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Classic Jazz At The Philharmonic
Jam Sessions 1950-1957
(#275 – 10 CDs)

License Expired – Last Chance
On Sale $149; Regularly $169

A First-Ever Collection of the JATP 1950s Jam Sessions. JATP concerts from the 1940s were documented in 1998 on a 10-CD Verve boxed set. But until now, the 1950s concerts have been passed over for a retrospective. In fact, since the CD era began very little of the material from that span has been available at all.

Mosaic is proud to correct that oversight with our 10-CD release,  a defining set that documents the energy and invention of these phenomenal musicians and the adoring response from long-time fans.

The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note
& Impulse Studio Sessions
(#274 – 7 CDs)

License Expired – Last Chance

“From the moment he played one note you knew that was Freddie Hubbard. He had a sound that was as distinctive as Miles Davis, as Louis Armstrong, as Clifford Brown.” – Stanley Crouch

Presented in stunning audio quality these 10 studio albums on 7 CDs, musicians on these Blue Note and Impulse! dates run the gamut from the always-underrated Tina Brooks, to established royalty like Paul Chambers, Philly Jo Jones, and Hank Mobley just a year later. Other groupings through the years include Sam Jones, Cedar Walton,  Elvin Jones, Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Art Davis, Reggie Workman, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Eric Dolphy, and Joe Henderson.

Miles Davis
The 1974 Sy Johnson Interview

Enjoy arranger Sy Johnson’s tape of his hang at Miles Davis’s house in Manhattan. Johnson recorded this meeting on the afternoon of June 19, 1974, and he published two written versions. But nobody has heard this audio before, directly from Sy’s tape. The biggest difficulty with the tape is that Miles insisted on playing the music he had recorded that morning—loudly! This means, on one hand, that we get to hear outtakes of Miles’s Ellington tribute, “He Loved Him Madly.” But on the other hand, this made it difficult for Sy—and for us—to hear Miles, whose voice as you know was impaired. (As I have explained in two essays, and despite common lore, this was through no fault of his own, and he was deeply upset about it.) Meanwhile, there is quite a bit of unissued music on the tape. – Lewis Porter

Tommy Dorsey originally recorded “Well Git It” in the early 1940s; the uptempo number was climaxed by a rapid trumpet tradeoff by Ziggy Elman and Chuck Peterson. By 1954, trombonist Dorsey had reunited with his brother clarinetist-altoist Jimmy Dorsey and they were having some success with their television series Stage Show. Here is a very fast version of “Well Git It” that includes a hot clarinet solo from Jimmy Dorsey and a trumpet tradeoff by Charlie Shavers and Lee Castle. -Scott Yanow

When discussing the giants of modern jazz, names like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk often dominate the conversation. Yet, one name that deserves equal reverence is Sam Rivers — a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader whose influence helped shape the avant-garde jazz movement of the 20th century. His innovative approach to improvisation, composition, and performance pushed the boundaries of what jazz could be, leaving an indelible mark on generations of musicians.

The Complete Pharoah Sanders Theresa Recordings
Jazz Journal Review

Pharoah Sanders’ entire Theresa catalogue has now been resurrected and remastered thanks to Mosaic Records, and will come as a considerable surprise to those brought up on the flamethrowing Impulse! days. True, his screams and growls, and his use of multiphonics, split tones and overtones, remain, but it is his melodic and rhythmic intensity that now stand out, his clear delivery and honest approach. – Simon Adams, Jazz Journal

Classic Decca Recordings Of Bob Crosby

South Rampart Street Parade
November 16, 1937

Bob Crosby And The Orchestra: Yank Lawson, Charlie Spivak, Billy Butterfield (tp), Ward Sillaway, Warren Smith (tb), Matty Matlock (cl, as, arr), Joe Kearns (as), Eddie Miller (cl, ts), Gil Rodin (ts), Bob Zurke (p), Nappy Lamare (g), Bob Haggart (b, arr), Ray Bauduc (d).

It was one thing to arrange and play New Orleans and Chicago jazz compositions drawn from “old records” perhaps forgotten, another to create new music deeply in those idioms. South Rampart Street Parade is a multi-strain piece, full of variety, that can stand alongside the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and New Orleans Rhythm Kings classics. Many know this classic recording and can sing the solos, but its real depth lies in the textural-orchestral variety Haggart created. Its compositional density makes it the Crosby band’s New Orleans-flavored Harlem Air Shaft an orchestral evocation of a world, appropriate since Haggart cited Ellington as an influence.

The Art of the Story from the WBGO Archive
Ashley Kahn Provides his Essay

On this episode of The Art of the Story from the WBGO Archive (2002), acclaimed jazz author Ashley Kahn provides his essay on John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme album. A new edition of the Coltrane album was released in 2002. It included the original studio recording plus the only live performance of the complete work. The double CD is a result of research for the book, A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album. Its author, Ashley Kahn, prepared an essay on the project for Morning Edition that same year. You can hear Ashley Kahn’s entire essay by clicking above.

1920s Jazz
From New Orleans to New York to Europe

At the very dawn of jazz recording, with echoes of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band still in the air, very few jazz artists in the 1920s were able to capture a fresh new sound until the flood gates opened with the blossoming of Louis Armstrong. It was the powerful virtuosic display of Louis Armstrong that made the Roaring 1920s the era of “hot jazz”. Explore 1920s Jazz from New Orleans to New York to Europe.

The Night Lisbon Literally Caught Fire
Playing with Horace Silver

Some performances you never forget. This was one of them. – Todd Coolman

Duke Ellington
Jump For Joy

The inspiration came from a late-night party, a convergence of Hollywood glamour and nascent civil-rights activism with one of America’s greatest jazz orchestras. In the summer of 1941, as Americans warily regarded a world war that seemed to be edging ever closer to their shores, Duke Ellington staged what he would later call “the first ‘social significance’ show,” Jump for Joy.

