Woody Shaw - Complete Muse Recordings on Mosaic

[J.A.W.]

Just noticed that Mosaic will release another Woody Shaw set, The Complete Muse Sessions (7 CDs): http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=255-MD-CD

It's scheduled for release in June 2013. Remastered by Malcolm Addey.

Edited April 28, 2013 by J.A.W.

[JSngry]

Interesting at several levels, not the least of which is Mosiac working with Muse in general now, or is this a one-off due to the Cuscuna connection?

[king ubu]

Yeah, that would open a whole new bag of possible sets if it wasn't a one-off.

And as for Shaw, his Muse albums include several of his very best. Struggled to find all the 32 Jazz reissues ten or twelve years back when they were just disappearing.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Interesting at several levels, not the least of which is Mosiac working with Muse in general now, or is this a one-off due to the Cuscuna connection?

Complete Jimmy Ponder on Muse - complete Houston Person on Muse, including certain rude covers - MC produced a couple of his. Complete Willis Jackson!!!! But seriously... Etta Jones too. A 4 CD set of Johnny Lytle could be done. Would anyone want to buy a complete Sonny Stitt? It's good stuff, but...

MG

[ejp626]

I think I will pass. I have all the 32 Jazz issues and while there is probably material missing from those -- and maybe even additional unreleased material -- I just have to prioritize...

[king ubu]

Hm, I'm not that familiar with Muse, but I don't think I've ever seen additional/unissued material on any reissue. If there is some of that, I might be in for the Mosaic (if there's none, I might still be in ... depends, I guess, in various factors to be in action in the years to come ).

[Blue Train]

I have all the 32 Jazz releases. Unless there is a great deal new material....I am skipping this.

P.S. "No matter the mastering, Pop's recordings have changed my life. No mastering engineer has done that." - Chuck Nessa

Edited April 28, 2013 by Blue Train

[CJ Shearn]

Ooh! Essential stuff, I've heard from people here. Will have to grab it. This must be why Mosaic had that video interview with Anthony Braxton a few years ago.

[BFrank]

Wow. I'm pretty familiar with about 1/2 of those sessions. I had no idea there was 7 CDs worth of Muse material.

MUCH better than the Columbia stuff, IMO. I would be VERY tempted to pick this one up.

Edited April 29, 2013 by BFrank

[Rooster_Ties]

From what I can see, there's only one previously unreleased track on the upcoming Mosaic, BUT it's from my all-time favorite Woody Shaw date! -- Concert Ensemble At The Berliner Jazztage.

(F) Woody Shaw, tp, perc; Slide Hampton, tb, perc; Rene McLean, as, fl, perc; Frank Foster, ts, perc; Ronnie Mathews, p; Stafford James, b; Louis Hayes, d.

Berlin Jazz Festival, November 6, 1976

Hello To The Wind Muse MR 5139
Obsequious -
Sanyas previously unissued
Jean Marie Muse MR 5139
Bilad As Sudan (Land Of The Blacks)

Would love to have a better collection of Shaw's Muse dates, and I'm sure I'll jump on this, even though I think I have nearly everything in the set already.

BTW, here's

from "The Moontrane" (over 13 minutes, so hopefully the live Berliner Jazztage version is also lengthy). Edited April 29, 2013 by Rooster_Ties

[alankin]

Hmm, I have six of the nine Muse records...

[JSngry]

Hm, I'm not that familiar with Muse, but I don't think I've ever seen additional/unissued material on any reissue. If there is some of that, I might be in for the Mosaic (if there's none, I might still be in ... depends, I guess, in various factors to be in action in the years to come ).

The Shaw CDs (especially from the post-Columbia albums) would sometimes have alternate takes(IIRC). So if you were a LP baby like me, hey, good thing.

I've got everything in here in LP and/or CD form, but hell, I'll buy it at some point, just because it's good (at times great) music, and because it'll be my money going into pockets against which I have no objection.

Besides, Fred RULZ these days in my world.

[7/4]

I think I might want this one.

I don't know if I can get it when it comes out, but I'd like to.

[Face of the Bass]

This is one I really want. I actually haven't really heard much of any of this, but the personnel looks like it will be very promising.

[ejp626]

From what I can see, there's only one previously unreleased track on the upcoming Mosaic, BUT it's from my all-time favorite Woody Shaw date! -- Concert Ensemble At The Berliner Jazztage.

(F) Woody Shaw, tp, perc; Slide Hampton, tb, perc; Rene McLean, as, fl, perc; Frank Foster, ts, perc; Ronnie Mathews, p; Stafford James, b; Louis Hayes, d.

Berlin Jazz Festival, November 6, 1976

Hello To The Wind Muse MR 5139

Obsequious -

Sanyas previously unissued

Jean Marie Muse MR 5139

Bilad As Sudan (Land Of The Blacks)

Would love to have a better collection of Shaw's Muse dates, and I'm sure I'll jump on this, even though I think I have nearly everything in the set already.

