Jim R

What really hit home when I watched Comedy Central's recent airing of their "Top 100 Stand-ups of all time" was that today's comics (and even the older ones who are trying to remain hip) are focused primarily on how vulgar they can be. Now, I've been around a few years, I remember Lenny Bruce, Redd Foxx, etc, but when everybody is doing it, it really gets old. I saw a standup on "Premium Blend" or one of those CC shows recently, and I swear, every third word was bleeped. Not real good for television viewers. At any rate, the point is that standup comedy is as weak as I've ever seen it, in terms of a lack of imagination, timing, delivery... you name it. More people should pay attention to those comedy roundtable discussions that Alan King did for PBS a few years back. They were inclusive of younger AND older comics, and you got the feeling that the participants really cared and wanted to be there. I have to admit that King was never a real favorite of mine (I always thought he was pretty funny, but just didn't kill me like some others did), but when I saw those PBS shows I realized how thoughtful and knowledgeable he was regarding the art form. RIP Mr. King.

Well, I am a pretty serious fanatic, and have spent a lot of time researching and collecting over 400 Brazilian titles. So I do have a fairly well-formed opinion. I would have to say "none of the above". The one I would choose (a CD with 38 tracks that contains the earliest albums of Joao Gilberto) may not be the be-all and end-all for all serious Bossa Nova fanatics, but it's pretty close, IMO: Joao Gilberto "Chega De Saudade" (Odeon Brasil, 1959) Joao Gilberto "O Mito" (EMI Brasil, 1988) Joao Gilberto "The Legendary Joao Gilberto" (Capitol/World Pacific, 1990) Joao Gilberto "38 Titres De Bossa Nova" (EMI/World Pacific-France, 1993) The U.S. Capitol/World Pacific version from 1990 is OOP (a real travesty... imagine if "Kind Of Blue" were OOP- it's that unconscionable, IMO). Here's a brief write-up from http://www.slipcue.com/music/brazil/aa_albums/30best.html which I think sums it up pretty well: Bossa nova heaven. Guitarist and crooner Joao Gilberto's landmark recording, Chega De Saudade, was hailed as the first bossa nova album, a record that changed the course of musical history. The title track -- written by Antonio Carlos Jobim -- became an international hit, along with songs such as "Desafinado" and "Girl From Ipanema," which were recorded by U.S. jazz stars Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. Still, Gilberto's original acoustic versions are the most captivating and magical, with the amazing economy which as the trademark of Gilberto's style. This album, along with his next two on Odeon, were gathered on a single, stunning CD (in the various versions listed above) yet, unfathomably, the record labels have allowed it to lapse out of print for over a decade now, depriving the world of one of its great musical jewels. Apparently it's due to some sort of idiotic licensing problem... Feel entitled to beg, cheat or burn a copy if you get a chance. It's crucial music. The greatest and most important Bossa Nova performer of all time, IMO, and the 38 tracks include many of the most important songs by Jobim, Newton Mendonça, Vinicius De Moraes, Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, Ary Barroso, Dorival Caymmi, Luiz Bonfa, and Gilberto himself. If you love it like I did (this was basically my inspiration for going on a serious buying rampage over the past 10+ years), it may always be at the top of your list, but it also possible to view it as just an important building block toward discovering the history and scope of this music, which includes all kinds of gems by a variety of artists (some fairly well known, and some you never heard of). It has been available from Dusty Groove (via Spain, I believe) off and on over the past year or two with a slightly different cover: I think this release was issued as two separate CD's. Can't remember the details now, and it's not currently on their site. End of rant (for now ).

SPEEEEEEECH!!

The webpage specifed "Prestige recordings". So, I would assume that the Jazzland date is out. But who knows...

