garthsj

It is interesting that both the Shorty Rogers and the Buddy DeFranco sets usually go for about $50-$65 for each CD when sold on Ebay....!!! These are obviously among the most desireable Mosaic sets for late comers.. I have both sets on LP ... a kind member here made me a CDR set of the DeFranco ... I am still trying to find someone to trade my LP set of the Rogers for a CD set! Garth.

Yes, those where the good ole days. I picked up a lot of BN and Verve titles during those sales. Cool! At prices like that, you'd feel like a chump for NOT upgrading. Brass, You just need to go here. Might have to wait awhile for the new releases but...... alldirect.com Order $99 and you don't pay shipping and probably no tax. Good ol' days are here again I buy a lot of things from AllDirect .. which begs the question .. why does it take a relatively longer time (usually 4-6 weeks) for the latest releases to appear on their website? I tried to ask them this question once, and basically was told, "if it ain't on the site, we do not have it..". They eventually get most things, so they are the best site for backlist fill-ins ... In the meantime, getting those new Blue Notes from CDUniverse on pre-order at $8.39 is not too bad. Garth.

Has anyone mentioned the great, idiosyncratic version by Ella and Louis? .. This is a real gem, with great orchestral arrangements by Russ Garcia, who now happily lives in isolation in New Zealand. ....

You are right! Damn! Without my original LPs I got confused about these late 50's Marsh/Konitz "extract" albums from Revelation and Wave. Peter Ind is to be congratulated for keeping these available. Tantalizingly, in the liner notes to the Marsh album, he claims that he has tapes of the Gerry Mulligan Jazz Orchestra from those days, and "It is my hope that given time and success with Wave -- more of this music can be released." I wonder if that will ever happen? In the meantime ... I cannot stress how incredible the improvisations are on these two CDs.... Garth.

The interesting thing about this recording is that they were NOT in the studio at the same time .. each recorded their parts separately ... it is hard to detect this from listening to the album though.

Yes, the MJQ 40 year box is a great one. The sound on the these CDs is superior to that on the individual CDs available at the time of its release, in particular the cuts from the Giuffre "Music Inn" album. I have a Japanese reissue of that album, and the remastering was just awful. Your comment about reissuing both the stereo and mono versions of "Fontessa" is spot on! I remember when I stumbled across a (rare) stereo version of this album after many years of living with the original mono album, and discovering, much to my surprise, that I could not "sing along" with John Lewis's solos on many of the cuts. After close listening it was clear that the stereo cuts were different takes, a fact that was not universally known at that time. (I am not sure that the composition "Fontessa" itself is a different take, though). Of course, we now know that many early Atlantics (e.g. the Shorty Rogers big band recordings), were done on both stereo and mono takes ... a feast for jazz fans like myself. ... Garth.

I should make it clear that I am an unabashed fan of the MJQ, and find almost everything that they did to be of enormous interest. (I can always discover something new, like a hidden John Lewis vamp, everytime I listen to one of their albums). That said, the "Porgy and Bess" album is excellent, not among the very best that group recorded, but an album well worth owning. I am looking forward to having a true. hopefully remastered CD (as opposed to the CDR version of my old LP) of this album. Has anyone out there acquired the "Complete Prestige/Pablo MJQ" set? I have multiple versions of the Prestiges and all of the original Pablos, but is this new box set remastered? I must have owned eight or more versions of the original Milt Jackson Quartet/MJQ material on Savoy over the years. I was quite disappointed in the 20bit remastering of this material on Savoy recently. My old London label 10" vinyl sounded superior. This seminal material, the foundation of the MJQ as it came out of the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, definitely needs to be honored with a quality remastering. Garth.

