garthsj

I am not sure that these sessions, originally on Carlton LPs were ever really remastered? I also have the 2-CD set on Fresh Sounds, and I agree that they are not of the highest fidelity. As I remember, the original LPs were not of the greatest sound quality either. I, too, would welcome a remastered version as there is some fine, exciting music to be found here. Garth.

If anyone is interested in the final price bids for this amazing auction, just click on here. The bids are in descending order of price: http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?View...since=30&rdir=0 Based on these prices, it appears that I should have hung on to my old LPs for another three years. Garth.

I thought that many of you would enjoy reading this excellent review by Adam Gopnik of Michael Dregni’s biography, “Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend” (Oxford; $35) .... http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?041206crbo_books

And that was really worth it? I seem to recall reading that record dealers will buy a record for something like 20% of what they plan to sell it for. I know a dealer down here who found a man living in a vermin infested trailer with boxes and boxes and boxes, hundreds if not thousands of mint or unopened original jazz lps from the 50s-60s. He offered the man a thousand dollars for records he anticipated would sell for perhaps $100,000.00. Dan, The truth be told, that if I wanted to continue to spend 10-15 hours a week doing the listings, I could probably have made about 50% more in the long run. I had to weigh this use of my time against a fair offer from Euclid. Of course, as I said earlier, the prices for choice vinyl seems to have doubled in the past three years, but I emphasize "choice." If you look at eBay vinyl sales, you will see that a lot of items do not get sold, requiring constant relisting. Garth.

Seriously now, Mulligan, Pepper and Chaloff are all worthy of the top spot, but how can any such list NOT include Lars Gullin? I wonder if that is because many posting here have not listened to much of his music? The other missing giant is Bob Gordon, the "James Dean" of baritonists because he died so young. Gordon was certainly on a par with Mulligan in the mid-fifties. Garth.

Dream on, Porcy ... After a year of laboriously, but profitably listing them on eBay, I sold the entire collection (just over 8,000) to Euclid Records in St Louis. The scanning, copywriting, listing and finally mailing process was just too time consuming, although, given the prices just three years later, I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing. Garth.

It was Jeff Barr who really set me to thinking about the extent of the "vinyl monkey" on my back. After years of buying albums from him, he called me up one day to enquire about my two original BN Art Blakey "A Night at Birdland" Vols, 1 and 2. He was shopping for a Japanese customer, and Jeff wanted me to check the matrix numbers; in particular he wanted to know "which pressing machines were noted on those numbers"! Apparently this collector had determined that one pressing machine was superior to another, and would only accept the "B" machine, or whatever ... the exactly details elude me ... Well, the upshot was that one of the albums was suitable, and the other was not. He made me a fine offer, but I declined at that point. I was left shaking my head ... is this what collecting mania had come to? That incident, combined with my earlier visit to Leon Leavitt's mega-collection helped me go cold turkey on acquiring any more vinyl, and I began to replace my favorite albums with CDs. I must confess that there is now stuff available on CD (the entire Dawn label for instance) that I never expected to ever see reissued, and I am constantly amazed at what is being reissued (the John Graas/Jazz Studio series on Lonehill, even though these are taken from LPs and not the original tapes), so I every month I miss my vinyl albums less and less. Garth, Houston.

Cross Section Saxes is listed here (scroll down). Thanks for the information Hans, and Dr. J (my students have called me this for so long that everytime I see your name, I have a small Pavlovian response) .... I will certainly replace my old, departed Hal McKusick vinyl with one of those Japanese CDs. One thing about being a little advanced in age is that I can claim to have actually liked Hal McKusick's albums when they were first issued .. at a time when no one seemed to know who he was. I discovered him as a kid in the late fifties through my obsession with Art Farmer ... Also, as far as I know the prime reason for Leon Leavitt's incredible accumulation of albums was to stock his internationally famous auction and sale list. He was the "dean" of those jazz auction lists, and as others have mentioned, if you did not meet his minimum bids, you were summarily dismissed from his clientele. During the period when I was spending an outrageous amount of money (for my salary) on accumulating rare vinyl, there were several people who ran excellent auction lists ... Gary Alderman, Jeff Barr, and a few others became wealthy at my expense. Are many of these people still operating today? I stay away from them. It is painful enough when I see some of my old albums on the Euclid Records auction list! Chuck mentioned Harvey Pekar in a previous post ... when I first read his famous strip-story on the mania of jazz record collecting, especially "borrowing" albums from the radio station where he did his program, I fell over .. THAT WAS ME HE WAS TALKING ABOUT! Can anyone reproduce that story here? Garth, Houston.

