Mosaic and the Blue Note catalog

[mikeweil]

Let's have a more serious look at possible Mosaic box sets from the Blue Note modern jazz catalog.

 

What we now have available is:

- Joe Henderson (including the two Kenny Dorham albums)

- Freddie Hubbard (plus Impulse! albums

- Sonny Clark

 

We already had, but some long oop:

- Hank Mobley 1950's

- Hank Mobley 1960's

- Andrew Hill 1963-66

- Andrew Hill unreleased sessions Select

- Lee Morgan 1950's

- Bud Powell (plus Roost, except for the Bud Plays Bird album discovered later)

- Thelonious Monk

- Sam Rivers

- Don Cherry

- Thad Jones small groups (including Roulette and United Artists)

- Curtis Fuller

- Tina Brooks

- Dizzy Reece Select

- Paul Chambers Select

- Grachan Moncur III Select

- Jackie McLean 1964-66

- Stanley Turrentine Quintets / Sextets

- Lou Donaldson 1957-60

- Jimmy Smith February 1957

- Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers 1960's

- Bennie Green Select

- Freddie Redd

- Herbie Nichols

- Grant Green with Sonny Clark

- Blue Mitchell 1963-66

- Donald Byrd / Pepper Adams

- Horace Parlan

- Larry Young

- Elvin Jones

- John Patton Select

- Duke Pearson Select

- Dexter Gordon Select Keystone

- Don Pullen Select

- Tony Williams Select

- Ike Quebec 45 sessions

 

There were box sets of the Blue Notes of Herbie Hancock and Dexter Gordon that Cuscuna compiled.

 

Now that's what I call mining a catalog, considering the avoidance of albums reissued on single or double CDs. But now that most of these are oop ...... 

 

Regarding  Bobby Hutcherson, we had a Select with rare stuff from his last Blue Note years. I always wondered why they never did a Hutcherson/Land Select. But with practically all single CDs oop this would be an option, IMHO.

 

Another candidate could be Horace Silver, split into three boxes, the earliest albums to the Mitchell/Cook frontline, the next quintets, the Silver 'N' series. I always thought he would have deserved the Mosaic treatment, although everything was reissued on single CDs.

Edited July 11, 2023 by mikeweil

[T.D.]

The only Ike Quebec Mosaic released was the 45 sessions. They could do the LP albums. Not completely absurd in light of the Henderson and Clark precedents.

But I don't know if it'd sell. I already own all the individual CDs, as probably do many IQ fans.

Edited July 11, 2023 by T.D.

[Ed S]

I've really enjoyed the recent 60s Mobley, Henderson and Hubbard sets and play them frequently despite having most of the music on individual CDs, albeit many of which are pretty old McMasters. I'd love to see Mosaic continue to release Blue Note stuff like Hutcherson, Shorter, Silver, the Three Sounds, McLean, Morgan 60s etc.

[Justin V]

4 hours ago, T.D. said:

The only Ike Quebec Mosaic released was the 45 sessions. They could do the LP albums. Not completely absurd in light of the Henderson and Clark precedents.

But I don't know if it'd sell. I already own all the individual CDs, as probably do many IQ fans.

He also makes up 2/3 of the fantastic set with John Hardee.

[felser]

46 minutes ago, Justin V said:

He also makes up 2/3 of the fantastic set with John Hardee.

Love the Hardee portions of that box.  Never had heard of him prior to the box, wonder why he didn't record more.

[Eric]

Maybe Kenny Burrell?  It seems there are some odds and ends that are trickier to find.  Something of an interesting catalog - the first two kind of stand together, then the two jam sessions, the live album, Midnight Blue and the odds/ends.  I might be a buyer, I love his tone and most of those albums have grown on me over the years.

Maybe a collection of "one album" Blue Note artists, although I am too lazy to compile a roster.  Probably a little gimmicky for the Mosaic folks.

Those Selects filled so many gaps!

[danasgoodstuff]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Maybe Kenny Burrell?  It seems there are some odds and ends that are trickier to find.  Something of an interesting catalog - the first two kind of stand together, then the two jam sessions, the live album, Midnight Blue and the odds/ends.  I might be a buyer, I love his tone and most of those albums have grown on me over the years.

Maybe a collection of "one album" Blue Note artists, although I am too lazy to compile a roster.  Probably a little gimmicky for the Mosaic folks.

Those Selects filled so many gaps!

If they do KB I'd buy it if they include the unissued version of Jr. Parker's "Next Time You See Me", otherwise probably not.  I have some of the BN on Mosaic, but haven't bought anything in a while, and not new in even longer.

[mhatta]

I'm not an audiophile, but I'd love to hear some of BN's organ stuff with good remastering... Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, and John Patton have already been put together, but it would be nice to compile the definitive Freddie Roach (who played with Joe Henderson) set or Reuben Wilson set who recently passed away.  Wouldn't that be a hard sell?

[JSngry]

Roach, Reuben, Lonnie Smith, and Baby Face.

But does that smell like Mosaic? No, right? 

