Big Beat Steve

Yes, sad news. The list of those from the really classic era of jazz who are leaving the building is getting longer and longer really fast and I am afraid it won't be long before not a single link to that past will be left. (Many happy returns therefore to Johnny Griffin!) To make a change from other tribute record spinnings, I think I will put on this "Rock That Boogie" LP on Groove (RCA) tonight.

Agreed with MG. And as mentioned before in another thread, there were Sounds Inc., for example (though that was the early 60s prior to the Beat boom). And don't forget the more genuine Skiffle bands of the 50s, many of which really brought a genuineness and sincerity to the music that had been lacking elsewhere. Granted that a lot of British 50s Rock singers were copycats but many of them still managed to portray a sense of freshness and boyishness at a time (post-1958) when a lot of U.S. Rock'n'Roll (not to mention Rockabilly) had already been polished, streamlined and toned down by the industry bosses and A&R men. And after all, not all of the U.S. 50s Rock acts were that creative or genuine either. And was there anything more painful during that time than those pre-Rock era acts trying to get to grips with the R'n'R beat? Listening to crooning balladeers (who'd rather have modeled themselves after Sinatra, Haymes & Co.) fumbling with uptempo material with a beat (supplied by overproduced arrangements played by unsympathetic studio musicians to make matters worse) in most cases is laughable at best. @Bev Stapleton: Will do. But it's going to be along read. So far I've only made it into the first few chapters that dwell on the c.1949-50 start of grassroots jazzmen (Colyer, Barber, et al.) that were to become part of the Trad scene (the early amateur band attempts of one John R.T. Davies also get mentioned). So the book starts out early and so far it's been jazz all the way. And though I certainly am not the biggest trad or revival jazz fan in the world I found it hard to put the book aside.

Received my copy today. A whopping 500 pages (whew ... looks like it's going to be a LONG read, and from what I've picked up at random while thumbing through it, a highly interesting one), and not a single picture in the entire book so this does not look like another "nostalgia" item (as feared by MG) but rather something much more meaty.

Agree with John L and Paul Secor re- his early 50s recordings (Modern, Gold Star, etc.). The must be a huge number of compilations of his work so I'll leave recommendations to those more familiar with what is and has ben available but Ace should always be a safe bet. If you want vinyl, some nice ones (compiled with the lover sof more energetic blues in mind) are these (rec. 1954, mostly Herald material): Bad Boogie - Diving Duck DD 4308 Flash Lightnin' - Diving Duck DD 4307

The Japanese Blue Note discography lists the following musicians for the sessions making up this LP: Albert Hall, Johnny Dankworth, Don REndell, Ralph Dollimore, Johnny hawksworth, Alan Ganley, Harry Klein, Tony Kinsey. Rec. March and Mary, 1954. Strangely enough the BN ad in Metronome mentioned above credit this LP to "Mike Nevard's Meldoy Maker All Stars" but according to the discographies it is no MM All Stars session and Mike Nevard (a MM scribe, it seems) is just a fake leader name, it seems. Haven't been able to find this session under any of the musician names I checked in either Jepsen or Bruyninckx (and not under "Cool Britons" or Mike Nevard (who does not have any entry at all) either). Wonder where this session hides ... By coincidence, Mike Nevard also shared credits with Jutta Hipp on a double EP issued on MGM, and the liner notes to that one mention involvement by Leonard Feather. So I figure both the MGM and BN sessions by both groups were set up by Leonard Feather in Europe with a view to having them released (originally released!) in the U.S.

BN 5056 was released well before the Hickory House albums. This certainly was no "afterthought" to anything and no rehashing of "unreleased" sessions either. I don't think the minds of agents on the lookout for music to release worked that way back then. And there's no big deal with all this. Even in the 10in vinyl era U.S. labels DID issue sessions by European jazz groups, and not all of them were just leased items that had been released in Europe before but some of them were in fact recorded specifically with the intention of having them releaed in the US. The Metronome 1955 Yearbook (obviously printed at the very beginning of the year at the latest) carries a BN ad that lists BN 5056 among its latest releases. No word on any 1500 LP release anywhere there nor in the year's discography included in the yearbook (no doubt BN buffs will be able to pinpoint the time that the first BN 1500 series LP hit the record stall not only to the day but to the very minute. ) So this should narrow down the timeframe of the release date. BTW, a concurrent release on BN that was also mentioned in the ad was 5052 "The Cool Britons" featuring as British all-star band. Can't check right now but I think this was first released on this BN 10in LP too.

