Bobby Hackett Mosaic

[BruceH]

I found this from poking around the Mosaic site:

DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE FROM ME::

(N) Bobby Hackett (cor), Cutty Cutshall, one or two unknown (tb), Dick Cary (E flat horn), Bob Wilber (ts,ss), four unknown (saxes & reeds), Dick Hyman (p, harpsichord), unknown (g), John Dengler (bass), unknown (d,tambourine), three females (background vocals), David Terry (arr, cond)

NYC, November 27,1957

21793 Autumn Serenade T 1002

21794 Moonlight Serenade -

21795 The Thrill Is Gone -

21796 Softly As In A Morning Sunrise

Hmmm... harpsichord, tambourine, and 'three females' doing background vocals? Does this, maybe, say, "don't buy me, spend your money on a different Mosaic box?"

No more than organ, flute, and 'electric piano' says the same about many jazz albums.

[BruceH]

wes-- i'm pretty sure you will dig this immensely once you get past the apprehensions... which once, in my younger years, i too shared but there's a heat & weirdness all its own even in the pop stuff...

Like the ultra-weird female backing vocals on some Jackie Wilson sides?

[Harold_Z]

Brunswick gave Jackie 50s and 60s "pop" star production on his records when probably most of us would have preferred a harder, jazzier R&B approach. You had to get that side from his gigs. Even when the tunes were the same, the backing didn't have studio voice backings. He WAS one hell of a singer as well as a dynamic performer.

In contrast to Babby Hackett - with Bobby it was easier to find purer jazz recordings to contrast the "pop" with - the "poppish" recordings were just one facet.

[BruceH]

Quite right, Harold, but to me there are few things more bizarre in music than the backing vocals on some Wilson singles where the women sound like they are being electrocuted. It's so over the top that it's oddly fascinating. An "ugly beauty" thing, if you will.

But the Jordanaires---they just plain suck. I agree with you Clem; they're loathsome.

[Bright Moments]

picked this up in the 10% off sale.

i like it!!!!!

[mikelz777]

I really like Bobby Hackett but this tended to lean more toward mood music with a great trumpeter featured which didn't really float my boat. I heard enough of it from another source to decide that I would keep my copy sealed and ended up trading it in for the Farmer/Golson Jazztet set. I love the Jazztet set and in my opinion, I traded up.

[Guest Bixieland]

Just got this set the other day and it's fantastic, even better than I thought. Hackett's sound is so good. I'd say the mood-music concerns are a little overstated. I have some of the Gleason stuff, which is okay...but this is CLEARLY not that. It sounds similar to what people were doing in the 50s, with the dixieland revival...except the bent towards more pop or mood-music slants, keeps it from becoming rehashed dixieland...nor staight out fluff or mood.

So it's not dixieland or mood really. I think that's what surprised me. It was a lot like the Capital Jazz box, or what I imagined the Condon boxes to be.

And then there's Hackett...he just plays....and you get to hear him on every track!!!!

Edited May 24, 2007 by Bixieland

[Kalo]

I don't have this box, but I likes me some Bobby Hackett

.

[Kalo]

I really like Bobby Hackett but this tended to lean more toward mood music with a great trumpeter featured which didn't really float my boat. I heard enough of it from another source to decide that I would keep my copy sealed and ended up trading it in for the Farmer/Golson Jazztet set. I love the Jazztet set and in my opinion, I traded up.

Cain't blame ya.

[Brad]

I picked up a sealed set for almost next to nothing on eBay and started to listen to it.  Contrary to what I previously said, I like it. He has a beautiful tone. 

[Jim Duckworth]

The Bobby Hackett box was a game-changer for me.  Not only did I not have any of its constituent records, I was not listening to anything related to it.   It took a minute for me to get it, but when I did I appreciated a whole new to me aspect of music.

[Justin V]

I bought 4 discs for $10-$20 total.  I ended up keeping Discs 3 and 4 and sold Discs 1 and 2 because the vocals were a turnoff.  I do have a Jackie Gleason album featuring Hackett when I am in the mood for Hackett with a lush background, though.

It's a set that has something for everyone even if the entire set might not be for everyone.  Some people in my position might have even sold the small-group discs and kept the mood music.

[Brad]

I haven’t gotten to the vocals yet. I will probably skip over them. $10-20 is a heck of a bargain. I bought the whole set (including book and box) for $45.