gmonahan

I've always enjoyed the James stuff on this set. His trumpet is infectious, original, and finally well recorded after so long on 78s in the 40s. Miles always loved his trumpet. I once suggested that it might be fun to have a complete James Columbia set, and Mosaic responded that this was one of their slowest selling, least popular sets. Probably explains why it was available so long!

I caught Sonny and his sextet live in Portland Friday night. The old man seemed to be having a good time and I thought he played great. Clifton Anderson on trombone, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Willie Jones on drums, and I didn't catch the names of the guitarist and the congos/percussion guy. They played for nearly two hours, and Sonny appeared full of energy. Particularly nice version of "In a Sentimental Mood."

I'm finally going to get to hear Sonny live. He's playing in Portland, Oregon tomorrow night. Can't wait!

Great news Chuck! And yes, marcello, I've also been waiting for Conversation to come out on CD. There are several alternate takes, additional tunes and extended versions that would make a nice length CD. Keep hope alive! I'll post on some other favorite Frank sides when I get a chance- gotta run! I've been listening to Rosolino for a long time. You can find him all over the place, especially on several of the Howard Rumsey Lighthouse Allstars discs on Contemporary. If you're looking for his own sessions, I'd especially recommend "Free for All" recorded for Specialty in December 1958 and reissued on cd on Original Jazz Classics (OJCCD-1763-2). Rosolino's version of "Star Dust" on that disc is to die for, the sound is excellent, and the group is fine: Harold Land on tenor, Victor Feldman on piano, Leroy Vinnegard on bass, and Stan Levey, drums. I too would like to see "Conversation" on cd. Mosaic has been issuing some RCA material. Assuming there were enough alternates and additional tracks, it might interest them for one of their new singles series.

The Four Freshmen Fifties Sessions, disc VII.

It was a very fine series. Unfortunately, many of them are disappearing as Concord reduces the old OJC catalog. I got a bunch in the Blowout sale too. On a slightly related subject, does anyone know where I can find a complete list of the GRP Decca Jazz series? I see it in bits and pieces, and several of them have gone out of print. I'd like to know what was in the whole series. Sorry if I missed a thread on it. I did a search, but didn't find it.

What "recent revelations"? http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...34163&st=30 Many thanks to those of you who clued me to this absolutely fascinating thread. One of the enduring themes in jazz and on this board is the often troubled relationship between the personal lives and the work of various jazz masters. I face this conflict often because I so love the work of Frank Rosolino. But I still think a box of Haig's work for Spotlite would be nice. Not that we'll ever see it. I did take the trouble to recommend it to Mosaic, though I'm sure it's already lost in the sea of recommendations and suggestions they get every day. It would at least have the virtue of still being under copyright so that the Spaniards couldn't rip it off...yet.

What "recent revelations"?

I was just listening to the Al Haig Trio and Sextets cd from OJC that I got from Newbury on the Ebay sale and was really impressed. I guess I'd been so focused on listening to Bird on the records Haig made with him that I didn't listen enough to Haig's piano. According to AMG, he did a lot of things for Spotlite that might make a nice box, but I have no idea who owns those masters. Definitely a very fine but somewhat neglected pianist.

Dizzy's solo on "The Champ" (which is otherwise dominated by a long drum solo) is my favorite Dizzy on record--and I have a LOT of Dizzy on record. The way he rides high over the band, cascading up and down as the band charges simply defines the word "excitement"! When Dizzy was flying over a big band, there was nothing and nobody like him anywhere.

Jazz in paris volume 17, Blues pour flirter by Toots Thielemans on guitar. I keep all the JIPs in numerical order and occasionally close my eyes, pick one out and put it on without looking at it. I get nice surprises.

Beiderbecke Trumbauer disc one. Just felt like something old. Nice remastering.

Woody Herman Select (Philips) set. I've wanted that material forever!

Maynard Ferguson Roulette box, discs 1-2

Now, now, Jazzbo, you KNOW you want them! You NEED them! They call out to you!

Cool. Hope that happens. You're absolutely right about the May/Shearing stuff. Prime Cole.

Great box, though I sort of like the earlier "Star Dust" box better. Sure wish Bear Family would do one on the 1951-54 period!

The only Bach I've ever heard Lewis play is on the "last" MJQ studio album, "Blues on Bach." It's their *most* classical album, with some nice improvising around the themes, though it's even more buttoned down than their other albums.

I'm kind of amazed no one has mentioned the fabulous "Satch and Josh" duets of Peterson and Basie on Pablo. I love those!

You're absolutely right, 1940s/1950s R&B certainly wasn't monolithic, with all those big bands, small groups, honkers, shouters, balladeers, doo-wop and vocal groups, etc. By the way, I didn't say Hampton's Decca sides were all leaning toward R&B, but quite a few did. On the R&B side, if anyone is interested in Louis Jordan, Bear Family did a fine job of reissuing all of his Decca recordings. There is some cool stuff in there. Thanks for the heads-up on the Teddy Wilson Heps. Those tend to be hard to get over here in the U.S., alas. Does anybody have a good reliable on-line seller for those?

Yeah, I'm so old I bought it new. Liners by Stanley Dance. I wonder if he held the record for the most liner notes written by one critic? They're good liners, but I'd bet the Mosaic will be at least as good, possibly better. It would be cool to reprint them, but that's not Mosaic's style. Nice idea for a set, though. Didn't Teddy Wilson lead a similar series (without Billie Holiday as well as with her) for the Columbia labels during a similar period? I have an old Columbia two-fer with some of those.

That's a cool compilation. Brother Hubert was also on the "Dizzy Songs" cd I mentioned before and JiP volume 90 with Django as well as two tracks of the Sacha Distel "hors-serie" 2-cd set. I do love that Jazz in Paris series!

Yes, but once you set aside the box, nothing beats their books for ease of use. Same for the full-sixed Fantasy boxes (Monk, Evans, Montgomery). The Mosaic Selects are pretty handy too. Come to think of it, the Mosaics are probably my favorite. Seconds on the Heavyweight Champion, although I usually just pull out the individual CDs. I love the Mosaics because I can take the jewel boxes out of the big boxes and put them right on the shelf. Same for the booklets. Then I just store the empty big boxes in the garage. I find that if I don't take the jewel boxes out of the bigger ones, I don't play them as often. Laziness, I know, but there it is. I like the old Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone and Bear Family boxes for the same reason.