sidewinder

I got quite a thrill when I read that the first session on the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall Mosaic was recorded on the day of my birth.

Very cool indeed. One of the nice things about Germany has always been the public sponsorship of the arts and appreciation of music, in all its forms. From the UK we just get a glimse of this, via the excellent TV jazz broadcasts which are regularly put out by German-speaking countries over the satellite channels. I know that taxation is high in Germany (isn't it everywhere right across this continent, though ) but if my tax dollars were going towards this I'd feel that there was at least some payback. It would be nice to check this place out in person and the fine 'baroque' building that houses the collection is an eye-opener in itself. 'Respect' to the cultured citizens of Darmstadt ! I wonder if by chance they do a subscription Mosaic lending-library?

Gotta go with Sonny - on the basis of 'Go !' and 'A Swingin' Affair'.

Another vote for New Jazz Composers Octet 'Walkin' The Line'. This one should withstand the test of time and oozes 'class'. Andrew Hill's 'Passing Ships' would also be well up there on my list. An unexpected and wonderful treat...

Good news for any UK-based fans of guitarist Pat Martino. He will be bringing his group to Ronnie Scott's over the period Jan 5th-10th 2004 and if his previous (and to date only UK) appearance at the Pizza Express during 2001 is anything to go by, this should be unmissable. Some other excellent UK stuff also coming up in 2004, notably a Wayne Shorter 'Footprints' residency at the Barbican. Details (extracted from this month's 'Jazzwise') are: Mon 26th Jan - Wayne Shorter Quartet Tues 27th Jan - Wayne Shorter & Jason Rebello/Tomorrow's Warriors Wed 28th Jan - Guest Soloist TBC (the man himself, perhaps )/Shorter Stories Thurs 29th Jan - Wayne Shorter Quartet With BBC Concert Orchestra ( ) After a fairly dull December jazzwise, January is looking good !

Make sure you pick up the Patton, DrJ. I've been listening to it quite a bit over the last few days and it's a winner. Just a shame that they couldn't put out a regular Mosaic set with all of Big John's albums in one set but, heck, shouldn't grumble. This one is so good that it's taken up semi-permanent occupancy of the CD drive and I've hardly been able to get beyond the first disk of the Ellington Reprise... :rsmile:

They should have included 'Passion Dance' by Jackie and McCoy, which to my understanding followed 'Ghana'. It's an equally fiery performance and de Johnette really comes alive on this one (he always did sound good backing McLean). Too bad it was omitted. With respect to the Cecil Taylor solo performance, maybe the problem is that the style is just too far removed from the preceeding Turrentine/Smith number and the Blue Note 'house style'. Funnily enough, I actually quite like this performance of 'Pontos Candatos' and Taylor's timing and concentration on the performance is incredible. Freddie Hubbard was most definitely on form that night, although he does 'play to the gallery' a wee bit too much for my taste on a couple of occasions. It would have been nice to see James Spaulding in the lineup with Hutch (not to mention Harold Land..) but James Newton does a very credible job on 'Little B's Poem'. Nice performance of this. Two particular standout performances for me. McCoy Tyner on 'Sweet and Lovely'. Short but superb. Also Cecil McBee with the McLean/Tyner and Charles Lloyd lineups. McBee was all over the bass that night.. It must have been an emotional night for many of the musicians (Michael Cuscuna states as much in the notes, with many of the musicians meeting up again with Alfred Lion for the first time since 1967). My memory of the time is that the Blue Note style of jazz was just starting to get some recognition around 1985. The DMM reissue LPs were starting to reappear, clubs in London were promoting the Blakey/Silver sound and established artists such as Tony Williams were forming new bands based very much in the BN style. After the jazz-rock dominated 1970s and early 80s, it was a very distinct change. 'Thumbs Up' then for the DVD. Both sound and visuals a very distinct improvement on the VHS. Having said that, the VHS does have 'Passion Dance'. There was also a nice intro on the VHS with Joe Henderson playing a solo 'Recorda Me' on the stairwell. It would have been good to see that included somewhere (a 'miscellaneous out-takes' section on the menu could have included this plus a few other nuggets of interest).

I'll second that recommendation. 'Something For Lester' is a real sleeper and with the usual exemplary recording by Contemporary Records too.

