Late

A couple of years ago, I won an eBay auction for a Roland Kirk disc. When it came in the mail, the mini-LP sleeve was in great shape, and I was excited to hear how this particular Japanese remaster sounded. I put the disc in the player, sat back on the sofa ... and this Sonny Clark album started playing. What? I got up, opened the player, and discovered I had been mailed the Clark Audio Fidelity SACD inside a Roland Kirk sleeve. I actually didn't have the Clark music at that time, and when I contacted the seller, I said that I'd actually keep the disc. (He kindly refunded the transaction nevertheless.) So now I have the Clark SACD with no packaging, and a Roland Kirk sleeve with no disc. The SACD (I've only listened to the CD layer) sounds good to me, but I'd like to hear the Grundman remaster. Did the Grundman edition come in a jewel case?

I don't have Volume 1, but can highly recommend Volume 2 — listening right now. Great sound restoration, great music.

Same. Hopefully we won't have to wait until Coltrane's 100th! Wishful thinking on my part: I hope the next batch of remasters includes Dear Old Stockholm. It'd be nice to have all the Roy Haynes material (studio and live) in one package.

Listen to the whole album here! The first track alone is ample proof of why Oliver Nelson dug his playing. And don't forget to use the code 15PERCENT for the discount!

Sound samples here. Christmas melodies and Ayler are actually a very logical fit! In places, Williams sounds amazingly close to Ayler.

D'oh! I should have checked Discogs earlier. According to their page on Transition, UCCI 9243 = UCCI 9202.

Thanks for the information, and for straightening out my error. I agree — the late Coltrane SHM-CDs sound really good. (I wish I would have purchased Live In Seattle back when it was still available!)

"Bud has to pour himself into that piano; it's the only friend he really talks to." — Altevia "Buttercup" Edwards (Powell) I'm going to guess that this is not the first Powell record that people reach for when they want to listen to Bud Powell. Recorded in two different sessions in 1955, it's an odd mixture of high and low: effortless lines reminiscent of his brilliant mid-40's playing, and then suddenly blunted, aimless fragments while the rhythm section keeps things afloat. Nat Hentoff's original liner notes make no effort to disguise this: "Bud's records are, in this respect, like his live appearances. They're not consistent. Some may be distorted in various ways throughout an entire album; some may come fully alive only in sections ... " What a way to promote a purchase! Hentoff's notes got me thinking about Powell's mental illness, however — and the fact that Powell was put on Chlorpromazine, which was a brand new drug as of 1950 — and to what extent he might have experienced tardive dyskinesia (involuntary and repetitive movements of the face, torso, and sometimes fingers), which is a common, and serious, side effect of Chlorpromazine. What Powell had to overcome, just in order to play, might still not be known. At any rate, despite its curiosities and shortcomings, I find this record an intriguing listen — particularly the Monk cover of "Epistrophy." Anyone else spin this one in the last year? What do you think? I know that Powell fans "like it all," but this one stands out in that it's neither great nor a portrait of chaos.

Good to know — thanks for that information! (But they took out Yoko Ono's doorbell sound? Noooo!)

Did Adam Skeaping do the remaster for the Japanese edition as well, or just the UK edition?

Elvin Jones: Poly-Graphs Ornette Coleman: The Vacant Excavated Temporary Shelter Joe Henderson: Model For Joel

Nice sound samples. Original cover:

Quick question regarding UCCI 9243 (Coltrane's Transition): For those who have it, is this SHM-CD a new remaster, or from a previous (US/EU) remaster? Does the inner ring, on the flip-side, give a different catalog number? Thanks!

I ended up purchasing this disc (in link above). I'd recommend it. It was issued in 1987 by a UK label called Hermes, which is actually an imprint of the larger UK Nimbus label. Transfers are done by Morris Hunting (I don't know who that is) and are pretty good for 1987 — judicious/minimal use of noise reduction. If you're a fan of this period in jazz (1928-1930), this compilation is worth picking up — very listenable (i.e. no string of alternates to program out) as an "album." The vocals are usually just at the beginning of a song and constitute one or two lines — not the whole song, and not a vocal feature. I don't know if Morris Hunting was a tuba fan, but these transfers really bring out the "brass bass" without boosting it. It's a pleasure to listen to all the tuba lines (by different players, who are uniformly excellent), so if that's a thing you enjoy, that's another recommendation for this disc. The Tiny Parham tracks (even though I bought the disc for Hines) are really good. Details: Earl Hines 1. Sweet Ella May (vocal) 2. Everybody Loves My Baby (vocal) 3. Blue Nights 4. A Monday Date (Hines solo) 5. Chicago Rhythm 6. Good Little, Bad Little You (vocal) 7. Beau Koo Jack Tiny Parham 8. Jungle Crawl 9. Dixieland Doin's 10. Cathedral Blues 11. Black Cat Moan 12. Nervous Tension The Missourians 13. Ozark Mountain Blues 14. Market Street Stomp Charlie Johnson 15. You Ain't The One 16. The Boy In The Boat Jungle Town Stompers (Elmer Snowden) 17. African Jungle 18. Slow As Molasses Musical Stevedores (Elmer Snowden) 19. Happy Rhythm 20. Honeycomb Harmony total time: 63:06

Never even heard of George Davis. What does he play? Bop from Chicago, 1949 — sounds interesting.

Man, I wish Ayler would have recorded a Christmas album! Just imagine his rendition of "Silent Night." I'd go to Williams' show ... if he came to the West Coast.

Thanks for this information — very helpful. The Solid edition of this album (released in Japan, March 2017) appears to already be on the cusp of going out-of-print. Question to those who have the Solid edition — how's the sound? (The original album seems to be one of the better-recorded Mainstream efforts.)

Both Ace UK and Solid (Taiwan) have reissued this album. Am I correct in understanding that the UK version has some remastering flaws?

Agreed that the new issue of Discipline 27-II sounds great. Samples are on YouTube.

John Tchicai & Strange Brothers Nice sound samples.

Sounds like an interesting concert. Hopefully somebody makes a recording — audio or video.

I think about that, too. Twenty-three is shockingly young. Even given five more years, I think his playing — and composing — would have become more complex, more refined. Little's composing skills are especially under-remarked. I listened to the Bethlehem record today. Still so fresh. What I noticed this time around was how essential Don Friedman's playing is to the record. And Pete LaRoca is in proto-free mode.

Thanks for that link — I missed that discussion the first time around. Ten years ago!

Whenever I see the name Frank Tiberi, I think of Woody Herman's album Giant Steps and its first track, "La Fiesta." My high school jazz band played that arrangement, and it included the transcribed Tiberi solo from the recording. I had to memorize and play that solo. Wasn't easy.

I've always wondered to what extent Coltrane was familiar with Gilmore's playing. Some of the extended techniques that Gilmore was using circa 1959/60 show up in Coltrane's playing around The Village Vanguard sessions.