Oscar Peterson Mosaic is available for preorder

[jazzbo]

On eMusic I'd recommend "If You Could See Me Now" on Pablo.

[mellowT]

For USA shipments try $89.50

Mosaic - Amazon

Now it's only $68 with shipping, a 48% discount over Mosaic. I'm all for supporting a struggling company, but this deal is almost too good to pass up. The only difference being the lettering on the side of the box and no handwritten serial number? And with Father's Day right around the corner...

[gmonahan]

On eMusic I'd recommend "If You Could See Me Now" on Pablo.

That's a fine recommendation. I don't know if it's available on e-music, but "The Oscar Peterson Trio Plus One" with Clark Terry is my favorite of the Verves. And I don't think you can go wrong with "Satch and Josh," the great album OP and Basie did together for Pablo. Peterson's response to Basie's solo on "Jumpin' at the Woodside" really is delightful.

greg mo

[king ubu]

Got this box a couple of weeks ago in a local store, immediately read the lenghty introduction, but only started listening on Friday night... been on a trip, also bought 8 of OP's 9 MPS studio albums (skipped the one w/voices, I might reconsider...) and 3 of the 6 "Exclusively for My Friends" (will be looking for more... there's a nice Universal sale going on, also including quite a number of re-pressed OJCs).

Anyway, I'm really turning into a fan right as we speak (well, right as I'm typing, that is).

Does anyone know, are there plans for further Mosaic sets, most obviously the Ellis or Thigpen trio studio recordings?

There's a hint going in this direction in McDonough's (very good, I found, but I'm an OP neophyte, so...) notes.

Flurin,

sorry, just remembered your mail when I read this ... sorry. Been too busy with getting into mud-wrestling fights with the state legislature.

A new OP "fan"? Who might've thunk it?

There's a definite need to get the OP trio with Ed Thigpen (and, of course, Ray Brown) out as a Mosaic set, hopefully with better sound than some of the Verve remasters. I'm a huge fan of the London House sessions, but (although the original tapes might leave much to be desired?) the Verve 'boxed set" (more of a layout and design clusterfuck) is just too thin in the sound department. I do believe a decent engineer can get more out of it.

Some of the earlier OP CDs by Verve (f.ex. "Plays Porgy & Bess") are fabulous, sonically.

I am one of the (very) few that believe that OP did better in that trio setting than the "classic" one before that.

YMMV.

I'd spring a huge amount for a complete (alternates at the end, not one after another as, f.ex. again, "Plays Porgy & Bess" is about as complete a gem as it stands with perfect sequencing) Mosaic boxed set.

So, no need for me to answer anymore as you bought it all, hook. line and sinker?

>

P.S.: Glad you got with the programme.

V.

I guess for my ears, the London House set should be ok... but I'll report back.

Next up on the menu is the one OP set I've had for a few years, the great Lionel Hampton w/OP set - loved that one even before I "got" OP!

[king ubu]

By the way, the outside box of this Euro set has the normal Mosaic number, and the booklet is normal as well, but no handwritten number, just the blank line (the earlier Euro sets used to have a printed line stating "This is one of an edition of 10000 sets" or something). Probably cheaper to have just one set of boxes/booklets to print... it's still clearly a Euro-version, with glossier paper (or has Mosaic changed in that respect, all my recent ones have been Euro-sets, the latest of the US ones is the Columbia Small Group I think) and that outside paper thingie giving some general introduction about the set. (The Quincy Jones box, the other most recent Euro-box I got, also had very glossy thick paper used for the book, the Dizzy one has a "normal" Mosaic booklet, paper-wise)

[David Ayers]

By the way, the outside box of this Euro set has the normal Mosaic number, and the booklet is normal as well, but no handwritten number, just the blank line (the earlier Euro sets used to have a printed line stating "This is one of an edition of 10000 sets" or something). Probably cheaper to have just one set of boxes/booklets to print... it's still clearly a Euro-version, with glossier paper (or has Mosaic changed in that respect, all my recent ones have been Euro-sets, the latest of the US ones is the Columbia Small Group I think) and that outside paper thingie giving some general introduction about the set. (The Quincy Jones box, the other most recent Euro-box I got, also had very glossy thick paper used for the book, the Dizzy one has a "normal" Mosaic booklet, paper-wise)

Good news! Like you I've got a fair few of these euromosaics - I find the non-Mosaic number on the spine jarring, since it is all I can see of these sets most of the time!

[king ubu]

Never bothered me, really... but it's still nice to have what looks more like the "original" product!