In 1995 I was lucky enough, through the good graces of a West Coast intermediary, to be invited to visit Leon's air-controlled mini-warehouse to see his collection. I had made occasional purchases from him in the past, but I was even then growing weary with the prices for quality used vinyl. (I also had a lot of "stuff"). I was not prepared in any way with what I encountered. I am not sure exactly how many LPs were in that specially built facility, but I would venture somewhere in excess of 75,000 LPs (almost all jazz) were neatly arranged on industrial-strength metal shelving. The filing system was pretty basic, mostly by artist's name. I was overwhelmed, literally. (My friend told me a story of a Japanese visitor who had a heart seizure while wandering among Leon's holdings, and had to be removed my ambulance .. he swore it was true.) I had several "test" records in mind that I wanted check to see the extent of his holdings. One of these was a very elusive copy of Hal McKusick's "Cross-Section Saxes" (Decca 79209) ... I looked for it, found it, and he had FOUR copies!! Another was Lars Gullin's "Modern Sounds:Sweden" (Contemporary 2505 ... a 10") ... he had 3 copies! ..... and so it went for everything I searched for. I stayed for about two hours, and left deflated. I was depressed (I could understand that heart siezure), because there was no way that I, or anyone else for that matter, could ever manage to even get close to that collection. As Jim and I settled in to our dinner drinks that evening, I expressed to him my feeling that somewhow, for me, much of the fun had been removed from the joy of "the search." I now knew that whatever I 'really' wanted was available merely by contacting Leon, and paying a large enough price. I really stopped seriously collecting vinyl after that, and I sold my LP collection in 2001. Garth, Houston.

I have mentioned several times that I have a Mosaic Shorty Rogers LP set that I hope one day to sell and buy a replacement 4-CD set. So, I keep my eyes open for a CD set on eBay ... There is one currently listed, and with 5 days to go there are 13 bids, and the price is over $150!! At this rate a 4-CD set will go for over $200 .... hmmmm.. I think that I will go for a CDR transfer instead ... Garth, Houston.

I have not followed this thread in toto, but has anyone yet mentioned Eddie Costa's fantastic contribution to the Sal Salvador "Kenton presents..." album. This is now available on the reissued BN Connoissseur 10" series BN96548. These 1954 sessions were my first exposure to Eddie's wonderfully percussive style on both piano and vibes. For those who have never had the privilege of hearing "The House of Blue Lights" album (now CD) on Dot, your pleasure still lies ahead ... Garth, Houston.

I used to own that "Showboat" LP with the guitar choir ... it was part of my now departed collection (try Euclid Records in St. Louis .. they purchased all 8,000 of my albums, and they still have many of them in stock) .. it featured Bob Brookmeyer on some cuts, but, sad to say, was not a "breakthrough" album as I would have expected. It still appears on vinyl auctions lists from time to time. Garth, Houston.

For those of you interested, and with enough money, a significant portion of Leon Leavitt's famous collection is being placed on Ebay. I disposed of all of my vinyl several years ago, but seeing these albums listed makes me salivate ... treat yourself to the feast by clicking on the following: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZanthonype...osortpropertyZ1 Garth, Houston.

Try this price, without taxes, depending on where you live ... I deal with these folks all of the time, and they are very efficient. http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?styl...&cart=215837862 Disc 5 is by far the shortest of the set. It contains two cuts: Funky Blues 27:36 Lullaby in Rhythm 23:44 This is a wonderful set ... I heartily recommend it for some joyous jazz. Garth, Houston.

I think that these assessments essentially cover what I see as the basic differences between The Mastersounds and the MJQ. The MJQ never strove for a specific harmonic sound ... they just "were," and the combination of the four specific musicians made their "sound," largely the result of John Lewis's arrangements. Once George Shearing discovered those empathetic harmonies created by the combination of guitar, vibes, and block chords in his early MGM recordings ("East of the Sun," "September in the Rain," etc.) his group became famous, and captured the public's ear. I think that other groups with similar instrumentation tended to sound like that, whether they wished to or not. They were not clones of Shearing (although there were some of those), but to my ear they were of that groove. Garth, Houston.

