Lester Young/Count Basie Mosaic Announced!

[Ron S]

Classic Columbia OKeh & Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940) 4 CDs

The year 2008 will bring Mosaic's first set to focus on the great Lester Young. The early recordings of this innovative tenor saxophonist are essential to any jazz collection. During the Swing Era, the timbre of his horn and his unorthodox solo concept were a welcome and completely fresh approach to a new school of jazz improvisation. In this four disc set,Mosaic has gathered all of Pres' solo efforts made with Count Basie in a series of classic recordings from the Columbia family of labels.

In addition to all the Basie small group and big band sessions with Pres's solos, we have included the Glenn Hardman Hammond Five date and a Benny Goodman sextet session with Basie, Charlie Christian and Buck Clayton that went unreleased until they were literally salvaged from a garbage can some 25 years later.

But the real news here is that there are thirteen previously unissued alternate takes by the Basie band with Pres, recently discovered in the SonyBMG vaults!

http://www.mosaicrecords.com/genres.asp?dept=50

Edited December 27, 2007 by Ron S

[jazzbo]

Well, I have all this material I think, EXCEPT the 13 NEWLY DISCOVERED ALTERNATES.

So I'll probably be getting this set!

It's good news, really.

[JSngry]

Well, I have all this material I think, EXCEPT the 13 NEWLY DISCOVERED ALTERNATES.

So I'll probably be getting this set!

It's good news, really.

Ditto, except that the news is better than good!

[jazzbo]

Okay, I'll agree. . . better than good!

[BeBop]

Well, I have all this material I think, EXCEPT the 13 NEWLY DISCOVERED ALTERNATES.

So I'll probably be getting this set!

It's good news, really.

Ditto, except that the news is better than good!

Amen to all of that.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Interesting. This is not meat and potatos for me, though I'm well aware of the significance of these recordings, and have a few on a cheapo comp.

One of the things the cheapo does for me is give me a cross section of Basie from that period - crap, interesting stuff and music to blow you away - and this is good. Would this compilation be too one-sided, I ask myself.

MG

[Elissa]

Would that all be with Jo Jones?

[Ron S]

Would that all be with Jo Jones?

Presumably, except for the Hardman and Goodman sessions.

[JSngry]

Would that all be with Jo Jones?

Presumably, except for the Hardman and Goodman sessions.

He's there too!

[Ron S]

Would that all be with Jo Jones?

Presumably, except for the Hardman and Goodman sessions.

He's there too!

Presumption rebutted.

[Ron S]

Assuming this is the Goodman session (which it seems to be), Mosaic describes it as a sextet, but it's actually an octet:

28 October 1940

New York Adlib Blues

Charlie's Dream

I Never Knew

Lester's Dream

Wholly Cats

Clarinet: Benny Goodman

Piano: Count Basie

Guitar: Charlie Christian, Freddy Green

Bass: Walter Page

Drums: Jo Jones

Trumpet: Buck Clayton

Tenor Sax: Lester Young

http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccdisc.htm#GUEST

EDIT: However, this session is included in the Charlie Christian "The Genius of the Electric Guitar" box (and perhaps elsewhere), and is also described there as a sextet. Maybe Mosaic decided that, given the gunked-up discs in Sony's horrendous packaging of the Christian box, this session deserves another chance.

Edited December 27, 2007 by Ron S

[mikeweil]

I've been waiting for a definitive edition like this!!!

[JSngry]

I've been waiting for a definitive edition like this!!!

Did you run with the Lester Young Story Columbia 2-LP sets of the late 70s? That was a priceless series!

[mikeweil]

I've been waiting for a definitive edition like this!!!

Did you run with the Lester Young Story Columbia 2-LP sets of the late 70s? That was a priceless series!

No I missed on these .....

[jazzbo]

I think that group was officially named the Benny Goodman Sextet no matter how many members it had. . . !

[Ron S]

I think that group was officially named the Benny Goodman Sextet no matter how many members it had. . . !

An early example of using "Sex" to market music.

[danasgoodstuff]

Was it Zoot who said "you could not play like Lester, but then you'd be wrong!"?

[medjuck]

Well, I have all this material I think, EXCEPT the 13 NEWLY DISCOVERED ALTERNATES.

So I'll probably be getting this set!

It's good news, really.

Ditto, except that the news is better than good!

Ditto redux

[Stereojack]

Was it Zoot who said "you could not play like Lester, but then you'd be wrong!"?

I believe it was Brew Moore who said that.

[king ubu]

Great news! Though the Columbia material post Prez would also be welcome here, hell a complete Columbia Basie set would have been best! But instead I'll gladly take this! (Nothing against Jo Jones of course, but Shadow Wilson was terrific with Basie, too!)

[Clunky]

There will be presumably a lot of over lap with the Sony 4CD set America's No 1 Band. The post 1940s material and the live airshots presumably won't be on the Mosaic set. Were there Basie sessions of this period (1936-40) that didn't feature Lester ? Or will this be like the Chu set where Mosaic only included tracks where Berry soloed ?

[Elissa]

(Nothing against Jo Jones of course, but Shadow Wilson was terrific with Basie, too!)

I hear that Shadow was Papa Jo's favorite too. After himself, of course.

[king ubu]

There will be presumably a lot of over lap with the Sony 4CD set America's No 1 Band. The post 1940s material and the live airshots presumably won't be on the Mosaic set. Were there Basie sessions of this period (1936-40) that didn't feature Lester ? Or will this be like the Chu set where Mosaic only included tracks where Berry soloed ?

I don't have the time to check the discographies right now, but my guess is that four discs should about have enough space to hold the complete sessions from those years - remember that Basie was with Decca until early (I think) 1938, so only after that he was regularly doing big band sessions for Columbia... on the other hand, it's stated above that "every solo effort" will be contained... it would be too bad if they'd omit those big band titles where Pres doesn't solo, but from that quote that seems to be the case rather than not... on the other hand, Pres often soloed, and often he also embellished the ensemble parts, so to me it would be a stupid decision to omit the titles without Pres solos. Anyway, I guess we'll know once they'll put up a discography.

As for overlap with the Sony box, yes, I guess the Mosaic set will contain all the small group dates with Prez (disc 1, #1-10) and of course the big band studio sides (disc 2, #9 - disc 3, #2). So it's not *that* much, and disc 4 is still essential!

Including the Hardman date isn't so great, that one's already on various discs (I have it three times, I think), and the Goodman date - it's glorious! - is of course on the Charlie Christian box done by Sony some years ago.

So after all, it will be a so-so box, even more so if it omits the big band sides without solos by Lester Young!

[king ubu]

(Nothing against Jo Jones of course, but Shadow Wilson was terrific with Basie, too!)

I hear that Shadow was Papa Jo's favorite too. After himself, of course.

He's got some glorious moments on disc 3 of the Sony Basie 4CD set, that's for sure!

[BFrank]

Or will this be like the Chu set where Mosaic only included tracks where Berry soloed ?

Does this answer the question?

In this four disc set,Mosaic has gathered all of Pres' solo efforts made with Count Basie in a series of classic recordings from the Columbia family of labels.

In addition to all the Basie small group and big band sessions with Pres's solos, ...