Big Beat Steve

Considering what Ron Rambach already charged for these many moons ago (and what eBay items netted in more recent times), the above prices do not appear to be out of this world. OTOH demand seems to be spotty and unpredictable. So far I haven't been able to shift my duplicate copy of Vol. 3 (through the ad section here) at what I think is a very fair price. I have Vols. 1 to 5 and like Chuck Nessa, I refer to them fairly often

Received my copy of the box set and Vol. 1 of the book here today. And fast transfer to "Yurp" too - mailed on 12 Aug., arrived today. Nice to see that under the given circumstances the postal offices did not goof up. A very intesting package - so far I've just listened to parts of 2 post-war CDs but it will certainly yield some surprises and new insights. Listening to Jimmie Logsdon and a Bob Graettinger chart for Stan Kenton back to back certainly takes some getting used to. I am looking forward to reading Vol. 1 and can't wait to get Vol. 2 in due course.

I listened to the title track of the Happy Bird LP this morning (mine is a French license pressing on Musidisc, though it uses the Charlie Parker Records cover artwork) and find it very mono-ish. I then compared it to the CD reissue of the same record included in the 30-CD "Charlie Parker Records Collection" box set that hit the market a couple of years ago. Beyond the usual superficial aural differences between vinyl and CD the CD sounds just as much like Mono to me (though the thumbnail image of the LP cover on the CD sleeve does read "Stereo-Pact"), except that I am under the impression that on this CD on the right channel the sax is a wee bit more "buried" among the rhythm section compared to the left channel where the sax is a little bit more prominent. The difference isn't huge and to my ears the mix is the same left and right. So no stereo. Not even a rechanneled one.

BYG did such an awful lot of releases (among others, they are one of the older Savoy reissuers) that I think it is impossible to generalize. What exact release number, year, pressing, country, distribution company listed on the back cover, etc. are your LPs from? I have a handful of BYGs (reissues) which I would date as late 60s/early 70s pressings and I cannot find anything wrong with them beyond what could be attributed to the condition of the record in general.

RIP. Incredible that it is already 22 years that I had a record cover and his autobiography signed by him at a concert in Britain. He must have been a very approachable, down-to-earth guy (as told by friends from Strasbourg who had run a fanzine in the 80s and got into contact with him for an interview and kept in contact for quite a while).

I sincerely and immensely admire the work you put in these discographies and can only applaud your efforts, but from a USER's angle (at least the way I am used to using discographies), there is something I find inconvenient: Why list all the issues and reissues over and over and over again for each track of one and the same session? Wouldn't it make much more sense if the common issues and reissues (often entire sessions are reissued in their entirety or sizable bulks from one session are issued/reissued on specific releases) were listed for the entire session behind the tracks (like conventional discographies such as Jepsen and Bruyninckx did for ages), i.e. the actual labels and numbers behind the first teack and then "identical" signs behind the tracks listed underneath. This would make it much easier to see at a quick glance which issue or reissue actually includes the entire session. Or else list only the original issue and first-generation reissues in this way, and then "Complete session also on ..." UNDERNEATH the full track llisting. And then (AFTER the complete track listing): "track 1 also on, track 2 also on etc." afterwards to cover other (incomplete) reissues. BTW, IMHO "sampler"-type reissues that include only 1 or 2 tracks from a 4- or 8- or 12-track session (that has been reissued in its entirety multiple times) and otherwise feature unrelated recordings could very well be dispensed with. Unless a given track can only be found on, say, one or two of these scattered issues/reissues (such as some of the V.A "theme" albums on Pacific Jazz in the 50s). I realize with the explosion of the quantity of reissues through the decades this is getting very difficult but the alternative would be to have monstrous quantities of lines of text after EACH track (which would take up an inordinate amount of lines and therefore space even for a simple 4-track session, not to mention LPs). And it would make it very hard to see at a glance where the collector can find the entire session. This is no criticism, just a detail that has kept me wondering, not only with your discographies but also with numerous other fairly recent online discographies (maybe complied using Brian? Who knows?) These detailed splitdowns for each track do make it hard for the collector to see quickly which is which when.

O.K., and now you add the definition of "operational determination" and "differential determination" to make it really clear.

The one of the Medallions?

Ha ... you made me snicker there ... As an OFF-TOPIC side note, this is exactly what neighbors down the street more than once complained about with regard to a succession of American (military) people who, finding it more comfortable (and prestigious?) to "live on the economy", rented a next-door apartment in a multi-apartment house down the street here (the nearest US post and their place of work is about 3 miles from here, so this apartment was passed on through several US Army families through the years). "Inconsiderate", I think, is the word. None of them were missed over the years when their respective tour of duty ended ... Too bad, an occasion missed (or several, rather) ...

Aah ... I was half expecting that if something very obscure of that kind would show up it would be on the Red Saunders Research Foundation site.

Yes, a very interesting story. Too bad no airshots have been preserved.

Yes, Earle Spencer was an ear-opener to me too - absolutely on a level with other Progressive big bands of the 40s such as Boyd Raeburn, Tom Talbert etc. And Kentonites should find something attractive in his recordings too. I became aware of him in the 90s when I picked up a secondhand LP of 1946 live recordings by the band on the (U.K.) First Heard label (FH-16). Though the price charged by Mole Jazz was a bit outrageous (for what these First Heard LPs actually are) it was worth it all. A little while later I found a copy of the "The Almost Forgotten Pioneer of Modern Big Band Jazz" LP (IAJRC 41) that included the bulk of his Black & White recordings. An ear-opener too and the kind of thoughtful compilation that fills a gap even in advanced collections. In fact, the Fresh Sound 2-CD set has its merits (for a new generaiton of listeners) but in this case it really does not offer much that is new over those two IAJRC and First Heard vinyls that have been out there fore some 30+ years.