Well I sorta like the packaging ... anything is better than the Bill Evans "rustbucket"! My orginals of these sessions, with the thick card DSM covers sold quite well on eBay when I listed them four years ago. ($40-$50). Truth be told, I had not listened to them in a very long time, so listening to the wonderfully remastered box with new ears I am struck by how far ahead conceptually and harmonically Buddy DeFranco was to the rest of the musicians. (I readily confess to being Buddy's greatest living fan, but that is not the issue here). I don't mean that he is necessarily any better than Benny Carter, Stan Getz, Wardell Grey et. al., it is just that he is playing very advanced harmonic "bop lines" in comparison to the largely "swing lines" being played by the others. The rhythm sections are definitely "swing" sections ... Great music, and a real treat to hear it again ... Garth, Houston. P.S. The reason I was moved to sell my entire LP collection was that no matter how nostalgic we may wax (pun intended!), fifties vinyl is fifties vinyl ... give me a clean remastered copy (CD or vinyl) every time.

I agree with this assessment. All of the albums featuring guests show how difficult it would have been to sustain these guest additions beyond one album. The exceptions are the magnificent cuts with Jimmy Guiffre (far too few in my estimation) on the "Music Inn" album, and with Laurinda Almeida on the eponymous album. Interestingly, on their last released album as a group, (MJQ & Friends, recorded in 1992 and 1993) they are featured with a variety of stellar musicians including Phil Woods, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Harry Edison, and Freddie Hubbard. In my opinion the most successful of these collaborations is with Wynton Marsalis on two cuts ... But when they had an "outsider" in their midst, it always seemed as if they just played the role of the supporting rhythm section. Particularly disappointing was the mediocre result of what one would have expected to be a natural combination, that of Paul Desmond and the MJQ .. pleasant, but not earthshaking. The same is true when the MJQ was featured in a big band setting ... this did not show the beauty of their tight ensemble work and the intricate, and instinctual interplay that made them so unique. As I said, don't get me started .... Garth, Houston.

Hey, a snide comment here and there I suppose (not from me), but don't assume that your enthusiasm would not be welcomed. Bring it! BTW, what do you think of the Mastersounds? I agree that The Mastersounds were rather closer on the arc of "vibraphone groups" to the Shearing Quintet than to the MJQ. (BTW, the George Shearing album with the Montgomery Brothers on Riverside is a nice album), much like the Australian Jazz Quintet which was also popular at the time (they recorded for Bethlehem Records so were not as well known.) The MJQ were a real breakthrough for me in the late fifties ... but then I have always had a weakness for "third stream music" so that the classical themes actually gave me great pleasure. But, as I said earlier, they could swing better than anyone when that is what was called for. If anyone wants to sample the MJQ from their Atlantic period, may I suggest "Blues on Bach" and "The Complete Last Concert" as the best examples of what what four men swinging as one can sound like. It always amazed me that as big a man as he was, Connie Kay could get that light drum sound which just floated the group along; but it was the bass of Percy Heath that was the real anchor ... Yes, there are some MJQ albums which are rather tepid by their standards, but even these have something magical to offer upon repeated listenings. As I said earlier, I now pay as much attention to John Lewis's comping as to Milt Jackson's frontline work, and Connie Kay on triangle (!!!) is always a joy ... Don't get me started ... Also, there have been a few attempts to replace the MJQ; the most recent, and best is the Classical Jazz Quartet with Kenny Barron, Stefon Harris, Ron Carter and Lewis Nash ("The Cassical Jazz Quartet, The Complete Recordings, Vertical Jazz Records). Garth, Houston.

I have been an enthusiastic fan of the MJQ since their very first albums on Prestige (The Milt Jackson Quartet on a London Records 10" was one of the first LP albums I ever purchased)... and I must own just about everything they have available on CD. I have never understood why they elicit such mixed feelings and snide comments, although I have long appreciated that it is all a matter of different tastes. Let me just say that when they wanted to they could swing harder than just about any other group around (listen to the Last Concert as an example), and the sheer beauty of their voicings on ballads can bring a lump to the throat. For me the greatest thrill is that almost everytime I put on an MJQ album, no matter how many times I have listened to it before, I discover some new gem of improvisation, or interplay between the musicians .. just listening to the inventiveness of John Lewis's "comping" (brilliant improvisations in their own right) behind Milt Jackson's driving solos is, for me, one of the greatest pleasures in modern jazz. Anyway .. far be it for me to try and bring beauty and understanding where it is not welcomed ... Garth, Houston.

