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Pablo Records


montg

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I don't have much jazz recorded in the 70s in my collection. I'm not really into Fusion, so I thought Norman Granz' Pablo records might be the way to go to explore this era in jazz. Any great sessions on this label that would be good starting points? Thanks.

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I agree with Chuck. While Pablo recorded some terrific artists, most by that time were at the tail ends of their careers. There's still some good stuff to be found, but I find I usually pull out some earlier work to listen to or something more, uh, challenging given the dates of the recordings. To me Pablo is the 70's version of Concord. I understand that's damning with faint praise, but both are fairly conservative labels. Still, Duke's "This One's for Blanton" is very good, as are some of the Basie, Harry Edison, and Clark Terry dates (in addition to the other artists previously mentioned). And let's not forget the Art Tatums. Personally, I'd stay away from most of the Ella Fitzgeralds.

Ray

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If you can eat, drink and drive at the same time sanely, competently, and responsibly, here's a good'un for your next road trip:

c561248304y.jpg

Stop at a rib shack, a 7-11, a gas station, and hit the road. Preferably on a spring day or an autumn night.

Any Turner Pablo is worth checking out, flaws (of which there are many) and all, but this motherfucker just flat out ROCKS, flaws (of which there are many) and all. Sometimed flaws matter, sometime they don't. Here, they don't. Not even a little.

Oh yeah, Lee Allen's on it too. Works for me.

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Oh yeah, The Ellington Suites album and the two albums of "workshop" stuff. I'd lay my life on the line to keep those. There's a thing of "Love Is Just Around The Corner" that, for some reason, I think is one of the greatest things I've ever heard, even though I know it's not.

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Pablo was a label I grew up with for a few records, there are some stuff IMO, especially recorded at Montreux that ranks as the label's best work and some inspired work from those at that time in their careers, some albums I dig are:

Count Basie: On The Road, when it hit CD I was very happy. Great solos on this date by Eric Dixon, Kenny Hing, John Clayton and Booty Wood.

Basie:Jam Session at Montreux '75: w/ Eldridge, Griffin, and Bags. Fun stuff.

Basie: Montreux '77 Jam

Milt Jackson/Ray Brown: Montreux '77

Jazz At the Santa Monica Civic '72

Freddie Hubbard: Born to Be Blue, At the Northsea Jazz Festival

one thing that always bothered me and still does is Pablo's dry studio sound. Maybe it was meant for a "live" in your face kind of feel, I also heard that Norman had low production values, but the sound on other dry recordings doesn't bug me nearly as much as these.

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Yes, Pablo was mostly conservative but a lot of other labels were recording the less

conservative jazz.

And Pablo did release the John Coltrane European concerts and Afro-Blue albums.

It's also where MaryLou Williams and Cecil Taylor embraced.

And that was the label that had albums like Roy Eldridge's 'What's It's All About',

Sonny Criss' 'Intermission Riff' to mention just two.

Not to forget the Lester Young in Washington series.

And where jazz greats like Basie, Benny Carter, Zoot Sims, Joe Pass and many more

were home.

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Chuck, compared to what you were offering on your label, yes Pablo overall is conservative. But I still stand by my opinion on that album.

It may be a great album. No value judgement on the recording in my post, but players with styles set in the '40s and early '50s, while grafting on modal styles from the late '50s, recorded in the mid seventies are conservative to me. Had nothing to do with what I recorded.

I don't expect/demand players change, I do expect a clear headed view of the evolution of music.

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