FI R ST T HI N G S FI R ST

2

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Ten years in the making.

S everal years ago, while accepting anOscar, Maureen Stapleton stated,"I'd like to thank everyone I ever

met in my life." Although I'm not quiteready to do the same, I do want to thankeveryone who's ever bought a Mosaic col­lection. It's hard to believe, but before1992 comes to a close, Mosaic will celebrateits 10th anniversary. And, of cour'se, any­one who bought anything from us dlll-ingthat time helped to get us hel-e. So thankyou one and all!

We've come a long way since releasingom' first collections. For three years, Michaeland Il'an the entire operation by ourselvesout of my home in Santa Monica, California.The place was quite a scene, with canons ofinventory piled everywhel'e, truckel's andlJPS men traipsing about, the phone I'ing­ing off the hook, European touristsstopping by asking incredu.lously, "Is thisMosaic Records?!" and two small childrenplaying fort between stacks of Monks andMuLligans. Gene Lees Wl'ote a piece about itin his wonderful Jazzleuer called "LifeAmong the Cartons." It's a vivid po"trait ofthose days which I treasu,'e,

Life without cartons.In 1985, we packed up and moved east toStamford, Connecticut where, although wehad more t"oom, we were stil.l in my homeand Michael and I were still doing every­thing ourselves, The only real diffel'encewas a very la'"ge increase in the number ofcartons, UPS men, truckers, EuropeantOUI;stS and phone calls. As wOl'd about usspl"ead, and business got beuer, and mymarriage got worse, we eoncluded unavoid­ably that we had to move into commercialfacilities and hire a staff. Three years ago,

On the Cover.

TIME. A drummer captures it, propels it, defines

it. And none more confidently than Art Blakey,whose Blue Note recordings are themselveslittle pieces of time. Blakey made bandleadingpart of his artfonn, and each Incarnation of

the Jazz Messengers created history, both forthe music and the personnel that played it,The complete recordings by the band many

consider his finest - the 1960 version - are alltogether on Mosaic's new set. August 1960photograph at the Jazz Gallery by Francis Wolff.

we did just that.. Since then we've come toyou from real offIces and a real warehouseand there are five other people hel'e to talkto. Their names ar'e Phyllis, Margaret,Ann, Scott and Lloyd. These are brightpeople who love music and care about whatthey're doing, which is a bit of a noveltythese days.

Along with growth comes change, andfor me it's always a big change when one ofour sets sells out. The Blue Note Monk, theGelTy Mulligan, the AmmonslLewis, theClifford Brown and the Po.-t of Hal"lemcollections al'e sold out now and I feel likeI've lost some old and dear friends. But I'mconsoled and excited by all of oUI' new sets- the ones we't'e t'e1easing right now and theones that might take many years to prepare.

New-from the original wish list.Sometimes it actually takes ten years to getsomething done around hue. Both theCole and Blakey eolleetions, which appearin this b.-ochm'e for the first time, wet'e onour original wish list when we dt'eamed upthis scheme in 1982. You already knowabout the Cole set since it's been out for afew months now. It's wonderful to see thistranscendent entertainer being recognizedby a whole new gene.-ation of listeners asthe inventive and influential keyboardgiant that he was,

And we finally have a set by Art Blakey,the heartbeat of Blue Note Records, ourspit'itua.l home. The 1960 quintet featuringLee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and BobbyTimmons was one of Blakey's greatest, andthis is pure, classic hard hop at its best.

Putting out the Woody Shaw set is par­ticularly exciting for me, not only becauseWoody was a vel"y beautiful player whodeserves fal' widel' J'ecognition, but becauseMichael was the original pl"oduce," of thismusic, Woody definitely belongs in the pan­theon of gr'eat tnuopetrnaster's and [ hopethe re-release of these marvelous sessionswill inc/"case Jlublic awareness of that fact.

And we've got another' great blues set toadd to our T-Bone Walket' L;oUection. Eachof the Candid sessions by Otis SIJann andLghtnin' Hopkins is valued amongst theirfinest. That, and the inclusion of muchunreleased matel'ial from both sessions,makes this set a must for blues lovers.

Fans of swing and stride solo piano willbe thrilJcd with thc Master Jazz PianoSeries box. Bill Weilbacher, the fan who

produced these sessions, created the sort ofnUl"turing, unencumbered almosphere inthe studio which inspired artists to gobeyond the perfunctOl"y and reach belowthe surface. The results are six LPs/fourCDs of absolutely beautiful so.lo piano musie.

Rudy Van Gelder speaks out.We',"e a.lso happy to bring yOll in lhisbrochlu"e some rat'e public comments byRudy Van Gelder, the brilliant recordingenginee.- who almost single-handedly isresponsible fOt, the way we hear jazz onrecord. The whole subject of digitalremains controversial and Rudy's com­ments on this are of particular' intet'est.

For the future, we've got many projectson the dt'awing hoard, most of which aretoo embryonic to publicize here. We mayeven be announcing some of them ten yearsfrom now, in 2002! In the next year, youcan look forward to the Basie Rouleue stu­dio set, a defmitive Lennie Tristanocollection, and sets by Thad and Mel,Illinois Jacquet (finally!) and LouisAnnstrong. And, as always, we appreciateand welcome YOUl' suggestions fOl' futureprojects. We promise to consider them aU,no matter how many decades it takes.

Enjoy the music!

Charlie Lourie

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"The most importantthing you're doing ismining the Blue Notevaults. Never stop doingthat." Woody Shaw toMichael Cuscuna.

Around twenty yeat'S ago I was goingthl'ough the Impulse vaults fOl'some reseat'eh on John Coltrane,

and J remembet' being amazed that BobThiele, Colll'ane's producer, had ahso­lutely no recol.lection of majOI', majorsessions that had oecuned as I'ecently aseight years before. There I was, looking for

new infol'mation, but instead I wOIUld upreminding Thiele about a ton of stuff that Ihad docwnented, and that he had completelyforgotten about.

Today, I understand why, I grew uplearning about and treasuring a lot of BlueNote jazz and Atlantic R&B , , , and while Ican still teU you who's on just about every

Below:flRST. Master of the soprano saxophone SidneyBechet ranks first in a lot of categories. He was

the first real giant on this tricky, demandinginstrument; he was responsible for Blue Note'sfirst hit, "Summertime"; and he's featured on thePort of Hartem Jazzmen LP, one of the first of

Mosaic's re-releases to sell out. If you missedthat one don't pass up Mosaic's 7he CompleteSlue Note Recordings of Sidney Bechet. Photo­graph of Pops Foster, Wild Bill Davison andSidney Bec:het from April 1950, by Francis Wolff.

Blue Note record between 1940 and 1970, Inow [md I have a hal"d time answering ques­tions about record dates that 1produced!

The perfect Mosaic project.Mter aU these years, it suddenly occuned tome that my deep involvement with Woody'smusic was what was keeping me from I"ealiz­ing the pedect Mosaic project was stal"wgme right in the face in the fOI"m of WoodyShaw's substantial body of work for CBS.

When you WOl"k with someone as dynamicand passionate as Woody Shaw, you getclose in unexpected ways. You share hispersonal triumphs and disastel·s. You hangaround together, talking and laughing andarguing and working. Many ideas areexplored and abandoned before you findthe one you Like. It can be aU-consuming.

Going through the Sony Music (fol"merlyCBS) vaults and l'elistening to those sessions

fOI" the lil'sttime since we'd I'ecorded themwas an amazing experience for me. Memoriescame rushing back of things we tried andsucceeded at ... things we had to scrap, , .players whose pl"esence at particuJal' sessionsI'd completely fOI'gotten about. For the fil"sttime I became aware of the histol'ic value ofthe performances that I'd actuaUy partici­pated in ... and the feeling was a bit stl"ange.

Now that the project is complete my onlyregret is that Woody Shaw is not here to seeit. And I'm particularly proud to haveplayed a part in making this music avail­able to the world, not once, but twice.

Michael Cuscuna

MOSAIC RECORDS 3

NEW R E LEA S E S

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••At last - the rest of uscan hear the Master Jazzsolo piano sessions.

Here at Mosaic, we have a natural

affinity for one-of-a-kind musical

p"ojects that are born out of passionfor the music, and that tr·y to be aU-encom­

passing.In the case of the Maste,' Jazz label, the

passion belonged to Bill Weilbacher, whosehobbyist interest in mainstream jazz led

him to develop during the 1960s his mllch­

respected mail-order-only record business

(nice idea, huh?). The project that got ourinterest was his obsession with solo piano.

He gathered the giants.Weilbache,"'s idea was to give g,"eat pianists

in the swing and str'ide traditions a gl"eat

piano in an unp,"essUl'ed setting, and let them

rccord whatever material they wanted.

One by one, he 1)I'ought into the studio

such giants as Earl Fatha Hines, Claude

Hopkins, Cliff Jackson, Jay McShann,Tcddy Wilson, Sonny White, Cliff Smalls,

Sir Charles Thompson, Keith Dunham,

Gloria Beam and Ham Hamirez.

It was the first opportunity for JayMcShann, Claude Hopkins and Cliff

Jackson to I'econl solo piano.

Phenomenal. But forgotten.The first album set the pattern: eaehrelease featured two selections by each offive masters. And each received rave

reviews. Ultimately, foUl" volumes of Maste,"

Jazz piano recordings were released in the

U.S., as well as a Ram Ramirez album

f"om the same sessions and a fifth Master

Jazz piano LP that was briefly available

only in Australia.

But due to the very hmited mstr'ibutionMaste,' Jazz ,"eceived, even the albums thatwCI'e [)I'essed w,""C hea"d by p,-ecious few.

Until now.Today, The Complete Master Jazz PianoSeries is a permanent testament to the infi­nite variety and ,"iehness of the jazz piano

tradition in true Mosaic fashion. Thc set

The Complete Master Jazz Piano SeriesLimited to 3500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6"140j $604 CDs [MD4-140j $60

featlll'es all 15 scssions and 63 Iwrformanecs

recorded for Master Jazz, including 13 by

Hines (two previously unissued), eight by

McShann and 13 by the gifted composerof "Lovc," Man," Ram Ramirez, a major

contl"ibuto,' to Ike Quebec's ear"ly Blue

Note sessions.The booklet includes ,"eminisccnces by

Bill Weilbacher, notes hy Nat Pierce, and

eare, o"iginal session photographs.

"This is aU top-grade stuff, the very

best that jazz has to offer in every

way, presentedJor the maximum

listening (and learning) pleasure.

Mosaic's produd stands in sharp

contrast to almost everything eLse in

tlwfield. Here is a commitment made

alld a commitment kept, and bodes

weUJor t/wforeseeablefiLture."

F,"ank Driggs, Audio

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Extremes of the blues­Otis Spann and Lightnin'Hopkins.

Otis Spann and Lightnin' Hopkins

wel"e about as fae apart as you can

get in the blues wodd. Bnt they didhave two things in common. Each was an

innovative blues mast.er, and eaeh made

one of his finest recordings for Candid, the

short-lived jazz label, in 1960.

Texas folk...Lightnin' Hopkins, despite being one of the

most-recorded blues artists of his time,

never steayed far £I'om the storytelling

acoustic folk-blues he learned andnuetured while working as a Texas

farmhand during the dep,"ession. It was a

form of blues not all that distant fl"Om the

origins of the music itself - and even as late

as 1960, not aU t.hat weB-known to whites

or northerners.

... Chicago electricity.Otis Spann was an architect of the Chieago

school of pohshed electric blues. Theconsummate session pianist for' ChessRecords and the heart of the Muddy

The Complete Candid Otis Spann/Lightnin' Hopkins SessionsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5"139j $453 CDs [MD3-139j $45

CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

Watel's band in the 1950s and 1960s, Spann

was a powerfully expressive singer' and a

wonderful boogie woogie pianist whose

technical prowess far exceeded that of thehlues pianists of his day,

Now Mosaic has gathered together' theil'entire output on Candid into one sel.

In addition to aLI eight tracks f"om theo)'iginal Lightnin' Hopkins in New Yorkalbum, our set includes one track ("Black

Cat") previously released only in edited

for'111, plus fiVf~ Hopkins tracks previouslyunissued in any fOl'm,

". , . Mosaic Records, in Stamford,

Connecticut., has become the jazz COLl1/.-

terpart (if'the Library ofAmerica. it

assembles, in handsome, thoroLlgh, uni-

form paclwges, the best ofthe

out-oj-print, oJien forgo/.ten recordings

that have been madeJor small jazz

labeLs during the pas t fijiy years, "

Whitney BalliI'll, The New Yorker

The Otis Spann s(~ssi()m; featul'c Hobe/·t

Lookwood Jr. (RollPJ't Johnson's stppson)

on c,'1litar' and occasional vocals, the

legendary SI. Louis Jimmy, and six great

instrumental hlues and lJOo~c piano solos,Also included: the f'ntirr !'lassie CandidaUlUm Otis Span1/. Is The Blnes, the

ohscure follow-up album Walkin' The Blues(not n~leased until 10 yean; aftel' Candid

folded., aod then, only hl'iefly), pillS 13pJ'f~violisly um'eleased perrot·mallees.

Rare then. Limited now.These "xtl'em.,ly I'an'. ,'el'onlings byLightnin' Hopkins <lnd Otis Sp<lnn havebeen meticulously tl'ansfern~d fl'Om theOJ'iginal ste/'eo mastel'S, The booklt,t

includes an informative essay, biogt-aphiesand session notes by Mark Humphl'l~y,

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The one thing Art Blakeyplayed better than drumswas musicians. In 1960,he played the best.

EVet'Ybod Yknew whal a hrilliant and

powerful ell'ummer Art Blakey was­his patented rising press roll; his

dipped, incessant hi-hat; his flutter-effect

rim shots. But Art Blakey's real genius was

shaping the sound and dynamics of a jazz

g"oup as fit'mly and distinctively asToseanini ,haped the sound of a symphonyon~hestl'a.

This was Iwver more evident than in the1960 Jazz Messengers.

Morgan, Shorter and Timmons.Together.Lee MOI-gan, on trumpet, composed and

pla)'l'd pure hard bop. Wayne Shot·tet·, on

"axopholw, wa" a born futurist, constantlybr'imming with off'-I'f:'nttT ideas that Wl't-!'

year's ahead of their time. Bobby Timmons,on piano, was a master at funky, gospd­

hasl'd composition. The pt'oJ'ulsive hass

playel' .Jymir ."let·rill, an individual who

was pat-tieulal'ly aUuncd tu Blakey's

rhythms, nlllnded out the organization,The faet that Blahy had in iVloq;an,

Shor·ter and Timmons thn~e distinrtly

differpnt musical personalities who wer'e as

talentpd as l'l""po,el's as they weI'" asinstrumentalists gave this Land its

extraordinary dept h and level of quality.

What tlll'Y wen' abll' to generatc in only14 months i, ahout thc' Ill'st exampll' of

"ereative inspiration" you can find. And

now you ean find it- all of it - on Mosair.

A marathon of music.TIlt> t'ceorrling mat-athon stal-led in March

lY60 and didn't stop until Timmons and

MIJl"gan left in May 1901. Thl'Ough sevenmajol' studio sessions and a I,.,eonled stint

at Binlland, Art Blakey's 1960-l'lIi,ion Jazz

MesSl'ngers W('IT Iwpl busy donullentingone of the most impa,·tful small jazz groupsthat Blul' NOll"'s Alfl'Nt Lion - or the wo,.[f!

- had ..,v..,r Iward.

To hear OIW of the real signature soundsin musi(" and thl' OIl(' hand that mayhe !Jl'stdefi/wd it, thi, ('olllplpt(~ s..,1 of AI,t Blakey's

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofArt Blakey's 1960 Jazz MessengersLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.10 LPs [MR10-141j $906 CDs [MD6-141j $90

1960 Jazz Messengel's tells thl' tale, f"olll

stal·tto finish. This 10 LP/6 CD Mosaic set

ineilldes all eight albums l'e!east'd lIy thisquint.,ssential gl'oup: The Big Beat, It Nightin Tnnisiu, Like Someolle in Love, MeetYOIt at the Jazz Corner ofthe WorldVolumes! and /1, Roots and Herbs, TheWitch Doctor and The Freedom Rider­most of whidl have Iwen unavailabl(' for

ove'- a deeade, Plus, five j)erfonnall('es

releasecl ollly 11I'idly in J aJlan and Iwounissued perf...·mances.

The booklet illdud"s a completelliscography, biographical and lIIusi(,i11

analyses hy Bob Blumenlhal and l"iln'

phologl·aphs.

"ifquality is ·what. yOIt most wallt )'0/1.

can S/'art by checking onl iV!oSltic

Records, (L sl1'lall,jiRrcely independent

IlwiJ-order company I.hal calRI'S to juz;;

cOlllloissenrs orOluult./1R lVorld,"

OWl'll McNally, Hartford Courallt

MOSAIC RECORDS S

NEW R E LEA S E S

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Was there one WoodyShaw? Or three?The man traditioncouldn't contain.

Then~ al'e two ways to deal with yourcultural roots. GI'OW up attached tothem, straight and true. 01" rest on

them gently before you take off and fly.Woody Shaw was the person who'd

extend the line of great trumpet playersthat indunes Clifford Brown, Lee Morgana [1(1 Frcdnic HubLunt. He did it as anindividual who drew ft'om the whole tradi­tion. His unique style was influenced asmuch by saxophones as by trumpets.

The Complete CBS SttLdio RecordingsofWoody Shaw, available now fwmMosaic, shows that what spl'ang from thetr'adition was rich; fuU of art as well asentertainment. MOI'e than something to lis­ten to, Woody Shaw's music demanded youlisten,

A prodigy at 18.Woody's fil"st sideman stint came eady­as an 18-year-old trumpet p"orligy on Eril:Dolphy's maste"piece, Conversations. Helatel' played with HOI"ace SiJver, LanyYoung, Chick Corea, Andl'cw Hill, JackieMcLean, Joc Henderson, McCoy Tynerand Dexter Cordon.

A fascinating component of his soundstems from his love for classical music.Then~'s a technical virtuosity, a lightness,an almost pretty roundness to the tone,and a feel for composition. The long Lst ofhard hoppers he played with never foundanother trumpeter to contl"ibute that.

The leader emerges.By 1977, Woody was ready to claim hiso\....n place. He put together his first per­manent working band and signed his firstmajor'label deal with CBS Records.

