JohnS

Horace Parlan; US Three. Blue Note (Japanese King) Splendid sound.

Interest stimulated. I'll be playing US Three later today.

Harold Vick; Steppin' Out. Blue Note Liberty pressing.

Masbumi Kikuchi, grunts with the best of them

Gene Ammons; Blue Hymn; from The Big Sound. Prestige.

Miles Davis, We Want Miles. UK CBS.

From me too - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

From me too - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Thanks for the reminder Bob, one to pull out and play.

Along with Charles Fox, part of the mighty triumvirate. Their reviews were/are invariably worth reading. Jazz Journal always did court controversy. I recall a 'campaign' against banjos in jazz back in the 70s - it was very funny at the time. How could I have overlooked Charles Fox. Particularly as I knew him.

Oh? Maybe you could be a bit more specific as to the problems with JJ - for example just what was the "narrow outlook"? Perhaps jazz magazines by their very nature are "unremittingly tedious, dismal looking, dull and overlong features, late reviews and generally poor writing ....". Afterall, hipness has long passed us by. Q Whoa there Q, hipness has definitely long passed, though I doubt if I was ever hip in the first place. I'm what you might call a mordern version of the mouldy fig - I'm firmly rooted in hard bop. I bought my first JJ in February 1958 and was an avid reader until about 10 years ago but I've seen it fairly regularly since. Unfortunately I do find it's concentration pre bop jazz disapppoining. Those long interviews of minor figures needed editing badly. And many reviews are so late that the cds are no longer available. But one particular thing stands out - several yeras ago the editor on receiving an album by a modern trombonist (Ray Anderson?) stated in an editorial that readers could be assured that such music would not be reviewed in JJ. Okay but hardly a good quality in a jazz magazine. I for one like to know what is going on even if I don't want to make the effort the listen to it. What do I want from a jazz mag? Up to date reviews, analysis, retrospects in fact anything to help enjoy and understand the music. JJ didn't offer this. Where are the good writers these days equal to say Max Harrison and Alun Morgan for example. Fortunately there are still good pieces/reviews by Jack Cooke, Ron Atkins and Brian Priestley who manage to be entertaining and knowledgable. But both JR and Jazzwise leave me pretty cold. As as been pointed out both, imo, concentrate too much on promoting current tours and new releases. Presumably they have to do this as part ot their relationship with the promoters or else they have nothing better to print. So over ther years I've had a go at most magazines, standouts are the old US Jazz Review, Jazz Monthly, Jazz FM and the early issues of Wire. An afterthought, if I remember correctly Mark Gilbert was associated with JJ in its better days so there is hope for the new magazine. I still have my doubts thopugh!

Not sure this is too good a thing. The Jazz Journal was unremittingly tedious, dismal looking, dull and overlong features, late reviews and generally poor writing with a very narrow outlook generally. Jazz Review had much better writers and was more interesting covering a wide range of jazz styles and topics. Hopefully with Mark Gilbert at the helm the new magazine will be more Jazz Review than Jazz Journal.

Have a great day, Happy Birthday

I started buying jazz records in 1957, a time when older formats (78s, 10" LPs and 7"EPs) hadn't yet disappeared, but the new format of the 12" LP was coming in. The Vogue and Esquire items were 10" LPs or EPs. Some US recordings were reissued on British labels in 12" format; e.g. Monk's Brilliant Corners from Riverside on the London American label. No US imports appeared until about 1962, when the jazz press (Jazz Journal, Melody Maker) did a great deal of marketing of the arrival of selected Blue Note and Riverside 12" LPs. Stanley Turrentine's Look Out! was one of the first and they were very expensive. My copy of Monk's Music, bought in the later 60s, is still marked 42/-. Pity MG isn't posting anymore as he once calculated the cost of an imported US album at that time as a significant percentage of the average weekly wage!! I remember a fast-talking guy who'd managed to get a pile of Blue Note Jimmy Smith albums on credit being actively pursued by a record store manager! 42 shillings- that's over 2 old pounds, no? In the late 1960s? The 21st century truly is a blessed era for jazz buyers! That's right music has never been cheaper. An exception to the 30/- to 35/- standard price range was HMV's Columbia Clef series. For some unaccountable reason they used to cost something like 42/-. That was on a par with top range classical issues.

Wonderful record, one for the desert island. It opened my ears to some free-er sounds. I still have my original copy bought at the time.

I agree these old pressings still play well even after a lot of playing on old equipment. Esquire seemed to perform very well in this respect. With use the thin jackets tended to gape open and the clarifoil tended to peel off. Like Bill I started buying in the mid-fifties and as I recall US imports (if you could find them) were about 50% more expensive than the domestic issue. London/Atlantics for example were around 32/-. A Blue Note import 45/-.

That's a real shame it's a nice album Can't say that the Affinity albums I have are particularly poor pressings. The US Cayre Bethlehems were pretty poor in my experience. Some good music though.

As well as PJ Vogue also issued Contemporary, Fantasy, Roost, Storyville and others. I also had some Parker Dial on the label.

Just finished Pharoah Sanders; Karma. Impulse

Harold Land; The Fox. Contemporary. Inspired by the Dupree Bolton thread.

One of my favourite authors. I especially liked his short fiction.

Happy Birthday!!

The two Enemy trio cds are worth seeking out. Fine energetic and excitng playing.

Agree on the 'Baroness'. Excellent informative programe with some nice visuals. Really enjoyed the Blakey set. There can't be that many good quality examples of John Gilmore on film. Saw this band live during their tour of the UK. It was my first aquaintance with both Gilmore and Hicks. Still have Monk to watch.

Happy Birthday Flurin. And many happy returns