John Handy Columbia Mosaic Select announced

[Ron S]

Mosaic Select: John Handy (3 CDs)

(Release Date: January 2009)

John Handy is one of the unsung greats of modern jazz -- as saxophonist, composer/arranger and group leader -- especially for the series of four albums he recorded for Columbia between 1965 and 1968. This Mosaic Select is devoted to the three albums he made for the label that featured violin in the instrumentation -- Recorded Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival , The 2nd John Handy Album and Projections, plus a live Carnegie Hall performance.

Handy's playing, on alto sax in particular, is a wonder with a beautiful "legit" sound, perfect intonation and articulation, and an extraordinary control of the upper register which he uses quite often in building excitement and intensity in his solos. He utilizes all of these extraordinary attributes in frequent lengthy and compelling acappella solos. His unending flow of fresh ideas seemingly devoid of licks is another striking characteristic of his work.

The group heard here on all of discs 1 and 2 is unique in jazz history. The instrumentation of alto saxophone, violin, guitar, bass and drums has rarely, if ever, been used, and certainly not to this extent. Combining the nature of this instrumentation with the styles of the five players (Handy, Michael White, Jerry Hahn, Don Thompson and Terry Clarke) helps to create an open, expansive musical palette. This enables a musical range from Coltranesque long trance-like modal pieces, to tauter more direct and edgier rock-oriented pieces.

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

Edited December 4, 2008 by Ron S

[Dave James]

Nuts. I thought when I saw this post, that Mosaic was going to re-issue Handy's four Roulette recordings, In the Ver-nac'ular, No Coast Jazz, Jazz and Quote, Unquote. I had suggested this to them a number of years back and I was sure my prayers had been answered. Now that they're putting out the Columbia stuff, it's highly unlikely that the Roulette material will ever see the light of day. So it goes.

Up over and out.

[Hot Ptah]

I had hoped that they were reissuing "Karuna Supreme".

The Columbia albums have not been difficult to find, on vinyl or CD.

[king ubu]

Yes, I immediately thought of the Roulette material as well! That would have been great!

The Columbia stuff has even been bootlegged (at least the Monterey) on one of those Spanish labels (one of those with glossy digipacks, JazzBeat or JazzTrack I think).

"Karuna Supreme" is great, I have it on vinyl. There was a CD reissue of it in the 90s, when that german label Motor Music (another enterprise under the Universal umbrella I think) reissued a few MPS albums (those Two Originals and Three Originals sets, for instance).

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Nuts. I thought when I saw this post, that Mosaic was going to re-issue Handy's four Roulette recordings, In the Ver-nac'ular, No Coast Jazz, Jazz and Quote, Unquote. I had suggested this to them a number of years back and I was sure my prayers had been answered. Now that they're putting out the Columbia stuff, it's highly unlikely that the Roulette material will ever see the light of day. So it goes.

Up over and out.

Ditto! I was psyched to open this thread and see "Roulette". These Columbia dates are easy to find on vinyl.

Bobby Watson's Roulette dates are also MIA (and much harder to find on vinyl).

[paul secor]

I would buy a Roulette collection. I'll pass on the Columbias.

[J.A.W.]

I would buy a Roulette collection. I'll pass on the Columbias.

Same here.

I have the Japanese CD issue of In the Ver•na’cu•lar (TOCJ-6305, released in 1999), but I'd be interested in the other Roulettes as well.

[BeBop]

I'm with y'all. The Columbias aren't what I had in mind.

[jazzbo]

I'm with y'all too, though I'll get this Select eventually. I like the albums, and it would be nice to hear the remainder of the Carnegie Hall "Spirituals to Swing" performance from 1967.

[randyhersom]

Rarity aside, I think the Columbias are Handy's finest work. The live remakes from 2000 were quite good also. Too bad New View will be omitted from this Select.

[ghost of miles]

Handy mentioned this set as a possibility to me when I interviewed him last year around the time of his 75th birthday--though I was under the impression that there would be more unreleased material included. You can hear several of the Roulette cuts in the Night Lights show Handy With the Horn, and here are the transcribed interviews that I did with him:

John Handy Part 1

John Handy Part 2

John Handy Part 3

John Handy Part 4

Handy talks about the Roulette recordings at the end of Part 2 and the beginning of Part 3.

[GA Russell]

I have a positive attitude about it. When I was just starting to get into jazz (I'm pretty sure it was 1966), I read a Time Magazine article raving about Handy and the new Monterey album.

I guess you could say for emotional reasons I have always had an extra desire for the music that was coming out just when I started to get interested. So I might pick this Select up.

[Ron S]

I added "Columbia" to the thread title, to avoid any further Roulette expectations being dashed.

[jazzbo]

Smooth move!

[Chuck Nessa]

I am sure Handy is a fine professional musician. Just not sure he's worth the Mosaic treatment. For "rarity" reasons, I'd choose Roulette any day.

[Chas]

Should we assume that the choice of a Columbia set over a Roulette set had something to do with EMI's licensing fees making a Roulette set uneconomic ( even though a Roulette set would sell more copies given the comparative difficulty of finding the original LPs ) ? I have all the Roulettes and all the Columbias , and think on a musical basis the Roulettes should have been the choice .

Of the Columbias it seems that the Monterey LP gets all the praise , but for me the best album of the series is Projections . This is mostly due to the presence of Mike Nock and the three compositions he brought to the date . The album was done right before Nock took Michael White away from Handy and formed one of the truly unsung jazz-rock bands , The Fourth Way .

Nuts. I thought when I saw this post, that Mosaic was going to re-issue Handy's four Roulette recordings, In the Ver-nac'ular, No Coast Jazz, Jazz and Quote, Unquote.

Handy recorded three albums for Roulette - Quote , Unquote is a reissue .

