Alan Grant archives?

[mjzee]

What else lurks in the Alan Grant archives?  What is available to be released?  Are there indications anywhere?  Who owns these tapes?

[Ken Dryden]

After KNPR quit broadcasting jazz, the archives were turned over to a special collections in the UNLV library. It is a shame that these performances aren’t made commercially available, though at least one Resonance CD and a Hi Hat bootleg Joe Pass CD come from the Four Queens Jazz Night in Las Vegas series.

[Hardbopjazz]

I would love to get a listen to these broadcasts. I have those that were issued as well as a few that trade amongst collectors. 

[Dan Gould]

5 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

After KNPR quit broadcasting jazz, the archives were turned over to a special collections in the UNLV library.

Let me guess: without permission granted for duplication of any kind, but maybe if you are there and convince them you have legitimate research, you might be able to listen?

[Ken Dryden]

I taped a few of them while we were carrying the show at my station, though I edited out as much of Alan Grant as possible. It was painful listening to his inane first question to Kenny Barron during a mid-1980s broadcast, he sounded like a rank amateur, instead of someone who had been in broadcasting for decades.

I've got both Denny Zeitlin shows, Buddy DeFranco & Terry Gibbs, Horace Tapscott, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ken Peplowski and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. I've dubbed several for the artists.

 

[sidewinder]

I used to tune into that 89.5FM station every time I rented a car in NYC and remember an OTT enthusiastic voice which I assume was Alan Grant as I recognise it on those Uptown releases. Remember him raving about the Freddie Hubbard ‘Fat Tuesdays’ release, which was current at the time.  Must say, his programme did feature some good music and it was a blast to drive through Manhattan with that on.

Edited December 23, 2020 by sidewinder

[Dan Gould]

8 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

I taped a few of them while we were carrying the show at my station, though I edited out as much of Alan Grant as possible. It was painful listening to his inane first question to Kenny Barron during a mid-1980s broadcast, he sounded like a rank amateur, instead of someone who had been in broadcasting for decades.

I've got both Denny Zeitlin shows, Buddy DeFranco & Terry Gibbs, Horace Tapscott, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ken Peplowski and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. I've dubbed several for the artists.

 

Oh so we're talking about some time after what I thought was his heyday, hosting live shows in NYC clubs.  I know nothing about what he did later on ... I thought the OP was asking about other tapes that might exist haven't seen a release. I know Grant tried to monetize some tapes he had, I think I have two releases on his label but it seemed like a short-lived effort. No idea if he died and no one carried it on or did it just fail as a going concern?

[Chuck Nessa]

3 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Oh so we're talking about some time after what I thought was his heyday, hosting live shows in NYC clubs.  I know nothing about what he did later on ... I thought the OP was asking about other tapes that might exist haven't seen a release. I know Grant tried to monetize some tapes he had, I think I have two releases on his label but it seemed like a short-lived effort. No idea if he died and no one carried it on or did it just fail as a going concern?

Uptown got some tapes from Grant's collection including their 2 Kenny Dorham cds.

[Dan Gould]

5 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Uptown got some tapes from Grant's collection including their 2 Kenny Dorham cds.

I remember Bob telling me how the source was so much better than prior dubious releases ... he didn't mention that it was from Grant's archive. Would make sense though being recorded hopefully reel to reel back at the station.

[JSngry]

that ThadMel Resonance thing was from him, correct?

But didn't he release it first on his own, like as a bootleg as far as paying the parties goes?

If true, that seemed kinda shady to me, like he should have known better. Then again, lots of people should know better, right?

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

But didn't he release it first on his own, like as a bootleg as far as paying the parties goes?

If true, that seemed kinda shady to me, like he should have known better. Then again, lots of people should know better, right?

From this source:

"To make a fast buck Alan Grant decides to bootleg a bunch of tunes from these two nights. Although Klabin owns the rights, Grant never got permission from Klabin to release it, never credited Klabin as the engineer and never paid the musicians. Essentially, Grant did an end run and went to BMG/New Zealand to print 2,500 copies. Jason Blackhouse (from Auckland), not Klabin, is credited as the engineer and liner note verbiage throughout only trumpets the 7 February recording date. As David Demsey, director of the Thad Jones Archive has pointed out, the implication is that Blackhouse was the engineer on hand at the Vanguard. Moreover, misleading listeners into believing that all the material derives from the first gig was equally duplicitous.

 

When Klabin learned about the release he was furious. He hired a detective to find Grant, who was living in Florida. Klabin telephoned Grant and said bluntly, "What's going on here? How can you do this without giving anyone credit?" Grant replied contritely, "I know, it wasn't a good idea." Klabin left it at that."

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

From this source:

"To make a fast buck Alan Grant decides to bootleg a bunch of tunes from these two nights. Although Klabin owns the rights, Grant never got permission from Klabin to release it, never credited Klabin as the engineer and never paid the musicians. Essentially, Grant did an end run and went to BMG/New Zealand to print 2,500 copies. Jason Blackhouse (from Auckland), not Klabin, is credited as the engineer and liner note verbiage throughout only trumpets the 7 February recording date. As David Demsey, director of the Thad Jones Archive has pointed out, the implication is that Blackhouse was the engineer on hand at the Vanguard. Moreover, misleading listeners into believing that all the material derives from the first gig was equally duplicitous.

 

When Klabin learned about the release he was furious. He hired a detective to find Grant, who was living in Florida. Klabin telephoned Grant and said bluntly, "What's going on here? How can you do this without giving anyone credit?" Grant replied contritely, "I know, it wasn't a good idea." Klabin left it at that."

Thanks very much for sharing that ... interesting story, first, and also very interesting that Klabin had presumably a lot of recordings made for his radio show. I don't recall knowing anything about that and it leaves me wondering how many other high-quality recordings Klabin has that could be issued on Resonance in the future.

[Ken Dryden]

Alan Grant moved to Las Vegas and I think he was the driving force behind the launch of the series, taped in the French Quarter Room of the Hotel Four Queens. I think the series ended through lack of funding or the sale of the hotel, when the new owners weren't interested in featuring jazz. The last I heard, Alan Grant had moved to Florida and was in poor health, living with his son.

Wasn't the Klabin confrontation story in the liner notes to the legit Resonance release of the Thad Jones-Med Lewis early Vanguard material?