Complete Felsted Jazz Recordings Box

[Bluerein]

Not odd at all not to include the Connection LP. 1) It's from the 60's, 2) it's modern jazz and not mainstream/swing 3) masters are owned by a different person/company. To let you all sleep tight tonight MC told me it is going to be a reissue on Blue Note or Mosaic when they have secured the rights to do so.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Bluerein

[ghost of miles]

Not odd at all not to include the Connection LP. 1) It's from the 60's, 2) it's modern jazz and not mainstream/swing 3) masters are owned by a different person/company. To let you all sleep tight tonight MC told me it is going to be a reissue on Blue Note or Capitol when they have secured the rights to do so.

←

Well, that's cool, and I'm not losing sleep over it or anything... just that reasons 1 & 2 are irrelevant, given the title of the box (unless Mosaic is deciding to dilute the meaning of "Complete" further). Reason 3 is obviously a problem.

I'm not upset, just surprised, given how much Mosaic puts into its branding. Maybe they're planning on calling it "Complete 1957-59" or something. But in any case, I assure you I'll be sleeping well!

[Larry Kart]

Maybe they should have said "The Complete Mainstream Felsted Recordings." In the real world, Mosaic's plan makes perfect sense because there's not likely to be a big overlap between fans of the Swing Era-style dates that Dance produced and "The Connection" date.

[ghost of miles]

I think with Mosaic there's generally a connection (pardon the pun) between the semantic and the real world. Is THE CONNECTION as done by Messrs. McGhee, Brooks, etc. somehow not "jazz"? I understand that in the past Mosaic has put out sets called "Complete" that have left off certain tracks because they contained nothing of "jazz value." (I'm thinking of some of the early-jazz sets here, I believe.) But to call something "The Complete Jazz Recordings" of a label and then dump out the McGhee/Brooks on stylistic grounds seems a different matter... why don't they just go the route they did with the Columbia box and call it "The Complete Felsted Small-Group Swing Sessions?"

No doubt I'll be flamed for making something of this.. just that I find it surprising, given how careful Mosaic has been in the past about its use of the word "Complete." I remember folks getting huffy because they left that one track off the Jacquet box at Illinois' insistence... Again, I understand that legal issues probably made inclusion of this album impossible. But I still think they should refine the title of the box. I'll refrain from starting online "We demand..." petitions, however.

[JohnS]

Not really my scene but I have soft spots for the Dicky Wells especially the four trombone sides and the Buster Bailey.

[Brad]

Notwithstanding the semantical problems as a result of the McGhee exclusion (bummer for sure), this seems like an interesting and worthy project. Not sure I'm going to buy it (but probably will) but would like to listen to a few cuts first.

[djcavanagh]

Not odd at all not to include the Connection LP. 1) It's from the 60's, 2) it's modern jazz and not mainstream/swing 3) masters are owned by a different person/company. To let you all sleep tight tonight MC told me it is going to be a reissue on Blue Note or Mosaic when they have secured the rights to do so.

←

If they were going to release it as a Mosaic, what additional material would they add? It's hard to see them doing anything less than three cds nowadays.

[Bluerein]

How about a new series: the one-off's!!!! Mosaic isn't limited to it's own preconceived sceme (is that readable English?).

[jazzbo]

I'd like to see that. I've even already suggested to them a candidate: the unreleased Sunny Murray material on Columbia.

[AllenLowe]

maybe from now on these series should read:

THE COMPLETE*

*except for whatever we couldn't find, the janitor stole, or we did not think would sell enough copies -

Edited November 10, 2005 by AllenLowe

[desertblues]

I will definitely buy this one. I was lucky enough to find mint copies of the Hawk and the Budd Johnson lps for very little $ about a year ago, they are great recordings soundwise as well as musically speaking! Mosaic will undoubtedly include the original liners which are actually worth reading.

[Bluerein]

Sad news.......Universal can't find the masters (neither in the US nor the UK) so this set is a no go.

[Spontooneous]

Hmm... They didn't have problems finding the masters for Hawkins, Strayhorn and Buddy Tate for CD issues in the 1980s.

Have I mistaken Universal's incompetence for evil, or its evil for incompetence?

[Bluerein]

Spontooneous: are you sure they were produced from masters? Maybe they were copies or just transfers from LP's.

[Brad]

Has this project, thus, been killed? Pity if true. Still on the Mosaic site, however.

