Big Beat Steve

Will have to dig out certain LPs from my stack of early Ellingtons, I guess ... (Upo to ca. 1930 they are filed in the "Classic Jazz" corner).

Aaahhh ... different "strokes" indeed, then. And me was thinking that all these "different" comparisons might just as much sum up the differences in approach by the Ellington band vs the Basie band. Pity this name did not come up many years ago here. It might have been interesting to see if Chris Albertson might have had something to say about a comparison between Fred Guy and Elmer Snowden.

More than Freddie "Mr Rhythm" Green? Just wondering ...

Well-earned ...

Perfectly true. Not that enforced commitments to care homes do not happen, but in most cases it really is as you say, and then you can only count on the cooperation of the elderly concerned ... I witnessed a similar case with my father-in-law in 2018 (then aged 79). After he had caused two not so minor car accidents in totally uneventful traffic situations his children (my wife and my brother-in-law) urged him to undergo medical exmainations - and sure enough, dementia had set in. So action was required (particularly because there was a medical history in the family). Thankfully he immediately agreed to move into an assisted living facility (for his own good ...). But of course there are plenty of cases where the persons concerned balk in such situations, and then things get awkward and more or less impossible to handle. (This would have been true in "our" case too because his kids - who have their own fulltime jobs - lived about 300 miles from his town, and he did not wish to move from his town either.) So it is good to see that things in the case of Larry Kart seem to have straightened out for him now, whatever the story behind it all may have been ...

A bit of a stretch calling this a car wrecking yard, but it's a nice photo anyway. A variation on the "Cadillac Ranch" theme? 😁

This sounds really creepy. I've witnessed a coupe of cases of people moving into assisted care homes in my parents' generation (under vastly varying circumstances) in past years so I guess anything can happen. But luckily I've never heard of such enforced cases. Keeping my fingers crossed now that everything works out perfectly well for you from now on.

Careful ... There seems to be more than that. What French RCA reissued (in their Black & White single-LP series released prior to their Black & White twofer series) was made up of the 24 LPs of his "Complete Recordings" that you mention but it appears that these were COMPLEMENTARY to TWO 5-LP box sets (Fats Waller Memorial Vol. 1 and Vol. 2). I have never done a track-by-track comparison between all these LPs but the fine print on the individual LPs says: "Fats' Complete Works will not include the same tracks as the ones on the two sets 730.570/574 and 731.054/058." For those who can do with a smaller helping there also was a 4-LP set "Fats Waller & His Rhythm - The Last Years 1940-1943" on RCA NL90411. This set roughly duplicates Vols. 19 to 23 of the individual B&W LPs (minus certain alternates). I cannot recall having ever seen any Bluebird twofers on Fats Waller (though these 60s Bluebirds invariably caught - and still catch - my attention) so they cannot have covered his entire output.

Following the "reactivation" of the below thread ... ... how about taking this one step further with THIS thread ? Such covers do exist (so please don't "water down" this thread with covers showing one single junked out car only ) Here are three to start with: Not many cars to be seen at first sight but this IS a scrapyard - and a handful of wrecks (including a mid-50s Rambler) are discernible in the background at the upper edge of the cover. The next one is a more typical sight: And this one may be about as far as you can go on ONE album cover (front cover first, back cover next): More to come?

Merry Christmas and a happy end-of-year period to everyone ... With maybe this or that addition to your collections under the Christmas tree ...

+1 😉 Sat down right away now and corrected this in my books by Feather, Chilton, New Grove, AMG, Reclam, Jörgensen/Wiedemann et al.

That's one you ought to haved put in the "Music Books reading" topic as well - to give it more exposure. Looks interesting indeed.

Kudos to Woody Herman to the way he hung on. To be brutally honest, in a way poor Woody lived a life of sorrow in his later years. His former manager had mismanaged his business side and badly screwed up Woody's tax statements which left Woody with really huge tax debts that forced him to carry on working and touring to the end. Beyond what the historians have written about this sad side of his final years more than once, I remember a few hints to this effect by a former employer of mine (quite a character and a big jazz fan since back in the early 50s who became close to several touring jazz celebrities) who had sort of befriended Woody Herman and from time to time hosted him at his home during German tours of the orchestra. After Woody had passed in 1987 my boss (in those few talks touching on our common musical interests) could not help heaving a few heartfelt sighs of relief that "now Woody had finally found his well-earned rest."

I do think the thread starter meant to say he would like to focus on recordings FIRST released in the LP era (i.e. roughly post-1949). I.e. NOT on "The Band That Plays The Blues" nor the First Herd and a good part of the Second Herd (whose original releases predated the vinyl era and therefore were on 78).

Yet I think that (from the outside) Art Pepper aged and looked far better than Chet in his later years.

Well, unsurprisingly so - according to her biography Vera Auer (unrelated to pianist-vibist Pepsi Auer, BTW) married an American and emigrated to the USA in 1960. And even her "Austrian period" seems to have ended early - according to Wikipedia she played mostly in West Germany from 1954 onwards "due to the bad economical climate for jazz musicians in Austria at the time". And yes - she certainly figured in the media coverage of the German jazz scene back then.

