king ubu

Jim, I haven't heard the new one yet, but I will look for it! And here comes another hearty recommendation for "Tango in Harlem". A wonderful record. One of my favorite straight ahead trios ever! ubu

same with me. Love the whole series, and first was tempted to vote for the wonderful Watkins. Frank Foster and Benny Powell perhaps were the greatest surprises (I didn't know Mellé and Salvador before, so no opinions to revise there). And me, too, would love to see more of the BN 10" stuff reissued. I've got the old Elmo Hope and love it, of course the Miles stuff, then all those compilations (Monk, Fats etc.) - so they should bring us the rarer ones - wasn't there a Wade Legge session, by the way? ubu

maybe rooster could provide us with such a nice poll of his!?

now this is some nice therapy! I really should try it! I did not however mean my comment in any negative way! I love that music - the classic quartet is one of my favorite bands ever (and I guess I'm not the only one). I got the box and all the Deluxes and some of the older Impulse CDs as well, awkward reissue policy, yes, but who cares - it's Coltrane ubu

except for some of the first two batches and all of the latest (except Byrd/Watkins which I have), I have pretty much all of them. And it's quite a hard choice! One which came to mind first was Stick Up! by Bobby Hutcherson. Then Mellé, Sonny Criss, Griffin's The Congregation is one of my favorites (got the LP, wonderful sound. And that first track, whoa!!) but there are so many good ones, Quebec, Hipp, Ervin, Brooks, McLean, the Cherry, Solid, Little Johnny C, Harold Vick, Louis Smith... and of course the whole 10" series within the series and the West Coast series... too hard to make a choice for me! ubu

uh, and the box does have some pretty essential alternates (more than the ones on the Legacy and Alternate Take LPs) - most beloved are the ones from the Plays the Blues tracks, and Blues to Elvin. Don't know if these were added to the CD reissues at all (actually this side of the pond you only get them as part of the Atlantic Original Sound series, which I don't like too much, and which have no alternates never.) ubu

Rooster, as Michael said about the alternates. (Didn't know about Equinox but always thought that intro was quite a strange one!) The box was where I got started on Coltrane. It's still one of my most beloved box sets. Great music: Giant Steps, the equally fine but lot less known/regarded Coltrane Jazz, then the strange meeting with Don Cherry, the nice jam with Milt Jackson and as highlight, the extended quartet session of october 1960 with McCoy & Elvin (those yielded the albums My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays the Blues Coltrane Sound + alternates) and Olé Coltrane (see next album of the week...) The music of the early quartet in my opinion is much more playful, lighter than the often dark brooding strenght of the Impulse recordings. And it stands in between the classic Coltrane and his early work (my favorites thereof would be Traneing In, Soultrane, Blue Train, Setting the Pace) and might get you interested in both the before and the after. Recommended! ubu

I disagree --- tracks like 'The Lover' (which would actually be an excellent closing number for a Byrd radio show imo) and 'Secret Love' from Slow Drag deserve a bit better than a plain 'ol "nice". The title track is a bit weak though. maybe you're right! I should give them another listen, soon! They're certainly not bad, but I seem to prefer his mid fifties stuff, in general. What I like on the later ones though, is the presence of Sonny Red. Got his very good blue note, too. Another underrated musician. Anyone knows why Lion did not give him a second chance as leader? ubu

yes, I found the LP recently and I like it, too. Certainly deserves mention! ubu

Monk was also on Riverside. Some of his best records. As was Cannonball. Mr. Keepnews might be sort of a strange man nowadays, but some years ago, he was producing quite a lot of great music! ubu

As far as I know, New Jazz was a subsidiary of Prestige and most/many of their records were reissued on Prestige. But, hellyeah: don't forget it, they had some great stuff (like Dolphy, Waldron, Carter, etc. etc.) ubu