Thanks for the welcome back ... it is nice to have some time to spend on here ... but it only costs me money! As a matter of interest, it cost me $87.46, including shipping, to buy all six albums of the "John Graas Project" from Fresh Sounds directly from Spain, or Andorra, or Lichtenstein, or wherever they are now shpping from. This is a little more expensive than getting them from THE BASTARDS, but Dusty Groove were out of stock, and my impression has been that when Fresh Sounds material goes out of stock in U.S. record shops it seldom comes back. For instance, CDUniverse just today cancelled my three month-old order for the Claude Thornhill Trend label album. I will now order it elsewhere. A recent glance at the latest Lonehill releases raises all sorts of questions, and some salivation. However, the way they piece albums together to create phoney "Complete Of ....." sets annoys me. But they are obviously deep into releasing the 1954 (and even later) recordings, and they are now "attacking" Norgran/Clef/Verve material .... I don't have to emphasize just how deep that vein of jazz gold goes .... hmmmmmmm ... I wonder if Norman Granz is turning in his grave? Bill Evans and the "GUS WILDI" SESSIONS????? What the heck ....?

Garth ... returning from a self-imposed exile while trying to write ... this site tends to get me badly sidetracked at times! Brownie and Late, you may remember some wishful thinking on our part back in May in another, detailed thread on the Jazz Studio Series. I am very pleased to see the series available once again. The Amram-Barrow album is very difficult to locate after that Downbeat feature. I have placed my order with Lonehill for the entire set ... I have been impressed with some of the previous Lonehill CDs that I have, most notably the Gerry Mulligan - Art Farmer Quartet, "Live in Rome" and the very welcome John Lewis "Orchestra U.S.A." album. The sound in both as excellent. While John Graas was really not a very good jazz musician himself, his albums contain some of the best "west coast jazz" from this seminal period, and are always worth listening to.

It is not generally known, for the reasons that Mike Fitzgerald pointed out earlier, that the "B" side of the MJQ's "FONTESSA" album on Atlantic is different in the stereo and mono versions .... I, too, discovered this while trying to "sing along" with a stereo version I belated acquired, having grown up with the mono version. I wonder if Atlantic (or whoever controls that label these days) will ever reissue these stereo alternates?

You just beat me to suggesting this wonderful book . pricey yes, but for true DeFranco fans it is a must. The book illustrates just how significant Buddy has been in the evolution of modern jazz .. and he is still doing it almost better than anyone else! Somewhat off the actual topic, but also worth seeking out are those Esquire Books of Jazz ... The large-sized volume from 1962 (called ESQUIRE'S WORLD OF JAZZ), with the wonderful "tipped-in" illustrations (this is the original edition; there were later reprints), is particulary worthy of a place in any respectable jazz library. Garth, Houston.

I have been in and out of town, so I come late to the praise for this seminal album. I believe that we had a detailed discussion of the Jazz Workshop series in this forum several months ago. This album, and the Hal McKusick Workshop have always been favorites of mine over the years, and I have had to champion this music in arguments with others who only see John Coltrane as the legacy of the late fifties ... Somehow this music was largely forgotten by the general jazz fan, but many musicians I interviewed over the years were very much aware of it, and its important influence. It is gratifying to see newer jazz fans discovering this music for the first time. Isn't it interesting how many important albums from this period featured Art Farmer and Bill Evans? ... And what a pity that Hal McKusick made so few albums in his own name. 1956-1962 was an incredibly rich period for jazz on both coasts. There are so many wonderful iconic albums from that period that all of us jazz lovers know them by heart. I wonder how many albums from the last six years will have the same impact forty years from now? Garth, Houston.

Once again, I am very interested and pleased to see this "rediscovery" of Eddie Costa. His early death (yet another car accident) in 1962 was a real blow to us jazz fans at the time. I remember first hearing his dynamic lower register piano on the "Kenton Presents Sal Salvador" album in 1955 ... and loved everything he did. (This has, of course, been reissued as part of the Blue Note "Modern Jazz Series") One very nice album. not yet mentioned, featuring Costa on vibes is "Guys and Dolls like Vibes" on Coral .. with Bill Evans, Paul Motian, and Wendell Marshall. I have this on a Japanese CD.