[David Ayers]

Never bothered me, really... but it's still nice to have what looks more like the "original" product!

I'm afraid they do for me pretty much what Clouseau does for Dreyfus.

[mellowT]

By the way, the outside box of this Euro set has the normal Mosaic number, and the booklet is normal as well, but no handwritten number, just the blank line (the earlier Euro sets used to have a printed line stating "This is one of an edition of 10000 sets" or something). Probably cheaper to have just one set of boxes/booklets to print... it's still clearly a Euro-version, with glossier paper (or has Mosaic changed in that respect, all my recent ones have been Euro-sets, the latest of the US ones is the Columbia Small Group I think) and that outside paper thingie giving some general introduction about the set. (The Quincy Jones box, the other most recent Euro-box I got, also had very glossy thick paper used for the book, the Dizzy one has a "normal" Mosaic booklet, paper-wise)

Good news! Like you I've got a fair few of these euromosaics - I find the non-Mosaic number on the spine jarring, since it is all I can see of these sets most of the time!

So I ordered one of these from an Amazon seller and the box came shrink-wrapped, but the jewel cases inside were not. Everything else is as king ubu said, with the possible exception of a tearing scrape (like somebody dragged a staple point) across 2" of the title on the front of the box cover. Funny thing is the damage was done underneath the shrink-wrap, as if it was deliberate by the factory.

Does anybody know if this is the standard way of marking these euromosaics as not full fledged versions, similar to scratching out a UPC code? Other than that, there's no difference between this and the set that costs twice as much directly from Mosaic. Anybody could fill in the serial number and no one would be the wiser.

[king ubu]

By the way, the outside box of this Euro set has the normal Mosaic number, and the booklet is normal as well, but no handwritten number, just the blank line (the earlier Euro sets used to have a printed line stating "This is one of an edition of 10000 sets" or something). Probably cheaper to have just one set of boxes/booklets to print... it's still clearly a Euro-version, with glossier paper (or has Mosaic changed in that respect, all my recent ones have been Euro-sets, the latest of the US ones is the Columbia Small Group I think) and that outside paper thingie giving some general introduction about the set. (The Quincy Jones box, the other most recent Euro-box I got, also had very glossy thick paper used for the book, the Dizzy one has a "normal" Mosaic booklet, paper-wise)

Good news! Like you I've got a fair few of these euromosaics - I find the non-Mosaic number on the spine jarring, since it is all I can see of these sets most of the time!

So I ordered one of these from an Amazon seller and the box came shrink-wrapped, but the jewel cases inside were not. Everything else is as king ubu said, with the possible exception of a tearing scrape (like somebody dragged a staple point) across 2" of the title on the front of the box cover. Funny thing is the damage was done underneath the shrink-wrap, as if it was deliberate by the factory.

Does anybody know if this is the standard way of marking these euromosaics as not full fledged versions, similar to scratching out a UPC code? Other than that, there's no difference between this and the set that costs twice as much directly from Mosaic. Anybody could fill in the serial number and no one would be the wiser.

I never saw any such damage on a Euro Mosaic - certainly isn't standard.

CDs in Europe often aren't shrink-wrapped, I can't even remember if the Euro Mosaic usually contained shrinkwrapped CDs, however it would be a waste if the box is shrinkwrapped anyway, wouldn't it?

I guess we're a bit less afraid of germs or whatever... in stores, you can usually open and listen to any disc (with the exception of expensive multi-sets or specially packed things that might get damaged, but those would contain a special "please don't open" sticker), hence it's normal to buy new CDs that aren't shrinkwrapped. Also if there are special sales, most often those CDs aren't shrinkwrapped, either. Of course that means that sometimes you'll want to check a disc a bit closer for ugly fingerprints on the booklet or even those "half moons" that you get when not putting back the booklet correctly... but that has maybe kept me from buying four or five discs only in all the years I've been buying CDs (fiftenn years?)

[thomastreichler]

Somehow I get the impression that it is considered good form not just to not like Oscar Peterson, but to dismiss him as an artist, by accusing him of being a mere virtuoso without any soul and artistic value, who is playing too much notes and doing not more than displaying his technique. Everyone who "confesses" to be a fan of OP seems to be obliged to disprove these arguments in the first place. It is absolutely legitimate not to like OP (or any other musician) because of personal taste, but to deprive Peterson of musical and artistic passion and soul, just because he had tremendous technique and was displaying it (and because he had a wide following outside of the hard core of jazz lovers), is - in my opinion - doing injustice to him.

