The Complete Verve/Clef - Charlie Ventura & Flip Phillips Studio Sessions (6 CD, 1998) [FLAC]

Although they were never major influences, both Flip Phillips and Charlie Ventura had their moments of fame and were entertaining and hard-swinging tenor saxophonists. This 1998 limited-edition six-CD box set from Mosaic is typically wondrous with quite a few little-heard gems included among the 116 selections (five previously unreleased, three of which are alternate takes). The first two CDs feature Charlie Ventura during 1951-1954, right after his "Bop for the People" band broke up. His seven sessions include a heated quintet with trumpeter Conte Candoli ("Bugle Call Rag" is a highlight), five separate quartets (with such notable players as pianists Marty Napoleon and Dave McKenna plus Buddy Rich), and a nonet date that has a few short solos from trumpeter Charlie Shavers and trombonist Kai Winding. Singer Mary Ann McCall is fine on five songs, although four less interesting numbers feature the Blentones, an indifferent vocal group. Ventura is heard on alto, baritone, and his booming bass sax in addition to his trademark tenor, and was still in his prime. Flip Phillips is featured on the last four CDs on 16 sessions dating from 1947-1954, and one in 1957. He is actually a sideman on sets headed by trombonist Tommy Turk, guitarist Nick Esposito, and Buddy Rich (starring on the latter). Otherwise, Flip is largely the star, supported by trumpeters Howard McGhee, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Charlie Shavers, trombonist Bill Harris, pianists Hank Jones, Mickey Crane, Dick Hyman, Lou Levy, and Oscar Peterson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummers J.C. Heard, Shelly Manne, Max Roach, Jo Jones, and Rich, among others. With the exception of the Buddy Rich date (which is live), all of the music clocks in around three minutes apiece, so the musicians make expert use of their limited space. Highly recommended to bop and mainstream fans; get this very valuable set while you can.  

 

The Complete Candid Recordings Of Cecil Taylor And Buell Neidlinger (4 CD, 1960/FLAC)

 

The sessions that comprise the four discs on this first-rate Mosaic boxed set were done in 1960 and 1961 for the short-lived Candid label. Taylor's concept had not yet evolved into a finished package; he wasn't always sure where he was going. There are solos that begin in one direction, break in the middle, and conclude in another. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp often sounds unsure about what to play and whether to try and interact or establish his own direction. At the same time, there is plenty of exceptional playing from Taylor, Shepp, and the drum/bass combination of Buell Neidlinger and Dennis Charles. You cannot honestly say everything works on these four discs, but there is never a dull moment. It won't please everyone, but listeners ready for a challenge should step right up. 

Denny Zeitlin - Mosaic Select 34 (The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions 1964-1967) [3 CD, 2009/FLAC]

 

Considering the hot pianists of the day were Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, and George Shearing, what Denny Zeitlin brought to the table as a performer and composer was a unique perspective that could have trumped them all. Had his professional calling not been that of a full-time clinical psychiatrist, he might have been the "it" guy had he received the kind of publicity the other three garnered. This outstanding offering in the Mosaic Select series contains Zeitlin's three piano-bass-drums recordings for Columbia Records done in Los Angeles, all which have become collectors' items on vinyl for their smaller press runs, but also the excellent music contained. The three-CD set includes some bonus tracks previously unreleased, but are not Zeitlin's complete studio works from this period, as he chose not to issue a handful of other selections or any alternate takes. 

Charles Tolliver Big Band - Mosaic Select 37 (3 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

Three recordings, one of them previously unreleased (recorded in Hamburg for NDR), and featuring at least two generation of hard-boppers, including Jon Faddis, Herb Geller, Charles McPherson, George Coleman, Reggie Workman, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, Clifford Jordan. On the German recording some of the most eminent Americans residents of Berlin, such as Benny Bailey and Alvin Queen, can be heard.

 

Sidney Bechet - Mosaic Select 22 (3 CD, 2006/FLAC)

 

David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Mosaic Select 12 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 

The 12th volume in the Mosaic Select series offers a different view of its chosen artists than on previous issues. For starters, all of the recordings on these three CDs are previously unissued live performances. They are compiled from the years between 1976 and 1991, when Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach began recording together in an electric group called Lookout Farm (with Frank Tusa, Jeff Williams, and Todd Barkan), and recorded for the ECM label. They continued as a duo for the same label, and then for the A&M Horizon label and Artists House. Finally, they collaborated again in a group called Quest, with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart. The music ranges from fusion (Liebman had been Miles Davis' saxophonist for his On the Corner and Get Up With It albums) to modal exploration á la Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. 

Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select 16 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

With the release of these sessions, recorded between 1967 and '70, every piece of music from Andrew Hill's Blue Note recordings has been issued. This outstanding, unique pianist-composer is heard in a variety of contexts, and only six of the 31 selections on this set have ever been out in any form. Their common denominator is Andrew's brilliant improvisations and unique compositions.

The 1970 sextet with trumpeter Charles Tolliver and saxophonists Pat Patrick and Bennie Maupin features six challenging pieces played with drive and swing. Some of the best writing in the set comes from two 1969 dates that pair Hill's quartet (Maupin, Ron Carter and Mickey Roker or Carlos Garnett, Richard Davis and Freddie Waits) with a fully integrated string quartet. Three tunes from each of these projects were previously issued, but now the entire sessions have been newly remixed from the original eight-track tapes for release.

A February 1967 session with saxophonists Robin Kenyatta and Sam Rivers features Hill's recorded debut at the organ on two selections, an instrument to which he returns for two pieces on his May 1967 trio date with Ron Carter and Teddy Robinson. From October 1967 comes a powerful septet date with Woody Shaw, Kenyatta, Rivers and Howard Johnson in the front line

Sidney Bechet - Mosaic Select 22 (3 CD, 2006/FLAC)

 

Sidney Bechet, the first great jazz horn soloist to be featured on records, was a remarkable soprano saxophonist and clarinetist. He dominated ensembles, often taking over the role of a trumpet or cornet, and was such a dazzling soloist that he ended up being the favorite musician of both Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.

 On this three-CD set, Mosaic Select has included some of the highlights of Bechet's recording career, although not delving into his later Paris years or his much-reissued association with the Victor label. The first disc has what are arguably his 25 best recordings from the 1920s. Mostly heard with combos put together by pianist Clarence Williams, Bechet is in stunning form on his debut session, which resulted in "Wild Cat Blues" and "Kansas City Man Blues." He interacts with such singers as Sara Martin, Mamie Smith, Eva Taylor, Margaret Johnson, Virginia Liston, and Sippie Wallace, and he battles Louis Armstrong on several numbers. Armstrong "wins" on the stunning "Cake Walking Babies from Home," but Bechet steals the show during his lone appearance on the contrabass sarrusophone during "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind." The second disc consists of four complete sessions. Bechet is featured on three numbers (and two alternate takes) with Noble Sissle's orchestra ("Dear Old Southland" is a real showcase) in 1937, on a date with Sissle's rhythm section, and teaming up with baritonist Ernie Caceres in a 1938 sextet. Best from this CD is Bechet's 1947 outing with his protégé clarinetist Bob Wilber's Wildcats, an enthusiastic and talented group of youngsters who also include pianist Dick Wellstood and trombonist Bob Mielke. The final disc has all of the music recorded at a pair of quartet dates in 1947. Most unusual is that Bechet, who was always closely associated with New Orleans jazz, sounds quite at home on such sophisticated material as "Love for Sale," "Laura," "Just One of Those Things" (for which he provides a particularly catchy riff), and the overly dramatic "The Song of Songs." Although there are a lot of alternate takes, each performance is well worth hearing. Coupled with Bechet's Victor recordings and a sampling of his work in the 1950s, this Mosaic Select set (which is a limited edition) is essential. 

Paul Chambers - Mosaic Select 5 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

