Django Mosaic

[sal]

Here's my situation....

My favorite kind of jazz since I started listening 6 or so years ago has always been bebop and its offspring. I haven't quite warmed up to swing and dixieland era jazz as much, but I have taken several successful plunges. I've gotten the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, the Basie Deccas, the Blanton-Webster stuff as well as some Benny Goodman and Sidney Bechet, and I can say that I really do enjoy them quite a bit, although not as much as I love my Miles, Bird, Ornette, Mingus, etc...

Anyways, I've been contemplating taking the plunge on the Django Mosaic, especially with the free shipping offer. The limited amount of his music that I've heard, I greatly enjoy, and the sound clips on the Mosaic website sound great to my ears. However, I'm concerned that its too much (and too expensive) too soon for an artist I'm not that familiar with. Which is why I wanted to turn to this board. Is the music in this set so great that it will be a safe $96 to spend? Or should I hold off and buy some individual CDs first? Obviously, the single CDs would be safer, but individual cds are not a Mosaic!!

I guess I'm just wondering what you all think of this set so that I can get gauge whether to spring for the set or not. As always, I look forward to getting your valuable opinions!

[chris olivarez]

Life's a card game. Believe me if I could afford it right now I would. Go for it!!!

[BruceH]

It's a truly great set. Go for it! Free shipping!

[Ed S]

The Django Mosaic is one of my very favorite Mosaic sets. The sound is outstanding and the music even better, IMHO.

I purchased this set about a year after it came out. At the time, and I hate to admit it, but I had never heard ANY Django. Of course I'd heard of him and as a jazz guitar fan, I decided to trust Mosaic's reputation and go for it. Over the years I've owned it, I've probably returned to this set more than any other Mosaic I have. It's a joy from start to finish.

Like you, I was a fan of hardbop and more modern stuff. The Django set was my first plunge into pre-war jazz and it inspired me to pick up more - like the Bailey, Lang/Venuti. Bix/Trumbauer/Teagarden. Great great stuff - all of it.

Go for it!

Edited June 9, 2004 by Ed Swinnich

[wesbed]

With the exception of The Four Freshman Mosaic, I believe ALL the still-available Mosaics are worth getting. I'm finding reasons to obtain all of them.

Of course, the Django box is worth getting and enjoying. You get Django on the guitar, Stephane Grappelli on the violin, and Malcolm Addey in the remastering studio.

The first time I listened to the Django Mosaic, it was good but, at the same time, was too much of a good thing. There is lots of playing on string instruments... violin, two or three guitars, and a bass. The music becomes a little tiring at times, to me, because I want to hear a couple of horns, maybe a piano, or a drum.

When I received my Django Mosaic, I listened to the first couple of disks, enjoyed them, then placed the box back on my shelf for about a year, still happy with my purchase.

As is always the case when it comes to jazz and me, I had an odd thought, a couple of months ago, and decided I needed to hear some Django. I don't know why, my brain just decided it needed to hear Django. I started the first disk on my stereo, the Mosaic booklet in one hand, a good beer in the other, and listened, straight through to the first five disks. I'd never really 'heard' Django before. He's an incredible player... sometimes, while listening, it's possible to forget that he's playing an acoustic guitar. Django's playing, to me, was way ahead of it's time. He was playing things, in the 1930s, that are still being played today. Stephane Grappelli is my favorite jazz violinist, however, his playing gets a little old, at times, when listening to too many of the Django Mosaic disks in a row. Sometimes I want to hear more Django and less Grappelli (not that there is any real problem with Grappelli).

When reading the Mosaic booklet, listening to Django, and thinking of what was happening, in Europe, while Django was playing in Paris, provides for a very rewarding experience. The music is good, Django is, most of the time, amazing, and Addey does his usual magic with the remastering.

This is a box that is fun to listen to and learn about. At the same time, while listening, don't be surprised if you find yourself craving the sound of a jazz horn, a piano, or a drum.

Is the Django Mosaic box worth getting? Yes.

Is it too much of a good thing all at once? Yes. But, isn't this why we purchase Mosaic boxes... to get ALL the output, the Complete set?

Here is a Django Mosaic thread I attempted to start at All About Jazz on the weekend that the storms hit Michigan. >AllAboutJazz Django Mosaic link<

Edited June 9, 2004 by wesbed

[Jazzmoose]

I've only heard Django on the radio; there's nothing on my shelves. This one is definitely on my list of Mosaics to get before it disappears. I only hope it doesn't hit the "running low" list soon; I'm in the "hangover paying off the plastic after the CD binge" mode at the moment...

[BruceH]

I've only heard Django on the radio; there's nothing on my shelves.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaa?????

[Harold_Z]

My opinion...get the box. Too much Too soon? ...Nahhh...you don't have to get into it all at once - you can come back to it as you please. There's a lot to enjoy here and a lot to absorb if your into tracing the lineage of jazz guitar or into tracing the development of jazz in Europe in the 1930s - a fascinating and rewarding subject.