Stereojack

The Fantasy series has certainly been the longest running reissue series ever. The combined catalogs of Prestige, Riverside, Contemporary, Specialty, Milestone, Pablo, Stax, et al represent the greatest body of music under one umbrella in the business. May they all stay in print forever.

Very similar. In fact, produced by the same guy - Boris Rose.

The GNP is a ripoff - it contains late 30's transcription sides with applause dubbed in.

"How My Heart Sings" is one of my personal favorite tunes! RIP, Earl.

I've owned it on LP for years. a nice, loose session, Gerry blowing with a great rhythm section. I've always been partial to "What Is There To Say", his other Columbia album. Have also always liked the Emarcy sextet sessions, released over several LP's, w/ Jon Eardley, Zoot Sims.

Amen! Kept changing my technique and eventually hit 715. Don't know how accurate this thing is, though.

I've heard the whole thing - absolutely brilliant! As intimate as I am with just about everything by Monk and Trane, I have to say that there are things on here that will surprise and delight everybody!

The Lipscomb is fine - I've owned it on LP for years. I will say that he made a number of fine recordings for Arhoolie as well. I'd probably recommend you investigate those first (if you haven't already). I prefer the Josh White of the 30's & 40's over the Elektra (1958-1960) years, but if you're a fan, you want it all, of course! Many consider his later music to be just a little too smooth.

I gotta disagree - in places Max seems a little choppy, Sid is right on the money. Of course, Max went on to become one of the masters, but I think he was still finding his way in 1945.

That "out of their idiom" caught my eye, too. Byas and Big Sid both appeared on seminal bop sessions in the early days. I'm not one to diss Francis, but this comment seems to betray some ignorance of just who were the pioneers of bop.

I had a conversation with Scott Billington of Rounder about this release just today. The set will contain 8 CD's, seven of them containing the complete unexpurgated recordings. The eighth disc will contain a pdf file with a full transcript of all of the conversation. The mastering is all new, directly from the original acetates, and Scott described a new Cedar process that has been used in places to remove noise. I usually roll my eyes when Cedar is mentioned, but according to Scott, this new process is not detrimental to the music. The packaging will be in a wooden (I think) box that resembles a piano, and one has to open the top to get at the CD's. Sounds like they're aiming for a design Grammy. The set will also will include a copy of John Lomax's great book "Mister Jelly Roll".

And only 33 when he died.

You may have already figured it out - the tune is "Like Sonny", also recorded for Roulette as "Simple Like".

There's nothing wrong with a good blowing session, and Prestige certainly did line up some fine talent. I've always wondered why so many of the critical establishment have dismissed these albums.

I think he was referring to these LP's, but I assume that Rudy's price is now the same across the board. I also understand that Rudy's master tapes often to not have the tones at the beginning from which one can set levels, making it difficult for anyone but himself to do the remaster.

I asked Bob Suneblick (owner of Uptown) about these and he said that Rudy Van Gelder (who engineered the session originally) wants an arm and a leg to remaster it.

A real dog - I'm sure somebody's going to pipe up and say he likes it!

The release of this album was accompanied by a media blitz the likes of which I hadn't seen in a long time: a full-page "article" (ad) in the NY Times, appearances on Letterman, Howard Stern, The View, et al. Promos sent all around. This guy is the quintessential show biz weasel. I have to say however, that the the thing is very well executed - top notch musicians, arrangements. It's the songs that suck.

By the same token, an occasional familiar tune can make a program flow a little better. At least that's the credo I've always lived by as a jazz radio host. I thought you said that your goal wasn't to stump us, but to provide good listening.

1. Hearing the bandoneon in the ensemble, I first thought of Astor Piazzolla, but I don’t know if Astor ever recorded in such an overtly jazz setting. Perhaps it’s another bandoneon player, maybe Dino Saluzzi? Don’t understand why they kick into a Jazz Messengers groove for the trumpet solo – I’d have enjoyed it more if they’d maintained the South American groove throughout. Trumpet is reminiscent of Freddie Hubbard. Tenor starts out nice, but eventually crosses into that overly aggressive bag that leaves me cold. This track tries too hard to be too many things for my tastes. 2. Piano trio – I thought of early Chick Corea, but really have no idea. I like the sound of the piano – at one point the pianist hits a couple of high notes and they really ring! 3. “Like Sonny”, John Coltrane’s tune, done in a Latin groove. Neither of the tenors lights my fire. 4. Cedar Walton? I like this. Nice writing for the ensemble. The alto sounds like James Spaulding, can’t pick out the trumpet or bone. 5. Randy Weston’s “Little Niles”, done in a fast 4/4. The lead instrument sounds like a marimba. I like the mellow woody sound of the marimba, and am wracking my brain trying to remember who plays marimba besides Bobby Hutcherson? An interesting idea, but this tune plays so beautifully as a waltz, why fuck with the formula? 6. A variant on “How High the Moon” – two tenors a la Warne Marsh, but neither one of these is Warne. I’m on the fence with the first tenor, might it be Lew Tabackin? Second tenor rings no bells, hate that guitar sound. 7. Piano trio – pleasant enough, nice interplay. Don’t recognize anybody. 8. Damn! This sounds familiar, but maybe because I’m hearing this for the third time. Kind of a happy tune. 9. When one hears jazz harmonica, Toots Thielemans comes to mind. The only other guy I know who can play this much harmonica is in Boston – Mike Turk. Assuming this is Toots, who can that violinist be? 10. Another blustery tenor – Joe Lovano? 11. I think the first soloist is playing flugelhorn, can’t identify him without a fair amount of guesswork. Alto ain’t doing much for me, possibly Bobby Watson? Here’s another record where I’d like to have heard the soloists stretch out a bit more. 12. This is a puzzler. It all starts out in a pretty conventional groove, until near the end where the tenor figures the only way to rise above the mundane is to make a racket. Lame. 13. This has a nice haunting quality to it, and they maintain it through to the end. A nice way to end the set. Some nice choices, and a few that left me cold.

The music was also called "rebop" in the early days. Charlie Parker's first date for Savoy was issued under the name "Charlie Parker's Re-boppers".

I've sold a couple of volume one sets on Ebay. Both went for under $300. Volume three is the biggie!

Me too! PM sent.

Now that I finally got a copy of the Japanese Lp reissue of this .... it will be reissued on a LoneHill CD under Jim Hall's name (hah! he wasn't even on all the tracks), with the Hall / Red Kelly session added ..... ← The Lone Hill CD only contains the three tracks with Hall, and all of "Good Friday Blues".

Actually it's Stan Getz, not Zoot. And I believe they swap horns on two songs, and they sound pretty good!