Big Beat Steve

I wonder if the way this "endorsement" that compares Masman's music to that of FRED WARING is featured prominently here is doing the band much of a favor if SWING/jazz fans are to be attracted to these reissues (Fred Waring, of all band leaders .... shudder .... ) ;) I have most of the Ramblers LPs released on the PANACHORD label quite a long time ago, and while those with U.S. guest solists stand out, quite a few other recordings on these LPs are very nice too (though these pre-war recordings do include their share of dross that really has dated pretty badly and shows the ability to swing is not something sustained that easily all the time ). Will probably get this new reissue as the track listing sounds rather original (not the umpteenth early post-war re-recording of In The Mood or Chattanooga Choo Choo etc., though yet another version of Americna patrol apparently could not be avoided ).

Try to check out secnodhand bins or online lists for that (80s/90s-reissued) LP series of early 60s surf/garage etc. instro rock'n'roll bands called STRUMMIN' MENTAL. That should suit your tastes and fill a few voids.

Offhand I can't tell you much about him either but I've had my eyes on him (as another example of that crossbreed of bop and R&B) too. Would be interested to hear about a comprehensive reissue. I tried to get one or the other 10-incher or EP of his U.S. King releases (some fancy covers there!) through eBay a couple of years ago but failed. Here's the cover of a French Vogue 10-incher featuring a couple of his King tracks: BTW, the 1952-53-54 issues of Galen Gart's "First pressings" mention him here and there but not in any great detail.

You might ask your question here: http://www.bigband-era.com/ Check the forum under "Big Band Talk" (you will have to sign up, though). Mike Zirpolo used to be quite present on that forum though I do not know if this is still the case (I've never bothered to dig out my password or obtain a new one to re-access the forum ever since I changed my computer over a year ago as that forum had gone rather stale for my taste; no matter how much you like swing music you can take only so much undifferentiated nostalgia from those who witnessed that time yet - except for a few exceptions such as Mike Zirpolo - never cared to broaden their vision beyond their teen days).

Having a soft spot for these 50s Lucky Thompson sessions (still need to unearth a couple of the French sessions - plus a few more! ), I've had a look at the track listing and must say I am somewhat baffled. Cam someone explain the underlying concept of these "Selects" to me? What is the point of assembling incomplete, heterogeneous sessions while leaving others (less frequently reissued ones but at least LEADER sessions) out? Considering how often people moan and wail about the omission of this and that track from sessions in reissue programming, I find this odd, especially in the case of a Mosaic reissue. And some of those albums included here aren't exactly thin on the ground reissue-wise anyway. Or is it that "because it's on Mosaic it's bound to be essential"? I realize this may be heresy to some around here but to me this kind of programming appears a bit redundant. Going to spin the (complete) EmArcy Jimmy Cleveland (DG) vinyl now!

This has happened to me more than once. The item(s) arrived safely, though. It is impossible to generalize because there are a number of factors at work: 1) What is the relationship between the weight of your item and your postal rates? Do they actually base their cost on every ounce of weight or is there one standard tariff within a given weight bracket (say, up top 500 grams and then up to 1 kg)? If the latter is the case and if you want to play it halfway fair towards the buyer then use the maximum of cardeboard you can use within the given weight limit. You never know what heavy-handed dimwits are at work further down the line in the "dleivery chain". And even if you have to pay by the ounce, don't skimp on packaging unless you are keen on DEEP RED negative feedback. 2) If you do not want to buy LP mailers but if you want to play the pizza box game (or any other non-LP box) then DO USE a maximum of cardboard inlays inside on BOTH sides of the LP. 3) NEVER trust an LP to arive safely if it is allowed to glide around inside from bump t bump. Wrap up the LP so it really does not budge inside. Otherwise inner sleeve splits will be the least thing to happen, and seam splits will be likely. 4) Some place the inner sleeve and the LPoutside the actual cover to avoid seam splits to the cover en route (but in this case you'd have to place it all in a clear plastic LP jacket - which costs too - and you'd have to use an extra cardboard or two on the LP side to make up for the loss of protection by the LP cover. (A detail many sellers - who probably consider themselves exceedingly smart for placing the LP outside the cover for shipping - tend to forget) 5) FORGET about polystyrene padding, especially when used in the form of polystyrene PLATES. They won't nearly stand as much abuse as you'd imagine. I still cannot get over the dumbness of that seller who once shipped me a (50s original) LP inside two layers of polystyrene with a total thickness of a wee bit more than a standard 2-3 LP mailer (and no cardboard outside!). Some object must have hit the parcel at an angle and - you guessed it, the vinyl cracked halfway through! (Hard to imagine the same would have happened in a cardboard mailer with 2 to 3 cardboard inlays inside on each side of the LP) About as duff as they come, some eBay sellers ... Good luck!

