Big Beat Steve

Funny that THIS tune should be discussed in such detail. As for jazz musicians not really liking plot-related musical tunes such as those by Rodgers/Hammerstein, jazz musicians sure improved this one a LOT when they took it up! I always hated the tune as sung in the movie (boy, what gutless, artificial, stilted howling! :D) but I do like Miles Davis' version a lot. BTW, as for Tom Storer's question about what surreys are, this term seems to have made it into common usage as a fairly ridiculous description of one version of a horse-drawn buggy. I remember a quote in a motor road test from approx. 1960 where the author had been wondering about the attitude of parts of the public that there was no need for this or that car to be that fast. So he went on to write: "Gents, if this attitude had prevailed in 1905 we'd still be cruising in motorized surreys with fringes on top, taking corners at 5 mph!" As a result the object of this song title has had somewhat ridiculous connotations for me ever since. Thanks for Miles Davis for making it much more palatable. To get back to the original subject, I am not so sure if the current use of "cover" versions beyond carbon copies recorded to cash in on a pop hit song is all that incorrect. Maybe the term "cover" as often used today is to hint at the lack of originality of those who play mostly covers instead of originals, especially in rock and pop music? Of course I wouldn't consider Miles' "Surrey" version a "cover", and most jazz "versions" of previously recorded tunes would not fit those descriptions either (with the possible exception of some stock arrangement recordings of well-known big band tunes).

Ha, good to see I am not the only one acting that way! Well, in fact, almost ... Out of my 5000+ vinyls and 500+ CDs I may have sold maybe 10 or 20 LP's or so (not counting duplicates, of course) through the years that really fell outside what I really eventually wanted to COLLECT (i.e. errors committed in my much younger days) but that was all.

Have both of them. Will look up the tracks tonight when I get home form work. As far as I remember these compilations are made up of various 78 rpm sessions usually comprised of 4 tunes each. Teddy is not featured thorughout, of course, but both volumes are recommended!

That Bethlehem (BCP-14) LP by Urbie DOES have Al Cohn on tenor, bass clarinet and flute. That "Ike Horowitz" is just pseudonym for Al (one might almost have guessed ). See here: http://www.jazzdiscography.com/fitzgera/pseudo.htm As for the music, just like Larry Kart said: Depends on what you're after. Diehard hard bop aficinonados will probably find it all too conventional but if you're in the market for some of the younger "Mainstream" or "Middle jazz" heroes of the 50s then this is for you. And wouldn't be Fresh Sounds's reissue of the Bethlehem, Blue Note and Vanguard LP's on ONE disc metioned in that other BN 10" Conn thread be the best buy (never mind that single track missing from the Bethlehem LP)? That is, unless you have the other two already anyway.

Just for info: Is it because of who owned this material originally (or only leased it on BN) that the FATS SADI 10" BN Lp has escaped most (if not all) of those reissue programs?

The Now And Then album on Stash listed in the discography is a nice replacement if you can't get her 1959 Warwick album as it includes part of that album (I placed several unsccessful bids for the Warwick original on eBay through the years so it seems to be coveted). BTW - who's that sax player in the pics? Willene Barton? (Just a wild guess...)

No, as far as I was able to make out all the pictures were taken during concerts and/or backstage, etc. in Holland. I assume the reason you are asking is that Tete Montoliu was on stage that night too, right? Good luck finding documents of that concert!

Just did a little checking myself ... Online antique book sellers list the 1959 book from 380 euros! And even the German edition of the JAzz 1955-1959-1961 book of the early 90s (Nieswand Verlag) starts at some 98 euros. I remember it wasn't cheap when I bought it new, but this ... (and the price of your Dutch edition?) ... Oh my ...

That 1959 book "JAZZ" seems to be very rare, and tends to go rather expensively on eBay if a copy ever comes up. So for those who'd like to enjoy the pics from this tour in a real book, try to get hold of Ed van der Elsken's book "JAZZ 1955 - 1959 - 1961" published in 1988 in Japan, then in 1991 in the Netherlands by Fragment Uitgiverij and in 1992 by Nieswand Verlag in Germany. A GREAT book featuring not only more pics form this Hampton tour but also a LOT of other great jazz pictures from that era. In fact (according to the accompanying text) this book is an expanded version of the original book that Durium shows in his blog.

Trying to find some rational explanation to some aspects mentioned here: No doubt a great many black American jazzmen moved to Europe after 1945 or in the 50s to escape racial problems back in the States. Many of these had found they were held in great awe and respected as artists wherever they went in jazz circles in Europe, i.e. among promoters, journalists, fans, club owners, etc. Quite different from what many of them probably had experienced back home in everyday life where racial barriers must have been more prominent even outside the South, even in their work as musicians. In Europe (France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, etc.), on the other had, they were regarded as artists and stars (and some sort of "Crow Jim" attitude prevalent among certain fans certainly helped too) and were usually treated with great respect. However, this concerned the fields of everyday life these musicians usually moved within. No doubt less friendly feelings may have existed elsewhere in European society, or maybe indifference or ignorance, but these musicans were not really exposed to it in everyday life so may not usually have perceived it as such. And this ignorance or inability to distinguish between somebody needing insulin injections and some junkie trying to get a fix (and after all a lot of musicians were junkies indeed so this picture may have been somewhat difficult to avoid by those who otherwise did not get into touch with jazz but just had read about these things in the gossip press) may have led to what happened in Eric Dolphy's case. Inexcusable in the case of a doctor, but do we know all the details of the actual circumstances?