Nice thread, especially as I am in a similar fix right now. I need to expand my storage space for both my CDs and my 78s (10in records) and had hoped IKEA had something affordable and sturdy (I know what they have in wooden-color finish would match what I have in my "music room"). So I need something with flexible storage shelf heights (reduced height on the upper shelves where the CDs are to go, and a bit more than 10in on the lower shelves where the 78s are to go). However, overall height would be limited to not more than 1 meter sharp. Would I have to settle on the lower version of the BILLY racks (which would just a bit too high, though, for the space I have available). Haven't found anything in the IKEA catalog or in the shop - isn't there anything flexible as far as compartmenting goes or did I overlook something? Any suggestions appreciated!

@Bluesnik: You are of course right about the origins of BN 5056. This session was recorded in Frankfurt (Germany) on 24 April, 1954 by the Jutta Hipp Quintet. However, I am not so sure it was a "leased" session in the sense that the Fats Sadi 10in LP on BN was, for example. In fact, BN 5056 was the first and only issue of these recordings back then. They were not reissued until the late 70s when 6 of the 8 tracks appeared on the German L&R label (along with the tracks Jutta Hipp had recorded for MGM just prior to the BN session).

Bev, that quote from the review does sound interesting. I'll be looking forward to reading the book (on the basis on my interest in the music of the era - including the European seeds of Rock - I've read others on that subject before, though they cover the ground from different angles). That link to the Swedish book was only to point out (as you probably guessed) that if anybody buys books on the same subject and era focusing on places such as Sweden - like I did - then this book on how Rock got started in Britain certainly should have its points of interest too. (And BTW, that Swedish book is really lavishly produced - it's one of those coffee-table items that just by thumbing through it makes you wonder "If they do such a production on an oddball subject such as this why can't they do one just as nice on .....")

Indeed. Durium really ought to know better.

Looks like an interesting background read for those interested in the era (even for non-Brits) so I ordered my copy from Amazon. And after all, if you got yourself this one http://boktok.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/sto...ngar-1955-1963/ and loved it you ought to find something substantial of interest in THIS book too. So thanks for passing this info on, Bev!

I picked up a facsimile LP reissue of this Studio 4 LP a couple of years ago through eBay as I'm always after obscurities of 50s/early 60s jazz and also on the assumption that there must be something to it since the few original copies that came up for auction fetched prices that were just SILLY - SILLY - SILLY! As said by others before his tone takes some getting used to but this IS great and forceful playing. Couldn't say, though, if I prefer this or the Jaro/Xanadu album. And thanks, Chuck Nessa, for your recollections of the moments spent with J.R. Must have been quite a time.

Seeing how this thread on Jutta Hipp derails into a platter on name jumbling and mess-ups, I take it, then, that the play on words in the titles of the tracks that Jutta Hipp recorded in a session with Hans Koller prior to her departure to the States will totally escape all those "bad spellers" and careless (or should I say couldn't-care-less?) dudes: Hans Is Hip Jutta Is Hipp

There is no need really to limit Hutta Hipp's recorded legacy to her cooperation with Zoot Sims. Her two Blue note albums recorded live at the Hickory House are fine too (you don't necessarily need hard bop jam session horn blowers or skin beaters to enjoy BN LP's you know ... :D). And there is no need to overlook her recordings made in Germany before her departure to the U.S. either. Some of them are collected here, for instance: http://www.amazon.de/Frankfurt-Special-Jut...4501&sr=1-5 http://www.bocksmusicshop.at/detail.asp?art=3741 And as rightly pointed out in the Wikipedia entry on her, she has had a cult status among fans of German jazz throughout all those decades (though she probably was unaware of this herself).

Aw sheeeet ... And I figured WTF is he talking about vinylite (pressings??) or whatever? Seems like I goofed myself in a biiig way ... Serves me right ...