From the first, he was confident, dal'ingand acclaimed - Rosewood, featUl'ing anelectl'ifying 12-piece ensemble, was votedAlbum of the Yeal' in the Down BeatReader's Poll, and nominated for aGI"anuny. Three more consistently ehal­lenuinu and val'ied albums followed, withb b

sidemen Joe Hendel'son, Gal'y Bartz,

The Complete CBS Studio Recordings ofWoody ShawLimited to 5000 copies worldwide,4 LPs [MR4-142] $403 CDs [MD3-142] $45

George Cables, Steve TUITe and JamesSpaulding, among others.

Overlooked. But remembered.The recm'ded legacy of Woody Shaw - oneof the most important tl"Umpet players ofthe past 20 yeal"s - has been vastly ovel'­looked. We are especially proud to restoreto circulation all of the Columbia studiorecordings hy Woody Shaw (Ol"iginally PI'O­

duced by Mosaic's own Michael Cuscuna!)and make them availahle on CD fOI" the firsttime. The Complete CBS Studio RecordingsofWoody Shaw also includes one unissuedtune, a booklet including biographicalnotes by Michael Cuscuna and sessionnotes by Cad Woideck.

"RECORD COMPANY OF THE YEAR:

Mosaic. Devoted to painstaking

reissu-es in high-class, boxed sets, this

mad-order outfit has earned a unique

reputation.

Leonard Feather, fA Times

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"You've got an awkwardcombination there."

AWkwal'd, indeed. Few, at the time,had ever heal'd a piano-guital'-basscombo. The common perception

was that a small group should sound Lke ascaled-down big band. And any gl"OUphighlighting two chordal instruments, suchas piano and {,'Uitar, with a bass to drive it,was eourting disaster' , , , a musical tr'ai nwreck in the making.

But Cole felt he was onto something.The King Cole T"io had a uniquely light

and delicate sound that club audiencesloved ... especially when Cole added anoccasional vocal to the set, with a voice thatperfectly matched his breezy piano style.But, light as it appeared on the surface, themusic that the trio was playing was power­ful. , , I"hythmically and hannonicaUychallenging in a way that presaged bebop.

Poll winners.The King Cole Trio won the Down Beatpoll fl'om 1944 thl'ough 1947, They won theMetr'onome poU from 1945 through 1948.Cole was considel'ed by many to be the bestjazz pianist of his day, winning the toppiano honor's in the 1947 through 1949Metronome polls, and receiving EsquireAwards in 1946 and 1947.

Cole's unique keyboard style, and thefresh configul'ation in the drummerlesstrio, began to make its mark on eve"yone,from future behoppers like Bud Powell andblues greats like Charles Brown, and evenfuture R&B giants like Ray Charles.

But it wasn't just musicians appreciat­ing the trio, 01' jazz fans. Their recordswere I'outinely landing on the nation's popand R&B charts.

As Cole's popularity began to grow toalmost staggering proportions, he beganintroducing new elements inlo his record­ings. In 1946 he and lhe tl'io wOI'ked withstrings for the first time, By 1950 Cole wasmaking reeol·ds that were more pop thanjazz. Often, he wouldn't even play piano.At times, no other member of the trio waspresent. Thus ended an el'a, and begananother, that millions of people around theworld associate with Nat King Cole.

6 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

ThEl end of an era.ADd with a few exceptions, that era of

Cole's worldwide, mainstream popularity is

where Mosaic's 27-LP/18-CD compilationof The Complete Capitol Recordings ofTheNat King Cole Trio ends!

As Mosaic's set demonstrates, Nat Cole's

recorded output of brilliant jazz is stagger­

ing. The availability of these recordings­

some foe the fit'st time in forty yem's, othel's

for tbe fil'st time evee - may well permanentlyinnuenee the way we view the evolution of

early bebop. Most certainly, they willshaepen our awareness of Nat IGng Cole's

enormously important contt'ibution to jazz.

Best of all, this is one of the most plea­

surable, important discoveries of the pastseveral decades. And now, it can be all yours.

Hear for the first time ...The Complece CapiLOl Recordings ofTheNat King Cole Trio contains every Nat IGng

Cole Capitol commercial and transfTiptionrecoeding that features Cole on piano, with

both trio participation and/or a jazz feel.

This ineludes every recording from Cole's

The Complete Capitol Recordings of theNat King Cole TrioLimited to 10,000 copies worldwide.27 LPs (MR27-138] $27018 CDs [M018-138] $270Please note speCial shipping chargeson order form.

fir'st seven years at Capitol (1943-1949),plus everything released afterward that can

reasonably be considered a jazz-based

recording (including the ol"iginal "PenthouseSerenade" sessions from 1952 and 1955 and"After' Midnight" sessions of 1956).

Most of this set consists of I'are material

... with fuUy two-thirds of these recordings

unavailable on LP or CD until now, and

many of thf~ rest long out of pl'int.In order to make this set truly complete

from 1942 on, we've included aU six

Excelsior recordings, four of which Capitolchose not to purchase, and the four sides

I'ecorrled for Atlas-Premier just pr'ior to the

trio's first Capitol session.

Contains:

• A lavish 64-page booklet with session-by­

session notes and commentary by WilJ

Friedwald (author of Jazz Singer), andan essay on Cole's keyboard artistry bypianist Dick Katz.

• A complete session-by-session discogra­phy and cross-indexed tune list.

• Rare photographs.

"Great American music comes i.n lots ofstyles, but whatever the sound, it doesn'tget much greater than this. Anyone of the

tunes in this coUection can swing you off ona cashmere cloud."

Jay Cocks, Time

"This set unveils the other Cole - the one

who is revered by jazz scholars and musi­

cians as one of the great pianists andinnovators in jazz's history."

Wayne Thompson, The Oregonian

"This most monumental ofMosaic's

antlwlogies leaves no doubt that Cole's

artistry and influence were as substan-

tial as his commercial success."

Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Gld>e

MOSAIC RECORDS 7

Mas A I CPR a MIS E S

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Mosaic standsby its plan.

We stal'ted Mosaic with an am. bi­tious agenda of standards and

goals that, to this day, is stilJ thp

guiding force behind pvprything we do,

Important artists. Not just thebiggest.Thp aJ·tists we choose al'e selected for their

place in the histol'Y of American musie.

Music, above all, is what determines if anartist bdongs on Mosaic.

You won't necessal·i1y find us going fOl'

the big commereial names. But, neithel'

will you find us diseriminating against

them. Hel'e, 1'01' the first time anywhere,

Brooks and Nichols are J"f'ganled on e<[ual

tenns with Monk, Mingus and Getz.

Everything you expect. And more.Choosing the al,tist is only half the hattie.

The oth,'I' half is deciding upon a histori­

cally viable coneept. We want Mosaic sets

to be as important, and as complete as we

can make Ihem. OUI' sels indude every sig­

nificant track that falls within the scopc of

a given project, presented in an organized,

chronologieal manner usually for the fil'st

time ever, \Ve go into Ihe vaults of as manyre(,ord labels as neccssaq' 10 examine all

their original session tapes. In addition to

pl'eviously issued material, Mosaic sets are

usually rich with unreleased tl'acks and

valid alternate takes. It's no accident

we're considered the label for failS and col­

lectors "who want it all."

Information, photos and moreinformation.To put everything into its proper and

fascinating perspective, Mosaic commis­

sions leading authorities to write OUI'

hook lets and supply collectors with all

pertincnt dates, personncllistings, and

discographical information. Our booklets

range in size from eight pages to 64 pages.

Inteniews and photogl"aphs from theactual sessions are included whenevel"

possible. Enlightening musical ovcnicws

are a matter of course.

The best we know how to make.When it comes to our physical product we

take a unique "cost is no object" approach.We're convinced that our pressing plant,

OUl" pl"intel' and our box fabricator are the

best in the countl'y,

Limited Editions make importantmusic into important recordings.Mosaic sets al'e limited to no more than

10,000 worldwide (usually even less). Once

they al'e aU wId we wiU never' make them

available again, adding il1lllleaslll"ably to

the future value and historical significance

of the Mosaic sets you buy.

And speaking of value, that's a basictenet of ours.Mosaic pl'ices arc competitvc with common

records and CDs. Record sets al'e priced

at $10 per LP. CD sets aI'e priced at $15

per CD. Thc booklet, the box and the sel'­

vice come to you at no additional ehat"ge.

Mosaie CD huyers get pxaetly the samel1lusie as in our (TitieaUy acclaimcd, deluxe

LP sets. With the exaet same informative

LlOoklet (not a scaled-down CD pamphlet).

In the same sturdy 12" x 12" libl'al'y box,

With the same ]jmited-edition colleetibilily.

And, sincc there are fewer CDs than LPs in

a given set, OUl' CD sets come at a pl"ice

that's very close to or, in some cases,

exactly the same as the LP equivalents.

We make ordering easy.And we guarantee satisfaction.You ean use the order form in this

brochure to onlet· Mosaic sets. 0." simply

('all during working hours and tell us what

you want. You'll be speaking to a mcmber

of the Mosaic family, not a switchboard

onlel' takcr. You may pay with VISA orMasterCard, a check drawn on aU,S,

bank or money onler in U.S, currency,

Furthel'mol"e, everything we sell is fully

guaranteed. Just say the word and we'll

"eplaee a defeetive I'eeord a maned

booklet ... a worn box even a postal-

damaged entil'e set.

That's the way we first set oul doing

business. And by sticking to the plan, we'restilJ in business almost ten years late.',

8 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-SPM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA Be MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

COMMODORE VOLUMES I AND II

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost Sold Out.The CompleteCommodore JazzRecordings, Volunle I.

Mosaie's first volume of The CompleteCommodore Juzz ReCfJnlingsn~t.:t'ivpd five stars in Duttilt BeuL., two

Grannll) Ilo'ninations, and f':xlravagant praise­

in ~v~rylhin~ fnlln JozzTimes to Notio/wlReview.

Spanninf'; [9:18-[94:3, Volltme I features,,;ome of the most valued r~eordings by ,,;uchartisb as: L,>ster Young, Billie Holiday, Chu

The Complete Commodore Jazz Recordings, Volume I.Limited to 2500 copies worldwide.23 LPs [MR23-123] $230Less than 50 remaining as of June 1992.Please note special shipping charges on order form.Not available on CD.

BeITY, Jelly Roll jVlorton, Willi" The LionSmith, ColemanlIawkin,,;, Md Powell, amia host of olhers.

"Can the Mosaie folks top this al't! Yes.but only with Volume II and III. They'n' doingIhl' job none of the conglomerales eould orwould touch."Alan Bargebuhr, Cadellce

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The CompleteCommodore JazzRecordings, Volume II.

In The Complete Comllwdore JozzRecordings, Volume ll, Mosaic Recordstakes you back to an cra when a record slol'e

eould thrive sdling jazz.It was 1944 through parly [945, and the

Commodore Record Shop, together with therecord label that it spawner!., was smoking! Thewar ""US winding down, ano ~h('Uae was

becoming more r~adily availablp. A reeordinghan imposed on thp industl'y hy the Amel·icanFpderation of Musicians was lifted, andsuddenly year, of pent-up crpativity foundpXfJr,-ssion on disc. In New York, Milt Gablerwas thpI'p to I'aptlll'f' as mUl'h of it as he

The Complete CommodoreJazz Recordings, Volume IILimited to 2500 copiesworldwide.23 LPs [MR23-128] $230Less than 800 remaining asof June 1992.Please note special shippingcharges on order form.Not available on CD.

eould get fO!' hi,,; Commodore lahp!.During the next 14 month,,; Commodore

Records would record ami rplease as muchgreat music as it had in its first five yeat'S,

combin.·,I!

• In lIofrulIP 11 you'll get :~40 "ecordings madeduring that historic timp on 2::J LPs. Includedal'e dozens of "Commodore landmal'ks"featuring Billie Holiday" L.'stn Young, BpnWebster, Zoot Sims. Red MeKpnzie, Hot LipsPage. Bobby Hackett and Ed Hall with TeddyWilson, all sounding better than you've "'verheH"d them. Plus., then' are surprisps aroundevel'y turn, with llevt·,'-bcfore-releasedaltentate taktcs and newly discovered tracks byAlIH'rt Ammons, the DeParis Brothers, JessStacy, Sid Catktt., Jack Teagarden, JoPBushkin, P,'e Wee Russell, Eddic Haywood,George Zack .. and many others.• 48-page booklet contains Part II of "The

Commodore Story" hy Milt Gahler. session-by­session notps hy Dan MorgenstPI'n, rm'pphotographs, and a thol'oughJy ,'esearchpddiseography.• Edition limited to 2500 copips worldwide.

"*****"Down Beat

"Mosaic has once again eompiled an historicand eultul'al document of monumentalsignificanceo ,~

W. Royal Stokes, JazzTimes

"One wOld,1 havp to thumb thnHlgh tlwdictionary of circus hype for words like'stupendous' and 'colossal' to find adjcl'li\'esad"''1uate to descrilw tIll" spcond volume of thccOlnplete Conunodon-' re("ordin~~ ... To sayvolunw two is the P'Iual of volume OllP is v,.,.yhigh pl'aise indeed, and so it is." .

Bob HiLbprt, Joslill's Jazz JOllrtlal

"Volume II ... testifies to th" invelltiverless ofRu,,;sell, Spaniel', f)avison and tile otl"'rC()ndolljtps~and also contains hl"illi<:.lllt wOl'k

fnllll Holiday. Paw,', Sid Catl,,1t (with HellWpbskl')" Edmond Hall and Tl'ddy Wil,,," .new ideas can llP hp31 0 d 011 tHloHdy P\,(-'I"Y

altl'l'natp takp.'·' ..

Bob Blumenthal, Bostoll Globe

·'Thp COllllnodon's al'e wO'lller'ful 1 B"th, blltpspeeially number two is a kind of mOUUllwllt tothe nIPmory of Pep WeI" Bussell. How that mancould play. But it iSIl't too had either to gct Ilewtakes with James P., .Jaek Teaganlen and HotLips Pagp!! I call hardly wait fot· numberthITe."Nils-Cunnm' Ande,·hy. Stockholm, Swedell

MOSAIC RECORDS 9

COMMODORE VOLUME III

The Complete Commodore Jazz Recordings, Volume IIILimited to 2500 copies worldwide.20 LPs [MR20-134] $200Please note special shipping charges on order form.Not available on CD.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••The CompleteCommodore JazzRecordings, Volume III.

Volume III in Mosaic Ref,ords'wlprecedentl'd Limited Edition releaseof The Complete Commodore Jazz

Recordings includ..,s aLI the last 78s, aLI the w­inch and 12-inch LPs, important addenda tohoth [wevious volumes, plus a wealth ofpreviously unissued material hy Billie Holiday ,Bud Freeman, Jonah Jones, Ralph SUlton,Frank Wess, Mel Powell, Wild Bill Davison,Peck Kelley, Eddie Edwards' OriginalDLxieiand Jazz Band, and others.

You were there . ..The years were 1945 through 1957 and

technology was on a rampage. America WaSgoing through postwar changes that would setthe tone 1'01' the rest of the century.

The advent of the tape recorder in the late'40s opened up a Pandor"a's box ruled withgimmicks, special effects, and easily attainableperfection. Recorded music had lost itsinnocence and it would never be the same again.

Still, the Commodore label remainedsteadfast in its dedication to the musie, and tothe musicians, that typiJied the era it had helpedto define. From the all-star Town Hall concertof June 9, 1945 through the legendary PeckKelley private recordings of June 9 and 16,1957,Commodore was making history to the end.

"I've had offers to produce. And I said, I'vegot to get my stuff out again. Then maybe I'Uproduce. But at my age, where am I going tofind a Billie Holiday or a Pee Wee Russell? Ienjoy going to concerts ... I hear the new guys... blowing their brains out and playing theirhearts out. Occasionally you hear somethingfabulous, but it doesn't top what we had.it was a time that may neVer come back."Milt Gabler

Highlights of Volume III Include:• Newly discovered alternate takes by BudFreeman and his Gang in 1938, and hy BillieHoliday in 1944.• The real master takes on Chu Berry's "Blowin'Up a Breeze" and "Monday at Minton's."• Conunodore's 1945 Town Hall all-starextravaganza in the best sound ever, featul'ingRed Norvo and His Orchestra with ShortyRogers, Flip Phi]lips, Eddie Bert, TeddyWilson, Remo Palmiel"i, Slam Stewart andSpecs Powell; Bili Coleman, featuring BillyTaylor on piano; Gene Krupa with CharlieVentura; the Stuff Smith Trio, with BillyTaylor and Ted Sturgis; TNldy Wilson frontingmembel"S of the Red Norvo ensemble; Don Byasand Slam Stewart.• Serious jazz hy Jouah Jones, with IkeQuebec, Tyt·..,e Glenn, Hilton Jefferson, MiltHinton, and .I .C. Heard.

Special Offer:If you purchased

Commodore I and "send in your couponsand take 20% off on

Commodor'e III.

• Commodore mainstay Wild Bill Davison insession with his Commodores; George Brunies;Eddie Edwards and his Ol"iginal Dixieland JazzBand; Sidney Bechet.• Mel Powell's only big-band n,eordings.• EncOl"es and more by Willie The Lion Smith.• Ralph Sutton interprets Bix.• The authentic New Orleans sound of Johnny~liggs.

• Commodore's excursion into modern jazzwith Frank Wess.• Peek Kelley recorded at last.• 246 recOl'dings on 20 LPs.• 4-8-page hooklet contains Pal"t III of "TheCOllllllodore Story" hy Milt Gahler, session-hy­session notes by Dan Morgenstern, and rarephotographs.• Special 6S-page beginning-to-end disc­ogrnphy of Commodore jazz. Pubhshed for thefirst time ... a $25 value.• Edition limited to 2500 copies worldwide.

10 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-SPM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••His tone could fill thePolo Grounds - one ofthe giants of jazz,Sidney Hechet.

New Orleans, teeming with culture

from many nations, gave birth toBechet and his sound. It also filled

him with the ur'ge to travel. He stomped'round the world while still in his twenties.Russia. Egypt. He played for the king ofEngland, bangcd around in bistros, ran aHarlem speakeasy, did timc in Paris ...

HI" was all over the globe, making everymusical note count.

An astonishing improviser.Bechet had an astonishing ability to improvise.The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofSidneyBechet is a reminder of his substantial gift.

He h>ld a powerful tone, thick vibmto,

and unflagging energy. He was the first truemaster of the soprano saxophone.

New transfers add clarity.Bechet appeared from 1939 to 1953 on 13sessions 1'01' Bluc Note, 10 as Ieadel', yieldingthese 74 selections. Mosaic pl'Csents them onsix LPs/four CDs, with many tracks taken

from IWW disc transfers to give addedclarity. Including 1:3 unissued tracks and

four titles pl'eviously available only on 10­inch LPs or 78s.

