What are the most popular Mosaics?

[jazzbo]

Brownie,

I mentioned the Parker as being in my top five.

One of the Mosaics that had possibly the most care in production and man it shows. A real favorite! Fantastic document for the future.

[John Tapscott]

My favorite Mosaic is the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis set. Didn't make the top twenty. Of coruse, much as I like it, I haven't played it much lately, either. Going to give it a spin.

[sidewinder]

My favorite Mosaic is the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis set. Didn't make the top twenty. Of coruse, much as I like it, I haven't played it much lately, either. Going to give it a spin.

For me it would be a toss-up between that Thad & Mel set, Larry Young and Bill Evans, in vinyl.

Another for the Parker Benedetti too !

[brownie]

Brownie,

I mentioned the Parker as being in my top five.

Apologizes

I see it now. Should have seen it earlier.

You're a man of taste

[jazzbo]

Just one of many here. . .

Another one to mention. . . .

Was just listening to some Black & White recordings of T-Bone Walker. I think if I had the Mosaic it would be one of the top ten most played ones. Love that material!

[sidewinder]

Just one of many here. . .

Another one to mention. . . .

Was just listening to some Black & White recordings of T-Bone Walker. I think if I had the Mosaic it would be one of the top ten most played ones. Love that material!

Have that one - good reminder to dig it out tonight, along with Amos..

[ASNL77]

I am a bit surprised to see my favorite ones not doing that well......

Difficult to choose a top 5 but I would have to go for the Bill Evans, Sam Rivers, Larry Young, Davis/Evans and Shorty Rogers sets.

[Jim R]

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.

Excellent points. I was going to try to bring up a few of them yesterday, but I managed to forget. Anyway, definitely not scientific, as you say. If we wanted a real answer to the question (especially considering what Lon mentions... the fact that we are not the center of the universe here ), maybe we would need to have access to all the details of Mosaic's sales records over the years.

Some personal favorites:

(big boxes): Paul Desmond; Grant Green (a real blockbuster for me when it first came out, after years of searching for Japan-only LP's);Chet "Live"; J.J. Johnson; T-Bone Walker (I mean, for T-Bone fans, how essential can you get?).

(selects): So far, the Carmell Jones stands out. It represents the best of what a Mosaic (big or small) should be- fine undersung artist; nearly forgotten albums that are otherwise practically impossible to get; and of course Mosaic's standards of quality and detail.

[medjuck]

Maybe it's because the sets are out of print and the music is available elsewhere now but I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the Mulligan/Baker or Mingus on Candid sets.

[andybleaden]

Hmmm!

Well for me the Mosaic killer set that look well used and used well :0P are :

Larry Young

Andrew Hill

Jackie Mclean

Art Blakey

Elvin Jones

( and I do not have the Tina Brooks any more nor the Herbie NIchols as I flogged em for the cd sets)

As for the selects I have not got all of them but I did think the best by far was the Andrew Hill

then John Patton

Duke Pearson

Grachan Moncur

Paul Chambers

But tomorrow that list may change....then again ......it may not!

[jazzbo]

But tomorrow that list may change....then again ......it may not!

That's true, tomorrow the list might change, indeed. I feel that way as well.

I agree about the first Hill Select, and I have the second set waiting for me at home, get to hear it soon, I bet it's excellent as well.

Select wise, here's my top five:

Hill Blue Note

Randy Weston

Bennie Green

Art Pepper

Bechet!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Just one of many here. . .

Another one to mention. . . .

Was just listening to some Black & White recordings of T-Bone Walker. I think if I had the Mosaic it would be one of the top ten most played ones. Love that material!

Yes, I agree - I think I have almost all the Mosaic in other sets. And they're both among my all-time most played albums of any kind.

MG

[woofy]

The Blakey set was my favorite, followed by the Ike Quebec 45's box (now entirely available outside Mosaic.) Turrentine, Crusaders, Mobley and Stitt are among my favorites, although when

i listen to a set I haven't heard in a while: Serge Chaloff, Chico Hamilton, Illinois Jacquet, I still say to myself "damn, why haven't I listened to this in a while?"

[king ubu]

just for the record, I have plenty of Mosaics I hardly ever post in that thread this list is based on... not sure what my favourites are, but the Hill may be among them. I missed a lot of the older sets (hey, I was born merely 2 years before Mosaic was founded, so...), and since many of those have been reissued by other labels (mostly BN, Monk, Bud, Nichols, Green/Clark etc., but also some others, like the Desmond/Hall RCA, the Mingus CBS on Sony/Legacy), many of these older boxes are perceived by us younger people as BN (or whatever) boxes.

Oh, the Tina Brooks is one of the old sets I got, and that one was great to have, since by the time I got it the Conn of "True Blue" was long gone, and the only one easily available was "Back to the Tracks". So it served me as a great introduction to Tina (I still don't have "True Blue" and last unreleased album in their CD incarnations).

Others, beside the Hill, I enjoy a lot, are Thad Jones, Jones-Lewis, J.J., TKM, Jimmy Giuffre, O'Day, the VeeJays, the Ventura/Phillips, the Basie live (missed the studio when it was available). Hard to pick any absolute favourites at this time. THe Weston is my favourite select, but I only have four (Amy, Brookmeyer and Bennie Green).

[Bluerein]

I know from Mosaic's point of view the Mulligan Concert Band set is the BEST seller ever, period. This even surprised MC quite a bit. The worst seller is (amazingly in my perspective, limited as it is, I know) the Sorty Rogers Atlantic set (which I'm still looking for, reasonably prices that is....)

[BruceH]

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

Yeah, include the early sets and things get complicated.

Of the more recent sets, I'd have to say my personal favorites are the Mobley and the Shorter/Morgan Vee-Jay... Of all time? Maybe the Tina Brooks and the Herbie Nichols (and the Monk Blue Note.)

[BruceH]

Perhaps there should be a thread for "Most Revelatory Mosaic."