Edward

With Mosaic's present free shipping offer, you save a couple of bucks on shipping costs if you purchase either the J.J. Johnson or Sonny Stitt. These are all great sets, and you cannot go wrong with any one of them. I voted for the J.J. Johnson set because several times I have gotten burned purchasing a newer set instead of an older set. After the purchase, the older set has shown up on the endangered list.

Game 3 is basically over right now - I am glad that I didn't make any bet regarding b3-er's spread. I look for the Lakers to bounce back next game, and (as b3-er originally predicted) a 7-game series.

I don't think so! (To be said as stated by Fred Willard's obnoxious character, Mike LaFontaine, in A Mighty Wind.)

I would definitely bet against Detroit covering that spread. I predict that the series will be at 3-2 after the next three games, hopefully with the Lakers in the lead. Since the switch to the 2-3-2 Finals format, no home team has won games 3 through 5. The Pistons in 1990, the Bulls in 1991, and the Lakers in 2001 each swept games 3 through 5 as the visiting squad.

I like Shelby Lynne as a singer also, but as for the , Ms. Lynne is TINY. I saw her open for Chris Isaak; the two later performed a duet, and Chris looked like a giant standing next to her.

OK, that guy. I've never seen him sitting next to Nicholson though. Everytime I see Nicholson, Altman is sitting next to him (on the right I believe). I still say the Lakers in 6, remember the 76ers won game one a few years ago. Thanks for the clarification, KDD. I think that you must be right - the guy whom I am talking about I have seen sitting next to Jack on the floor for many years now. Altman looks pretty damn good for 79! I am not too happy with the Lakers' effort on Sunday, but I have faith in their ability to make the appropriate adjustments. One of the things that I like best about Karl Malone is that he is so hard on himself after he has had a bad game. I expect some big performances from him before this series is over.

Yes, indeed. So many Allied successes depended on the actions of very brave, young men. Without Anglo-American resistance (Britain largely alone for about 18 months) to Nazi aggression, the world would be a far worse place. I have spent a good deal of time watching various programs on the History Channel, which has done an excellent job of commemorating the day.

Thanks for the information, SoulStation1.

Here are some interesting statistics regarding the NBA Finals series since the 2-3-2 format was adopted during the 1984-1985 season: Record of team with home court advantage: 15-4 Record of home team during games 1 and 2: 25-13 Record of home team during games 3 through 5: 24-30 Record of home team during games 6 and 7: 10-3 Of course, all of these statistics mean nothing - the only thing that matters is the present. That said, I predict that the Lakers win in no more than 6 games. I am sorry, Detroit fans, but the Pistons appears to lack both the experience and the offense to knock off this Lakers team. If Shaq and Kobe go their separate ways at season's end, then Detroit may be able to look forward to another NBA Championship in the near future. BTW, I found the article by Ralph Wiley incredibly biased and netiher informative nor persuasive. (Do any of you Lakers fans know the identity of the older gentleman who appears to have had a courtside seat next to Jack Nicholson during every Lakers game for so many years now? The gentleman appears to be around 60 with longish white hair protruding from a hat that he never seems to be without.)

Yes, this is great news (but not so for my wallet). As for Basie's Roulette output, I think that "Basie Plays Hefti" would be a great candidate for reissue. I am surprised that it has not yet been released on CD (other than on the Mosaic).

I am pretty certain that the Teddy Wilson set will be the next endangered Mosaic. Fortunately, I already have it. Hopefully for the rest of you, it will last at least until the end of this year.

"Around the world and back snap!" Men on Film were composed of Blayne Edwards and Antoine Merriwether. A group of us used to watch In Living Color together at the graduate dorm at UCLA (during its inaugural season?). I have great memories of this show, but I am reluctant to take the plunge considering all of the other television series that I am already collecting on DVD.

Congratulations, Johnny!!! I envy you living in Seattle.

I placed my order this morning; Mosaic is now down to around 30-35 copies of each set. I bet that these sets will be gone by Monday June 7th at the very latest.