FWIW, in terms of jazz recordings, here's a selected list of the prolific work of Mr. Kessel: Various Guitarists Hittin' On All Six Proper Dexter Gordon Settin' The Pace Proper (Savoy, Dial, others) Billie Holiday The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve, 1945-1959 Verve Dexter Gordon Dexter Rides Again Savoy (Japan) Lester Young The Complete Verve Studio Sessions Verve Charlie Parker BIRD: The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve Verve Charlie Parker The Complete Dial Sessions Stash Charlie Ventura / Flip Phillips The Complete Verve/Clef Charlie Ventura & Flip Phillips Studio Sessions Mosaic (Verve) Billy Eckstine Everything I Have Is Yours Verve (MGM) Woody Herman The Complete Capitol Recordings Of Woody Herman Mosaic (Capitol) Shorty Rogers The Complete Atlantic And EMI Jazz Recordings Of Shorty Rogers Mosaic (Atlantic, EMI) Various / JATP Jam Session # 1 (Parker, Webster, Hodges, Carter, et al) Mercury Anita O'Day The Complete Verve/Clef Recordings Mosaic (Verve/Clef) Anita O'day Swings Cole Porter Verve Oscar Moore / Barney Kessel / Tal Farlow Swing Guitars Verve Barney Kessel Vol. 1 / Easy Like Contemporary Art Tatum The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces Pablo (Clef / Norgran) Barney Kessel Vol. 2 Kessel Plays Standards Contemporary Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars Lighthouse At Laguna Contemporary Milt Jackson Ballads & Blues / Bags & Flutes Collectables (Atlantic) Ella Fitzgerald The Duke Ellington Song Book Verve Sonny Criss The Complete Imperial Sessions Blue Note (Imperial) Barney Kessel Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By Contemporary Stuff Smith The Complete Verve Stuff Smith Sessions Mosaic (Verve) Barney Kessel The Poll Winners Contemporary Barney Kessel Let's Cook! Contemporary Hampton Hawes FOUR! Contemporary Barney Kessel The Poll Winners Ride Again ! Contemporary Sonny Rollins The Contemporary Leaders "Plus" Contemporary (Japan) Barney Kessel Poll Winners Three! Contemporary Barney Kessel Poll Winners Exploring The Scene Contemporary Ella Fitzgerald Mack The Knife / The Complete Ella In Berlin Verve Sarah Vaughan The Complete Roulette Sarah Vaughan Studio Sessions ("Sarah +2"; and the Benny Carter sessions) Mosaic (Roulette) Barney Kessel Swingin' Party At Contemporary Contemporary Barney Kessel On Fire Venus (Emerald) Barney Kessel Breakfast At Tiffany's / Bossa Nova / Contemporary Latin Rhythms Reprise Barney Kessel Yesterday (Live at Montreux) Black Lion Barney Kessel Solo Concord That's just the tip of the iceberg. For those that enjoy the Julie London, check out the Sarah Vaughan too (very intimate session that included the classic "Key Largo" recording that was widely heard on TV ads in recent years).

Hmm... here are 14 possible titles that could conceiveably be included: 1960-10-13 -The Resurgence Of Dexter Gordon -Jazzland (seems unlikely, but it IS in their holdings, so...?) 1969-04-02,04 -The Tower Of Power! -Prestige 1969-04-02,04 -More Power! -Prestige 1969-05-04 -L. T. D. -Prestige 1969-05-04 -XXL -Prestige 1969-05-10 -A Day In Copenhagen -MPS (but also leased/released by Prestige) 1970-06-18 -At Montreux With Junior Mance -Prestige 1970-07-07 -The Panther -Prestige 1970-07-26 -The Chase! -Prestige 1970-08-27 -The Jumpin' Blues -Prestige 1972-06-22,28 -Tangerine -Prestige 1972-06-28 -Ca'Purange -Prestige 1972-07-22 -Generation -Prestige 1973-07-07 -Blues A La Suisse -Prestige (Only Prestige session not yet out on CD) Still, I hope there might be some p.i. material!

Another legend gone. A great musician, and always one of my personal favorites. RIP, Barney.

I agree. I forget what I said earlier in this thread (I'm on page two now, and going back to page one to look would take about 45 minutes on my slowass system), but I DO agree. I think I prefer most (not all) of the Japanese artwork, but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the LT's. SOLID was.... um.... solid, and I remember really digging Jimmy Smith's COOL BLUES LT cover, for example. Even if they had sucked, there would still be (for me) the sentimentality factor. You just don't forget stumbling onto a great BN session for the FIRST TIME ever- especially if you got a good price... which I always did.

I just read on the Fantasy website's "news" page that there's an 11 CD box of Dexter's Prestige material coming in the Fall. Too bad there was only one more Prestige title I didn't have on CD. Maybe there'll be some unreleased stuff... Scroll down to the bottom...

Yeah, and to think I felt guilty for going off on a tangent about schooners!

Hmmm.... I wouldn't want to go as far as to say that I think brownie is necessarily wrong, but I myself have never seen a Japanese BN with an LT-like (big white border) cover. As for all Japanese issues having Reid Milesish artwork, no, definitely not. There was variety- from actual Reid Miles/Francis Wolff recycled covers to the aforementioned Andy Warhol-like artwork on SOLID and the rest of those Grant Green albums. Rooster, try to get ahold of that Blue Note 2 book. Seeing all those Grant Green covers together (5 are shown on pages 100 and 101) is pretty cool. Brad, My pleasure. Sometimes you discover the coolest sites when Googlin'. B)

Ah, very good- I haven't seen that in years. Now please post the Aizawa cover- and please animate it, too. In the meantime, I'm going to bed.

