felser

How does it sound to you?

Received this earlier in the week, and gave it a listen today. Sound is not great, either a needle drop or deteriorating tape. But perfectly listenable under the circumstances. On the other hand, really excellent liner notes. Interestingly, a shout out from Maxine Gordon (who produced the reissue) to Charles Tolliver for "his help making the reissue a reality". No sure what that indicates, since I thought the artists (in this case the Scott estate) owned the tapes and rights. Could that bode well for other Strata East reissues?

My favorite albums by Barry Harris, Jim Hall, Enrico Rava.

And the Reggie Workman/Roy Haynes rhythm section doesn't hurt in that regard, either ,

My favorite run of albums by him was made by this band (and Extensions is right up there with them).

Cheaper through Amazon or Importcds.com. Mine is due in soon.

Yes. I bought it maybe a year or 18 months ago. Definitely CD

He sold a boatload of albums for Argo (a Chess subsidiary) in the late 50's. His "But Not For Me/Live at the Pershing" album went to #3 on the pop LP charts in 1958 and charted for over two years. That's the one with "Ponciana" on it. "Poinciana" remains a very satisfying listen 60 years on. Overall, I find his late 60's/early 70's albums on Impulse! to be the ones I like best, followed by the albums he made for Atlantic in the mid 80's. In both those periods, he played with a more forceful style than in his 50's heyday. His place in the jazz pantheon is basically according to your tastes. He's not Bud Powell, Bill Evans, or McCoy Tyner, but has had a long and distinguished career largely on his own terms. I have a lot of respect for him. He's not easy to compare to other players, as he has his own "thing" and has reached a large audience outside of our types at times.

Seems to be running about a month from Europe to the USA on a few orders I have placed in recent months (I have cut way back). I had one package from Russia which took over two months (one mailed bu the same seller three days earlier took three weeks), and another (small and inexpensive, thankfully) one from Russia which has been somewhere between St. Petersburg and New York for well over three months. I would normally presume it lost, but I actually expect it will eventually show up, given the recent past.

Many (including me) first heard it on Jordan's "Glass Bead Games" 2 LP set on Strata-East, which came out a few years ahead of the Muse "Night of the Mark VII" album and the year before the Descendants of Mike and Phoebe album. The "Glass Bead Games" version will always be THE version for me, for many reasons. The composition also later showed up on Bill Lee's New York Bass Violin Choir album, so it got onto three Strata-East albums.

Much in need of a CD issue. one of the last remaining essential Strata-East holdouts (Jazz Contemporaries "Reasons in Tonality", Harold Vick are some others). Interesting that such a high percentage of the cuts are from Strata-East albums. I have every one of these cuts in one form or another, and it's a good list. First thing I thought of when I saw the topic was that Gil Scott-Heron cut.

The missing track, NY Theme, is only 45 seconds long, so not a great loss, though they could also have easily included it. Great set, thanks for posting the video! Some amazing Jazz Messengers lineups during that time which went undocumented on record in that era (say 1965-1972). As far as the claim to "audiophile grading", I'm not seeing (hearing) it happen with that source material, but still a very worthwhile release. And I'll grab a CD issue if it comes out in my lifetime.

+ 1 "NY Theme" , whatever that is. https://jazzicons.com/ji4_blakey65.html

1 – doesn’t do much for me. Feels more like an exercise than a performance. 2 – also not something I’d go listen to again, but certainly better than the first one. Felt like a derivation of “Birdland” at the beginning, but of course went somewhere very different. 3 – I don’t like the drumming on this cut at all, and the whole feel is very static. The pianist is by far the most interesting piece to me. 4 – Very ECM feel to it. Cold. They can obviously play their instruments. Could be something like John Abercrombie with Richie Beirach on piano. This one I might play again some time, but not necessarily. Yet it is clearly the pick of the litter so far. 5 – More icy ECM feel. They can play, but I find it tedious. 6 – Again lost on me, though I think they are doing exactly what they set out to do. But feels cliched in a lot of ways, especially the growling trombone player. 7 – huh? 8 – It’s OK, not of interest to me. 9 - More of that ECM feel, though I like this one for what it is. But again, not something I see myself consciously returning to, because there’s just so much music to listen to. 10 - Continues some of my thoughts from above. Mike Breckerish tenor, which isn’t my favorite. ECMish synth, static rhythm. 11 – Really, really lost on me. Some of the same comments as previous pieces, but more annoying to me. 12 – To my ears and tastes, we saved the best for last. I like this a good bit. My kind of rhythm section, and the tenor player knows just what to do with it. I have been hesitant to post to the BFT for this time, as I don’t have a lot of positive comments. My tastes are very different than what is being presented here. But I know that when I present a BFT, I’d rather have negative comments than silence, to know that people are paying attention and care enough to listen and post.

I was never big on Jarrett's work with Miles.

And no doubt full royalties will go to all the appropriate parties ...

Really interesting musician. RIP. I even enjoy the Centipede "Septober Engergy" set quite a bit.

Yes, they should be fine. And their customer service is good if you have any issues. They are my go-to for most CD's these days. I ordered the 10 CD Woodstock set from them last year, and it was perfect when it arrived.

Only if I can get it rolled down to an mp3 file to play on my phone.

I like his early 60's albums quite a bit, and am also a fan of the Special Edition set.

Yes, it was Bonnie singing that one, and I agree it's also my favorite version of that song.