kh1958

There are two Cal Massey compositions on a 1962 Freddie Hubbard Blue Note date, released for the first time as part of a twofer LP, Here to Stay. I'm not sure if this has been on CD, but it was a rather good date, as I recall (with Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman and Philly Joe Jones), especially the two Massey compositions.

Come with Me--that was the other one of Concord that I liked.

You might try some of her early Concord albums--one I like is The Real Tania Maria--Wild. I saw her at the Caravan of Dreams years ago, and enjoyed the concert, both her piano (accoustic) and accompanying vocals. I had the chance to see her at S.O.Bs in New York, six or seven years ago, and it was a different story--a very overamplified presentation that was not at all enjoyable. Since that bad experience, I haven't really listened to her.

The catalogue is interesting looking but consists of mostly unfamiliar artists (to me). What are some of the best discs?

I don't have the CD of this one, just my LP, but it's on my wantlist. The first time I was able to see Freddie was after this came out, and he kept us waiting (for both sets) but the second set he played a great version of Shades of Trane from this LP (George Cables on electric piano, but alas no Junior Cook). ← Agreed, but this is a costly cd. I paid over $20 for mine. Available only in Japanese editions, i believe. ←

McCoy Tyner--Song of the New World.

Keep Your Soul Together (Freddie with Junior Cook, George Cables, Ron Carter) is another one on CTI to keep an eye out for.

Thanks for alerting me to this label. I came across their Billy Strayhorn set yesterday and, now being aware of the label, I snapped it up immediately. That would have been my label of choice it it was still in existence... When it was alive, the label did justice to most of the important names of jazz history: Armstrong, Basie, Bechet, Duke, Christian, not to forget Lunceford, Jelly Roll, Wardell Gray, Teddy Wilson, Prez, etc... I have managed to collect nearly all of the Masters of Jazz releases and damn the day the label ceased operations! ←

No one has mentioned "Jazz from Hell." There's a couple of good tracks on that one. I like several tracks on Shut Up and Play Your Guitar, but overall it's kind of monotonous.

I've been buying CDs prolifically since 1983 and have over the last few months gone through virtually my entire collection in creating an itunes music library. I only found two CDs that would not play, and one of those, I believe, was defective when I purchased it.

Another favorite Ulmer recording is the live date with George Adams in the Jazzbruhne series.

About a third of the Blue Note record is good, as I recall. As I recall, it received poor reviews at the time, so I avoided it. I love the Columbias and the Artists House discs. I haven't kept up with more recent stuff. ←

It must have been a long wait (five years or so) for the next new Mingus record, which I suppose must have been Bluebird/Reincarnation of a Lovebird on the America label. It was with me by the time of Mingus' eviction (November 1966)! Sue Graham's note which accompanied the shipment was dated June 1966... ←

Yes, the 45 is part of the actual Monterey performance that year.

I think you can still get the Mingus Brass Band record (the reissued LP) from the Jazz Record Center in New York.

"We put out four albums, and I leased three of them to Fantasy, which I now have back, and this fourth has never been out on CD. So that might be the next CD I would put out. I also have the others, and I have unissued Mingus material that has never seen the light of day: [additional material from] the other albums that he put out, like My Favorite Quintet, that was recorded at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater, and Mingus at Town Hall—not the famous Town Hall where he tried to perform “Epitaph.” Same title, but a different concert. We have part two of the Tyrone Guthrie and part two of the Town Hall, which have never been out. And an extraordinary concert that was done at Cornell University before the famous 1964 tour in Europe, with the same personnel, with Eric Dolphy and Johnny Coles. Johnny Coles only lasted, I think, for one of the concerts on the tour, because he took ill and was hospitalized. So this was one of the great concerts; everyone was happy, the music was just outstanding. And that’s in the can, that’s something that eventually I would put out. Also, Charles Live at Ronnie Scott’s. We had the Mingus Big Band at Ronnie Scott’s from last year that I may put out … but in 1972, Mingus was recorded by Columbia Records with their mobile trucks at Ronnie Scott’s. It was the year—from the point of view of many of us, a scandalous year—that Columbia dropped all their jazz musicians except Miles Davis. And Charles was one that they dropped, and I think they felt so bad about it that they gave us the tapes that they had just recorded live at Ronnie Scott’s. So these are some of the ideas of material that we will be issuing. In other words, both Mingus performances and repertory carrying on, like the Orchestra—Nat Hentoff said he’d like to hear a whole album of just the Orchestra."

