Face of the Bass

I finally started reading this a week ago. This might be the best jazz book I've ever read. It's up there with Szwed's Space is the Place. The reason is that it flows very smoothly and offers an incredibly detailed portrait of the jazz world in the 1950s. It's much more than a Rollins biography; in fact, I don't know of another jazz book that does a better job chronicling the hard bop scene and particularly the drug scourge. Incredible stuff.

I bought my first set at the age of 27. It was the J.J. Johnson, which I still think is one of their better sets in terms of availability and quality of the music. I've bought a lot since then, but sold most of them when I realized they weren't essential.

I'm not a huge Mingus fan. This has always been my favorite period of his. Among actual Mingus lovers, it seems to be underrated, from what I can tell.

Are there any good books on the history of the Hammond B3 organ in jazz, or biographies of individual musicians who played the instrument? I haven't been able to find much in my own searching. Thanks.

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That's one I would actually be excited to get.

Guys, relax. Jazz is finished as an art form. It's been comatose for decades. Nobody should care about the race of the people who get to be the "gatekeepers" to an abandoned neighborhood.

Bump if anyone is interested in these...

Genuine question: Thirty years ago, Mosaic was releasing sets from the 1960s. Is there a business reason why they can't release sets from the 1990s now? Or is it just that they want to maintain the impression that historically important jazz ended in the 1960s? If you look at it, the vast majority of their releases exist within a roughly forty year time span (1930-1970). Those decades have been pretty thoroughly documented, which is why these threads almost never yield any suggestions that I'd be interested in buying.

I bought my first Mosaic when I was 26 years old. I'm now 45. Something that surprises me is that in those two decades, Mosaic has really done nothing to try to reach a broader audience or to move outside of its particular comfort zone, even though the number of people interested in jazz recordings from the 1930s to the 1960s has obviously shrunk over that time.

A bunch of new stuff added, please take a look.

Bump...added a Mingus Resonance set. Bump again...added three Charlie Parker sets...

Update with some Wadada Leo Smith sets added, plus some Resonance and other box sets.

Update with price drops...

In the need to create some space, I have the following Box sets and individual CDs for sale. Paypal only, PM if interested. Prices include shipping to the US. Please inquire about international deliveries: Box Sets: Debussy: Complete Orchestral Works (Naxos) $30 Julius Hemphill: The Boye Multi-National Crusade for Harmony $70 Individual CDs: Albert Ayler: New York Eye and Ear Control Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $10 (still sealed) Albert Ayler: La Cave Live Cleveland 1966 Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $10 (still sealed) Albert Ayler: 1964 Prophecy Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $7 Albert Ayler: 1964 Spirits to Ghosts Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $7 John Carter/Bobby Bradford: Flight For Four $30 Joe Harriott: Free Form & Abstract Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $12 Keith Jarrett: Always Let Me Go (ECM) $10 (still sealed) Steve Lacy: The Way (hatology) $11 (still sealed) Archie Sheep: Blasé and Yasmina Revisited (Ezz-thetics) $7

Bump. I still have a couple sets available. PM me if interested.

I am looking for either of the Bear Family Box Sets of Freddie King. If you have any available for sale or trade, please PM me. Thanks!

Braxton is sold. That Art Ensemble has been sitting here for months. Maybe everybody who wants it already has it.

Bump if anyone wants these...

Bump with updates and some price drops. PM if interested!

I like the Evans Verve set. I like the music, I like the packaging even. I like the rust. I've never had any problem with anything interfering with the music on that set. The packaging that I really don't like is Mosaic. The cookie cutter approach does a real disservice to the music. I'd rather see a company go for something and try to make a statement with the packaging than to just use the same formula over and over again. One reason I'm glad that Mosaic has never done a Sun Ra set is that their boring packaging would be a complete disservice to Sun Ra's vision.

Update with another price drop and the Hemphill set added...

Update with Braxton set added.

Update with price drops. Thanks for looking!

Hello, I have the following box sets for sale. PayPal only, PM if interested. Shipping is included to US. Will ship internationally at cost. All boxes are in like new condition unless otherwise indicated. Thanks! Art Ensemble of Chicago -- And Associated Ensembles (ECM) $80 Anthony Braxton--Quintet (Tristano) 2014 -- $60 Slim Harpo -- Buzzin' the Blues: The Complete Slim Harpo (Bear Family) $70 Leadbelly: Smithsonian Folkways Collection (Smithsonian Folkways) -- $40 Thanks!