Same with me. The only Pee Wee I heard yet is his strange Newport appearance with the Monk Quartet and some things with Jimmy Giuffre. Nice but probably quite unessential, I think? ubu

same with the Sonny Rollins. No discography included, just a list of the tracks on each CD. The rest you've got to read out of the (good, american) liners and research yourself (which, though, is not too difficult) Anyone know whether the two Evans, two Tatums, Coltrane and Pepper are a little better annotated? ubu

One more for "Tell It The Way It Is", the Stitt collaboration and especially "Gettin' Together" (I think this is one of very few albums of an Ellington musician with a non-Elligton (hard-bop) line up. And Gonsalves could do this better than probably expected - a great record! And the Chess Clark Terry CD also had attached as a bonus, "Cookin' " (by Gonsalves with Terry). Another recommenden one. ubu

I like the transition sessions a lot! I had not heard any of this stuff (and eagerly awaited "Bird's Eye View") and was quite delighted upon my first listen! The quartet tracks are nice, the two-trumpet blow-outs with Jon Gordon are nice (Byrd did the same as a guest on Dizzy Reece's also very nice "Blues In Trinity" and with Johnny Coles on Byrd's own "Groovin' for Nat", although on this later, Byrd is easily overshadowed by Coles, I'd say), as are (of course!) the tracks with Hank Mobley. And Doug Watkins in my opinion rates as a very close second to Paul Chambers in being the most important and best bass player of the hard bop area! Other nice stuff with Byrd is on the Mosaic: the quintet/sextet recordings with Pepper Adams (I don't have that one, but people keep saying they end up listening more to Pepper than to Byrd, which I can imagine well, cause it's sort of the same with one I have, "Out Of This World", and also with the 2CD live "At the Half Note" which I do have). Actually, with Byrd, I prefer his early stuff (say 55-57), because at that time he had sort of a blue flame thing going on, and was not inflicted to play like say Brownie or later Booker Little or Freddie Hubbard. Particularly well is the Columbia "Jazz Messengers", a tremendous record, nicely reissued in the late nineties with worthwile additional material and nice liners by Kenny Washington. Also Byrd's appearance (alongside Coltrane, Burrell, Silver & Philly Joe) on Paul Chamber's "Whims of Chambers". Then "Fuego" and "Byrd in Flight" are very nice, too, as are the two Jazz in Paris volumes (featuring Byrd's working band of 56 with Bobby Jaspar, Walter Davis Jr., Art Taylor and Doug Watkins - if I get it all right). In the same vein is Donald's playing on the Silver records of the same time. "Free Form", then, is something else, but something I'd say, that was not totally successful, and once again, I tend to listen more to Shorter and Hancock than to the leader of the date. If you want to present Byrd in general, though, this deserves mention, as does the somehow a little awkward "A New Perspective". Then the later hardbop sessions ("Mustang", "Blackjack" and the fine recently RVG'd "Slow Drag") are a nice but unspectacular bunch, too. On Byrd's rare groove sessions, I cannot comment competently, having only "Kofi" so far, but I like that one quite well, too. Generally, I think Byrd dissed to often as sort of an unispired second rate trumpet player of the fifties' hard bop aera. I think he deserves a little bit more of enthusiasm. He was not the one to technically shine in the manner of say Clifford Brown, but his blue flame playing is extraordinary fine in my opinion! ubu

now this site seems to answer some questions - and it was not the Power Bros. series but the seemingly 23-volume-series on Polonia which I passed by (f*****g s**t!)

Komedas work is published by a Polish record label, no possiblity to order online directly from them. go here for info on Komeda: Komeda Homepage if you go for the discography, you'll see a list of his releases. The Poljazz issues seem to contain the early music which is also on the Power Bros. series discs. And the single Power Bros. releases also seem identical with the corresponding discs from the Power Bros. series. Anyone happens to know whether the Power Bros. series is sort of a complete documentation of Komeda's music, and whether they are available elsewhere but via the Power Bros. website? (as they don't accept direct credit card orders, it seems to be quite complicated to get this stuff from them, I figure) (I can still kick my ass for not picking up all the Komeda stuff when visiting Poland some 3 or 4 years ago - but they had such good prices and quite some OOP US-releases, that I could not buy all the stuff I would have liked - jazz fan's destiny ) ubu

oh yes, the Atlantic box! one of my first and most loved box-sets! and what wonderful music. Love these alternates, too! What a pity that more of these were destroyed in that infamous warehouse fire at Atlantic's ubu

