Mosaic

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.

Carmell Jones - Mosaic Select 2 (2003) {3CD Set Mosaic MS-002 rec 1961-1963}
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© 1961-63, 2003 EMI Music / Mosaic Records | MS-002
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Trumpeter Carmell Jones is best known as a sideman (especially Horace Silver's Song for My Father), but he made several valuable recordings as a leader, though most have long languished out of print. To correct this oversight, Mosaic Select released this three-CD set in early 2003, including all three of his earliest Pacific Jazz albums (The Remarkable Carmell Jones, Business Meetin' , and Brass Bag), as well as a long unavailable Harold Land disc and a previously unreleased date led by pianist Frank Strazzeri. The quintet with Land and Strazzeri works wonders with Jones' jazz waltz "That's Good" and a similar treatment of "Beautiful Love," but the high point of their various sets is the 11-minute workout of Duke Ellington's "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'."

Johnny Richards - Mosaic Select 17 (2005) {3CD Set Mosaic MS-017 rec 1955-1966}
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© 1955-66, 2005 Mosaic Records / Capitol | MS-017
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Third Stream / World

This three-CD set reissues arranger Johnny Richards' Capitol and Roulette albums that originally were called Wide Range, Experiments in Sound, The Rites of Diablo, My Fair Lady, and Aqui Se Habla Espanol, the great majority of his recordings as a leader. In addition, Richards' portion of the album Annotations of the Muses plus a few unreleased selections are included. Johnny Richards, who is most famous for his association with Stan Kenton, was an inventive writer who starting in 1957 and had a band of his own. The music on this three-fer includes the adventurous three-part third stream piece "Annotations of the Muses," a set of Richards' adaptations of themes from My Fair Lady, a few Afro-Cuban projects, some relatively straight-ahead but complex jazz, and Richards' hit "Young at Heart." There are many short solos from the top-notch sidemen, but it's Johnny Richards' writing that makes this set quite definitive and memorable.

Count Basie - The Complete Roulette Live Recordings Of Count Basie and His Orchestra, 1959-1962 (1991) {8CD Set Mosaic MD8-135}
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© 1959-62, 1991 Mosaic Records | MD8-135
Jazz / Big Band / Swing

Count Basie defined the jazz meaning of swing. His band could get more bounce from a line that any other. And though his soloists were never of highest dazzle, they always fit the program. These live recordings from 1959, 1961 and 1962 capture the Count at his comfort. Mosaic has done its usual fine job with them on eight CDs. Roulette itself has reissued 12 of the cuts on a single CD entitled ``Basie in Sweden,`` for those who just want a taste.

Tony Williams - Mosaic Select 24 (2006) {3CD Set, Mosaic MS-024 rec 1985-1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.66 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 716 Mb
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© 1985-91, 2006 Mosaic Records / EMI Music | MS-024 / 0946-3-59903-2-4
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Fusion / Drums

This Mosaic edition of Tony`s later Blue Note years w/ his postbop band (1985 - 1992) compiles 5 cd`s - 'Foreign Intrigue','Civilization','Angel Street','Native Heart' and 'The Story Of Neptune', and while it may seem pricey, it`s now cheaper to buy this box than to purchase the titles individually, as they have risen since his passing (2/23/1997). This was a great band and showcased Tony`s skills as a composer as well as reaffirming his status as the most defining drummer in Jazz. It clearly indicates how strong an influence Art Blakey`s band was to Tony`s early development (he used to sit in w/ Art`s band when he was only 15 years old when Blakey`s group played in Boston, Tony`s hometown).