Joe

Right or wrong, we've been doing it that way in Dallas for years!

Is there any Gil Evans material that has not otherwise been collected / would especially benefit from Mosaic treatment?

Any of Gerry Hemingway's solo percussion discs are worth hearing and / or acquiring. E.g., http://www.discogs.com/Gerry-Hemingway-Acoustic-Solo-Works-1983-94/release/1190112

Gary McFarland's Verve and Impulse output might benefit from a Mosaic-enabled reevaluation. The boundaries of such a set could get squishy, given the volume of arranging work he did for others, but even if the set were to concentrate only on the dates issued under McFarland's own name... there's some "scope" for you right there...

Sonny Simmons, JEWELS.

I checked a wide variety of albums where he is either leader or sideman. They all referred to him as Sonny Red. Perhaps you are thinking of the two d's in the female alto sax player Vi Redd? FWIW, He is routinely billed as Sonny Redd on Savoy... And note his billing here... This last being a true outlier, i.e., I've never seen him billed as Red Kyner anywhere else... Huh...

How long was this particular group together anyway? They only managed to produce one LP, correct? I always thought Farmer truly expanded the possibilities of this particular configuration / template...

Spacious!

Those wishing to dig REALLY deep into Mr. Davis extensive and diverse discography might be interested to hear his work with Don Shirley...

Thanks Mark, and all.

General opinions on the Boulez / Cleveland "Great Performances" rendition?

IIRC, Monk, Nichols and Hill were the (modern) pianists Lion felt he had to document / have on Blue Note. That is, he had a special passion for their music.

Horace is going to be Horace, regardless, it seems to me. But compare Blakey's non-BN work to his BN work... besides, I feel like its Blakey's notions of ensemble, arranging -- not to mention the players he brought into the BN fold -- that helped define what the label was all about. (Post-bop, of course.) And not just its art, but its commerce as well. In the latter case, we ignore Jimmy Smith at our own peril.

There's a stridency to some of Hubbard's Blue Notes that I just can't hang with. But the best of them -- OPEN SESAME, READY FOR FREDDIE, HERE TO STAY -- are superb indeed. Mitchell, for me, always serves the music or, if you will, the concept. He's pitched somewhere between KD's "splatter" and the brassier, lead dude stylings of a Morgan, Hubbard, etc. I guess what I'm saying is, when I think of Blue Note, I think of a particularly cultivated hard bop vibe that is as sophisticated as it is street, supportive of both dancing and brooding. (The sound of many of McLean's pre-LET FREEDOM RING dates, Henderson's OUR THING, the finest of Mobley's early 60s sides). Mitchell really captures that feel, or so I feel today. Maybe I'm thinking too cinematically... Was Morgan the greater musician? Without question. Yet, as inseparable as Morgan is from "Blue Note" as label, as idea, label-as-idea, "mystique," he's Lee Morgan whenever, wherever. (I'll counter my own argument, though: Moncur's EVOLUTION.) As fine as Blue's Riverside records are, there's something different about his BN work, a mutual support or complement between what he's playing and what Lion & Woolf are shaping. Ultimately, the quintessential BN figure is Blakey, isn't it? More than Silver?

Love all these guys, KD especially, but, to my ears, Blue Mitchell above all really understood the BN "aesthetic" and made his approach work within that BN groove... he could be moody, he could be boppy, Silver-y, funky... maybe not as prepossessing as Morgan, not as fiery... but also a bit more, um, careful, and not in a cautious way... dig Blue's contributions to Brooks' BACK TO THE TRACKS, e.g. Quintessence! Also, Dave Burns... a trumpet player of incredible technical prowess... wasn't he a trumpet teacher of some renown? Anyway, he's heard to very good advantage -- he actually gets to stretch out some -- on Arthur Taylor's A.T.'S DELIGHT and Dexter's LANDSLIDE (more Tommy Turrentine there, too).

IN THE WORLD is a must, as is its sort-of bookending STARTING TIME, the date with Dorham from 1961, the period during which, IMO, KD was playing at his best / most creative and accomplished. The rhythm section is Cedar Walton, Wilbur Ware and Tootie Heath, and the program features early / alternate versions of "Sunrise in Mexico" and "Windmill" from KD's WHISTLE STOP as well as Walton's "Mosaic." The band never really stretches out all that much; instead, they opt for a certain focus... maybe its more of a composer's than player's record? Whatever the case, worth hunting down. Last available in the States as part of a Fantasy 2fer, paired with Sonny Red's A STORY TALE, featuring Jordan with Ronnie Matthews and Elvin Jones

Already mentioned, but ROYAL BALLADS on Criss Cross merits another recommendation... the presence of Vernell Fournier helps make this an exceptional date...

Some favorite Jordan sideman appearances...

A bit of history re: the El Dorado Ballroom (a truly historic site): http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xde02 http://projectrowhouses.org/community/eldorado/

Sad news. Fine drummer; always tasteful.

Thanks all. Its those limited edition Japanese issues that probably account for much of my confusion as to what, actually, has been brought to market. Given that so many of the original LPs were sourced (so to speak) from live dates, I have to wonder about unreleased material. But, then again, we probably would have heard much of that already. The later / 70s material is not to everyone's tastes, but, the more I listen, the more I feel it has -- at the risk of sounding patronizing -- anthropological and historical value beyond musical quality, however measured.

Perhaps this has been addressed here before (though an admittedly cursory search of the archives doesn't turn up anything) but I've been listening recently to Cannonball's later Capitols (QUINTET AND ORCHESTRA, THE BLACK MESSIAH) and wondering, "Why hasn't this been a Mosaic set?" But the question that follows -- "Well, how big of a set would this be? Too big? How much unreleased material might there be?" -- is one I feel completely unequipped to answer. By my count, the number of original LPs issued by Capitol comes to 19 or 20, depending on how you account for the Nancy Wilson date. But how many discs is this, really? A feasible number? If not, how might it makes sense to divide this material up? Would you somehow cull out the stuff that folks most likely already own? Whatever the case, I do feel like these recordings would benefit from a Mosaic-like presentation. All thoughts and opinions welcome.

Love Barrow's tone on all his instruments. And I've long wondered about that Amram-Barrow date...

I've long wondered about Crowe as well. IIRC, the original notes to Dickerson's Prestige / New Jazz dates don't offer much background. WD, in a 2003 interview with Hank Shteamer, on Crowe (and, bonus!, John Dennis): http://darkforcesswing.blogspot.com/2007/06/in-full-1-walt-dickerson.html

Dick Cary also arranged some really interesting neither-trad-nor-modern charts for a colorful (tuba and vibes!) Bobby Hackett group in the late 50's... I believe their lone studio recording is the Capitol GOTHAM JAZZ SCENE, but there are also some airshots that were made available on a Viper's Nest release back in the 90s'... OFF MINOR. John Dengler handles the tuba duties, and Ernie Caceres is featured on clarinet and baritone sax. Worth tracking down.