In listening to the recordings on the Mosaic set, I think the following can be said (from my narrow point of view of course):

The trio of OP, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown was a highly compatible unit, consisting of three masters of their respective instruments. All of the selections are neatly arranged and superbly executed and it can not be denied that this trio swings like mad.

OP was not merely displaying his stupenduous technique, but was also a master in creating tension and dynamics. He was a great improviser, meaning that he was capable of creating interesting and logic new melody lines. And last but not least, everything he played swings irresistibly.

Peterson was no innovator, but has one to be to be a great musician? Clearly not, the history of jazz is full of great artists that were no innovators. Of far more imporatance to me seems the fact that he never was a mere copyist. He rather was distilling several influences (first of all Tatum, Cole and Wilson) into a highly personal, instantly recognizable style.

This Mosaic set admittedly has its share of superficial performances, but the majority of the selections are highly enjoyable. Listen for example to the extended versions of "Pompton Tunpike", "Cherokee" (contrary to all expectations played in a medium tempo), "Soft Winds", "The Shek Of Araby" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (the last two tunes were to my knowledge never recorded again by OP) on disc VI, or any of the Gershwin and Ellington tunes. This is just superb piano jazz.

These are my impressions and thoughts, needless to say that I am a big fan of Oscar Peterson (being also a big fan of such stylistically diverse pianists as Jimy Rowles, Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan, Hampton Hawes or Hank Jones to name a few). I hope I was able to make my point clear despite my insufficient knowledge of the English language.

[jazzbo]

Very clearly sir. Quite a nice statement!

[tranemonk]

Ditto - Well Said..

I'm a huge OP fan.... and I've got the box set in my listening queue....

[B. Goren.]

Somehow I get the impression that it is considered good form not just to not like Oscar Peterson, but to dismiss him as an artist, by accusing him of being a mere virtuoso without any soul and artistic value, who is playing too much notes and doing not more than displaying his technique. Everyone who "confesses" to be a fan of OP seems to be obliged to disprove these arguments in the first place. It is absolutely legitimate not to like OP (or any other musician) because of personal taste, but to deprive Peterson of musical and artistic passion and soul, just because he had tremendous technique and was displaying it (and because he had a wide following outside of the hard core of jazz lovers), is - in my opinion - doing injustice to him.

In listening to the recordings on the Mosaic set, I think the following can be said (from my narrow point of view of course):

The trio of OP, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown was a highly compatible unit, consisting of three masters of their respective instruments. All of the selections are neatly arranged and superbly executed and it can not be denied that this trio swings like mad.

OP was not merely displaying his stupenduous technique, but was also a master in creating tension and dynamics. He was a great improviser, meaning that he was capable of creating interesting and logic new melody lines. And last but not least, everything he played swings irresistibly.

Peterson was no innovator, but has one to be to be a great musician? Clearly not, the history of jazz is full of great artists that were no innovators. Of far more imporatance to me seems the fact that he never was a mere copyist. He rather was distilling several influences (first of all Tatum, Cole and Wilson) into a highly personal, instantly recognizable style.

This Mosaic set admittedly has its share of superficial performances, but the majority of the selections are highly enjoyable. Listen for example to the extended versions of "Pompton Tunpike", "Cherokee" (contrary to all expectations played in a medium tempo), "Soft Winds", "The Shek Of Araby" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (the last two tunes were to my knowledge never recorded again by OP) on disc VI, or any of the Gershwin and Ellington tunes. This is just superb piano jazz.

These are my impressions and thoughts, needless to say that I am a big fan of Oscar Peterson (being also a big fan of such stylistically diverse pianists as Jimy Rowles, Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan, Hampton Hawes or Hank Jones to name a few). I hope I was able to make my point clear despite my insufficient knowledge of the English language.

Tommy, I couldn’t phrase it better than you.

[gmonahan]

Somehow I get the impression that it is considered good form not just to not like Oscar Peterson, but to dismiss him as an artist, by accusing him of being a mere virtuoso without any soul and artistic value, who is playing too much notes and doing not more than displaying his technique. Everyone who "confesses" to be a fan of OP seems to be obliged to disprove these arguments in the first place. It is absolutely legitimate not to like OP (or any other musician) because of personal taste, but to deprive Peterson of musical and artistic passion and soul, just because he had tremendous technique and was displaying it (and because he had a wide following outside of the hard core of jazz lovers), is - in my opinion - doing injustice to him.

