sidewinder

Nice ! Liberty LP - an old favourite.

Up for this old Ronnie Ross thread. A most unexpected BBC TV sighting of Ronnie tonight on a vintage ‘Top of the Pops’ from 1984 in the group Matt Bianco. He even gets to mime a solo on ‘Half A Minute’. Nearly fell off my chair when I realised it was him !

NIce to pick up those 10” LPs. The only difficulty I have with them is trying to clean them using the VPI. Need to splash out for the correct size cleaning head.

Blue label.

Lou Donaldson’s old copy?

I think this one is very under-rated, have often seen it get lukewarm reviews. I would give it 4 or 5 stars. The NY pressing sounds great too - definitely no need for a Tone Poet (already scarce anyway). NY USA mono.

NY USA stereo copy. Like the picture and every orig. copy of this one I have ever seen, the Liberty sleeve secateurs were faulty that day !

Brad - see my comments up above, where I compare the TP with a NY mono pressing. I don’t think you will be disappointed with this new issue. With CDs I can only compare with the Conn but for sure the TP is an improvement.

That would count as about 10 sonic upgrades. They did a fine job with this one.

Again, first impressions very good. It reminds me a bit of the Conn in terms of sonic presentation but will have to check.

Tone Poet version. First impressions are extremely good, will be comparing with a mono NY copy over the weekend, hopefully. Crisp and very quiet in terms of noise. Updated - dug out my NY USA mono copy. Again, impression is of more ‘umph’ and cut hotter than the TP, with more emphasis on mid range, bass and ‘more body’. Big John is in your face ! The mono is the more exciting pressing, the TP adds more refinement. Both are mighty good. Incidentally, I am impressed by the cover art reproduction on the TP. Original sleeve slightly darker in tone but not too much in it.

47W63rd St DG mono

Sorry - meant ‘British Progressive Jazz’ not ‘Jazz In Britain’. Between them, these two companies are emptying our wallets over here !

You can check it out on ‘Jazz In Britain’s’ Bandcamp site. Yes, although short it is a real find. On my (ever increasing) list of stuff to get. 😶

Sonet - Enjoying this one, better than I remembered it to be.

Not sure. I guess that if they exist, ‘Jazz In Britain’ might be able to put them out - subject to approval of the Garrick Estate. The recent R&B Records from the 60s was an interesting one, well worth checking out.

Absolutely. Then after ‘Troppo’ it went pretty quiet on the recording front until about 1980 and ‘You’ve Changed’ with Don Weller on the Hep label. Fortunately after about 1990 he did get to record more often but largely for his own label. In the ‘quiet’ period I do recall listening to occasional (annual?) late night broadcasts on BBC by his Sextet though. Wish I’d recorded them ! Thinking about it, The last time I saw Garrick perform was in 2010 I think, for the Ian Carr Tribute concert at QEH. He had his Sextet with Norma Winstone and Art Themen, plus Don Rendell guesting on a few numbers. The late Trevor Tomkins was on drums I think, plus Henry Lowther on trumpet. Will have to check.

Well, in a moment of weakness I just capitulated on ‘Stick Up’ and ‘Steppin Out’ thanks to a well known UK site dropping its price so should get them tomorrow. 😊

Those were the days ! The nearest that BBC Radio 1 gets to jazz these days is Taylor Swift.

Bring back the days of £2 weekday student admission ! Best seating in the house for the youngsters per Ronnie’s instruction too ! I think it was about £35 midweek when I was last there a few years ago. Haven’t been tempted back by anything (it was pre pandemic). Last time I saw Charles Lloyd was in Cheltenham Town Hall but I also remember seeing him at Carnegie Hall at a Trane tribute which also had Elvin’s band and McCoy’s trio. Bobo Stenson was on piano I think.

Fond memories of seeing that band, playing some of that album too. ‘Post Motown Bop’ another really good one.

As Duncan Heining points out in the sleeve notes, the two Philips albums really deserve a reissue. This would have been a shoe-in for Dutton-Vocalion but they seem to have lost interest in jazz. Decca perhaps?

Their two LP releases of 1964/5 - ‘Directions In Jazz’ and ‘Road To Ellingtonia’. Never reissued or released on CD.

CD1 and some of CD2 were recorded in Germany for an NDR broadcast and are in good sound. A real find. This was a very under-rated group. Most of the musicians are no longer with us but I remember seeing Bill Le Sage in the early 80s with the ‘Bebop Preservation Society’. Johnny Scott is still living in the LA area I believe, having left for the film world many years before. Drummer Tony Carr, originally from Malta, is now in his early 90s and I remember seeing him in the late 2000s, can’t recall whose group it was but he was still playing great.