Here's another sucker to the Rivers' first disc! And then I think - maybe that's just the usual and that's why it has not been mentioned yet - Bird deserves being in this list, as (almost) every note of his (like the Famous Alto Break) is worth being heard. The 8 CD is hugely enjoable - even though I have the Dial on Spotlites 4CD set and the Savoy in an LP reissue, it was great fun listening all this stuff again! Then also the alternates of Bud Powell's early Blue Notes (Un Poco Loco and Night In Tunisia, Then Dance of the Infields, Bouncing with Bud etc.) are an enjoyable lot, which, for me, belong to these records as much as do the masters. ubu

another witness the Dolphy Prestige was one of my first box-sets and still one of my favorites. You'll not only find the Five Spot date there, but (listing only highlights): - Far Cry (another lovely date with Booker Little) - Out there - Mal Waldron's "Quest" (with Booker Ervin) - Ron Carter's very nice "Where" - two Oliver Nelson sessions of which the second ranks easily as equal to "Blues & the Abstract Truth" (that's another essential purchase, if you don't have it already) - a nice pairing of Dolphy with Ken McIntyre for the latter's "Looking Ahead" and the "In Europe" albums which concerning Dolphy are fine (the local rhythm section is not quite up to his playing, but they try - then there's a nice long duo with Chuck Israels) indeed an essential! ubu

can anyone tell me which Conns have also been issued on LP? I've got Jordan/Gilmore-Blowin' in, Coleman-Empty Foxhole, Walter Davis-Davis Cup, Freddie Hubbard-Ready for Freddie, Johnny Griffin-The Congregation. Were all of the first two (or more?) batches also released as LPs? 'Cause these LP issues (although they lack the occasional bonus track) sound extremely well-done to these (humble) ears. thanks for your help ubu

"Tears for Dolphy" (by Ted Curson) is a very good one. And "My Name is Albert Ayler" too. Has one of the most moving takes on "Summertime" And how come no one has mentioned one of my perennial favorites: Roswell Rudd, Flexible Flyer then, as far as I know, 1201music is the label which nowadays does 24-bit remastered reissues of former Black Lion stuff. They give their discs new titles, but the music is the same. They have the Ben Webster stuff, some Kessel, Grapelli, Gordon, Wilson, Stitt, Ayler's "Witches & Devils" and some more (they have a website, by the way, 1201 music) ubu

thanks for this reviews! I will have to get at least some of these. they hit the stores of old (still not european, though) switzerland, too, a couple of days ago. ubu

David these are the Freedom Groove Series

I would have to vote for the box seriously: I did not know any of these except for Maiden Voyage before I got the box. And it blew me away! What a wonderful debut recording session, the great Dexter doing sideman chores for a youngster. Then of course Maiden Voyage (one of my favorites when I got the box, but I have not listened to it for a long time - will give it a spin tonight, I guess) and Empyrean Isles with the great original Cantaloupe Island and that wonderful free tune (called "The Egg"? or was that another one?) "Speak" was a nice discovery. Then "Point of view" had some nice things, too. Hearing "The Prisoner" made me get the Warner double disc set and the wonderful "Sextant" right ahead (though Prisoner is the best, I think, with Johnny Coles, Garnett Brown and Joe Henderson). But then, the biggest surprise for me was "Inventions & Dimensions" (great cover, would love to have the LP!). Willie Bobo's great and Mr. P.C. is his usual self. This music was a revelation for me, the free-flowing feel, wonderful grooves, marvellous bass solos, ever inventive piano... Anyone has similar feelings on "Invention & Dimensions"? - That were 2 or 3 VERY lucky days, when I heard this music for the first time! ubu