As part of WFIU’s 75th anniversary celebration, they present Jump for Joy: Duke Ellington’s Celebratory Musical. This 60 minute (top of page link at WFIU) retrospective features nearly all of the music that Ellington’s 1941 Blanton-Webster band recorded for the show.

Sax Expat
Don Byas

Written by Boston-based writer Con Chapman, enjoyable, interesting and meticulously researched, the book is a splendid insight into Byas’s life, from his upbringing in the Midwest to his early days and development as a musician in California, his ascendency in New York and subsequent life in Europe.

Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946
(#277 – 10 CDs)

This limited edition set documents a recording legacy in a way never-before possible, with sessions from both Savoy and National, and many from obscure labels where ownership has faded into oblivion.

An incredible revelation is the massive trove of “lost” home recordings from the collection of Timme Rosenkrantz, the Danish jazz aficionado. The sessions from Timme Rosenkrantz’s apartment are nothing short of remarkable. Freed from the spotlight and demands of a paying audience, musicians could stretch out, explore, and invent. Only a few have ever made their way to LPs or CDs. Thanks to a special arrangement with the Byas estate for this very limited release, we’ve gained access to this historical legacy.

In fact, throughout this collection you’ll hear musicians at the peak of their talents, contributing to the evolution in jazz in ways that were often unknown contemporaneously.

The “Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946” features Byas in duet, quartet, quintette, and big band settings led by Byas and others including Emmett Berry, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Cozy Cole, Oscar Pettiford, Benny Carter, and more.

Sidemen are far too many to list here but include such important players as:

Charlie Shavers, Johnny Guarneri, Slam Stewart, Milt Hinton
J. C. Heard, Vic Dickinson, Benny Morton, Ike Quebec
Tiny Grimes, Red Norvo, Teddy Wilson, Lucky Thompson
Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker
Benny Harris, Serge Chaloff, J.J. Johnson, Max Roach

‘Cornbread’ Captures Lee Morgan
Amid Sonic and Cultural Shifts

Sixty years ago, celebrated trumpeter Lee Morgan stepped into the studio with a band of Blue Note Records all-stars for a session that became Cornbread. On the album, we hear Morgan branching out beyond the bright horn lines and feel-good grooves that brought him and Blue Note Records great success. The music also captures the tension between commerce and creativity that influenced both the trumpeter and the label in the mid-1960s. – (Click photo to read more at KNKX)

Count Basie And The Singers
1935-1965

The Anderson Brothers, Will and Peter, are 38-year-old identical twins who have been on the jazz scene now for almost 20 years. These brilliant reedmen who with their execution, precision and swing are keeping mainstream jazz alive and is an absolute joy to watch and hear as I did recently at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar in Nyack, NY. Here they alongside another “youngster”, guitarist Arnt Arntzen in a one hour radio show on Indiana Public Radio. – Scott Wenzel

John Coltrane – Meditations
Joe Lovano Interview

“But listening to my dad listening to this record Meditations was a trip, because it was a completely different approach – having a band with two drummers; and with Pharoah Sanders, two saxophones. I was hip to the quartet recordings of Coltrane, with Elvin and McCoy and Jimmy Garrison, but this was like another step in the music – the communication, the suite of compositions that flowed together with such beautiful interplay and collectiveness. I saw the idea of arriving from some place into another place throughout the recording, because of energy, ideas, creative flow as an ensemble.” –  Joe Lovano

The Complete Pharoah Sanders
Theresa Recordings

During the period that Sanders recorded for Theresa Records, his LPs showed a mature, reflective side, as to the more cutting edge playing found on his prior Impulse! catalog. Still heavily inspired by Coltrane, he retained his “sheets of sound” blowing for his new label, retaining his passion, but allowing more approachable compositions to emerge. His spiritual side remained, but a choice of standards and ballads helped balance his repertoire. Click for Audiophile Audition full review

“I’d go see Pharoah Sanders play at the Village Vanguard. He plays this amazing set, and then at the end of the set, brings out his prayer bowl. At that moment you realize you’re not in a jazz club anymore, that you’re in a spiritual space and that you’ve all come there unknowingly to become a congregation.” – Jason Moran

Lewis Porter brings us the voice of Elvin Jones, replying to questions from students at the Manhattan School of Music in 1998.  In this series of comments, Elvin muses on musical influences from his youth, the development of  his stylistic approach, and naturally, his tenure with John Coltrane.   – Nick Moy

The combination of Strayhorn’s composition, Ellington’s piano accompaniment and the most individualistic and haunting sound that was the alto of Johnny Hodges, lends itself to a rendition of “Passion Flower” that will have you reaching for the Kleenex in its sheer beauty. – Scott Wenzel

Discussing his choices for the BBC Radio’s show “Desert Island Discs” in 2001, it came to no surprise that the late drummer of the Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts, picked a couple of jazz recordings. In a recent Far Out magazine piece, Watts (who had led a big band and smaller jazz units on occasion) discusses his picks. – Scott Wenzel

“The way I saw it, Julian was one of the most completely alive human beings I had ever encountered. Seeing and hearing him on the bandstand, you realized the several things that went to make up that aliveness: he was both figuratively and literally larger than life-sized; he was a multifaceted man and it seemed as if all those facets were constantly in evidence, churning away in front of you; and each aspect of him was consistent with every other part—so that you were automatically convinced that it was totally real and sincere, and you were instantly and permanently charmed.” – Orrin Keepnews

Spiritual jazz doesn’t just ask you to listen — it asks you to feel, transcend, and awaken. Emerging in the 1960s and ’70s, spiritual jazz fused the searching soul of gospel, the improvisational fire of free jazz, and the cosmic consciousness of Eastern philosophy, creating a sound that was meditative, ecstatic, and politically charged all at once. At a time of social upheaval and personal awakening, artists like John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane pushed jazz beyond the nightclub and into the realm of the sacred. Their music became a vehicle for both personal transcendence and collective liberation. – Steve Wright

