NO ONE ASKED MY OPINION, BUT….
(Volume VII)
MOST LISTENED TO MOSAIC RELEASES…

As you well may know, Mosaic Records (www.mosaicrecords.com) is the
gold standard for boxed sets. Most are reissues, so are unearthed
rarities. Either way, just about everything they put out is a “must
have” in your collection. With the economy being what it is, however, I
realized that everyone can not purchase every single thing that comes
out of the Mosaic mines. Therefore, I thought I’d list for you the sets
that are CURRENTLY AVAILABLE that I listen to most often. Does this
mean that they are the ABSOLUTE BEST ones out there? No, but it means
that these ones keep calling me back, either because a) they are just
so pleasantly surprising good b) they’ve got such a good holistic feel
that they keep under my skin c) you can play the set for hour after
hour of repeated listening and still never tire of them.

I’ve listed them in terms of a) Boxed Sets b) Mosaic Select (3 discs)
and c) Mosaic singles. As with all things Mosaic, they are limited
editions, so he who hesitates is lost. You may have even heard of their
disastrous situations where the original plates to many of their sets
got accidentally destroyed last year, so you never know the
providential hand of God, even when it comes to jazz reissues. Anyway,
here goes…

MOSAIC BOXED SET
1) 243 Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions 1935-46-overlooked period, and he’s at his best on the horn and with his sui generis voice
2) 245 The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings 1954-56-never before released Bing at his most jazzy and casual
3) 273 Complete Woody Herman Columbia 1945-47-famous “Four Brothers” bebop big band with Getz, Cohn, Chaloff….
4) 207 Complete Joe Pass Quartet Sessions-gorgeous guitar work in a myriad of settings
5) 241 Complete Clef/Mercury Oscar Peterson-Some of the best trio recordings you’ll ever hear, and his singing is as close to Nat King Cole as anyone could get.
6) 216 Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions-One of the most lyrical guitarists ever; this set will astound all guitar fans
7) 239 Complete Lester Young/Count Basie Sessions 1936-40-best modern tenor saxist ever. Anyone dare argue?

MOSAIC SELECT

1) 007 Curtis Amy-overlooked saxist that has a luscious tone.
2) 027 Al Cohn, Joe Newman, Freddie Green-swinging like nothing else mattered
3) 037 Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band-best big band of the 70s.

MOSAIC SINGLES
1) 1001 Duke Ellington-The Cosmic Scene-gorgeous small group session.
2) 1012 Various Artists-The Jazz Piano-Hines, Ellington and a slew of striders
3) 1011 Jimmy Witherspoon-Goin’ To Kansas City-The Spoon at his wailing best.
4) 1013 Woody Herman-Woody’s Winners-one of the all time great live big band recordings of any era.