Big Beat Steve

Which is why they tagged that bin "Rare as rocking horse manure" too. I remember seeing that bin downstairs during my stopovers at Ray's too in the mid- to late 90s. The Prestige 16rpms they had at the time were beyond my financial reach but a couple of years later I found that Wallington/Woods (Prestige 5) on eBay at a price that wasn't cheap but very, very correct.

Oh my ... Where to start and where to end ... Particularly after all that zigzagging of recommendations already listed above (hard to avoid duplications of recommendations and of contents now) ... First of all, I assume you do not want to end in 1939 sharp but are referring to ´the SWING ERA. And since you mention them I'd recommend ALL of the Jazz Archives LPs. The DO fill gaps in a useful way ... (But not all of them are airshots or live recordings) Also take a close look at the entire U.S. RCA Bluebird twofer series from the 70s. And while you are at RCA (and not knowing to what extent imports are available in your neck of the woods), if you go for the black cover single LPs from the French RCA "Black and White" series, check the avilability of the (somewhat more recent) French RCA JAZ TRIBUNE "Black and White" DOUBLE LPs first. The contents of the two reissue series overlap and duplicate but somehow I find the Jazz Tribune twofers better organized/programmed. When you dive into Decca/Brunswick territory, check out the later 70s/80s Jazz Heritage LP series on MCA (both US and French pressings are around). Some of my perennial favorites overall: A killer all the way! Somewhat overlooked but very impressive. The two Black & White albums will give you their entire output whereas the Vintage Series LP has a fine selection of the essentials. Depends, then, on which is available easily at the right price for you. A very fine compilation Another unsung hero (to me anyway ...) Also check out some of the V.A. albums/box sets that must be around. They can serve as appetizers for more specific explorations and also often include recordings off the beaten (pun intended ) tracks that you are not that likely to find elsewhere. And this one (available in various reissue guises) is essential listening, even if it also goes back into the 20s. And of course ANY Decca/Columbia Count Basie (reissue pressings too numerous to mention - he is covered in the MCA Jazz Heritage series too, among count(pun again intended ) less others). For a starter, I like the one below for its period-correct artwork (duplicating a 78 album) Next up, if you can find them, get the FATS WALLER reissues on French RCA (Black & White) - two box sets and numerous LPs. These would be the easiest way to avoid too many duplications among the many reissues that have been released through the decades. On the "whiter" side, I have a soft spot for CHARLIE BARNET (the RCA Bluebird twofers are your safest bet), JAN SAVITT (Yes I know, tastes differ ... he has a handful of LPs on that much-maligned older 60s MCA Heritage series and on Bandstand, Sounds of Swing a.o.), and ARTIE SHAW (RCA Bluebird twofers again ...). And for some good-natured entertaining 52nd Street fun, do try these (there are FOUR vols. by Prima there - all recommendable): And all this still is only the tip of the iceberg (as others will confirm ...).

If bebopbob says this hapened on brand new CDs to him then this is odd, though. I have had a possibly related case that I found hard to explain: A brand new CD (released just before I bought it, so no "NOS" ) consistently skipped and garbled (skipping to and fro on a particular track) on the same track whenever I tried to play it - despite numerous tries (a check of the CD player did not yield anything wrong). Trying to save the contents, I then burnt a CD-R of it on my PC and this one has played perfectly ever since. Strangely enough, the actual CD behaved OK again when I spun it later (much later) again.

Well, on checking further now I found that Discogs DOES have an answer: So this shows he was billed that way on at least three of his 45s.

Could this have been the way he was billed on the 45s he recorded on his own, notably for King, in the late 50s?

Ask Jay Leno, maybe?

