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Black Jazz & Tribe Records


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kdd - Thanks. Interesting. I think I might have seen his name on an organ date once, but can't remember. (Guess that Tom Lord discography would be a good investment for stuff like this.) Anyway, his 2 "Black Jazz" albums are (to my ears) really first rate in every way.

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  • 1 year later...
Guest akanalog

i am relistening to marcus belgrave's "gemini" and it is actually pretty good.

not as space-ey as it wants to be, but a good swinging jazz album with some electric touches.

sounds most influenced by freddie hubbard's early CTI stuff.

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I love both these labels. Pretty much all the albums I have on either BJ or Tribe have at least a killer tune - usually more.

My Black Jazz highlights would be:

Walter Bishop Jr: Waltz for Zweetie, Coral Keys, Soul Turn Around, Keeper of My Soul, Soul Village

Rudolph Johnson: Diswa, Little Daphne, Fonda

Henry Franklin: Plastic Creek Stomp, Theme for Jojo

Roland Haynes: Second Wave, Eglise, Aicelis

both The Awakening albums are essential as are the Doug Carn's.

There are a couple worth picking up just for individual tracks: Kelee Patterson for Maiden Voyage, Chester Thompson for the super bass heavy 'Powerhouse' and one of the rarer ones Calvin Keys for 'Shawn-Neeq' - beautiful mellow title track.

Tribe albums that I love include Doug Hammomd's 'Reflections In the Sea of Nurnen' - the track Fidalgo Detour is killer - the Japanese CD issue also features a rare 7" only Tribe release called 'Kai'.

Phil Ranelin's 'Message from the Tribe' and 'Vibes from the Tribe' are both essential.

Marcus Belgrave's Gemini II is worth picking up for the killer tune 'Space Odyssey' and 'Glue Fingers Pt II' as is the Harold McKinney album Voices and Rhythms of the Creative Profile' for a crazy Moog workout 'In the Moog' and 'Ode to Africa'.

Also worth checking is Mixed Bag 'First Album' - led by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ and features an early version of his fusion classic 'Zaius'.

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Rudy Johnson has every credential you'd expect from a guy who plays like that.

He was with Hank Marr in the early 60s, sharing tenor spot with Rusty Bryant, sometimes on the same singles. This is the stuff on King/Federal.

Then he moved over to Jimmy McGriff. You can hear him on "At the Apollo" "At the organ" "Christmas with McGriff" and I think some other McGriffs on Sue. He's on "Black & Blues" as well.

After the three albums he made for Black Jazz (he was on "Powerhouse" as well as his own two), he appeared on a Dave Pike LP for Muse, which I haven't heard. He was also a member of a band called First Cozins Jazz Ensemble, led by Stu Gardner, which made one LP for Capitol in 1977 - "For the coz of jazz", most of which was like slow disco music. Rudy was the best man in the band.

According to Lord, he was in a band Bill Cosby put together, in the early 70s, called Bunions Bradford Funeral and Marching Band, which made an LP each for Uni and Sussex. Stu Gardner was in that band, too. He was also on a 1976 album by LaMont Johnson (a relation?) on Masterscores.

That's all I know about Rudy, except that he always played very well indeed.

I like Gene Russell's own Black Jazz albums very much. He wasn't an extraordinary pianist, but he was a good one. And his spoken version of "If you could see me now" on "Talk to my lady" is one of the most beautiful records I've ever heard; if you never heard a man with his heart on his sleeve, that's it.

MG

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this thread is bringing back wonderful memories for me! i have/had almost every BJ album.

does anyone have any current info on rudolph johnson? haven't heard anything about him in years.

i thought i was going to see calvin keyes at sherman ferguson's tribute a couple of weeks ago but didn't. i do see henry franklin fairly often when he plays around l.a.

i wonder if the new owner of BJ is paying royalties to anyone!!

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I just recently just "found" this label (Black Jazz, that is) at a record fair, one seller had Calvin Keys' "Proceed With Caution" for sale. The cover (a mean looking brotha in a dashiki with his guitar...) immediately caught my attention and got me interested. :) Anyone care to recommend that one or any others? I'm gonna get at least Doug Carn's "Adam's Apple" besides that. Soul Jazz Records in the UK (via Universal Sound) has reissued some stuff from the label also, but I think there were some copyright/licensing issues.

