jeffcrom

Frank's Place - Episode 20: "Cultural Exchange," with Dizzy Gillespie, Harold Land, Walter Davis, Jr., Al McKibbon, and Tootie Heath.

The Fletcher Henderson band trading sets with Jean Goldkette's band (with Bix) at Roseland, October, 1926. Of course, if had heard this, I'd likely be dead now. Might be worth it, though....

Due to a website meltdown, the link on my blog to the mp3s of Boyce Brown's Collector's Item 78 had been broken for awhile. I finally got around to fixing it today, and took advantage of the opportunity to make new, and better (I think) transfers of these two rare sides. Here is the link to my blog post about Boyce; if you want to go directly to the page with the Collector's Item tunes, click here.

I didn't move you - just flipped Hardbopjazz and mikeweil. I put you in the April slot almost a year ago. Of course, I may have misnumbered and corrected the list at some point - I tend to mess up the numbers periodically.

You've got it.

As requested, I have adjusted the so that Hardbopjazz now has #107 next month and mikeweil has #108 in March.

Depends on your screen size/resolution. Top = left.

Bobby Hackett - That Da Da Strain (CBS Portrait)

Cannonball Adderley - Jazz Workshop Revisited (Riverside mono)

50? That's in dog years.

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland (EmArcy), plus an alternate take from the Japanese Mercury V.S.O.P. set.

I'm struggling with the decision of whether or not to grab this now. I love Bechet deeply, but that means that I've had most of this material for years. I just looked closely at the contents of this set, and if I bought it, it would be to get 13 tracks (mostly alternate takes) that I don't have (out of 69). There's only one master take on this set that I don't have. Sigh... decisions.... I have an old Columbia 6-eye LP with the master takes of most of the 1947 material; I spun it tonight, interspersed with the alternates I have, from the Network Alternative Takes Volume 2 CD. Based on what I heard tonight, I would say that some of the alternates are less than essential. But.... The alternates of the tunes that are more or less set pieces for Bechet ("Just One of Those Things" and "Song of Songs," for instance) are not appreciably different from the master takes. But others are - there's a take of "Love for Sale" that's both faster than the master and quite a bit longer - so there's a different approach and quite a bit more improvising. So - tough call. But if you don't have the 1923-25 material, you should go for it.

Today I played all my Charlie Venture Nationals, 1946-48. The ensembles range from big bands to sextets, with "bop vocals" by Buddy Stewart, Marianne Dunn & Jack Palmer, and Jackie & Roy. My favorite contributions are from Bennie Green, who's on about half of these records. Moon Nocturne, parts 1 & 2 Synthesis/Blue Champagne East of Suez/I'll Never Be the Same Euphoria/If I Had You I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles Baby, Baby All the Time Stop 'n Go/Pina Colada A.M. - P.M. Song/F.Y.I. And last night before bed, I played one of my real treasures, which I found in a long-gone Atlanta junk store around 40 years ago: Blind Willie Johnson - Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning/Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying (Columbia)

FreshSound reissued the album on CD in 2006 I stand corrected.

Phil Sunkel's Jazz Band (ABC Paramount). A really wonderful "sleeper" of an album from 1956 - never released on CD, to my knowledge, but apparently available as a download (without the kinda stupid, kinda great cover). Sunkel was one of those cool-ish bebop trumpeters like Don Joseph or Tony Fruscella; here he leads a small big band (four brass, three saxes, and three rhythm) in a program he mostly wrote himself. There are no big names, but most folks would recognize a few of the musicians. Imaginative, different, and excellent.

Yeah, I figured out pretty early in my ongoing 78 obsession that Victor was head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of sound - not only during the acoustic era, but well into the electric era.

1929-30 hot jazz discs this morning, most of which I've mentioned before: Mound City Blue Blowers (as Tennessee Music Men); vocals by Red McKenzie (as Jack King) - Georgia On My Mind/I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me (Velvet Tone). I think I've mentioned that this record provided the most bang for the buck of any in my 78 collection. It's from the MCBB session with Coleman Hawkins and Muggsy Spanier, and it cost me all of five cents. Kentucky Grasshoppers - Four or Five Times/It's Tight Like That (Banner). The Kentucky Grasshoppers were basically Ben Pollack's band without Pollack, recording jazz for another label. On board are Jack Teagarden, Jimmy McPartland, and Benny Goodman. This record is pretty worn, but still enjoyable. Kentucky Grasshoppers - Makin' Friends/Fred Rich and His Orchestra - I Get the Blues When It Rains (Banner). Jimmy Dorsey replaces Goodman in the Grasshoppers; "Makin' Friends" is a blues feature for Teagarden. The Fred Rich dance band side is not bad; Leo McConville and both Dorsey brothers solo. Wingy Mannone's Orchestra - Tar Paper Stomp/Tin Roof Blues (Champion). I know I've mentioned this one - it's at least the distant ancestor of "original cover" reissues like the OJC series. The original Champion issue, from 1930, was by "Barbecue Joe and His Hot Dogs." Decca bought Champion in 1934, and the next year reissued this under Mannone's name, using the original Champion label design (with "m'f'd by Decca Records" in small print). Most people here probably know that "Tar Paper Stomp" was the first recorded appearance of the "In the Mood" riff.