From his ‘Birth of Cool’ era recordings during the late 1940s to the expansive psychedelic jazz mastery of an album like Bitches Brew, Davis was never an artist to stay in one place for too long. Rather than resting on the laurels of his many incredible grooves, the trumpeter chose instead to look to the future, repeatedly reinventing himself and his sound. – Ben Forrest

As the jazz world rejoices in the revival of classics from the Strata-East label, co-founder Charles Tolliver and his son Ched reveal some details behind the company’s founding and the way Strata-East is conducting its life these days, including the reissue series. – Nick Moy

Duke Ellington
A Half-Hour Of Magic

A precious moment in time is captured here from the Cotton Club where Duke Ellington and band are broadcasting over the Mutual airwaves on a Thursday night, March 18, 1937 at 11:30 pm. Thanks to Michael Steinman for presenting this on his jazzlives site. – Scott Wenzel

The one and ONLY Nat Hentoff

On the centennial of Nat Hentoff’s birth, Loren Schoenberg resurrects a wide-ranging 2007 interview he conducted with Hentoff.  Schoenberg’s searching questioning makes plain Hentoff’s profound commitment to not only jazz, but matters of cultural advancement and social justice. – Nick Moy

Three Pianos, Three Singers

Be prepared to be knocked out. Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby backed by Paul Smith, George Shearing and Joe Bushkin from Bing’s Oldsmobile program over ABC-TV in 1959. And when have you ever heard Bing’s theme “Where The Blue Of The Night” swung like this! – Scott Wenzel

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were a pioneering group of women who proved that jazz wasn’t just man’s work! An excellent survey of their legacy and artistry is a piece here written by broadcaster Dave Radlauer for the Syncopated Times. – Scott Wenzel

49th Annual Jazz Record Collectors’ Bash

This Thursday, June 19^th through Saturday, June 21^st in Edison, NJ will once again be the venue for the annual New Jersey Jazz Record Bash. You’ll find 78s, LPs, 45s, CDs, DVDs, books and special films on Friday and Saturday night. Mosaic’s Scott Wenzel will once again have personal items from his own collection plus Mosaic sets at special Bash prices.

Buck Clayton
Profiles In Jazz

An excellent Profiles In Jazz found in the Syncopated Times, comes from Scott Yanow and his look at the very busy and fruitful career of trumpeter Buck Clayton.

Bill Evans
Interview

By way of Marc Myers comes this revival of  George Klabin’s 1966 interview with Bill Evans, principally dwelling on the pianist’s memories of Scott LaFaro.  It remarkably brings both Evans and LaFaro — not to mention the idea and ideal of the piano trio — to life. – Nick Moy

The Fertile Mind of Andrew Hill

In August, 1986, I produced the first Mt. Fuji/Blue Note Jazz Festival outside of Tokyo. The affair was mostly all-star bands playing music from Blue Note recordings of the fifties and sixties. I invited Andrew and put together an ensemble of Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins. Don Sickler transcribed a set’s worth of Andrew’s tunes that Andrew and I had agreed upon.

Of course, he arrived in Tokyo with a suitcase of new music, all of it gorgeous, and all of it intricate. We managed a couple of rehearsals before the outdoor festival began. The winds were high that first day because a typhoon was heading straight for us. So all of Bobby Hutcherson’s parts blew away three minutes into the set. He winged it as best he could. Andrew kept getting up during tunes, running around to everyone’s music stands. Finally, Joe and Woody came over to me in the wings and said, “This music is hard enough to play. Can you get him to stop rewriting it while we’re playing it?”

Ah, the fertile mind. – Michael Cuscuna

Black Fire
Pumpkin
Alfred Lion called Andrew Hill his last great discovery and “Black Fire” was the pianist’s brilliant Blue Note debut. Despite the originality and complexity of Hill’s compositions, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis and Roy Haynes sound like they’ve been playing them for years.

Mel Lewis: The Big Band Man
by Dan Morgenstern

Versatility is a key word when describing what drummer Mel Lewis was about during his 40 plus years as a session drummer, sideman and leader of both small group and big band jazz. Articles by both Rick Mattingly and Dan Morgenstern are combined in a recent CerraJazz Substack. – Scott Wenzel

The One Guitarist
Jerry Garcia Said Nobody Came Close To

There was one jazz guitarist whose brilliance Jerry Garcia couldn’t help but admire, and who he noted as having a style and resilience that was nothing short of an inspiration to him.

Ornette Coleman
Intro To Harmolodics

Ornette Coleman made numerous attempts during his lifetime to explain his concept of “harmolodic” music. This film, with ample footage of Ornette in conversation, constitutes another such attempt — this time both valiant and arguably enlightening.   – Nick Moy

Keith Jarrett
Interview, Notes and Charlie Haden’s point of view.

In this, Keith Jarrett’s 80th year, Howard Mandel resurrects an extended interview to revisit and reconsider Jarrett’s pianism and musical life.  Jarrett shares some fascinating ruminations —  including observations comparing two of his celebrated bassists, Charlie Haden and Gary Peacock. – Nick Moy

Jimmy Mundy
Swing Era Barn-Burner

Jazzwax brings a well-deserved tribute to Jimmy Mundy, a marvelous arranger who worked for a myriad of big bands throughout his illustrious career. Some wonderful examples of his craft are included.  – Scott Wenzel

Art Tatum
Genius in Prospect and Retrospect

Need to know more about the genius of Art Tatum? Check out Steve Cerra’s substack where the legendary cornetist Rex Stewart (from his book Jazz Masters Of The Thirties) shares many a Tatum story. – Scott Wenzel

A Tone Parallel to Duke Ellington
by Jack Chambers

Byron Nilsson’s gives a thumbs up in a recent Syncopated Times on a new book from Jack Chambers entitled A Tone Parallel to Duke Ellington. As Nilsson explains “…(the book) proposes a number of categories that become lenses through which particular pieces of music are studied, revealing, in many cases, fascinating aspects of the man.” – Scott Wenzel

Anthony Braxton
Composition No. 82 for 4 Orchestras

Michael Cuscuna’s backyard was the setting for Anthony Braxton’s account of how he created and recorded his groundbreaking Composition No. 82 for 4 Orchestras.