I have been a fan of Warne Marsh since I first heard the Atlantic album with Konitz, as well as his own Atlantic album when they were first released. "The Art of Improvisation" (as well as "Jazz From The East Village") are wonderful abums. Here is a picture of the second volume produced by bassist Peter Ind on his Wave label from the original tapes he made in 1960. These are the reconstructed performances from which the original Marsh solos were extracted. The bottom album is the remainder of the music from the session first released on Atlantic as "The Real Lee Konitz" ... both of these CDs are superb examples of these two musicians in their prime .... Garth.

Michael .... You of all people should know that SENIOR Editors do not actually edit.. they think of subjects they like which might make money (in most cases), and sign up authors ... The real editing work these days is mostly up to the authors. I am lucky in that Cambridge UP still believes in working the old way, with "real" editors making nasty comments in red or blue pencil all over one's manuscript ... I must also agree .. I found the Clifford Brown book very disappointing ... There is still room for a great book on Clifford ... maybe your next project Mike? Also, many thanks for the references to the interviews with Porter.. as a writer/researcher I found these "tales of the trade" to be very enlightening..

Brad: As I said I was surprised to see that this book is readily available... try this link. If it does not show up the actual book, just insert the book title and author.. Alun Morgan... there is one "working copy" available for the less than $6.00 .... A really interesting addition to anyone's jazz library .. http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDe...sPL?bi=79328924

Bruce.. You mean this double album is NOT part of the Mosaic set.... ???? I never got the Mosaic because I thought that I had everything this duo did together .... hmmmm... Garth.

Larry ... do you know this little gem of a book, published in 1956? I acquired this copy as a teenager, and have dragged it around the world wth me since then. In far off Cape Town, this book with its obviously limited discographies, was the open window which first introduced me to the basic modern jazz repertoire. It is still a wonderful read, and takes on a new glow as the passing of the years give validity to some of their earlier judgements, e.g. "Gil Evans's real value sprang from his understanding of the orchestra rather than from the creation of original material." I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is still readily available through abe, and at a reasonable price too... If you don't have a copy I would highly recommend that it should have a place in your library. Question: Why do the British (and other Europeans) do this kind of thing so much better than American jazz critics? Garth.

I have long been an admirer of Max Harrison and his co-authors (Eric Thacker, and Stuart Nicholson)... their current volume "THE ESSENTIAL JAZZ RECORDS: Vol. 2 Modernism to Postmodernism (Mansell Publishing, 2000) is, for me, like a bible. I can always pick it up and find something worthwhile to read, and it is fun to see how many of these albums I have in my collection. While their evaluations are often idisyncratic, or very technical, they also force me to listen more closely to what I may have missed. In an earlier edition of this book, Max Harrison, et.al., MODERN JAZZ: THE ESSENTIAL RECORDS (AQUARIUS BOOKS, 1978), the authors listed 200 vinyl albums. I carefuly ticked off in red ink each of those albums that I acquired, reaching about 172 before I sold my entire vinyl collection. As I l look at that book now, I see that most of those of the gaps fall into the Cecil Taylor area ... I am NOT a great fan of Cecil's music ... Garth.

I just received the following shipping confirmation from CDUniverse: CD 1 1 Montreal Tapes by Haden, Charl $10.49 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 1 Soul Sisters by Coleman, Glori $6.99 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 1 Goin' West by Green, Grant $8.39 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 1 Right Now by McLean, Jackie $8.39 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 1 Newk's Time by Rollins, Sonny $8.39 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 1 The Cape Verdean Blues by Silv $8.39 Shipped 1 on Mar 23, 2004 CD 1 0 At The Half Note Cafe by Byrd, $19.94 (Not Shipped Yet) What's up wih the Half Note? Is it delayed for some reason ... funny, I really debated about updating on this disc.. but I do love Pepper Adams ... and extra tracks... yum yum! Garth.

