The Magnificent Goldberg

Cootie Williams Sextet & Orch - Original Hit recordings 1944 - Phoenix MG

I know - I got 'em when they came out - 38 years without really looking! MG

Thanks very much MG

I have the US vinyl - I think this is my favourite Hutcherson MG

Can someone PLEASE say what the catalogue number of this set is - there seem to be two in the Concord catalogue and I don't know which is the complete set (or if they're different and I need to buy both). Yours truly Confused of Tonyrefail

Bleedin' arseholes. MG

All morning and probably a good chunk of this afternoon The Jazz Crusaders box MG

I wasn't intending to level charges of racism against Jefferson or Concord. I'm sorry it was interpreted that way. I can't see how ANY jazz fan can be racist. I think he had a business idea that arose from his own tastes - just as Ahmet Ertegun and Alfred Lion in their respective periods did - that affected the people he recorded. African-American jazz fans were, as Akanalog suggested, focussing on disco jazz at the time Concord was started and it seems that Jefferson's business plan reacted to that and focussed on people whom he wouldn't expect to buy that type of material, which he didn't anyway want to record. I don't blame him for any of that - I don't find that stuff of much interest, with some exceptions, of course. However, the takeover of Fantasy, many (if not most) of the important elements of which were focussed on a rather different demographic group, by an organisation with Concord's history and (post-Jefferson) revised business plan, doesn't seem to me best calculated to preserve those elements. I could be wrong; the first lot of RVGs included "Cookbook", "Honeydripper" and "Don't go to strangers". That may promise a little bit of something for music that was aimed at the African-American audience. We shall have to see. In the meantime, I'm going to carry on getting as much of the OJC stuff as I can before I can't. MG

A few more OJCs - in anticipation of their vanishing (like Terri Hinte). I expect they'll only give US 3 days notice of deletions if they're feeling exceptionally generous. MG

I agree, but I counted ten LPs and one CD with previously unissued material. There is some commercialized stuff among it, covers of the pop hits of the day, with generic party vocals, typical early 60's stuff, that Michael Cuscuna wouldn't care for. I don't see Columbia doing this ..... What are the three you have? I like the ones with versions of pop hits - mainly R&B material, of course. I've got Stone Soul Soul Bag Hey! Let's party. Listening to all three last night was most enjoyable. Sonny Fortune's work is particularly funky. You're right about Cuscuna's views - he doesn't like commercial trash. So we'll have to wait until the material becomes out of copyright in Europe to see its reissue. MG The three you have are among the best - especially the "Soul" albums are really cooking. I recommend you get the CD Afro-American Latin which released hitherto unissued live and studio material. Fortune was in the band at the time, and blows some good solos. It can be had at mid price in the Legacy series. The Greatest Hits on Columbia is a good selection - but make sure you get the issue with bonus tracks. I really wonder why Collectables didn't go for the Columbia Mongos - they did all the Atlantics. Thanks Mike - I'll try "Afro-American Latin". MG

That's what I always thought about Concord. There were plenty of African American artists around in Concord's early days - you have only to look at the records that Muse issued - some of which were pretty funky, I'll agree - to find a load of them making all kinds of music. Sure, there were people like Kenny Burrell, Plas Johnson, Red Holloway who made albums for the Concord. And sure there were a bunch of Afro-Cuban musicians like Mongo Santamaria on Concord Picante. But the feeling I had was that Concord saw its business as making records for middle class white customers. That, naturally, affected the artists it signed up. And, equally naturally, it affected sales to me. MG

I can't find any details on this date. Who's on it? Any reviews? Ronnie has made some great music so I should expect it to be good but he also made a couple that weren't my cup 'o tea. Disco-funk stuff, Kevin. Delicious! MG

