Stereojack

Well, to characterize Parlan, or anyone, as a "bebop" musician, severely diminishes his talents as an all around musician. I saw him with Coleman Hawkins and with Roland Kirk, and he provided excellent accompaniment for both.

I remember seeing Stan Getz practically bring an audience to tears with a rendition of "Infant Eyes" some years ago. It shows up on a couple of live recordings from the 1970's, but they don't match the way he played it that night.

I saw Horace Parlan a couple of times back in the 1960's, one time within view of the keyboard from front row seats. The way he has compensated for the polio damage to his right hand is absolutely amazing. The left hand is exactly as hardbopjazz describes. If one closes one's eyes, one has no idea of his right hand limitation, with which he has little to no flexibility, and basically utilizes it for percussive effects while the left hand moves up and down to keyboard performing the usual functions of both hands. A truly amazing musician!

I had the same model as part of my first "high end" system back in the early 1970's, and liked it a lot. My apartment was broken into in the mid-70's, and this was one of the things the creeps made off with. When I could finally afford to replace the system, I got a good deal on a Kenwood receiver which served me well for another 20 years, but I still have fond memories of that Marantz and the many hours of listening pleasure it provided me.

I agree with Sidewinder. The trumpet battle between Lee and Freddie on the first track has always held interest for me. Quite clearly this was an alcohol-fueled gathering that we may have viewed differently if it had emerged thirty years later as a newly discovered tape.

He was also the Mamas & Papas' road drummer, and appeared on many classic sessions, including Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" LP (uncredited).

A great filmmaker with a long and impressive list of films. His last film, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a masterpiece! RIP, Mr. Lumet.

They were true stereo on vinyl as well. Occasionally, Prestige got it wrong. A few records labeled "Remastered for Stereo" actually played true stereo!

I agree with Chuck. Their music was clearly informed by jazz, and contained numerous references, both musically and lyrically, to things jazz fans know about. But did their music influence or inform the jazz of the time? I don't think so. I love "Gaucho", but I seem to recall that a large portion of one of the tunes is lifted almost directly from a tune on the Keith Jarrett/Jan Garbarek album "Belonging" - "Long As You Know Your'e Living Yours", I believe.

Actually it probably says "Remastered for Stereo", as do most Prestige fake stereo reissues. This 1956 session was not recorded in stereo. The fact that RVG did the fake stereo remaster is interesting. As fake stereo releases go, these Prestiges aren't so bad - it's just a simple lows on one side, highs on the other, and hitting the mono button (if you've got one) usually can make it listenable. In fact, many of them, even though they claimed to be remastered for stereo, actually play very close to mono. I had a few fake stereo LPs back in my "vinyl days", but hitting the mono button on the system I had back then didn't make them listenable. At best some artefacts remained, for instance something that sounded like phase distortion (for lack of a better description). I was only referring to the Prestige fake stereos. There is more than one process in rechanneling for stereo, and Prestige's method was the least insidious. I'm not saying that combining the two channels is as good as mono, but those of us who came up in the late 60's and early 70's were forced to put up with rechanneling, as these were often the only available sources of the music at the time. I have long since purged all of the rechanneled records from my collection, and I would recommend that new listeners steer clear of them, but they do vary quite a bit - anywhere from reasonably listenable to completely unacceptable.

The forthcoming Mosaic Coleman Hawkins set will contain a lot of Henderson, since Hawkins was principal soloist in the band for over a decade.

Actually it probably says "Remastered for Stereo", as do most Prestige fake stereo reissues. This 1956 session was not recorded in stereo. The fact that RVG did the fake stereo remaster is interesting. As fake stereo releases go, these Prestiges aren't so bad - it's just a simple lows on one side, highs on the other, and hitting the mono button (if you've got one) usually can make it listenable. In fact, many of them, even though they claimed to be remastered for stereo, actually play very close to mono.

aw shucks

Just want me to hold one copy?

I have some good news. Because the landlord is undergoing of a series of permit hassles with the city of Cambridge, we have been granted an extension at least through May, and possibly beyond.

I rented the movie from Netflix a year ago - my copy was fine. I wonder if there may be a manufacturing defect that makes some of these discs especially fragile. I can't believe that anyone at Netflix would be stupid enough to keep sending the same cracked disc six times!

Sad news. Well, he had a pretty long run!

I would have spent less time talking to "experts" with agendas like Albert Murray, Stanley Crouch, et al. More emphasis on the music and less emphasis on the purported social implications. More interviews with musicians. I thought that the time spent with people like Jackie McLean was much more valuable than anything Murray, Crouch, Marsalis or Gerald Early had to say.

I have never seen a Prestige 12" 78, nor do I believe any were issued. I've seen many Stan Getz Prestige 78's, amd they have all been 10". Of course, 12" was the norm for classical recordings. Specialist jazz labels such as Commodore and Blue Note did issue a number of 12" discs in the 1940's. Major labels such as Victor and Columbia dabbled, but mostly stuck to the 10" format. Generally, 10" 78's play for about 3 minutes, 12" 78's play for about 4 1/2 minutes. By the 1950's, the LP and EP had supplanted 12" 78's in the marketplace for longer performances.

There were only two volumes in this series. The transfers were very good, and the accompanying booklets were handsome, with good annotation for the time. Volume 1 was my introduction to this period of Ellington back when I was just getting into this music, and although I've since replaced these sets with more complete releases, the selections made by the original producer (Frank Driggs, I think) cannot be faulted. Tape did not come into use as a recording medium until around 1950. The original sources would probably have been the metal parts from which the original 78's were made.

When Liberty bought the company, for the most part they only pressed titles that were still in print. Many of the early titles had already been discontinued while the company was in the hands of the original owners. It wan't until Capitol took over the company in the mid-1980's that a full scale reissue program was undertaken. There had been a few repressings in the 1970's under United Artists (the so-called International Series), but these were relatively few, and I don't recall seeing Peckin' Time among them. Also, UA had licensed many titles for Japanese release biginning in the late 1970's. But to answer your question, there are not Liberty pressing of every Blue Note title.

Another cultural icon of my youth checks out.

Joe was one of the greats. This is a sad day.

Love this album! McFarland's arrangements are sufficiently exotic, and the title track is one of my favorite Anita O'Day performances.

"Perk Up" was definitely recorded for Atlantic, but not issued until the 1978 Concord release. Shelly gave us a tremendous body of great music over the years.