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Your Favorite Mosaic


Guest Bixieland

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Guest Bixieland

They did add a nice silver lining to this booklet. . . quite appealing.

So it wasn't just me then. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah I know! -- I was just looking at that! I wasn't sure if this was just something they did on their earlier sets, (this is the earliest one of have I think) or if it just got special treatment. I like how the label on the cover is glossy while the rest is a fine-textured matte. And it's quite a heavy stock too. And then there's the shiny silver touches throughout.

This is the first box I'd grab in an emergency!!

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Guest Bixieland

Damn it Bixieland you're just going to make me un-seal this and listen to it, aren't you? I hope you're happy now. I really do. :lol: :lol: :lol:

He-he! Well, it's not like you were gonna sell the thing, right? :g

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Damn it Bixieland you're just going to make me un-seal this and listen to it, aren't you? I hope you're happy now. I really do. :lol: :lol: :lol:

He-he! Well, it's not like you were gonna sell the thing, right? :g

Well not until I have listened to it at least once anyway, but there's just sooooooooo many discs, it's just sooooooooo intimidating.

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Perhaps it doesn't really make sense to compare two sets of music just because both are Mosaics, but easily my favorite Mosaic set is the Buck Clayton Columbia Jam Sessions collection.

As soon as that thirties Basie-style rhythm section locks in on the first track (Moten Swing, what else?), it's pure audio delight. (The section is the Basie section, apart from the Count not being on piano.)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Bixieland

Damn it Bixieland you're just going to make me un-seal this and listen to it, aren't you? I hope you're happy now. I really do. :lol: :lol: :lol:

He-he! Well, it's not like you were gonna sell the thing, right? :g

Well not until I have listened to it at least once anyway, but there's just sooooooooo many discs, it's just sooooooooo intimidating.

Did you ever crack this one open? I'm interested to know what you think. It is intimidating...like it should be kept in a safe...

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Damn it Bixieland you're just going to make me un-seal this and listen to it, aren't you? I hope you're happy now. I really do. :lol: :lol: :lol:

He-he! Well, it's not like you were gonna sell the thing, right? :g

Well not until I have listened to it at least once anyway, but there's just sooooooooo many discs, it's just sooooooooo intimidating.

Did you ever crack this one open? I'm interested to know what you think. It is intimidating...like it should be kept in a safe...

Not yet, no. :blush: :blush: :blush: But every time I go through the booklet and see the photo of Nappy Lamare, hell even when I see the name Nappy Lamare, I really want to go get stuck into it, but something smaller always seems to get my attention first. :rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Nappy Lamare, Nappy Lamare, Nappy Lamare, Nappy Lamare, Nappy Lamare.......

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tough call... the ones that came up whilst reading the thread were: Mobley, Hill, Clayton (vinyl!)... if I had the Commodores, I'd grab all three of those first though! (Or the Keynote box, not a Mosaic, I know)

Other strong contenders would be the Ayler spirit box and the huge Patton box (unheard so far, what a shame!), and the Ray Charles I could hold in the hand of the arm that holds three Mosaics... or some such.

Also the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh, which was my very first one... and the Giuffre!

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Guest Bixieland

My current favorite is the Chu Berry set. From the sound quality, to the liners to the music...it's such a perfect set. Being able to cherry-pick all the good moments in his career, every track has one of those "excuse me for a second...I need to hear this" moment.

chuberry.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Bixieland

Lately, in addition to the Chu (which is holding firm!) I have to say... this one is moving up!

The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman & His Orchestra and Woodchoppers

g49360zmoj4.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I've always known that I was weird. In spite of the strong pull from Tristano, Andrew Hill, Larry Young, & Giuffre (and others), I think my most essential Mosaic is the Blue Note Sidney Bechet. Bechet at his best played some of the most powerful music ever, and this set has one of the stone cold masterpieces of jazz, "Blue Horizon" - a perfect five minutes of music, in my opinion. And the session with Bunk Johnson demonstrates collective improvisation at its most subtle and highly developed.

I know I'm weird. But listen to "Blue Horizon" and the session with Bunk. The other stuff is good, too.

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"Blue Horizon" is an old favorite. Bechet's tone is wide and warm on clarinet, and the performance just builds and builds. A real tour de force. The date with Bunk Johnson is memorable as well. Check out "Lord Let Me in the Lifeboat." The session with Bechet and Albert Nicholas also has some wonderful moments.

It's hard to pick a favorite Mosaic. Off the top of my head, the Edmond Hall/James P. Johnson/Sidney DeParis/Vic Dickenson, the Bechet, and the Art Hodes boxes would be high on the list, as would the Jimmy Giuffre, the Commodore sets, the Buddy DeFranco/Sonny Clark, and the Herbie Nicholas. I guess you can't really have more than one "favorite" so I'll stop.

Well, I've always known that I was weird. In spite of the strong pull from Tristano, Andrew Hill, Larry Young, & Giuffre (and others), I think my most essential Mosaic is the Blue Note Sidney Bechet. Bechet at his best played some of the most powerful music ever, and this set has one of the stone cold masterpieces of jazz, "Blue Horizon" - a perfect five minutes of music, in my opinion. And the session with Bunk Johnson demonstrates collective improvisation at its most subtle and highly developed.

I know I'm weird. But listen to "Blue Horizon" and the session with Bunk. The other stuff is good, too.

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