The booklet includes a bio by JohnChilton, musical analysis by Max Harrison,a full discography, rare photogl'aphs, andBlue NOll" cover >lI't from the '40s.

(In order to be complete in each case,

Ihis collection includes three selections fromthe Port of Harlem LP and seven selections

from the Art Hodes set.)

"One of the invaluable series of collections

on Mosaic Records."John S. Wilson, The New Yo/,k Times

" ... 1'1 monument, demonstrating

Bechet's consistency and drive in any

selling"

- Eric Levin, People

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofSidney BechetLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-110] $604 CDs [MD4-110] $60

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••First we'll tell youwhat we went throughwith Art Hodes, thenwe'll tell you why.

f you think reissuing e1assic jazz is as easy

as pulling a box off a shelf and pressing

up some records, get a load of what we

went through wilh tlH~ Art Hodes recordings.First we had to transfel' the original 16­

inch wartime acetates to audiotape.Those wel'e compal'ed to transfel's made

for reissues in 1951, in 1969, and a third setin the '70s. We even transferred 78s wecould acquire fOl' fUI,thel' study.

Painstaking comparisons.We made painstaking iVB comparisons of

all exisling tapes for every cut, justlo see iftransfers made 35 years ago wel'e better than

ours. We'I'e committcd 10 the best even if itmeans throwing out our own wOl·k.

As fOl' the documentation, let's just saythat experience has taught us not to believeevery printed word.

So how come all the interest in a pianistwho I'ecorded before World Wal' Two?

Because Hodes is steeped in three impOl'tantstrains - he's /'r'om Chicago, he plays NewOrleans, and he plays it blues.

Many unissued or rare sides.Here is Art rolling along with Sidney Bechet,Wild Bill Davison, Vic Dickenson, BabyDodds, Edmond Hall, Max Kanunsky, andMczz Mezzrow. The set includes many per­

fonnanl,es pl'eviously unissued or released

only on 78s and lO-inch LPs. Five LPs (01'

foUl' CDs) plus a hooklet wilh original liner

notes, a thorough discography, Art Hodes'own writings, and many rare Fnrncis Wolff

photographs, plus a new appl'eeiation by

Dan MOI'genslern.(In order to be complele in each ease,

this collcction includes scven selectiuns >llsoin our Sidney Beehet set.)

"This delightful five-n'cord set collects all

of Hodes' infol'mal Blue Note dates, wilhwondel'fut contribulions f.-om SidneyBechet, Max Kaminsky, Vie Dickenson,

and Baby Dodds among olhel·s."Fl'aneis Davis, Philadelphia Inquirer

The Complete Art Hodes Blue NoteSessionsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-114] $504 CDs [MD4-114] $60

"Now [Hosaic restores order with

meticulous completeness and honest

sound. "

- Alan Bm'gehuhr, Cadence

MOSAIC RECORDS 11

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"I believe it all comesoriginally from I-BoneWalker. And B.B. Kingthinks so too." - FreddieKing

Y-none \VaJker mayor may not have

been the first hluesman evel' to rig lip

an electl'ic guitar in the '30s. But

theee's liule rlollbtthat he was the fint to

figm'e out what to do with it.

Electrifying the blues.It was vil,tuaUy impossible for an acoustic

guitar to be heard above the early bigbands. T-Bone Walker solverlthe peoblem

by pe..fecting an electrifIed guitae, as well as

a sound and a playing style to go with it.

In 1942, with the FI'eddie Slack Band,

T-Bone Walker' r'ceorded the seminal "Mean

Old World" b/w "I Got A Break Baby" fOl'

Capitol. By 1946, T-Bone was in his prime,

recor'ding 48 jazz-tinged electric blues classiesfor the TAls Angeles-based Black & White

lahel. These sides gained T -Bone national

exposure, and taught a whole generation of

blues guitarists how it should be done.

By the mid- '50s, aftel' years of success on

Imperial Records, T-Bone was heal'ing his style

imitated by bluesmen, R&B musicians, and

eventually rock & rollers from coast to coast.

All the recordings that started it allToday, T-Bone Walker is acknowledged

by all to be the true father of the electric

blues. But while some of the songs he weote

Jive on in the repel'loir'es of thousands of

al,tists ("Stormy Monday," ''I'm Still In

Love \Vith You"), the vast majority of

1'-Bone's originall'ecol"liings have, until

now, been incl'edibly difficult to come by.

The Mosaic set includes all 144 tracksreeonled hy T-Bone \Valker as a leader dUI'­jng his most influential years.

The booklet includes an essay by tbe

noted T-Bone biographer, Helen OakleyDance, a complete discography of every­

thing in this set, and l'aI'e photographs.

"Among the very best box sets released inthe past decade ... extraordinary ... "

Mike Joyce, The Washington Post

The Complete Recordings of T-BoneWalker 1940-1954Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.9 LPs [MR9-130] $906 CDs [MD6-130] $90

"There's simply no way to JuUy

express just how exciting and educa-

tional the T-Bone set is, It goes of/the

top of the scale in record review terms

and ups the ante beyond the reach oj

aU record companies currently raiding

their vaultsfor blues reissue product. "

- Michael Point,

Austin American-Statesman

"It's truly (t plettSltre to be able to com-

pletel)' trust a company that does

things up right. The attention to disco-

graphical detail in the T-Bone set sets

new statulardsJor blues/R&B reissues

in this country,"

-Jack Woker,

Cambridge, Mass.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••What drove Alfred Lion?

An immigrant from Berlin, AUI'ed

Lion was a jazz fan the night he

went to John Hammond's

"Spirituals to Swing" concert in 19:38. Six

days later he was a jazz producer with his

fil'st record - and he never looked back.

Lion had a passion for the music and he

I'eeol'ded the music he liked. Three very

early sessions demonstl'ate how Lion

elicited great perfonnances by placing

supel'b players in compelling new envit'on­

ments. We've eompiled those three sessions

on one Mosaic LP, The Pete Johnson/EarlHines/Teddy Bunn Bllw Note Sessions.

Lion got Ead Hines to cut two 12"78t'pm sides of intimate piano, quite unl.ike

most of Hines' diseogl·aphy. Then Lion got

Pete Johnson into his studio for two piano

solos and fOUl' stomping trio sides. A few

months latel' he l'ecol'ded Teddy Bunn

playing unaccompanied jazz guitar. And

the I'esults wel'e exceptional.

"A valuable disc for the historic:al docu­

mentation of the solo Johnson and the oft

overlooked Bunn."

AJan Bargebuhr, Cadence

The Pete Johnson/Earl HinesjTeddyBunn Blue Note SessionsLimited to 5000 copies worldwide.1 LP [MRl-119] $10Not available on CD.

12 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAy-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••They were called the"Blue Note Jazzmen"­anyone of them wascapable of calling theshots.

One day the session would beEdmond Hall's All Star Quintet.Another day would feature James

P. Johnson's Blue Note Jazzmen. On athird date, Vic Dickenson would be incharge. A fOUl·th, and Sidney De Paris'Blue Note Stompers had hooked the l"Oom.

Fl"Om J941 to 1952, they were thenucleus of an early Blue Note t'epertory

eompany, and all they played can be foundon The Complete Edmond HallJ./ames P../ohnson/Sidney De Paris/ViA; DickensonBlue Note Sessions.

Hall vil'tually talked on his clarinet.

De Pat'is' tmmpet was l'epot·tedly one ofthe toughest tl'umpets to cut in Harlem jamst'ssions. Dickenson didn't just pal·ticipatt'in tradition, he nearly was one all by him­

st'lf, staying active on tl'Ombone more than60 years.

"The greatest pianist."And who was the greatest pianist in jazz?Acconling to Duke, Basie, Hines, Tatum,Fats, and Willie The Lion, it was Johnson,

the great stride pianist who was such animportant tl'ansitional figut'e between rag­

time and jazz. Sidemen include ChadieChl'istian, Red Nol'vo, Teddy Wilson,

Hal'ry Carney, and Ben WebsteL

A festival of styles.Get ready for a festival of New Orleans,stt'ide, swing, third stl'eam, and every com­bination imaginable. Six LPs, 01' fom CDs

include 13 unissued tl'acks, six: available

only on 78s, and most of the l'est scattel'edacross little-known anthologies. Wherepossil)le, the Ol'iginal discs were newlytransferred for added claeity and pUl'ity.

The booklet includes biographies, musi­cal analysis, a detailed discography, l'al'ephotographs, and mOl·e.

"Mere words cannot l'cally convey theovel'all excellence of the jazz music con­tained in this Mosaic set."John Nelson, Mississippi Rag

The Complete Edmond Hall/James P.Johnson/Sidney De Paris/VicDickenson Blue Note SessionsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-109] $604 CDs [MD4-109] $60

" ... a t'are Oppol'tunity to heal' [CharlieCheistianJ on acoustic guitar instead of the

clef'tric. "John S. Wilson, The New York Times

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••New Orleans jazz wasn'tdead. And these recordsproved it.

I n the late ';.30S' die-h.arcl enthusiasts. ofauthenllc New Orleans jazz, like Bill

Russell and Fl'ederick Ramsey, wel'edetemuned to keep the sound alive. When

they leal'ned that many of the music's eadyauthentics were still actively playing in

New Odeans, and in vel'y much the samestyle as ever, their mission was dear.

In May 1943, Bill RusselJ supel'Vised the

George Lewis /'ecol'ding session which, like

the ground-breaking 1940 l'ecordings of BunkJohnson by Heywood Hale Beoun and the1942 Jazzmen sides by Bunk with GeOl'ge

Lewis, proved to the world that all the pas­sion of the New Orleans style had survivedintact. \Vhen Alfred Lion heard some ofthe discs, he immediately bought up theeights to the entire session, and created anew subsidial'y, Climax, to l'e1ease them.

A time warp, pure and simple.When "Climax Rag" hit the Commodore

Musie Shop on Octobel' 11, 1943, it helpedusher in a full-fledged revival of puee NewOdeans jazz. Francis Wolff callcd it "the

very incarnation of the spit'it of NewOrleans jazz." The fact that this was acurrent, working band made the event all

the more uplifting. George Lewis became

the standar'd bearet· for the tme diseiples.

Live for real.By 1954, the George Lewis Band was still

going strong. A radio concert and a live con­eert, reconled in Bakersfield, California

thaI year, were also purehased by Blue Note.

Then, in 1955, the band made its most pro­fessionally produced recordings yet, at Rudy

Van Gelder's studio undet· Alfred Lion's

supervision.

\Ven, George Lewis was a man after OUI'own heart. At Mosaic, we too believe in

keeping original music alive. So, our George

Lewis sel includes all 25 Climax tl'acks, 13

ofwhieh have never appeaeed in the U.S.,plus both 1954 concerts, with one unissued

tune, as well as the Van Gelder tracks from

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofGeorge Lewis.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-132] $453 CDs [MD3-132] $45

195.5, with four unissued performances andone issued previously onJy on a lO-inch LP.

The booklet contains a biography of Geol'geLewis hy Page Van Vorst, along with a

complete discography of this set and l'arephotographs by Francis Wolff and others.

14 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA &I MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

'This 3-CO (or 5-LP) Fetconlains someofLewis's

gr'P~te;,t nxonled WOl-k, much ofit pr"eviously mus­

sUefl, in a digital rema~ring that beautifullycapture;; the n~lentless drive and haunting tone thatweI,," his trademark.,."Tom Sandon, Time

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Bird told Miles and Dizzy,"You better watch out.There's a little white caton the West Coast who'sgonna eat you up."

Chet Baker I'eports the quote himself,out of awe, not pride. He met Parkerwhen th(·~ altoist was putting together a

band in L.A. Every trumpeter in L.A. camedown, and aftel' Chet played two tunes,Parker canceled the audition and hired him­self a horn player.

What Parker recognized, what thisrelease revcals, is that Chet Baker may havebeen 0111' of the most intuitive and improvisa­tional player's ever.

H,e <:ouldn't ,'ead a note. Didn't have adue about chonl stnll'Wre and progr'essions.But what a fahulous ear for melody andeOlllplernlental'y playing!

Night after night, Ba ker's only safety netwas Russ Freeman's great compositions andfirm suppon. The Complete Pacifu: JazzLive Recording$ of the Chet Raker Quartetwith Russ Freeman is the evidence.

Newly discovered sides.This set - recorded in 1954 - gives you everynote reeonled Jive for Pac,ifie Jazz, four LPs(01' three CDs) induding two and a half LPs'worth unavailable until now, The bookletoffers an in-depth essay hy Joe Goldhel'g, a

1954 article by Pacific Jazz owner DickBo<:k, and William Claxton's photogr'aphs ofthe a<:tual events,

"Anyone who doubts that Chet Baker is amajor instrumental talent-and anyone whois unaware that Russ Fl'eeman was an excep­tional pianist-should bear The CompletePacific Jazz Recording$ o/the Chet BakerQuartet with RLLS8 Freeman. "R. C. Smith, Durham Morning Herald

The Complete Pacific Jazz LiveRecordings of the Chet Baker Quartetwith Russ FreemanLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-113] $403 CDs [MD3,113] $45

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The seminal Chet Bakersessions - cleaned upand sounding incredible.

"He doesn't have any idea what keyhe's playing in 01' what the

chonls al'e," explained quat'tet

member and composer, Russ Freeman."It's aLi just by ear". He has not bing to fall

back on. But t/wre would be certain flights,maybe once a week, when he would be abso­lutely stagger·ing."

Weare proud to l'e1ease The CompletePacifu; Jazz Studio Recordings a/the ChetBaker Quartet with Russ Freeman. Hereare the sessions where Gerr'y Mulligan's

alter ego stepped out front. He was destinedto be a legend before he turned 30.

The FI'eeman-Baker counterpoint is

uncanny, peppered with harmonic twistsand taut musical thinking. Bakel' knowshow to play the "spaces." And betweenthem, hc knows where to put the absoluterightest notes.

Back to basics.The set includes two and a half sides of

instrumentals and one and a hali' featuringBaker's vocals (he sang "with an innocentsweetness that made girls fall right out of

their saddle uxfords," said one n~viewer).

Many of these vocal tracks, recorded between

1953 and 1957, wel'e ol'iginaLly releaseddl'enched in ccho and foggy hom 11I"a vyequalization. We seat'ched every tape vcr'sionof each cut and wl'ung 'em out, back to the

basic "as-recorded" sound Mosaic collectors

expect. Overdubs added latcr' al'e gone.

Untrained hipness, lyrical simplicity.The coLledion confirms what a lot of fanshave been saying all along- Chet Baker

plays and sings jazz with unlI'ained hipnessand Iy rical simplicity.

"Chet slI'uc:k me as a giant then," saidFreeman years latel·. And he strikes us as

one now - coming through loud and clear inthe sessions that made the difference. The

booklet contains a perceptive essay by WillThOl'nbury, musical analysis by DougRamsey, and many unpublished photographsby William Claxton f("om the actual sessions.

The Complete Pacific Jazz StudioRecordings of the Chet Baker Quartetwith Russ FreemanLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs {MR4-122} $403 CDs [MD3,122] $45

"Chet Baker fans ean't be without this one,and it's historieally significant-the guy iseven better than you originally bebeved himto be."

Bob Claypool, The Hou$ton Post

"His playing touches emotional nel"Ve centers."

George Kanzler, Time$ Pi{;ayruu>Entertainment Guide

MOSAIC RECORDS

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Shorty Rogers wasa West Coast swingerfrom way back.

Everybody thought Shol·ty Rogel's wasjust cutting I'econls of "Cool Jazz" inthe eady '50s, But, harmonically, he

was creating a whole language of WestCoast jazz. And, l'hythmically, it swung ashan-l as any jazz 1'1'0111 eithel' coast.

Atlantic signed Shorty in 1954, and thenext 13 months became the most prolificand creative of his career, But th(' tl'aeks,scallel'ed among five LPs on two continentsand released over a 20-yem' span, wel'('neady impossible to find. Sound famiJial'?

It was a typical Mosaic undel'taking­locating and organizing long unavailable,('xtr'emely important l'ecol,ds into proper,cohel'ent sequence. The Complete Atlanticand EM1Jazz Recordings ofShort)' ROBersdo('s exactly that. It contains the cadyCapitol and Nocturne sides, then the liveAtlantic LPs in original recol'l-ling order, Atotal of 54 superb, invaluable tracks.

Featured an' Bud Shank, Jinuny Giuffre,Bill Holman, Conte Candoli, Pete Jolly andBamey Kessel, among many others. It's allannotated and described in the booklet,illustrated with William Claxton's pho­tographs of the Atlantic sessions,

The Complete Atlantic and EMI JazzRecordings of Shorty RogersLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-125] $604 CDs [MD4-125]$60

"This outstancling set provides positive proofthat what is known as West Coast jazz - and

much of what is presented hel'e touc:hed oilthe genre - was swingin' stuff. It is hard to

helieve that some of this matel'ial was recorded

neady 40 yeal"s ago. It still sounds ft'esh and

vital today."

