Big Beat Steve

Strange about Dauner, though ... I cannot recall those "Rischka" LPs at all, obviously, but remember seeing "Knirsch", "Oimels" and probably one or two other of his early to mid-70s records in the "Dauner" bins of the jazz sections in our local record stores for AGES throughout the second half of the 70s. Never bought any of them because I wasn't into that stuff but his records sure were all over the place. (Or was this that much of a local thing in his hometown?)

Weren't Wild Root the ones that sponsored Woody Herman for a time? (Hence the title he recorded) As for "Tavern In The Town", suggest you listen either to the Bar-X Cowboys' recording of 1937 or to the one by Leonard Feather's "Ye Olde English Swinge Band" (same year). That should brighten things up. Re- hair grease, in my teen/twen/student days I used to take our local brands (sold in tubes) on specific occasions: "Brisk"; "Fit" or "Flott".

Not wanting to discourage you, but looking up the track listing in the discographies and imagining what the title of the LP might hint at (not that rare to see this term used in that era), to me this sounds very much like one of those "mood music" LPs that were turned out ever so often in the 50s featuring sax artists that you normally associate with much meatier and grittier material. Sam The Man Taylor, for example, did several like this. I'll be glad to be proven wrong but somehow have my misgivings.

EURO-JAZZ, which always equals a very keen group of Asian buyers and collectors on hand. And the seller in this case is one who knows his stuff (and the scene) inside out. So there MUST be a market. I understand, though, that this CTR release is supposed to come with the cover below. So ... that price for one without a cover?

Look .. all I wanted to point out that we are talking about a VERY elusive NON-COMMERCIAL pressing (see above) where - life being what it is - there just might be cassette copies floating around (or some good soul maybe share their good fortune of owning that LP and let somebody else listen in). This is NOT about some seedy grey or black market bootleg release that undermines the work of other, more deserving reissuers that did all the hard work with making a recording available (again) and where you can rightfully frown upon piggyback riders who want to cash in on it by doing COMMERCIAL unauthorized reissues. I can perfectly well understand that in such cases of reissue ripoffs a line has to be drawn and such shady practices should not be endorsed by mentioning, linking or advocating them here unduly in public, but does the above timid question voiced by the thread starter really fall into that category? I don't really think so.

Ah c'mon ... No doubt a CASSETTE copy (for strictly private use), for example, would have been quite sufficient for the thread starter ... Just for curiosity's sake to listen to the music of a NON-COMMERCIALLY released (see link above) platter. See, everybody, why I did not want to become a mod?

And I just noticed I was wrong about the Fresh Sound CD of this Reese Markevich LP. It is in their catalog - BMCD1608.

Actually that Reese Markevich LP has been around on the reissue market for some time. Fresh Sound did a facsimile reissue LP in the late 80s. No idea if they ever followed up with a CD when they started re-reissuing their vinyl catalog on CD (it's not in their curent catalog). (corrected - see below)

I am very honored to see me mentioned but I just have to decline. For one thing, there are many threads that I simply do not follow, and there are limits to the time I spend (and can spend) on this forum anyway. Besides - believe me - I decline because I know myself and how I can come across, and at times I can be confrontational, maybe too much so. I try not to exceed certain limits but I do like to speak my mind, and I am afraid by the standards of this forum (which quite naturally is U.S. in spirit after all) I am definitely not P.C.-ish enough. So - thanks again, but sorry, I can't - it's better that way, I am pretty sure.

Well, listening to the vinyl and CD reissues, I think they did there ... But how could you have "joined up" a 13-minute tune on 3-minute 78rpms anyway? You had to cut somewhere. After all this was no studio recording where they used fadeouts between Pt1 and Pt2 or whatever ...

