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Jamal: One Crying Shame


jazzbo

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What may have happened now is that Verve has resigned and just decided to reissue the Getz albums as straight LP reissues, just to get any Getz out. Expect Sweet Rain without the bonus material soon.

Well, that would stink. I don't see how estates are maximizing their income by refusing to alllow licensing!

Edited by alankin
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I too mailed Mosaic about Chamber Music of the New Jazz, and I understood the legal tangles referred specifically to this LP and not the other Argo Jamal Trio records, maybe the fact that is was originally recorded for Parrot has something to do with this. So the Argo was kind of a licence issue, although it was "sold" to them. Of course it's a shame such a classic date is unavailable. A similar case is Johny Griffin's fine Argo LP, which also was recorded for Parrot. The fine web page The Parrot and Blue Lake Labels gives some insight; scroll down the page to find the comments on the Jamal and Griffin recordings. A reissue should certainly combine the 4 pieces with Richard Davis with the 12" LP.

Edited by mikeweil
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Brad, if you could buy only one album by Ahmad I would highly recommend "Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing - But Not For Me". It's the album that made him famous.  :)

Just by happenstance I picked this up a few weeks ago and I really got into it. Now I've decided that I need to add more Jamal to my collection, so this thread is helpful and sad at the same time. I'm hesitant to buy vinyl unless I can physically get my hands on it first, and knowing how much is out there that is basically unavailable is frustrating. Such is the life of a jazz listener, I guess.

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I've had bad experiences trying to get the "Chamber Music of the New Jazz" LP, too. I found one in reasonable shape on the Gemm website, but with the dreaded fake stereo. (When it arrived, I had forgotten what a bugbear that was back in the 60s, when it spoiled many an LP - one had to search all over the place for real mono versions. I still remember my delight when I tracked down a mono LP with the Miles Davis "Green Dolphin Street" session, on a trip to Paris in the early 70s. Who could have known then that the session was recorded in real stereo by Columbia, as well as the "Milestones" session.) Next, I landed a "still sealed" real mono LP on eBay, for about $50. (I only paid that as I intended to sell it again and recoup some of the money.) This disk had some gunk on the surface that made it sound as if it had been used as a frisbee on the beach for the dog. Totally worthless. It sure did nothing to change my dislike of LPs, which, when you consider the fact that they almost always sound crackly, are not worth getting if there is a CD available.

So, it sure is frustrating not to have a CD reissue of such a magnificent and important album.

A friend sent me a burn of the Epic/Columbia sessions with guitar from the early 50s, but half of the tracks are marred by an added reverb (which is probably a form of the fake stereo again). These are great tracks, but the sound is so poor that they are not very enjoyable to listen to. They were released in France on a pirate 2 CD set.

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Or it could be that Verve's lawyers are more cautious. (Actually I vaguely remember Mark@Verve saying something to the effect that Verve probably had the right to reissue the material, but because the estate was protesting, the Verve lawyers blocked the reissues just for safety's sake.)

Bah! Since Corea's lawyers are more daring (one unissued track from the 'Sweet Rain' sessions did appear on his own Stretch label) perhaps he should try to license the whole album and then put it out. And we all know that Verve willingly will license anything out...

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Speaking of Getz and Verve, I see on Verve’s homepage that they have an upcoming Getz release on A&M titled Bossas & Ballads: The Lost Session. Just to confuse us they also say ”reissue release date 9/9/2003”, but I suppose the ’Lost Session’ bit must mean that it is an hitherto unissued session. I see in Lord that Getz made one album for A&M in 1989. Could it be something recorded around that time?

Oh, and for those who are craving for more Verve compilations, there are some of those too. Chet for Lovers and Louis for Lovers are just what you were wishing for, right?

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Anyone heard these new reissues?

Nature: The Essence, Part 3 (Dreyfus/Atlantic)

-- with Idris Muhammad; Stanley Turrentine; Othello Molineaux; from 1998

Love the pans on this one. The "tour" following this one stopped here in N.O. for a free (!) show (sans Turrentine) One of the best I've ever seen. Jamal became quite the maestro in his later performances.

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I don't know much about Jamal's music.  Would you all recommend what's in Jim's post?

Brad, if you could buy only one album by Ahmad I would highly recommend "Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing - But Not For Me". It's the album that made him famous. :)

My first Jamal cd!

Poinciana was probably played a lot on the radio after it came out.

I also have "Poinciana Revisited", from 1969, also a live set, also nice, but the original is the original.:)

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Thanks for linking that Parrot label information Mike! An excerpt:

"Chamber Music of the New Jazz was a highly influential record; Miles Davis recorded several of the numbers that Jamal played on it. In 1999, jazz critic Terry Teachout singled out Chamber Music in a New York Times article about important jazz LPs not yet reissued on CD. However, Ahmad Jamal enjoyed his greatest popular success after moving to the piano-bass-drums format and signing with Argo."

Now ... who is Terry Teachout? (Please pardon this West Coast reader.) It would be interesting to read that article in the Times.

My turntable broke down a few weeks ago ... and now I can't spin this album! No bacon! Argh!

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I found that article, but unfortunately it's in PDF format so I can't display it here. If your library has a subscription to it, you can view the entire archives of the NYT online. Since I can't post it, I'll just list the albums Teachout mentions (each one gets just a one-paragraph blurb):

Ahmad Jamal: Chamber Music of the New Jazz

Sidney Bechet has Young Ideas (Pacific Jazz)

Bobby Hackett: Gotham Jazz Scene (Capitol)

Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (Verve)

Pee Wee Russell: New Groove (Columbia)

Bud Freeman and Two Guitars: Something Tender (UA)

Roger Kellaway: Cello Quartet and Come to the Meadow (A&M)

Jim Hall Live (A&M)

Joanne Brackeen: Keyed In (Columbia)

Stan Getz: Poetry (Elektra Musician)

Gary Burton: Easy as Pie and Picture This (ECM)

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The French 2 CD set with the Columbia/Epic material was not pirate, but a licensed issue. But it sounds as if it has been dubbed from LPs, and the parts from the LP "The Ahmad Jamal Trio" have the fake stereo/reverb.

Actually, all three LPs of the guitar trio (two Columbia, one Argo) have strange studio sound, and they sound like music from Mars in a way - it's odd. I wish that Columbia had used their regular engineers, who were amongst the finest ever.

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