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"Best Historical Jazz Releases Of 2019"


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My annual take, with a number of recordings listed in the post that I wasn't able to include in the program itself.  There's a note at the bottom about why the Mosaic Herman and Mobley sets are not present.

Best Historical Jazz Releases Of 2019

I also didn't include the Miles Davis 1969 Lost Quintet concert because I actually haven't heard it yet (the import CD I received was defective and had to be returned) and the U.S. release is slated for next week.  I'd say it's a promising candidate for the 2020 list. ;)

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9 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

My annual take, with a number of recordings listed in the post that I wasn't able to include in the program itself.  There's a note at the bottom about why the Mosaic Herman and Mobley sets are not present.

Best Historical Jazz Releases Of 2019

I also didn't include the Miles Davis 1969 Lost Quintet concert because I actually haven't heard it yet (the import CD I received was defective and had to be returned) and the U.S. release is slated for next week.  I'd say it's a promising candidate for the 2020 list. ;)

Nice list ....

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The Lloyd McNeill for sure.  Also this:  Haven't heard some of the other releases listed, such as the Getz, which are of great interest, and looking forward to hearing the aforementioned Liebman/Lookout Farm, the Timeless All-Stars Onkel Po, and more.

Woody Shaw Quintet - Basel 1980 - LP 180 gr. & CD

Edited by felser
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31 minutes ago, felser said:

Woody Shaw Quintet - Basel 1980 - LP 180 gr. & CD

Yup, a LOT of really great live Woody Shaw came out this year (or the last 18 months) -- most of it as good or (frankly) even better than most of the previous High Note live dates (which were still great).  Reminds me I still need to pick up a couple of them, but I've got the majority of all the new Woody Shaw, and they're all pretty stellar.

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1 hour ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Yup, a LOT of really great live Woody Shaw came out this year (or the last 18 months) -- most of it as good or (frankly) even better than most of the previous High Note live dates (which were still great).  Reminds me I still need to pick up a couple of them, but I've got the majority of all the new Woody Shaw, and they're all pretty stellar.

Somehow missed both the Shaw and the Liebman. I’m going to put an addendum into the post consisting of suggestions from listeners and readers like the two that you guys have mentioned here.

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Post now updated with suggested additions following the list I compiled.  Thanks as well for hipping me to the Shaw Basel and Lookout Farm titles, which I had somehow not seen.  Just ordered them (even though I keep telling myself, "You've got enough live Woody Shaw." The kind of edict I'm least likely to keep. :g)

Edited by ghost of miles
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22 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Post now updated with suggested additions following the list I compiled.  Thanks as well for hipping me to the Shaw Basel and Lookout Farm titles, which I had somehow not seen.  Just ordered them (even though I keep telling myself, "You've got enough live Woody Shaw." The kind of edict I'm least likely to keep. :g)

Never enough Woody Shaw.  I keep trying to tell myself I've got enough too, but then they start issuing stuff like they have recently, and it's all jaw-droppingly good (performance-wise, and sound-quality/recording-quality too), and I have zero self control.

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22 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Never enough Woody Shaw.  I keep trying to tell myself I've got enough too, but then they start issuing stuff like they have recently, and it's all jaw-droppingly good (performance-wise, and sound-quality/recording-quality too), and I have zero self control.

Rooster, if you had to pick just one of the recent live Shaw releases, which one would it be?

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7 minutes ago, sonnyhill said:

Rooster, if you had to pick just one of the recent live Shaw releases, which one would it be?

Well, I’ll have to give you TWO. First, and foremost, you really have to get the sax-less quartet one, Bremen ‘83 (iirc), I forget the exact title of the release. I’d had that one on CD for 14 years, and it’s nothing short of astoundingly good.

Then I’ll have to give it some thought as to which other one to recommend. Cuz really, nearly all of them - at least the ones I have - are all stellar (and all of them sound better than the previous High Notes).

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1 hour ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Then I’ll have to give it some thought as to which other one to recommend. Cuz really, nearly all of them - at least the ones I have - are all stellar (and all of them sound better than the previous High Notes).

Rooster, when you say these new NDR releases "sound better" than the HighNotes, do you mean audio quality-wise? Or musically?

