Stereojack

I believe you have a first pressing. My copy of the Count Basie album (CST 143) says "Recorded at Sound Enterprises, Hollywood, Calif" directly underneath the song titles on back. I imagine these went through many re-pressings, so there are bound to be variations.

Upon further research, it appears that Webster had two extended stays in California, the one I chronicled previously is the second one. Here's the chronology from the earlier stay. 8/14-18/56 Billie Holiday (Verve) 9/4/56 Harry Edison - Sweets (Verve) 9/4/56 Ella Fitzgerald - Ellington Songbook (Verve) 9/11/56 Art Tatum & Ben Webster (Verve) 11-16-20/56 Buddy Bregman - Swingin' Kicks (Verve) 1/3-9/57 Billie Holiday (Verve) 11/11-12/57 Woody Herman - Songs For Hip Lovers (Verve) 1/18/57 Red Norvo (RCA) 1/31/57 Buddy Rich Sings and Swings (Verve) 3/5-30/57 Harry Edison - Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (Verve) 6/11/57 Benny Carter - Jazz Giant (Contemporary) 6/12/57 Billy Daniels - You Go To My Head (Verve) 7/22/57 Benny Carter - Jazz Giant (Contemporary) 8/2/57 Norman Granz Jam Session (Verve unissued) (at Hollywood Bowl) 8/6/57 Barney Kessel - Let's Cook (Contemporary) 9/23/57 Bill Harris and Friends (Fantasy) 10/7/57 Benny Carter - Jazz Giant (Contemporary) 10/15/57 Ben Webster - Soulville (Verve) 10/16/57 Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (Verve) 10/17/57 Ella Fitzgerald - Ellington Songbook (Verve) Webster was back in New York by November, 1957

According to the Langhorn/Sjogren discography, Webster's California period on record begins with his appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival behind Jimmy Witherspoon, and coincidentally, ends with a May 1962 Jimmy Witherspoon date. 10/2/59 Jimmy Witherspoon - Monterey Jazz Festival (Hi-Fi Jazz) 11/3/59 Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (Verve) 1st session 11/6/59 Ben Webster With Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve) (Discography places this in New York, as does Ruppli's Verve session files) 12/2/59 Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (Verve) 2nd session 12/2/59 Jimmy Witherspoon At Club Renaissance (Hi-Fi Jazz) same band as on Verve session 12/9/59 Jimmy Witherspoon and Ben Webster (Verve) 12/59 Mulligan & Webster appear on Dinah Shore TV show, video exists 1/13-14/59 Maxwell Davis Tribute To Duke Ellington (Crown) c. 1960 Jimmy Witherspoon & Ben Webster (Stateside) c. 1960 Jimmy Rushing & Helen Humes (Columbia) (4 tracks) 6/1-3/60 Johnny Hodges (Verve unissued) 7/15/60 Jo Stafford - Jo + Jazz (Columbia) 8/1/60 Jo Stafford - Jo + Jazz (Columbia) 8/10/60 Jo Stafford - Jo + Jazz (Columbia) c. 1960 Johnny Hodges (Verve unissued) not confirmed by Ruppli c. 1960 Nancy Wilson - Something Wonderful (Capitol) 9/6-8/60 Helen Humes - Songs I Like To Sing (Contemporary) 9/21/60 Jon Hendricks - Evolution of the Blues Song (Columbia) 10/14/60 Ben Webster At Renaissance Club (Contemporary) 10/18/60 Big Miller - Revelations and the Blues (Columbia) 11/22-23/60 Johnny Hodges - Master of Jazz (Storyville) (later issued on Mosaic) 1/18-19/61 Ben Webster - The Warm Moods (Reprise) 1/19/61 Anita O'Day - Trav'lin' Light (Verve) 1/31/61 Johnny Hodges (Verve unissued) 3/61 Richard "Groove" Holmes - Groove (Pacific Jazz) 6-8/61 Jimmy Witherspoon - Hey Mrs. Jones (Reprise) 10/61 Kay Starr - I Cry By Night (Capitol) 4/10/62 Benny Carter - BBB & Co (Prestige Swingville) 4/11/62 Frank Sinatra - Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (Reprise) 5/23/62 Jimmy Witherspoon - Roots (Reprise) Webster also appeared with Witherspoon on TV broadcast "Jazz Casual" around this time, not listed in discography A Reprise LP by Sister Wynona Carr mentions Webster in the liner notes, but he is not audible. Nancy Wilson session not listed in discography, but I can confirm that he is present and solos on four tracks.