Patricia - not sure when exactly it happened but most of the top end turntables these days have 33 1/3 and 45rpm, if you are lucky. I have a Linn LP12, a turntable which has been available in it's current form for at least 20 years and it 'defaults' to 33 1/3 but allows selection of 45rpm if you keep the power light depressed just a little longer. I've never actually used it 'in anger' ! I would agree with your comment about treating these black vinyl thingys like 'treasures'. Sometimes you feel like a combination of full-time museum curator and antique restorer. Recently, for example, got hold of a Red Garland Prestige original in not very good nick but with a bit of cleaning of the vinyl and restoration of the cover (some messy tape job was left on) it turned out to be a nice acquisition.

WOT - No 'Sidewinder' or 'Song For My Father' Not to fret though - Billy Joel and Whitney are in there .. ...

Just been in the process of checking out this set. I didn't have any of the 5 albums previously so the selection is fortuitous. The major thumbs up so far is for disk 3 and in particular the 'Understanding' album. Brilliant stuff - Patton and Alexander (and not forgetting Mr Hugh Walker, who most definitely gets in the groove and rides unless one happens to have cloth ears ) make a potent competition. Mosaic delivers big time yet again..

Regarding 'Song For My Father', I've got an old NYC mono vinyl copy that I'll cross-check against the RVG CD. I'll try to squeeze this in over the weekend, maybe also check out the 'Jody Grind' Liberty LP against the CD.

Thanks for the prompt with the Heath and Mitchell Riversides. I'll have to check them out. For 'Cedar' read 'Zelig' .......

'Rakin' and Scrapin' on the Morgan Fresh Sounds set is indeed the same tune as the one of that title recorded by John Patton with Marvin Cabell on 'Accent of the Blues', also credited to Mabern. The 'Lighthouse' has a fairly distinctive acoustic so maybe its worth cross-checking the sound of both sessions. Initial impressions are that the Fresh Sounds has the more 'raucous' audience, however both pianos have the same clinky, out of tune characteristics to my ears so maybe the location is indeed the Lighthouse? I'm inclined to favour that option but will give both another listen later today...

Recently got hold of a Prestige vinyl original of it, BFrank. It was a happy day when I came across it. There seems to be a general rule that any of the mid to late 60s Prestiges with Cedar in the lineup are guaranteed to smoke. Sonny Criss's 'Up, Up and Away' is another example.

Kenny Drew 'Undercurrent'. The Collectors' Choice version sounded OK to me and this one has some extremely nice playing by the Mobley/Hubbard front-line.

Wow - would have really liked to see that !! Now if only they would ship these guys over to Europe for a week or three.. Another Cedar recommendation... How about the album 'Strings' put out by Pat Martino on Prestige in the late 60s. A seriously groovin session with Cedar doing his usual stuff and Joe Farrell completing the quartet. A particularly nice version of 'Minority' on this one. Recommended for anyone who likes Cedar's 'Cedar!' and 'Spectrum' albums. :rsmile:

I've always enjoyed Walton's playing on two very under-rated Lee Morgan albums - 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Caramba', where he contributes much to the modal groove of these albums and gets in some fine solos. Walton always sounded good on Lee Morgan sessions.

I heard that Hank was in the audience but was too ill to play on the night. Didn't Duke Pearson pass away back in 1980? It goes without saying that Andrew Hill should have performed that night. A major oversight !

I'll bet they are training up those Master/Slave Police right now..

Bet it doesn't have a snazzy booklet and box... First impressions of the Mosaic are great (just listening to disk 1 - 'Recollections of the Big Band Era' and 'Will The Big Bands Ever Come Back'). Spirited stuff, wonderful features for Hodges and Carney, especially 'Rhapsody In Blue' for the latter). This set also has the magic words 'transfered and mastered by Malcolm Addey' and it shows. Definitely a very underestimated period for both Duke and Billy Strayhorn. So far, a big

I recently came across an old Ann Richards LP on VeeJay in the 2nd hand racks called 'Live At The Losers'. Looked to me that this place might have been somewhere in the LA area (the setting looked sort of like an out of town strip mall). Not suprised in the slightest, based on cover photo, to hear that this was a mafia-run joint.

The best of the Byrd/Adams collaborations IMO and Herbie is hot on this one. It's on the Byrd/Adams Mosaic.

Nice - but probably best for those with a frequent disk changeover fetish ! Me, I'm too lazy and even 33 1/3 RPM is wearing me out..

I'm suprised that no-one has posted a pic of a certain Lee Morgan album in this thread which shall of course be nameless.... Glad I jumped off the fence for this one before it went. I have 'Afro Bossa' and 'Concert' on a separate CD so know what to expect. Looking forward to getting my mits on the set..