Mosaic Jazz

Chet Baker - The Complete Pacific Jazz Studio Recordings of the Chet Baker Quartet with Russ Freeman (1953-56) {3CD Set Mosaic MD3-122 rel 1989}
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© 1953-56, 1989 Pacific Jazz / Mosaic Records | MD3-122
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet / Piano

This essential four-LP box set features trumpeter Chet Baker leading his own group during the 1953-1956 period (shortly after the breakup of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet) with pianist Russ Freeman, either Bob Whitlock, Carson Smith, Joe Mondragon, Jimmy Bond, or Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Bobby White, Larry Bunker, Shelly Manne, Bob Neel, Peter Littman, or Lawrence Marable on drums. Baker is heard at his coolest (mostly before he became influenced by Miles Davis); some of the later selections also feature his first recorded vocals. Because the Mosaic box sets are limited editions, they should be acquired as soon as possible.

John Patton - Mosaic Select 6 (2003) {3CD Set Mosaic MS-006 rec 1963-1968}
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© 1963-68, 2003 Mosaic Records | MS-006 / 72435 84072 2 8
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Organ

The Mosaic Select treatment has deservedly been given to Big John Patton. There are those who argue that Patton's entire catalog should have been the subject of a Mosaic box set proper. There was easily enough material for five, if not six, CDs. There are five albums collected here. His first three, Along Came John, The Way I Feel, and Oh Baby!, were recorded in 1963, 1964, and 1965, respectively. The last two on this set are That Certain Feeling and Understanding, from 1968. Missing are Blue John, his proper second album from 1963 and unreleased until 1986, Let 'Em Roll, and Got a Good Thing Goin', released in 1965 and 1966, and his post-1968 work, Accent on the Blues, Memphis to New York Spirit (unreleased until 1996), and Boogaloo.

Johnny Smith - The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions (1952-64) {8CD Box Set Mosaic MD8-216 rel 2002}
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© 1952-64, 2002 Roost / Mosaic Records / EMI | MD8-216
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Johnny Smith is an exquisite jazz guitarist known mostly to fellow musicians and serious jazz fans. This beautifully packaged and expertly annotated eight-CD limited-edition boxed set from Mosaic includes his complete small-group recordings for Roost, most of which have languished out of print for decades. Smith's unique voicings on his instrument set him apart from other players, yet he maintains a lush, crystal-clear tone no matter the tempo or setting.

Gerry Mulligan - Mosaic Select 21: 1957-1958 (2006) {3CD Set Mosaic Records MS-021}
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© 1957-58, 2006 Mosaic Records / EMI | MS-021 | 24-bit remaster by Ron McMaster
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Gerry Mulligan was certainly busy in December 1957. During a two-week period, the baritonist recorded a reunion album with trumpeter Chet Baker, documented a set of his songs with an octet that featured five top saxophonists, recorded a very obscure set with a sextet that included four strings, and cut most of an album in which his quartet teamed up with singer Annie Ross. This limited-edition three-CD set contains all of the music plus alternate takes and the last part of the Ross album, which was recorded nine months later with trumpeter Art Farmer in Baker's spot. The reunion with Baker, one of only two times when Mulligan and the trumpeter got back together (the other was a 1970s concert), has some of the old magic of the famous 1951-1952 pianoless quartet.

Quincy Jones - The Quincy Jones ABC/Mercury Big Band Jazz Sessions 1959-61 (2007) [5CD Set] {Mosaic Records}
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© 2007 Mosaic Records / Verve / UMG | B0010280-02 / MD5 - 237
Jazz / Bop / Big Band

Terrific, limited edition box set collecting all the recordings made by this one of a like group of superstar musicians including: Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Zoot Sims, Curtis Fuller, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Art Blakey, and Hank Jones. The set includes 5 CDs covering all of his 1959-60 studio and 1961 live Mercury sessions, as well as an earlier set from 1956 for ABC-Paramount and a 1961 date for Impulse. Also includes an exhaustive essay by Brian Priestley and a complete discography, as well as many rare photographs by Chuck Stewart.

Bud Shank - The Pacific Jazz Bud Shank Studio Sessions (1998) {5CD Box Set Mosaic MD5-180 rec 1956-1961}
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© 1956-61, 1998 Pacific Jazz / Mosaic Records / Blue Note / EMI-Capitol | MD5-180 | 20-bit Super Bit Mapping
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

When one thinks of altoist/flutist Bud Shank's recordings of the 1950s, it is normally of his work with Stan Kenton's orchestra or collaborations with Laurindo Almeida or Bob Cooper. However, Shank led a superior quartet from 1956-1958 that also included pianist Claude Williamson, bassist Don Prell, and either Chuck Flores or Jimmy Pratt on drums. This typically magnificent five-CD limited-edition box set from Mosaic has the quartet's four albums (including a set that was recorded in Johannesburg, South Africa), a selection by Shank with a sextet that includes vibraphonist Larry Bunker, and three slightly later sets.

Randy Weston - Mosaic Select 4 (2003) {3CD Set, Mosaic MS-004 rec 1957-1963}
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© 1957-63, 2003 Mosaic Records / EMI Music | MS-004 / 72435 82413 2 7
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

The three CDs that make up the Randy Weston Mosaic Select package comprise the complete sessions from six different albums, one of which was previously unreleased. Weston has had a long and varied career, and one that has established him in the consummate realm of piano soloists with his idiosyncratic, inclusive style. His deep jazz roots were accompanied, almost from the beginning, by the influences of Afro-Caribbean folk and the music of Asia, which he encountered during his tenure with the U.S. armed forces.

Al Cohn, Joe Newman & Freddie Green - Mosaic Select (2007) {3CD Set, Mosaic Records MS-027 rec 1955}
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© 1955, 2007 RCA Victor / Mosaic / BMG Music | MS-027
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet / Sax / Guitar

This Mosaic compilation draws from material that comprised five separate RCA Victor LPs of the 1950: Al Cohn's The Natural Seven and The Jazz Workshop: Four Brass, One Tenor, Freddie Green's Mr. Rhythm, plus two Joe Newman records, All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging. Cohn, Green, and Newman are the common element to all of the recording sessions, leading bands ranging from septets to nonets.The Natural Seven was inspired by the Kansas City Seven drawn from the Count Basie band of the 1930s, and while the arrangements by Cohn and Manny Albam swing lightly in the style of Basie's septet, the focus is more on originals written for the session rather than simply recreating earlier recordings.

Clifford Brown - The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings (1995) {4CD Set Capitol rec 1953-1954}
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© 1953-54, 1995 Blue Note / Pacific Jazz / Capitol | CDP 7243 8 34195 2 4
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This four-CD set has the exact same music as an earlier Mosaic five-LP box, but is highly recommended to those listeners not already possessing the limited-edition set. Trumpeter Clifford Brown is heard on the most significant recordings from the first half of his tragically brief career. Whether co-leading a date with altoist Lou Donaldson, playing as a sideman with trombonist J.J. Johnson, interacting with an all-star group of West Coast players, or jamming with the first (although unofficial) edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (a two-disc live performance with a quintet that also includes the drummer/leader, Donaldson and pianist Horace Silver), Brown is the main star.