David Zyeh, JazzTirnes

~~~~~~~~~~..~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here's one L.A.soloist wi'th no N.Y. com­parison - pure Pepper athis peak.

Art Peppel' nevel' fully adapted to the

cooled-out West Coast style. Hisph,'asing was jagged and surprising,

his leaps between regbters dramatic, his tone

fuJI and eieh. You ean point to saxophone

forebears with elements of his playing, hut

all togethel', they belonged only to him.

He moved easily between blowing datesand big band charts, wilh solos full 01'spontaneous feagments that still managedto I'elate ingeniously, The l'I'al tension of his

work, it seemed, was his firm contl'ol and

precision balanced hy intense emotion,

The Complete Pacific Jazz Small GroupRecordings ofArt Pepper introduces a

number of tracks never lwfore available 01'

l'eleased only in edited versions, These per­

formances were made dUI'ing Art's mostimpor·tant years and include quinlet ses­

sions with ChN Baker and with tenor

saxophonist Bill Perkins as well as a no net

date ananged by Shorty Rogers.The booklet includes an (,ssay hy Michael

J ames, photographs of the recording ses­

sions and new discographieal information.

"... captures Pepper'sfertileform in

1956 and 1957, . , aU these recordings

tingle with vitality"

- Erie Levin,

People

THE COMPLETE PACIFIC JAZZSMALL GROUP RECORDINGSOF ART PEPPER

The Complete Pacific Jazz Small GroupRecordings of Art PepperLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.Less than 1000 copies remaining3 LPs [MR3-105] $30Not available on CD.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"I quit!" - JohnnyHodges to DukeEllington in 1951.

I t was a bold move fOl' the geeat. alto sax­ophonist, and a blow to the EllingtonOrchestra. BUI aftee too many yeal's of

feeling like a sideman, Johnny Hodges feltthe time had eorne to go it alone,

He'd been with Ellington sinee 1928,whpn Duke tit'st heard the young alto saxo­phone player. At 22, Johnny Hodges hadIhe ehops, together with a fresh individualstyle Ihat made him a prime eandidate forsolo stardom.

Through the years, Hodges had manyopportunities in the spotlight, hoth on tourand on recordings. He developed a signifi­cant following among jazz fans, . , and bythe late '30s, he'd become an importantinnuence, What he didn't have was thechance to prove himself as a learlel',

Time to move on.Hodges' solo contraet with N(H'man Gl'anzgave him the oppol'tunity to lead his own,tight, seven-man working band, Over thecourse of the next five years, he would su,'­muml himself with a galaxy of '50s jazzgeeats, including John Colteane, JimmyHamilton, Ben Webster, Flip Phillips, HalTYCamey, Emmett Berey, Sonny Greel', BillyStrayhorn, AI Sears, and LawI'enee Brown.

16 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAy-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

But great as the music was, it did notIwing Hodges fame, for1une or g10t)' eommcn­sur'ate with the added pressures and detailsthat went with leading his own bane!.

"Welcome back!" - Duke Ellington toJohnny Hodges in 1955.In late 1955" Johnny Hodges r'eturned tothe Ellington o"ganization,

It was the end of a mini-era, The musiccreated between 1951 and 1955 hy JohnnyHodges and his "small big hand" was releasedbriel1y on the Clef and NOl'gran labels, andlater r'eissued on Ver've. For this release, itis being made available in its entirety,transfelTed din~<:tly from the Ol'if,rinal master'tapes, and chronologically sequerwed. Theteacks total 15 complete studio sessions withJohnny Hodges and Co, - and a deliciouswealth of scaled-down Ellingtonian swing.

The booklet includes a musical analysisby Stanley Dance, a biography of JohnnyHodges, and rare photographs of his handin performance.

,. (0MftITtI0Il__­1ft1-1955

The Complete Johnny HodgesRecordings 1951-1955Limited to 7500 copies worldwide,6 LPs [MR6-126] $60Not available on CD.

", .. ther'e is no hetter' concentration of Hoe1?;esund"I' one cover than this Mosaic set ..."W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Times

"He was, as Ellinl,'1.on said, beyond category.Hodges played with more self-assurancethan almost any musician I've ever seen."Nat HentofT, The Wall Street Journal

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Three plays a quarter.. . Ike Quebec's soulfuljazz jumps off thesejukebox sides.

Nineteen fiJty-two to 1959. Hard times

for the big-toned, impassioned tenor

players from Coleman Hawkins and

Ben Webster' on down. Hard bop ancl thecool school were the I'age, Ever'ything else

touk a backseat.] ke Quebec, one of the most souU'ul,

melodic, and complete musicians to pick upthe tenor saxophone (see Mosaic's TheComplete Blue Note Forties Recordings ofIke Quebec and John Hardee [MR4/MD3­107]), did not recol'd at all dlll'ing this

period. nut he nevel' stopped playing.

Real singles.But hy 1959, the ul'ban, hlack jukebox cit·­

cuit was big .mough to hold blues, H&B, and

jazz. So when Blue Note president, AlfredLion, decided to cut some singles - r'eal sin­gles; 45 RPM r'eeonls with a big hole in them

- and Ike Quebec's sound hit the jukes, his

music was again recognized for its strengthand heartl'ending beauty. (Note: very few

recordings were constnlctecl to be l'eIeased

as singles at that time - most singles were

album cuts with a quick fade-oul.)At a total of three single sessions (1959,

1960, and .1962), Quebec was joined by such

sidemen as Skeeter' Best on g"uitar, Milt

Hinton and Sam Jones on bass, Sir CharlesThompson on organ, and J. C. ]-Ipanl on

dl'ums. Most of the titks, fl'OJIl thl'Oaty blues

or'iginals to big, bold standal'ds, r'emained

unissued on LP u.ntilnow. Mosaic has takenthe entire output of these tll,'ee ,'ecording

dates and assemble.1 them into a three­LPftwo-CD set, The Complete Blue Note 45Sessions of Ike Qu-ebec.

The booklN contains Quebec's biognl­

phy, a complete updated Bluc Notediscography, a wond(·J'i'ul essay by Wl"itet'

and tenol' playel' Lm'en Schoenberg, and

many previously unpublished photogr'aphsof the sessions, taken by F,'ancis WoJft'.

#2 Reissue of the Year'

(1988 Down Beat Intel'national Critics Poll)

The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions ofIke QuebecLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.3 LPs [MR3-121] $302 CDs [MD2-121] $30

"These sides provide r'evelation uJJon n've­

lation of Quebec's completeness as a tenor'voice. He shares Coleman Hawkins' andBen Webster's commandingly stout tone ...

the exuher'ant shout of Count Basic tenor'

Herschel Evans is herf', too. ****"Peter' Kostakis, Down Beltt

"Qu-ebec was definitely a m.aster ofSCtxO-

plwtU! jazz. His tone goes bac,," to the

classic tenor sOlutd ofColeman

Hawkins, Ben Webster, Herschel

Evans, Budd Johnson, wuJ. Buddy

Tale, His performances show It cease-

Jessl)' inventive jazznwn. "

- Owen Cordle,

Raleigh News and Observer

MOSAIC RECORDS 17

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Stan Kenton waged aone-man war against onedimensional music. Here'sevidence that he won.

The music he was making was heresy!

His statements to the p~e.ss, ~ueh as"the integra ted compositIOn IS the

thing, not the solo," had the jazz estabJish~

ment up in arms! Yet today, there can be

no doubt that Stan Kenton's greatest crimewas being ahf,ad of his time.

One of a kind.Kenton had the wodd of exptTimental, Lig~

band jazz 11I'actically aU to himself. Perhaps

that's why he was always able to altnlet

some of the day's gl'eat musicians, vocalists,

composers and a'Tangcrs into his creativewodd, ineluding saxophonists Bud Shank,

Lee Konitz and Charlie Mal'iano; tl'llmpetel'

Conte Candoli; trombonist F"ank Rosolino;

drummers Mel Lewis and Stan Levey; and

most signirif,antly, writer! arrangers BiU

Russo and Bill Holman.From 1950, when Russo joined Kenton,

until 1963 when Holman ended his associa~

tion, these two men were "esponsible for' someof Kenton's most swinging and adYentlll'e~

some recordings, Their charts are invariablythe highlights of Kenton's most productive

years, and their reconlings a,'e the ones

that jazz fans haye long been "equestingthat Mosaic organize, and I'estore to pl:int.

This 6~LP, 4--CD set contains all 72 wod<s

that Russo and Holman wl'ote andJOI'

arranged for Kenton, induding Russo's

famous "2:3 Degrees West - 82 Degl'eesNorth," and Holman~alTangedstandards

such as "Stella By Starlight" and

"Yesterdays."

Most of tlus music has been unavailable1'01' many yeaJ's, Some appeared on lO~inch

LPs that were nevel' reissued. SeyeralrecOl'dings appearerl only bl'iefly onKenton's own Creative World recol·d label.

One performance is being released hel"e fOI"

the fi"st time.A buoklet wl'iuen by authol' Will

Friedwald, reminiscences w,"ilten by Holman

and Russo and rare photographs round outthis long ovel'due compiJation.

Stan Kenton: The CompleteCapitol Recordings ofthe Holman and Russo Charts.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-136] $604 CDs [MD4-136] $60

"FI'om a technical standpoint, the record~

ings are as clear as if they were digitally

recorded this year."

Dayid Steinbe,"g, Albuquerque Journal

"Kenton ,bd pussess an in(luiring intelligence

and a love of musicianship, and these sides

are the pick of his legacy."Richard Williams, The Sunday IJldepe,u1ent

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Swing's top soloistsfinally stretch out.

I t was a little world caught between worlds_

The wartime economy and changing

taste forced musicians to explore smaller

units. But bop wasn't the stuff 1'0" guysused to ensembles and tuxedos. The I"esult,

then, was the swingtet, and sessions with more

solo spaee 1'01' musicians at the height oftheir powel'S.

The Benny Morton arul Jimmy HamiltonSwingt.ets completes the I'escue of Blue Note

I-ecordings in the idiom. These swing ses~

sions fl'om 1945 captul'e the mood of onegeneration in the fOl'mat of a newer one.

Benny M.orton was a trombonist who couldbelt it out 01' weave subtly, Lion coupled

him with Ba,"ney Bigard and Ben Wt'bstel'

1'0'" a miJli~EUington front line. Jimmy

Hamilton replaced Biganl in Ellington's1942 band - and stayl'd 25 years. Hp didmost of till' writing fOl' his sl'ssion.

This single LP indudes a trio date with

Morton's aceomflanist, thl' wonderfully

tasteful Sammy Benskin. Half of his set

appeal's 1'0" the very first time. Stanlt~y

Dance captures the histol'y and musicalanalysis in his knowing liner' notes.

"This is of immense mllsi.cal interest..

Hend.erson Chambers's powerful sOllnd

is a revelation and his plunger solo in

'Slapstidr' would grace any Ellington

band date. Forty~eightminlltes of

music ofsubstance and character wor~

thy indeed ofthe now-familiar Mosaic

prodllctwn stand.ards ofcare, pure

original sound quality (no equalizing or

other hypes), and attention to detail."

- Bl'ian Dayis,

Jnzz Forum

The Benny Morton and Jimmy HamiltonBlue Note SwingtetsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.1 LP [MR-115] $10Not available on CD.

MOSAIC RECORDS 19

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

44444444444444444444444444444

Time out: Here's apersonal pitch for someof the finest tenorplaying ever.

W at we need here at Mosaic is a

patmn - someone who will justdump bags ofrnoney at the door

and let us put out records like TheCornpLete Bllle Note Forties Recordings ofIke Qllebec and John Hardee withoutI'egard 1'01' pmfitability. Any applications?

Full of love and soul.Her'e's why we want to keep this music

alive: For' John .Hanlee, it's that he's a

gl'eat example of a '40s musician wOl'kingin New YOl'k - in Camegie Hall one nightand a Bl'onx bar' the next - always shouting

on his horn, fuJJ of love and soul and

swing, Fol' Ike Quebec, the I'eason's a little

different: Aecor'ding to Michael, "Ike

Quebec has always been one of tbe few

players who I'eally touches my heart."

Both Hal'dee and Quebec came up at acritical time, when swing had swung and

bop wasn't hom, Har'dee marked those years

with these sessions including Tiny Grimes,

Sammy Benskin, plus Sid Catlett, Jimmy

Shidey, Gene Ramey, TI'ummy Young,

and othel's.

Quebec's inno'vation.Quebec was a soulful master of the balJad,

In addition to his career as a player, hewas also an A&R man at Blue Note,

I'esponsible for br'inging Monk, Bud Powell

and many other modernists to the label.

And yet, despite his innovation and taste,he is still negleeted, more than 20 years after

his death! At least we have h.is sides with Tiny

Gr'imes, Ram Ramirez, Milt Hinton, Buek

Clayton, Tyree Glenn, Oseal' Pettiford,and mOre,

The set: four LPslthl'ee CDs ineJuding 14unissued sides, 14 mOl'e available until now

only on 78s and 28 only on var'ious out-of­pl'int anthologies. The booklet includes an

essay by Dan MOI'genstern, newly researched

biographies, and r'are photographs.

"The Ike Quebec perfOl'mances are greatjazz. , . some of the last gl'eat swing music

The Complete Blue Note FortiesRecordings of Ike Quebec and JohnHardeeLimited to 5000 copies worldwide,4 LPs [MR4-107] $403 COs [Mo3-107] $45

to come to LP.!t's about time."

Bob Porter', JazzTirnes

"Mosaic cannot be praised too highly for,'eissuing this ran~ '40s outplll of two sadly

neglected tenol' men, with Ike Quebec quite

dd'initely proving his place alongside thetenor giants of jazz."

Brian Davis, Jazz Forllm

44444444444444444444444444444

Twenty years afterCount Basie was in hisprime ... he entered hissecond prime!

By 1957, twenty years had passed

sine.'.e t. he heyday of the Count Basil'Orchestr·a.

Entering the Atomic Age.The conventional wisdom was that Basil'

had long since peaked. The conventionalwisdom was wl'Ong. In 1958, Count Basie's

first album for Roulette R"conls wasreleased, and The Ittornic Mr, Basie set thejazz world on its eal'.

J3asi(~'s Rou lette period (l958--19()2),featuring his "Atomic Band," is now consid­

ered to he his second gr'eat era, Technology

had caught up with musicianship and hisRoulette albums remain among the finest

sounding reeords of Basie's career.

Out in front, he had assembled some of

the most exciting soloists of the day, like

Joe Newman, Thad Jones, Frank Wess,

Fr'ank Foster and AI Gl'ey, What n~aJly

gave the new Basie band its signature was anew generation of char'ts - model'n,swinging, high-pl'ecision or'chestnltions

supplied by a virtual who's-who of modern

jazz arranging, induding Quincy Jones,

Er'nie Wilkins, Frank Foster', Thad Jones,Benny Cat'tel' and Neail Hefti,

Live all night.On three occasions during this era, the

Basil' Or'chestra was recorded live by pr'o­ducel' Teddy Reig. The fil'st was a

legendar'y night at a disc jockey conventionin Miami, on May 31, 1959, when the band

began playillg at 1 a.m, and didn't finish

until well after sunrise. With the help of

guests like Harry "Sweets" Edison and Joe

Williams, the band was wailing. Less than

half of the results were included on theeight-tune album I'eleased from the session.

Breakfast, Barb"cue r.tnd Dance.

Basie at Birdland ... and abroad.Two yeal's latel', inJune 19()1, during the

final two days of a two-week engagement atBir'dland, the band was confident, tight,

and inspired. 0, C. Smith was the band

The Complete Roulette Live Recordingsof Count Basie and his Orchestra(1958-1962)Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.12 LPs (MR12-135] $1208 CDs [Mo8-135] $120

20 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

vocaLi,t on many of the tunes, with guest

appearances by Jon Hendricks and S31'ah

Vaughan, A wealth of matuial was

n~eonJcd, hut nnly onr~ album, Basil" atRirdlarul, ITleased,

Basie'5 last Jive sessions fo\' Roulettetook plar,e at a dub in Stotkho)m during a

I'elaxed foul'-day f,'ig in August 1962, Louis

Bellson, suhbing for Sonny Payne on

drums, gave the hand a speciall<iel<, while

Irene Heid and O. C. Sm.ith handled thevocals. An unfol'gettahle I'ed'ormance of

"April in Pari;;" helped mal,e the Rasie inSweden alhum a ;;uccess.

Nine albums of unreleased, live Basie.Mosaic';;12-LP, 8-CD package, TheComplete H.oulettl" Live Recordings ofCount Rasie and His Orchestra (/958­1962) includes cvel'y one of the 2S l.ivetracks relea,ed by Roulette on Ba;;ip's three

live LPs, plus an astonishing 108 previouslyunissued perform.ances. rn every r'ase theOI'iginal playing onler has heen faithfuUy

adhered to. The Miami and Birdland pel'­formances have heen lH'wly mixed fl'om the

nriginalth"ec-track tapes, and the Swedish

tl'acks haYt~ heen tl'ansferred directly from

the (wiginal two-tracl, masters.The hooklet include;; a pOI'tl'ait nf the

hand and a track-hy-tnl<;k musical analysis

by Chris Sheridan, authol' of Count Basie:A Rio-Di.scography, and I'are photographsfl'Om the el'a.

"Then~'s no nostalgia in nllmlwrs I.ikp. "Li'l

Darlin'" or the Count's tOllchstone "Apl'ilin Pari;;," not a hint of th(e L1nti<fllp., This is

jazz thai IHlI'ns on eneq,y, spiril and inspi­

I'ation, and swings on fr\f'(' vel'. "

Time

", .. a mOlhedorlp of high-eneq,'y alTangc­

ments and gn~at playing. It', also a Il'iumph

of packaging.. "Newsweek

"Featuring mOl'e than eight hOLll'S of music,most of it previously unreleased, Ihese CD'soffer an unlll'('n~dented look at an ul'ehestrain action. The music itself is cxtraonl.inal'y,

and yet casual."Petel' Watl'ous, New York Times

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Presenting The CompleteDean BenedettiRecordings of CharlieParker.

The s.t01')' hehind the m),th bel,rins in.March of '47.

Bird took an extender! gig at the Hi-De­

Ro in Los Angel('s with Howard McGhee,

Hampton Hawes, Addison Farmer' and Roy

Portel·. BinI was healthy, having just coml'out of Camarillo Stat(e .Hospital, ami hp wa;;

at the peak of his powers. When a saxophoneplayedamateul' n~eordisl name(1 Dean

Benedeui hean1 hun, hI" was aweslnl('k.

BenedeUi approadwd Bini and asked forpel'mission to run a dise r<~(:order dUI'ing the

sets. Bil'd agL'eed, and Benedetti began! To

pl'esel've disc space, Bpnedetli would Slart

the mach.ine when Birel was soloing, and stopthe machine as soon a, the solo was ovel',Benedetti u;;ed a mike, I'laeed l·ight in front

of BinI's instrument, and except 1'01' Bird

and the hass directly hehind him, little el;;e

was eaptured on disc..

Using this technique, Benedetti n'conled

m,arly four hours of concenll'ated BinI solos

ov('!' a two-w(,ek IWl'iod, with the sound

val'ying from quite poor to fairly gnoel,Bil'd's musical ideas, howeve.', are nevel'less

than I..-illiant.

On to New York.Latel' in '47, BinI neturnt'd to New YOI·k