Don't confuse the Sextet with the big band. Charlie Christian was the B.G. SEXTET guitarist, not the (regular) big band guitarist throughout. According to the discographies, he just appeared (as "featured artist"?) on part of the big band recordings on some sessions and live appearances. Mike Bryan was the regular big band guitarist through a good deal of the "Christian period" (from the fall of 1940), and before that (mid-1939 to April, 1940), the discographies list Arnold Covey (Arnold Covarrubias) with the big band. From July, 1941, one Tommy Morgan is listed as the big band guitarist, as he also was part of the Sextet in the October and December 1941 sessions. Dave Barbour is listed with the big band from June, 1942, and Allen Reuss recorded with the orchestra and the quartet and quintet from June, 1943.. Mike Bryan was back with the sextet and big band in 1945. As for Billy Bauer, he is present in the B.G. discography only in the Sextet/Septet/orchestra recordings of the Gray/Hasselgard period band of 1948. A LONG time after Charlie Christian's demise.

To be more specific: What Is This Thing Called Love (excerpts issued as Unfinished Bopera) Perdido (excerpts issued as Wild Bill) Merry Go Round Blues (unissued) Blowin' For Bass (unissued) Am just trying to make up my mind now if I'm going to make it hard on myself and listen to the music piecemeal (like they did way back...)

So ... where is this available as a DISC rather than just an mp3 download (as shown on amazon here)?

So the definite word is that there never will be Vols. 2 to 4 of "Really The Blues?" ? Pity ...

I like Donahue (very much so) and I like Montrose but unless one went into dissecting the music to bare bones I cannot quite see the very direct and immediate connections that would be evident to the listener (as opposed to "analyst"). There is a stylistic divide betwen them after all. The Donahue band has that distinctive "modernistic" edge of mid-40s swing big bands that shows the things to come and gives the band that special "bite" but the music still is rooted very firmly in the swing idiom. As for its general appeal, IMO more like a case of the modernized Krupa band or the Rich band of that time (or of the forward-looking charts of mid-40s Dorseys) than the Thornhill or Raeburn bands, for example. BTW, the Capitol studio recordings by the Donahue band are worth exploring too. In some cases you wonder if not only the charts but even the recordings found their way into the Navy band" reissues.

:g A Shoebox Ford. Nothing new under the sun. BTW, unless that car has been tampered with (or modified, to put it more kindly), this is NOT a 49 Ford but a 50 Ford (front flashers/indicators are noticeably different between both models and the ones seen here are the 50 version). "Where do you buy tires" (or most everything else)? Like ... here? http://macsautoparts.com/1949-1959-ford-mercury-passenger-car-parts/camid/F50/ca/146/ or ... here? http://www.shoeboxford.com/ or ... (reading Hemmings or googling helps) (No, I am not an expert on them, but having 2 or 3 of them in one's own wider circle of old car buffs teaches you things ...)

Too bad I won't be able to see that exhibition. I have fond memories of my own visits in my very early record buying years to Dobell's during 2-week stays in 1975 to 1977 (at age 15 to 17). The treasures in Dobell's two shops of course were a revelation to me as a budding collector (as were other shops still in existence in London then, of course), and with hindsight, no doubt any questions I may have asked in an attempt to make best use of my slim funds for buying records were not likely to have been THAT informed but I cannot recall ever feeling rebuked there. I guess I was just too overwhelmed by the sheer mass of goodies ... But who knows ... maybe I made good in the staff's eyes when I bought the Cyril Davies LP on Dobell's Folklore label there (after having read about it in a book on "British Beat" purchased in London the year before ...) That Bruce Turner excerpt is great! Was it ever relased anywhere on record?

He recorded with Carmen Leggio in 1979 and 1980.

Just for curiosity's sake: A question to those of you who have this record and have it on hand: Which pressing do you have? (Note differences of label and back cover address) This one? Or this one? Any experts on the RKO Unique label in the room who might be able to shed any light on what these differences mean? (chronology, etc.)

In my quest for obscure 50s jazz I found and got this LP on eBay some 10 years ago. Condition VG+ or so, but the price was right and it plays very decently. Very nice stuff that moves effortlessly, no regrets having bought this at all. And then, a short time later a really, really dirt cheap second copy of this came my way through eBay again and ended up here. Would have liked to pass one copy on but they seem to be two different pressings. Slightly different RKO company address on the back, diferent color of the label on the record, and then the sleeve of one and the vinyl of the other are slightly better. So if I kept the better copy I'd end up with a mismatch both ways. So both records will remain. BTW, this record has since become available as a reissue via Fresh Sound (in one of their "2 LPs on one CD" reissue packages)! So much for FS' greed for reaping utmost financial rewards, because OBVIOUSLY there's BIG BUCKS in reissuing items like this! (Yeah, I know that's another story so no more OT ...)