Edited by Kari S
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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest akanalog

just made my firsty black jazz order-

doug carn "adam's apple" (though i didn't care for my earlier carn purchase, this one looks more promising)

roland haynes "2nd wave" (2 keyboards?)

walter bishop "keeper of my soul" (heard some samples, sounded very nice)

if these come quick and packaging and sound is OK i guess the henry franklin and rudolph jonhson albums will be next.

i remember arguing with mr. chuck that PM records was charging too much for discs directly from them (20 bucks-and shoddy production taboot) and black jazz selling discs for 14 bucks seems like a much more reasonable deal.

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Guest akanalog

let me also give a thumbs up to leroy vinnegar's "the kid" which i think you can get from dustygroove.

not on black jazz, but from '74 and it's another west coast affair like the black jazz stuff and has carl burnett and dwight dickerson on it, who were definitely part of the black jazz-ey scene at the time.

dickerson does some nice things, as he does on henry franklin's "tribal dance" (though that is more acoustic). very nice e-piano sound on "the kid", which i guess was cut live in studio. though the remastering sucks-sounds like a bad vinyl transfer sometimes.

what is it with the french and bad remastering? this is a french label and i think my copy of "portraits of jenny" is also from a french label and the remastering totally sucks on that one.

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Guest akanalog

got my black jazz package.

delivery time was pretty good and CDs sound fine.

the roland haynes disc is pretty nice on first listen, as is the walter bishop jr "keeper of my soul".

the doug carn "adam's apple" disc i got-i suspected i wouldn't like it and i don't. too much vocals.

if you like singing you will probably dig it. not my thing.

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Guest akanalog

the carn is growing on me.

i just don't like being sung to and the album has some heavy spiritual messages.

good grooves and carn mixes up his keyboard tones-synths, organs, piano, etc.

coulda done without the EWF cover though since EWF did it fine....

but i guess i am giving this one a thumbs up.

funny ronnie laws is on both the carn and the bishop discs.

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So akanalog, just to confirm, you got the Black Jazz disks direct from Black Jazz (http://www.blackjazz.com), probably paying through Paypal (that seems to be their only payment method for on-line transactions, unless you call them and place an order that way).

And, also to confirm, their shipping charges really are sometime like $2.00 total (not $2 per disc) for the first three(?) discs. nd shipping appears to go up to $5.00 total for four(?) discs or more (up to some limit that I'm not going to worry about now).

I've been wanting to place a good-sized Black Jazz order (probably for myself, and few local buddies too), but really wanted to get some feedback from somebody (here, or anywhere) that they really were active, and fulfilling orders in a real and timely way, etc... I was wanting to order enough (maybe 5 discs or more, maybe even closer to 10), that I wanted to make sure they were legit and active before I dropped that much with them.

Thanks!! :)

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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Guest akanalog

roostoire, i would say it is totally legit.

i mean not great production values, perhaps the mastering on the haynes isn't awesome, but i have no complaints. honestly in regards to shipping, when i use paypal and i have a reserve of money i tend to throw it around a bit carelessly (well not so much or i would have bought more than 3 discs here) so i don't know about shipping. i don't think it was excessive. maybe it was. i don't recall being shocked.

the discs got here quicker than some ebay and amazon stuff i bought at right around the same time.

don't expect the world dealing with black jazz but i have no complaints and was impressed with their shipping speed-THOUGH i don't think they sent me a confirmation email, which i like to get when i buy online.

i will say again and i don't mean to complain as he just lost his main man, but PM records sells their similar production valued etc discs for 20 bucks a pop which seems insane. so i would say the black jazz discs for 14 or 15 is high, but i mean if that is what it takes for this guy to keep the label going so we can buy the stuff, more power to him.

buying a bunch with friends seems smart as you can uh, borrow each others discs and you wont be losing much in the way of liner art and notes....

why did the guy in charge replace the cool "adam's apple" art with this crappy scary sketch?

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He only takes Paypal?

MG

No idea the answer to your question, but the ordering info on the Black Jazz website says...