.. , and Benedetti followed, This tim", how­

evpr, he had an t'a"'y ll1odell.ape '"eco"dcl'.B,'nedelti taped Bird one night at the Onyx,and another night at thle Three Deuces

(where in one segment. we hear Monk com­ing out of the audience to tear,h Bil'd how toplay "Straight, No Chaser,") The quality of

th£' New York n,conlings is quite good, and

they account fol' fully half of this collection.These are the Bel1f~detti I'e(~orrlings in

their' entiret)" and aftl'" fOI"t)' y.'al's ofrumor, speculation and dehat(e, they al'e atlast availahle to the wodrl.

Everything is t"ansfel'l'ed dil'ectly fromthe ol'iginal discs and tapes hy legendaryengineer Jal;k Towel·s and eo-pl'odllCt'" Phil

Schaap. The 48-page booklet includes musi­ealtl'anseriplion;; by Benedetti and others,essays by Phil Schaap on Parker's life during

The Complete Dean BenedettiRecordings of Charlie Parker.Not a Limited Edition.10 LPs [MR10-129] $1007 CDs [MD7-129] $105

thi;; pel'iod, a hiognlph)' ofD"an B(·,nedpuib), Bob POI·t(~r, a musical analys;;; I,y Pal"kel'

authOl'it)' James Patl'iek, and Phil Schaap's

ulInpJete annotated discography of all themusic in the S(,t.

The Complete Df>an Bener/etti Heron/illgso/Charlie Parker is OUI' 1II'st Mosaic Un!imitl'o

I'elease. Since we o\\'n, ratlwl'lhan II'ase, tlw

l'ights to these reconungs., W('. are not restl'i(·tedin any way as 10 thf' numhf'r (If sl'ls w(' ..an

makf' available, This histori .. set, as WI',U as

future Mosaic Unlimitt:d sets, will n'main in

print and available to thp intemational jazzcommunit), for as long as Mosaic exists,

"The 48-pagf' booklet is a mastl'rpiecp of his­

toriogL'aphy, with Pa "ker's solos II'ansITilwd,rare photos, and mieroscopi"ally df'tailedessa)'s by Schaap, Porter and Jim PatTi.. k."

"In. an. art form whose principnl rltar-

acteristic is improvisation, this cache

ofwork by one of the genuine giants is

in fact something like a previously

undiscovered trunk of Beet.hoven

nlanWKripts, "

- Jack Fullel', Chicago Tribune

MOSAIC RECORDS 2]

, .

• ON LOCATION orw~in~h:I~S~li;vii~~~~~;JIP"""......, V_';' standard for

capturing jazz 011 recordings. At this live remot ••••

r-""""""-.'-J1lllll1cI Byrd at 111:&.1Ip, .hlt " ~th III11,1960, produc ~}itt" ......&~with the great souUet.hneer. Rudy's equip-ment back then appears crude compared to hispreferred medium today - digital (see Inter-view). But the pursuit of excellence was the..... Photograph by Francis Wolff.

The Rudy Van Gelder Interview

Modern Jazz RecordingGrew Up in His Parents'Living Room.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

R udy Van Gelder is the legendary sound engineer whose technical ingenuityand lo've ofmu.sic forever influenced the way we listen to recorded jazz.

Van Gelder was a practicing optom~t,ist in the late '40s when he set up hisJust, nwdest recording studio in the living room ofhis par-ents' home inHackensack, New Jersey. In that room, he would go on 10 record most of thenwjor East Coast jazz artists of the 19.50s, including virtuaUy every session for

Blue Note and Prestige Records as weU as nwny classical dates for Vox andother labels.

In 19.59, over the course of a single weekend, Van Gelder moved his studioto his own new home in Englewood Cliffs, Nj, where it has renwined. VanGelder has kept pace with the technicLtl advances that have occurred since thattime and renwins as active as ever. "Anyone wants to come out and get a good

two-track thing going, I'm ready, " says Rudy.In 1986, Van Gelder agreed to a rare rad;v ;.ntenJ;.ew with Ben .s;,dran of

National Public Radio. .some excerpts:

H DY VAN GELDER: Back in thp. '40s

thtTC was no recording ind ustry as such.

From an enl:,rineering standpoint, it was an

offshoot of the radio stations. The engi­neers usually workp.d for companies who

were associated in some way with ,·adio. Itwas totalJy liifferenl. The equipment was

different. Eve"ything was diffe,'ent.

And you were a hobbyist iniLiaUy?Yes, that's right. Twas a radio ham opera­

tOl' originally, also an amateut· musi«;ian.

So the two things sort of came together and

that's how it happened.

That's probably a real interesting [Joint,the fact that you weren't comingfromjustthe musical side of it or just the ham radioside, but you brought the two together.Yes, I've always felt that it was a strangecombination of ways to look at music:, Atthat time you had to build all your own

equipnwnt. There was nothing available

that you could go out and buy. Then~ was

no manufacture of consoles. That didn't

exist. You had to make YOlll' own. The big

{~ompanies had their own staff of engineer­

ing people and maintenance people who

would do that. That's why there were only

two or' three {'ompanies doing it.

And did yOll build your amplifiers at tha/.point?Absolutely. You had to build everything

yourself.

You did graduate from school and practiceas an optometrist . ..Thirteen years I did that. Of course, by

'52, I was also recording. Actually, it was

dUl'ing that period that r was doing aU of

those eady mue Note things, and Prestige.The Modern Jazz Quartet and Miles andall of those people wel'e (;orning over to my

parents' home and Twas n~eordiJig them.

Did you design the living room to be (j

recording studio?No, not then. It was a nne-floor houst>, hut

there was a nice high ceiJjng in the living

room and it had tittle halJways, and tittle

nooks and crannies going off. It was reallya nice place to ref:ol"{l in. Made som(' good

t'{~cords then' on Wcdne~day,which I had

off, I would ref:Ord aU day for Pn'stigp, or

Savoy, or Blue Note.

Is there some way YOlt can LeU me howcome yonr records didn't sound like any­one else's records;) Bltt-c No/.e recordsspecifically;)Well, it's not ",asy to desc,'ib{, it in wonls.

It's a question of Alfred Lion pn~sf'nting

me with a pl'Oblem and my solution to thcproblem.

How 'was the problem presented?He was unique at tnat time in that he 1.lI"e­visualized 0/' pre-aun,).izefl his l'ecoeds.

He Imew what he wanted before he nUlIe to

the studio. He wOltld then bring thrse

musicians in, and I c:onsidered it was my

job to make these people sound the way hI:'

thought they should sound. Now, 1 want to

say that's within the fr'amewOl'k of the

musicians themselves, too. That's where it

I'eally begins. We're talking about jazz

now, where it's an exprt'ssion of a musi­cian's personality and his own sound. And

he's recognizable, and he's unique, and

you can identify him just as t'asiJy as I can

n~cognizeYOU," voice or' your face when Isee yOU. Alil'ed had a way of presenting

the situation - here they al'e, this is theway they sound as individuaJs, oow yOll goahead and do what you have to do lo make

MOSAIC RECORDS 23

lIlt I'm going to do a session and I can choose

what I want to choose, I will choose a digital

recorder. There's just no question about it. "

Rudy VanGelder interview, continued

that thing sound the way we want it to

sound - and that's how he would present

the p!'Ohlem,

I think some musicians don't know whatthey sound like until they hear themselves

011 tape.That's right. I beljeve that. And thel-e's

nothing really bad about that. It's under­

standable - a tl-umpet player' is th.-ee feet

from where the bell is and 20 feet f!'Om

wher'e the sound is ('eally cl·eated.

Let's talkJor a minute about thefeeungthat those musicians brought with themwhen they call1.e into the room. Is yourmemory specifu; in terms ojwhat theJeel­

ing was, doing those sessions night afterflight?

First of aLI, it wasn't night after mght. It

was very often day after day. Not even 50

percent of them were done at night. A lot

of them were done on Sunday afternoon.

Alfred and Frank had to run their business

during the week, and they uked to come in

Sunday and do theil' sessions.

What was theJeeling of those sessions?It's not a specifIC feeling, it's more of a gen­

eral feeung. But I have a recollection that

what we were doing was important at the

time. It was impOl'tant to the producer-s, it

was impol"tant to me. I felt that it was mOI"e

important than the politics of the day Or

anything else that was going on, What we

wel-e doing really had a lasting sigmricance,

II"caUy had that impression at the time.

When JOlt movedfrom Yoltr parents' housein Hackensack, to the new stu.dio, it waslate in the '50s, is that correct?I don't have an internal time clock that

tells me where I am at every moment, but

Bob POI'tel" established that the last date in

Hackensack was in July 1959, Iremembel"

very c1ear'ly the panic of hl"eaking down

that studio over there on a Friday and then

setting up here fOl' a session Monday mOI"n­

ing. Moving the console, moving the

machines, getting everything )-ight. Oh it

was a terrible time, but I did it and we

I'ecorded Friday in Hackensack and

Monday in Englewood Cljffs.

Wlwt was yourJeeling when multi-trackrecording came along?

Well, in the beginning, I reaUy resisted it.

Multi-track didn't happen at once. You'l-e

assulmng that everyone went from one­

track to 24. It didn't work that way. Itevolved track by track. First one-track,

then two-tl-ack, then three-track, then

fom,-track, then eight-track, then 16­

track, with maybc 12-traek in hetween and

all the val'iations, too. And the mOl-e

tr-acks you had, and the more you used, the

less you had to do it right, from the begin­

ning. And that's the way the recorelindust.,y is.

What was most exciting to you about

multi-track?

I thought, this is terrific! Now 1 don't have

to be gr-eat on each date. I can relax. I can

just make sure everything goes right, and

then we're going to mix it later and have a

second chalice at everything if I miss all

enh"ance of a solo or something Like that - I'm

going to be able to fix it later. But it didn'twork out uke that because musicians were

just as aware of this as J was, and it ended

up that they used it for Mfel'ent purposes.

They wanted to overdub, amI once you- wereoverdubbing they hali to have eal'phones,

and everyone had to hear what was on the

tape, and then a generation of musicians

developed that relied on that and expected

to be able to use that as a way to make records,

YOll didn't llse earphones in Hackensack?

That's exactly l'ight. It's almost as if- if you

wanted to think of a way to inhibit creativity

in jazz music in the stumo, you would come

up with a multi-track machine, a 24-track

recorder you could overdub on. It's a

machine of mass destl"uction. I mean, what

we've been saying is, that in OI'der to make

a presentable record, a jazz record, eve."y­

one has to play together, and they have to

play together at one time. And once you

e1i/mnate that necessity, then you've

described a situation where you don't have

to play together, and the musician doesn't

have to listen to other musicians. He can

just do ills own thing, and you can ftx it later',

But if you can't do it later. then while thp

two musicians al'e playing togethel', they

have to listen to each other. They have to.

1grew up listening to scratchy CharlieParker records -1 would listen past thatand I would hear the art and I would behappy . .. am I being sold a bill ofgoodswith this digital stuff?If I'm going to do a session and I can

choose what I want to choose, I will choose

a digital recorde ... There's just no ques­

tion about it.

What about the technical criticism ofdigi­tal recording that I've read about, thefJrubletn~ ofit feeling unnatural in someways?

Digital recording has been totally reliable

[01' me. It fll1al.ly does what a tape machme

should do - I"eally, just store what you're

putting into it. No analog machine ever

made could do that correctly. None. Not

even the best, the most expensive, could

ever do what a pt-opedy designed two-track

digital machine will do. We'n~ talking

about clarity of sound, clean sound, wide

range, beautiful, no noise problems,

To me it's made working a pleasure.

It's uke starting aLI over again and being

excited about t.hings, uke being able to play

back a g,'eat sound to the group right aftet"

they've played it, and they can heat· it right

then. Everybody knows it's good, Before

they go home.

24 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX; 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••A jazz organist moreinfluenced by JohnColtrane than JimmySmith?

A~ a 196; session for Gr'ant Gr~en'sfalktn About album,featurmg

Larry Young on organ and ElvinJones on drums, Alf/'cd Lion heard Young's

astounding talent and signcd him to BlueNote "ight away.

Alfred Lion knew.

For the next twelve months Lion kept Larry

Young husy recording his Bluc Note solodebut album, Into Something, and appear­ing as a sideman on two more Gr'ant Green

albums, Street oIVrearns and I Want toHold Your Hand.

Thcn, in Novcm}>er 1965, Larry Young'spost-Smith style exploded on Unity, featwmgJoe Henderson on tenor, Woody Shaw ontnunpct and Elvin Jones on dl'UJ11s. It was the

album that wouln changc the sound ann attitudeof jazz organ for aU time, and inspire a strWg offollow-up alhwns that would clinch YOWlg'S

placc in jazz history as the most inlluentiaJjazzorganist of his generation, and the next.

The Complete Blue Note Recordings oj'Larry Young, a 9-LP, 6-CD set, includes

Lany Young's total output for Blue Note.In addition to three albums as a sidemanwith G)'ant Green, Young recorded sixalbums undel' his own name, fcaturing such

'60s greats as James Spaulding, LceMot'gan, Geo"ge Benson and Eddie Gladden.

1'111' booklet includes a biography byMichael Cuscuna, and many previouslyunpublished session photographs byFrancis Wolff.

, . the n~leas(~ of The Complete BLue Note

Recordings oj'Larry Young .:an only helpdraw rnon~ attention to this daring musi­cian, Young took jazz oq,;an to placesJimmy Smith. feared to tread, Rediscov­ering Young can b(~ a revelation,"

Steve Futterman, Rolling Stone

"Aside fro III taking the instrument anotherstep into the world of Colt,'ane, Young hadan uncommon sense of his instrument in

The Complete Blue Note Recordingsof Larry Young.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide,9 LPs [MR9-137}$906 CDs [MD6-137} $90

terms of orr:hestration and ensemble,Throughout the Mosaic box, Young revelsin ensemhle give-and-take."Jon Ga,-elick, The Bostol1 Phoenix

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The Stan Getz recordingsthat set him apart fromthe herd.

When Leste,' Young disciple StanGetz recor'ded "Early Autumn"

with the Woody He"man hand, astar was born.

Even as part of thl·~ "Four' B,'others"tenor saxophone al'senal in Herman'sHenl, Getz's fluid tone and rav'ishinglyheautiful musical ideas were a singular

delight. In his solos, Getz managed to tr'ans­f0l'l11 the lyrical bri.lLancc of Lester Young'splaying into a mode,-n, vibr'ant style that

seemed to touch everyone who heard it.

On his own.With his creative )Jowers at their peak,

Stan Getz left Woody Herman and set out onhis own, Afte,' a couple of years of frontingh.is own qual'tet, he added Jimmy Raney ongwtar, giving the band gI'eater tooal variety.

The Stan Getz Quintet, with its gorgeous

blend of Getz 's tenor and Haney's guita"playi.ng in tand(~m, was a sound that was

unique in jazz . .It was almost as if Getz andRaney hl'eathed togethe,-. The piano (,hairwas initially filled by Getz discover"y HOI"aceSilver', then Al Haig, and, finally, DukeJordan.

A decade later', Stan Getz had moved onto almost unbelievable celebl-ity. His Roostquintet recordings wen' reissued and r'eis­sued again, usually in haphazard fashion,with atrocious sound.

Now, fo" The Complete Recordings oj'the Stan Getz Quintet with Jimmy Railey,we are including the original Roost studiosessions, as well as the g.'eat live session

r:eeOl'ded at Boston's StoryviUe, the qillntet'sfinal session as a wo,-king unit, l"eeon1cd forVerve in 1952, and the quintet's 195;~

reunion session, recOI'ded fo.- P,'estigeunder Jimmy Raney's name, All in all, thisis thc Getz to stand the test of timc.

Our booklet includes a hiogl'aphy ofStan Getz and ral'e early pholog,·aphs.

The Complete Recordings of the StanGetz Quintet with Jimmy Raney.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-131] $403 CDs [MD3-131] $45

"The cagerl)' anticipated Stan Getz Quintetr'ecordings, , , an-ived today, It meNsevery expectation - which I must tell youwas quite h.igh!"Dick Bank, Los Angeles, California

MOSAIC RECORDS 25

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Grant Green, wehardly knew you.

Guitarist Grant Green could play thewhole spectnun, from blues with abackbeat to the modern experiments

of LatTy Young. Blue Note recorded Greenin a vat'iety of funky settings. But for purehard bop, nothing matched Green's foursessions with Sonny Clark in '61 and '62.

Unfortunately for the wodd of jazz, thesemagnificent sessions weren't in keeping withthe soulful image that Blue Note had in mindfor Gt'ant Grt'en. So, for nearly 20 yeat's,they remained unissued in Blue Note's vaults.

Then, in the late '70s, news of thesesessions - and a l'eaffirmation of Gl'antGreen's brilliance - came out. Two GrantGreenJSonny Clark albums were l'cleasedin Japan, followed a few years latet' by twoothers in the U.S.

One of Blue Note's house pianists, Clarkhad played with the likes of Buddy DeFnmco,John Coltrane and Dinah Washington. Forthe Grant Gt'een sessions, Clark was joinedby Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes (or,in one case, Art Blakey) on drums. On oneoccasion, Ike Quebec was added to the group.

Now, for the first time, these t'areperformances of Grant Gt"een at his purestand best, featuring Sonny Clat"k shortlybefore his death of a heart attack at age 32,are being made available in their entirety,In addition to everything significant recordedat the four sessions, including several

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofGrant Green with Sonny Clark.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-133] $504 COs [Mo4-133] $60

worthwhile alternate takes, there are twolater pedormances featuring Sonny Clark,Ike Quebec, and a Lati.n rhythm section.

The booklet indudes an essay by BobBlumenthal and many unpublished sessionphotographs by Francis Wolff.

"Green was a master at hinting at ideas,slipping into a blues phrase fot, a seeond,only to tail away with a run, Througholltthe pieces tbet'e's a feeling that Gt"een sawmusic making as an at·t in whi(~h each notehad to make sense,"Petet' Watt"ous, The New York Times

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The Connection shouldhave launched a longrecording career forFreddie Redd.Inexplicably, it didn't.