JATP All-Stars at the Opera House (Verve mono)

Duane & Greg Allman (sic) (Bold). Actually 1968 demos for an unfinished album by a band called The 31st of February, which included Butch Trucks and, for a short time, the Allman brothers. This is the best of the brothers' pre-Allman Brothers Band recordings (except for the "B.B. King Medley" by Hourglass). There are some excellent tracks here, especially on side one; side two is much weaker.

That's an intriguing idea.

I've become pretty good at tracking down these anonymous 1920s dance bands. Because recordings showed up on various labels using various pseudonyms, it's usually a pretty convoluted process, using Rust's American Dance Band Discography, Steven Barr's Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide, and Online 78 RPM Discographical Project. Your record is actually by Bill Perry's Entertainers, vocals by The Radio Imps, recorded for the Plaza group of labels in early January, 1927. Unfortunately, the personnel is not known, except that the Radio Imps/Melody Twins were Ed Smalle and Jerry Macy. Oriole was one of the "dime store labels"; during that period it was pressed by Plaza for McCrory's stores (which I remember from my childhood). Banner was Plaza's main label; they also made Domino and Regal. If you're interested in the steps I went through to find the source of this record: 1. I looked up Oriole 828 on the 78 discography site. Beside "Ted White's Collegians," it had a "BP" in parentheses. It also listed a matrix number (7032) a control number (681, visible on your label), and a recording date of January, 1927. The control number is a "false" matrix number assigned by another company (like Oriole). 2. Looked up Oriole in the Barr book and was reminded that it was pressed by Plaza, and that Banner was their main label. 3. Went to the appropriate Banner listing on the 78 discography site and did a search for "crazy words." Side A of Banner #1922, by Bill Perry's Entertainers, matched the title, approximate date, and matrix number. Bingo! 4. Looked up Perry in the Rust discography. The Oriole issue is not listed, but that's not uncommon when recordings were leased to and issued by several different labels. This recording was also issued on Banner, Domino and Regal in the U.S., Apex and Starr in Canada, and Imperial in the U.K. This one was a pretty easy one to track down - it took about five minutes. Because the information in all of the sources I listed is incomplete, sometimes I have to go through a lot more steps to find the source of a record from the 1920s. I spent half an hour this morning trying to find the source of a Rudy Wiedoeft record on the obscure Cleartone label, but I mostly struck out, except that it's probably from 1921 or 1922.

10" LP time: Claude Thornhill and His Orchestra Play the Great Jazz Arrangements of Gerry Mulligan and Ralph Aldrich (Trend). The four Mulligan arrangements are one side one of this 1953 album, and that side is great. Wonderful band, imaginative writing, and Gene Quill (at the top of his game) solos on all four tunes. Side two has two pretty good arrangements by Aldrich and a bland one by Thornhill. Lars Gullin - Modern Sounds: Sweden (Contemporary). One source says that these recordings were made (in Stockholm) specifically for Contemporary, and only issued in Sweden later. Don't know if that's true. Brad Gowans and His New York Nine (RCA Victor). A 1954 album of a 1946 date, and the first issue for six of the eight tunes. I've always loved this intelligent, swinging session, with its Bixian flavor.

Paul Chambers - 1st Bassman (Vee Jay mono)

I often don't post here when I listen to non-jazz 78s. But in case anyone is interested, I played a bunch of Rudy Wiedoeft today, and a stack of acoustic Victor Red Seal opera records for a couple of days before that. Victor marketed their Red Seal opera records as the height of musical achievement, and as prestigious consumer items. I won't list everything I played, but the records were by Caruso, Galli-Curci, Gigli, Nellie Melba, and Tetrazinni. I've always loved Caruso, and enjoyed Gigli and Galli-Curci almost as much. Amelita Galli-Curci is my favorite "golden age" soprano; she had a beautiful voice, and was a real artist. One of the records I played was the 1908 recording of the Sextet from Lucia with Caruso; mine is the original pressing with the Victor "Grand Prize" label as shown. This was the most expensive record on the market at the time; it cost $7.00, the equivalent of $172.00 in today's money - for a single-sided, four-and-a-half minute record. More copies made it into consumers' hands than you would think - as I understand it, anyone buying a Victor record player could choose one record from the Victor catalog, and many people picked the Lucia Sextet. Rudy Wiedoeft was a virtuoso saxophonist (alto and C-melody) who had no connection with jazz - he played pop tunes, semi-classical pieces, flashy waltzes, and ragtime novelties. I have about a dozen Wiedoeft records - solos accompanied by piano or orchestra, duets with other saxophonists (Wheeler Wadsworth and Arnold Brilhart), duets with other instrumentalists, saxophone ensembles. Like I said - no jazz at all, but very impressive saxophone playing.