DrJ

I'm glad someone posted on these reissues. I too have always enjoyed the Columbias, dating back to picking up a vinyl copy of STRAIGHT, NO CHASER as one of my first jazz purchases, but I started to REALLY dig this era when the 3 CD retrospective was released and I found a used promo copy for under 20 bucks. Listening again to that expertly-chosen set, I was struck by how wrong I think that much of the commentary on Monk's later career has been. So I'll say it - I think it is time for a serious re-evaluation of the relative worth of Monk's Columbia material. For years, the conventional wisdom was that it was generally solid, with some great moments, but ultimately inferior to the Riversides and Blue Notes. I think with hindsight, it seems much clearer these periods are all simply different animals. The Blue Notes were full of the freshness of discovery, and sure deserve some brownie points just for being so damned original for the time. (The transitional Prestige dates also deserve mention here - not a long period, but some truly great music, and like the Columbias, these deserve renewed attention) The Riversides were of course majestic, but also quite frustrating and, in many cases, not fully realized. It's true they capture Monk moving to the next phase in his artistry, where he was to join the truly short list of jazz giants, but quite honestly I think some of these albums are a little overvalued in terms of what was actually achieved (versus what he was striving for). At times they sound sloppy, under-rehearsed, and full of tension in the negative sense. So no harm, no foul there, most musicians would still kill to create albums half this amazing, but still it's time to judge these based on the results, not on the conventional wisdom. Which brings us to the Columbias. The more I listen, the more I realize that this was in many ways Monk's real glory period, particularly the first half but really throughout. While it's true that a certain sameness sets in on many of the recordings, particularly some of the less inspired live dates, as Lon points out Monk's piano playing had been whittled down to its essence. He plays less and says more, and what he says reflects his own career arc and the whole history of jazz piano playing. It's true that Monk at times sounds as though he's rounded off some of the rough edges of the Riversides, which so fascinate us, but I actually think again this relates more to his having simply reached a higher pinnacle, where he was able to play with the fluidity of his earlier Blue Notes within the heightened demands of his mature phase...so the music sounds a bit more polished, a bit less herky jerky, but you can hardly fault someone for getting their act together and getting even BETTER at what they do, can you? The rhythm sections on the Columbias are uniformly superb, and frankly I feel even better suited to Monk's music than many of the other admittedly great ones he recorded with earlier. Lon singles our Frankie Dunlop, whose playing I love, but I'm also a huge Ben Riley fan and he shows over and over again on his dates what a giant he is. Heck, I'm not even really that big a Charlie Rouse fan, but I have to admit he fits the bill well and does some of his best playing with Monk, often sounding no less than brilliant. So that's my longwinded way of saying to anyone coming anew to these recordings: don't believe everything you read! Listen to Monk's Columbias carefully and you'll be rewarded with amazing musical riches.

Good possibility, Lawrence. I never got a chance to see Farlow play, but do agree that what you hear on Farlow's "classic" recordings for Verve, excellent though it was, sounds like the potential tip of the iceberg. And there are times his music sounded mechanical and lacking in dynamics, although I wonder how much of that was the often unsympathetic sound his recordings had in that era. Much as I love Farlow's playing, I might give the edge to Johnny Smith. He wasn't as consistent in terms of the quality of the settings he placed himself in, but he actually sounded more fully developed and mature in his playing in the 50's than Farlow. I find his coming at it from a little less of a diehard bopper's angle kind of refreshing too - he strikes me as a very natural, melodic player. Too bad he ended up laying so low.

Damn...just got today's mail, and still no blindfold test CD-R!!! I'm gonna be WAY behind on the discussion by the time I get around to getting it (I am not looking at any discussion before listening to the CD-R). Come on, post office!

Farlow and Smith

You know, there are some really interesting mushrooms that grow near Big Sur...

Now that must have been a REALLY LIMITED EDITION box...

