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Looking for Calliope label Sessions, Live LPs


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I looked at Discogs and saw CAL 3032 available, though it may seem pricey.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8758099?ev=rb

It seemed like Calliope was around for a very short time in the mid-1970s. I saw a smattering of their catalog in a used record store while I was in grad school in 1976-1977. I was fortunate as I picked up a number of them then and a lot more around 2000. But I am missing a few, too, including 3021 and 3025.

 

 

Edited by Ken Dryden
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They might have been around for a short time, but they stayed on the shelves forever-ish. They were packaged in such a way that it was hard to tell what they were, in spite of the title. They were all called "Sessions Live" and wtf did THAT mean? Plus, not a lot of general interest in WCJ in the late 70s.

Point just being that unless they got tossed on a bonfire, the inventory far exceeded the sales, so somebody somewhere should have them for you to find.

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Well, I think that the label folded quickly, though some of the titles seem to hang around for a good while. I actually saw a sealed copy of the Terry Gibbs LP in the past few days.

These sessions were taken from a television series that evidently aired on the west coast in the 1950s. Too bad the video wasn't preserved as well, as no supporting musicians are listed on any of the LPs.

On 3/10/2017 at 10:40 AM, Stonewall15 said:

Calliope LP: "Sessions, Live".

Cal-3023 Harry Babasin, Barney Kessel    (corrected catalog number)

Euclid Records shows this LP in stock:   http://www.euclidrecords.com/catalog/product_detail.jsp?id=1810918

 

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I can very well imagine these records sitting on the shelves forever at the time, lack of interest in the golden days of WCJ being one factor, and the utterly nondescript, cheapy cover artwork being another.

I bought a couple of them secondhand at really low prices during the past 15 years and do not regret having bought them. I will certainly snap up others whenever I come across them.
They DO fil a gap if you are into WCJ (or just plain "jazz") from that era.
But - again - admittedly even if I had been wise to what they contain EXACTLY and what to make of them in the historical context at the time they were new I probably would have passed them by when they sold at full price. Their presentaiton just was subpar - as were a LOT of reissues or belated first-time issues of "older" jazz in the 70, unfortunately.

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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  • 5 months later...

The Spanish (or Andorrans) will eventually (or probably) do a CD box set of these LPs plus other sessions from the KABC Stars of Jazz series that didn't make it to Calliope.

Fresh Sounds et al have previously released some of these sessions (non Calliope releases) on CD.

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13 hours ago, romualdo said:

The Spanish (or Andorrans) will eventually (or probably) do a CD box set of these LPs plus other sessions from the KABC Stars of Jazz series that didn't make it to Calliope.

Fresh Sounds et al have previously released some of these sessions (non Calliope releases) on CD.

Yes, they have, but always as bonus tracks to reissues of other material of respective artists. I wouldn't expect such a box set from them. Do you have a statement in that direction from Jordi Pujol ?

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11 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Yes, they have, but always as bonus tracks to reissues of other material of respective artists. I wouldn't expect such a box set from them. Do you have a statement in that direction from Jordi Pujol ?

No, just speculation - who would have thought that someone (Membran) would do a Charlie Parker Records Box

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On 3/13/2017 at 8:24 AM, Ken Dryden said:

Well, I think that the label folded quickly, though some of the titles seem to hang around for a good while. I actually saw a sealed copy of the Terry Gibbs LP in the past few days.

These sessions were taken from a television series that evidently aired on the west coast in the 1950s. Too bad the video wasn't preserved as well, as no supporting musicians are listed on any of the LPs.

 

I just watched this at the UCLA FIlm & TV archive  Stars of Jazz was the TV show.  There is a new book on the show written by today's guest: Historian James A. Harrod, author of the book Stars of Jazz: A Complete History of the Innovative Television Series, 1956-1958

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/stars-of-jazz/

The show excerpts were pretty nice - well shot.

He said that the LPs were basically bootlegs from the TV show tapes.  Terry Gibbs saw one and sued, and that led to the label shutting down.

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stars-of-jazz-james-a-harrod/1132194370

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I am aware of the book, I've got it, but haven't made my way all the way through it.

It was almost like Calliope Records went out of their way to list any meaningful data as a means of trying to avoid paying royalties with their lack of credits and cheapskate cover designs, like they would fly under the radar.

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