sidewinder

Both this set and the Mercury Rahsaan Roland Kirk are absolutely magnificent. I have no gripes about the sound quality. Go for it !

Cracks me up every time I read it !

He;s in London next month with a Dizzy Gillespie Alumnii Big Band. I'll have to make sure I catch them.

I think decent quality 2-eyes is the way to go with the Miles Columbias, with the Mosaic sets an equally good alternative. I like the soundstage of the 2-eyes, even though I have the same material on the Mosaic LPs. I think I have pretty well all of them on 2-eye from that period, excluding 'Quiet Nights'. I really like the soundstage on the stereo originals. Just been listening to Lee Morgan 'Search For The New Land' on a mono NY USA pressing. Sounds pretty nice, good to hear the arco bass coming through clearly on the title track.

'Kenton Presents' CD1, the Bob Cooper sessions. Malcolm does it again !

Looks like Don Ellis in sailor suit there on the USS Odax..

Usually there's no problem Anders - the single Mosaics come by air via the 'small packet' route within the week. The complications come when you add the weight of an LP set ! Just checked Mosaic's site BTW and it looks like the 'Kenton Presents' is now officially OOP. Cue for Procrastinator piccie? B-)

Hey - how did you know my first name was Sidney?

Looks like my Mosaics have arrived from the China Station . There's a package for me at the local post office..

'Strange Strings' is indeed one mighty strange Ra album and not easily digested whilst sober..

It's the 'Mosaic direct' route for me with this one. I don't like 'Concert Bands' unless they have Gerry Mulligan's name next to them !

Great disk by the way, thanks for putting this one together. I can offer no higher accolade than the fact that this disk has occupied 95%+ of my listening time with a 'pending' pile that includes 3 Mosaics and a stack of recent acquisition NY USA vinyl.

16. Straight ahead shouting blues played by altoist with piano. Pete Brown? A good one to play with glass of whisky in hand after a bad day at the office. 17. 'I Cover The Waterfront'. The style of the vibist made me think of the early recordings of this player.. but not at all sure. Definitely MJQ-inspired, doesn't sound like Milt or Teddy Charles on vibes though. Very nice performance, like it. Has a 'Prestige' mid 50s sound. Could also be the group mentioned in '12'? . 18. Violin plus possibly a cello and rhythm section. Definite West Coast late 50s feel to the performance. A total wild-ass punt but maybe something along the lines of this one... 19. Party time - another of those tracks which bridge jazz and rock'n'roll. Reminds me of Big Jay McNeely or Paul 'Hucklebuck' Williams. Full bore tenor - can't identify it though. Schmokin ! 20. Blues with a hint of jazz. Sounds mid-60s. Possibly John Mayall's Bluesbreakers? If so, maybe Eric Claptout in there on guitar? 21. Vibes based group in an afro cuban vein. Could possibly be one of this guy's.. Verve sessions with Willie Bobo? A bit too 'generic' in style for me but pleasant enough. 22. Very nice indeed, recognised this one from the off (from a favourite Prestige 2LP set of mine). I think the original LP is this one.., track 11, and the very nice tune is by Leonard Feather. Superb tenor solo by a player who has had tragic luck in recent years. 23. Same session as 22, but this time it's track 8, (this one), bringing us very nicely back into a full circle to BFT track 1.

14. The shout from someone in the group of 'Chico Chico' as the drums open up is a strong hint. I think I recognise the pianist (just been watching a video of him), very prominent in the soul/jazz vein. I think it's track 3 from this one.. 15. Sounds familiar, I'm sure I've got this one on LP somewhere indeterminate ! Reminds me of these guys.., not sure of the album though (more likely the second than the first). Definite Contemporary Records feel to the recording.