Paul Chambers finally receives the Mosaic Select treatment and there's a surprise tossed in with his catalog for fans and connoisseurs: his material recorded for the Transition label. Also included on the Paul Chambers set are the albums Chambers' Music and Whims of Chambers from 1956 and Bass on Top and The Paul Chambers Quintet from 1957. Musicians on these dates ran the gamut from Elvin Jones to Donald Byrd, Clifford Jordan, Horace Silver, Kenny Burrell, Hank Jones, and Art Taylor -- an overwhelming number of fellow Detroiters. There are some other odds and ends as well, but most importantly, the Transition material will be of prime interest to John Coltrane fans. "Trane's Strain," an 11-minute legato orgy, was recorded and released on a Transition sampler called Jazz in Translation. It features Chambers, Coltrane, Pepper Adams, Curtis Fuller, Philly Joe Jones, and Roland Alexander. Two other selections, "High Step" and "Nixon, Dixon and Yates Blues," were recorded on the same day and issued on the Blue Note sampler High Step. Two other selections, "Chamber Mates" and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," on which Art Blakey is featured, were originally issued on samplers as well: Blue Berlin and Blakey's Drums Around the Corner. What it all adds up to is nearly four hours of some of the most elegant, heated playing in hard bop history. Away from their membership in the Miles Davis Quintet, Chambers, Trane, and Jones created a standard for all of Chambers' recordings for Blue Note: complex yet airy arrangements, impassioned and highly stylized playing, and plenty of improvisation. This is a set that goes beyond the boundaries of standard Blue Note fare (which is high-quality fare, indeed) and extends into the realm of pure musicology as articulated by jazz. Most of the players on these sessions had their musical vocabularies altered permanently by their participation. Many harmonic ideas were born in these dates in the mid-'50s, and most are still being articulated and built upon to this day. This box is essential. 

 

John Carter & Bobby Bradford - Mosaic Select 36 (3 CD, 2010/FLAC)

 Saxophonist/clarinetist John Carter was associated with Ornette Coleman in the '40s in their shared hometown of Fort Worth. Coleman moved to Los Angeles in the early '50s as did Dallas trumpeter Bobby Bradford who would work with Ornette sporadically for the next 20 years. Carter moved to LA in 1961 and eventually found in Bobby Bradford an ideal collaborator.

Initially calling their quartet The New Art Jazz Ensemble, they made their debut album Seeking in 1969 for the small Revelation Records. Their music was very much in the same orbit as Ornette's with darting linear compositions and freedom from chordal structures blended into a marvelous fresh sense of swing and blues roots.

John Handy - Mosaic Select 35 (3 CD, 2009/FLAC)

 

 John Handy is one of the unsung greats of modern jazz -- as saxophonist, composer/arranger and group leader -- especially for the series of four albums he recorded for Columbia between 1965 and 1968. This Mosaic Select is devoted to the three albums he made for the label that featured violin in the instrumentation -- Recorded Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival , The 2nd John Handy Album and Projections, plus a live Carnegie Hall performance.

Handy's playing, on alto sax in particular, is a wonder with a beautiful "legit" sound, perfect intonation and articulation, and an extraordinary control of the upper register which he uses quite often in building excitement and intensity in his solos. He utilizes all of these extraordinary attributes in frequent lengthy and compelling acappella solos. His unending flow of fresh ideas seemingly devoid of licks is another striking characteristic of his work.

The group heard here on all of discs 1 and 2 is unique in jazz history. The instrumentation of alto saxophone, violin, guitar, bass and drums has rarely, if ever, been used, and certainly not to this extent. Combining the nature of this instrumentation with the styles of the five players (Handy, Michael White, Jerry Hahn, Don Thompson and Terry Clarke) helps to create an open, expansive musical palette. This enables a musical range from Coltranesque long trance-like modal pieces, to tauter more direct and edgier rock-oriented pieces.

 

VA - Boogie Woogie And Blues Piano (1935-41) [Mosaic Select 30] (3 CD, 2008/FLAC)

While most Mosaic limited-edition boxed sets concentrate on recordings by an individual bandleader or a single record label, Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano features sessions by a number of different artists from several labels active in the 1930s and early '40s, when boogie-woogie was very popular. Fifteen different pianists are featured (if one counts Lionel Hampton playing two fingered-duo piano in a band setting), though it is the giants of the genre, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Jimmy Yancey who are given the most exposure. The first three are individually paired (Johnson and Ammons) and play together as a trio, occasionally accompanying blues vocalist Joe Turner or adding a superfluous rhythm section. Lewis is clearly the most inventive of them all, especially when performing his hit "Honky Tonk Train Blues" (revived in a big-band setting by rocker Keith Emerson during the '70s) or his lesser-known "Whistlin' Blues." Ammons has the strongest rhythmic sense, as displayed in the two takes of "Shout for Joy." Johnson is heard in several small group sessions as well, featuring Turner along with alto saxophonist Buster Smith and trumpeter Hot Lips Page. Yancey, who was recorded more sporadically than Lewis, Johnson, and Ammons, is extensively featured, playing solo, accompanying singer Faber Smith and occasionally singing himself. Yancey's slower, blues-drenched style is unmistakable for anyone else, highlighted by his own "Yancey Stomp" and the two takes of "Yancey's Bugle Call." There is a sampling of other pianists, including Joe Sullivan, Mary Lou Williams (who played nearly every style that appeared during her lifetime with authority), Teddy Wilson (who never considered himself a talented boogie-woogie player), Nat King Cole, and Sir Charles Thompson (each of whom duets with Hampton and the more commercial Freddie Slack. The blues piano sessions of Cripple Clarence Lofton wrap this enjoyable collection with a flourish. The sound restoration and Dan Morgenstern's excellent liner notes add to the value of this limited-edition compilation.  

