strictly prohibited and they would severely punish service men who were found to have brought back some of the disks, as I remember. There is quite a bit of good stuff in those disks! I'm really happy that Mosaic is going to clean those up the best they can and publish sets.

Thanks for that link! They actually have what appears to be all 900 odd V-disc selections if you follow the links on the left once you reach the page.

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Volume 8 is all items covered by the two Mosaic 30's Ellington sets. I understand Volume 8 is basically the same masters as the Mosaics. So instead of buying volume 8 I made a playlist from the Mosaics to simulate vol 8. Here is a cross reference between the two. small = Duke Ellington - Complete 36-40 small group orch = Duke Ellington - The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick-Columbia Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra Numerals = disk# . track# orch 7.7-8 Caravan Azure small 2.18-26 Foolin' Myself (Take 2) vBCk Foolin' Myself (Take 1) vBCk A Sailboat In The Moonlight (Take 2) vBCk A Sailboat In The Moonlight (Take 1) vBCk You'll Never Go To Heaven (Take 2) vBCk You'll Never Go To Heaven (Take 1) vBCk Peckin' (Take 3) vCW Peckin' (Take 2) vCW Peckin' (Take 3) vCW orch 7.9-11, 7.19-21 All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (Take 2) All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (Take 1) All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (Take 2) vIA, RS, HC, HA All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (Take 1) vIA, RS, HC, HA Alabamy Home (Take 2) vIA Alabamy Home (Take 1) vIA small 3.1-8 Get It Southern Style (Alternate Take) vSMi Get It Southern Style vSMi Moonlight Fiesta Moonlight Fiesta (Alternate Take) Sponge Cake And Spinach (Alternate Take) Sponge Cake And Spinach If You're Ever In My Arms Again (Alternate Take) vSMi If You're Ever In My Arms Again vSMi small 3.9-17 Back Room Romp (Alternate Take) Back Room Romp Swing, Baby, Swing (Love In My Heart) (Alternate Take) Swing, Baby, Swing (Love In My Heart) Sugar Hill Shim-Sham (Alternate Take) Sugar Hill Shim-Sham Tea And Trumpets (Alternate Take) Tea And Trumpets (Alternate Take 2) Tea And Trumpets orch 7.12-13, 8.1-4, 8.16-20 Chatterbox Jubilesta Diminuendo In Blue (Alternate Take) Diminuendo In Blue Crescendo In Blue (Alternate Take) Crescendo In Blue Harmony In Harlem (Rehearsal Take) Harmony In Harlem Harmony In Harlem (Alternate Take) Dusk On The Desert Dusk On The Desert (Alternate Take) small 3.18-20 Jubilesta Watchin' vJK Pigeons And Peppers I Can't Give You Anything But Love Ian has once again created a discography for vol 8: https://ellingtonlive.blogspot.com/2024/07/discography-ellington-in-order-volume-8.html

Actually jazz only recently has acquired an intellectual sheen of sophistication and subtlety. For much of its existence it was considered a low form of music. I don't really understand the original post. Seemingly it is talking about jazz phoneys who talk all sorts of technical stuff but have little feel for the music. Hopefully I don't fall into that category but I will admit to being a bit of a jazz snob. I do tend to secretly (and sometimes not that secretly) look down on a lot of 3 chord pop music. Well, it seems so formulaic, obvious and shallow. Harmonically, rhythmically, quality of solos, compositions, etc. That doesn't mean I hate everything except jazz but if you press me I will allow that I can't see why people would listen to most rock music and bubble gum when they could listen to Basie.

And Simon A just replied: Hi Craig, I've asked Tim about this. Here's his reply: "As we move deeper into the Duke catalog - at this point - we can rely exclusively on the original 16 bit Mosaic digital sources - with just a touch of ‘cleanup’. Perhaps down the line we can look to delivering in Hi-Rez - but for now - it’s the exercise of simply making them available officially in good sonic condition." The Discogs page for the release gives us these credits for the 2006 Mosaic set. Mastered By – Kurt Lundvall Transferred By – Steven Lasker Restoration – Steven Lasker This begs an interesting question: Does Sony own Mosaic's mastering work for Mosaic's box? Or did Mosaic, in effect, contract with Sony to do the mastering for Mosaic's box? The Mosaic masters appear to always revert to the owners of the works. Quite a few from different companies have been issued as digital releases.

I got mine in southern Oregon, though it was a few days later than some east coasters got theirs. I did pre-order the moment the announcement was made, though, so I was probably pretty high in the queue.

Very happy about this too. One thing puzzles me: the previous volumes were available as either cd quality or hi res. But volume 8 seems to be only cd quality. I guess I will wait a bit and see if the hi res files become available.

I went through the same process last year and ended up buying one from Discogs for a total of $155 incl shipping. (The original price was $112 plus whatever shipping cost then.) I also considered digital download and I guess decided on the hard copy in order to get the book. You can get cd quality files from Qobuz and Presto. Presto has flac files for $75.25.

Most of these albums had an initial cd release in the late 80's followed by remasters by RVG, McMaster, or others. This set seems to be a complete remaster of all the included albums.

It's been many years since I listened to Dialogue. I had forgotten how out there this record is! Sound is very lively and fresh compared to the single cd (1987) I had.

Listening to the first disk. Sound is excellent.

book: https://musicbrainz.org/release/54b77fd0-118f-4337-a776-e56bc81edc67/cover-art text discography: http://web.archive.org/web/20061114052212/http://www.mosaicrecords.com/discography.asp?number=227-MD-CD

Having a great many cds does not seem like being screwed to me. The plastic disks and their packaging - mere things. The music - spiritual, priceless.

I got a tracking number too!

This has some: https://www.jazzdisco.org/pacific-jazz-records/catalog-jazz-west-coast-series/album-index/

I'd be interested in a Melba Liston set if it were possible to come up with an organizing principle that made sense and fit the parameters of a Mosaic set. Interesting figure. The Randy Weston Mosaic is very nearly a Melba set.