Edward

Lon, are you referring to the original two single disc Venuti & Lang releases on JSP or the newly released four or five CD boxed set? Thanks for the clarification.

Hmmm, this will be the second Mosaic set composed of Sony-owned recordings that will have been around for far longer than expected - 8 years this fall. (The first, of course, was the Woody Shaw set.) This set truly is wonderful. I was able to pick it up cheaply from Collectors' Choice Music several years ago when they were selling it as well as the Hank Mobley set at prices considerably lower than Mosaic's. Thanks again to (I want to say Tony Jerant) for alerting everyone on the BNBB at the time to this sale.

Here's wishing you a great birthday and all the best in your ____ year! (Please don't feel obligated to fill in the blank. )

Mark, Please do not give up on recovering your money by having your credit card company refuse the original charge. I cannot imagine why they would not do so considering all of the pertinent facts.

I was going to school at UCLA and living in Santa Monica when the '94 Northridge quake hit. Actually, I woke up about a minute before the quake hit because I had to take a leak (or perhaps I woke up for some other reason and realized that I had to use the bathroom). Fortunately, I did not get started before the quake began. I automatically place myself under the nearest doorway when I feel an earthquake start rumbling. I feel sorry (and concerned) about those not accustomed to quakes. My roomate at the time of the Northridge quake was a med student from Houston, and I yelled at him repeatedly to get under his bedroom doorway, but to no avail.

I heartily second the Helen Carr recommendation. This is a great CD (domestically released), and used copies can readily be found at good prices. There seems to be a great number of Toshiba Bethlehem reissues of albums by little known female jazz singers, and I would love to hear board members' input on these. The six Mel Torme Bethlehems are quite good, and I think that they are only a shade behind Torme's best Verve albums (i.e., "Swings Shubert Alley", "Torme", and "Count Basie and Duke Ellington Songbooks"). My favorites of the six are "It's a Blue World" and "Lulu's Back In Town". The three Chris Connor Bethlehems ("Sings Lullabys of Birdland", "Chris", and "This Is Chris") are not to be missed as I think that they are on par with her best Atlantic albums. I also recommend the two Bethlehem Johnny Hartman CD's that I have: "All of Me" and "Sings from the Heart". I cannot recall off the top of my head whether or not there was a third Bethlehem Hartman album. I also like the 2-CD "Porgy and Bess" set, but why oh why did Bethlehem choose to use Francis Faye as Bess instead of Chris Connor?! I have read that the Bobby Troup Bethlehems are also quite good, even though they might be a bit of an acquired taste for some.

Another reason to use credit cards rather than checking accounts with Paypal-you can take it up with your card issuer, too. Absolutely! I once challenged an internet purchase (non-ebay) because I never received the items and the only "proof" of shipment that I received was the vendor's assurance that shipment had been made. I wrote a very detailed letter to my credit card company, and the charge was removed in fairly short order. If a credit card was the source of your PayPal funding for this transaction, Mark, please give your credit card company a call soon.

I do what Quincy does with his receipts.

For what it's worth, this set will have been released five years ago this summer. ASSUMING a five-year lease period, Mosaic will probably be selling down their current inventory until it is exhausted. (In light of how slow a seller this set has been, I cannot foresee Mosaic running another pressing unless they have very little on hand at present. Consider also that storage space has been a problem for Mosaic in the past. I am only speculating, though. Anyone really worried about this set disappearing soon should ask the kind folks at Mosaic for their input.)

clandy44, Thanks for providing a great summation of the pros and cons of the Ory set.

The Anita O'Day (MD9-188) and Kid Ory (MD8-189) were both released almost five years ago. The O'Day set that I recently purchased was numbered around 2500. So, how would you rate the Kid Ory set? I doubt that the license on this will be extended, so I bet you that it will become unavailable by the end of next year. (Please note that this is, at best, a calculated guess on my part.)

deus62, Any recommendations as to where to begin with the six upcoming SACD releases that comprise the "Exclusively For My Friends" set? I plan to purchase a couple of these shortly after they released, but six would be too much for me initially. The releases are: Vol. 1, Action Vol. 2, Girl Talk Vol. 3, The Way I Really Play Vol. 4, My Favorite Instrument Vol. 5, Mellow Mood Vol. 6, Travelin' On Thanks!

I really enjoy "Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy and Bess" (the Verve release, NOT the Pablo date with Joe Pass that I heard is just awful - Peterson plays the harpsichord on this one!) Unfortunately, this disc has been OOP for several years now.

I agree largely with Brownie. The Clifford Brown Emarcy set is one of the first boxed sets that I purchased and it still one of my favorites. Unfortunately, I do not have the Roland Kirk set, but everyone I know who has it seems to think that it is wonderful. I would like to say, though, that if you are interested in (relatively) early Sarah Vaughan (I have all four sets, but I LOVE her Mercury years), the first Complete Sarah Vaughan on Mercury boxed set is definitely worth tracking down. I believe that only three of the albums from this set ("Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown", "In the Land of Hi-Fi", and "Swingin' Easy") were ever released domestically on CD, and only the Clifford Brown date is still in print. This set just went out-of-print. If you are patient and shop around, however, you should eventually be able to acquire any of the Vaughan sets at a good price. I wish that I could say this about the Roland Kirk, Helen Merrill, and Dinah Washington sets (although I have seen some of the less popular Dinah sets at decent prices.)

bebopbob, Have you (or anyone else on this board for that matter) heard the original lp? How does this performance rate? I really like the MJQ and I would love to hear another excellent performance of Porgy and Bess.

