The Good...
The MF Box Set comes on 10 CD's and includes everything MF did for Roulette except
for his collaberations with Chris Connor and two charts he did with a string
orchestra. What you end up with is 141 songs totaling about 9 hours and 12 minutes.
Everything on this box set appears on CD for the first time except for the tracks that
appeared on the early 1990's CD releases of A Message from Newport, Maynard '61,
and Si! Si! MF (each of which contained more tracks than the original releases).
There are also 14 tracks here that have been released for the first time ever. Album-wise,
the following is included with the set:
Swingin' my Way Through College
A Message from Newport
A Message from Birdland
Plays Jazz for Dancing
Newport Suite
Let's Face the Music and Dance
Maynard '61
Straightaway Jazz Themes
Maynard '62
Si! Si! MF
Maynard '63
Message from Maynard
Maynard '64
The World of Maynard Ferguson
The sound quality is excellent. Even the tracks they single out as having been culled from imperfect masters sound fine to me. Note that I am NOT using very expensive equipment, however. Even better than the sound quality is the music. This music is great! This music is loud! This music is exciting! This music is Big Band JAZZ. This is not the Maynard Ferguson of the 1970's. So if you can't swallow jazz unless it's in the form of fusion, you might want to avoid this set. However, if you enjoy jazz or want what is probably the best introduction to Big Band jazz then don't hesitate, here is the prize set.
The Bad...
So it sounds great and has great charts, what's the catch? The catch is that this is
a re-issue of the recording sessions and not the original albums. Make sense? I'll
explain. The discs are arranged so that the songs are grouped by recording sessions, or
more specifically by incarnations of the orchestra. This may be preferrable to some
people, but it's not to me. If MF's old albums had been the result of a single recording
session or group of musicians then it would have worked out fine, but it's obvious that
during this period the MF Orchestra was a recording machine. Anything recorded went into
the MF library where it was pulled at random to create an album. Adding to the problem is
that nowhere in the set can you easily find out what songs were included on a particular
album. Instead you get, "One for Otis - arr. Don Menza - originally issued on Roulette 52101".
Time to turn 4 pages and do a album number cross-reference! Ummmm...I guess it originally came out
on Message from Maynard (of course I had to go upstairs and get the book out of my room so
I could look that up). To top it off the original artwork is nowhere to be found!!!
Mosaic should have re-issued all of the original albums keeping their original track listings
and artwork. The new songs could have fit onto their own CD. Even if it had added $80 to
cost of the set it would have been worth it. In fact, I think I'll do exactly that when I
make my backup CD's...as soon as I finish digging through all of the cryptic information they
have provided.
The Ugly...
As I mentioned, Mosiac sets their pricing based on the number of CD's in the box set.
They charge $16 for every CD in the set. So at 10 CD's, the MF Box Set costs $160. I'm
satisfied that it was worth the money, but they could have easily fit the set onto 8
CD's. I would prefer that Mosaic used a random pricing structure if they needed more
money for a set in order to make the venture profitable. What we end up with is more disc
shuffling than is really required. A relatively minor complaint, but I needed SOMETHING
to put in the "Ugly" section!
The Conclusion...
Despite it's weaknesses, the MF Box Set is still a fantastic, recommended purchase.
From what Mosaic has said in their catalog, they will be out of the CD version of the MF
Box Set sometime around May 1999. If this sounds like something you're interested in you
better start calling Mosaic now.
The Complete Roulette Recordings of the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra
Mosaic Records (On-Line Ordering available)
35 Melrose Place
Stamford, Connecticut 06902
(203) 327-7111
info@mosaicrecords.com
CD Version: 10 CD's $160
Vinyl Version: 14 LP's $252