You don't mean to tell everybody here this is "old courteous habits"? Isn't this simple politeness?

I sincerely hope that vaccines will indeed be available sooner rather than later but even more so I hope that these vaccines will have been tested extremely thoroughly in the clinical phases and have not been RUSHED onto the market (although I am a little bit wary, given how certain politicians "click"). I can tell you (from what my better half - who works in the medical field - has witnessed) that this is a touchy affair. From what we've heard (and I can assure you Germany generally is NOT a country that is in a state of Covid hysteria, as certain other countries apparently are, but rather is acting fairly responsibly in most respects, hoping, though, that things won't slacken off in the current vacation season) there is a sizable portion of medical workers who will oppose anything like mandatory vaccination for members of medical professions as a "first round of vaccination" when a vaccine becomes available (and doctors who will shy away from administering those vaccinations). Actually there are not all that few who'd rather quit the profession in the face of mandatory vaccination. UNLESS vaccines have REALLY been tested to the very highest levels of safety (but like I said above ...). If you work in the field stories like that of one of my wife's patients can give you the creeps. Due to his profession (running a restaurant and catering service etc., i.e. extreme exposure to contact with the public) he had to have himself vaccinated against the porcine flu (yes there were epidemias before Corona). The result: Extreme, lasting and incurable heart and related health problems that were severe enough to force him to give up his job, business and all. That ain't fun. And I do understand those in the medical field who do not really see themselves as guinea pigs. (OTOH - and I know this sentence is political - if the entire membership of a nation's Parliament had themselves vaccinated first?)

An interesting question. Though I am not into Euro-Free, his name is familiar, of course, and as far as I can think back (collecting-wise, i.e. mid-70s) he always was listed and featured as "Alexander von Schlippenbach". Checking line-ups in period record catalogs, this extended even further back - at least back to 1967 (including on the records he made with Manfred Schoof). Always "von" throughout. His WIkipedia entry does not mention any name change either. So if his original name actually was without the "von", then this seems to be glossed over these days. Maybe a case of how one would like to present oneself and be seen (and referred to). Maybe a case like "Michelle Rosewoman" - I have my sincere doubts that her ORIGINAL name was "RoseWOman"- which would have been an odd one at any time (though predictably you do not find any references to any name change either).

Do you have a link to those discussions? Bear Family (of all labels) passing CD-Rs as REAL CDs, now that would be bad news.

So Sonnymax is Merv, actually? Re- how to tell apart CD-Rs: About the color of the back of the CD-Rs: I have some CD-Rs (bought as items described as CDs at the time, of course ) that look VERY silvery. Offhand indistinguishable from CDs. But do the CD-Rs indicate the actual catalog number of the CD around the center hole on the back? Or don't they just list different, almost endless sequences of digits but not the catalog no.?

Darktown Strutters' Ball, of course. But I'd not hesitate one second about "China Boy", particularly since it usually is performed as an instrumental. One might always make a case for this being a "boy from Chinatown". As a general rule, I'd not advocate "retiring" such songs (this kind or "purging" history can fast get out of hand), but please limit them to instrumental performances. The lyrics have run their course and are not needed anymore. BTW, I wonder if there still are old-timey string/bluegrass bands out there who got "Nigger In The Woodpile" in their setlists. P.S: Would you go so far to advocate outlawing the usual fare of Dr Demento too? ("Kosher Delight", anyone?)

That sounds plausible. I just re-read the section in Basie's autobiography "Good Morning Blues" where he talks about the record he made with L,H&R, and that section certainly does not exactly read like Basie's own "write" (judging by other sections of the book, Basie was not exactly the most articulate writer of all time ) but rather like something that his "ghost" writer Albert Murray put in.

Nice interview with Creed Taylor on "Sing A Song of Basie" too. But I was puzzled by this part: JW: What did Basie think of the album? CT: I don’t know. Basie was on another road all the time. He was such a self-made bandleader. I’m sure he heard it, but he never mentioned it to me. And I never asked. After all, "Sing Along with Basie" was recorded in 1958 as THE follow-up album to "Sing A Song of Basie". So Basie must have more than just "heard" the first album. Was Creed Taylor being evasive? Why was he being evasive? Because it wasn't him who produced that one? Surely Basie wasn't manhandled at gunpoint by Morris Levy into making that album?

I'd bet Berendt would have noticed THAT and indicated it in the photo caption.

The jumping guy in the background is not identified in Joachim Ernst Berendt's book JAZZLIFE (p. 223) - where this pic came from - either so he may well remain shrouded in mystery.

Say Chewy, any particular reason why the use of the word "have" is so totally off limits to you (as it seems)? Or is this your shtick to come across more streewise-ish? It sho' reads funny!

That's exactly the term I've often heard in connection with collecting vintage (or collectible, anyhow) cars and/or motorbikes, more specifically those who also stock (or should I say amass?) the spare parts to go with them. (But maybe I am biased because that description fits me too ) (BTW, would you and your likes consider me sacrilegious if I told you I have a c. 1900 barbell - the kind you see on ancient photographs of weight lifters sporting handlebar moustaches and wearing striped body suits - sitting as a decorative item in my garden? It belonged to my great-grand uncle and has been sitting out in the open for at least 70 years, first on his property, and then rescued to move here when that lot was sold for redevelopment - and it seems "fit for the ages", seeing how it has "weathered" (literally) those decades)

Crossing my fingers ...