With the Conn series, I'm completist - I will rebuy stuff that I had in other formats and get rid of the other format (I've sold many TOCJ's back...not to start a whole other argument, but I find the sound of many TOCJ's is vastly overrated, particularly the older ones from the earlier 90's). I also don't mind duplicating stuff that had come out in other formats, like Mosaic boxes, since again the Conn usually (but not always) comes out after and sounds a little better. The thing that makes me so enjoy the Conns is that this is often music that is never again going to appear on CD in the U.S., or at least for a long time. Even the "worst" Conns in terms of overall quality - Dodo Greene, for example - have plums and features that make them worth picking up (Ike Quebec solos on that one, for example). I do wish Malcolm Addey would get involved with remastering these though, rather than all of them being McMastered.

Me too! It would be a much BETTER fit with the music, although again, the cover they did come up with is just fine by me, it's not that big an issue as far as I'm concerned.

Well, when it comes to BN and the Conn series, I AM a completist. I have 'em all and will be grabbing the October ones pronto. PS - can't resist conn series - you GOT RID of BLUES IN TRINITY? WHAT were you thinking?

I have been eyeing this one. Personally, I also feel there is no such thing as too much Roland Kirk. It's moved up the list based on this strong recommendation!

NOTES FROM BIG SUR on ECM - yeah, I'll give that one another thumbs up. It takes some time to get going, but in a good way - Lloyd takes his time setting the tone and mood. It captures the feeling you get at Big Sur quite amazingly well, actually, like time is moving much more slowly than in the "real world." I have to say though that based on what I've heard of Lloyd elsewhere, he's not a favorite and I just don't feel compelled to seek out anything more...oh, maybe one of his earlier dates with Jarrett but having heard those, I'm not overly impressed there either. Lloyd is the kind of player, for me, where one or two representative titles in the collection is enough. At least at this point in time.

I want to CLEARLY disentangle myself from De La Hoya's protest - that is NOT something I am advocating. I think however it happened, he lost, and he should just eat it and move on. As I indicated above, I'm not much of a De La Hoya fan to begin with, but he deserved the victory. If anyone actually saw the interview with him after the fight, those who don't like him might like him more...he was AMAZINGLY gracious toward Mosley and calm and composed. He wasn't ranting and raving saying he wanted to protest, just stated that it was something he would consider. Can't say I blame him, but I think he'll drop it after the heat dies down. However, I am saying that is was clear to anyone who understands boxing in the least that Mosely did not win this fight. Again, at BEST, you MIGHT be able to argue a draw. But even assuming he won the last 4 rounds (which he did not, although I felt he took 2 or 3 of the last 4), that is not enough to win a 12 round fight, particularly because he didn't run away with those rounds he did win by ANY stretch of the imagination. De La Hoya outpunched (and outlanded those punches) Mosley for at least the first 8 rounds, often by a 3 to 1 or more margin...this is not my opinion, the figures from the punch counters spoke for themselves. What happened in the last 4 would have had to be disastrous to lose, and Mosely did not look very convincing even in those rounds I gave him. Any sport that has judging involved that is largely hidden from the public eye is subject to major corruption. Boxing has had its scandals, figure skating and gymnastics have had theirs...these aren't alleged, mind you, they have been proven, with the parties involved fessing up after the fact. So I'm sorry, but this crap happens over and over again in boxing, and it was clearly at work again in this fight. Anyone that would defend boxing's reputation is either really brave or really foolish, because that is known as going out on an EXTREMELY creaky and thin limb. Dan, I have to ask - did you actually watch the fight? If not, I would suggest you withold comment until after seeing it, this was not De La Hoya being whiny, he was a class act the whole way and both outboxed AND outpunched Mosley for the majority of the 12 rounds. I think you'll understand the flap more after you see the fight, if you haven't. If you have, well, I guess we see things a LOT differently when it comes to boxing!

Well, this has changed my Mosaic priority list some...will be my next purchase, very soon.

I dig that one too, Lawrence, have it on CD-R thanks to a kind soul from the board. Surprised it hasn't been reissued here lately, but given the popularity of Getz and Universal's track record I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Mike, what about TOTAL ECLIPSE, SAN FRANCISCO, and the stuff issued on MEDINA? All that would be properly included on a Hutch/Land box. I already have it all, but many would be hearing it for the first time. Jim: Collectibles has probably issued all the Slide Hampton Atlantics, but I don't buy their stuff - most I've picked up have sounded like crap and the covers are CHEE-SY. So I tend to hold out - this gives me a much-needed rationale to avoid participating in at least ONE ongoing jazz reissue program, anyhow... -_-

Have received my copy and listened through about the first half...nice stuff! Particularly enjoy the opening track (I would say it's a very high compliment that I was just grooving away and it took me about half way through before I realized the quirky time signature, then re-looked at the title and went "duh!"). I will be spinning it in my car this week and will post further comments if anything worth saying comes to mind, but for now, I'll just limit it to: keep up the great work!