10 Essential Herbie Hancock Songs
That Showcase His Genius Across Jazz, Funk, and Fusion.

Jamar Jackson’s essay ponders ten compositions of Herbie Hancock — really recordings of Hancock compositions — that have spoken to, and at times exemplified, a succession of musical generations and currents.  – Nick Moy

Stanley Cowell & The Piano Choir

The current revival of Strata-East Records is an occasion for rejoicing. And as Phil Freeman attests, it’s another chance to give one of its co-founders, pianist Stanley Cowell, his justly deserved acclaim.  – Nick Moy

Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963 – 1970
Back In Stock

I could scarcely put it better than Richard Cook and Brian Morton in The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: “If Hutcherson were a saxophonist, trumpeter, or pianist, he would be regarded as a major figure in jazz, but the vibes still have a slightly eccentric standing, a prejudice which has kept Bobby on the margins.” He’s still hugging those margins eight years after his death at 75 — even though he expanded the expressive possibilities of his instrument as broadly and definitively as any post-bop innovator.

Hutcherson could make the vibraphone do things no other instrument could, whether applying harmonic latticework beneath and around horn sections or pressing forth his own intricate and arresting variations. Having this seven-disc compilation of Hutcherson’s ground-breaking albums from the 1960s should once and for all make the case for his lasting significance. – Customer Review

A Love Supreme at 60
Thoughts on Coltrane’s Masterwork

Sixty years following the release of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, Bill Milkowski elicited reflections on its influence from John McLaughlin, Branford Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Ravi Coltrane. – Nick Moy

Five Easy Masterpieces
An Introduction To Jazz Fusion

Reuben Cross selects five recordings that could serve as points of entry for understanding the jazz fusion phenomenon. Your choices may differ, but I’ll attest that at least two of his picks — Head Hunters and On the Corner — spent an inordinate amount of time on my turntable. – Nick Moy

Kenny Clarke
Jazz Pioneer

As Steven Cerra aptly puts it in this article for his CerraJazz Substack, “the truth of the matter is, Kenny Clarke is perhaps more responsible for the evolution of modern jazz drumming than any other single individual”. Included is a marvelous interview conducted by Ed Thigpen with Klook. – Scott Wenzel

Woody Herman
Thundering Herd, 1977

It seems that ever since Woody Herman led his first big band in 1936, he had a knack of bringing together outstanding arrangers and musicians that excelled over other bands throughout the years. One period of the Herman Herds legacy does get overlooked are the bands Woody led during the 1970s. Mike Myers brings the 1977 Herd into better perspective. – Scott Wenzel

Ella Fitzgerald

Will Friedwald is correct in his recent Substack post about the quality of material Ella Fitzgerald chose to perform live and record. A wonderful look at the First Lady of Song’s repertoire is presented here. – Scott Wenzel

Bitches Brew
55 Years Later

Hard to believe that more than a half-century has passed since Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew turned so many heads for the first time.  All the more remarkable that so much of this recording still strikes so many as so fresh. – Nick Moy

Jazz Is Freedom

Jason Moran has been effectively elucidating the wisdom of musical elders — among them, Thelonious Monk, James Reese Europe, and now, Duke Ellington.  Elizabeth Alexander explains why Moran’s efforts matter. – Nick Moy

Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946
Back In Stock

“Don Byas was way ahead of Coltrane on those sheets of sound. He was trying to make the tenor saxophone sound like Art Tatum. He and Coltrane had the same idea for the same reason. They both had heard Art’s seamless runs on the piano. Don was trying to do that on the tenor back then. He was head and shoulders above everyone else. Don was also playing bebop and pre-bop. What I mean by pre-bop is he was playing things that led up to bebop. They were long phrases and new ways of using harmonies so that they sounded like the dominant melody. This stuff hadn’t been done yet until Don started playing them.” – Billy Taylor

London Jazz Review
Track after track in this collection offer ample opportunity to hear Byas’s remarkable versatility in varied environments, formations and styles: quartets, quintets, sextets, jam sessions, V-Disc sessions and even big bands. He gets down and funky for the jukebox market with blues shouter Joe Turner and boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson. He recorded prolifically with the fine pianist Johnny Guarnieri who had the ability to move seamlessly between Count Basie minimalism and a more ornamented style. He also cut a couple of storming sessions with irrepressible pianist Erroll Garner, recently arrived from Pittsburgh.

And then, the new movement’s manifesto, some of the earliest pure bebop recordings, now rightfully awarded classic status. In January, 1945, together with leader Dizzy Gillespie, trombonist Trummy Young, Clyde Hart (an excellent pianist who only had two more months to live), bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Shelly Manne, Byas cut Gillespie’s ‘Good Bait’, ‘Salted (sic) Peanuts’ and ‘Bebop’ for the Manor label. The revolutionaries were on the march.
Read Full Review Click Here 

Jazz Lives Review
The expansive essay that accompanies this music is the work of the brilliant Loren Schoenberg, a deep student of the music and a superb explicator (ask his Juilliard students) as well as a renowned tenor saxophonist himself. Photographs completely new to me, and the usual exquisite Mosaic documentation.

I will say that some of my readers, hearing months ago “Don Byas,” “1944-46,” and “Mosaic Records,” in the same sentence, will find this posting superfluous because they have already been delighting in the ten CDs in the box. But for those who might not know or might be tempted to say, “Oh, I’ll get that box when my ship comes in,” I urge them not to wait. Limited editions vanish while good-natured procrastinators dawdle.
Read Full Review Click Here

Thelonious Monk Orchestra
At Town Hall

Unlike fellow modern pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk did not pay substantial dues in the big bands.  While Monk held the piano chair briefly in Gillespie’s orchestra, and had heard his “Round Midnight” introduced by Cootie Williams’ band, his music seemed resolutely small group oriented.