I received my copy and have browsed through it for a while now. The book is a gem for anyone interested in jazz (and jazz-related R&B) of that era - the layout is fine and not out of tune with the typical graphics of that period, the reproduction quality of the photographs and memorabilia is very good (decidedly better than in the Parker & jazz memorabilia book published by Lincoln Center) and the atmosphere of the clubs comes across. Leafing through it, you can get lost in a lot of details. So - already on the strength of its visual impact (a few inconsistencies of pictures that clearly fall outside the scope of this period notwithstanding) this really is a very nice pictorial companion to listening to recordings (preferably live ones ) from that era, and can be recommended to 40s and 50s jazz buffs, warts'n all (a bit about warts further below ). The texts will take me quite some time reading and digesting in detail (I am looking forward to the chapter by Dan Morgenstern, in particular) and I cannot comment on the factual accuracy of the descriptions of all the clubs covered in the book so am taking the contents as they are (some with more detail knowledge might want to comment eventually, maybe, if they find errors to highlight ...). But I just had to take a closer look at the interview with fashion notable Robin Givhan first and must say that I am unimpressed. Judging by many of his questions and triggers, the author comes across as someone overawed either by the subject or by Ms Givhan and the contents and sequencing of his questions often don't help (sure you can comment on if and where 40s fashion has been picked up by more recent designers, but not at the BEGINNING of such an interview - that's an anti-climax of sorts in the light of what is discussed later). OTOH what Ms Givhan has to say often strikes me as a mixture of unfocused rambling (on the basis of "I gotta make statements about it"), speculations (e.g. about why the patrons on these pics were so happy and flirtatious - I mean, were they supposed (or willing) to look grumpy and bored stiff when a pro photographer sneaked up on them to catch them in the act and sell them back the souvenir pic ??) or something bordering on cluelessness when she muses about how and why everyone was so well-dressed. (Did she ever have a closer look at what people commonly wore back then out in the street and even more so when heading for a "night out"? A closer look at some Shorpy pictures would have helped too.) Even the young ones often did dress up, far into the 50s (though her claim that "it wasn't until the late 60s when adulthod didn't necessarily mean dressing like your mother" rings decidedly false to me). Doesn't take much fashion scribe specialist knowledge, just some advanced awareness of and interest in period styles. So what she said somehow lacks in substance in explaining the fashion of the day and in its historical context (at least to me). I am not so sure either about how they stress race must have been a non-issue in the world of these jazz clubs. So somehow I really feel they did this interview to get her celebrity name on the cover as a selling argument, but IMHO someone, say, actively and deeply involved in the Neo Swing (sub)culture would have been at least as qualified to comment on the fashion of THAT era and on its social and societal context. Ho hum ... (but that's just one chapter, so not that much harm done ... ) Another quibble: For practical reasons, an index of the clubs described and shown (as in the Charlie Parker and jazz memorabilia book) would have been very handy for easier referencing in the book. So ... anyway ... anyone interesting in adding a somewhat different visual slant to your listening of 40s/50s jazz - go get that book!

@JSngry: Weeelll ... definitely about the cars as far as their suitability for the typical urban and suburban streets around here is concerned (many of these tanks are way too bloated for that), and coming to think of it (now that you raised that point ), a bit about those drivers/driveresses too who clearly are inept at handling their cars in a space-saving and smoothly advancing manner in these streets (to keep traffic flowing) because - though seated up on high in there - seem to be unable to see and understand where their cars begin and end. If you've seen them trying to maneuver their SUV monsters through suburban streets often laid out in the 30s/50s and OTOH recklessly parking them in a way that most of the times blocks TWO parking spaces then you have little respect, patience or sympathy with them. Though I do not expect all of the 'murricans to really understand that ... But the urban space situation very often just IS different here ...

Congrats and hats off, that Stude is an interesting car, and not one likely to be seen at every run-of-the-mill classic car meet (contrary to Tri-Chevies, Impalas, Camaros and the typical Fordlore, etc. ). I regularly drive Mopar offshoots that as it happens were also present on the US market - I own three from the range shown here: https://barnfinds.com/1960-simca-aronde-elysee/virginia-23002 No, they don't drive like today's cars and you have to use common sense and exercise caution in traffic and really have to take them consciously into your hands (like any old car from that era) instead of just relying on a zillion of comfy gadgets but their size makes them VERY handy and whizzy in suburb traffic, contrary to many, many of those SUV pieces of shit totally ill-suited to European cities.

I think that would be a first among Savoy LP covers from that period. They very often used generic "whitened-up" photographs, including for jazz and R&B LPs. So let's just use this one for Dexter's ride instead, OK?

Going a bit further back in time ...

Speaking of which ...

Now how about a slight change in interpreting the subject of this thread?

Well, it WAS a revolution on the roadgoing sports car scene from 1961 onwards.

Are you sure that's a musician or band member posing there? "Anybody" posing in, on or around a car on a cover is not the subject of this thread. Dmitry did well to choose that fine difference in the topic of this thread. That adds some welcome thinking and spice to the thread. Just plain "Cars on album covers" would be way too obvious.

It IS an E-Type, but the paintwork looks more like blue to me - at least on the cover of my V-8511 triangle label pressing. Must have been "Opalescent Dark Blue" or "Cotswold Blue" according to period (1961/62 models) color scheme listings. "Cotswold Blue" appears lighter on photographs of surviving cars in this color but who knows to what extent the printing falsified the actual colors.

Some already mentioned that I own. Good to see them featured. Here are a couple more: And then there also are: A subject not likely to end soon ...