Thanks, you are a Duke among men.

The Lester Young Story LP has four versions of Dickie's Dream, all great. I've only found one version on CD. Is there any issue with all four versions?

Of course, the first disc also has four outstanding tracks that were not on the original album-Sweet Sue, Just You, Budo and Little Melonae being favorites of mine, but I thought they were on the last single disc reissue of this material also. The concert on the second disc, by the way, is about 30 minutes long, a pretty significant discovery in my view. What was the most recent version you had before picking this up? I have the 2001 Columbia/Legacy 24-bit version (and the Miles/Trane Columbia box set), and I'm finding it hard to believe that this version could sound any better. As I said, I generally don't buy things for sonic upgrades... I'm just surprised/curious because nobody else mentioned your point (unless I overlooked it). To me, the main appeal is getting the "new" material... ←

There is no discographical information on the CD, except that the spine of the CD has the dates 1953-54. Paul Ellington is, I believe, Duke Ellington's grandson and leads the "Duke Ellington Orchestra" which plays one night a week at Birdland.

I picked up a used Ellington CD today I'd never seen before on the J Bird label, Private Collection vol. 2, which has little information other than song titles, a date of 1953-54, and the statement that Paul Ellington picked the recordings out from the unissued Ellington "stockpile." The final two tracks are simply called Unknown Recording with Blues Guitarist. These two brief tracks are of a guitar jamming over the rhythm section for most of the track, with the band joining in towards the end. The tracks are live. The guitarist is not a blues guitarist and in fact sounds like Django to me, on electric guitar. Has anyone else heard this CD? Is this reallly something newly issued? I know I've read Ellington did one tour with Django. Am I mistaken in my identification? Are there other recordings with Django that I've missed?

The set was released three weeks or so ago. I do recall reading about it here at least a little while in advance.

The set is definitely worth the money, regardless of how many times one has purchased the original album. The second disc, principally the newly discovered concert from 1956 with the great group of Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe, is well recorded and it is a thrill to hear a concert performance by this group.

I've seen him twice, and didn't particularly care for him either time. I enjoyed seeing Harold Mabern, but I found Eric Alexander's performance quite dull and left after one set (and considering I might have the chance to be at the Village Vanguard once or twice a year, you would normally have to drag me out of there). He seemed like he had listened to and copied every hard bop saxophonist of the '50s and '60s (all of whom I would rather listen to). I heard no personality or originality. The other time I saw him, he was on the stage with with Dewey Redman, Joe Lovano, and Lew Tabackin, and was definitely out of his league. Of course, this is just my opinion. Maybe both times were off nights (for him or for me). Kind of a big "if" on a jazz board, Dan. Is it possible for a jazz fan not to "dig him"? Hard to fathom as he seems to be "it" these days. The man has everthing, chops, soul, technique beyond belief, super fat tone, timing, and a really likable style. ← Ask Jsngry - I think its fair to say that he admires the man's technical skill but hears nothing that he hasn't heard before, and done better, by EA's influences. And I'd dare say there are others here who have not leaped on the Eric Alexander bandwagon. Thus, the conditional clause in my post. ←

Thanks, I'll be buying this one. I just purchased a Little Walter and a Howling Wolf in this series, both of which are great. Classics 5139 includes 6 tracks for Specialty from 10/27/53, 3 from 4/16/54 and 6 from 9/28/54 - but it opens with 4 tracks from May 51 (Imperial) and 2 from 1952 (J-B) that are NOT on the CD you mention. Don't ask me about the transfer quality as I only know the Classics-issue which is as it is given the extreme rarity of some of the material... ←