Edited December 13, 2005 by Brad

[Dave James]

Not sure I understand how Mosaic could get to the point of promoting this as a future release if there was any question at all about their ability to make it happen. Doesn't make sense.

Up over and out.

[Bluerein]

What do you suggest David? That my information isn't correct or that Mosaic shouldn't post this until it's a finished deal. Just curious.

This is also listed on the future releases page so it's not so strange at all:

Each of our sets is a time-consuming affair to assemble from securing rights to tape research to studio mastering to the photographic, historical and discographical research for our booklets. Each step is fraught with surprises and therefore it is possible that the Future Projects may not see the light of day.

Edited December 14, 2005 by Bluerein

[Ed S]

Bummer about the masters I was looking forward to this set as a way of presenting multiple artists under the umbrella of a single label.

Reinier or anyone who might have some insight - does this mean that the set is dead completely or might they go into "leave no stone unturned" mode and conduct a more exhaustive search of whereever it is that the masters are stored. I was just thinking about how the Stitt masters were discovered and wondering if lightning might not strike again.

Edited December 14, 2005 by Ed Swinnich

[mikeweil]

Sad news.......Universal can't find the masters (neither in the US nor the UK) so this set is a no go.

Well .... have they searched in Japan? As I mentioned above, I remember there were some Japanese CD reissues, so maybe .....

FWIW, here's the listing and commentary from the Felsted Discography page:

2000/7000 Series

2000 was stereo, 7000 was mono. Only nine titles were issued. Affinity reissued all nine and Master Jazz reissued at least seven. Limelight may also have reissued some.

Felsted - Affinity - MasterJazz - Artist - Title

7001 - 165 - 8123 - Rex Stewart - Rendezvous With Rex

7002 - 167 - Earl Hines/Cozy Cole - Earl's Backroom And Cozy's Caravan

7003 - 170 - 8125 - Buster Bailey - All About Memphis

7004 - 171 - Buddy Tate - Swinging Like...Tate!

7005 - 163 - 8115 - Coleman Hawkins - The High And Mighty Hawk

7006 - 164 - 8127 - Dicky Wells - Bones For The King

7007 - 169 - 8119 - Budd Johnson - Blues A La Mode

7008 - 166 - 8116 - Billy Strayhorn - Cue For Saxophone

7009 - 168 - 8118 - Dicky Wells - Trombone Four-In-Hand

This doesn't even mention the Japanese issues.

I'm spinning the Japanese Polydor P33L 20043 CD issue of the Strayhorn right now - sound is okay, although the volume level is somewhat low. There must be some tapes - check Universal Japan, Affinity, Master Jazz (Mosaic did a Master Jazz box set so they should know where to ask). If that doesn't lead anywhere, I'd loan my CD copy any time - for a copy of the box set, that is ....

[Bluerein]

Mike: that's exactly what I've mailed MC as well (I have a 1999 reissue of the Hawkins LP from Japan). I'm sure he'll look into this as well. Anybody who owns the 80's CD's of these LP's who can confirm the tape or dubbed from the LP's question?

[Stereojack]

Mike: that's exactly what I've mailed MC as well (I have a 1999 reissue of the Hawkins LP from Japan). I'm sure he'll look into this as well. Anybody who owns the 80's CD's of these LP's who can confirm the tape or dubbed from the LP's question?

I have the Hawkins CD, and it does not sound like it's dubbed from an LP. Maybe only some of the original tapes are missing. I've got original stereo vinyl of most of the albums in this series, and the Affinity reissues I've heard are inferior, and are mono. Perhaps they are dubbed from secondary sources.

[Dave James]

Bluerein,

Hey, lighten up. I'm not impugning your information or your credibility at all. What I'm saying is that this is very "un-Mosaic- like". And, no, I don't believe they should post information about upcoming sets until and unless those sets are locked and loaded. This is the first time I can ever recall anything like this happening.

Up over and out.

[Bluerein]

David (I'm lightened up!!!): That's why it's called future projects and not upcoming releases!!!!

[Dave James]

Good point. I stand corrected.

Up over and out.

[montg]

Very disappointing news. Isn't Universal the conglomerate that owns the Verve catalog along with the Decca, Argo/Cadet, Impulse etc catalogs? I hate to think that so much valuable source material is in the hands of an indifferent caretaker.