At the close of 1958, however, with his quartet disbanded and yet another licensing hassle temporarily keeping him out of New York City clubs, Monk embraced his advisors’ idea of presenting a concert featuring both a reorganized quartet and a larger ensemble. – Bob Blumenthal

Herbie Hancock
BBC Interview

Herbie Hancock, early adopter extraordinaire, is still exploring technological waters to quench his thirst for innovation.  And here, he also expounds on the influence Miles Davis exerted on his development. – Nick Moy

Louis Armstrong
Captivates Prague 60 Years Ago

In 1965 the great Armstrong and his All Stars travelled to Prague and played to packed houses during the 10 days he stayed there. Keeping politics aside, the music was a smash hit as discussed by Jakub Ferenčík – Scott Wenzel

Fletcher Henderson

Ethan Iverson tells of the importance and extraordinary piano work performed by Fletcher Henderson during “Smack”s coming onto the scene in the early 1920s. – Scott Wenzel

Maurice Ravel
Jazz Connections

The cross-pollination of Maurice Ravel and the jazz world bore much fruit, both for Ravel and for jazz.  Nate Chinen explains how Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Billy Strayhorn and Herbie Hancock, among others, borrowed from Ravel, and how Ravel’s works in turn reflected the influence of jazz. – Nick Moy

Roy Haynes
Powerhouse Jazz Drummer

Roy Haynes fell just short of marking his 100th birthday.  Kevin Whitehead assembled this lively birthday centennial retrospective of the drummer’s accomplishments. – Nick Moy

Sun Ra’s
Full Lecture & Reading List

Students at the University of California, Berkeley had the chance to see Sun Ra in a professorial light.  Open Culture passes along one lecture from that inspired course offering, along with a syllabus that only Sun Ra would have compiled. – Nick Moy

George Wettling
The most important drummer in the Chicago style of jazz

The hard-driving yet tasteful drummer, George Wettling, knew how to energize the rhythm section, not to mention an entire band, with his flare and enthusiasm. He was a major contributor to the big bands of Berigan, Whiteman and Shaw but it was in those Condon led small groups where he flourished. Steven Cerra relates the greatness of Wettling in a recent Substack. – Scott Wenzel

Classic Vanguard Jazz Piano Sessions

On six CDs, “Classic Vanguard Jazz Piano Sessions” contains 88 compositions, many of which will be new to jazz listeners who weren’t around in the days on 10-inch vinyl. Our deluxe set includes an updated and corrected discography and one of our famous booklets featuring many vintage photos and a track-by-track appreciation by noted jazz historian Thomas Cunniffe.

It’s a shame that the bulk of these recordings have been unavailable for so long. We encourage you to snap up a set before our collection — extremely limited — disappears as well.

As critic Whitney Balliet wrote at the time regarding the Ruby Braff/Larkins duets, “For sheer inspiration and first-rate creativity, these should find a permanent place among the greater efforts of recorded jazz.”

‘A Love Supreme’ at 60

As John Coltrane’s masterwork “A Love Supreme” turns 60, an array of musicians across a broad landscape ponder the recording’s significance and its impact on their lives. – Nick Moy

Jaki Byard
Forgotten Genius

Allen Lowe gives us another chance to appreciate the perpetually neglected Jaki Byard. Don’t miss the clip of Byard’s marvelous duet with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. – Nick Moy

Jimmie Blanton
Before Ellington!

Considered to be one of the first bassists to be featured prominently in either a small group or big band is Jimmie Blanton, whose modern approach to accompanying and soloing was highly influential. Blanton’s very short musical life is captured mostly on record with Duke Ellington, but here, thanks to Playback With Lewis Porter, we have Blanton on record before joining the Duke. – Scott Wenzel

Jimmie Blanton Part 1

Jimmie Blanton Part 2

Sonny Rollins
Audio Interview with Ira Gitler

Lewis Porter unearthed this 1994 interview Ira Gitler conducted with Sonny Rollins, in front of an audience at Manhattan School of Music. Rollins is expansive in recalling his early Sugar Hill days, and in reflecting on some of his venerable cohorts, including Miles Davis and the overlooked drummer Ike Day. – Nick Moy

“A Virtuosity of the Heart”
Early Bebop Piano Reconsidered

Allen Lowe’s analysis of the role jazz pianists made during a period of musical change from swing to bop is ably discussed here in a recent Jazz Times article. – Scott Wenzel

Sidney Catlett

Jazz Lives presents a rare audio clip from an Eddie Condon “Floor Show” television program from 1948 over WPIX in New York. Spotlighted in this clip is the multifaceted drummer Big Sid Catlett. – Scott Wenzel

Louis Armstrong
Stomp Off, Let’s Go

A marvelous in-depth interview on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross interviewing Ricky Riccardi who has just written “Stomp Off, Let’s Go” the last in a trilogy of biographies on Armstrong. – Scott Wenzel

Michael Cuscuna
Interview by Lon Armstrong

Ethan Iverson assembled this cornucopia, including ruminations on Stanley Cowell, the final days of Slugs’, and Art Blakey.  The centerpiece for me: a revival of musings from Michael Cuscuna, on Alfred Lion and the Blue Note legacy. – Nick Moy

Cootie Williams
Jumping in the 1940s

One of the highlights of Mosaic’s Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions (now out of print) was the complete output of the Cootie Williams band. The band was an excellent outfit during a time when many musicians were offering themselves to the war effort and big band personnel changed constantly. Jazzwax brings us some examples of this forgotten group which included at times sidemen Eddie Vinson, Sam Taylor and Bud Powell. – Scott Wenzel

John Scofield Interview

‘The guitar is a monster that you have to try to tame’

This amiable and thoughtful interview with John Scofield delves into the guitarist’s roots in New Orleans and Boston, his approach to music and its business, and, naturally, the guitar.  – Nick Moy

