FS: Verve Stuff Smith Mosaic Box Set

[Face of the Bass]

I am offering for sale my copy of the Verve Stuff Smith Mosaic set. This is set #186, #1,912. Box, booklet and discs are all in excellent or like new condition. 

I am looking for $100 for this set, preferably in the form of an Amazon gift card. PM if interested! 

Set is sold, thanks for looking!

Edited September 22, 2018 by Face of the Bass

[king ubu]

Amazing set!

Wouldn't be willing to part with mine  

[JSngry]

PM sent!

[ghost of miles]

I've been meaning to revisit this set for quite awhile now.  This weekend will be a good time to do it!

[Jim Duckworth]

On 9/20/2018 at 11:21 AM, ghost of miles said:

I've been meaning to revisit this set for quite awhile now.  This weekend will be a good time to do it!

I was thinking the very same thing.

 

[Ed S]

I guess I can tell my Stuff Smith story now that this set is sold.

This goes back to the days when without notice, Mosaic pulled the Stuff Smith set off their website with absolutely no notice.  It had not hit Running low or Last Chance and I honestly don't remember why it was pulled.

At any rate, I had not purchased it and kept my eye on Ebay.  Prices went through the roof - well into  two hundred+ dollar range.  Mosaic sets brought a much bigger return back then.    A couple of weeks after the Smith set was pulled, one came up on Ebay.  Complete set with box and booklet with a Buy it Now price of $40.  I grabbed it.  After I paid, the seller told me he had intended the $40 to be the opening bid. 

I hope it was not one of you who sold it.  I felt bad, but not that bad I suppose.....

[sidewinder]

I went years before I could find an affordable copy of the Stuff Smith set. It is great ! $100 is an excellent deal for this music and the $40 that Ed paid is a travesty.. 

[mikeweil]

I found this commentary on discogs:

" There was an issue with the licensing of this material and Mosaic's normal minimum 3 year access to the music was truncated and sales of the boxed set were halted. I don't know how many sets were sold,"

[J.A.W.]

There were indeed problems with the license, that's why Mosaic had to pull the set without notice.

[Ken Dryden]

3 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I found this commentary on discogs:

" There was an issue with the licensing of this material and Mosaic's normal minimum 3 year access to the music was truncated and sales of the boxed set were halted. I don't know how many sets were sold,"

I thought that wording sounded familiar, it was my post... 

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, J.A.W. said:

There were indeed problems with the license, that's why Mosaic had to pull the set without notice.

Wonder what the problems were?

[Ken Dryden]

Mosaic either sent out a mailed notice or an insert in a catalog apologizing for the abrupt withdrawal of the Stuff Smith set for contractual reasons. I don't remember how detailed the notice was.

[JSngry]

It was pretty semi-detailed, but I don't remember at all what it was.

[Ken Dryden]

Maybe there was a publishing dispute revolving around one or more of the previously unissued tracks. It seemed odd at the time that all legal issues weren't cleared prior to the set being assembled, but there can be some latecomer to the party who adds the turd in the punchbowl to ruin it for everyone instead of negotiating in a reasonable manner.

 

[king ubu]

3 years? Was the agreed upon period really that short for sets at that time? (Or just for Universal-owned stuff sets?)

Seems awfully short!

[sidewinder]

Details are hazy but wasn’t there some legal issue with the Stuff Smith Estate ?

Certainly peeved me off at the time as this set was on my ‘to do’ list.

[Ken Dryden]

I think the standard period of time was a minimum of three years, though I believe it varied from one set to the next. Mosaic had to estimate how long it would take to sell 5000 or 7500 units. 

[king ubu]

10 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

I think the standard period of time was a minimum of three years, though I believe it varied from one set to the next. Mosaic had to estimate how long it would take to sell 5000 or 7500 units. 

Yes, but other Verve sets such as the Kid Ory were around longer I think? Those, the Ory and Stmih, came before the times when in Europe Universal would sell their own share of the edition - not numbered and with a different catalogue number on the spines, but they said part of the total edition of 5000 or 7500 or whatever it was, too ... that was done for Farlow, Q, Eldridge I think, Nelson, Dizzy and several others ... with that collaboration in place, maybe license periods got a bit longer? I'm just saying that in my 20+ years of buying Mosaic, a set released 2-3 years ago was considered "new" until quite recently (I lagged behind for a long time, buying previously issued boxes and often delaying the acquistion of new ones until the hit the "running low" list ... I did change that eventually, but I missed out on the Dinah and Poppa sets, but have been helped out with both )

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I did talk to Michael Cuscuna about this back when this set was deleted and I seem to remember that they went to re-press the CDs and the label denied their request. This is why it went out of print almost instantly. As to why the were denied, I can't remember right now.

[JSngry]

Set arrived today, lovingly and carefully packaged. The love and care will most certainly returned to the set by its recipient, I guarantee!

I have bought from David once or twice before, and this seals the deal for me - he is a person with whom you can do business with absolute confidence.

[Ken Dryden]

On 9/25/2018 at 2:37 AM, king ubu said:

Yes, but other Verve sets such as the Kid Ory were around longer I think? Those, the Ory and Stmih, came before the times when in Europe Universal would sell their own share of the edition - not numbered and with a different catalogue number on the spines, but they said part of the total edition of 5000 or 7500 or whatever it was, too ... that was done for Farlow, Q, Eldridge I think, Nelson, Dizzy and several others ... with that collaboration in place, maybe license periods got a bit longer? I'm just saying that in my 20+ years of buying Mosaic, a set released 2-3 years ago was considered "new" until quite recently (I lagged behind for a long time, buying previously issued boxes and often delaying the acquistion of new ones until the hit the "running low" list ... I did change that eventually, but I missed out on the Dinah and Poppa sets, but have been helped out with both )

The three year minimum lease came from the Capitol Nat King Cole box, the way I remember it. I was not saying that all leases of music were for three years, just the minimum. I know it is also frustrating for Michael Cuscuna when they don't allow him vault access, then after Mosaic issues a set, new unissued music is found and eventually released by the label after the Mosaic box is out of print.

 

[king ubu]

Thanks @Ken Dryden! I'm not long enough in the game to know such details (started buying Mosaics about 20 years ago, when I found out about them by reading a review of the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh, which was the first I got). So while I did get some older ones (including the Stuff Smith ), I had no one around to tell me how this all worked (most of what I have learnt about the record business I have learnt from you good guys here).

[jazztrain]

On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 6:35 PM, Ken Dryden said:

Mosaic either sent out a mailed notice or an insert in a catalog apologizing for the abrupt withdrawal of the Stuff Smith set for contractual reasons. I don't remember how detailed the notice was.

There was an earlier thread about this.  See here:  http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/6649-stuff-smith-set-no-longer-available/&page=1

[Ken Dryden]

I didn't remember the specifics, I got my copy at the beginning when it was first issued. It was a pretty crappy thing for the owners of Verve at the time to do, as the 2 CD Stuff Smith preceded this box set.