In listening to the recordings on the Mosaic set, I think the following can be said (from my narrow point of view of course):

The trio of OP, Barney Kessel and Ray Brown was a highly compatible unit, consisting of three masters of their respective instruments. All of the selections are neatly arranged and superbly executed and it can not be denied that this trio swings like mad.

OP was not merely displaying his stupenduous technique, but was also a master in creating tension and dynamics. He was a great improviser, meaning that he was capable of creating interesting and logic new melody lines. And last but not least, everything he played swings irresistibly.

Peterson was no innovator, but has one to be to be a great musician? Clearly not, the history of jazz is full of great artists that were no innovators. Of far more imporatance to me seems the fact that he never was a mere copyist. He rather was distilling several influences (first of all Tatum, Cole and Wilson) into a highly personal, instantly recognizable style.

This Mosaic set admittedly has its share of superficial performances, but the majority of the selections are highly enjoyable. Listen for example to the extended versions of "Pompton Tunpike", "Cherokee" (contrary to all expectations played in a medium tempo), "Soft Winds", "The Shek Of Araby" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (the last two tunes were to my knowledge never recorded again by OP) on disc VI, or any of the Gershwin and Ellington tunes. This is just superb piano jazz.

These are my impressions and thoughts, needless to say that I am a big fan of Oscar Peterson (being also a big fan of such stylistically diverse pianists as Jimy Rowles, Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan, Hampton Hawes or Hank Jones to name a few). I hope I was able to make my point clear despite my insufficient knowledge of the English language.

Would that some of my [college] students wrote English half so well!

greg mo

[crisp]

I can only agree with the above. Well said, Tommy.

[thomastreichler]

Thank you for your kind comments jazzbo, tranemonk, B. Goren, Greg M. and crisp.

[Face of the Bass]

I'm thinking of picking this one up and was wondering what people's impressions of this set are now that it's been awhile since it was released. The samples on the site sound appealing but I'm wondering if this will be too much of the same kind of music, over seven discs...Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[brownie]

The Mosaic box was the studio recordings, here is a non-Mosaic box with the OP Trio live concerts recordings from 1952 to 1958, a 4CD box

The box seems to be the first music release from Editions Coda, a specialized Paris-based publisher (apologies to non-french reading people)!

[neveronfriday]

The Mosaic box was the studio recordings, here is a non-Mosaic box with the OP Trio live concerts recordings from 1952 to 1958, a 4CD box

The box seems to be the first music release from Editions Coda, a specialized Paris-based publisher (apologies to non-french reading people)!

Guy,

do you have any info whatsoever if this is another one of those quick-shot labels (I don't know them) with shoddy sound, noise reduction, compression, etc.?

I have several meters of OP and would add this to my collection, no matter if it doubles up on some stuff I might have already (very likely).

The price is very reasonable.

No matter what, Guy, thanks for the heads up!

I would have missed this one otherwise.

[king ubu]

Would this include the CBC live releases? I've only heard "Tenderly" from the library a few years back, before I really got into OP.

At that price it shouldn't be a shabby cheapo label...

[brownie]

do you have any info whatsoever if this is another one of those quick-shot labels (I don't know them) with shoddy sound, noise reduction, compression, etc.?

The set looks good and seems professionally conceived. A look at the other items from the Coda catalogue shows it is a serious operation.

Ubu asked:

Would this include the CBC live releases?

I am not aware of any pre-1958 Peterson release from CBC. Are there any?

[king ubu]

Wasn't that first one ("Tenderly", I think?) from 1957 or 1958? It was definitely not later and with the trio of Herb Ellis.

Edit: yes, seems to be from 1958 indeed, so says CDUniverse, at least. And there's also Vancouver 1958

Edited November 26, 2010 by king ubu

[neveronfriday]

do you have any info whatsoever if this is another one of those quick-shot labels (I don't know them) with shoddy sound, noise reduction, compression, etc.?

The set looks good and seems professionally conceived. A look at the other items from the Coda catalogue shows it is a serious operation.

Thanks, Guy.

Ordered it from Amazon.fr. for 30 something Euro; much cheaper than from the label itself.

[gmonahan]

do you have any info whatsoever if this is another one of those quick-shot labels (I don't know them) with shoddy sound, noise reduction, compression, etc.?

The set looks good and seems professionally conceived. A look at the other items from the Coda catalogue shows it is a serious operation.

Thanks, Guy.

Ordered it from Amazon.fr. for 30 something Euro; much cheaper than from the label itself.

Hope you'll let us know what you think of it!

gregmo