Or he is on substances we cannot even begin to imagine ... :D Time to cool down, really. Is there a doctor in the house who can issue a prescription for a few sedatives? ;)

??? Any number of threads on this forum (and elsewhere) seem to indicate quite the contrary. At least to me.

I cannot comment on 50s colored vinyl (Fantasy etc.) but I have quite a few 70s/80s LPs on colored vinyl and for the most part I cannot really hear any noticeable sound differences that can be traced directly to the COLOR. In some cases I even have black AND colored copies of the same disc and IIRC they all are the same soundwise. But my turntable is certainly not "high end" but rather a decent "medium end". And quite a few of those colored 12ins are reissues of 30s/40s jazz so it certainly is not the color that is decisive about reproduction fidelity. So things may be different on high-end equipment or on releases that are more current productions and not reissues where other factors (remastering? if any ...) weigh in too.

And then these ... Although the Stan Getz cover is a bit of an oddity: Using a FRENCH street scene to illustrate music recorded in SWEDEN? (Or is it an illustration of Verve's/the U.S. view of YURP? "France or Sweden - it's all the same to us ..." :lol: )

Getting back to the original subtitle of this thread ...

You got a PM.

Will check my 1981 copies of JAZZ PODIUM (as it is I still have them, though they are up for sale) and will be back with more detailed info (if any) on this concert at the Liederhalle (the only likely venue in Stuttgart for this kind of concert at that time) ASAP. Update: The May, 1981 issue of JP had a note in its concert agenda stating that the 25/05 concert would be held in the BEETHOVENSAAL of the Liederhalle (a smoewhat smaller hall inside that venue that was most often used for this type of concert. In fact other - larger - halls of the Liederhalle would really be a bit overwhelming for anything but a symphonic orchestra or otherwise quite large event). The same issue of May has a 2-page feature summing up the career of Art Pepper but though I've searched high and low through the subsequent issues of 1981 strangely enough no review of the concert was to be found!

Up!

Consider me VERY interested too. Will be looking forward to hearing about the total cost and the cost of international shipping once they're there. Good work!

OK, may I add that I was decidedly unimpressed by his "John Dawson Winter III" album. It was current at the time I got it but left me relatively cold compared to earlier stuff I had heard elsewhere so I disposed of it eventually. Maybe it was not the best starting point (but then those white blues boys of the late 60s/early 70s did not figure high on my priority list then - i.e. nice to listen to but no essential purchases compared to the "old(er) masters").

:tup :tup If there had been no "jazz 1945" there would not have been a "jazz 1959" "vintage year" either. So I'll vote for 1945 for the coexistence of small-band swing AND bebop AND energing R&B (and ... name yours ...).

Thanks very much for the details, Brownie!

That would be quite a fascinating subject IMHO (and might call those to order who seem oh so intent on concert-hall type events in order to give "respectability" to the music ).

Has anybody details on this 3-CD set and what exactly it contains beyond the 2-LP set on Vanguard that has been around since the early 60s or so?

@Kenny Weir: I must admit after having written my last post it occurred to me that beyond vocal groups etc. it is artists like Johnny Guitar Watson and much of New Orleans R&B that support your point (though I'd say new Orleans R&B has always been a bit beyond classification and pigeonholing anyway).

