BFrank

I keep thinking that I need to get his Mosaic Select set.

I heard that part today, too. What a jerk.

When most of these were first issued there was no choice. The long box was only created in the last year or so. Given the choice now, I still might go with the metal spine...but I would have second thoughts.

Hey! That's EXACTLY what mine looks like!

Well, sure! It's not a new addition, though.

Monk In Paris: Live At The Olympia looks pretty excellent. I listened to the clips and the sound quality is very nice, too.

In general, whenever jazzers covered 60s-70s rock/pop tunes I found them horribly embarrassing. I'll get around to Gerald eventually. I have too much to catch up on, anyway (e.g. Anita O'Day).

Yeah, that's the one. I've heard both sides of this argument about the pop tunes. I'll get around to listening to it eventually. I'll probably even like it.

Or - some would argue - the 5th disk of the Gerald Wilson set. I've been so afraid to listen to it, I haven't even broken the shrink-wrap yet.

Oh, yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Anita - disk #1

Of course in a collection this size there's bound to be at least a few bloopers included. Especially when it's a "complete" set. That just comes with the territory. I bet there's a very high ratio of quality tunes to thow-aways, anyway.

Actually, on my first time through, I thought that parts of it were a little MORE "pop-ish" than I had expected. Not that there's anything wrong with it.

Since the other thread has devolved into sniping and bad feelings, I thought I would bring this one up for actual discussions of Mosaic's Running Low/Last Chance lists. Any takers?

Here's what Mosaic says about the leasing situation: Why Limited Editions? Mosaic does not own Pacific Jazz, Atlantic, Columbia, RCA, Blue Note, Verve or any other catalog product. With the exception of our Benedetti/Parker set, we lease all of our recordings from other record companies. The leases vary in detail, but in every case there's a cap on either the number of units we are allowed to manufacture or the number of years we're allowed to offer the set for sale. Therefore once the set has sold out, it will not be made available again.

I saw the BB earlier this year and was a little disappointed at how little Charles played, too. He's coming to Yoshi's in a few weeks with a "Night of the Cookers" show. I'm hoping to see him do some serious blowing for that one. Included on this bill: BILLY HARPER, JAMES SPAULDING, CHARLES TOLLIVER, DAVID WEISS, JOHN HICKS, DWAYNE BURNO, ROY McCURDY

Whole lotta Byrd/Adams suddenly showing up on ebay.

I don't know about Shepp's health, but someone posted this about Reggie Workman over on JazzCorner: But I just got back from seeing the Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd quartet at the Iridium, with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille as the rhythm section. About halfway through, Reggie had to leave the stage because of "health problems," and about 10 minutes later some paramedics came in to check on him. Like I said I don't have any hard facts about what was going on, but it obviously wasn't a good thing.

Nice review of the big band in today's NY Times: +++ August 5, 2005 A Reverse Vanishing Act From a Hard-Bop Pro By NATE CHINEN Forty years ago, Charles Tolliver was an apprentice to the alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and seemingly earmarked for jazz's modest version of stardom. A prodigiously gifted trumpeter and composer, Mr. Tolliver specialized in a bristling variety of hard-bop that perfectly suited the era; one of his songs, "Right Now," felt enough like a manifesto in 1965 that Mr. McLean added an exclamation point and made it the name of an album. "Right Now" was Mr. Tolliver's first number at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola on Wednesday night, and it still galvanized. But it also invited reflection. Mr. Tolliver, who spent the first half of the 1970's releasing scintillating material on his own Strata-East label, essentially vanished from the jazz world after 1975. He re-emerged just a couple of years ago, leading a big band that resembled the one on "Impact," his last studio album. The strength of this resurrected band at Dizzy's, and the relish with which Mr. Tolliver conducted it, begged the question of how he kept quiet for all those years. Mr. Tolliver's writing for big band is modular rather than orchestral; he builds around a small-group core so that supplemental elements - most often a coordinated blast of horns - can be added or elided without disruption. This made for a collective elasticity on "Plight," one of his oldest tunes; during a tenor saxophone solo by Greg Tardy, the horn section sprung into action, on cue, with a row of sharp interjections. "Truth," a ballad, was less effective; although it gracefully showcased Mr. Tolliver's still-lyrical trumpet playing, its long-tone ensemble voicings served a merely ornamental function. Structurally, Mr. Tolliver's music relies on ostinatos, or repetitive grooves, entrusting the rhythm section with a critical role. At Dizzy's, it helped that the pianist John Hicks and the bassist Cecil McBee were the musicians with whom Mr. Tolliver had the strongest ties, stretching back to the Strata-East years. But it was Ralph Peterson, the drummer, who really drove the ensemble. Tumultuously and brutishly propulsive, he kept the stakes high and the atmosphere intense; he made it difficult to imagine this band without him. The possibilities of Mr. Tolliver's aesthetics were most exhaustively explored on "Mournin' Variations," the highlight and finale of the set. In its original form on "Impact," the song featured an introduction scored for strings and evocative of the Far East; here Mr. Tolliver substituted woodwinds (the saxophone section, doubling on flutes and clarinets) for an effect more suggestive of African-American spirituals. Then, with a flick of the wrist, the brass screeched into the picture, and a strutting tempo kicked in. What ultimately set the song apart was a parade of gripping solos - by the gutsy tenor saxophonist Bill Saxton, the debonair trombonist Clark Gayton, the brightly incisive trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and finally Mr. Hicks, in an aggressive modal vein. Each improvisational space gave the impression of a proving ground, and each player handled the challenge with personality and poise. It was in those moments, with the spotlight on supporting players, that Mr. Tolliver's promise seemed fully renewed. The Charles Tolliver Big Band plays through Sunday at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, Time Warner Center, (212) 258-9595.

Jackie McLean disk #2

Stephen Colbert does a good "report" on this film on the Daily Show. You can watch the rerun tonight. Check your local listings.

Except that this Forum is entitled: "Mosaic and other box sets..."

Just pick up the Mosaic before it goes OOP. You'll get that PLUS a ga-zillion other sessions all at once.

Mine is #2973.