What are the most popular Mosaics?

[mikelz777]

What are the most popular Mosaics?

Out of curiosity, boredom and not an insignificant amount of too much time on my hands, I went through the "Which Mosaic are you enjoying right now" thread (all 103 pages) and tallied which Mosaics were mentioned and then ranked them. (From May 2004 to present) It's not exactly a scientific method but I thought it would be interesting and with over two years worth of picks, it may be a fair indicator of which Mosaics people reached for the most often.

What would you guess the top 5 were? How about the top 10? Make your guesses then check out the list below.

Were there any surprises? Ones you woud have thought rated higher? Ones you thought would have rated lower?

Multiple listing under a number indicates a tie.

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Box Sets

1. J.J. Johnson

2. Anita O’Day

3. Sonny Stitt

4. Elvin Jones

5. Hank Mobley

6. Jazz Crusaders

7. Count Basie (Clef/Verve)

8. Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet

9. Tal Farlow

10. Roy Eldridge

11. Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band

Stanley Turrentine

12. Columbia Small Groups

13. Lee Morgan/Wayne Shorter Vee-Jay

Tristano/Konitz/Marsh

14. Max Roach

Thad Jones

Johnny Smith

15. Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams

Jackie McLean

16. Horace Parlan

17. Johnny Hodges

Wynton Kelly/Paul Chambers

18. Blue Mitchell

Count Basie (Roulette)

19. Joe Pass

20. Stan Kenton

Selects

1. Andrew Hill

2. John Patton

3. Randy Weston

4. Bob Brookmeyer

5. Bud Shank/Bob Cooper

6. Charles Tolliver

Carmell Jones

7. Bennie Green

Dizzy Reece

8. Sidney Bechet

Curtis Amy

9. Don Pullen

10. Art Pepper

Grachan Moncur

Edited November 21, 2006 by mikelz777

[sidewinder]

I'm amazed that the Four Freshmen didn't make the cut..

[jazzbo]

Funny, my top five big sets don't appear on the list really!

(No exact order)

Nichols

Parker

Bix/Tram/Tea

Hodes

Capitol

Edited November 21, 2006 by jazzbo

[brownie]

Missing are all the early sets. The ones I still prefer!

[Guy Berger]

I'm guessing this would be biased toward mosaics that either came out recently, or ones that went OOP recently.

Guy

[jazzbo]

There's a Gerald Wilson Select?

[Brad]

Didn't Mosaic send an email last week, something to the effect of most asked about Mosaics, with Hank at the top. I know the Django Mosaic was also in the top 5.

[Brad]

Found the email. Here is the content:

Around this time of year, we receive a number of inquiries asking for our recommendations on box sets. "All of Them!" should be our answer as they are all wonderful examples of this great American art form. But there are definitely sets that seem to have greater appeal than others and what follows are some of the best selling Mosaic Box sets and Mosaic Selects that are still in print.

Boxes

Hank Mobley

Johnny Hodges

Django

Bix Beiderbecke

Peggy Lee and June Christy

Selects

Grachan Moncur

Randy Weston

Bob Brookmeyer

[mikelz777]

There's a Gerald Wilson Select?

My mistake, the list was corrected.

[B. Goren.]

For me, number 1 is Andrew Hill (Set # 161, his BN recordings, 1963-66).

[mikelz777]

I only have 5 of the big box sets and all of them are included on the list. Three of the five are on the top 10, four of the five are in the top 11 and I top out with Horace Parlan at number 16. I have five Selects which range between 2 and 8 on the list.

It would be very hard to pick a favorite among the big boxes but it would be safe to say that Tal Farlow would be the 5th of 5 and I enjoy that set a lot. I'm not sure I could pick a favorite among the Selects either. When you have only 5 of each, they're all my favorites.

[Edward]

My favorite Mosaics are all older sets: Nat King Cole Trio, Buddy de Franco, Art Hodes, Amos Milburn, and Shorty Rogers.

I do not have very many Mosaic Selects, but I really love the Carmell Jones set.

[Bol]

My fave: Mulligan CJB.

Second: Dhango Reinhardt.

Also very fond of my first Mosaics: Curtis Fuller & Thad Jones.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Bol

[Quincy]

Do the sets with more discs have a better chance of being mentioned as well?

Not surprised at the J.J. and Anita ranking highly as you just can't get people to shut up about those sets around here.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I love the Johnny Hodges set. It is probably my favorite Mosaic right, but just by a bit. I may even buy a second box as a back-up.

