Mosaic Selects
Ltd. Edition 3 CD Sets
Running Low

“While Mosaic never does wrong, this set is absolutely perfect. Three CDs of Andrew Hill, almost all of it previously unheard by the public. While these sessions probably sat in the vaults to lack of commercial viability at the time, they are every bit as good as Hill's contemporary Blue Note releases that have been released. Some of the lineups are chock full of heavy hitter sidemen- Sam Rivers, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, etc. Overall the set is a good indicator of the diversity of Hill's compositonal ideas in the late 60s. He is heard in large group settings, trio settings, and most amazingly working with a string quartet. I find the string quartet sessions to be the most remarkable on the set.” - Customer Review

Mosaic Select: Andrew Hill

"A remarkable burst of creativity over a two week span. Of course the Chet Baker reunion is marvelous. The Vinnie Burke strings are a great complement to Mulligan. I have to admit I was a bit worried about it. To be honest, while I love Gerry, I really bought this set for the Annie Ross session. Just fantastic! Her version of "I Feel Pretty" was worth the price for me. Transcendent.” - Customer Review

Mosaic Select: Gerry Mulligan

“ I've been purchasing Mosaic sets since the 90s and this is among my top five. Tyner's vision comes into focus on these sessions--powerful piano, extended modal songs, Eastern influences, and beautiful melodies. Remastering is top-notch as are the sidemen throughout.” - Customer Review

Mosaic Select: McCoy Tyner

Mosaic Singles
Neglected Gems
Running Low

“This is such a great session. It is still so surprising that this lineup of the Messengers is overlooked and underrated. This lineup deserves to be heralded as one of Blakey's best alongside the Golson/Morgan/Timmons/Merritt '58 and the Shorter/Hubbard/Fuller/Walton/Merritt or Workman '61-'64 lineups. And, of course, this set has all of Mosaic's usual exemplary production hallmarks.” - Customer Review

Art Blakey - Hard Bop

“ The mastering on this disc is fantastic. Excellent sonic clarity all around. That, combined with Lloyd's great sense of melody and forward-thinking songwriting make for a satifsying listening experience. Lloyd's cool and progressive style is a joy, and the interplay between all the band members is superb. Tony Williams was one of the funkiest jazz drummers around, too! Buy this and you will find yourself seeking out more Charles Lloyd. Not to be missed! ” - Customer Review

Charles Lloyd - Of Course, Of Course

Mosaic Select: Cohn, Newman & Green (MS-027)

Mosaic Select

"Alone or together, these are among the great horn men of jazz today; but over and above it all, the assertively swinging tenor of Al Cohn soars superbly to lend vibrant power to this novel instrumental experiment." - Leonard Feather, Original liner notes The Jazz Workshop

Limited Edition: 5000 copies

3 CDs - $44.00

ADD TO WISHLIST

Tightly Arranged and Smoothly Executed Swing
In the mid fifties, Al Cohn, Joe Newman and Freddie Green were ubiquitous at RCA Victor jazz sessions. In 1955, they made five superb small group swing albums together for RCA with the group size ranging from septet to nonet. These wonderful sessions were issued as Cohn's The Natural Seven and Four Trumpets, One Tenor, Newman's All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging and Green's Mr. Rhythm. The material, arranged in equal portions by Ernie Wilkins, Manny Albam and Cohn on each album, included standards and Basie classics but leaned heavily on originals by the leaders and arrangers.

The spirit of Count Basie's Kansas City Seven informs all 61 selections. The sound of Basie's band played an influential role in the writing styles of Cohn, Wilkins and Albam. Cohn's Pres-inspired tenor and the work of Basie-ites Newman, Wilkins, Henry Coker and, of course, Freddie Green among others keep that joyous easy swing alive throughout.

Like the Basie band of the fifties, the music here is tightly arranged and smoothly executed swing with great charts and excellent, succinct solos played with a modern tinge against some of the hippest rhythm sections that jazz has to offer. Other sidemen include Urbie Green, Nat Pierce, Dick Katz, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson and Shadow Wilson.

This 3-CD set is mastered from the beautiful-sounding original tapes, all made at RCA's Webster Hall studio.

"Whether on mute or open horn, Joe's work is a delight to the ears - not merely because it is sane jazz in the midst of much that today is either overwritten or vacuous, but because it is always fresh, always swinging, always blown from the top-drawer of inspiration. And it is a remarkable tribute to all involved that this session, which ran from midnight to 10 A.M. - and which was, incidentally, captured by engineer Dick Gardner on one mike, around which all the musicians formed a circle, rising only to take their solos - produced jazz of this highly infectious sort. But in reality, it is undoubtedly true that regardless of the time of day or night, these men, in the midst of such telling arrangements, could not but blow wonderfully - and in these recordings, led and sparked by Joe Newman, they have all obviously engraved some of their most sincere, and jazzdom's most sparkling, efforts." - Jack Lewis and Bill Zeitung, Original liner notes to All I Wanna Do Is Swing

Read More About Al Cohn:
Track Listing, Personnel & Recording Dates »

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

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	*Sleeper*
Joe Newman was the big surprise for me - how great a trumpet this man played! Shadow Wilson on drums is also a treat. Al Cohn is his usual superb self. There's a lot of Basie in the music and I think some of the West Coast jazz of the time, specifically in the arrangements - at times hot and at times elegantly cool and intricate. This is a real sleeper of set, glad I grabbed this one.

	*All Hail Al Cohn*
I own a lot of them, but this is my favorite of the Mosaic Select series. While certainly not an unknown, Al Cohn was the most underrated arranger and tenor sax player in all of jazz. His playing here, in a relaxed, Basie-like small group setting, is the gold standard for straightahead, swinging jazz. Plus you've got colleagues like Joe Newman on trumpet (another criminally underrated player). It all adds up to three or so hours of pure listening joy.

	*No big egos*
Superb musicianship, great ensemble playing.

	*Solid*
If you like the small group Basie bands, then you'll this one. With Al Cohn, Ernie Wilkens, and Manny Alban doing the arranging this is sophisticated bluesy swing. Excellent soloists. Excellent rhythm sections. As solid as it gets.

	*A MUST HAVE*
If you like the Count Basie Orchestra, you must have this one!!!! Freddie Green still is the greatest swinging guitar

	*Lively*
Lively, subtle playing. The rhythm sections are consistently swinging. I like this select!

	*Consistently Inspired*
This is a great Select, right up there with the Art Pepper Select. Track after track of inspired music with wonderful arrangements. There's no dead weight in these performances - three excellent discs.

	*Glorious set!!*
What a glorious set this is. I believe that there is enough more Al Cohn RCA material (some with Zoot Sims) to constitute another Select. I hope Mosaic brings such a set out soon! This music is too good to lay unlistened to.

	*Fantastic!*
Great news to have these. NOW.....just keep on going right down the list of RCA's Jazz Workshop series (George Russell, Hal McKusick), as these have been poorly served organization-wise and sonic-wise on cd.