The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings of The Modern Jazz Quartet 1956-64 (7 CDs)
(Release Date; May 2011)It might seem odd that the prototypical bebop rhythm section from Dizzy Gillespie’s ’40s orchestra would morph into the pioneering chamber jazz group of the ’50s. But the music created by Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Connie Kay (replacing Kenny Clarke) collectively under the Modern Jazz Quartet moniker never strayed far from bop or the blues and much of their classical endeavors were influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach, whose intricate, sycopated music bore an uncanny resemblance to bebop.
After two striking albums on Prestige, the quartet was snapped up in 1956 by Atlantic Records, an emerging major label (their forte was R & B) which was then returning to its jazz roots on a grand scale signing the likes of Charles Mingus, Jimmy Giuffre and the MJQ.
One of the most popular and controversial groups of its time, the MJQ has faded from the forefront of jazz history in recent times. So Mosaic thought it was about time to pull together the seminal work that the band recorded for Atlantic over the next years. They were prolific, releasing 14 albums (all of which are included on this 7-CD set) in just eight years. But these albums were more than just blowing sessions; they were well thought-out conceptual albums that required imagination, compositional time and hard work. They range from classic jazz albums by the foursome to collaborations with Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre and Laurindo Almeida to two ambitious third-stream projects to the masterful reinterpretation of Gershwin’s „Porgy And Bess.“
Taken as a body of work, this set not only captures the creative peaks of this extraordinary group but also puts into focus its expansive scope.
The following is a list of albums included in the set:
Fontessa
The Modern Jazz Quartet At The Music Inn
The Modern Jazz Quartet
One Never Knows
The Modern Jazz Quartet At The Music Inn Volume 2
Pyramid
Third Stream Music
The Modern Jazz Quartet And Orchestra
Lonely Woman
The Comedy
The Sheriff
A Quartet Is A Quartet Is A Quartet
Collaboration
The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin’s Porgy And BessThe Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (7 CDs)
(Release Date: May/June 2011)Mosaic is pleased to announce a long awaited project that has been on the wish list of many of our customers: The Decca recordings of the Jimmie Lunceford band. Blessed with superb soloists and demandingly advanced arrangements, the Harlem Express, as they were billed at times, became a favorite among swing fans and the record buying public in general.
Amongst the classic Decca sides represented here were hits like „My Blue Heaven“, „Margie“ (the Trummy Young trombone and vocal feature which became his trademark), „Rhythm Is Our Business“, „Sleepy Time Gal“ (with its remarkable reed passage), „Swanee River“ (the Sy Oliver chart which later was recycled to become one of Tommy Dorsey’s greatest successes), „Organ Grinder’s Swing“, „Blues In The Night“, „The Honeydripper“ and the smash hit of „For Dancer’s Only“. The band had a unique one-on-one relationship with the public since they rarely played in one venue for long stretches of time. Their frequent one-nighters made them one of the most traveled bands of the era in theaters, nightclubs and ballrooms country-wide and the first jazz group to tour Sweden in 1937.
The Lunceford roster stuck with Jimmie for much of the band’s life history and included the booting tenor of Joe Thomas, the fluid alto of Willie Smith (among the big four along with Carter, Hodges and Parker), Paul Webster’s stratospheric trumpet, the brilliant trombone work (and vocals) by Trummy Young and one of the greatest of all jazz drummers – Jimmy Crawford. But what set apart this band from many of the others were the futuristic yet swinging arrangements by Sy Oliver, Eddie Wilcox, Willie Smith, Eddie Durham, Gerald Wilson and Tadd Dameron.
This will be the first time all of these Decca sessions are to be gathered together for the first time. We were fortunate to have not only metal parts available from the Universal Music vaults, but also mint condition test pressings from the collection of the masterful sound engineer, the late John R.T. Davies and mint 78s from collector (and Mosaic customer extraordinaire) Leon Dierckx. The text for our booklet comes from researcher and author of the Lunceford biography Rhythm Is Our Business, Eddy Determeyer. Photographs for the booklet include many never seen before images from the Joe Thomas archives held at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries.
„At the time I joined Jimmie Luceford’s band, they could outdraw any band in the country. Benny Goodman? We were more popular than Benny Goodman! We were the first black band the played the Paramount Theatre. Not Duke Ellington, not Count Basie. Six weeks in a row and it was packed every day, people lining up around the corner, constantly! We could outdraw any band in the country. They were the forerunners, between swing and bebop. They were right there. And their records prove this. One of the greatest bands of all time.“ – Gerald Wilson
Mosaic Records Audiophile Vinyl Series
Stan Getz: The 1953-54 Norgran Studio Sessions (4 Audiophile LPs)
(Release Date; May 2011)Even in a career as celebrated and prolific as Stan Getz’s, there are pockets of neglected gems that dot the landscape. In the case of Getz, one of those overlooked areas is his 1953-54 Clef Norgran recordings with a working quintet that included valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and pianist John Williams. The band recorded several excellent albums for Clef and Norgran during those years, but when Clef and Norgran were phased out and the material was recycled on Verve, the tracks from these recording sessions were scattered over many 12″ LPs which combined them with other groups from other sessions and some were forgotten altogether.