The Connection was an early example

of jazz reach,ing, heyont,l its acceptedplatform in duhs and conee,"t halls.

As the playwright, Jaek GeIbel., coneeivedit, jazz would be used, live oostage, as anintegral par't of the dramatic show, New Yorkpianist/eomposel' Ft'eddie Redd was hired towt'ite and perform the play's inventive, eon­temporal'y scot"e. and when the play beeamean immediate eult hit, Blue Note signed him.Freddie Redd and his stage quartet (whiehalso included Jackie McLean on saxophone)made their '"ecording debut with TheConnection score.

One strike, you're out.Fot" a time, it seemed that Freddie Redd wouldhave a long recording cal'eer ahead of him.But the superb follOW-lip album, Shades ofRedd, which featured Jackie McLeantogether with Paul Chambel's, Louis Hayes.and Tina Brooks, did not sell very well,' 'appal"ently due to the vagaries of populartaste at the time. And Redd's next session,which ineJuded Benny Bailey on trumpet,wasn't even released. Freddie Redd wasnever to record again for BIlle Note.

A dazz:ling triple play.Today, Freddie Redd is still pet1ot'ming ...still known primarily as the man behind TheConnection. But as his complete Blue Notesessions demonstrate. he is a superb com-

poserlarranger and an impeccably tastefulpianist whose entire body of work deservesmuch wider recognition,

Mosaic's set, transferred <lit'ectly from theorigina I stereo master tapes, contains every­thing that Freddie Redd recorded for BlueNote. "pleased and unreleased. Fans of theShades ~fRedd alhum should note that itappears here in stet"eo for the first time, alongwith two previously unissued alternate takes.

Tina, too.Of panicular intet'est to Nlosaie "regulal's"is the fact that in addition to expanding theworld's view of Freddie Redd, tlus relpasealso adds significantly to the pt'eciouslysparse recorded legacy of Tina Brooks.

The booklet eontains an up-to-date hiog­raphy of Freddie Redd, as told to WillThol'llblll"y. Also included at'e the ot'iginal

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofFreddie ReddLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.3 LPs [MR3-124] $302 COs [Mo2-124] $30

linel' notes to The Connection and Shades 0/Redd, a musical analysis provided hy BenSidt'an, a complete Freddie Redd discogra­phy, and t"are Francis Wolff photographsfrom the original Blue Note sessions,

"As the incandescent perfot'mances on thishandsome anthology remind us, Redd was arelentlessly swinging piano player ..."Jim Millet', Newsweek

"The colleetion reveals something nobodyseems to have noticed before: Redd is on~ ofthe very best hard bop composers, the equalof Horace Silver, fot, example, as well as amost ingenious pianist."John Litweiler, Chicago Tribune

26 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAy-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The first Bud Powellcollection that isn'tscrewed up.

We'd be willing to bet a high per­

centage of the people reading thisbrochure own at least some Blue

Note Bud Powell What has always puzzled

us is the strange way the music has been

released throu~hout the years.Take Bud's very fil'st session for the

label. Up until now, the 11 tracks recordedthat incredible afternoon of innovation and

inspiration have been available only onfour different albums - never all together

and in recorded sequence.

His most spectacular recordings.So here at Mosaic, we've done the only

right thing. At last, it's possible to heal'Bud's work complete, whole, and fOJ'ever

on The Complete Bud PoweU Blue NoteRecordings (1949-1958), By universal

assent, the Blue Notes are the most consis­

tent and spectacular recordings by thischief architect of bebop piano,

Ferocious, intl'icate, dignified, surpris­

ingly joyful. This set eorreets the sequenceof Bud's first set for the label and adds all

of his 1953 date - 10 definitive perfor­mances - for the first time on one LP, in

proper order, Included as well are a fewrelevant alternate takes never before avail­

ahle with the original masters,

Sidemen include Fats Navarn>, Sonny

Hollins, Roy Haynes, Max Roaeh, Art

Taylor, Philly Joe Jones, GeOl'ge Duviviel',

Sam Jones, and Paul Chambers. Five LPs,

plus a booklet, with a rare reminiscence by

Alfnxl Lion, analysis by Mal·k Gar"dner,and F't"ancis Wolff's unpublished pho­

tographs of the actual sessions. HUJTy. Aswith all Mosaic sets, when this sells out, wewon't press any more,

"The set is imperative and the results ­indispensable."

Boh Blumenthal, Boston Phoenix

"It's good to have this impn~ssivebody ofmusic in one definitive edition."

Francis Davis, Phiu1delphia inquirer

I'IIfCClMPIRIIUD PC\!IIUIWllonIltOltllGl(1949,1958)

The Complete Bud Powell Blue NoteRecordings (1949-1958)Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-ll6] $50Not available on CD.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"It seems like you eitherhave to be an Uncle Tomor a drug addict to makeit in jazz, and I'm noteither one."

~e scene aceording to Herbie Nichols,

who was largely if,'llOred by his peel's,the record companies, and the dubs,

If fame eluded him, inspiration didn't;pianist and eomposel' Hel'bie Nichols wl'oteOVe!" 100 ()["iginal and eomplex jazz compo­

sitions (mixed in with poetry, operas,theatel' pie!~l's, prose, and dassical music).

Imagine Teddy Wilson mingled withMonk.To paraphrase A. B, Spdhnan in Four Livesin the Bebop Business, Herbie Nichols'

piano playing has both Teddy Wilson's ele­gant clal';ty and a complex melodie/rhythmicstnll:turl' as unique as Man k 's.

Sa,Uy, this imml'nse, ol"iginaltalent has aname few people recognize; he spent a lot ofhis life playing in Dixieland bands. HerbieNichols only l'I'r'OI'ded a few tunes for Savoy,two lO-ineh LPs and one] 2-ineh LP fOl'Blue Note, and a final alJlUm for Bethlehembefore he died of leu kemia in ] 963 a t the ageof '~3. Herbie Nichols' revolutionary musicis filled with swinging melodic lines and

rhythmie density; it is idiosyncratic andbrimrning with eharactel',

Nearly double the amount of Herbie'swork on record.With pride and elation, Mosaic presents TheComplete Blue Note Recordings ofHerbieNi<:hols, 30 tlmes and 18 alternates o,'iginaUyt'eeonled in 1955 and 19.56 that amount tofive LPs or three CDs - nearly doubling theamount of Herbie Nichols' work on rl'cOt"d,

The inn'edible t!'io performances feature

bassists AJ MeKibbon and Teddy Kotick,and drummers Art Blakey and Max Roaeh.

We feel this joyous music is some of themost important ever made,

The booklet includes an intimate pet"­sonal portt'ait and musical analysis byRoswell Rudd, AJso included at'e sevl'l'al

unpublished Niehols poems, as well asreprints of his writings on music, a completediscography of his work as sideman andleadel', a wealth of previously unpublished

photographs by FI"aneis WoUf, and testa­ments from artists who knew him, includingAt'chie Shepp, Max Roach, and SheilaJordan,

#1 Reissue of the Year"(1988 Down Beat International Critics Poll)

"A masterfully assemhled reminder of aregrettably ignored artist. It rates anunqualified five stat·s."Leonanl Feathet', The L.A, Times

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofHerbie NicholsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-ll8] $453 CDs [MD3-1l8] $45

28 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-SPM (EST) MONDAY-fRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

"The paintedy detail of Nichols' composi­tions and the percussive density of hischord c1ustlTs will startl<, anyone whohasn't heard him hefol'e. Easily the year'smost signifir',ant reissue,"

Francis Davis, Philadelphia Inquirer

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"Dry martinis."

~at's Paul Desmond's own descrip­

tion of his celebl'ated sound: the sexy,subtle alto, cutting :hrough the

countel' rhythms and affirmative chOl'ds ofthe Dave 8mbeck Quartet. Tangible.Minimal. Sophisticated. Slt'aight up.

Simpatico setting.Now hear' that sound in a vel'y differentseltinf!;' Quietet'. Less about contl'asts,more about simpatico. Intl'Oducing TheCompletc Recordings of the Panl DesmondQlwrtet with .lim Hall.

Hen>, Desmond's lyrical phl'ascs joinwith the swinging pel'fection of Jim Hall,the quit't authol'ity of Modem Jazz Quartetdnlmmcl' Connie Kay, and eithel' Pel'cyHeath, Gene Wright, 01,' Gene Cherico onbass to create masterful sides, The quat·tet

sounds like they played togetht'l' for yeal's,though they neve,' played a single live gig.

This is Desmond as lead"r and musicalorganizer, whose wit and warmth comesinging through his song ehoiees, hisarrangements, and his compositions.

A great six-year studio matchup.The sessions arc gathen>d chrono1ogieallyinto one six-LP/four-CD set, Iwginning witha 1959 Warllf~I' Bros, album and continu­iug into 1965 with four morc RCA albums.Included are a rare title that only appeal'edon a Playboy Records anthology and 12previously unissued pel'fonnances from theRCA years,

The booklet contains a new essay fl'ornDesmond's close friend, joumalist DougRamsey, as well as reprints of some ofDesmond's famed dry prose: "I have wonseveral prizes as the world's slowest altoplayer, as well as a speciaL award in 1961,for quietness."

"J azz is I'al'ely as pl'eUy as this; and jazz thispn>tty is pmeticaUy nevel' so fuJl of sullstanee."Richanl Williams, The London Times

"It's a tleaming made in Iyeical heaven,Entering this wo,'ld of hreathy beauty andready wit, you'll find it perfectly easy tosail through all six records and then startover again. And again,"Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Slln Times

The Complete Recordings of the PaulDesmond Quartet with Jim HallLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-120] $604 COs [M04-120] $60

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••From the end of hiscareer, Monk's Black Lionmasterworks - includinga rare glimpse insidethe nlind of the man.

The yeal's of staying tnle to hiscallingweren't kind to Thelonious Monic Bythe late '60s, he was through with CBS

(they wanted an album of Beatles tunes) andperfonned mostly with a contl'ived groupcalled The Giants of Jazz. It was finan­ciaUy, but not artistically, rewarding.

Magnificent solos and trios.The one high point came during a eerord­ing session Monk made in London forBlack Lion on November 15, 1971. Manylisteners l'egard them, his finaL l'ecol'dings

as a leader, as equal in quality and inspil'a­tion to his first sessions fOl' Blue Note,

Thes" pianistic tOllrs deforce put to thetest, once and for aU, the notion Monk sae­I'ificed teehnique to sel'V(~ his style,

AJl the solos and trios he ITeOl'ded on thatone day, plus an entil'e nine-cut stndio datefrom Paris in 1954, appear togethel' for thefirst time on The Complete Black Uon andVogue Recordings ~fTheloniolls Il'lonk.

First cut worth the price.The very first cut he I'ecorded in thatLondon studio is wOI,th the pl'ice of thewhole set alone.

It was un unfamilial' studio and instru­ment. Pianist and piano had to gt'l to knoweach othel', Monk, [.eing a compos"r, ('ouldnot calTY out even this task without expel'i­menting with chords and melodies. Whathe played in total p,-ivaey leads to unpn>ct"­dented understanding of this great talent.

This set: four LPsltlll'ee CDs, with sevenperformances issued hel'e fi"st and severalothers previously hal'd to find, The Pal'isdate is issued foe the fit"st timt' with COITt'cttitles and impl'oved sound. The bookletincludes an essay by Brian Priestley (whowas present at the Black Lion date), thefil'st biography of Monk's last yeal's,Monk's last Down Beat intel'view, and rart'photogt·aphs.

The Complete Black Lion and VogueRecordings of Thelonious MonkLimited to 7500 copies worldwide,4 LPs [MR4-112] $403 COs [M03-112] $45

MOSAIC RECORDS

I

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S TIL L A v A I LAB L EI

••••••••••••••4.44•••••••••••

"Phantom album"mystery solved!

Here is one that stumped coUeetors foryeal's. Catalogues listed it - innersleeve displays pictLII'ed its cover. Yet

no one had ever seen ai' heard the album.The artist was Harold Floyd "Tina"

Brooks, a fiery tenol' player who appeal"edfl-equcntly as a Blue Note sideman, writer,and an'angeL

The missing album? Something ealJedBack to the Tracks - I"econled, designed,sequenced, catalogued, forgotten,

His prayerfUl style.No one knows why, except those were husyyean; at Blue Note. Finally he's getting hisdue, this gentle, neglected man whosepl'ayerful style cleaved fil'mly to the bluesand gospel. Back to the Tracks is just oneof two unissued albums, plus two mon~ I"arediscs, compiled as The Complete Blue NoteRecordings of the Tina Brooks Quilltets.

Pel'sonal solos, distinctive horn voicings,dear, melodic compositions - Tina did itaU. This mystery ends in a discovery morerewarding than ever imagined,

The four albums, recorded fl'om 1958 to1961 .. featu,'e Art Blakey, Lee Morgan,Sonny Clad" F,'eddie Hubbard, BlueMitchell, Wilbur' War'e, Paul Cbambel's,and Jackie McLean, Plus, there's a bookletwith a newly I'esearched biography byMichael Cuseuna, analysis by Robel'tPalmel', complete discography, and manyunpublished photographs, induding a shotof the unused Back to the Tracks cover.

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofthe Tina Brooks Quartet.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-106] $40Not available on CO.

(On sides one and two the cymbals are over­recol'ded, ereating a certain amount ofdistol'Lion Lhat cannot be repaired.)

"lnc1ude(s) his rare True Blue, one of Lhegl'catest albums Blue Note ever released."Jim MilIcI', Newsweek

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Why is the world ignoringBuddy DeFranco?

Name three bebop e1arinetists.Evel'ybody knows the saxophoneplayers, trumpeters, pianists, and

drummers. But sinee IJebop clarinet is sorar'e, DeFnlnco just gets lost completely,

DeF'"anr'o was a virtuoso on the instru­ment. A classicist until he discoveredGoodman, DflFraneo fell into the "newthing" on the road, when he and othcl" ven­turesome swing musieians would transposeParker's solos down in the basement.

He pushed the clarinet's limits.DeFranco was constantly expedmenting,pushing the lilnits of the instl"llment. Heplayed George Russell's music, in Basie'sseptet, in his own iJI-fated big band, then hewent on the wad with a quartet. SonnyCla,"k was the pianist (after Kenny Drew),It was one of the most tight-knit, fun-loving,vel'sati.le organizations around, with GeneWI'ight on bass and Bobby Whitc on dl"llms.

Here are all the originally scattered and,untiJ now, long-out-of-print l"ecOl'dings ufThe Complet.e Verve Reeol'dings Ofthe BlIddyDeFranco Quartet/Quintet wit.h Sonn.yClark (the fifth was the occasional coLlabo­I'atol', Tal Farlow). Recol'ded in 1954 and1955, these selections show Buddy'sremarkable faeility and mastery of harmony.

Complete and chronological.A five-LP/four-CD set, complete and inchl"Onologi(~aJselJ.uence, it includes a hookletwith a new essay by Ira Giller, the originalvintage liner notes from the sessions, a newinterview with DeFraneo, and rare pho­tographs.

We've got a special affeetion for thismusic. If you don't know about BuddyDeFranco, pick up this set.

"The preferred clarinetist of Art Tatum,Count Basie, Lester Young, and countlessother jazz musicians, DeFranco was to theclarinet what Powell was to the piano,"Leonard Feather, The L. A. Times

"This is simply a joy, definitive modcrnclarinet pail'ing and ample exposure forMI'. Clark, one of the finest modernpianists,"Robert Palmer, The New York Times

The Complete Verve Recordings of theBuddy DeFranco Quartet/Quintet withSonny ClarkLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-117] $504 COs [Mo4-117] $60

•••••••••••••4.44••••••••••••

When jazz turnedcommercial, Mingusturned rebel. The fire ofthe times - in these rareCandid recordings.

L et's tum back the clock to 1960, Thetimes we,'e turbulent, and so was themusic. Mingus' core personnel (EI"ic

Dolphy, Ted Curson, and DannieHichmond) were capable of anything, andgiven Charles' inner demons, they neededspidt and stl'ength to go exploring with him.

In t.he spring, when Mingus and othe"swere disappointed with the financialarrangements at the Newport Jazz Festival,Mingus hatched a plan. The Newport RebelFest.ival.

Critics and musicians hailed it. StiUboiling, Mingus hit the studio, TheComplete Candid Recordings ofCharlesMingus was the result.

Results left musicians elated.Mingus and his collaborators were elated."I made it!" Richmond yelled after onetake. "1 finalJy got to play it like I've been

30 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAy-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA &. MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

heal'ing it." And Dolphy said, "We nevergot it togethel' like this in the club."

Thl'ee sessions in all were recorded. Thefil'SI 'Hlded Lonnie HiUyel', CharlesMcPhel'~on,Ni(:o Bunick, Jimmy Knepper,and B"itt Woo.lman. One month later,CUI'son and Dolphy returned for thn~e cutson a date featuring Hillyer, McPherson,Booker' £.-vin, and Paul B1ey. AJso thatday, a I'emarkable jam was ~ssembled­Mingus with Richmond and EI'ic Dolphy,plus Jimmy Kneppel', Jo Jones, TommyFlanagan, and Roy Eldridge!

Roy told the bass player, "A lot of theyoung ones fOI'get the basics. They don'tget all the way down into the music. Youdid, baby."

FOlll' LPsltfll'ee CDs include the twoMingus Candid albums, seven titles issuedonly on anthologies, and five maste"piecesissued fil'st in this set. The booklet includesessays, Nat Hentofrs oribrinal tinel' notes,and newly discover'ed photogr'aphs.

#1 (tien) Reissue of the Year(1986 Down Beat Intemational Critics PoU)

"This may be the most valuable item inMosaic's sel'ies to date."Leonal·d Feather', The L.A. Times

TIlE COMPLETECUD•• RECOIDIKS Of

CHAlliS .. Ileus

The Complete Candid Recordings ofCharles MingusLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-111] $403 CDs [MD3-111] $45

" ... you pl'obably have the ol'iginalalbums released on Candid, or the Barnabyreissues, but don'tlet that deter you fromlooking into tlus 4~LP/3-CD set on Mosaic. , ,supel"b sound and annotation and fivepreviously unreleased tl'acks."Chris AJbe"tson, Stereo Review

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••How could SO muchexplosive energy staybottled up for so long?Cecil Taylor and BuellNeidlinger on Candid.You haven't heard thehalf of it.

Cedi Taylor may he, in all tbe turbu­lent history of jazz, the oneindividual who has thrown down the

most (:hallf,nges-I'or PI'ities, for listeners,and 1'01' fellow musicians,