Dmitry, I am curious. Is your car CD player a factory model? If so, what kind of car do you drive? I ask because I purchased a new car last summer and was also dismayed to find that many of the CD's that I played in my car became scratched. For some reason, it seems as though my Sony CD's are of heartier stock - I have not noticed scratches on any of them. I think that the CD's are getting scratched by the felt dust guard when they are sucked into the player, but I could be wrong.

JohnS, The Verve Music Group website lists an 08/17/04 date for the release of a Tal Farlow Mosaic International boxed set.

I also hope that the Gene Krupa reissue appears in the not too distant future. I have this session on a fairly poor sounding LP - the only ebay vinyl purchase in which I have been disappointed thus far, but I know that I have been extremely lucky in this regard. Swede, I think that the Verve site incorrectly listed "The Sound of Christmas" as an Ahmad Jamal session. Preliminary research appears to indicate that this is a Ramsey Lewis date. Too bad (with all due respect to Mr. Lewis - I might pick it up anyway).

TL, I just sent you a PM. -ED

The albums included in your poll are all fine, but I believe that the best single disc introduction to bossa nova is the Verve compilation, "The Girl from Ipanema - The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook." This CD contains only a few of the usual suspects ("The Girl from Ipanema" from Getz/Gilberto and "Jazz Samba" from The Composer Plays). What is impressive about this release is that most of the performances are exceptional, but not otherwise easily obtained - several songs seem to appear nowhere else on CD, while others (such as "Corcovado" by Sarah Vaughan, "Felicidade" by Billy Ecstine, and "Desafinado" by Ella Fitzgerald) come from albums that are NOT bossa nova albums. I highly recommend this collection, and I am not generally a fan of compilations. I believe that it would take a good deal of time (and a great number of bossa nova album purchases) before you found this CD to be a redundant part of your music library. If I had to choose a proper album, however, I would be hard pressed to decide between Getz/Gilberto and Jazz Samba. Cannonball's Bossa Nova is also excellent, and please do not overlook other albums that you have not listed, such as Wave, The Composer Plays, and Stone Flower by Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as From the Hot Afternoon by Paul Desmond and Big Band Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones.

I have sent you a PM regarding the Bowie.

I REALLY want to pre-order this set (something I do not/cannot usually do), but I have recently been thinking about getting the Mercury "Blues, Boogie, and Bop" set (a local store has a good price on one - I already have the 8-CD Mercury set). I am very pleased to hear that the Tal Farlow set was remastered by Malcolm Addey. I was a little worried that I had been a little hasty in selling my Japanese Verve Tal Farlow CD's a couple of months back. Did anyone else find it funny that the Tal Farlow set is limited to 10,000 copies? I believe that the NKC Trio and Ellington Reprise sets are the only other Mosaics that, thus far, have been limited to as many copies.

Don't forget Art Hodes. The Art Hodes Mosaic is one of my favorites.

I can't seem the verify the existence of this one. Anyone have any information? This CD is listed as a 2001 release from Neon Tonic Records on the Tower website. I know that this has actually been released (I was able to get my hands on a promotional copy), but I am positive that it was withdrawn due to legal problems stemming from inclusion of the Sinatra track. My copy has the Concord stamp and indicates that it was marketed and distributed by Concord Records, Inc. The Sinatra track is "All Of Me", and dates from 1978. The Ellington tracks are "Take The 'A' Train" and "Creole Love Call", both dating from around 1970. The Keely Smith tracks are "Misty" and "Be My Love", and date from 1968. There are also tracks by Sammy Davis, Jr. (2), Andy Williams (2), Lena Horne (2), and Ann-Margret (1).

Congratulations, Jim. Your photo shows that Zora truly is a beautiful baby - not all babies are so blessed. Of course, the problem with pretty little girls is that they all too soon grow up to become pretty teenagers and a source of worry for their fathers .

I am going to have to think about this a little before voting. I do think, though, that American Graffiti is the best movie about the transition from high school to the remainder of life.