So the impact of the body of work that this group left behind was diluted by the manner in which it was re-released on Verve in the decades that followed. This Mosaic LP-only set returns to the original LP masters and sequence to restore clarity and shape to this exceptional quintet.
When Brookmeyer left Getz to join Gerry Mulligan, legendary trumpeter Tony Fruscella replaced him in the final months of the band, long enough to record two extended tunes included here. Midway through the quintet’s life, Getz recorded a little-known but superb quartet session with Jimmy Rowles, Bob Whitlock and Max Roach, the four sides of which were also released in splintered form throughout the hears.
Now all of this material is gathered in one place on four 180-gram audiophile LPs with three previously unissued alternate takes and the 78 take of „Pot Luck“, giving the music its full due and historical perspective.
Mosaic Selects
The Charles Tolliver Big Band (3 CDs)
(Release Date: June 2011)„Rarely if ever has a big band exhibited so much freedom or finesse, while at the same time never overwhelming the virtuoso soloists on whom the performances pivot.“ – Jason Ankemy, Allmusic.com
The Charles Tolliver Big Band has come to be known for its intricate, layered writing, charging rhythms and exciting soloists. The band’s roots trace back to 1970 when Tolliver recorded „Music Inc. & Big Band“ for his Strata-East label. He and Stanley Cowell were the composers and principal soloists for this ground-breaking album, which represented the new approach to big band writing since the emergence of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra five years earlier.
It was more likely finances rather than ambition that put five years between that album and its successor „Impact.“ This time the expanded big band included eight strings and James Spaulding, Charles McPherson and George Coleman are among its soloists.
From these, it was thought that the trail ran cold for this band until the mid 2000s. But in preparation for this reissue, Charles ran across a tape of a big band workshop/broadcast that he did in 1979 with NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Germany. He secured the rights and the master tape and that music is released for the first time in this set. Soloists include Tolliver, fellow trumpeter Benny Bailey, alto saxophonist Her Geller, pianist Wolfgang Dauner and drummer Alvin Queen.
In recent years, the band has reformed and returned with a vengeance, touring and recording for Blue Note (2007) and Half Note (2009). Its legacy begins with this Mosaic Select.
Sam Rivers & The Rivbea Orchestra – Trilogy (3 CDs)
(Release Date: June 2011)By the time Sam Rivers was able to document his orchestral writing in 1974 (on the Impulse album „Crystals“) at the tender age of 51, he was best known for leading a magnificent, purely improvised trio devoid of all written music. But composition was (and is) as much a part of his incessantly fertile mind as improvisation.
His densely-layered and beautifully voiced multi-sectional orchestra pieces burn with an intensity that never forsakes the music’s beauty. Rivers seamlessly integrates improvisation into the written score. Solos are distributed democratically as effective, concise statements.
In 1992, Rivers moved to Orlando, Florida where he quickly formed another powerful improvising trio and set about seeking personnel to form an orchestra for the music that he was constantly writing. After two all-star albums for RCA Records in 1998 („Inspiration“ and „Culmination“), recorded in New York, an Orlando edition of the Rivbea Orchestra started to emerge in the early 2000s.
Drawn from teachers and students at surrounding colleges, frustrated members of various Walt Disney World aggregations and retired veterans of orchestras like Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman, Sam Rivers crafted a first-class orchestra to realize his music. In 2007, he issued the new Rivbea Orchestra’s first recording „Airora“ on his own Rivbea label.
When we heard the album, we called Sam to offer our jaw-dropping praise, he told us essentially there is plenty more where that came from and set about sifting through hours of studio and live recordings to cull the three CDs of previously unreleased material contained in this set. The results are forward-thinking and electrifying.
http://www.mosaicrecords.com/genres.asp?dept=50
Über Jimmie Lunceford freu ich mich ganz besonders, auch wenn ich wohl all die Musik schon kenne… eine würdigere Wahl kann man sich jedenfalls kaum denken (ähnlich verdient hat Coleman Hawkins das Mosaic treatment, bei ihm ist eine grössere Sony/RCA/BMG-Box angedacht – mehr dazu hier).
Sam Rivers ist eine tolle Fortsetzung der mit Braxton und Threadgill aufgestossenen Tür in Richtung Avantgarde der 70er und danach – ich hoffe sehr, dass da noch weiteres folgt! Zudem gab’s von Rivers natürlich auch schon das Blue Note Mossaic-Set.
Bei Getz hab ich mich hingegen endgültig für die CD-Version von Hip-O-Select/Universal entschieden.
--
"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #158 – Piano Jazz 2024 - 19.12.2024 – 20:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba