J.A.W. Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Which sets displease you? Their Complete Motown Singles sets, which, to my ears, were going from bad to worse sound-wise. The last few volumes I bought (the last one I got was #6) were so loud and harsh that they gave me headaches. Their David Ruffin Studio Albums, Vol.1 CD and Chess sets are also pretty loud, though not half as bad as those Motown sets. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Is Mosaic mixing up the two pianists named Johnny Williams? Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Is Mosaic mixing up the two pianists named Johnny Williams? Yes -- and that's kind of dumb on their part. Anyone who knows that period knows the one John Williams (the Getz sideman who also recorded as a leader for EmArcy -- a fine individual player) from John Towner Williams, who recorded initially under the name John Towner and went on to become the film composer. Also, AFAIK, neither of them was known as "Johnny" Williams. Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 John Williams: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Master-Works-1954-1955-Williams/dp/B000E1YX9Y John Towner: http://www.parisjazzcorner.com/en/dis_fiche.php?ArtNum=86640 Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 John (Towner) Williams wrote the music (based on his score for the TV Series "Checkmate") for this very nice Shelly Manne album of the same name: http://www.amazon.com/Checkmate-Shelly-Manne/dp/B00006J3TR but IIRC it's the band that mostly makes it so. Any Richie Kamuca from that period is worthwhile IMO, and there is some very fine Kamuca here. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Can any of you cats in the biz alert Mosaic to this error? This confusion drove people nuts for decades, and the digital era helped to clarify things. Mosaic is perpetuating the confusion. Quote
colinmce Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 John (Towner) Williams wrote the music (based on his score for the TV Series "Checkmate") for this very nice Shelly Manne album of the same name: http://www.amazon.com/Checkmate-Shelly-Manne/dp/B00006J3TR but IIRC it's the band that mostly makes it so. Any Richie Kamuca from that period is worthwhile IMO, and there is some very fine Kamuca here. Right, see this I knew. But when I read the blurb from Mosaic, I thought "really??". Just didn't sound right. Quote
RDK Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 So does this mean that Hip-O-Select is the new bully on the block... My main issue is that their stuff is really overpriced (presumably justified by them with extremely mediocre and unnecessary packaging...)... I thought we were done with BAD overpriced packaging at the end of the 1990s :( They're a bit pricier than the Mosaics, but not much - what, $20 compared to $18/disc? And the packaging of the jazz boxes that I've seen have been tasteful and nice - square boxes, smaller than Mosaics, but more compact. Don't know about the notes. I think Mosaics are pricier than they should be as well (at least for a quick sale), but at least the Universal/Hip-O stuff can occasionally be found discounted. Quote
brownie Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Looks like Mosaic needs more serious proofreaders for their newsletter. Not only do they confuse John Williams but they mispell Norgran records... Stan Getz: The 1953-54 Morgran Studio Sessions (4 Audiophile LPs) (Release Date; May 2011) Even in a career as celebrated and prolific as Stan Getz's, there are pockets of neglected gems that dot the landscape. In the case of Getz, one of those overlooked areas is his 1953-54 Clef Norgan recordings with a working quintet that included valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyeer and pianist Johnny Williams (who later became film composer John Williams). The band recorded several excellent albums for Clef and Norgran during those years, but when Clef and Norgran were phased out and the material was recycled on Verve, the tracks from these recording sessions were scattered over many 12" LPs which combined them with other groups from other sessions and some were forgotten altogether. Pianist Johnny Williams who did not go to Hollywood: That issue of Jazz Journal had him on their cover plus an excellent interview of him! Quote
mellowT Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Looks like Mosaic needs more serious proofreaders for their newsletter. Not only do they confuse John Williams but they mispell Norgran records... Looks like the newsletter misspelled Brookmeyer's name too. Fat finger, baby! Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) I was wondering about that John/Johnny Williams thing. I'd never heard that before (that the film composer had started as a jazz pianist). Somebody needs to set Mosaic straight about this. If it's true that Johnny Williams isn't THE John Williams, that's just embarrassing. Surely the liner-notes for the set itself don't/won't reflect this, do they?? Seriously, can somebody more in the know contact Mosaic about this?? Edited January 19, 2011 by Rooster_Ties Quote
