Browsing the Mosaic site (always a dangerous enterprise), I’ve decided I want these lovely things:
- Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions (#170), $US192 (12 CDs)
- Peggy Lee and June Christy Capitol Transcriptions (#184) $US80 (5 CDs)
- and of course, Duke Ellington: 1936-40 Small Group Sessions (#235) $US119 (7 CDs)
- Complete Clef/Verve Count Basie Fifties Studio Recordings $US136 (8 CDs)
These sets are really amazing shit – they’re remastered by people who know what they’re doing, so the quality is fabulous. The selection of tracks is sensible and/or creative. And there are just so many CDs! Those prices look expensive, but when you work it out, you’re still paying less than $30 a CD (mostly), for what are limited edition and wonderful collections.
For DJs, this shit is gold because the quality is good enough to hack our amplified sound systems and dodgy set ups. While you may be able to find lots of these songs on other albums, they’re quite often crappy quality – lots of snap crackle and pop, and more horribly, lots of really nasty ‘remastering’ by people who didn’t have a clue. I have a couple of CDs I picked up recently which have the scariest ‘stereo’ sound ever – they’ve made mono recordings stereo and managed to remove all the dynamics, and energy of each recording. Which sucks, as these are actually pretty neat collections.
So I’m pining for the Mosaic stuff. Still. Is it worth cracking open my DJing money fund (I’ve saved every pay so far – and have less than $500 to show for it. Hardly a fast track to fortune (or fame, for that matter) for some of this goodness?
If you can use them for DJing, and you get paid for DJing, aren’t they an essential tool of your trade? And tax deductible?
(That’s what I’d be telling myself, anyhoo)
Dood, you’re suggesting that the Australian swing dancing DJing world is in any way… well, you know.
But I think I’ll use that argument.