Miles Davis
Agharta & Pangaea @ 50

Miles Davis recorded the music for “Agartha” and “Pangaea” 50 years ago.  Phil Freeman, in his Burning Ambulance, makes a convincing case for their stature in the pantheon of Miles Davis’s work.  – Nick Moy

Bird Lives, Dies, Flies
By Richard Wlliams

Last October the Verve label released on LP and CD a mix of thirteen Charlie Parker items that were never meant for commercial release. All were recorded in Kansas City with four cut at a studio in 1944 with guitar and drums, while the other nine sides are from home discs in 1941 (with Jay McShann’s band) and 1951 (a jam session at the home of a friend). The ones from 1944 have seen the light of day but the rest is newly heard Bird. Here is “Cherokee” from the 1951 date. – Scott Wenzel

Barry Altschul
Before & After Test

Barry Altschul, still active at 82, turns this listening test with Ted Panken into a series of revealing reflections on his decades in a New York teeming with musical innovation.  – Nick Moy

5 Minutes That Will
Make You Love Blue Note Records

This label’s 86-year run has been one of the most storied in jazz — and it’s still going. Hear tracks by Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Robert Glasper and more from the Blue Note catalog. The New York Times asked 14 musicians and writers to name a favorite song to introduce someone to the Blue Note catalog.

Jimmie Blanton

The bassist Jimmie Blanton is considered to be one of the first to be featured prominently in either a small group or big band and his modern concept was highly influential. His very short musical life is captured on record with Duke Ellington but here, thanks to Playback With Lewis Porter, we have Blanton on record before joining the Duke. – Scott Wenzel

Clifford Brown

The Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet created one of the very greatest string of small-group recordings in jazz history, worthy of consideration alongside the Hot Fives and Sevens of Louis Armstrong and the quintets of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. – Bob Blumenthal

Customer Reviews
A New Feature

Mosaic Records has a long history of receiving thoughtful feedback from our valued customers. In the distant past, we would receive an abundance of letters, which inspired us to create a dedicated brochure showcasing customer reviews (though not the one shown here).

Now, we invite you to share your own experiences on our website. Your insights will guide fellow customers in making informed choices.

We appreciate your contributions!

Freddie Hubbard 1938-2008
A Tribute

Steven Cerra has written a brief homage to Freddie Hubbard — an invitation to listen to Hubbard’s classic composition “Crisis.” Hubbard’s recording of “Crisis” included in Mosaic’s currently available box set, (”The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note and Impulse Studio Sessions”) exemplifies the distinctive trumpet voice that seemed ubiquitous on so many touchstones of the art form.  – Nick Moy

Stomp Off, Let’s Go
The Early Years of Louis Armstrong

Ricky Riccardi’s trilogy of Louis Armstrong is now complete. His latest biography on the life of Louis Armstrong, “Stomp Off, Let’s Go” is what we have come to expect from Riccardi – a deep dig into the early years of Pops that is chock full of eye-opening research and a great read. Michael Steinman explains further in Jazz Lives. – Scott Wenzel

Teddy Wilson
Profiles in Jazz

Teddy Wilson was as tasteful and technically precise (but swinging) as one can find at the piano. He was also breaking racial barriers 12 years before Jackie Robinson did so with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Scott Yanow gives a lesson on the life of Wilson via the Syncopated Times. – Scott Wenzel

Columbia Records in the Late 1970s

In the mid-to-latter years of the 1970s a major American record label was home to an impressive and wide-ranging array of jazz artists such as Dexter Gordon, Weather Report, Woody Shaw, Herbie Hancock, and others who brought the label both critical and commercial success. In the next hour I’ll feature their music, and we’ll also hear from jazz producer Michael Cuscuna, who helmed the records made by Gordon and Shaw and who was close friends with Bruce Lundvall, the Columbia executive who helped shape this notable roster of musicians.  It’s “A Winning Season Of Jazz: Bruce Lundvall And Columbia Records In The Late 1970s”… coming up on this edition of Night Lights. – David Brent Johnson

Chick Webb
The Rightful King of Swing

A quick glimpse into the life of Chick Webb whose drumming had been praised by all who had the good fortune of seeing him perform live. Jazzwax has Marc Myers sends our way some excellent audio examples of the great Webb. – Scott Wenzel

Dickie’s Dream
For the Ages

How can anyone tire of this immortal footage from the CBS TV show “The Seven Lively Arts”? The year is 1957 in this live TV jam on “Dickie’s Dream” and it features Count Basie, Jo Jones, Benny Morton, Joe Newman, Dickie Wells, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Vic Dickenson, Roy Eldridge,, Emmett Berry and . Such power, raw energy and creative solos. For the ages. – Scott Wenzel

Lee Morgan
Whisper Not

Lee Morgan (tp), Kenny Rogers (as), Hank Mobley (ts), Horace Silver (p), Paul Chambers (b), Charlie Persip (d). Arranged by Benny Golson. December 2, 1956

This Lee Morgan session clearly had rich harmonic possibilities with the presence of two saxophones, and they were exploited by turning all of the writing over to Golson and Marshall, who even received billing in the personnel listing on the back of Blue Note 1541. The result is far more attention to organizational detail. Charlie Persip, like Golson, was a mate of Lee Morgan’s in the Gillespie band. Horace Silver returns, and Paul Chambers is on bass.

“I was in tune with everything the day I wrote Whisper Not,” Golson once told Nat Hentoff, “and it was done in half an hour. It came so quickly I could hardly get the melody down.”

The introductory four-bar pickup is the only thing about Golson’s jazz standard that has not become familiar over the years, and this debut recording is further enhanced by the composer’s voicings on the ensemble choruses and in backgrounds to the saxophone solos.

After employing open horn for the theme statement, Lee Morgan mutes his trumpet for two solo choruses precocious in their taste, ideas and swift flashes of technique. If Sharpe was close to McLean, Rodgers fits more comfortably in the Cannonball camp, with a pre-Bird tinge in his sound similar to Julian Adderley’s.