I guess I should have expanded on this. I approached Leonard with a typical enthusiastic graduate student's demeanor .... I was a little older than the average grad student, and had several years of doing a jazz radio show in Toronto under my belt. I think he may have found my "enthusiasm" a little too much for him, too atheoretical, so he claimed to have moved on, and was much more focussed on dealing with the subject of his seminar, which was on qualitative research. I was very surprised when 17 years later he published his subsequent book on JAZZ: MYTH AND RELIGION (Oxford UP, 1987). I should also add that this is a VERY provocative study, and deserves to be read by every thinking jazz fan. Let me quote from the jacket blurb: "Examining music and religion in the broad sense, Neil Leonard uses the work of Max Weber and his followers to consider how listeners have regarded jazz as sacred or magical and created myths and rituals to implement and sustain this belief. In a time when conventional religions are in flux or decline, jazz has provided a focus for spiritul impulses tempered by the anomie, anxieties, and alienations of the twentieth century, Leoard maintains." Now if only he had been willing to teach a seminar on jazz .... BY THE WAY, I should have mentioned this earlier, but so many of these ground-breaking studies (see my scans above) were published by Oxford University Press, against the tide of the economics of the publishing industry, only because the Senior Editor, Sheldon Meyer was personally committed to publishing significant works on jazz. Every one of these books, and many others that Oxford published, make a point of thanking him for his strong support. He has now retired I believe, and there has been a definite decline in this publishing venture. Another blow for jazz!

Eric is right. There is a trend against writing "meta-histories" in this post-modern age. It goes right back to the comment I made early in this thread that such "cosmic narratives" only invite critical attacks from specialists who are concerned that their particular slice of the world of (add your subject here) has been given either insufficient, or incorrect attention. This is unfortunate in my opinion, because we still need these "overviews" as a means of correlating the subject into some sort of cohesive whole that encourages and allows new perpectives. Pardon me here if I become very personal in my experience as a social/cultural historian. In 1976 I wrote a book, "FILM: THE DEMOCRATIC ART - A Social History of Movegoing in America," (Little, Brown, 1976). Five months prior to my book appearing, Robert Sklar published his pioneering book, "MOVIE-MADE AMERICA: How the Movie Changed American Life," Random House, 1975. Our books were often the subject of joint reviews, which was apt because in some way we had approached the subject of the significance of movies in American life in very different, but complimentary ways. The point is that both these books were written by historians, and using historical reserach methods, and they were completely different from previous "histories of the movies". (In one complimentary review of my book, the reviewer enthusiastically noted that the book had "over a hiundred footnotes in some chapters"!) This type of reaction indicates the shift that Eric discusses from journalistic type writing which had been the previous paradigm in film history, to the work that Sklar and I (both trained historians) had produced. However, the danger of producing a "meta history" such as this was soon made very apparent to me. A second reviewer, who later became a co-author on another book, pointed out that I was likely to suffer "the death of a thousand cuts" for having the temerity to tackle such a large subject. He was right, but I saw being a large target as a positive development in the emerging field of film history. In the nearly thirty years since that book was published it has been widely cited, and I have been "corrected" and "amended" hundreds of times, almost always with a nod to the "pioneering" aspect of my neophyte work. As I write this I am in the process of doing a revised second edition, which is, in fact, the creation of essentially a totally new work, such has been the level of correction and additional material that has appeared from a younger generation of scholars writing tight monographs on much more precise topics. (Literally entire books have been written in subjects I have dealt with in a few paragraphs). This makes the entire process of revising my original book much more difficult, and I sometimes wonder if there is even a need for the type of meta-history I am trying to write. The current scholarly climate in film studies is ambivalent on this subject; I get lots of encouragement to complete the revised edition, but on the other hand, there is increased scepticism that one person could be so audacious to think that he or she could hope to encompass all knowledge in one book. I tell you all of this self-confessional because there is a similar trend in jazz historical studies. The significance of jazz as an integral part of the American social/cultural facric is becoming increasingly obvious. Many of the books I scanned above are the forerunners of scholarly works which are attempting to "place" jazz within the American Exerience. The basic theses of these mostly excellent mongraphs have yet to be included in a larger overview "meta-history" of jazz. I assume that such larger histories may be a long time in coming ... the economics of the publishing industry, and the dismal state of jazz appreciation in this country mitigates against such a development. What a pity! .. this is a great thread by the way, but then I am predisposed to it .... Garth.