Later,

Kevin

[Matthew]

I love the Johnny Hodges set. It is probably my favorite Mosaic right, but just by a bit. I may even buy a second box as a back-up.

Later,

Kevin

Amen!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Found the email. Here is the content:

Around this time of year, we receive a number of inquiries asking for our recommendations on box sets. "All of Them!" should be our answer as they are all wonderful examples of this great American art form. But there are definitely sets that seem to have greater appeal than others and what follows are some of the best selling Mosaic Box sets and Mosaic Selects that are still in print.

Boxes

Hank Mobley

Johnny Hodges

Django

Bix Beiderbecke

Peggy Lee and June Christy

Selects

Grachan Moncur

Randy Weston

Bob Brookmeyer

I wondered about that e-mail. We have here a firm that makes its living by issuing limited editions. As far as I know, each set only has 5,000 copies. So a more popular set will sell out more quickly than an unpopular one.

My guess is that the list includes the ones that Mosaic needs most urgently to sell. That would seem to indicate that they're the slowest selling ones; the least popular.

Am I too cynical?

MG

[Aggie87]

Do the sets with more discs have a better chance of being mentioned as well?

Not surprised at the J.J. and Anita ranking highly as you just can't get people to shut up about those sets around here.

I think Quincy has a good question there. I've noticed alot of folks make multiple posts when listening to a Mosaic box, one post for each disc. That could kind of skew the results...

[Matthew]

Do the sets with more discs have a better chance of being mentioned as well?

Not surprised at the J.J. and Anita ranking highly as you just can't get people to shut up about those sets around here.

I think Quincy has a good question there. I've noticed alot of folks make multiple posts when listening to a Mosaic box, one post for each disc. That could kind of skew the results...

Aggie is saying that the Republicans are running this vote.

[brownie]

Is Charlie Parker forgotten to the extent that he does not rate a mention?

My favorite Mosaic - the one I really waited for for months on before it finally came out - was the Dean Benedetti recordings set!

And despite the flaws, it's still one of my favorites!

[mikelz777]

Is Charlie Parker forgotten to the extent that he does not rate a mention?

My favorite Mosaic - the one I really waited for for months on before it finally came out - was the Dean Benedetti recordings set!

And despite the flaws, it's still one of my favorites!

Believe it or not, even The 4 Freshman received more mentions.

Edited November 22, 2006 by mikelz777

[Niko]

I wondered about that e-mail. We have here a firm that makes its living by issuing limited editions. As far as I know, each set only has 5,000 copies. So a more popular set will sell out more quickly than an unpopular one.

My guess is that the list includes the ones that Mosaic needs most urgently to sell. That would seem to indicate that they're the slowest selling ones; the least popular.

Am I too cynical?

MG

if you're too cynical, I'm too cynical, too - let's hope for the best

[mikelz777]

Do the sets with more discs have a better chance of being mentioned as well?

Not surprised at the J.J. and Anita ranking highly as you just can't get people to shut up about those sets around here.

I think Quincy has a good question there. I've noticed alot of folks make multiple posts when listening to a Mosaic box, one post for each disc. That could kind of skew the results...

I'm sure you're right and that is why I said that this was by no means a scientific method of determining which Mosaics were most popular. I merely tallied a set whenever it was mentioned. The results are probably skewed toward the sets with more dics, the ones that were new in the last 2 years, the ones that went out of print or circulation in the last two years, or towards the tastes of the most avid and voracious posters.

[mikelz777]

I wondered about that e-mail. We have here a firm that makes its living by issuing limited editions. As far as I know, each set only has 5,000 copies. So a more popular set will sell out more quickly than an unpopular one.

My guess is that the list includes the ones that Mosaic needs most urgently to sell. That would seem to indicate that they're the slowest selling ones; the least popular.

Am I too cynical?

MG

if you're too cynical, I'm too cynical, too - let's hope for the best

I was pretty cynical as well. If I look at all the sets still available and compare, would I place June Christie and Peggy Lee as one of their best sellers? Hmmm.......................

[jazzbo]

Thing is there is a component of Mosaic purchasers who are not members of this forum. Believe it or not! I even know one, who is into exactly the type of stuff as the Bix/Tram/Tea and the Lee/Christy who doesn't even go on the internet, and he has pals that are into more prebop than postbop who shop at Mosaic. So. . . I guess I'm not that cynical, and I guess I am willing to believe that these could be items "moving". . . .