tranemonk Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I continue to see a plethora of typos and misspellings since more and more organizations/companies increase their online/blog sites... Horrible... Quote
king ubu Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Who is Miss Pellings? Can I see her, too? Quote
EKE BBB Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Who is Miss Pellings? Can I see her, too? Misspellingly yours, Hagushtyn Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) I was wondering about that John/Johnny Williams thing. I'd never heard that before (that the film composer had started as a jazz pianist). Somebody needs to set Mosaic straight about this. If it's true that Johnny Williams isn't THE John Williams, that's just embarrassing. Surely the liner-notes for the set itself don't/won't reflect this, do they?? Seriously, can somebody more in the know contact Mosaic about this?? Williams (the film composer) plays piano on Mancini's earlier "jazz" albums such as "Peter Gunn" and "Combo." He was a fine player - he certainly could have gone in that direction had he wanted, but it appears that he made the correct career choice. Edited January 19, 2011 by Teasing the Korean Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Looks like Mosaic needs more serious proofreaders for their newsletter. Not only do they confuse John Williams but they mispell Norgran records... Looks like the newsletter misspelled Brookmeyer's name too. If they hadn't been alerted to the Williams error(s) and had gone ahead and printed/distributed booklets, would this then have been considered the worst historical inaccuracy to wind up in a Mosaic booklet? Have there been others? I dunno....can't think of anything off-hand. Quote
king ubu Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 That would have been extremely embarassing... but I do hope that their liner notes author (who likely wasn't involved in writing the blurb in the email and on the website) would not have repeated that mistake... Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Also, as I said above, AFAIK neither John Williams nor John Towner Williams was ever referred to in print as "Johnny." IIRC John Towner Williams certainly had chops as a pianist, but that was about it from a jazz perspective. Now Roger Williams... Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Also, as I said above, AFAIK neither John Williams nor John Towner Williams was ever referred to in print as "Johnny." IIRC John Towner Williams certainly had chops as a pianist, but that was about it from a jazz perspective. Now Roger Williams... Larry, John Williams, the film composer, did indeed go by "Johnny." Several of his early soundtracks, such as "Diamond Head," list the name "Johnny" on the credits. I believe he is listed as Johnny on some Mancini sessions also. Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Also, as I said above, AFAIK neither John Williams nor John Towner Williams was ever referred to in print as "Johnny." IIRC John Towner Williams certainly had chops as a pianist, but that was about it from a jazz perspective. Now Roger Williams... Larry, John Williams, the film composer, did indeed go by "Johnny." Several of his early soundtracks, such as "Diamond Head," list the name "Johnny" on the credits. I believe he is listed as Johnny on some Mancini sessions also. OK. Quote
medjuck Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I was wondering about that John/Johnny Williams thing. I'd never heard that before (that the film composer had started as a jazz pianist). Seriously, can somebody more in the know contact Mosaic about this?? He definitely did. Benny Carter (how's that for name dropping) once told me that John Williams had been in one of Benny's groups. In fact Benny had just been to see him at Dreamworks. Also IIRC Elmer Bernstein said that the piano player who Cassavetes replaces in the title sequence of the Staccato tv series is that John Williams. Quote
JSngry Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 My high school band director played in an Army band w/John Towner Williams. Even had an MOR album that he did called The Towner Touch or something like that. It kinda sucked, but not because the playing was bad. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 Also IIRC Elmer Bernstein said that the piano player who Cassavetes replaces in the title sequence of the Staccato tv series is that John Williams. That is true. I have the series on DVD. Quote
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