Hank Mobley rolls into a set of changes that show the tenor saxophonist at his best, while tremolo and on-the-beat moments during Silver’s chorus recall one of his “schoolmates,” Freddie Redd. The sextet is really playing as a band on the out chorus, with Chambers’ invaluable cut time a key element. – Bob Blumenthal

Dave Brubeck
How to Make Sense of His Piano Style

Lewis Porter reflects on the oft-maligned piano style of Dave Brubeck, and suggests that there may be more to Brubeck’s method than his detractors may realize. – Nick Moy

Jas Obrecht, author and former editor of Guitar Player magazine, conducted this 1981 phone interview with Barney Kessel. The subject was Charlie Christian who Kessel had known and his wealth of information and keen observations about the guitar legend are startling. – Scott Wenzel

While it is impossible to single out a recording from 1938 that is fully representative of Ellington’s late-thirties compositional methods, “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” says as much about what he could now do as anything else that he recorded in that year of grace. It opens with a four-bar rhythm-section introduction that sets a medium-slow walking tempo, at the end of which Hodges enters with the main theme, a swooping tune in which an octave-wide leap is balanced by off-beat syncopations.

Hodges, Brown, and Harry Carney pass the melodic baton from hand to hand, alternately accompanied by “ooh-wah” brass riffs and choralelike reed harmonies. In the second chorus, the full band enters and restates the theme (one of Ellington’s favorite structural devices) in a warmly scored block-chord ensemble variation, with Bigard soloing on the bridge. Then the first half of the opening chorus returns, transformed this time into a “sumptuously velvety” twelve-bar coda (Gunther Schuller’s phrase) that fades down and out.

Like “Old Man Blues” before it, this dancer-friendly ballad is structured so imaginatively that the casual listener is likely to overlook the resourcefulness with which Ellington has juxtaposed the instrumental colors on his palette. – Terry Teachout

Classic Vanguard Small Group Swing Sessions
Reviews

Jeff Krow – Full review at Audiophile Audition
These Vanguard sessions are quite special and historical, as many of these albums have not been fully released for over 70 years, outside of the Japanese market. Both John Hammond, and his contemporary, Norman Granz of the Verve family of labels, helped keep the Swing jazz scene vibrant, as bop was emerging.

The seven CDs in this set, most in the 70 minute range, feature the best of recording artists of that period, whether they be veterans like Coleman Hawkins, Lucky Thompson, Sir Charles Thompson, and Edmond Hall, or new comers (and now legends) like Kenny Burrell. There is a contagious joy here, with generous horn solos, sparkling piano, and drummers that are adept on pushing the beat, but also laying back with tasty brush work, letting the front line take charge. The list of pianists involved in these sessions is beyond impressive, as they include boogie woogie, blues, and swing stalwarts. 

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Michael Steinman-Full review at Jazz Lives

This Mosaic set, the first of two devoted to the Vanguards, is a delight. Compact informative notes by Thomas Cunniffe point out details, not only historical but musical, that listeners might have missed. Session photographs, new to me, are delightful. And even though the original microgroove Vanguard issues sounded beautiful, the sound on the seven CDs, taken from the original master takes, is a marvel.

…the fluid swing to be heard on these discs, the remarkable sound of individualists “telling their stories” both in solo and ensemble, has not been surpassed. If you know a younger aspiring jazz instrumentalist or vocalist, a gift of this set would teach more, by subtle sweet osmosis, than a whole Jazz Studies course at some institution devoted to such pursuits. I do not exaggerate. 

Certificate Of Appreciation
Home For Our Troops

Thank you to all our customers who purchased this set and Mosaic Records donated 10% of all sales to Home for Our Troops.

We wanted to personally reach out and thank you and those that supported the Mosaic Records Independent
Fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops (HFOT). Your support helps our mission and allows us to build and
donate even more specially adapted custom homes, empowering severely injured post-9/11 Veterans and
their families who have already sacrificed so much for our country. – HFOT

Duke Ellington
Unknown Interviews and Music

Playback with Lewis Porter continues to delight with two previously unknown interviews with Duke Ellington from 1940 with the Maestro playing his latest composition “Never No Lament” and his thoughts on composers and his own compositions. Also included is an equally rare television appearance over CBS as a masked guest on a Halloween edition of The Faye Emerson Show” in 1950. – Scott Wenzel

Paul Desmond Centennial
He Was Always “Pure”

Paul Desmond has reached his birthday centennial.  Ethan Iverson summons a reprise of an earlier assessment of Desmond’s contribution to the alto saxophone canon; and he further entices us with an encounter between Desmond and Lee Konitz.  – Nick Moy

Sid Catlett
Recollections by Rex Stewart

Big Sid Catlett is the subject of Steven Cerra’s excerpt from “Jazz Masters Of The 1930s” a book written by cornetist Rex Stewart that quickly became one of the all-time great print recollections of this period in jazz. This is a highly recommended read into Stewart’s first hand reminisces of Big Sid and the world of jazz during this period. – Scott Wenzel

50 Great Jazz Albums From 1974

We have, of late, looked to years like 1959 as bellwether years for jazz recordings. Here, Phil Freeman makes a case for 1974, after fifty years now, as another intriguing year for great jazz releases — when free jazz stood shoulder-to-shoulder with fusion. Freeman naturally cites the Cecil Taylor 1974 Town Hall Concert recordings as a case in point; although consider, too, “The Roscoe Mitchell Solo Saxophone Concerts;” Keith Jarrett’s first studio recording with his quartet with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian; Stanley Clarke’s eponymous recording; and an underrated favorite of mine, Clifford Jordan’s “Glass Bead Games.” – Nick Moy

Talking with Trummy Young
A Fan’s Memories

Trummy Young, although a member of Louis Armstrong’s All Stars during the 1950s, is still an underappreciated trombonist who was a major cog in the success of the Jimmie Lunceford band and was an inspiration to many modern trombonists like Eddie Bert. The Syncopated Times brings light to Young’s history and individualistic style. – Scott Wenzel

DownBeat Blindfold Test
Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham makes some astute observations about a number of his percussive cohorts in this wide-ranging DownBeat blindfold test.

