Don Byas Mosaic set available for pre-order

[mjzee]

Session B8 (11/20/44) has a Harold McFadden on guitar and electric guitar.  Any relation to Eddie?

[gmonahan]

On 1/11/2024 at 4:45 PM, medjuck said:

Anyone have any idea how many were in the first pressing? 

My wild guess would be 1,000. I got a first pressing, and the number on my booklet is 0791.

 

[sidewinder]

Mine is #958 so that would make sense.

[ghost of miles]

On 1/17/2024 at 6:09 PM, mjzee said:

Session B8 (11/20/44) has a Harold McFadden on guitar and electric guitar.  Any relation to Eddie?

Don’t know, but I like Loren’s description of McFadden on “Rose Room” as “clearly in his element, chonking out Charlie Christian riffs-a-plenty.” 
 

What a treasure trove this is for us Byas fans. I don’t know how much, if any, of the Timmie Rosenkrantz apartment sessions have ever been issued before, but they’re all new to me. The Frank Newton session with Hank D’Amico’s group as well.  And I’m not even into the miscellaneous-labels part of the set yet.  Much appreciation to our friends in Stamford for putting it out.

[gmonahan]

Agreed! I just finally finished listening to Disc 10, and I really enjoyed the small labels part. I was listening to an earlier disc a couple of days ago when suddenly I heard Charlie Parker. That brought me up and reminded me to look more closely at the booklet!!

 

 

[OliverM]

#866 here.

Incredible collection, and have only reached CD5, taking my time with this box set. Sound is also impressive.

[pglbook]

I received an email from Mosaic this morning that the Don Byas is back in stock. And it is still at the pre-order sale price!

I ordered a copy a few minutes ago and am looking forward to hearing it. I was not familiar with Don Byas but the great reviews on here (which led me to research and sample his music) convinced me.

Thanks!

Edited February 4 by pglbook

[Ed S]

The pre-order/sale price is in effect through February 11. 

Edited February 4 by Ed S

[ejp626]

I'd been having a bit of back and forth with Scott, as I wanted to bundle the Byas and Clark sets to save (slightly) on postage up to Canada.  It's been a while since I ordered with Mosaic (probably the Savory Collection was the last one).  Anyway, I pulled the trigger this morning. 😊  If I get dinged with a huge customs charge 🤕, this might be the last time.  We'll see... 🤞

[clifford_thornton]

Mine has shipped; I wasn't expecting it to fly so quickly, and am glad to have gotten the restock. Looking forward to spending some time with this music. I only have a smattering of his recordings on LP.

[ejp626]

My wife tells me my sets have arrived, though they did come with a fairly hefty customs charge. ☹️

[Jazzcat28]

Ordered a set. The clips at the website and the reviews/discussion here made it hard to pass up on this one. Interested to see the turnaround on shipping this go around.

[sidewinder]

Last day of the sale price according to the Mosaic email just received.

[Adam]

On 10/30/2023 at 2:54 PM, jazzbo said:

 

The following Don Byas sessions of 1944-46 are not included in this set as they are under ownership of various parent labels:
Albert Ammons and his Rhythm Kings (Commodore – February 12, 1944)
Coleman Hawkins and his Orchestra (Apollo – February 16 and 22, 1944)
Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra (Signature – May 2, 1944)
Coleman Hawkins and his Sax Ensemble (Keynote – May 24, 1944)
Mary Lou Williams and her Orchestra (Asch – June 5, 1944)
“Hot Lips” Page and his Orchestra (Commodore – September 29, 1944)
Trummy Young and his Orchestra (Signature – December 4, 1944)
Cozy Cole’s Orchestra (Keynote – February 2, 1945)
Esquire All American 1946 Award Winners (RCA Victor–January 10 & 11, 1946)
Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra (RCA Victor – February 22, 1946)
Teddy Wilson Octet (Musicraft – August 19, 1946)
Tyree Glenn and his Orchestra/Don Byas and his Orchestra/Peanuts Holland and his Orchestra (Swing – December 4, 1946)

A bit interested in breaking this down.  

Asch should be under Smithsonian Folkways - that shouldn't have been hard to license.

Commodore, Keynote, Signature - I thought these are all Universal Music Group now, as are Blue Note & Verve, whom Mosaic obviously works with regularly.

RCA Victor should be Sony/BMG

I don't know who controls Musicraft, Swing, and Apollo these days, although most fo the time, the answer seems to be Universal Music Group.  🙂

In other words, I would have thought that they could have included some of those sessions as they are under parent labels with whom they have worked before.  Maybe there are other issues, like some labels not wanting to be in a set with other particular labels, or a concern regarding the total number of discs and the cost.  All speculation.

