Which Jazz box set are you grooving to right now?

[Jazzmonkie]

[BFrank]

[Jazzmonkie]

[John Tapscott]

[ghost of miles]

On 3/12/2026 at 3:56 PM, John Tapscott said:

My first Basie set, purchased in  1992. It was a great introduction! Still have it. 
 

Right now:

[JSngry]

Perhaps not "essential", but definitely enjoyable!!!

[jlhoots]

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

Perhaps not "essential", but definitely enjoyable!!!

Like many "anthologies" some cuts are better than others. Overall I'm glad to have it.

[GA Russell]

On 1/22/2026 at 6:18 PM, GA Russell said:

Disc Three

originally issued as...

Stompin, my memory is pretty vague on this.  My recollection is that EMI issued three or four similar box sets in the mid-'90s, each called "60 Great Jazz Classics.".  Each box had four CDs, and sold for $19.99.  A very low price in those days.

I wish I had bought them all.  I bought the one "For Lovers." 

I see these on Amazon.

Following this discussion, I picked this up.

Just my kind of music!  Of the 60 tracks, I would not have included only four or five.

All of the songs are well-known, but there are quite a number which I did not know were show tunes.

[GA Russell]

not jazz

Disc 4

[ghost of miles]

On 5/7/2026 at 6:40 PM, JSngry said:

Perhaps not "essential", but definitely enjoyable!!!

Yes!!! Just pulled this out of my recently-purchased stack to resume listening. 

[BFrank]

[Jazzmonkie]

[ghost of miles]

[mikeweil]

LP sized book with great photos of saxists by Giuseppe Pino, accompanied by 4 CDs pulled from the Fantayy catalogue by a mind with a rather cursory knowledge of jazz sax. I mean, the many new jazz saxists like Hemphill never had releases on these labels, but Clifford Jordan and Joe Henderson had! And this producer of classical music avoided pre 1950 recordings, probably because of their sound. No Bird or Jug. And with only 40 minutes per disc a lot of playing time was wasted.

[ghost of miles]

Revisiting this one on Memorial Day.

[gmonahan]

46 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Revisiting this one on Memorial Day.

Love those big Bear boxes! The two Coles are amazing. Wish they'd done a '51-'55 box. It's been tough collecting all those!

 

[felser]

Beginning my survey of lesser heard Trane by working through the three beautiful Prestige box sets.  Fantasy suddenly got it right, then sold out to Concord, who always gets it wrong.

[ghost of miles]

20 hours ago, gmonahan said:

Love those big Bear boxes! The two Coles are amazing. Wish they'd done a '51-'55 box. It's been tough collecting all those!

 

You’re not the only one! Not long after those two BF boxes came out I emailed Jordan Taylor, who was involved with their production, and asked about a possible 1951-55 set, but he didn’t think it was likely such a project would be undertaken. I can’t recall why, though. The Mosaic Capitol set extends into that era but leaves a lot out because of its trio focus. Glad that this one and the follow-up made it out into the world, though. And the accompanying books are beautifully done… great for an NKC binge or deep dive. 

Edited May 26 by ghost of miles

[felser]

Continuing my survey of Prestige Trane:

[king ubu]

On 5/8/2026 at 12:40 AM, JSngry said:

Perhaps not "essential", but definitely enjoyable!!!

So this is out? I ordered with Soundohm months ago and upon my request they told me there were too many issues and it needed re-pressing.

[JSngry]

11 minutes ago, king ubu said:

So this is out? I ordered with Soundohm months ago and upon my request they told me there were too many issues and it needed re-pressing.

I think I got a first run. And it has been repressed. Whether or not they're needing three I can't tell you.

[king ubu]

Thanks, things were (and still are somewhat) unclear to me. But I found Soundohm reliable and a pleasure to deal with so far (for instance, they offered the crazy Tapscott I.U.C.C. series and delivered as promised).

[GA Russell]

Disc One

The bass here is the perfect volume, IMO.

[BFrank]

Some really nice mid-60's Sonny in this set.

[mikeweil]