Leo De Gar Kulka was later the owner/engineer of Golden State Recorders, a highly regarded and renowned Los Angeles recording studio, known primarily for a lot of 1960's rock recordings. I guess Sound Enterprises was an earlier facility he ran.

Frankly, I consider the Crown series to be superior to the Time-Life series. Time-Life are note-for-note recreations of big band classics, with little room for creativity. The Crown series are loosely based on the originals, with arrangements that vary from similar to radically different, and with many great soloists - not only many members of the original bands, but guest appearances by top soloists, and even a couple of vocals by BB King! In a number of instances, arrangements are expanded to allow more solo space. While these may not please the nostalgia audience, the music stands on its own much better. The original pressings of this series were packaged like audiophile recordings, with a lot of space on the back touting the stereo process, and the records are on red vinyl. I don't know if these were sold at budget prices originally, but within a couple of years they ended up in the cheap Crown series with the noisy pressings. If you can find clean copies of the originals, they sound great! I've even seen reel-to-reel tapes of some of the early Crowns, so clearly they were going after the growing audiophile market originally. They also say "Recorded at Sound Enterprises". Has anybody ever heard of this studio?

If you can find the Muse LP's "Live at Sandy's" it's a winner. There are a total of six LP's (!!!) from this all star session, two each by Cobb, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, and Buddy Tate, all recorded over two nights at Sandy's in Beverly, MA in 1977. Also worth mentioning is the top notch rhythm section of Ray Bryant, George Duvivier, and Alan Dawson. I went two nights that week, on one of which they were recording. All that has come out on CD is one Arnett Cobb title, contaning the first LP and part of the second. This might make a good Mosaic Select!

I don't know how many original Argo LP's you've heard, but I've got many of them, and generally I consider them to be quality pressings. When the company changed hands in the early 1970's, the quality did go downhill. I've got original pressings of all three Shaw LP's, and they sound fine.

This set sounds interesting. I've got a couple of Decca LP's with the Buddy Cole Trio, and also the Shout Factory set. I wonder how much duplication there will be on the Mosaic set? Props to Bing, one of the greatest voices of the 20th century! I'd like to see a Boswell Sisters/Connee Boswell set myself. Although a lot of Connee's output may be considered schmaltzy by some, she was a marvelous talent, and more deserving of attention from too many people who don't know about her.

What they said!

Worktime & The Bridge are two of my favorites that haven't been mentioned. Basically, it's hard to go wrong with anything he did in the 1950's & 1960's.

One of the giants of TV comedy. Thank you, Larry.

This is almost like a missing track from "Pet Sounds." There used to be an album called "The Brian Wilson Productions" that included this, the Honeys tracks, "Pamela Jean" and other non-BB Brian Wilson stuff. Not sure if it's made it to CD. "Pet Projects - The Brian Wilson Productions" ACE 851 is on CD http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?pa...amp;release=793 Essential for any Brian Wilson fan. I also love "Guess I'm Dumb". Certainly a treat to see Campbell performing it!

RCA was a major label, which means that they were very large, and released all kinds of records - classical, pop, ethnic, easy listening, and everything in between. The number of jazz recordings on RCA is relatively small, and although a lot of fine music appeared on RCA, the packaging was not always created by jazz lovers or experts. Blue Note, Prestige, et al were geared to and created by jazz lovers who appreciated the importance of details like personnel and other minutia that may have seemed inconsequential to the general public.

This thread got me thinking about this series, most of which I hadn't listened to in years. so I played a side of "Silver 'n Wood" last night. Also checked the Blue Note discography concerning these sessions. Turns out that most of these dates were cut in New York (or New Jersey) as straight quintet sides, and then the horns/strings/voices were dubbed on at a later date, in Los Angeles! This accounts for the disconnect that one feels when listening to these records. The horns don't seem to be fully part of the process, but window dressing. In places I found it somewhat annoying that woodwind parts were added to enhance Horace's comping at the piano. And the sound! Boxy, flat, none of the sparkle and clarity that characterized the classic quintet sessions. Is George Butler responsible for the lousy production? Still, I have to agree that there are some great tunes here, and if one can listen past the overdubbing and focus on what the quintet is playing, there is a wealth of fine compositions among these sessions. I wonder if the raw quintet tracks might still exist somewhere, and whether or not we might actually get to hear them someday? Who was in the band, Jack? Front line was Barry Ries (tp), Ron Bridgewater (tenor), can't remember the bass and drums. Recalling further, I believe Carl Burnett was the drummer.

Who was in the band, Jack? Front line was Barry Ries (tp), Ron Bridgewater (tenor), can't remember the bass and drums.