If it is the one with Turrentine et al, it flat out sucked. Not accurate, not detailed, not well-shot or edited, and no coverage at all for some major players on the label. Boo.

I did see the fight, and I did think De La Hoya got robbed, big time. Mosley certainly did not fight badly, particularly in the second half, but he didn't win a majority of rounds, he never seriously hurt De La Hoya, and for god's sake he's the CHALLENGER, he should have to soundly beat the champ to take the belt! The BEST that could be argued by the opposition was that he scratched out a draw, but even that is highly suspect. Lederman and all the commentators had De La Hoya by a sizeable margin, and the crowd was clearly stunned with the decision. Geez, even Mosley's own corner was in a panic, telling him he was losing (and you could tell it wasn't just a ploy, his dad looked about ready to have a stroke) and urging him on to a desperation offensive in the last couple rounds to go for a knock-down and try to bail himself out! This whole debacle reminds me of why I had sworn off watching pro boxing some time ago, and I'm sorry I backslided. Some serious fixing was going on here, folks...it stinks pretty badly. I don't feel "sorry" for De La Hoya himself, who made a mint anyway and was probably involved in the shenanigans, but I do feel like I was duped and like it won't happen again - no mas, I'm done with pro boxing.

Have to say I am glad they are not using the original LT covers. To me they have an ECM feel that is incongruous with the music (not that there's anything wrong with ECM covers, many are beautiful, but this type of feel just doesn't fit the music BN was recording IMHO).

Well, to each their own. I don't hear Getz as a distraction here (although I agree he could sound forced and stiff at times - just don't feel it applies here). Ellis sounds like his usual self here, too. Not a personal favorite of mine either, but I do enjoy him on occasion and respect what he was about. My only real knock on this particular session is that nothing but the blues turned out to be just a little TOO MUCH of the blues...a sameness sets in after a while that doesn't sit well with me, I would have preferred a slightly more varied program although I know that wasn't what he was after. FWIW, I also really dig Ellis' contributions to the MEETS JIMMY GIUFFRE Verve date that was released as an Elite Edition some time ago. There was a mutual, understated folksiness there that made for a great pairing despite some other pretty major differences in concept.

Well if Zevon was underappreciated, that was by pop music standards...Gladden was underappreciated by jazz standards, and that is REALLY underappreciated! Gladden will be missed...I have recently been revisiting the MOTHER SHIP stuff in the Young Mosaic box, and enjoyed his work there a lot, and with Dexter as others mention. Another big loss.

Exactly, Jim hits it. Ellis WAS coming out of that Western swing background, so his sound feels perfectly natural and uncontrived to me, and I dig it - sounded different than just about any other jazz guitarist out there. And Getz, well, I don't hear him playing artificially in any way. And Eldridge is a pleasure on any occasion. NOTHING BUT THE BLUES is a winner all around to me.

That would be a real boon, that type of Hutcherson set! Having heard a lot of these on CD-R's, though, I have to say I'd still prefer a box focused on just the Hutch/Land material, including the earlier dates. On another topic - been listening to Slide Hampton's Atlantic recordings and AGAIN can't believe there hasn't been any action by Mosaic to get this stuff out...maybe as a Select?

I'm lookin' forward to the JACK JOHNSON box - I have not heard ANY of this music yet, been holding out for this release. Can't wait. I listen to the IN A SILENT WAY box all the time, and find much of the extra unreleased material fascinating (even if much of it is ultimately quite flawed). It gets inside the subconscious, and I find it is more worthwhile than most of the extras in the BITCHES BREW box.

Hey, happy birthday Dan! Never too early to start working on that little Gene Harris Fanatic, Jr!