Black Jazz Recordsâ„¢ accepts Checks Credit Cards and Money Orders. To assure the highest

protection for purchases Black Jazz secures all Credit Card orders via Pay Pal. You can also

phone in your order. (510) 452-5299

All Checks & Money Orders payable to:

Black Jazz Records®

P.O, Box 71204 Oakland, CA 94612-7304

My thought is that if they take credit card orders over the phone, then that implies (at least to me) that they might be able to run your card directly (without having to go through Paypal). But Paypal appears to be their only on-line credit card payment method.

When/if I put an order in with them - I'll let you know what I use. My Paypal spending limit is dangerously low (I think barely $60), because I refuse to give them my bank account numbers. So I'm sure I'll be looking for some alternative to Paypal.

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He only takes Paypal?

MG

No idea the answer to your question, but the ordering info on the Black Jazz website says...

Black Jazz Recordsâ„¢ accepts Checks Credit Cards and Money Orders. To assure the highest

protection for purchases Black Jazz secures all Credit Card orders via Pay Pal. You can also

phone in your order. (510) 452-5299

All Checks & Money Orders payable to:

Black Jazz Records®

P.O, Box 71204 Oakland, CA 94612-7304

My thought is that if they take credit card orders over the phone, then that implies (at least to me) that they might be able to run your card directly (without having to go through Paypal). But Paypal appears to be their only on-line credit card payment method.

When/if I put an order in with them - I'll let you know what I use. My Paypal spending limit is dangerously low (I think barely $60), because I refuse to give them my bank account numbers. So I'm sure I'll be looking for some alternative to Paypal.

Thanks - I look forward to your news. This is an important label.

MG

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  • 3 months later...
Guest akanalog

thought i would give a heads up that i ordered 4 discs from black jazz on june 16 and they still aren't here. i would consider that unacceptably slow for a business.

i emailed them twice with no response...

kind of annoying.

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thought i would give a heads up that i ordered 4 discs from black jazz on june 16 and they still aren't here.

i would consider that unacceptably slow for a business.

i emailed them twice with no response...

kind of annoying.

be prepared for the "death in the family" excuse.

it's what I got from him a few years ago. :rolleyes:

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thought i would give a heads up that i ordered 4 discs from black jazz on june 16 and they still aren't here. i would consider that unacceptably slow for a business.

i emailed them twice with no response...

kind of annoying.

I'll chime in with a few thoughts. One, I ordered some Doug & Jean Carn CD's from them a few years ago, I received them fine, and the CD's were fine as far as remastering, original artwork, etc. I'm sure the label is only a mom and pop (maybe only just pop) labor of love (consider how tiny their volume of sales would be), so ordering them in the summer, you may run into vacation schedules. I owned basically the entire Black Jazz and Tribe catalogs on vinyl back in the 70's - picked the Black Jazz up for 99 cents each at Third Street Jazz and got the Tribes for something like that at Houston Hall Records, both defunct Philly stores from the day. The Tribe stuff always pretty much sounded like amateur hour to me (The Marcus Belgrave was the only one I really liked), but there were some fine LP's on Black Jazz. Calvin Keys - Shaw-neeq, both Rudolph Johnson titles, both Henry Franklin titles, were especially favorites off the top of my head. But the crown jewels were the Doug and Jean Carn albums ('Adams Apple' doesn't have Jean, they had split and she had gone to Philly International to gain fame and fortune). The albums with Jean Carn are, to me, priceless. The version of "Infant Eyes" is heart-wrenching. If you like jazz vocals at all, don't miss them. Beautiful, spiritual stuff which will lift you to a different plane.

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Guest akanalog

jf, that is funny-you and i often have the same tastes and the 4 discs i just ordered were the keys-shawn neeq, the second rudolph johnson album and the two henry franklin discs. i feel the same way about tribe records-generally not on the same level.

i will also add....i ordered from black jazz a few months ago and the discs came pretty quick, which is why this delay surprised me.

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Guest akanalog

thanks but those are like 10 bucks more a CD, plus more expensive shipping.

however i think they have original artwork.

i am not sure why black jazz has crapped up some of the original covers-it looks like someone (harge?) did bad charcoal drawings of elements of the original covers.

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