BTW, here's

from "The Moontrane" (over 13 minutes, so hopefully the live Berliner Jazztage version is also lengthy).

If there is literally only one unissued track, then heck no. I'm glad it's coming out -- this is great material that is hard to come by now -- but this is one of those cases I was the ant and not the grasshopper.

[JSngry]

Important point (although perhaps not an important consideration) - this material covers Woody on the ascent as an "important" (in high visibility/market terms) composer/bandleader/trumpet influence and then Woody after he had peaked in market terms. Still a great, great player, but his post-Columbia Muse sides are more or less blowing sessions on familiar tunes with a hired-for-the-session group of "the usual suspects" of the time. In effect, it's one set that serves as a two-part bookend for the Columbia set. All of it very good, but pretty dramatic in "how quickly things changed"..

[felser]

Important point (although perhaps not an important consideration) - this material covers Woody on the ascent as an "important" (in high visibility/market terms) composer/bandleader/trumpet influence and then Woody after he had peaked in market terms. Still a great, great player, but his post-Columbia Muse sides are more or less blowing sessions on familiar tunes with a hired-for-the-session group of "the usual suspects" of the time. In effect, it's one set that serves as a two-part bookend for the Columbia set. All of it very good, but pretty dramatic in "how quickly things changed"..

Yes, was gonna comment on the same. The pre-Columbia stuff is invigorating, but I find the post-Columbia Muse stuff to be pretty "by-the-numbers" and the most disappointing of Shaw's career. Not that it's bad, but it's not compelling. I own it all, but never pull it out to listen to any more (the only Shaw that is true of for me). The Elektra-Musician dates do a lot more for me, as does the posthumous live stuff on High Note. I also agree with Rooster Ties on how magnificent the Berliner Jazztage material is, my favorite of his.

Edited April 29, 2013 by felser

[JSngry]

The Rise And Fall Of Woody Shaw has been well documented, especially in the notes to the the Mosaic Columbia set. Woody seemed to be at his most engaged when he had a regular working band...something he did not have when the later Muse dates were done.

[CJ Shearn]

The High Note discs contain a mix of tunes from the Columbia and Muse years, so, I am familiar with a few of the tunes from the Muse period. Even by 1985 when Woody was featured with JMac at the One Night With Blue Note concert, he was declining a little bit, but not to the point of it being out right sad, and hard to listen to i.e. Freddie Hubbard in the mid 90's and 2000's.

[JSngry]

Woody was a warrior, imo.

The later Muse sides are in no ways bad, at times often very good. It's just not the same...or at least it wasn't in real time...the cover photos (and album designs) are still sad for me to look like...it's as if he went from being presented as A Significant Musical Voice to Just Another Jazz Trumpeter..

But I have it all, because it is all part of the story, and it's a story that needs to be heard as much in its ending as in its glories.

[sidewinder]

What a nice suprise to start the day with ! This one will go to the top of my Mosaic list, even though I've got most of the Muse material on CD or LP (much of it on those 33 Jazz reissues). IMO the Muse material by Woody is really strong - especially the material around 74-77. Like all of the best Mosaics, this box will have a major story to tell..

Edited April 29, 2013 by sidewinder

[Carl Baugher]

I've already placed my order. This will be a nice set, I'm sure. Glad to have it!

[Head Man]

I have all the Muse CDs but...................it's tempting!

[king ubu]

I agree with many of the points the merikins made during the night ... the Berlin live set is fantastic indeed! Actually that 2CD-set (w/Iron Men on the other disc) was the frist I'd heard of Shaw's, back when I was familiar only with a few sideman recorings (the Larry Young one!), and probably just around the time I got the Mosaic (which took me a while to "get" - I've never been too much of a fan of album where line-ups are constantly jumbled around, though I've long since realized that's kind of silly, but each of us has his faults, dig?).

And indeed, it's the pre-Columbia Muse albums that are the real deal! It's been quite a while, but I think I really enjoy the standards album with Walton from later on though. But in that category, it's really hard to beat "The Moontrane", "Love Dance", "Little Red's Fantasy", "Live at the Berliner Jazztage" ... and yeah, "Iron Man", too, though that's a different animal.

Anyway, the Berlin album is terrific and an additional track from there, plus Fred rulz, plus the Mosaic quality package (as opposed to the Dorn crappity crap) might in the end just push me over, eventually. Hell, I have the Mosaic plus the recent albums collection from the Columbias (plus the CD and LP versions of "Setting Stones"), so why not duplicate the Muse material?

(edit for typo)

Edited April 29, 2013 by king ubu

[sidewinder]

and I'd buy it just to have another booklet full of Woody Shaw bio, stories and photos too ! But there again, he is one of my favourite artists..

Edited April 29, 2013 by sidewinder