You obviously know nothing about employment law in the US, or what kind of protections exist and don't exist for most employees. That's what I said. So, go on... MG Do you really want me to? Most employees in America are "at will" - I can quit whenever I want to, you can fire me whenever you want to. This doesn't mean that employers don't make some allowances regarding notice of termination and severance pay. But most employers are free to give the notice they feel like giving, be it 0 days, 3 days, two weeks, or whatever, and pay severance if and only if they want to. Struth! Thank you, Dan. I assume the idea of someone having a contract is laughable. Everyone does here. MG

You obviously know nothing about employment law in the US, or what kind of protections exist and don't exist for most employees. That's what I said. So, go on... MG

Indeed. Sorry to see him go. He produced some ace material at Atlantic in the '60s and '70s. MG

It's all very well to assume this is part of a great plan to run Fantasy's operation into Concord's, but no one gets sacked on 3 days notice as part of a grand plan; not unless there's something odd going down. I don't know what the law is in the US, but I bet Terri had a contract that specified that she had to be given more notice, against which they'd have had to compensate her; at arguably greater expense than keeping her on for the full period of her notice. MG

Egad! And consecutive numbers, too! And I never noticed. Looking closely now, I think between 4238 and 4239 she'd had a hairdo and shortened the dress (also removed her trousers). MG You are truly a Master Jazz Geek and I tip my hat to you sir! Jazz is such fun, sometimes, ain't it? MG

An alternative exchange just now has raised in my mind the issue of whether, when you download material, you get accurate credits with it. Do you get, for instance, songwriter info? And is it accurate? (I mean, more accurate than AMG, of course.) MG

Ahhhhh! Gawd blesher Guv! MG

Well, it does mean a thing to me: someone who had an important job at an important company (pre-Concord Fantasy, or so I thought) but, unlike many of her colleagues, used to answer emails personally, without preset messages, and frequently went out of her way to help. So, whatever the reasons behind these, and I accept there might be some good ones , this is definitely no good news. And why exactly did Concord buy Fantasy? And what for? F I was never in contact with Terri, but I always found Fantasy staff knowledgeable and helpful in responding to e-mails. I got replies from the actual people who had done the things I was writing about - blimey! I've been buying up OJCs for a few months now. I have had a VERY bad feeling about this takeover from the day I heard about it. If there's one thing that indicates a lack of knowledge and understanding by the Concord staff of the Fantasy catalogue, it's the artist index on the website. Fantasy staff KNEW that Red Garland was the same artist as the Red Garland trio; and so on for Cannon, and numerous others. Concord obviously employ either a bunch of idiots or consultants/contractors. And if there's another, it's that there's no e-mail address on the website where people can contact any bugger there, even the office cleaner. So every event such as Terri's dismissal (THREE FUCKING DAYS NOTICE?!) is simply another indication that Concord is not going to do any better in the future than it has in the past. MG PS - I seem to remember reading in Billboard in the mid-'90s that Alliance Entertainment had tried to buy Fantasy for $100m, but been told to look elsewhere. This is the firm that bought Concord.

A few old organ grooves on 45 Toussaint McCall - Shimmy Ernie freeman - Night sounds Dave "Baby" Cortez - Belly rub pts 1 & 2 MG

AH! - "Pinpoint" is one I missed before. Good to see that again. MG

Thanks for posting that Chaney. I had a feeling this was happening. The sample of Terri's writing is very impressive! Hope she gets on well in the future. MG

So apparently, "More today than yesterday" isn't being released. After reading what SoulStream said about that, I'm devastated. MG

I agree, but I counted ten LPs and one CD with previously unissued material. There is some commercialized stuff among it, covers of the pop hits of the day, with generic party vocals, typical early 60's stuff, that Michael Cuscuna wouldn't care for. I don't see Columbia doing this ..... Waht are the three you have? I like the ones with versions of pop hits - mainly R&B material, of course. I've got Stone Soul Soul Bag Hey! Let's party. Listening to all three last night was most enjoyable. Sonny Fortune's work is particularly funky. You're right about Cuscuna's views - he doesn't like commercial trash. So we'll have to wait until the material becomes out of copyright in Europe to see its reissue. MG