..... okay, I think I'm awake now. If anybody has "Blue Note 2: The Album Cover Art" (original 2nd volume, 12" X 12" size), the Japanese cover for SOLID is on page 100, along with the Fujiyama covers I mentioned above (OLEO, etc). SOLID was done by a different artist (Aizawa) in the same Andy Warhol / Fujiyama style. ===== Speaking of Grant Green, I came across a nice site- can't necessarily vouch for the discographical data yet, but still pretty cool: G.G / illustrated discography

Well, I just tried some image searches, and not only did I not find the Japanese cover for SOLID, I didn't find the LT cover with the billiard balls. However, check this out (not a lot of images, but lots of discographical data on Toshiba, King, etc, LP issues! Japanese LP data pages

Interesting. Here's what I know about SOLID. The cover brownie describes was used for the U.S. issue (LT 990), which I owned. However, I have a 1991 Japanese book of various artists' discographies called "Jazz Heroes Data Bank", which shows a different cover for SOLID. It doesn't list its GXK number (only LT 990 is given), so I wonder if that cover was ever actually used. All the images in this book are in black and white, but I can easily tell that the art for this LP (which I never saw in person, BTW) was designed by the same (Japanese) artist who did the covers for OLEO, NIGERIA, GOODEN'S CORNER, MATADOR, etc. It's in that same vein. Anybody else ever see that cover?

Hamburger Hamlet... that brings back a memory (changing the subject just slightly ). One of my older brothers moved to L.A. back in the 70's, and I went down to help him move his stuff. I remember eating at a Hamburger Hamlet, and they served these HUMONGOUS glasses of beer... the size of a frigging birdbath, it seemed. I think (?) they called it a "schooner". Wow. Do they still sell those? Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

Brad, some of the Japanese issues shown above had U.S. counterparts in the LT (aka "Blue Note Classics" aka "rainbow") series- those LP's with the wide white border around an often irrelevant (but usually tasteful) color photo. Examples of this are NIGERIA, CLUBHOUSE, CHANT, CONFIRMATION, MR. NATURAL, etc. Some, such as SWEET SLUMBER, were exclusive in their Japanese versions- at least initially (SWEET SLUMBER later became LUSH LIFE in the U.S., for example, with a different cover). I can't tell you why different covers were chosen for various issues here and in Japan. What surprised me a bit in terms of some of the eventual U.S. CD issues is that neither the LT nor the Japanese art was used (such as with SOLID, COOL BLUES). For Jimmy Smith's ON THE SUNNY SIDE (aka STANDARDS), they didn't even use the original title. Gets kind of confusing... but as long as the music is being reissued.... whatever.

I remember that as well. Fortunately, I was able to find a number of the above titles (NIGERIA, MR. NATURAL, CONFIRMATION, CHANT, CLUBHOUSE) in the LT series, and in some cases as cutouts (maybe $4 a pop). Then again, I spent a lot on some of the Japanese LP's (SWINGIN', FREEDOM, REMEMBERING G.G., OLEO, GOODEN'S CORNER). It took me almost ten years to find GOODEN'S CORNER, and before I knew it, all that Grant Green stuff with Sonny Clark was widely available from Mosaic. BTW Eric, the Mobley wasn't the only cover that the Japanese "recycled" for different issues. Other examples were the covers from Sonny Clark's TRIO and COOL STRUTTIN'.

oops. B)

Re the Mobley- the art for BNJ 61006 is almost identical (except for the lettering) to BN 1560

Remembering Grant Green Green Guitar Blues (Bucky Pizzarelli) Blues Up And Down (Griffin/Davis) Down With It (Blue Mitchell) It Might As Well Be Spring (Ike Q) Spring Is Here (Stan Getz) Here We Come (Three Sounds) Come Fly With Me (Sinatra) Me And The Blues (Joe Williams) ...

CLUBHOUSE was issued on CD in the U.S. with that cover in 1990.

Four of the tracks were released in the U.S. on BN-LA573-J2 (70's twofer series). Some titles from the session were released in Japan only. Further titles were released on United Artists (THREE BLIND MICE, VOL. 2).

The TOCJ of STREET SINGER has a different cover from the one above. A lot of the above covers were included in the second and third BN album art books ("Volume 2" and "The "ultimate collection").

I'm photographically/technically challenged as well, so I'll use a combination of visual aids taken off the net and my amazing capacity for descriptive writing. I have part of my collection stored with my humble stereo system, in a custom-designed cabinet (manufactured by Modernica of L.A., based on the designs of Charles Eames). In terms of basic structure and size, it looks like this: Instead of white sliding doors to hide the stereo equipment, mine has maple "dimple doors" (see below); and instead of open space on the bottom shelves, mine has four drawers- two in each cavity on the bottom left and right (see photo of larger unit below). I can get about 480 CD's into the 4 drawers. Most of my individual CD's are stored in two white melamine shelves that I bought at a garage sale for a couple o' bucks each (made up for all the dough I coughed up for that Modernica piece). The shelves are adjustable for maximum capacity, and they're deep enough that I can display some CD's facing forward in the front (I get tired of always looking at spines). I rotate my favorite covers, so it makes for a nice system of displaying art.