Just curious. 

I only ask because I've held off on these, thinking I have enough. 😉

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1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Rooster, when you say these new NDR releases "sound better" than the HighNotes, do you mean audio quality-wise? Or musically?

Just curious. 

I only ask because I've held off on these, thinking I have enough. 😉

Resistance is futile!  They are better both sonically and musically than the High Notes, though those also are well worth having.

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2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Rooster, when you say these new NDR releases "sound better" than the HighNotes, do you mean audio quality-wise? Or musically?

Just curious. 

I only ask because I've held off on these, thinking I have enough. 😉

Primarily the difference is audio-quality, though the quality of the performances (in at least 3 cases) seems about as top-notch as I can ever recall hearing from Woody on any live recordings (though admittedly, I have not done A/B "performance" quality comparisons, and I haven't listened to the High Notes nearly as much in the last couple years, as I have most of these new releases).

I can personally vouch for the top-notch sound quality and performance quality of...

  • Quartet – Bremen 1983 (which I've loved (on CDR) for close to 15 years, and I was overjoyed when it finally got issued legitimately)
  • Quintet Vol 1 – At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg *1982* (I don't have the "1979" one yet, which is ALSO called "Vol 1", confusingly) -- which is just devastatingly good in every way imaginable, SQ, performance, group interplay, you name it.  Maybe THE best live jazz document I've ever heard, by any artist.
  • Quintet – Basel 1980 (although Carter Jefferson plays soprano on 2-3 tunes, if that's an issue for some)

Now I would *NOT* call the "Quintet Tokyo '81" disc the best sound quality ever.  It's well recorded enough, but the room was quite "boomy" and sounds like it was in a hall with quite a bit more "echo" than one typically hears.  (Good performances though.)  And for the record, I do have that one.

I think(?) that's it for the non-"High Note" Woody discs I've bought in the last 18 months, but I think(?) I'm missing a couple more.  But I'm starting to lose track, and I really need to review what's out there that I haven't gotten yet.

There's also the Louis Hayes "Onkel PO's" date from 1976 (that I don't have yet), and Vol. 2 of the Louis Hayes on High Note (which I also don't have yet). But I *do* have Vol 1 of the Louis Hayes on High Note (I'm pretty sure, but I've misplaced it around here).  But this is all getting pretty complicated, and I think(?) there may be one other semi-recent release with Woody that I'm forgetting.

Bremen '83 and Hamburg '82 (Onkel PO's) are both among the most exciting Woody Shaw documents I've ever heard, and I've got about 85% of everything that's ever been released that he's on (sideman appearances, included).  Those two are "must haves" in my book.

 

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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The first two that come to my mind are

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour (The Bootleg Series, vol. 6)
https://www.amazon.com/Final-Tour-Bootleg-Vol/dp/B077ZCTV18/

Nucleus & Ian Carr - Torrid Zone (The Vertigo Recordings 1970 - 1975)
https://www.amazon.com/Torrid-Zone-Vertigo-Recordings-1970-1975/dp/B07MWXTN2M/

Regarding my own experience, I would add the Black Saint/Soul Note boxes Tommy made available to us at such attractive prices in 2019.

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2 hours ago, GA Russell said:

The first two that come to my mind are

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour (The Bootleg Series, vol. 6)
https://www.amazon.com/Final-Tour-Bootleg-Vol/dp/B077ZCTV18/

Nucleus & Ian Carr - Torrid Zone (The Vertigo Recordings 1970 - 1975)
https://www.amazon.com/Torrid-Zone-Vertigo-Recordings-1970-1975/dp/B07MWXTN2M/

Regarding my own experience, I would add the Black Saint/Soul Note boxes Tommy made available to us at such attractive prices in 2019.

The Coltrane/Miles Final Tour set was included in last year’s list:

Best Historical Jazz Releases of 2018

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23 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

The Coltrane/Miles Final Tour set was included in last year’s list:

Best Historical Jazz Releases of 2018

23 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

The Coltrane/Miles Final Tour set was included in last year’s list:

Best Historical Jazz Releases of 2018

Ghost, you're right!  I see now that I got mine in April of 2018.  Oh well.

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