 

Bud Shank & Bob Cooper - Mosaic Select 10 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 For hardcore West Coast jazz fans, this Mosaic Select volume will be a kind of treasure-trove, though for most it will simply be a compelling curiosity piece. The collaborations of saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank and arranger, saxophonist, and oboist Bob Cooper created some tumult in the mid-1950s, when they recorded four albums together with various-sized ensembles, and, to a lesser degree, on Shank's date with Bob Brookmeyer arranged by Cooper. All tolled, there are five albums on these three discs: Bud Shank and Bob Brookmeyer (along with the session's remaining tracks that showed up on Bud Shank and Three Trombones on Pacific Jazz), Jazz at Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz), Flute and Oboe (World Pacific), Swing's to TV, as well as the cuts from Jazz Swings Broadway (World Pacific) and of course, the classic, Blowin' Country (World Pacific). The quark strangeness and charm of these recordings cannot be underestimated, and neither can their swing. With sidemen like pianist Claude Williamson, drummers Chuck Flores or Shelly Manne, bassist Don Prell and others, these dates have a kind of quaintness that dates them in that restless yet ultra-hip period in the 1950s when almost anything went as long as it swung, and that stood outside the entire hard bop scene. These sides are not for everyone, but they are priceless for the sheer sophistication and adventurousness of their arrangements and the interplay between Shank and Cooper, which was symbiotic. A very fine idea by the folks at Mosaic. 

 

John Patton - Mosaic Select 6 (3 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 

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. Quibbling aside, of the material included here, only Along Came John is currently available domestically, making this set a necessary purchase for Patton fans who have not shelled out the big bucks for Japanese pressings. Virtually every one of these outings is important, the first because it showcased Patton outside of his stead in Lou Donaldson's great early-'60s combo, accompanied by tenors Fred Jackson and Harold Vick with Grant Green and Ben Dixon. The band changed only slightly for The Way I Feel, when Vick was replaced by trumpeter Richard Williams. On Oh Baby!, Jackson was replaced by Vick and Williams by Blue Mitchell. These three dates are all very much of a piece. The band stays deep in the funky blues groove while nodding to the waning days of hard bop. And while the horns are generally regarded as strictly meat and potatoes on these sides, a close listen will correct that erroneous perception.

In the late '60s, Patton's sound became more lean, yet also more expansive and spacious. With Junior Cook on saxophone, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and Jimmy Ponder on guitar, Patton embarked on That Certain Feeling, one of his most illustrious dates as a leader. Ponder's fluid and edgy runs nicely complemented Patton's now arpeggio-heavy manner of playing. Cook's smoky tone that came out of both Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins added depth, dimension, and ambience to the band's sound. On the final session here, Understanding, the sound cut even closer to the bone: Harold Alexander was enlisted on tenor and flute, with drummer Hugh Walker the only other musician involved. The trio played all around the groove jazz sound, while turning it inside out in Alexander's out-ish honking solos. Patton's organ is way up in the mix, shape-shifting time signatures inside a 2/4 meter. The pace is aggressive, deep, and at times dissonant, making an excellent case for reappraisal here, as it dates better than anything else on this set. All in all, this is a deep, sometimes mystifying collection featuring Patton as a composer, bandleader, and arranger. His sense of rhythmic dynamics is among the most sophisticated in the history of the jazz B-3. There isn't a weak second on any of this material and it should be snapped up before Mosaic's copies go -- they do not reissue. Blue Note should take the cue, do the entire catalog in 24-bit audio, and hustle it out there.