While many in music al'e content to estab­lish a style 1'01' themselves, gain somenotol"iety, and stick with the shtick, Cecil'scal'eel' has been a constant, uncompromis­ing Journey.

But there were only hints of where hi~

musical exploration would take him whenhe, Neidlinger, Dennis Chades, and ArchieShepp entered the studio in October 1960and January 1961 to make the l"ecol'dingsthat woukl clearly statp his impo,'tance tothe world.

In the tradition.Some listeners al'e r-eminded of EUington,Monk, and Mingus by the harmonies Cecilwas investigating, whieh suggests he hadalt'eady aligned himself with the mostadventurous musicians in the jazz tradi­tion. But the "hythms wc"e his own brew.Hints of stride showed up in Cccil's two­handed playing style, and Iw had alreadydeveloped an cal' 1'01' the heavy percussionof Afl'ican lIlusic. CI"ady, he was on hisway to inventing himsf,lf.

Fl'om a tot<ll of fOUl' days of intensiveplaying, Candicl r-eleased exact.ly one album- The lVorldQjCecil Taylor. Ten yeal'S latel',in 1971, CBS/Sony in Japan released an aU­new album from the second sessions, whichwere actually led by Neidlinger. Latel' thatsame yea I', Bamaby in the .5. I'eleased yetanother, all different Cecil Taylor album.

Three down, three to go,As obscure and hal'd to find as those threealbums al'e, a like amount of music from thosesessions went totally unissued ... until now.

This Mosaic set contains everything o[merit from the Candid sessions, includingth"ee LPs' worth of tmissued titles and worthyalternate takes. In addition to the quartetrecol-dings, there an~ several tr'acks with an

The Complete Candid Recordings ofCecil Taylor and Buell NeidlingerLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-127] $604 CDs [MD4-127] $60

expanded ensemble th<lt incluclps BillyHiggins, Clark Ten-y, RosweU Rudd,Charles Davis, and Steve Lacy.

Historic highlights.Listen fOI- the recording debut of SonnyMUlTay on the previously unissued Taylo"composition "Numbel' One," And in ase"ies of ftve takes Oil Ceeil's mastfTl'ul"Ai,'," heal' how the quartet (with An·},i ...Shepp also making his rlebllt) work thl'irway into the composition 0111" pxperinlPnlalstep at a time - aU the way thl'ollgh themaster take - and thp.n one tak ... Iwyond!

The booklet illclucles musical n.,minis­cencI's by Nat Hl'ntof[ (pmduccr' of Iheo,'iginal sessions) plus a musical anaJysisand pel'sonal rec{)Uections by Nt'idlingel'.AdditionaUy, ther-e's a complete Taylor!Neidlinger discography and ran', unpuh­Jished photographs.

"Evel'y note on the [ouI,-CD sP.t TheCompkte Candid Recordings ojCecilTaylor and BueU Neidlinger aUfsls to theIIncompmrnised hriUiance of pianist/com­poser Taylor,"RusseU Woessner, Philadelphia Cit} Poper

"Thne is alI-eady no doubt what 1989'sbest reissue witi be."Jules Epstein, Philadelphia Tribnne

MOSAIC RECORDS 31

S TIL L A v A I LAB L E

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••The first Bud Powellcollection that isn'tscrewed up.

We'd be willing to bet a high per­

centage of the people reading thisbrochure own at least some Blue

Note Bud Powell What has always puzzled

us is the strange way the music has been

released throu~hout the years.Take Bud's very fil'st session for the

label. Up until now, the 11 tracks recordedthat incredible afternoon of innovation and

inspiration have been available only onfour different albums - never all together

and in recorded sequence.

His most spectacular recordings.So here at Mosaic, we've done the only

right thing. At last, it's possible to heal'Bud's work complete, whole, and fOJ'ever

on The Complete Bud PoweU Blue NoteRecordings (1949-1958), By universal

assent, the Blue Notes are the most consis­

tent and spectacular recordings by thischief architect of bebop piano,

Ferocious, intl'icate, dignified, surpris­

ingly joyful. This set eorreets the sequenceof Bud's first set for the label and adds all

of his 1953 date - 10 definitive perfor­mances - for the first time on one LP, in

proper order, Included as well are a fewrelevant alternate takes never before avail­

ahle with the original masters,

Sidemen include Fats Navarn>, Sonny

Hollins, Roy Haynes, Max Roaeh, Art

Taylor, Philly Joe Jones, GeOl'ge Duviviel',

Sam Jones, and Paul Chambers. Five LPs,

plus a booklet, with a rare reminiscence by

Alfnxl Lion, analysis by Mal·k Gar"dner,and F't"ancis Wolff's unpublished pho­

tographs of the actual sessions. HUJTy. Aswith all Mosaic sets, when this sells out, wewon't press any more,

"The set is imperative and the results ­indispensable."

Boh Blumenthal, Boston Phoenix

"It's good to have this impn~ssivebody ofmusic in one definitive edition."

Francis Davis, Phiu1delphia inquirer

I'IIfCClMPIRIIUD PC\!IIUIWllonIltOltllGl(1949,1958)

The Complete Bud Powell Blue NoteRecordings (1949-1958)Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-ll6] $50Not available on CD.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"It seems like you eitherhave to be an Uncle Tomor a drug addict to makeit in jazz, and I'm noteither one."

~e scene aceording to Herbie Nichols,

who was largely if,'llOred by his peel's,the record companies, and the dubs,

If fame eluded him, inspiration didn't;pianist and eomposel' Hel'bie Nichols wl'oteOVe!" 100 ()["iginal and eomplex jazz compo­

sitions (mixed in with poetry, operas,theatel' pie!~l's, prose, and dassical music).

Imagine Teddy Wilson mingled withMonk.To paraphrase A. B, Spdhnan in Four Livesin the Bebop Business, Herbie Nichols'

piano playing has both Teddy Wilson's ele­gant clal';ty and a complex melodie/rhythmicstnll:turl' as unique as Man k 's.

Sa,Uy, this imml'nse, ol"iginaltalent has aname few people recognize; he spent a lot ofhis life playing in Dixieland bands. HerbieNichols only l'I'r'OI'ded a few tunes for Savoy,two lO-ineh LPs and one] 2-ineh LP fOl'Blue Note, and a final alJlUm for Bethlehembefore he died of leu kemia in ] 963 a t the ageof '~3. Herbie Nichols' revolutionary musicis filled with swinging melodic lines and

rhythmie density; it is idiosyncratic andbrimrning with eharactel',

Nearly double the amount of Herbie'swork on record.With pride and elation, Mosaic presents TheComplete Blue Note Recordings ofHerbieNi<:hols, 30 tlmes and 18 alternates o,'iginaUyt'eeonled in 1955 and 19.56 that amount tofive LPs or three CDs - nearly doubling theamount of Herbie Nichols' work on rl'cOt"d,

The inn'edible t!'io performances feature

bassists AJ MeKibbon and Teddy Kotick,and drummers Art Blakey and Max Roaeh.

We feel this joyous music is some of themost important ever made,

The booklet includes an intimate pet"­sonal portt'ait and musical analysis byRoswell Rudd, AJso included at'e sevl'l'al

unpublished Niehols poems, as well asreprints of his writings on music, a completediscography of his work as sideman andleadel', a wealth of previously unpublished

photographs by FI"aneis WoUf, and testa­ments from artists who knew him, includingAt'chie Shepp, Max Roach, and SheilaJordan,

#1 Reissue of the Year"(1988 Down Beat International Critics Poll)

"A masterfully assemhled reminder of aregrettably ignored artist. It rates anunqualified five stat·s."Leonanl Feathet', The L.A, Times

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofHerbie NicholsLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-ll8] $453 CDs [MD3-1l8] $45

28 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-SPM (EST) MONDAY-fRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

"The paintedy detail of Nichols' composi­tions and the percussive density of hischord c1ustlTs will startl<, anyone whohasn't heard him hefol'e. Easily the year'smost signifir',ant reissue,"

Francis Davis, Philadelphia Inquirer

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••"Dry martinis."

~at's Paul Desmond's own descrip­

tion of his celebl'ated sound: the sexy,subtle alto, cutting :hrough the

countel' rhythms and affirmative chOl'ds ofthe Dave 8mbeck Quartet. Tangible.Minimal. Sophisticated. Slt'aight up.

Simpatico setting.Now hear' that sound in a vel'y differentseltinf!;' Quietet'. Less about contl'asts,more about simpatico. Intl'Oducing TheCompletc Recordings of the Panl DesmondQlwrtet with .lim Hall.

Hen>, Desmond's lyrical phl'ascs joinwith the swinging pel'fection of Jim Hall,the quit't authol'ity of Modem Jazz Quartetdnlmmcl' Connie Kay, and eithel' Pel'cyHeath, Gene Wright, 01,' Gene Cherico onbass to create masterful sides, The quat·tet

sounds like they played togetht'l' for yeal's,though they neve,' played a single live gig.

This is Desmond as lead"r and musicalorganizer, whose wit and warmth comesinging through his song ehoiees, hisarrangements, and his compositions.

A great six-year studio matchup.The sessions arc gathen>d chrono1ogieallyinto one six-LP/four-CD set, Iwginning witha 1959 Warllf~I' Bros, album and continu­iug into 1965 with four morc RCA albums.Included are a rare title that only appeal'edon a Playboy Records anthology and 12previously unissued pel'fonnances from theRCA years,

The booklet contains a new essay fl'ornDesmond's close friend, joumalist DougRamsey, as well as reprints of some ofDesmond's famed dry prose: "I have wonseveral prizes as the world's slowest altoplayer, as well as a speciaL award in 1961,for quietness."

"J azz is I'al'ely as pl'eUy as this; and jazz thispn>tty is pmeticaUy nevel' so fuJl of sullstanee."Richanl Williams, The London Times

"It's a tleaming made in Iyeical heaven,Entering this wo,'ld of hreathy beauty andready wit, you'll find it perfectly easy tosail through all six records and then startover again. And again,"Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Slln Times

The Complete Recordings of the PaulDesmond Quartet with Jim HallLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-120] $604 COs [M04-120] $60

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••From the end of hiscareer, Monk's Black Lionmasterworks - includinga rare glimpse insidethe nlind of the man.

The yeal's of staying tnle to hiscallingweren't kind to Thelonious Monic Bythe late '60s, he was through with CBS

(they wanted an album of Beatles tunes) andperfonned mostly with a contl'ived groupcalled The Giants of Jazz. It was finan­ciaUy, but not artistically, rewarding.

Magnificent solos and trios.The one high point came during a eerord­ing session Monk made in London forBlack Lion on November 15, 1971. Manylisteners l'egard them, his finaL l'ecol'dings

as a leader, as equal in quality and inspil'a­tion to his first sessions fOl' Blue Note,

Thes" pianistic tOllrs deforce put to thetest, once and for aU, the notion Monk sae­I'ificed teehnique to sel'V(~ his style,

AJl the solos and trios he ITeOl'ded on thatone day, plus an entil'e nine-cut stndio datefrom Paris in 1954, appear togethel' for thefirst time on The Complete Black Uon andVogue Recordings ~fTheloniolls Il'lonk.

First cut worth the price.The very first cut he I'ecorded in thatLondon studio is wOI,th the pl'ice of thewhole set alone.

It was un unfamilial' studio and instru­ment. Pianist and piano had to gt'l to knoweach othel', Monk, [.eing a compos"r, ('ouldnot calTY out even this task without expel'i­menting with chords and melodies. Whathe played in total p,-ivaey leads to unpn>ct"­dented understanding of this great talent.

This set: four LPsltlll'ee CDs, with sevenperformances issued hel'e fi"st and severalothers previously hal'd to find, The Pal'isdate is issued foe the fit"st timt' with COITt'cttitles and impl'oved sound. The bookletincludes an essay by Brian Priestley (whowas present at the Black Lion date), thefil'st biography of Monk's last yeal's,Monk's last Down Beat intel'view, and rart'photogt·aphs.

The Complete Black Lion and VogueRecordings of Thelonious MonkLimited to 7500 copies worldwide,4 LPs [MR4-112] $403 COs [M03-112] $45

MOSAIC RECORDS

I

~

S TIL L A v A I LAB L EI

••••••••••••••4.44•••••••••••

"Phantom album"mystery solved!

Here is one that stumped coUeetors foryeal's. Catalogues listed it - innersleeve displays pictLII'ed its cover. Yet

no one had ever seen ai' heard the album.The artist was Harold Floyd "Tina"

Brooks, a fiery tenol' player who appeal"edfl-equcntly as a Blue Note sideman, writer,and an'angeL

The missing album? Something ealJedBack to the Tracks - I"econled, designed,sequenced, catalogued, forgotten,

His prayerfUl style.No one knows why, except those were husyyean; at Blue Note. Finally he's getting hisdue, this gentle, neglected man whosepl'ayerful style cleaved fil'mly to the bluesand gospel. Back to the Tracks is just oneof two unissued albums, plus two mon~ I"arediscs, compiled as The Complete Blue NoteRecordings of the Tina Brooks Quilltets.

Pel'sonal solos, distinctive horn voicings,dear, melodic compositions - Tina did itaU. This mystery ends in a discovery morerewarding than ever imagined,

The four albums, recorded fl'om 1958 to1961 .. featu,'e Art Blakey, Lee Morgan,Sonny Clad" F,'eddie Hubbard, BlueMitchell, Wilbur' War'e, Paul Cbambel's,and Jackie McLean, Plus, there's a bookletwith a newly I'esearched biography byMichael Cuseuna, analysis by Robel'tPalmel', complete discography, and manyunpublished photographs, induding a shotof the unused Back to the Tracks cover.

The Complete Blue Note Recordings ofthe Tina Brooks Quartet.Limited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-106] $40Not available on CO.

(On sides one and two the cymbals are over­recol'ded, ereating a certain amount ofdistol'Lion Lhat cannot be repaired.)

"lnc1ude(s) his rare True Blue, one of Lhegl'catest albums Blue Note ever released."Jim MilIcI', Newsweek

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Why is the world ignoringBuddy DeFranco?

Name three bebop e1arinetists.Evel'ybody knows the saxophoneplayers, trumpeters, pianists, and

drummers. But sinee IJebop clarinet is sorar'e, DeFnlnco just gets lost completely,

DeF,"anr,o was a virtuoso on the instru­ment. A classicist until he discoveredGoodman, DflFraneo fell into the "newthing" on the road, when he and othcl" ven­turesome swing musieians would transposeParker's solos down in the basement.

He pushed the clarinet's limits.DeFranco was constantly expedmenting,pushing the lilnits of the instl"llment. Heplayed George Russell's music, in Basie'sseptet, in his own iJI-fated big band, then hewent on the wad with a quartet. SonnyCla,"k was the pianist (after Kenny Drew),It was one of the most tight-knit, fun-loving,vel'sati.le organizations around, with GeneWI'ight on bass and Bobby Whitc on dl"llms.

Here are all the originally scattered and,untiJ now, long-out-of-print l"ecOl'dings ufThe Complet.e Verve Reeol'dings Ofthe BlIddyDeFranco Quartet/Quintet wit.h Sonn.yClark (the fifth was the occasional coLlabo­I'atol', Tal Farlow). Recol'ded in 1954 and1955, these selections show Buddy'sremarkable faeility and mastery of harmony.

Complete and chronological.A five-LP/four-CD set, complete and inchl"Onologi(~aJselJ.uence, it includes a hookletwith a new essay by Ira Giller, the originalvintage liner notes from the sessions, a newinterview with DeFraneo, and rare pho­tographs.

We've got a special affeetion for thismusic. If you don't know about BuddyDeFranco, pick up this set.

"The preferred clarinetist of Art Tatum,Count Basie, Lester Young, and countlessother jazz musicians, DeFranco was to theclarinet what Powell was to the piano,"Leonard Feather, The L. A. Times

"This is simply a joy, definitive modcrnclarinet pail'ing and ample exposure forMI'. Clark, one of the finest modernpianists,"Robert Palmer, The New York Times

The Complete Verve Recordings of theBuddy DeFranco Quartet/Quintet withSonny ClarkLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.5 LPs [MR5-117] $504 COs [Mo4-117] $60

•••••••••••••4.44••••••••••••

When jazz turnedcommercial, Mingusturned rebel. The fire ofthe times - in these rareCandid recordings.

L et's tum back the clock to 1960, Thetimes we,'e turbulent, and so was themusic. Mingus' core personnel (EI"ic

Dolphy, Ted Curson, and DannieHichmond) were capable of anything, andgiven Charles' inner demons, they neededspidt and stl'ength to go exploring with him.

In t.he spring, when Mingus and othe,'swere disappointed with the financialarrangements at the Newport Jazz Festival,Mingus hatched a plan. The Newport RebelFest.ival.

Critics and musicians hailed it. StiUboiling, Mingus hit the studio, TheComplete Candid Recordings ofCharlesMingus was the result.

Results left musicians elated.Mingus and his collaborators were elated."I made it!" Richmond yelled after onetake. "1 finalJy got to play it like I've been

30 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAy-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA &. MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

heal'ing it." And Dolphy said, "We nevergot it togethel' like this in the club."

Thl'ee sessions in all were recorded. Thefil'SI 'Hlded Lonnie HiUyel', CharlesMcPhel'~on,Ni(:o Bunick, Jimmy Knepper,and B"itt Woo.lman. One month later,CUI'son and Dolphy returned for thn~e cutson a date featuring Hillyer, McPherson,Booker' £.-vin, and Paul B1ey. AJso thatday, a I'emarkable jam was ~ssembled­Mingus with Richmond and EI'ic Dolphy,plus Jimmy Kneppel', Jo Jones, TommyFlanagan, and Roy Eldridge!

Roy told the bass player, "A lot of theyoung ones fOI'get the basics. They don'tget all the way down into the music. Youdid, baby."

FOlll' LPsltfll'ee CDs include the twoMingus Candid albums, seven titles issuedonly on anthologies, and five maste"piecesissued fil'st in this set. The booklet includesessays, Nat Hentofrs oribrinal tinel' notes,and newly discover'ed photogr'aphs.

#1 (tien) Reissue of the Year(1986 Down Beat Intemational Critics PoU)

"This may be the most valuable item inMosaic's sel'ies to date."Leonal·d Feather', The L.A. Times

TIlE COMPLETECUD•• RECOIDIKS Of

CHAlliS .. Ileus

The Complete Candid Recordings ofCharles MingusLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.4 LPs [MR4-111] $403 CDs [MD3-111] $45

" ... you pl'obably have the ol'iginalalbums released on Candid, or the Barnabyreissues, but don'tlet that deter you fromlooking into tlus 4~LP/3-CD set on Mosaic. , ,supel"b sound and annotation and fivepreviously unreleased tl'acks."Chris AJbe"tson, Stereo Review

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••How could SO muchexplosive energy staybottled up for so long?Cecil Taylor and BuellNeidlinger on Candid.You haven't heard thehalf of it.

Cedi Taylor may he, in all tbe turbu­lent history of jazz, the oneindividual who has thrown down the

most (:hallf,nges-I'or PI'ities, for listeners,and 1'01' fellow musicians,