Trying to sum it up rather briefly, most of what you would have labeled those "jump blues" combos in the late 40s/early 50s. Especially the high percentage of instrumentals (Booker & The MGs do not make a full-fledged instrumental "post-R&B" soul-R&B subgenre yet ). And then, of course, the entire "Honking Sax" tradition (I will not count King Curtis as a straight successor to that ... ). And I am not so sure you could draw that straight a line from ALL the early R&B shouters to James Brown either. Vocal chord stamina ain't all ... I do realize, of course, that a lot of this is a matter of personal taste and preferences and of how much of a change and evolution you are willing to lump into one and the same style. Maybe this example will help: Take some typical early to mid-50s Chicago blues artist or record (or any "electric blues" from that period) and then compare it to a mid-60s Chicago/electric blues recording. The continuity is easy to grasp. And now take an early to mid-50s jump blues artist/record and let's see what remained of that in the mid-60s with the same (relatively) limited stylistic evolution as in the case of Chicago/electric blues ... I do realize that in a way it IS nitpicking but see what I mean now? BTW, thanks for the link to that In Search of The Blues book discussion. I've taken it in (in fact I had found those two reviews earlier after doing a web search yesterday). Though I guess I will crave for more in the same way that you mentioned for yourself it is high in my Amazon shopping cart.

True, I know that feeling from my beginner's collecting days in the 70s too, though we fortunately had four VERY decently stocked record shops with substantial jazz sections here in town, and if it hadn't been for those elusive LPs or labels that you had heard of and that the local shops sadly did not stock then the more interesting items from their stock alone would have left you broke. But I do not think what you are (correctly) saying about availability and accessibility is something you can narrow down to the LP vs CD vs download debate. Actually this is simply a matter of the INTERNET. I happen to collect other items (beyond recorded music) too and ever since I took full advantage of the internet in c.2000 things have changed dramaticaly. I could rattle off half a dozen collecting areas and subjects where I had constantly been scrounging fleamarkets, garage sales, swap meets, the occasional small ads, following up hints from other collectors, etc. for 15 to 25 years, and though I had come up with quite a bit of stuff it was the internet that enabled me close most of those (sometimes huge) gaps and to complete entire fields of collection within maybe 2, 3 or 4 years - a few years of internet searching and buying yielded way more than I had been able to track down in the 15 to 25 years before. So actually we are looking at two entirely different topics (which are not necessarily related as the search of diehard vinyl buffs is also MUCH easier in these days of the internet).

Predictable and understandable, those waxing musings. Though I admit I often find the 60 or 70+ minute time limit of a CD very convenient even when compared to LPs with generous playing time per side, I would not trade my vinyl for the same in CDs, let alone downloads (which no doubt are fine for "consumable" and tehrefore expendable music but much less so for really LONG-term storage and possession, i.e. COLLECTION ). Besides, though opinions and preferences may vary I still find the feel of the actual ANALOG object as well as its cover in FULL size light years above most CDs. And as for those pops, warps and crackles, true, this was and is a nuisance on vinyl but don't nobody tell me CDs will withstand the same degree of careless handling (and pressing defects aren't totally unknown on brand-new CDs either). I do have quite a few (otherwise unobtainable) vinyl platters which clearly have seen LOTs of party use in their former lives and might rate VG- or G to G+ at best by Goldmine standards and yet, for all their pops, ticks and crackles they do play through without skips. Would CDs that have seen the same kind of (ab)use play at all anymore? I doubt it. Very strongly so. And ever since the occasional CDs (from reputable labels) have started to skip on my CD player or have yielded a "No CD" message on the display I do wonder if this kind of intermittent fault is really the CD player's fault only. In the case of vinyl at least, when the actual vinyl is there and an actual stylus is on the pickup then I KNOW the platter will play. But each and every CD (NOT CD-R, that's a different matter) a few years further down the line from now? I can only hope so ... As for availability, like MG said - there ARE tremendous amounts out there, but a HUGE lot worthy of reissue still has not been covered on CD (let alone downloads). And honestly, "complete works" availability often is nice, but haven't you all wondered if it always was worth it getting each and every snippet of this or that name artist? Are those few tracks constantly bypassed by vinyl-era reissue compilers really that essential, or aren't they just DROSS that will satisfy fanatical completists only? Not to mention that collector's satisfaction of having unearthed more material to fill this or that gap in one's collection with minumum overlap? Sometimes getting everything in one go on CD is extremely convenient but sometimes this way of almost mechanically accumulating material rather reminds me of a bookkeeper's attitude. And am I the only one who feels reissues on CD often tend to go OOP even faster than in the vinyl era? So there's pros and cons both here and there and not all progress is gold that glitters.