♦ CD1 (01:11:44)

01. The Silver Meter [05:40]

02. I'll Never Be Free [05:03]

03. Spiffy Diffy [06:00]

04. Along Came John [06:02]

05. Gee Gee [06:02]

06. Pig Foots [05:44]

07. The Rock [07:29]

08. The Way I Feel [08:38]

09. Jerry [06:45]

10. Davene [07:25]

11. Just 3/4 [06:51]

♦ CD2 (01:02:14)

01. Fat Judy [07:40]

02. Oh Baby [06:17]

03. Each Time [05:39]

04. One To Twelve [07:52]

05. Night Flight [06:35]

06. Good Juice [06:31]

07. String Bean [05:42]

08. I Want To Go Home [08:36]

09. Early A.M. [07:17]

♦ CD3 (00:58:47)

01. Dirty Fingers [06:09]

02. Minor Swing [06:38]

03. Daddy James [06:47]

04. Ding Dong [05:34]

05. Congo Chant [09:11]

06. Alfie's Theme [04:41]

07. Soul Man [06:11]

08. Understanding [06:56]

09. Chitlins Con Carne [06:36]

Personnel: Big John Patton (organ); Grant Green, Jimmy Ponder (guitar); Fred Jackson (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Harold Vick, Junior Cook (tenor saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Clifford Jarvis, Hugh Walker, Ben Dixon (drums).

Dizzy Reece - Mosaic Select 11 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

By the early 1950's, Jamaican-born Dizzy Reece, who is not only an outstanding bop trumpeter, but a fine composer, was playing with top-of-the-line British and European jazzers. Starting in '58, Mr Reece cut a series of four excellent albums for Blue Note. They are all included on the three discs in the "Mosaic Select: Dizzy Reece" box set. 

 

Al Cohn, Joe Newman & Freddie Green - Mosaic Select 27 (3 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 

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 - Al Cohn, 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. Joining them are pianist Nat Pierce, trombonist Frank Rehak, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Osie Johnson, highlighted by the upbeat unison horn line in Cohn's "Pick a Dilly" and Albam's swinging "Jump the Blues Away." Johnson even adds a vocal on his fun-filled "Osie's Blues." ohn's other session as a leader includes Thad Jones with either Joe Wilder, Bernie Glow or Phil Sunkel on third trumpet, with Dick Katz doubling on valve trombone and trumpet, pianist Dick Katz and bassist Buddy Jones subbing for the previous personnel. Once more, Cohn and Albam split up the arrangements, with the tenor saxophonist benefiting from the quartet of brass players accompanying him. "Rosetta and the leader's "Cohn Not Cohen" are among the highlights. 

Freddie Green was known for his superb timekeeping in the Basie band, a tenure which lasted a half-century until his passing in 1987, just a few years after the leader. Mr. Rhythm marked the first issued under his own name, plus eight of the dozen songs are Green's compositions, with Green sticking to playing rhythm throughout the date. Cohn, Albam and Ernie Wilkins provide the swinging arrangements of the mostly blues-oriented material, while Cohn doubles on both clarinet and bass clarinet in addition to playing tenor sax. Two dates led by Newman in 1955 also fit in nicely, with either Frank Rhak or Urbie Green on trombone, Wilkins or Gene Quill on alto sax, and Pierce or Dick Katz on piano. Newman, who tended to be overshadowed by many of the other swing and bop trumpeters active at the time, shines on both open and muted horn, while featuring his musicians prominently throughout both dates. Green's "Corner Pocket" and a buoyant treatment of the standard "Exactly Like You" especially stand out. Most of this music was reissued on CD during the 1980s and 1990s, though none of it remained in print for long. 

 

Curtis Amy - Mosaic Select 7 (3 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 

Relatively unknown as far as storming tenor players go, Texas-born Curtis Amy perhaps wasn't so storming after all, as this set suggests.

Familiar to rock fans for his solo on the Doors' "Touch Me, Amy was more restrained, more a player of shadings and touch, than his reputation and birthright might lead one to believe. These sessions for the Pacific Jazz label, all cut in the early '60s, open with two albums 

 

Freddie Slack - Mosaic Select 18 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 Freddie Slack was the pianist with Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra during part of the 1930s before becoming well known for playing boogie-woogie with Will Bradley's band, most notably on the hit "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar."

 In 1941 Slack went out on his own, forming a big band that soon signed with the Capitol label. His hit recording of "Cow Cow Boogie" in 1942 with singer Ella Mae Morse made him famous even though none of his other records caught on at the same level. Slack's orchestra just lasted two years and, although he had a new band during 1945-1946, many of his recordings were made with small groups. With the exception of a slightly earlier four-song session for Decca, five songs that were purposely bypassed, and a 1955 album of boogie-woogie and re-creations, all of Slack's recordings as a leader are on this three-CD set. 

