jeffcrom

Such a wonderful album! The first I heard it was in an under-heated room in November, in the French Quarter, in the early 1990s. It was before the CD reissue, and WWOZ played the album from a cassette copy provided by the family of McNeal Breaux, the bassist on the album. By the way, for those who don't know, Breaux was a relative of the great Wellman Braud: Breaux & Braud both being variant Creole spellings of the same French name.

The latest entry in my 78 blog features one of Freddie Webster's most elusive sessions. Hope you enjoy it. https://78rpmblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/freddie-webster-with-sonny-boy-williams.html

When I was around four, I wouldn't go to bed until my parents played that record for me. Now playing: Mal Waldron - Hard Talk (Enja)

Matt Nelson - Starting. Download-only solo bass wonderfulness. https://mattnelsonbass.bandcamp.com/releases

I love Ronald Shannon Jackson with Ayler. Now playing: Lucky Thompson Plays Jerome Kern, from the Prestige "twofer" CD Happy Days. This is gorgeous music, although the stereo mix, with Lucky panned hard left, is unlistenable with headphones. Since my wife is asleep and I'm listening with phones, I ran it mono, and it sounds great.

Yes - amazing recording, and one I often play for folks who aren't familiar with early jazz.

Since I started collecting 78s, I had planned to eventually get the complete recordings of the Varsity Seven, an all-star recording band that has not been well served by reissues. It wasn't hard - the records are not rare or expensive, but I just got around to getting all four of them. It really is a great band, with a front line of Benny Carter (as "Billy Carton" on the labels, and mostly on trumpet), clarinetist Danny Polo, and Coleman Hawkins. Joe Sullivan on piano is pretty wonderful, too. They made two sessions - December, 1939 and January, 1940; Big Joe Turner sings on two of the 1940 sides. Scratch My Back / Save It, Pretty Mama (Varsity 8135) Easy Rider / It's Tight Like That (Varsity 8147) How Long, How Long Blues / Pom Pom (Varsity 8173) Shake It and Break It / A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (Varsity 8179)

Billie Holiday - Lady Day: Complete Columbia Recordings 1933-1944; disc two. Edit: I need to get away for the rest of the evening - the triple-posting that happens to every one of my posts is driving me crazy. Later edit: I refreshed my browser, and things are working much better.

Long time ago. Things change. .

Miles Davis - Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: Europe 1967 - disc one, Antwerp, October 28, 1967 Miles Davis - Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Newport 1955-1975 - disc three, with Berlin, November 1, 1973 & New York, July 1, 1975. I used to hate Miles' 1973-75 band. I hear it totally differently now - some of the darkest, most menacing funk music ever made.

RIP. I'll spin some of Big Jay's 78s tonight.

Sidney Bechet - Tresors (Vogue/BMG). I just recently became aware (through an old thread here) of this four-CD set, which collects Bechet's French Vogue recordings from 1949 through 1952. There is no discographical information other than dates in the booklet, I looked it all up and made my own insert. I'm really enjoying this tonight.

Thanks for the info!

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight (Columbia Legacy). I can still hear Charlie Parker's all-pervasive influence here - but also Davis, Coltrane, and the others pushing towards something totally new.

This is really strange to me - this issue has been out for four years, but I can't come up with any information about the source of the bonus tracks. If they're from the Japanese issue Miles Miles Miles, I don't need them. But if they're previously unreleased tracks from the Boston or New York shows that contributed to We Want Miles, I definitely want this.

Lester Young - Prez Conferences (Jass). Much excellent music here, recorded live and from broadcasts, 1946-58. I found an old thread in which JSngry points out how lost the rhythm section gets during a 1946 broadcast version of "D.B. Blues" - a blues-with-a-bridge, which is indeed an easy form to get lost in - so Lester plays some non-harmonic stuff that more or less fits over whatever chaos is happening behind him.

Your assumption is generally correct - most 78s were made of shellac or a similar compound into the 1950s, even after vinyl LPs were introduced. But starting around the end of World War II, some 78s were pressed on vinyl for better sound quality. Bill Russell's American Music label used vinyl at first, although whatever gains made in surface noise reduction were offset by the generally lousy recording quality. Based on what I've found "in the wild," it looks like some labels pressed their promo/DJ 78 records on vinyl while using shellac for the general public. Anyway, a deluxe production like The Jazz Scene was the perfect candidate for vinyl pressings. And the records really do sound magnificent.

Cecil Taylor & Han Bennink - Spots Circles, and Fantasy, from the Cecil Taylor in Berlin '88 box set (FMP)

I couldn't either, but I bought it anyway. That was a long time ago, and I don't really remember how I managed to pay for it. I probably had a string of high-money gigs that made it possible. So most likely "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Margaritaville" paid for Cecil Taylor.

I ran it through an inflation calculator, and jlhoots' asking price is only slightly more than I paid for it in 1989 when adjusted for inflation - and I don't remember what I paid for shipping, but that probably evens it out.

Yes - six 12-inch vinyl (rather than shellac) 78s in a deluxe album with lots of well-printed Gjon Milli photographs. That's it in the picture (not mine) with one of the records.It cost $25 at the time, which is equivalent to $267 today. It didn't come out on LP until about five years later. Maybe if I get ambitious today I'll take some pictures of my set to try to convey what an impressive production it was.

The Jazz Scene, copy #3035. Everything about this album is wonderful - the music, the sound quality of the near-mint vinyl records, the photographs, the packaging, and I guess what you would call the romance or the cool factor.

Weather Report - Live in Tokyo (Sony Japan)

Blue Mitchell - Step Lightly (BN Classic)

Keith Jarrett - Staircase (ECM). Bought this back in the day when I was trying to figure out The Jazz. At some point I decided that I wasn't a huge fan of solo Jarrett, and haven't spun Staircase in years. Something made me put it on tonight, and it's really hitting the spot. I'm going to listen to as many of the four sides as I can before sleep overtakes me. I'm not saying it's great, because I'm not sure that it is - just that's it's perfect for me right now. And what a beautiful cover photo.