[felser]

1 - I bet our Andorran friends will address the Handy Roulette's in the next few years when they reach 50 years old.

2 - To me, "Spanish Lady" on the Monterey album is Handy's finest moment and a landmark moment in jazz. The other two albums, to me, are good, rather than great, but unique and nice to have. But I'll take 'New View' over either of them. The Roulette's, to me, are also good rather than great, but I'd love to have them on CD. I'm not familiar with the additional live material which will be on the Select, and will buy it for that.

3 - Maybe Mosaic just made a licensing deal with Columbia for the January Zeitlin and Handy selects (I'll buy both, and will also order the Akiyoshi/Tabackan at that time, the first Selects I've bought since the Hutcherson), and the Roulette stuff can still happen. I would think the Roulette licensing would actually be easier for them since it is held by the same group that holds Blue Note (still EMI. I believe?).

4 - Select already has done two Andrew Hill's, so I don't see where they'd be adverse to doing two Handy's.

5 - I'd also love to have those Watson Roulette's on CD!

Edited December 5, 2008 by felser

[JETman]

1 - I bet our Andorran friends will address the Handy Roulette's in the next few years when they reach 50 years old.

2 - To me, "Spanish Lady" on the Monterey album is Handy's finest moment and a landmark moment in jazz. The other two albums, to me, are good, rather than great, but unique and nice to have. But I'll take 'New View' over either of them. The Roulette's, to me, are also good rather than great, but I'd love to have them on CD. I'm not familiar with the additional live material which will be on the Select, and will buy it for that.

3 - Maybe Mosaic just made a licensing deal with Columbia for the January Zeitlin and Handy selects (I'll buy both, and will also order the Akiyoshi/Tabackan at that time, the first Selects I've bought since the Hutcherson), and the Roulette stuff can still happen. I would think the Roulette licensing would actually be easier for them since it is held by the same group that holds Blue Note (still EMI. I believe?).

4 - Select already has done two Andrew Hill's, so I don't see where they'd be adverse to doing two Handy's.

5 - I'd also love to have those Watson Roulette's on CD!

With regard to #4, Mosaic has plans for yet another Akiyoshi/Tabackin Select which includes "Road Time" and other live recordings by that band.

[ghost of miles]

Should we assume that the choice of a Columbia set over a Roulette set had something to do with EMI's licensing fees making a Roulette set uneconomic ( even though a Roulette set would sell more copies given the comparative difficulty of finding the original LPs ) ? I have all the Roulettes and all the Columbias , and think on a musical basis the Roulettes should have been the choice .

Of the Columbias it seems that the Monterey LP gets all the praise , but for me the best album of the series is Projections . This is mostly due to the presence of Mike Nock and the three compositions he brought to the date . The album was done right before Nock took Michael White away from Handy and formed one of the truly unsung jazz-rock bands , The Fourth Way .

Nuts. I thought when I saw this post, that Mosaic was going to re-issue Handy's four Roulette recordings, In the Ver-nac'ular, No Coast Jazz, Jazz and Quote, Unquote.

Handy recorded three albums for Roulette - Quote , Unquote is a reissue .

Which might make a Select problematic, unless there's a batch of previously-unissued material they could include...otherwise you're putting 3 LPs on 3 CDs. I mean, it could be done, but most of the Selects seem to incorporate at least 4-5 LPs.

[tranemonk]

Really??? Do we have an ETA on ther other Akiyoshi set? and what specific titles??? :excited:

4 - Select already has done two Andrew Hill's, so I don't see where they'd be adverse to doing two Handy's.

5 - I'd also love to have those Watson Roulette's on CD!

With regard to #4, Mosaic has plans for yet another Akiyoshi/Tabackin Select which includes "Road Time" and other live recordings by that band.

[JETman]

Really??? Do we have an ETA on ther other Akiyoshi set? and what specific titles??? :excited:

4 - Select already has done two Andrew Hill's, so I don't see where they'd be adverse to doing two Handy's.

5 - I'd also love to have those Watson Roulette's on CD!

With regard to #4, Mosaic has plans for yet another Akiyoshi/Tabackin Select which includes "Road Time" and other live recordings by that band.

I had emailed them about doing Singles for "The Complete Braxton" and "Road Time". This is the response I got:

We want to do another Select with Road Time and other live material by the

band.

We are trying to track down DA Music, the current owners of the Freedom and

Black Lion labels.

[tranemonk]

as I've got no Handy I think I'm going to grab this one... and maybe the Live at Yoshi's 2CD

Good choices????

[kh1958]

as I've got no Handy I think I'm going to grab this one... and maybe the Live at Yoshi's 2CD

Good choices????

Yes, they are good choices, Handy is a very fine player, in my opinion, and the Columbia recordings in the Mosaic set are some of his best recordings. The reunion of the Monterey concert band is not as exciting as the original concert, but it is still worthwhile. The Monterey concert is one of my favorite live jazz recordings, and one that retains interest after many listenings.

Edited December 9, 2008 by kh1958

[randyhersom]

If they do the Roulette's they might as well throw in New View to round it out to 3 CDs.

[gmonahan]

Mosaic often reissues labels in batches. In the past there have been batches of Pacific Jazz's, Verves, Roulettes, Capitols, and now Columbias. Blue Note has been a constant, but that surely owes to Cuscuna's long-time association with that label. I imagine this "batching" owes to many factors--personal associations of Mosaic people with individuals at the labels in question, discoveries of one set of recordings when they're searching for others, the ease of negotiating a second, third, or fourth contract once you've gone to the trouble of negotiating a first, or maybe just to a concerted effort to explore labels one at a time.

I was happy to hear about the possibility of a live Akiyoshi-Tabackin set. I'm listening to the first disc of the new select as I write this!

greg mo