@jcam44: In fact this is the impression I got of the book when I read the sales blurb and is what got me hooked on it (can't wait for my preorder to ship ... ). I still am not expecting wonders from the texts (and do have my doubts abut some of the contributors though I'll be happy to be proven wrong) but I am really looking forward to the book for its "visuals" and memorabilia and I'll keep my fingers crossed it will be a nice companion to the "Charlie Parker & Jazz Club Memorabilia" book published by the Lincoln Center in 2007 (a very nice book with loads of fantastic items, but either the printing quality or the resolution of the digital files used as a basis - or both - here and there leave something to be desired as the color reproductions sometimes are a bit "washed out" and blurry. Which is a pity if you want to study the typical 40s artwork in detail).

Get shit done!

Re- the Arrigo Polillo book: Strange ... I have heard of that history of jazz by Arrigo Polillo but I cannot recall having ever seen this German edition in the music sections of the bookstores I checked out in those pre-internet days when anything published domestically on jazz would catch your eye much easier than in later decades. Maybe around here (on the home turf of the SWF and SDR radio stations) the shadow cast by Berendt and his publications was overwhelming ...

See, Mike, that's what i was getting at. That 400.000 number is much more like that of other late 50s/early 60s Fontana releases in France (UK Fontanas had a different numbering system and these are the ones that figure in early 60s German jazz record guides too). @gmonahan: Where did you find that 800000 catalog number? Normally the booklets to the Jazz in Paris series do give the original release number, and if the orignal release was on EPs then the EP numbers are given. It would be atypical if they'd indicate a different (later) pressing number. Upon checking Discogs to (at last) find out which tracks we are talking about here I see that only 3 of the 4 tracks from the above Fontana EP are on that CD - which can only be explained by the 8 Nicholas tracks on that CD making up an LP with the 800000 catalog no. (8 tracks indicate a 10-inch LP which continued to be popular in France LONG into the 60s - but Discogs has no trace of that LP by Harold Nicholas). "Blue Moon" from the EP seems to have been omitted. Odd anyway because the Jazz in Paris series usually reissues entire sets - except sometimes if EPs are added as fillers (and space for more by Nicholas would have been available here). So it would be interesting to find out about the actual relationship between the release number you indicated and the above EP. I've started a brief research in my magazines yesterday but have not found anything yet - possibly those recordings were considered too "pop" for reviews in jazz magazines. P.S: Jimmy Walter was a pianist (and apparently songwriter too) on the French pop/cabaret/variety scene of the 50s and early 60s and was one of many bandleaders to provide the studio backing bands (under various band names - see Discogs) for various artists and styles, right into the twist era. He is mentioned in a groundbreaking book on early (very early) French rock'n'roll but no indication is made of whether that name was a pseudonym (I have a hunch it was one). I happen to own the Harold Nicolas EP (on Barclay) where he does the Madison - backing provided by "Jimmy Walter et ses madisonnistes" - a typical studio band producing the required style (competent but without much individuality), but it is anybody's guess if the lineup (uncredited, of course) has anything to do with the Jimmy Walter orchestra on the above 1959 Fontana tracks.

Was the entire session on Fontana and is the catalog no. you indicate the original one? (It reads like that of a somewhat later Fontana release) Also indicate the discographical details from the booklet (so those who do not have that CD - such as me - know what sessions this is all about - neither Jepsen nor Bruyninckx list it at all). Who knows ... the recordings may have received a review (with personnel listings) in Jazz Hot, Jazz Magazine or the Bulletin du Hot Club de France. I will be prepared to check my copies when I get around to it.

I am no drummer so cannot comment on the finer technical details but if you look at big band pictures of the 30s you will find setups here and there that are not totally different. It also is a matter of to what extent the drummer goes into showy fireworks on stage (as she apparently did). And her setup with drums mounted up high where many others have their cymbals seems to have been her trademark, judging by period photographs that can be found online. At any rate, remember 50s/60s jazz drum setups do not have that much to do with what was customary in the swing era. And if you look at the amount of gear that later rock or jazz rock drummers bury themselves behind or inside (without always making that much more of a contribution to the seamlessly flowing (!) interaction of the band), her setup looks decidedly restrained.

See here (discussed only recently):

If you actually refer to the tune where "Byas cuts everyone", you're talking about "The Romp", right? (But according to the liner notes Dexter Gordon isn't on that one but only on the subsequent Honeysuckle Rose). Those two tunes (Honeysuckle rose, in particular) had me spellbound for years .. I caught them on a radio jazz show in the very early 80s and was just flattened. Luckily I managed to record both on cassette tape off my radio but IIRC the radio man indicated neither the exact source (record) nor the title of what is listed as "The Romp" but highlighted the wild opener by Stuff Smith and the sax cutting contest that followed. It took me about 15 years until I finally found a copy of JA 35 with these two long-searched-for tracks on it.