I've got that Asch 78 album, and posted the question of CD reissue - probably two years ago. Someone (King Ubu?) said that those Asch sides were on the Verve Complete Early JATP box, even though they didn't come out on Mercury at the time. I don't have time to look for that thread right now. They are indeed (unless the same lineup recorded the same two tunes from the above Stinson LP at another occasion in 1945). They are on Disc 2 of the Universal Italia-issued 10-CD box.

Yes, France Musique is nice. Some of their shows are (or used to be) during in the middle of the weekday, though. I remember one occasion driving home through Eastern France on my way back from Britain and catching a radio show featuring Jabbo Smith which had me spellbound until the reception faded after I had passed the border towards Germany. As it happened I had bought the record featuring the very same tracks the day before at Mole Jazz! Too bad the days of Jean-Christophe Averty's radio show "Les Cinglés du Music-Hall" (which often featured early jazz and hot dance orchestras) are over. He sure was a fast talker and projected real excitement in this show, sometimes bordering on being frantic ... A fine way to immerse you deeply into the French language!

Went to a local record clearout sale (any LP just 1 euro!) and, apart from various 50/60s rock & pop finds, came home with a stack of jazz LPs that may not have been on your all-time top priority wants list but were just too good to pass up at 1 euro each. And these included the 3-LP "Boogie Woogie" box set (PM 42395) released by French RCA in the late 80s, featuring RCA-owned boogie classics from the old piano masters via big bands up to 50s recordings. Very clean condition but NO booklet (though who am I to complain at 1 euro for THREE LPs?). Can anybody who owns this set check if a booklet came with this box and maybe provide me with a scan? At the time these box sets were current I bought the two Lionel Hampton 1937-40 3-LPs sets as well as the Swing to Bebop set and both had boklets of various thickness, but who knows if this applies to all the sets ... Another box set where I am missing the booklet is the 4-LP set "Fats Waller & His Rhythm - The Last Years 1940-1943" on RCA Bluebird NL90411(4). Bought this new but discovered only after having returned home that the small print on the back says "Includes 40 page illustrated booklet" (maybe that explained the relatively low price ...). So in case anybody has an orphaned copy of this booklet lying around I'd be glad to free up the storage space (at a price to be agreed) and return it to its box home. 40 pages would be a bit unwieldy to scan but if anybody somewhere should be able and willing to anyhow, then ... Details and/or returns of favors to be agreed by PM. Any leads wil be appreciated. Thanx!!

Stan Kenton?? (or so George T.Simon sayeth ...)

Ah, so your stay there explains that VfB avatar you used to have ... WoM is not worth a visit for niche music fans anymore. Zweitausendeins is fine from time to time, including for music books. Einklang has select items but prices .... whew ... The Vinyl West shop closed not long after Lerche too. Tom only does internet sales and auctions anymore. (BTW, we may well have unknowingly bumped into each other at Vinyl West. I used to buy a lot there in the early 2000s.) Second Hand Records took over the less collectible Vinyl West stocks and sold them off through their special offer bins over the years. Some mighty good finds to be made there for swing and mainstream fans (quite a few ended up in my racks ), but these days their special offer bins don't hold much of interest anymore. The regular sections hold some interesting stuff in the modern jazz (and of course rock) bins but the staff know what's collectible ... (if you know what I mean) So much for an excursion into the "last shop standing" topic ... BTW, getting back to the topic, I had taken a liking to GG's "The Latin Bit" when they happened to played it at Mole Jazz when I dropped in there in the late 90s. Never was able to find a VINYL copy at Vinyl West nor SHR in the ensuing years though, and finally had to settle for a CD when a run of BN reissues came up at the low Zweitausendeins prices locally ...