Ellington (~140 with some overlap) Sinatra (~75) Armstrong (~60 with significant overlap) Nat Cole (~50) Bob Dylan (~40) U2 (~35)

My favorites are two of the first Miles Davis albums that I purchased: "Steamin'" and "Kind of Blue".

The two front cover inserts of my Mobley Mosaic are also truncated, however, the pictures exactly match those shown on the box and the booklet. The black space to the left of the photo seems similar to the black spaces that appear on the top and bottom of your television screen when you watch a movie in widescreen format.

I do not think that you can go wrong with any of those options, although I do not yet have the Stanley Turrentine and I will not have the Anita O'Day (probably - hopefully) until tomorrow. I do not know whether the Mobley Mosaic or the Anita O'Day Mosaic will end up being around longer - it could be pretty close. I do know that the Anita O'Day set was released five years ago this coming summer, and that the Verve Stuff Smith set ended up being available for only five years. Yes, I realize that there apparently was some kind of screw up at Mosaic, but I am unsure whether Mosaic would have been able to extend this particular lease lease even had they been on top of things - a lot here may hinge on Verve's reissue plans as well as, perhaps, Ms. O'Day herself. Putting these considerations aside, most fans of jazz vocals seem to rate the O'Day set highly. Moreover, there is something to be said for Vajerzy's tactic of going after the highest priced set with your gift certificate - you will only be out of pocket $44.00 plus shipping whereas a later purchase will set you back more than $150.00.

Uncle Skid, I have heard some of the material on the Moncur set before. I really liked "Blue Rondo", but was not thrilled by "Air Raid". I realize that the music on this set must be difficult to categorize, but how much of it would you say resembles the former more than the latter? As for your Tristano/Konitz/Marsh vs. Mobley decision, I agree that you should probably go for the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh. Both sets are ostensibly limited to 7,500; the Tristano Mosaic was released about one year prior to the Mobley (summer of 1998). For what it's worth, the woman with whom I spoke at Mosaic this morning was unaware of any sets likely going OOP this year other than the Tristano, Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions, and the Teddy Wilson. Moreover, I bet you that the Mobley is a steady seller that will at least come close to reaching its potential production run of 7,500 units, in which case it will be in print for a while longer. It appears that interest in the Tristano set has waned over time and that is why it is becoming unavailable. Before placing your order, you should definitely ask for projections regarding the future availability of the Mobley. I once asked about a particular set that I was concerned might be at the end of its run and was told that there were X units left but that another Y units would be pressed thereafter. If I could only have one of these sets, though, I honestly do not know which one I would choose.

Thank you all for your thoughts - keep them coming! Uncle Skid, Thank you for your very helpful review of the Moncur set. I know that this set comes highly recommended by many, but I still have reservations about taking the plunge (even considering all of the stories like yours that I have heard over the years of people experimenting with avant-garde jazz to find the music grow on them.) I am really pleased with the Carmell Jones set. The quality of the material and the playing is quite high throughout. Please bear in mind, though, that I am a big fan of jazz trumpet and much of the jazz recorded during this period in general. (I'm sorry if this "review" is not too helpful.)

Are there any Mosaic Selects that you have purchased that really pleased you OR didn't quite thrill you as much as you had expected? I know that taste is totally subjective, and that one person's ambrosia is another's poison; but Mosaic has put out a fairly large number (ten) of select sets in about a year's time, and I am just trying to gauge others' thoughts. I generally have not found the reviews on the Mosaic site terribly helpful. I have the Carmell Jones, and this morning I just placed an order for the Anita O'Day (released in the summer of '99), Brookmeyer select, and disc 4 of the Stuff Smith set. (For those of you who did not copy the Stuff Smith discography while it was available, it appears that you would basically have the complete set [save, perhaps, for a few unreleased takes] if you were able to acquire discs 1 and 4 of the Mosaic as well as the old Stuff Smith/Dizzy Gillespie 2-fer.)

Garth, Unless my sources are incorrect, Buddy de Franco turned 81 last month. I, too, am a HUGE Buddy de Franco fan, although I have failed to pick up any of his recent recordings. It is great to hear that he is still at the top of his game.

Thanks for the link to the vibes thread (which a little diligent searching would probably have revealed) and all of the recommendations. I am looking forward to receiving via mail "Los Ritmos Calientes", which I was able to swipe for $9.00 delivered. I will probably invest next in another Verve session. Does anyone, though, have any comments regarding "Monterey Concerts"? Thanks!

Well, I finally spent some time listening to the two-disc Verve compilation, "More Than Mambo: The Introduction to Afro-Cuban Jazz", that I picked up cheaply ever so many months ago from the BMG Music Club, and found that most of my favorite tracks were by Cal Tjader. Consequently, I am looking to expand my rather meager Cal Tjader holdings. I already have "Soul Burst" and I just picked up "Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil". Are "Monterey Concerts" and "Soul Sauce" as great as the record guides make out? Moreover, what other Cal Tjader CD's do you recommend? Thanks in advance.