I bought them all as they came out. Didn't care for the United States of Mind series - some nice tunes, but the vocals were a bringdown. In Pursuit of the 27th Man is a gem. The Silver And series were good, although they seem somewhat overblown when I listen to them today. I can understand Horace's need to expand his horizons, but to me the quintet sides will always remain the classics. I saw Horace live around the time that the last in the Siver And series came out (Silver And Strings - Music of the Spheres). He was leading a quintet, and he played several pieces from the new album. The quintet renditions totally kicked ass! Many of the albums on his own Silveto label suffered from the same problem as the US of Mind series - too many vocals. Spritualizing the Senses is a fine all instrumental record, and well worth the search.

When Contemporary started issuing stereo LP's in 1957, they were issued on the STEREO label. Apparently the name was not able to be copyrighted, so after about 30 releases, the label name was dropped, and subsequent releases were issued on Contemporay. Later pressings of STEREO releases are on the standard Contemporay label, black for stereo, yellow for mono. Here's a list: http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Labels/stereo.htm

http://www.theatermania.com:80/new-york/ne...t-69_20883.html Songwriter Ellie Greenwich Dies at 69 By: Brian Scott Lipton · Aug 26, 2009 · New York Ellie Greenwich, one of the foremost songwriters of the rock 'n' roll era, has died at age 69. Greenwich's songs were the basis of the 1985 Broadway revue Leader of the Pack, which earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical. She also appeared in the production, alongside Patrick Cassidy, Dinah Manoff, Annie Golden, Jasmine Guy, Darlene Love, and other stars. In addition to the song "Leader of the Pack," Greenwich wrote such iconic hits as "Be My Baby," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." In 1991, she and Jeff Barry, her former husband and songwriting and producing partner, were inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. Greenwich's songs were also featured in three other Broadway revues: Uptown, It's Hot!, Andre De Shields' Harlem Nocturne, and Rock 'n' Roll! The First 5,000 Years. During her career as writer and producer, Greenwich also worked with such top talents as Phil Spector, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Lesley Gore, Bobby Darin, Nona Hendryx, and Cyndi Lauper. She is survived by her sister, Laura Weiner. Donations can be made to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation.

This is a good question, and I don't have an overall answer, only having investigated a small number of reel-to-reel tapes. I have encountered a few that were missing tracks, but I've never been able to come up with a good reason for that other than record company greed.

My understanding is that in the early days of stereo LP's, the variable cutting lathe that was used to cut the masters had not yet been developed. Since the stereo grooves (which contained more information) were wider than the mono grooves, it was sometimes necessary to drop a couple of tracks which were on the mono version. I can name many instances where this occurred. Eventually the variable lathe was introduced, and from this point on, the mono and stereo versions were usually (but not always) identical. But that would be another conversation.

Whenever Bill Cosby hosted the Tonight Show, he would often book a jazz musician. I can remember seeing Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, and Max Roach on Cosby-hosted shows.

Of course I didn't mean to demean your observations. They are very interesting. One of the engineers who worked for Capitol in the mid-1950's in Los Angeles was Roy DuNann, who is revered in audiophile circles for his stellar work for Contemporary. No doubt he applied his golden ears to many Capitol sessions as well, although, sadly, the engineers are not credited on these classic Capitol LP's.

Interesting post, TTK, but a lot of subjectivity, of course. Capitol was definitely in the forefront of stereo in the 1950's. Nat King Cole's "Love Is the Thing" (recorded December, 1956) is in stereo, although the stereo LP only contains 10 tracks to the 12 tracks which appear on the mono version. If you can find the Capitol/DCC CD release, which contains 15 tracks, mastered by Steve Hoffman, the sound is great. I suspect that the first issue of these early stereo recordings may have been on reel-to-reel tape, as stereo LP's didn't hit the market until late 1957, and most of the major labels didn't jump in until late 1958, early 1959. The availability of stereo on many late 1950's recordings has been a long time area of fascination for me, especially given my nickname.

Just saw the movie tonight, thoroughly loved it! Streep hams it up in grand style, and I think Amy Adams is adorable, not at all the whiny brat some have called her. She has her trials and tribulations, but I bought it. Stanley Tucci is understated as Childs' husband, and Streep's final scene is very touching.

"Mixed Bag" dates from several years later than "Jazz". My understanding is that there was a fire in the early 70's that may have claimed quite a bit of archived material. "Mixed Bag" dates from after the fire, I believe. While the show may have aired some jazz, it focused primarily on pop, folk, and rock. I, too, question whether Tanner has any knowledge of what exists in the archives. Why would he? Steve Schwartz, however, does work at the station now, so he would be in a position to find out just what exists. And as I said, he made these inquiries years ago.