Michael Cuscuna (1948–2024)
An Evening of Performances & Remembrances

Monday, December 9 at 7:00pm
Saint Peter’s Church
619 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
www.saintpeters.org

Featuring: Peter Bernstein, Otis Brown III, Gerald Cannon, Bill Charlap, Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Kevin Hays, Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Renee Rosnes, Charles Tolliver & more…

Michael Cuscuna was one of the best friends jazz music has had. It’s simply too limiting to call him the leading jazz reissue producer of the past fifty years — which he certainly was – but he was much more.

As a producer of new jazz, R&B and rock recordings; As co-founder of the leading reissue record label Mosaic Records; As a historian, journalist and deejay; As the man who singlehandedly kept the Blue Note Records legacy on life support when no one else was paying attention — Cuscuna played a singular role in the world of jazz by not limiting himself to any one lane. His selfless dedication to Jazz and the Jazz community is known around the world, and he leaves behind his own rich legacy of a life well lived.

Classic Vanguard Small Group Swing Sessions
(#280 – 7 CDs)

LOCKED AWAY MORE THAN 70 YEARS —
VANGUARD JAZZ FINALLY GETS A RETROSPECTIVE TRIBUTE

Preorder Sale Price $119; Regularly $129
Expected Release Date December 10th
Preorder Now!

A Night At Birdland
A Historic Jazz Milestone

“We have something special down here at Birdland this evening,” Pee Wee Marquette announces as he introduces the Art Blakey Quintet on Volume 1 of A Night at Birdland. The diminutive, frequently hyperbolic and notorious emcee did not know how special, for the music that Blakey’s band made and the recordings on which it was captured were historic for a variety of reasons. – Bob Blumenthal

Duke Ellington
Man with Four Sides

Duke Ellington not only spent his life composing and arranging timeless hit songs for his big band but another passion was for the stage. Here Lewis Porter shares with us the story and musical examples of one of Duke’s unproduced shows called “Man With Four Sides” which was for the most part written and copyrighted in 1955. – Scott Wenzel

Mike Stern Joins Miles Davis

How did guitarist Mike Stern end up  playing with Miles Davis?  Here’s Stern’s version of what happened. – Nick Moy

Lou Donaldson

Lou Donaldson, a Charlie Parker-influenced alto saxophonist who played major roles in the invention of two major jazz movements and bridged the gap between jazz, soul and what he called “swinging bebop,” died on November 9. He was 98. – Marc Myers

Classic Bobby Hutcherson
Blue Note Sessions 1963 – 1970

Eleven Classic Studio Albums on Seven CDs!

The set is more than a compilation. It’s music history.

Bobby Hutcherson’s very first date as a leader for Blue Note was “The Kicker” in 1963, though it was held back and went unreleased until 1999, possibly because Joe Henderson on saxophone steals a lot of the thunder from the date’s purported leader. From his second session, “Dialogue,” his growing association with new music was becoming clear. By his third date, 1965’s “Components,” Hutcherson’s authority over the music became established.

From then on, he was writing a substantial number of the compositions on each date and the music was not limited by one style or genre, giving him ample opportunities to offer new work, up-tempo pieces, and ballads. An exceptional writer, Hutcherson had a wonderful approach on ballads and an unparalleled ability to use sustaining notes to move and blend in ways that almost completely disguise the mallet’s attack. There is never an doubt when you are hearing Hutcherson, his style is that distinctive.

Delta Rhythm Boys
Two Film Discoveries of “One O’Clock Jump”

Mark Cantor is the world’s greatest jazz film researcher and historian. His latest filmographies of the Soundies from the 1940s are akin to anything Brian Rust or Tom Lord has done toward jazz discography. Here are some of his latest discoveries of “One O’ Clock Jump” and other examples of the Basie theme as presented by Lewis Porter. – Scott Wenzel

Big Joe Turner
Flip Flop And Fly

“Big” Joe Turner began shouting the blues in the mid-1930s and he continued to do so until his death in . A major influence on rhythm and blues and rock and roll during the 1950s, one of his biggest hits was “Flip Flop and Fly” which was later covered by The Blues Brothers. Here’s a live version from 1966 in Europe. – Scott Wenzel

Classic Jazz At The Philharmonic
Jam Sessions 1950-1957

A First-Ever Collection
JATP 1950s Jam Sessions

JATP concerts from the 1940s were documented in 1998 on a 10-CD Verve boxed set. But until now, the 1950s concerts have been passed over for a retrospective. In fact, since the CD era began very little of the material from that span has been available at all.

Mosaic is proud to correct that oversight with our 10-CD release, Classic Jazz at the Philharmonic Jam Sessions (1950-1957), a defining set that documents the energy and invention of these phenomenal musicians and the adoring response from long-time fans.

Django Reinhardt

“Django Reinhardt’s had the ability to riff with abandon without compromising expressiveness and he could count among his admirers Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins.” – Alan Goodman

Tony Williams

One drum legend’s admiration of another: Charlie Watts explains how and why, of all the drummers who played with Miles Davis, Tony Williams most deeply impressed and influenced Watts, and by extension, the propulsive sound of the Rolling Stones.  – Nick Moy

Nat King Cole

In one of early television’s most daring but delightful programs was to let NBC give Nat King Cole his own prime time show even if it was during the short period of November 5, 1956 to December 17, 1957. As guests for the October 15, 1957 show, Nat brought on the Jazz At The Philharmonic troupe along with Norman Granz. Thankfully, there is a brand new clearer print of this remarkable show which we send to you via JazzWax – Scott Wenzel

Don Byas
Review

“Byas dominates the strip of turf between Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker”; before reflecting: “Hard these days to recognize just how highly regarded Byas once was until one actually hears him”. –  The Penguin Guide to Jazz