Mosaics That Could Have Been, But Weren't

[JSngry]

i remember waaaay back, around 1990 or so, writing a letter to Michael Cuscuna with suggestions for future sets, as was solicited of Mosaic customers then (and now). One of them was what I thought would be a sure-fire big seller - The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of The Buddy Rich Big Band. At the time, none of this stuff was out, and the LPs were going for crazymad prices, so...good idea, right?

No!

Michael wrote back something along the lines of "No way. Won't happen. Too much money to be made releasing the albums individually".

Well, put them out individually they did, all with a buttload full of unreleased material. And they're all still in print. I just ordered three I didn't really want just to complete my set before they did go OOP (and you know that at some point they will). Together they would have made a great Mosiac, but...it appears to have been a smart move to not do it that way.

So, in your estimation, what else falls out like this? Ellington's 50s Columbias come to mind for one,,,anything else?

[colinmce]

Hm, that's some interesting insight on the question of selling individual albums. I always wondered why they never did, say, a Sonny Clark or Bobby Hutcherson BN in the 80s/early 90s before a lot of that stuff was available on CD. Probably why.

[crisp]

I'd like to see a Popmarket-style mini LP box of Ellington's Sony-owned Fifties albums. A lot did come out individually but there are still a lot of gaps, as with the Brubeck (happily now being resolved).

[jazzbo]

What they could do is make a box set of the "A Drum is A Woman" Ellington material. They could release the two cd set version that Schaap apparently readied that was never released. And they could add two additional discs of jazz figures' recorded complaints about the Phil Schaap version.

[JSngry]

What they could do is make a box set of the "A Drum is A Woman" Ellington material. They could release the two cd set version that Schaap apparently readied that was never released. And they could add two additional discs of jazz figures' recorded complaints about the Phil Schaap version.

Does the broadcast still exist? It does, right? That on a DVD would make a great sweetening of the pot, especially if some more contemporaneous TV footage could be added.

[jazzbo]

I'm with you. I have only ever seen about 30 seconds of the broadcast, or what may have been a broadcast. And I've never heard anyone with a copy or speaking of a copy.

[JSngry]

Audio, yes, but video...that would be sweet.

I don't care how big a mess it was, it's an Ellingtonian mess!

[GA Russell]

Mosaic could have made a nice box of Julie London's jazzier albums.

I'd like to read who some of the sidemen were.

[jazzbo]

Audio, yes, but video...that would be sweet.

I don't care how big a mess it was, it's an Ellingtonian mess!

Yes. Personally, I'm very found of the lp. I've seen just seconds of either a broadcast or rehearsal in a documentary. Whether there is much more. . . I cannot say, and would hope so. Only, I would also think it would have appeared.

But then again, maybe not. I've seen a Bell Telephone hour show that was broadcast (and un-broadcast portions) from Canada that has never been officially released. So I guess there's hope. But that was from about six years later. . . taped performances and retained. Not necessarily the case six years earlier.

Edited March 6, 2012 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

I think TV rights are a whole 'nother world than recording rights.

[jazzbo]

Sure. But there's the distinct possibility there may be very little available to license or release. If I'm not mistaken it was a rare thing for a show to be on tape in this time period.

[JSngry]

Kinescope would be the best hope, I'd think.

[Mark Stryker]

i remember waaaay back, around 1990 or so, writing a letter to Michael Cuscuna with suggestions for future sets, as was solicited of Mosaic customers then (and now). One of them was what I thought would be a sure-fire big seller - The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of The Buddy Rich Big Band. At the time, none of this stuff was out, and the LPs were going for crazymad prices, so...good idea, right?

No!

Michael wrote back something along the lines of "No way. Won't happen. Too much money to be made releasing the albums individually".

Well, put them out individually they did, all with a buttload full of unreleased material. And they're all still in print. I just ordered three I didn't really want just to complete my set before they did go OOP (and you know that at some point they will). Together they would have made a great Mosiac, but...it appears to have been a smart move to not do it that way.

So, in your estimation, what else falls out like this? Ellington's 50s Columbias come to mind for one,,,anything else?

Not to ignore the question of the thread, but I want to acknowledge that "Big Swing Face" was literally the first jazz record I ever owned. I heard my older brother's high school band play the title arrangement when I was 9 and it was one of the things that hooked me into the music. I still love that record, all those WP records, actually. Don't have any of the CDs but I gather I should get them for the extra tracks, yes?

[JSngry]

Maybe...depends on how much love you still have for it...there's a lot more material than than on the LPs..none of it sucks, either, if you know what I mean. And there's a lot of earlier versions of charts that would get recorded the next album over. It's all Buddy Rich, so it's all gonna have that "tght" thing (which should not be confused with "stiff", oh god no!), and for me, that wears on as goes on. But as documents, yeah, very good value.

For me, the first three were about it...Mercy Mercy Mercy, Buddy And Soul, Keep The Customer Satisfied, those just got less and less interesting to me. But I bought them yesterday anyway, just because.

And Big Swing Face was probably in the first 20 jazz albums I ever owned. Found it in the cutout bins, a casualty of the big UA catalog purge.Sold it at the end of the 70s because that thing was so not what I wanted to ever hear again. But time goes on, and you never know what you'll want to come back to.

[Bright Moments]

Terry Gibbs!

[miles65]

Kinescope would be the best hope, I'd think.

The Museum of Broadcasting in New York has a Kinescope. And last year a copy was sold at Skinner auction for $652.

Who knows if it ever shows up.

[miles65]

I'm pleased the Red Nichols Mosaic set with his Universal Brunswick recordings was never released. The Jazz Oracle series not only includes those but the Sony Brunswick recordings as well and also a number of bonus tracks complementing issues on other labels.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Stompy Jones

[jazzbo]

Terry Gibbs!

So where have those Gibbs sessions shown up instead?

Kinescope would be the best hope, I'd think.

The Museum of Broadcasting in New York has a Kinescope. And last year a copy was sold at Skinner auction for $652.

Who knows if it ever shows up.

Thanks for the info. I'd love to see it one day.

I'm pleased the Red Nichols Mosaic set with his Universal Brunswick recordings was never released. The Jazz Oracle series not includes those but the Sony Brunswick recordings as well and also a number of bonus tracks complementing issues on other labels.

Yes, Jazz Oracle did a great job.

[golfcrazy1984]

How about the Felsted recordings? Wasn't this on the "Upcoming Releases" page a few years ago?

[Chuck Nessa]

Don't remember that. Too late now - 2 versions currently available.

[paul secor]

Iirc, there was some word that the master tapes were not available to Mosaic.

[CraigP]

The Complete Buddy Bolden Wax Cylinders. I have most of them, but there's a couple I'd like to get to complete my set.

[colinmce]

In a late 1980s brochure I have (Herbie Nichols on the cover) they announce a Wardell Gray set with no specifics. Also mentioned are the Commodores, Shorty Rogers, and Coleman Hawkins. So really they've been delaying that one for about 25 years now, not 6 months!

[medjuck]

Kinescope would be the best hope, I'd think.

The Museum of Broadcasting in New York has a Kinescope. And last year a copy was sold at Skinner auction for $652.

Who knows if it ever shows up.

I'm pretty sure that there's no extant colour print.

[mr jazz]

I asked for the complete Heath Brothers on Columbia years ago. Collectors Choice issed a twofer with extremely mediocre SQ (big surprise) a few years ago. Jimmy Heath thought it was a good idea as well.