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Face of the Bass

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  1. I don't know if this new format will be for everyone, but I can definitely say that it's much more thought out than some of the early posters in this thread seemed to assume. I've been reading through it a bit tonight, and I'm only up to the 1920s, but what strikes me again is the wonderful quality of the writing. Morton (and Cook when he was alive) are both very good writers, and I feel that this really got lost to some extent in the more recent versions of the Penguin Guide.
  2. I just picked up a Kindle copy of this for my IPhone, and have been reading through it today here and there. I have to say, I think making these changes was a really smart move. The more recent editions of this book had been plagued, IMO, by hopeless attempts to cover everything superficially. Inevitably they couldn't cover everything (or even close to everything) and what they did cover was usually very truncated and somehow lacking. Now they've reorganized the book so it reads more like a history of jazz on record, with recordings organized chronologically instead of alphabetically. The writing for each entry is much more thorough, and even more awesome, they've added these pretty interesting quotations from the musicians themselves, or sometimes from other musicians about each musician. These quotes are also unique sources: they all come from Brian Morton's personal collection of interviews, so it's not just a reprinting of something that was published somewhere else. The result, for my money (and the e-version of this was less than $18), is much more of a "book", much less a "reference guide." Given how many recordings there are out there now, I think this is a shift in the right direction. Only 1001 recordings are covered in this version, but reading through this I will have much better information, and much better writing, about those recordings than I had for the 14,000 recordings that were touched on in the ninth edition. Also, I'm glad they got rid of the star rating system, which really obscured more than it enlightened. I have to say, I'm liking having a version of this book on my cell phone. No, I can't just randomly start flipping the pages as easily as I could a physical book, but I can carry it with me when I go to record stores or I can pick it up and read it easily for a few minutes when I have the time. Plus, I save a lot of shelving space. One continuing source of annoyance, though, is their categorical refusal to include anything by Mosaic. Their reasons (that the sets are targeted to a niche audience, that they go out of print after a few years) just don't wash. The same could be said for a lot of recordings that they do cover.
  3. Oh, believe me, I'd buy a seven or eight disc set, too! I just have amassed lots of Rivers' music over the years... but I quite agree about the Braxton and Threadgill being an exciting new turn (still have to get the Threadgill one though). I'd be all for more similar releases! I don't have nearly enough Rivers, but generally love the stuff I've heard. To me the shifting of focus to the avant-garde of the 1970s and 1980s is a natural direction for Mosaic. They've just about gone through everything there is to go through on Blue Note from the 1950s and 1960s, and the reissues from the earlier eras are nice, but are also (generally) retrospectives of music that mainly is available from other places.
  4. Well as a jazz fan who wasn't alive when most of this stuff was happening in the 1970s, this is the kind of Mosaic set that gets me most excited, and I would hate to see the material sloughed off as a three-disc select. The Braxton and Threadgill sets were some of the best Mosaic has ever done, IMO, and a Rivbea set would fit well in that lineage, I think.
  5. Yeah, I understand the whole business side of things, but I'm not sure I could care less about another Mosaic set of Ellington material, whereas the Studio Rivbea stuff could potentially be genuinely "new" stuff, or at least stuff that hasn't been released on "official" compact discs before.
  6. Thread bump...does anybody know if Mosaic is still planning on releasing this set?
  7. It's like a Ken Burns wet dream, which is to say, horrifying.
  8. I'm thinking of picking this one up and was wondering what people's impressions of this set are now that it's been awhile since it was released. The samples on the site sound appealing but I'm wondering if this will be too much of the same kind of music, over seven discs...Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
  9. PM sent on the Taylor box.
  10. Postpaid in North America. Inquire about shipping overseas. John Patton Mosaic Select: $55 Oliver Nelson Mosaic: $75 PM if interested. Thanks!
  11. Hope you love it as much as I have. I don't heap that much praise on a set very often!
  12. But not for reasonable prices. The "buy it now" Selects are pretty expensive and the ones that are auctioned off usually go for $80 and up. I'm offering a Patton Select for $60 postpaid over at Offering and Looking For if anyone is interested... Still waiting on the Beiderbecke. Hopefully soon.
  13. I'm selling my John Patton Mosaic Select, #4556. The discs and liner notes are in like new condition. The outer box has some light wear on the corners. $60 postpaid to the U.S. Shipping to Europe is $65 postpaid. Inquire if looking to ship elsewhere. Thanks!
  14. I guess my complaint about the Mosaic stems from the fact that they don't change their design at all from set to set. Elvin Jones is Bobby Hackett is Bix Beiderbecke is Anthony Braxton is Louis Armstrong is Sam Rivers is the Four Freshmen...you get the idea. The design is perfectly fine taken in isolation, but used a hundred times over? I think a little adventure wouldn't hurt. Maybe something to keep the same overall design and size but a tweak for each box? I don't know. I don't think the b&w look fits all boxes as well.
  15. Is this a response to my crack about the Evans box? If so, I think you're putting me on, but I'll bite. The large size of the Mosaic boxes permits larger photographs in the booklets, and the black and white is beautiful. The best photos ever taken of jazz musicians are in black and white, especially of most of those to whom the big boxes are devoted. As for the Evans box, nasty to open, hard to get the discs out, liners impossible to read. I long ago repackaged the cds in "boring jewel cases" and threw the box in a box...to rust away. I think most would agree that it represents the nadir of "high concept" packaging for reissues. gregmo I was actually being serious. I love Mosaic but wish they would be more adventurous with their packaging, to be honest, although I agree that the best jazz photographs are in black and white. My favorite packaging for box sets are the Miles metal spine boxes put out by Columbia.
  16. I kind of like the design. Actually, if you think about it, compare it to the Mosaic boxes. Unnecessarily large, unimaginative in that they all look almost exactly the same and use boring jewel cases, lacking color, etc. etc.
  17. Listening to this again now, I first bought it when it came out. Have to say this is probably the very best box set I own, and I own a lot. I return to it way more often than I do any Mosaic, any of the Miles boxes, Coltrane boxes, etc. The only other contender would be the Ornette Atlantic box, but seriously, anyone who likes this kind of music at all and doesn't have this material (and where else would you get it?) and can afford it should jump all over this one. You won't regret it.
  18. A very nice gesture and I wish to God that would fix the problem. However, my OCD runs a little deeper than that. Without the packaging it just wouldn't "count." Thanks anyway. What part of the original packaging do you need? Were the K2s the ones that came in the red slipcases? You keep those?
  19. I just checked and I'm pretty sure my version of Cookin' is the K2. I don't have it in its original jewelcase, but I could put it in one and ship it to you. I have this album in other formats and will give this to you for free, just because I admire your OCD-ness. (And in case I'm wrong and the version I have is not the one you need.) PM me your address and I will ship mine on Monday. I am going to the post office then anyways.
  20. Yes, I think it was my attempt to order this set last night that prompted them to update the listing. I'm getting really frustrated with all the back-ordered items in their catalog these days.
  21. I understand opinions are mixed on this box, so if there's anyone out there that wouldn't mind parting with theirs for $$$ or in trade, please contact me via PM. I'd prefer to do $$$ as I don't have a lot to offer in trade at the moment. Thanks.
  22. But if they're charging you that much for the item, why the $2.98 for shipping? Seems like the shipping should be for free at that point. Bah.
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