Not sure if this hits the spot for Mrs Big Al, but the below one seems to be an all-time favorite out there: https://www.discogs.com/master/123332-Ella-Fitzgerald-Mack-The-Knife-Ella-In-Berlin

No doubt that's a useful recommendation for those who do not have much at all from those (split) periods (and do want ALL the vocals too ). But for those (like me, admittedly) who have a pretty fair chunk (and are no obsessive "upgraders-by-way-of-Mosaic" ) it is over the top and inefficient moneywise. What also turned me off from being a completist (though I still regret the fairly silly programming of previous Mars-label reissues that kept re-recycling mostly the same tunes) is that I'm inclined to find it to be true (from the few tunes I've heard) what Russ Chase wrote in his liner notes to the Giants of Jazz (GOJ-1022) LP of "Woody Herman Live in New Orleans" (Oct./Nov. 1951), i.e. the MGM sides being "not as exciting" as previous and later recordings. I can see why the programming of that Mosaic box happened the way it did (sidestepping the Columbias and Capitols) but it does reek a little of "and then there also were ..." and if you already own a certain percentage of the contents you tend to think twice.

Interesting article, thanks. As it happens, I've recently started reading her book "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like this".

Started reading this recent chance purchase now: "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This" by Val Wilmer. Very interesting and fascinating, and exploring the jazz scene of that period (and its place in society) from a somewhat different angle.

I have lot of such live recordings on vinyl by the 40s and 50s Kenton bands, e.g. on First Heard, Duke, Artistry and other 80s labels (one reason being that they were/are all over the place in the secondhand shops for quite a while - at prices you can take chances at). So does that make me a "stan"?

Time to pass on some duplicates ... I have the following jazz books for sale: 1) Keepnews/Grauer,”Pictorial History of Jazz”, Spring Books (UK), revised edition 1966 - 12 EUR Dust jacket is tatty round the edges and torn in places (see pic below) but inside of book is in solid, good condition, spine is tight 2) Charles Delaunay, “New Hot Discography”, 1948 edition (Criterion, New York), fourth printing (1966). - SOLD 3) “Jazz in Österreich 1920-1960” by Klaus Schulz, Vienna 2003, enclosed CD with an overview of Austrian jazz from that period is present. - 6 EUR German-language (obviously …) pictorial history of jazz in Austria, book in as-new condition. 4) “Esquire Jazz Book” of 1944, hardcover edition (i.e. not the large magazine-type edition) - SOLD Dust jacket is flaking round the edges and spine (see pic below), book otherwise in good condition 5) “Jazz in Deutschland” by Horst H. Lange, Berlin 1966 (original edition) – 10 EUR German-language book on the history of jazz in Germany up to the early 60s. Excellent condition. Some light pencil annotations inside that can be erased easily. 6) “Down Beat Record Reviews” Vol. III (reviews published in DB in 1958) – 20 EUR Front cover slightly faded, spine faded, rear cover and final 2 pages were missing but have been replaced with clean photocopies, inside in good condition, very minor browning. 7) Leonard Feather, “The Encyclopedia of Jazz”, 1980s DaCapo paperback reprint republication of the original 1960 “New Encyclopedia of Jazz” – 15 EUR Good condition, some insignificant creases in spine. 8 ) Also available: - Metronome Jazz Yearbooks 1954 to 1958, 18 EUR each - Big Book of Swing (Ed. Bill Treadwell), published in 1945, close to as-new condition, 18 EUR (but these probably would be of interest mostly to domestic collectors due to international shipping rates) Shipping rates: EU: 12 EUR for small parcel up to 2 kg, 19.50 EUR for parcel up to 5 kg “Rest” of world: 17 to 20 EUR for small parcel up to 2 kg, rates for larger parcels varying depending on destination country German shipping rates to be negotiated (4.80 EUR for small parcel up to 2 kg, 7 EUR for parcel up to 5 kg, book parcel (“Büchersendung”) at reduced rate might be feasible)) Send PM if any questions. Thanks!

Very nice finds! Will make a mental note of that Superfly Records store if i should ever hapent to make a trip to Paris again. Good to know PJC has gone up even further in its pricing. Pity but if they survive anyway (maybe with the buying power of US and Asian customers during their stays in Paree?) then all the better for them. About that Jazztone (Guilde du Jazz) LP (J-1001), I wonder if anyone has ever tackled documenting in detail the cover artwork of all these ... I have two copies of this one - one on (German) Jazztone, one on Concert Hall Society - same contents, same catalog no., but with two totally different covers, and different from yours again. But your cover looks familar too - I must have a differnt Jazztone LP or EP somewhere that uses the same cover design.

Absolutely. I've been smitten by "Mohawk Special" ever since I caught it on a radio show in my university student days. I later found that session on one of the "Swing Sessions" series LPs (which I later replaced by the reissue on Prestige). But overall these sessions are scattered on lots of different discs (unless you have the Classics CDs). I had to search hard for the sessions of 13 and 27 Jan. 1947 but see I have them on the "Bebop" CD (Vol. 72) of the "Jazz in Paris" series. Time to spin them again so thanks for highlighting these sessions.