[ghost of miles]

Listening right now to disc 8, which begins with the January 1945 session with Dizzy. What a godsend this set is, even without the material alluded to above…. I might try to pull as many of those sides as I can from other CD/LP sources that I have and create a supplemental to the Mosaic set.

Edited February 14 by ghost of miles

[clifford_thornton]

On 2/11/2024 at 3:20 PM, Adam said:

 

In other words, I would have thought that they could have included some of those sessions as they are under parent labels with whom they have worked before.  Maybe there are other issues, like some labels not wanting to be in a set with other particular labels, or a concern regarding the total number of discs and the cost.  All speculation.

yeah, I think the trifecta of their expense, consumers' expense, and licensing complexities probably kept certain sessions out. More to find and listen to for me!

[OliverM]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:47 AM, ghost of miles said:

Listening right now to disc 8, which begins with the January 1945 session with Dizzy. What a godsend this set is, even without the material alluded to above…. 

Great disk! So many highlights in this set!

[ghost of miles]

Fringe benefit of the Byas set: renewed appreciation for mid-1940s Johnny Guarnieri. 

[ghost of miles]

On 2/16/2024 at 9:00 PM, ghost of miles said:

Fringe benefit of the Byas set: renewed appreciation for mid-1940s Johnny Guarnieri. 

… listening tonight to the June 27, 1945 session from this set (C13 on disc 9), with Guarnieri and Buck Clayton and Denzil Best. What a date! It’s going to send me back to the Byas-Clayton small group sides made with Basie several years prior. Grateful to Loren Schoenberg for the reminder of the latter in his notes, which are superlative as always. 

[tranemonk]

Okay, I have a question for the historians here or those who purchased the set. Who was Timme Rosenkrantz and why were so many of these sessions recorded at "his/her apartment?"

I don't think I've ever seen that in a Mosaic set before, especially so many sessions.

1 minute ago, tranemonk said:

Okay, I have a question for the historians here or those who purchased the set. Who was Timme Rosenkrantz and why were so many of these sessions recorded at "his/her apartment?"

I don't think I've ever seen that in a Mosaic set before, especially so many sessions.

Okay, I read the Wikipedia entry. Was he the equivalent of Monk's Baroness Pannonica or more a Norman Granz or somewhere in between?

[mikeweil]

28 minutes ago, tranemonk said:

Okay, I have a question for the historians here or those who purchased the set. Who was Timme Rosenkrantz and why were so many of these sessions recorded at "his/her apartment?"

I don't think I've ever seen that in a Mosaic set before, especially so many sessions.

Okay, I read the Wikipedia entry. Was he the equivalent of Monk's Baroness Pannonica or more a Norman Granz or somewhere in between?

You should consider reading this book, even at the steep price:

https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B0076M4VQE/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=3F8EO5ALE19CS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Wx-ldd8WX6baj-EFHANAIWbmSK8Ut0-8a6XIFz35MLX_kcpfxROWgDJ4vFwBQdmPv1eUYyMo2ytqliU8QsxO-s56oXNi6J2FDDpUqgGwHfA.BVuvuZL3SSlrNg-4tl_9CjZ40M3_z4W972pPprcbtnI&dib_tag=se&keywords=timme+rosenkrantz&qid=1730812615&sprefix=timme+rosenkrantz%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1

[tranemonk]

On 2/4/2024 at 10:00 AM, pglbook said:

I received an email from Mosaic this morning that the Don Byas is back in stock. And it is still at the pre-order sale price!

I ordered a copy a few minutes ago and am looking forward to hearing it. I was not familiar with Don Byas but the great reviews on here (which led me to research and sample his music) convinced me.

Thanks!

So several months later... What do you think? Was it a good purchase? I'm in the same boat and trying to choose between that one and the Classic Vanguard box coming out.

[JSngry]

Byas was a master musician.

Vanguard was a label that put out some good records.

[tranemonk]

6 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Byas was a master musician.

Vanguard was a label that put out some good records.

Sounds like you're saying the Byas set is a better/more important/ buy than the Vanguard. Is that right? My sole hesitation is how I felt with the Chu Berry set. Rare, had to get it, only listened to it once.

[JSngry]

That would be my personal assessment, yes. I think Byas was tremendously important and consistently enjoyable. And by definition, more "modern" than the Chu.

Having said that those Vanguard records are certainly enjoyable or better. And there will, again by definition, have a variety of solo voices.