jeffcrom

While torturing myself on the elliptical machine this morning, I watched (among other things), Ellington's "Symphony in Black" again. When I haven't seen it for awhile, I forget how amazing this 1934 short film is, musically and visually. As others have said, it looks forward to "Black, Brown and Beige," and also uses some existing music - pieces of "Ducky Wucky," "The Saddest Tale," and "Merry Go Round." show up. But Ellington really does manage to make a unified piece out of all of those elements. And Billie Holiday is far better than on her "official" earlier recordings. "Symphony in Black" is on the RCA set The Centennial Collection, not to be confused with the complete Centennial Edition box. The Centennial Collection is one CD and one DVD; it appears to be out of print, but shouldn't be too hard to find. Most Ellingtonians will have the studio recordings on the CD, but there are seven excellent broadcast recordings as well.

I "third" the Gene Norman recommendation. Although trying to put it all together on old Crown & United LPs kind of appeals to my hunter/gatherer instincts.

And I've had the 45 of Miles' "The Little Blue Frog" since way back before that track was issued in any other form. It's not "free jazz," I don't guess, but it's pretty weird - as out there as much of the other music discussed here. Now you can hear the full nine-minute track, but it made for a pretty odd two-and-a-half minute single. The other side is a short hunk of "Great Expectations." At least that track was included in the CD reissue, if I understand correctly.

I just remembered that DIW issued three Sun Ra 45s, from the same sessions as the Live at the Pit-Inn album. The 45 tracks weren't even included on the CD version. I've long lusted after them....

Those can sound suprisingly good ! Mine certainly sounds better than it has any right to, considering how it was treated by the original owner.

Alvin Batiste - Musique d'Afrique Nouvelle Orleans (India Naviagation)

I'm 15 years older than you, but I still really enjoy my 45s/7-inchers. I don't mind getting up to change the side every 3-6 minutes - I figure that I need all the exercise I can get. I have about half as many as you, in three boxes: jazz, blues, and R & B - with a few miscellaneous records in the R & B box. I usually pull out my 45 boxes when my wife is out of town, when I can drink too much and crank them up. Part of the attraction is, as I said earlier, the rarity - I've got many items only issued on 7" (like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's first two singles, on their Mad Musicians label, and Eddie Clearwater's "Lonely Nights"). But the "cool factor" of playing those little records is part of it, which I guess is something that either appeals to you or not.

Congrats, dude!

I see nothing.

Stan Getz Quartet - At Montreux (German Polydor)

I've got: Borbetomagus - Coelacanth (on the charmingly named Butt Rag label) Gold Sparkle Band - Nuzion (Third Eye) Gold Sparkle Band - 2 by Shipp (Nu) Globe Unity Orchestra - Bavarian Calypso/Goodbye (FMP) William Hooker Group - Vulnerability/Hopi/My Friend (ERL) Reptet - Agendacide (Monktail) Maybe not hard-core free jazz, but certainly of interest to avant-ish listeners. Matthew Shipp Duo with William Parker - Summertime (Yakuza) Why? I'm only speaking for myself, but: 1) Most of this music is available only in this format. Without checking, I believe that only the Shipp/Parker track has been issued issued on a full-length album. Of course, someone will correct me if I'm wrong. 2. These are cool little records. Some of the appeal may have to do with hearing challenging music in a size/format more commonly associated with pop music.

Bump. Final selections include tracks from LPs, CDs, and a side from my 78 collection. You may not like everything, but you'll like something.

Reuben Wilson - Blue Mode (BN). By copy is beat to hell, but is still enjoyable. It's got the short-lived black and light blue Liberty BN labels.

Goose Gossage Rollie Fingers Thumbs Carlisle:

Just to make sure I wasn't being too hard on them in another thread, I played my complete Firehouse Five Plus Two collection - one 45 and one 78: Everybody Loves My Baby/Brass Bell (Good Time Jazz 78, 1949) Lonesome Mama Blues/Sweet Georgia Brown (Good Time Jazz 45, 1951) See, this is why we can't have nice things.

And I think this should count: Don Elliott is doing pretty well in outer space, playing mellophone on his trumpet-powered Vespa:

Earl Palmer Little Richard Rich Little

Sorry to intrude on this thread with a CD, but to add to my comments about Masahiko Togashi above: I'm listening to Breath right now, and it's excellent. I remember some sense of vague dissatisfaction the last time I spun it, but it must have been my mood at the time; I'm enjoying it thoroughly tonight. The feel/atmosphere is very similar to Spiritual Nature, although of course with an instrumentation of just flute/piano/percussion. Hozan Yamamoto, by the way, was the shakuhachi player on Tony Scott's Music for Zen Meditation album.

I have the American Inner City version - no liner notes, so I can't help there. Togashi recorded a lot, but it was never easy to find his stuff in the U.S., and it has now become almost impossible. For us 'Mericans, it's usually pretty easy to find Breath, a collaboration with shakuhachi player Hozan Yamamoto and pianist Yosuke Yamashita. It's maybe more of a Hozan Yamamoto album than a Togashi one, though. Anyway, someone is selling it cheaply on Amazon right now. I checked on Amazon UK and see that there are a few Togashi albums available there, including the wonderful Spiritual Moments, with Steve Lacy and Kent Carter. To simplify things, I'll say that it sounds like a cross between the Togashi album you have and a Steve Lacy trio album. If you can find the two-disc Bura-Bura, grab it. (There's also a one-disc version.) It's an all-star quartet: Togashi, Lacy, Don Cherry, and Dave Holland. Severe stereo separation of the horns, but incredible music. Again, it's always been difficult to track down. For those who don't know about Togashi - he was a pioneer of Japanese free jazz, and a frequent Steve Lacy collaborator. In 1970 he was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident, and thereafter played from a wheelchair. He obviously couldn't use kick drum or hi-hat after that, but he played a large percussion kit that enabled him to produce a very wide range of sound. He played with great sensitivity, and sounds good in any context I've heard.

Red Garland - Solar (Jazzland mono)

As a guy who loves New Orleans jazz, I can't get on board with you with the Firehouse Five. I have twelve minutes of music by them in my record collection (one 45 and one 78), and that's more than enough. Now a Santo Pecora set - that's an interesting idea....

A bit of bachelor-pad weirdness before bed: Don Elliott - Music for the Sensational Sixties (Design). Teasing the Korean, do you know this album? It's right up your alley. Don Elliott plays trumpet, mellophone, vibes, and bongos; he sings, and the cover is fabulous. Hal McKusick and Milt Hinton are among the sidemen.

Buddy Arnold - Wailing (ABC Paramount). What a nice surprise. I found a battered copy of this 1956 album, which I had never heard of, in a junk shop. Cleaned up and played with a mono cartridge, it sounds far better than I thought it would. Arnold played with the Buddy Rich and Claude Thornhill big bands, but this is his only leader date. He got Al Cohn and Bob Brookmeyer, among others, to write charts for four horns and rhythm, and the music is excellent, although not earth-shattering or particularly original. Gene Quill and Dave Schildkraut alternate on alto, which is one reason I grabbed this one, in spite of its grim-looking condition. I'm glad I did; this is a pleasure.

Sonny Red - Images (Jazzland mono)

I've got around 100 albums (plus lots of unreleased stuff), and I don't have all of them. Check out the I didn't join until 2009 - I list a few of my favorites as of that year in post 143. My list might be a little different now, but I still rate all of the ones in that post highly.