You were all over the map on this listening session Jeff! "Kansas City Jazz" is occasionally a candidate for the first "concept" album, though Will Friedwald, in the intro to his new book, argues for earlier albums. Still, KC Jazz is a cool album. I have the old Decca LP, but not the 78 album!
gregmo
Ok, thanks for the response. Yeah, I parked that choice in the favorites on Amazon for a while before a copy came available at a price I was willing to pay. I plan to get the new issue, so I'll see what I can hear!
gregmo
Jim, do you have the "original master recording" version? It's an absolutely gorgeous issue of the original mono Hi-Fi record. I think TTK may have put me onto it. I'm curious how the newly remixed stereo version might compare to it.
gregmo
Yeah, then one entire case, then two, three, now four. Friends say "you should move those onto your computer." I say, just having celebrated my 65th birthday, "that would take me the rest of my life!"
gregmo
I made the switch when cds suddenly far outnumbered LPs at my local Tower Records. That told me (duh) that the LP was truly on the way out. Bought a Sony cd player and never looked back.
gregmo
Interesting that "KInd of Blue" never charted. Despite that, it's still the best-selling jazz album of all time, right? Better than Goodman's Carnegie Hall Concert?
gregmo
I've had "Lush Life" for years on a boot. If you listen carefully, you can hear the problem with the arrangement, and as Miller said, Riddle wasn't there to fix it, and they never got around to doing it again. I think the notion of the song being "too complicated" for Sinatra is complete nonsense.
gregmo
Soooo, a fun detective story! As I read your post, I did remember that Teagarden and James recorded for the label (those have been reissued). So, none of those Varsity 7s were reissued on Classics, huh? I love this obscure label stuff. Thanks for the response!
I just returned from a trip and am only now catching up. I've never heard of the "Varsity Seven." Who owns the Varsity stuff now? Jog my poor memory--didn't some of the Big Bands record for the label? And were there other hidden treasures?
gregmo