Yes of course, I see what you mean, Jazzbo. And "interesting" certainly is a fitting term. But isn't it so: No doubt we all miss out on all too many discs through our collecting years, and in all too many cases there is reason to cry out loud because we didn't act fast enough before they went OOP. But crying about a Mezzrow disc? Hardly ... So don't worry too much, Bluesnik, if you dont' get your hands on this.

this is one i almost picked up years ago. i had read his book and was curious. i remember holding it in my hands (together with the AEC) several times but i never kept it in the end. and i think now i would like to have it. Are you a masochist or something or are you just out for a good laugh? I don't think anybody would qualify Mezz as such a supreme musician that any of his discs would have to be considered essential purely for HIS playing. I bought one or the other of his LP's in my earlier collecting days too and upon listening to them (after a long time) I find the quips and put-downs the scribes (except Panaissé, of course!) made of his playing still are quite accurate (even if somebody as acidic - but very much to the point - as Boris Vian wrote it! ) Ted Lewis was't the only one whose clarinet said "please put me back in my case!" :D

Cannot find a track listing but would this have ANYTHING that cannot be found on the various Roy Milton CD's reisued by ACE in the U.K.? I didn't check if all the Ace reissues are still in print but they did quite a few of them so they should cover the ground rather well.

That's bad news about Red Lick. Any suggestions for a good online mail-order substitute that carries a similarly wide range of collector blues/R&B labels? I agree about the unwieldiness. It just struck me that the Penguin guide does include a fair share of 40s/50s R&B but this part is far less comprehensive than their more "traditional" entries, and the exclusions seem a bit arbitrary to me (and this cannot possibly just be due to the fact that all the missing entries happen to be OOP). But its a VERY useful guide anyhow.

By all means check out the catalog of the KRAZY KAT label (INTERSTATE) from the UK too. http://www.interstate-music.co.uk/krazykat/krazykatindex.htm Even if you limit yourself to pre-war recordings only, you will find very nice "Hot string band"/Western Swing stuff there that would be very hard to find elsewhere. And have a look at their Heritage and other subsidiary labels too. Enjoy!

Got my copy a LONG time after ordering it (due to circumstances beyond my control) so browsed through it all the more extensively. I agree with the positive comments by everybody here, and my only (minor to most, a bit major to me) quibbles are not in what is in there but what isn't. While the sectarianism between "blues" (of the more downhome or urban quality) and "Rhythm&Blues" (with a BIG "R") no longer seems to exist to the extent it did when Messrs. Leadbitter/Slaven looked down on the oh so commercial R&B artists in their earlier discography editions, I feel that there still is a slant towards more "downhome" blues (even of the electrified variety) which is a pity in today's reissue market. Or to put it another way, when it comes to minor artists (who still are essential to diehard collectors), the Guide tends to dig deeper in more traditional fields than it does in R&B. Pity ... Another minor quibble is the arrangement of the "compilation/various artists" section. The categories that this compilation is broken down into appear a bit odd to me. Inclusion/exclusion in certain categories does seem a bit arbitrary at times and I've had a hard time finding certain compilations that normally still ought to be in print and that I felt sure must have been in there (and often weren't - but then again most of them were R&B compilations ). And finally, seeing the huge number of really odd small labels not likely to be distributed widely, what would be the best one-stop mail order shop for EUROPEAN buyers? I haven't dealt with Red Lick Records in a very long time; would they still be No. 1 for us in Yurp??

Don't know, but Jack McVea did. Man, I sure wish they had a band like the sax gang in the video at Eurodisney near Paris where we'll be for a couple of days' family vacation in May.

I read Bill Crow's account of that tour a while ago when the link to that site came up in conjunction with another story and, to put it mildly, I was baffled. If you take all this in along with Terry Gibbs' tales of "The Fog" in his autobiography as well as Milt Bernhart's account of the 1950 Las Vegas stint of the BG band that included Wardell Gray you are beginning to ask youself questions ... a LOT of questions, in fact. People (including musicians) rarely ever are saints, but THAT ... ??

Very fitting, Dave. Especially since actor Klaus Kinski would have fitted in nicely with Zorn and Jarrett. He was a great artist but, as is often the case, a very eccentric one, and the tales of how he did everybody verbally in who happened not to suit his whims are numerous.

Did John Zorn and Keith Jarrett ever play in a jazz group together? Might have billed themselves as "The Irascibles". :D Anyway, knowing what "Zorn" means in German (where the roots of this word comes from) I am not really that surprised by his outbursts.