A page from the Borneman essay ...

... and finally ... two pages from another rarity... Dare I enter the argument about "German intellectualism" here? This was, in every respect a pioneering work by someone who became a very respected jazz critic and photographer.

Chuck.. indulge me please.. just two more... This is quite rare ... it is an early Marxist interpretation, almost Burnsian in its concentration on jazz as the product of the black experience, but otherwise the historical chronology is pretty standard "up the river from New orleans" sort of stuff. There is, as indicated on the jacket blurb, a strong "exploitation of Negroes" thematic treatment. JAZZ: A PEOPLE'S MUSIC, The Citadel Press, N.Y., 1952.

..... and finally .... here is one classic that should not be overlooked. It still offers a spirited examination of how jazz developed into a major art and entertainment in the period up to the mid 1950s. This copy is very dear to my heart, as it was signed and sent to me as a 17 year-old by Professor Stearns in response to a letter that I had sent to him, which he had published in Metronome Magazine, much to my surprise and delight. Marshall Stearns, THE STORY OF JAZZ, Oxford University Press, 1956.

The theme of the influence of jazz on white Americans was first discussed in some (sane) detail by Neil Leonard in the early 1960s. By the time I took a course in American Studies with him when I was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1970s, he had lost most of his interest in the topic of jazz .. bummer! But this is still a provocative book ... JAZZ AND THE WHITE AMERICANS: THE ACCEPTANCE OF A NEW ART FORM, Uuniversity of Chicago Press, 1962.

The issue of the acceptance of jazz into a "white America" is a frequent theme. Here is a one contribution, THE JAZZ REVOLUTION: Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz, (Oxford UP, 1989).

Here is another that takes the rather mundane subject of the history of swing bands, and discusses its significance in the context of Depression America with its complex compost of politics, economics, race, and popular culture. In Stowe's thesis Swing becomes a major component of maintaining social unity during the years of WWII. A really good read .....

Believe me, it is difficult to write what might be termed "compelling" social history. Unless the author comes up with a dramatic new thesis, interpretation, or data, the resulting work is likely to leave the knowledgable reader with a sense of "Hell, I know this already!" I think that is the problem here ... most of you on this board are extremely knowledgeable about jazz in all of its aspects (I have been enormously impressed in my short time here), and thus it might be difficult to come up with something that is likely to make you sit up and take notice. (One again, Ken Burns's documentary annoyed the cognoscenti, not the ignoscenti). I hope that these scans of books in my collection are not annoying ... I love book design, and I thought that I would share with you some of the recent (and a few older classic) social histories of jazz which I would recommend as making significant contributions to our greater understanding of the role of jazz in shaping modern society. This book is highly recommended, and does offer a very original interpretation: SWINGING THE MACHINE: Modernity, Technology, and African American Culture Between The World Wars, University of Massachusetts Press, 2003.

I am aware of Jost's book, which has a fine reputation, but my German language skills do not allow me to read it. I wonder if there will ever be an English translation .. what about you doing it Couw? The "social history of jazz" is a subject that has a somewhat checkered history. In the past the issue revolved largely around issues of race, but in recent years there has been an interest in the development of jazz as a symbol of "modernization" in the twentieth century. I believe that there might have been a previous discussion of this issue in this forum, but I can't seem to locate it. In any case, this is a topic well worth further discussion. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of time at this precise moment, but as a start may I suggest the following recent book, which is provocative, engaging, annoying in places, but a worthy contribution to a reassessment of the role of jazz in modern culture. Alfred Appel, JAZZ MODERNISM: FROM ELLINGTON AND ARMSTRONG TO MATISSE AND JOYCE, Knopf, 2002. Garth.