8. An old bop recording. Sound has a hint of 'Savoy' about it, not sure of the title. Possibly Bud Powell on piano? Followed by at least 1, possibly 2 trumpet solos. I don't think it's Navarro, the technique isn't good enough. Altoist sounds a bit like Sonny Stitt. Hmmm.. 9. Wow - largish bop group with a violin in tow ! Like the arrangement, quite unusual. No big suprises in the solos, fairly predictable. Sounds like this one could be a rarity and that it's taken from source vinyl. Posibly a European group of the late 40s/early 50s? Hmmm again.. - Wild ass guess would be Sam Rivers with a Boston-based Serge Chaloff group.. 10. Session with at least one cello plus rhythm section, cello taking the lead. Style reminds me of Oscar Pettiford but I guess Ray Brown might also be a candidate. 11. Aha - the tenor player on this one is instantly recognisable in his sound and style. Track 1 on This one.... The leader of the session is the drummer, this was one of the tenorists first recordings. 12. Vibes plus trio, mid-50s recording. My hunch (and it is no more than a hunch) is that the track could possibly be from this obscurity (this one..). 13. The guitarist (and his prodigious technique) sound quite recognisable, together with the interaction with the pianist. I don't have the particular black box for this guy so not sure but my hunch would be a track from this one, possibly track 7?

Here's the first half dozen or so:- 1. Recognised this one immediately. Great band who remained commercially viable for a long time without totally compromising. Tenor player and leader should be a US national treasure. I have it on a reissue compilation 'workshops' LP so I'm not totally sure of the original LP title but I think its this one... Trumpet player and regular collaborator with the tenorist also very recognisable. 2. Variations on tune in '1'. Sounds like it could be a Quincy Jones mid-size group from the late 50s, the arrangement has that sort of sound to it. Thad Jones - wait, no - Art Farmer in there? Could it be from that 'This Is How I Think About..' album? 3. Booting bigish band with baritone solo. Leo Parker? Tune sort of sounds like 'Flying Home'. This one guaranteed to wake you up.. 4. Swing era material - sounds like a swing group trying out bop as an experiment. Clarinettist sounds familiar. Could this be one of those BG tracks with Doug Mettome and Wardell Gray? (I have the Mosaic in the 'pending' pen so not yet familiar with this material). 5. Plunger mute intro leading into female vocal. This one has me flummoxed. Hodges-like alto solo. 6. I'm sure I've heard this one before. A very fine swing-era arrangement, very tight ensembles. Reminds me of Fletcher Henderson in terms of general feel. Very nice ! 7. 'How High The Moon' played afro-cuban style. Carmen Miranda orchestra? - wouldn't be one of those Johnny Richards arrangements for Kenton would it? Some very high trumpet work in there, reminding me of MF. more to come...

After the local live jazz last night (a great little band with expat tenor player Benn Clatworthy and the esteemable Martin Drew on drums) the became a . I'll post my answers now in batches instead of just having completed No. 23 with AMG links, check it and lose the lot. Still scratching my head over that strange but somewhat vaguelly familiar track on disk 1...

GRRRRRR I've just spent over an hour typing in my stuff for BFT 2 tracks 1-23 and I've lost the whole lot during a preview. Fortunately I've got my notes but I've lost all of the AMG links. I'll give it another go in the morning when my blood pressure is half way back to normal again. In any case its time to go out and see some live jazz..

Think I may just have pipped you in price on this one, Brownie - although the condition of yours may be a bit better. My copy of the Danish Debut was £8, found a couple of years ago. A great treat when you come across gems like this !

Bud Shank/Carmel Jones 'New Groove' (Vogue) and Victor Feldman 'Merry Olde Soul' (Riverside)

Sonny Simmons 'Rumasuma' on Contemporary. Group includes Barbara Donald and Billy Higgins

Not this particular lineup but I did see Roney and Holzman do a tribute concert for Miles about 5 years ago. That band had Bennie Maupin, Buster Williams and Lenny White in it. Patrice Rushen also came in on keyboards for some of the numbers. Hugely enjoyable evening, quite a lot of Miles's electric material was covered but they also did some 50s/60s acoustic classics too.

Been on a huge Jackie McLean kick of late. Love just about everything he ever recorded but the mid-60s period has been getting the main attention. The Mosaic set has been getting an 'airing' (just love those sessions with Tolliver, Hutcherson and Larry Willis). Tomorrow I'll dig out a vinyl of 'Jackie's Bag' for the AOW posting thoughts. Been playing a lot of Horace too. Especially 'Cape Verdean Blues' and that early album cut with Blakey and Mobley for Epic (sounds great on an early Dutch Philips pressing ).

The truly scary bit:- 'a record 1.6m viewers - 9% audience share - tuned in.' Well, it was either that, the pub or watching the snooker on BBC2

Now there's an LP that is powered by mothers. Must be next up on deck for reissue as a Conn, surely..