There are 17 previously unreleased performances, including a five-song session from 1946 and three numbers from 1952. It is particularly interesting to hear the influence of bebop being felt in Slack's playing and some of the arrangements although he mostly remained a swing stylist. While most of his sidemen are little known, T-Bone Walker pops up on a few numbers (including two features), guitarists Remo Palmieri, Al Hendrickson, and Tiny Timbrell are assets, and every vocal by Ella Mae Morse is well worth hearing. In addition, Johnny Mercer is a guest on several tunes. The three-fer is wrapped up by all seven recordings by drummer Ray McKinley's long-forgotten 1942 big band, a band with trumpeters Dick Cathcart and Pete Candoli, valve trombonist Brad Gowans, clarinetist Mahlon Clark, and pianist Lou Stein in the personnel. Overall, this is a well-conceived release of mostly obscure but worthy music.

 

Don Pullen - Mosaic Select 13 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 The 13th volume in Mosaic's limited-edition Select series showcases the late work of the late pianist and composer Don Pullen. Contained within the box are the two fine albums by the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet, Breakthrough and Song Everlasting. These two recordings were the first the pair had done domestically. The band's previous output was released on Soul Note, and musically very good. Both Blue Note albums are simply stunning. The interplay between the pianist and saxophonist Adams was near symbiotic and was augmented by the stellar rhythm section of bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Dannie Richmond. Three of the four men -- excepting Brown -- were alumni of the Charles Mingus band. These two albums are the best of what post-bop jazz had to offer in the 1980s. Special highlights are Pullen's "Song From the Old Country," Adams's "A Time for Sobriety" and "Serenade to Sariah," and Pullen's brilliant "Sing Me a Song Everlasting." The other two sides here are trio dates recorded for Blue Note. New Beginnings, issued in 1988, featured bassist Gary Peacock and Tony Williams, and Random Thoughts, issued in 1990, placed Pullen in the company of James Genus on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. While the name recognition on New Beginnings is high, the performances are inconsistent, largely because Pullen was trying to juxtapose a more groove-oriented piano trio approach against the outside nature of his '60s playing. It is interesting throughout though not terribly rewarding. Random Thoughts, however, feels like a more natural fit and one in which the pianist and composer's rhythmic ideas and solo proficiencies were better matched to his rhythm section. The tunes are more lyrical and flowing, even when coming from different directions at once. Ultimately, these four albums make up for a great renaissance in Pullen's career. All four albums have been wonderfully remastered. 

 

Charles Tolliver - Mosaic Select 20 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 Mosaic gets plenty of accolades for its expansive (and sometimes exhaustive) limited-edition box sets of historic jazz recordings, and deservedly so. Some years after they started their project, president Michael Cuscuna and company got the idea to release smaller, three-disc sets by artists who either weren't as appreciated as they should be, or had recordings that were unavailable and that filled in important eras in their careers. The Mosaic Select series has a tremendous catalog with triple-disc sets by Curtis Amy, John Patton, Carmell Jones, a pair by Andrew Hill, Grachan Moncur, Johnny Mercer, Onzy Matthews, Bobby Hutcherson, Art Pepper, Randy Weston, Johnny Richards, and more. 

Charles Tolliver's volume in this series is an important one. First of all, these recordings were not owned by Blue Note or any of Capitol's subsidiaries; they are owned by the artist, and originally appeared on Strata East, a label he co-founded with the pianist on these dates, Stanley Cowell. It was a musician's label that recorded some of the greatest jazz music of the 1970s and was well distributed. (Unfortunately, with very few exceptions -- and a real comment on the record industry here in the U.S. -- the only way to procure most Strata East recordings on CD these days is from Japan.) Secondly, most of these sides were cut live at Slug's Saloon, a legendary, long gone spot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a space now occupied by the Nuyorican Poet's Café (at least it was put to great use). Slug's was the go-to joint for musicians who were still developing the "new thing" after Coltrane, who played regularly and collaborated with one another. Its audience was hip and sophisticated and deeply interested in what was going on musically in the '70s. Lastly, Tolliver himself went all out to find more of the music recorded on these dates, and there are six selections, roughly a full CD, of completely unreleased music from the Slug's gigs. 

Charles Tolliver - trumpet

Stanley Cowell - piano

Cecil McBee - bass

Jimmy Hopps - drums

Clint Houston - bass

Clifford Barbaro - drums