While many in music al'e content to estab­lish a style 1'01' themselves, gain somenotol"iety, and stick with the shtick, Cecil'scal'eel' has been a constant, uncompromis­ing Journey.

But there were only hints of where hi~

musical exploration would take him whenhe, Neidlinger, Dennis Chades, and ArchieShepp entered the studio in October 1960and January 1961 to make the l"ecol'dingsthat woukl clearly statp his impo,'tance tothe world.

In the tradition.Some listeners al'e r-eminded of EUington,Monk, and Mingus by the harmonies Cecilwas investigating, whieh suggests he hadalt'eady aligned himself with the mostadventurous musicians in the jazz tradi­tion. But the "hythms wc"e his own brew.Hints of stride showed up in Cccil's two­handed playing style, and Iw had alreadydeveloped an cal' 1'01' the heavy percussionof Afl'ican lIlusic. CI"ady, he was on hisway to inventing himsf,lf.

Fl'om a tot<ll of fOUl' days of intensiveplaying, Candicl r-eleased exact.ly one album- The lVorldQjCecil Taylor. Ten yeal'S latel',in 1971, CBS/Sony in Japan released an aU­new album from the second sessions, whichwere actually led by Neidlinger. Latel' thatsame yea I', Bamaby in the .5. I'eleased yetanother, all different Cecil Taylor album.

Three down, three to go,As obscure and hal'd to find as those threealbums al'e, a like amount of music from thosesessions went totally unissued ... until now.

This Mosaic set contains everything o[merit from the Candid sessions, includingth"ee LPs' worth of tmissued titles and worthyalternate takes. In addition to the quartetrecol-dings, there an~ several tr'acks with an

The Complete Candid Recordings ofCecil Taylor and Buell NeidlingerLimited to 7500 copies worldwide.6 LPs [MR6-127] $604 CDs [MD4-127] $60

expanded ensemble th<lt incluclps BillyHiggins, Clark Ten-y, RosweU Rudd,Charles Davis, and Steve Lacy.

Historic highlights.Listen fOI- the recording debut of SonnyMUlTay on the previously unissued Taylo"composition "Numbel' One," And in ase"ies of ftve takes Oil Ceeil's mastfTl'ul"Ai,'," heal' how the quartet (with An·},i ...Shepp also making his rlebllt) work thl'irway into the composition 0111" pxperinlPnlalstep at a time - aU the way thl'ollgh themaster take - and thp.n one tak ... Iwyond!

The booklet illclucles musical n.,minis­cencI's by Nat Hl'ntof[ (pmduccr' of Iheo,'iginal sessions) plus a musical anaJysisand pel'sonal rec{)Uections by Nt'idlingel'.AdditionaUy, ther-e's a complete Taylor!Neidlinger discography and ran', unpuh­Jished photographs.

"Evel'y note on the [ouI,-CD sP.t TheCompkte Candid Recordings ojCecilTaylor and BueU Neidlinger aUfsls to theIIncompmrnised hriUiance of pianist/com­poser Taylor,"RusseU Woessner, Philadelphia Cit} Poper

"Thne is alI-eady no doubt what 1989'sbest reissue witi be."Jules Epstein, Philadelphia Tribnne

MOSAIC RECORDS 31

M 0 S A IcE D I T ION S

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Exhibit Your Passion

Now, for the first time, you can see, own

and display jazz history in the form of

limited-edition, museum-quality

Francis WoUT photographs.

Several years ago while we were consulting

with Alf"ed Lion ahout Mosaic's impending

Bud Powell and Herhie Niehols reissues, Lion

happpnpd to mention that hp had heen given hy

IUs partner, Francis Wolff, thousands of

WoU"fs never-hefon'-publishe.l photographs of

jazz artists, and would we be inll'rested in

some new shots of Powell and Nichols for OUI'

rpleases'! You ,'an imai-9ne what our answpr was.

From that 1l10Illent on we hf~gan U1COll)ol'ating

ran' Franc-is Wolff photographs into evel'y Mosaic

spt of Blue Note material. We enjoyed them

almost as much as finding long-forgotten tracks

in the Bille Note vaults. And we weren't alolle.

Our custom"l's deeply apl,,'eeiall'd them, too.

When Alfred Lion passed away in 1987, his

wiJc entrustcd the entire collection to us, Aftel'

/Ilw'h thought as to how best to bonor the memory

and the art of Francis Wolff, we decided to

"egin offering his most visually powedul and

historic.ally important photogTaphs to jazz

coUectorslike ourselves, in high-quality limited

.,ditions of pl'ints and postcrs.

Th,' same care and passion that we put into

our "ccordings has gone into the production of

IhcS(' photographi.· prints and posters.

THE POSTER

The paper used for oUl'photograph "eproduction

pOS«'I' is hcavyw(>ight, Grade #1 coa«>d,

an'hival ucid-fn'l> stock. Mosaic posters will not

Yl'UOW 01' dt·'tt··rionlh-· llurillg you I" lif'etirne ... (H·

.'vcn your grandchildren's lifctinw. The poste,'

image is reproduced using a sIH'('ial scannf'd

(Iuotonc proccss using the colol's black and gl'ay.

Though IlIon" pxpensive than straight single­

('0101' reprorlUf:tion, Ihis pnlCess allows rielwr

lights <:lntl shadings., ~i\,jng the photogruphj('.

image more puneh. Ead1 poster in our Iimilf'd

edition of 3000 is individually numhel'ed.

THE PRINT

For connoisscu,'s of rine photographie art we

are also offering an extrem..Jy Limited edition of

50 pholographie prints, each one individually

processed to archival standards by mastel'

printer Chuck Kelton. This time-ronsuming

pmcess, previously employed by Mr. Kelton

while working with sueh photogTaphers as

Ansel Adams, involves a costly ch"mieal

washing process to neutralize all acids, and

selenium loning to rnhance Ihe photogJ'aph's

natural tones. Each muscum-worthy, eustom­

pro('essrd photographic print is numbe,'pd.

Seeing these images reproduced in this

catalog is no substitute for seeing., and living

with, the real thing. Therefore every Mosaic

postr.' and print is sold with an ulll'esh'icted

money back gual·antee.

When Francis Wolff captured Art Blakey'smood in this 1960 photograph, Blakey was inthe midstof a session that would become aclassic. That Whole period - with Lee Morgan,Wayne Shorter and Bobby Timmons - isconsidered one of the best editions on the JazzMessengers ever. See page 5 for a completedescription of the boxed set.

W'e at'(> pnHld 10 I", in a position 10 make

this very special offe,'ing and we hope that it

will be the first of St'vpral.

THE JOY OF BLAKEY

On March Ii .. 191i0, Art Blakey's recording

carcer was riding high. Afll',' some 20 albums

as a leadpr, he went into the studio with onc of

the g"eatest "ditions of thl' Jazz M"sseugcrs

evel', featuring Lpr MOI'gan. Waylw ShOl'tel'

and Bohby Timmons (Sce page 5.) As Frank

WoUf's lens peered through the drmnset,

Blakey's inrertious joy of playing was neve"

more evident. Ct'opped and tiuted, this

photogJ'aph became the cover 1'01' The Big

Beat. Francis Wolff's photograph, nntinted,

joyfully embodies the essence of Art Blak.,y

and the spirit of his musie.

Edition Limited to :3000 numbe,'ed posters

and 50 numbered and authentieall'd custO!ll­

processed photog"aphic prints woddwide.

Poster price: :5;40

Print p"iee: $500 (only a few left)

CAPTURING A COLOSSUS

In 1957 Sonny Rollins was busy winding down

his stint with Max Roach, playing in the Miles

Davis group, forming his first band as a leader

and recording the four Blue Note albums that

would furthpr establish his t'cputation on the

Icnor saxophone. At thp Apt'il 14. ] 957 session

for Sonny Rollins Vol. 2, F"ancis Wolff was

somcwhat busy himsplf. Like all Blue Not"

sessions of that ("I'a, it look place amongst till'

lamps. microphones, wnctian bLinds '111([ patch

cords at Rudy Van Gclder's, wherc Rollins lcd

Thelonious Monk, J. J. Jolmson, Horace Silvpr,

Paul Chambers and Al,t Blak..y into jazz hjslew)'.

The p,msive cover shol of Sonny Rollins is

un<{uestionahly one of Wolff's mastel'pie.·cs.

Edition limited to 3000 numlwrcJ posters

and 50 numlwrcd and authenticated custom­

Ill'ocpssed photographic prints woddwidc.

Postn pri<'P: ;840

Pl'int pricc: %00 (only a few left)

BLUE NOTE COLTRANE

Shortly 1wfor.. Coltrane signed with P"estige,

Iw made an oral agl'eemt'nl with Alfre,l Lion to

"c('ord one allHun for Bluc Not", with a modcsl

ou-tlw-spot advance. Tlw rpsnlt was Ilw

singulal' Blue Train for thc label. This

bl'illiantly cOIH'piv..d and execuled aUlIlIll. along

with thc ..lassic Francis Wolff photograph uscd

for the cove,', is Ill<' only evid,'nc.' we have of

what a Blue Note/Coltrane legacy might have

sounded amI looked ill",. The pholog,'aph. takcll

Sqtl{o'mbf'l" 15., ] 957 ~ wa~ l"f·Yt'Tf"ly (Topperl for

th .. aUHlm cover and has 'WH'" been shown in

its glo,'ious pntin'ty untiJ this offe,·ing.

Edition limit..d to :3000 numlwn'd posters

and 50 1ll1l11lwr"d and authenlicated cuslom­

J)I'ocessed photographie prints woddwide.

Poster price: $40

SORRY, PRINTS SOLD OUT

MOSAIC RECORDS 33

- -NOT ICE S

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Going, going ...

Many ofyou have asked us about the stahlS ofvari­

ow; sets. To better help you plan your Mosaic

purcha.-"€S, we have compiIro thi~ list ofour collec­

tions which are either near the end of their edition or

for which our leases are about to expire with littlepossibility ofan extension. We cannot guarantee the

availability of these items beyond 199"2 ahhoughsome may last into the next year.

The Complete Pacific Jazz Small GroupReco~

ofArt Pepper [MR3-1OS] page 16

'I1w('..ompleteBlue Note FOrlID; Rfn)r~ofThe

Quebec and John Hardee [MR4/MD3-107] page 20

The CompleteEdmond HalIIJames P. John.."<.mf

Sidney De ParislVic Dickenson BlueNote Sessions

[MRCJMDl..-I09] page 14

Gone for good. Out ofprint. Sold out.

Boogie Woogie Harlem Jazz Monk's

Blue Notes Gerry Mulligan Clifford

Brown. They're aU gone for good.

We don't make hits trying to go gold or

platinum. We lease masters because webelieve in the artists and in the music. Our

leases are limited - and we live up to our

wOI·d. When they're sold out, they're gone

for good. Out of pr·int.

We're sorry when tl'ue fans miss out.

Since we can't always predict when certainMosaic sets are nearing their sales linilt, we

urge you to order the ones you really care

about. Befol'e all tills music history truly

slips into history.

Sometimes Mosaiclimited edition sets areeven more limited thenyou may think.

A few months back we sent a postcard with

the heading "Going ... Going ..." to

everyone on our mailing list.

It was to announce that two more early

Mosaic sets had sold out, and to provide

advance warning that a dozen more were in

imminent danger of joining them.

Almost immediately after the postcard

mailed we received the folJowing letter,

which brought home to us the realization

that a lot of our customers may not know

exactly how our policy of "limited editions"

works. If you are among the confused, or

merely curious, please read on.

Port of Harlem JazzmenLimited to 7500 copiesworldwide.

Dear MosaicPleasefind enclosed my orderfor the Mingus,Chet Baker live and Shorty Rogers sets. Ihad planned to buy them more slowly overtime, bltl your recent flyer announcing theirpotential demise hurried me up a little.

Now a warning. Be car'eJul about howoften you do this. It is a valuflble service,but one with an immense potential forabuse. 1 assume because you have built upa valuable climate oj trust among yourcustomers, that when you say the numbersojspecifu: sets are getting lower, you arespeaking the truth. It would be helpful if inyour next regular flyer, you set out criteriafor a postcard like this, teUing us, ~fyouhave the data, just what number consti­tutes a low number ofsets. Likewise, Iforone wouullike to know what you meant by"expiring leases". Does this mean that setsyou have alread)' printed cannot be soULonce a lease expires on them? Ifnot, what isthe signifu:ance ofan expired lease? I hadthe impression that your lease of thesematerials extended to the sale oJthe entirenumber ofsets (usually 7500) no nu:ttter howlong it took. If this impression was inerror, 1 think you can trust your customers(most ofwlwm are weU experienced collectorswho understand many ofthe intricacies oj"labelology") to explain how it works.

Don't get me wrong, Mosaic is the bestthat ever was, perhaps the best that ever

Gerry MulliganLimited to 7500 copiesworldwide.

Clifford BrownLimited to 7500 copiesworldwide.

Blue Note MonkLimited to 7500 copiesworldwide.

Ammons/LewisLimited to 7500 copiesworldwide.

The Complete Blue Note Recor-dingi ofSidney

Beehet [MR&'MD4-11O] page II

The Complete Candid Recording; ofOmrles

Mingus [MR4IMD3-111] page::lOI31

The Complete Pacific Jazz live R~;()rding;of the

Chet BakerQuartet with Russ Freeman

[MR4IMD3-113] page 15

The Complete Blue Note Art Hodes Ses.~ons

[MR5IMI}t.-114] page 11

The Complete Commodore Ja7Z Recol-dingi,

Volume I [MR23-123] page 9

TIle Benny Motton/Jimmy Hamilton Bhle NoteSwingtets [ME1-115] P<!,,"C 19

The Coml'lde Verve Recording:; of the Buddy

DeFlanco Quartet/Quintet with Sonny Clark[MR5IMI}t.-117] page 30

The Pete JohnsonlEarl Hines'I'eddy Buon Blue

Note Sessions [MRl-119] pa",oe 12

The Complete Atlantic and EMl J UZl Recording:; of

Shotty Rogers [MB6'MD1.-125J page 16

'The Complete Recon:lings of the Paul funlOnd

Quartet with JimH:aJl [MR6'MD4-l2O] page 29

34 CALL AND ORDER BY PHONE: 203/327-711110AM-5PM (EST) MONDAY-FRIDAYOR FAX: 203/323-3526 VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY, PLEASE.

wiU be. 1will continue to buy and treasureMosaic sets more than any others in my

collection. I guess that when I buy one ofyour limited edition sets, I feel a little pos­sessive, like a stock holder in the company!Thanksfor some wonderful music. TheBasie live set, by the way. is a pure gas.

Sincerel)' ,Greg Monahan, La Grande, OR

We appreciate the trust that our customel'splace in us. Now with so many of our earlysets about to become unavailable, we thoughtwe'd better explain why our editions al"elimited ... and spell out what that means.

The image that you may have of a giant

Mosaic warehouse, stocked with as many as7500 copies of each l\'losaic set, is not at aUaccurate.

There is no way that we can affon.l or

even wish to manufactuI"e, or store, the fullrun of each set that we release. As you cansee, Mosaic sets released ten years ago arejust now beginning to reach the end of theil"run. 7500 sets represents a biggel" up-frontmanufacturing eost, and ongoing storagecost, than we've ever been able to handle.And we also know there al"en't too many

people who would I"elish huying a set thathad been sitting on a shelf fOI" eight years.

LPs and CDs are manufactured as weneed them. The only elements that we mustproduce in large quantities are our book­lets. In tltis case, small press runs arepJ"Ohihilively expensive. So, when ou,·booklets run out befol"e an edition is com­plete (sueh as when have to we discard afew hundred for quality controll"easons),we're out or luck. We can't go back to pressfOI" only a few hundred hooldets. For' thisreason, our limited editions occasionallyhave to be dosed out befol'e we reaeh themaximum numher we've set as our goal.

(As wt~'ve stateo fr'om the beginning,Mosaic sets are Iim.itedto a specific numher'

of copies. However', r'est assured, in no caseno we evel' manufaelure mor'e than thesta ted rigu 1'1'.)

There's also another r"eason why an edi­tion sometimes has to be dosed out beforethe end of thl' edition is reached. As you"reprobably aware, Mosaie does not own theBlut" Note, PaeiJic J<lZZ, Atl<lntic, Columbia,RCA, 01" any other' catalog. With the exeep-

tion of our Benedetti set (which is not a lim­ited edition), Mosaic leases aU of itsrecordings from major record companies.

These leases eventually expil·e. So, evenif we haven't I'eached our stated goal, whenthe lease expires after five or even three years,the set must be discontinued. In our" begin­ning days we had no trouble getting long­term leases from the major I"ecord compa­nies ... and renewing them, if need be,when they expired. But that was befor'e CDs.

Today, jazz reissues are a big business.Record companies al"e much more resll"ic­tive in what they will lease, and in the termsof theil" leases. For Mosaic to continuereleasing "names" like Basic and Nat KingCole, we must now accept shol"tel' tennleases, often with no possibility of renewal.What's more, now that Mosaic has made aname for itself as a successful reissue label,even the Tina Brooks' and Hel·bie Nichols'

of this world ... artists who have beenneglected throughout history ... comeunder closer scrutiny by the major labelsthe instant Mosaic asks about reissui.ng them!

So, as you see, Mosaic's limited editionsare often more Limited than we originallyplanned. To prevent any disappointing sur­pl"ises, we will continue to keep Ollr

eustomers informed ahout which sets are indanger" of being discontinued or sold out.As a general nile of thumb, keep in mindthat most sets prior to MR-126 will almostcertainly he gone with.in the next two years.At this point, we can't even speculate ont he availability of more cun"enl sets beyondtheir lease terms, like the Larry Young and

Nat Cole sets whieh have leases scheduledto expire during 1994.

We, too, consider our customer"s an inte­gral part of our ol"ganjzation - stockholders, if you wiIJ. MOI"e than any specificsales goal or numbel" figure, our mainimperative is that evel'y Mosaic limited edi­tion set be available to evel'yone who cares,for a reasonable amount of time.

And pay dividends for a lifetime.

On the Back Cover:RESPECT. You see it in the way guitarist JohnCollins looks at Vic Dickenson, a virtual one­man tradition on trombone and the leader ofthis session whic:h also features Joe Jones. AtMosaic, our love for the music - and respectfor the musicians - is the reason we bring youcomplete and chronological collections,unreleased cuts in many of our sets, andinfonnative booklets. Photograph from June25, 1952, by Francis Wolff.

Below:DEVOTION. It's why Dean Benedetti followedBird from Los Angeles to New York, dutifullyrecording the saxophonist's solos. And at Mosaic,devotion is what's behind our detennination to

put this music into circulation for the first time,ever. This extremely rare photograph from a gigin 1945 (two years before the Benedetti rec0rd­ings) appears in the booklet accompanying theset. From left to right: Stan Levey, LeonardGaskin, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and DexterGordon (pianist 5ir Charles Thompson is hidden).Photograph courtesy of Fred Greenwell.

MOSAIC RECORDS 35

:IS ~'1,.j rl)s~ Plan'StClllLfon'J, rOlIl"lf''l'riC'1I( 069H2

(20:{) :{n·7111

fax: (20:1) :{2:j-:lS26

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Musician

NEW: Woody Shaw, Otis SpannlLightnin' Hopkins,Art Blakey, Master Jazz Piano Series