Arthur Blythe - Columbia LPs to CD!!!

[robertoart]

On 3 May 2016 at 1:12 AM, JSngry said:

Blythe had a good run for Columbia...I think he was signed before the Wynton thing hit really big...iirc he was a hit item at the Tin Palace, a club where Crouch was a regular, back when Crouch was advocating for the freesiders, especially those like Blythe & Murray who he was familiar with from his LA days.

Blood, for that matter, was getting quite a bit of NYC stir, not so much from "jazz" as from the "No Wave" crowd. It was a time when "loft jazz" was a buzzword, not just musically but with marketing as well.

It was a crazy time, really, Columbia's jazz binge starting mid-late 70s, more interesting activities than first recollection might suggest, vault material and new releases, pleasant surprises and raging disappointments. Then it gradually cooled off into the whole "Young Lions" thing, industry evolving one way, actual music another. But Branford did give Henry & Ware their shots, so, credit for that. But that was Branford more than "Columbia".

OTOH, Columbia's jazz had always been eclectic, and never wholly existed apart from marketing angles.

Yes, Lenox Avenue Breakdown was released before Ulmer was on Columbia. The first Blood albums (apart from The Artist House ones) were UK and German releases, although Are You Glad got an Artist's House release with a really strange mix. I've got some nice soundboards from Tin Palace. when I first got to start jamming with players from The Free Rock crowd or Post-Punks, they all knew their Loft Jazz stuff. There were copies of those Wildfire vinyl's in every grotty share house I ventured into (or everlived). 

19 hours ago, felser said:

Lenox Avenue... is the most essential leader date he ever did IMO, and is included.  Carpe dium.

Illusions is no slouch of an album either 

[sonnyhill]

 

Elaborations on Columbia is also a nice record.

[Eric]

2 hours ago, sonnyhill said:

 

Elaborations on Columbia is also a nice record.

Agreed.  Would love to see them pair it with "Light Blue" (his Monk covers album).  If they want to make it a "four-fer" they can add in "Da-Da" and "Basic Blythe".  They can skip "Put Sunshine In It", the only sub-par Columbia album.

 

[felser]

3 hours ago, Eric said:

Agreed.  Would love to see them pair it with "Light Blue" (his Monk covers album).  If they want to make it a "four-fer" they can add in "Da-Da" and "Basic Blythe".  They can skip "Put Sunshine In It", the only sub-par Columbia album.

 

I agree with all of that.  Count me in.  And the way the B.G.O. rolls, that may well be their plan, provided all four titles fit on two CD's.

[Eric]

18 hours ago, felser said:

I agree with all of that.  Count me in.  And the way the B.G.O. rolls, that may well be their plan, provided all four titles fit on two CD's.

"Elaborations" and "Light Blue" were two of the first jazz records I ever bought, recommended to me by a record store employee.  The latter led me to buy the Monk memorial album that Milestone put out shortly after he passed.  That lead to everything else ?

Edited July 24, 2016 by Eric

[Hot Ptah]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 7:36 PM, jeffcrom said:

Opinions will vary, but I consider Illusions to be absolutely essential - one of the great jazz albums of the period.

I agree. I think that all four albums range from enjoyably good to great.