Wasn't there a rather detailed thread on her not all that long ago here on this forum (on the occasion of her passing, I think)?

That particular records reminds me of something odd I've been wondering about for a long time: A few years ago I bought this record along with other Basie LP's in one single lot from a private seller, and this K.C.7 item came in a mint IMPULSE gatefold cover (U.S. pressing); however, the record inside was on the MCA "rainbow" label (with light blue background) and stated both the MCA AND the Impulse record No. on the label. Did somebody replace a (maybe worn) original record with a more recent pressing or were there pressing runs that combined the older original cover and more recent vinyls/labels (maybe because there was an overstock of covers to be used up)? Anybody got an idea?

To prevent others from (maybe) getting lost, better point out that the original label of this was IMPULSE and that this is the "new" version" of The Kansas City Seven (and not to be confused with the early 40s lineup including Lester young that recorded for Keynote). I agree with all your other special recommendations (though my 60 or so Basie LP's - plus some CD's - place a bit more emphasis on the 30s and 40s, but I also appreciate the Verve and Roulette era very much - plus certain Pablos).

Aren't we all? At least in the eyes of the "music-consuming average masses"? :D Yeah, and I'll hafta get that one too!

Saw this advance info a couple of months ago. Any news on when this book will finally be available and at what price? That site doesn't seen to be updated too often in this respect.

MG, you're talking about the "Real Crazy" studio sessions issued on Vogue or about the live concert recordings from the European tour (September, 1953) issued on IAJRC LP 31 as well as on various CD's on the Stash and Natasha labels?

Sure I did see those RELIC comps. There must have been some 200 LP's of them or so. They were all over the place in the 80s and early to mid-90s at all the specialist record dealers' stalls at REAL rock'n'roll concerts everywhere. The vinyl is OOP but should be available secondhand here and there, and I think similar compilations are now avilable on CD in frightening quantities anyway. Only bought a sampling of that Doo-Wop stuff myself over the years, though (mostly black groups). It's nice to listen to for a time but can get repetitive in the long run. The Italo doo-wop groups can get a bit of a drag too, and I admit I can pretty well do without the girl group and Phil Spector items.

Too bad! I need a copy of that one too!

Maybe we will just have to agree to disagree but just to get this straight: When I referred to "accessibility" I was definitely not implying any comparison with Hawes' other Contemporary albums but was rather trying to hint at the fact that some of those around here apear to prefer something more elaborate that they have to "work their way into" (at least that's the impresion I often get here from a lot of posts discussing a lot of different jazzmen). At any rate, I found "All Night Long" very accessible and also quite fluently swinging and just enjoy listening to it intensely (rather than dissecting). Now if I am tin-eared I probably am just as tin-eared as Ted Gioia, Robert Gordon, John A. Tynan and Ron Wynn. So be it then ... BTW, re- "For Real": As another often-overlooked Hawes outing from that time I'd like to mention "The Sermon" from 1958, recorded just before he was to serve his prison term (but the music remained in the can until the late 80s).

Interesting to read ... I stand corrected as far as this forum being the right target for such questions is concerned ... The Patsy Montana track with 2 widely differing recording dates illustrates the problem I mentioned above. Some of those tunes were recorded repeatedly by the artists so you really would have to be familiar enough to identify the recordingy aurally. BTW, I do think #14 actually ought to read "LA VALSE DE MARIAGE".

Wish I knew ... Seriously, I realize you must de desperate for info, but it still is that old-time hillbilly music probably is not the favorite music that immediately comes to mind to most JAZZ fans. (In my case, it is a side interest but not my main focus, hence my other comments) There is a sort of Western Swing miniature discussion platform somewhere out there on the WWW (I think Rich Kienzle has a hand in running the site that incorporates this discussion platform) and this would at least be somewhat closer style-wise. I don't have the link right now so you would have to google it up.

Try his "Band In Boston" LP (i.e. its reissue) released shortly after the "Splendored Gig" LP. Another nice one would be his very first LP: Jazz In A Stable on Transition TRLP-1 released in 1956 (one of those LP's on the Transition "cult" label that fetch silly prices among collectors on eBay but the reissues should be far more affordable).

Is there a hillbilly/old-time fiddling/string bands/early country discussion forum out there somewhere? That might be a far better place to ask this question. I think I've listened to this Trikont CD at a friend's home (a keen hillbilly collector). Funny stuff but needs to be taken piecemeal. Will check my Mainer's Mountaineers, Delmore Bros. and Patsy Montana LP's later to see if I can come up with dates. As for Roy Rogers and the Sons of The Pioneers tracks, anybody around here who's got the Bear Family box sets to look up this info? The Carter Family should also be well documented. In case of Bill Monroe, who know how often he recorded that Muleskinner Blues? Same for Bob Wills. I think he did this Blue Yodel #1 for the Tiffany Transcriptions. Was this the only version? If not, which is which? Or anybody who's got "The Decca Hillbilly Discography" handy?

You talking about "Life Is A Many Splendored Gig"? At least FS bothered to reproduce the original artwork when others (except the Japanese and VSOP) mostly slapped silly updated/"modernized" covers on their vinyl reissues. OK, this may be far less important in the CD age but I admit that the Mosaic Select "corporate identity" artwork leaves me cold. I just happen to prefer other styles when it comes to packaging. That said, I could very well imagine some early Pomeroy reissues on the Uptown label. Might tie in nicely with their Serge Chaloff CD...

King Ubu, you know there ARE other labels (lots, in fact) that DO reissue FINE jazz music that is well compiled and thorougly annotated! In short, there IS a life in jazz reissues outside Mosaic!