[danasgoodstuff]

If they included the unissued Freddie Roach on BN session on a box, I'd buy that.  "Trailers for sale or rent..."

[mikeweil]

14 hours ago, Eric said:

Maybe Kenny Burrell?  It seems there are some odds and ends that are trickier to find.  Something of an interesting catalog - the first two kind of stand together, then the two jam sessions, the live album, Midnight Blue and the odds/ends.  I might be a buyer, I love his tone and most of those albums have grown on me over the years.

I think the Burrell Blue Note albums were perfectly presented as single reissues, as they are all a bit different from each other. Closest thing to a box set was the double CD with the first sessions. The only rarity is the Japanese LP Freedom with leftover tracks, but musically I didn't think it was very thrilling.

The Burrell Verve sessions - that would have been great, but who knows if the unissued material still exists?

Edited July 12, 2023 by mikeweil

[Eric]

5 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I think the Burrell Blue Note albums were perfectly presented as single reissues, as they are all a bit different from each other. Closest thing to a box set was the double CD with the first sessions. The only rarity is the Japanese LP Freedom with leftover tracks, but musically I didn't think it was very thrilling.

The Burrell Verve sessions  thst would have been great, but who knows if the unissued material still exists?

I don't disagree with you re: the Blue Note albums.   Burrell Verve would be interesting - not sure whether they have done much with Verve or have access.

I decided I am a pass on the Clark.  I have the key albums.  Other things to spend money on ...

[mikeweil]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Burrell Verve would be interesting - not sure whether they have done much with Verve or have access.

They did a number of sets from the Verve catalog. But Universal Japan reissued all the Chess and Verve albums as single CDs (without any unissued material) at the occasion of Burrell's 90th birthday in 2021, so that maybe out of the question, economically.

Edited July 12, 2023 by mikeweil

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, Eric said:

I decided I am a pass on the Clark.  I have the key albums.  Other things to spend money on ...

I came to the same conclusion.

 

[andybleaden]

Same here - nowadays all these Mosaics have the same material I have where as previously they had absolute hidden treasures like the Larry Young or Hank Mobley or Lee Morgan sets that back then were really impossible to find on CD 

However that said - these are lovely sets to see - especially the Joe Henderson and Sonny Clark - 

 

I would love to have seen one that tied up a few artists like Baby Face Willette/Freddie Roach - or as others have said - long since unseen one LP wonders. 

Nowadays I still enjoy the ones I bought - last one was the JJ Johnson and the two Vee Jays with Lee Morgan Wayne Shorter  and Paul Chambers and Wynton Kelly =they were nice sets

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by andybleaden

[JSngry]

8 minutes ago, andybleaden said:

 I would love to have seen one that tied up a few artists like Baby Face Willette/Freddie Roach... 

This. 

And add Fred Jackson. 

[romualdo]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:50 AM, mikeweil said:

Regarding  Bobby Hutcherson, we had a Select with rare stuff from his last Blue Note years. I always wondered why they never did a Hutcherson/Land Select. But with practically all single CDs oop this would be an option, IMHO.

I asked MC back in the 90s for a Hutcherson set but he thought it would be difficult to find a cutoff point (I suggested a few & he thought it was reasonable but it never came to be) - this is way before the release of the 70s Select set. He was interested so maybe now with the new revival of BN Mosaics he may actually go for a Hutch set.

[Daniel A]

There is fantastic live material in decent sound with the Hutcherson/Land group. It does not seem likely that Mosaic would combine it with studio material, but it would be nice to see a proper release of that material as well.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Daniel A

[danasgoodstuff]

48 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

There is fantastic live material in decent sound with the Hutcherson/Land group. It does not seem likely that Mosaic would combine it with studio material, but it would be nice to se a proper release of that material as well.

Live Hutch/Land material would be nice to have.

[felser]

I asked about a Hutch/Land set many yearsago.  IIRC, they were actually trying, but the cross-licensing (BN, Mainstream, Cadet) was troublesome.

[gmonahan]

I seem to remember talk a while back that they were going to do a Lee Morgan 60s Blue Note set. Many have all that material, though I am not one and would actually be interested in such a set.

[Rooster_Ties]

4 minutes ago, gmonahan said:

I seem to remember talk a while back that they were going to do a Lee Morgan 60s Blue Note set. Many have all that material, though I am not one and would actually be interested in such a set.

And a Lee Morgan 60’s set has the likely(?) prospect of the complete sessions of at least one (or was it two?) sessions that have only been partially released.

Specifically the session with Frank Mitchell from September 13, 1968 (tracks 7-9 on the CD release of The Sixth Sense — am I remembering right?)

Is there another partial session I’m forgetting? — I seem to vaguely remember like there were two?

[Dan Gould]

There is the Blues for Tatum session that I do not expect will ever see the light of day.

I think a Lee Morgan 60s box would consist of what was issued in the CD era and that's it.

[mikeweil]

4 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

There is the Blues for Tatum session that I do not expect will ever see the light of day.

The bonus tracks on The Sixth Sense CD are from that session.

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

The bonus tracks on The Sixth Sense CD are from that session.

Ok but not the entire session.