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Mark Stryker
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Posts posted by Mark Stryker
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My copy arrived today and the music sounds AWESOME. These are easily the best digital copies I've heard and, on first listen (and without actually doing an A-B comparisons) serious competition for the best of my many LP versions.
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3 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:
If we want to get into private recordings (broadcast) of Silver there is a ton out there in Dime/Trade land.
Thanks. No need to go too deep into it all here. I was just offering up one example that's circulating widely to suggest the relative strengths/weakness of the records as "records" has to be balanced against the live performances that tell the story from a different a different -- and for many a more rewarding -- perspective.
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19 hours ago, JSngry said:
Not at all a great step down in terms of composition, quite the opposite!
In terms of records, though, they are not at all well-produced.
I can make that differentiation, but I get that not everybody can, or wants to. But there are some GREAT tunes in those records (and some not so great). That 1977 live record is worth a listen in that regard.
I hope in time that some ambitious retro person combs that catalogue and makes a record with some kind of project or whatever it is they do today. There is some good stuff there to be had!
In addition to the live recording, there's also this broadcast tape from the same period. Terrific songs and performances.
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A reliable musician source confirms the social media posts I’m seeing that Tootie Heath has died at 88.
Tootie was great on record, but you had to hear him live to really feel how alive his cymbal beat was, how high he lifted the bandstand, how deep his swing and groove were, and how many wild chances he took. The videos let you glimpse it. Tootie and Dexter were extra special. From 1967.
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On 3/24/2024 at 7:31 AM, miles65 said:
Fremeaux just issued a 4 CD set with the Blanton-Webster recordings: Duke at his very best. The Jimmy Blanton, Billy Strayhorn, Ben Webster Sessions.
On CD 1 & 2 are the masterpieces. On CD 3 the pieces deemed not to be master pieces and the Ellington-Blanton duet session.
CD 4 contains the small group sessions.
The booklet is in French and English.
The Ellington piano solo’s are missing just as the alternate takes. The transfers are done by Alain Pailler mostly from 78’s.
Pro this set is that it makes this music available again and Fremeaux is a serious company so the sound quality will be good.
There is only a 31 second sample.
Against it is the sequencing.
Duke at his Very Best - The Jimmy Blanton, Billy Strayhorn, Ben Webster Sessions (fremeaux.com)
What's the problem with the sequencing? Personally, I'm sick of the strict chronological presentation model.
As far as the sound, I'm intrigued as to whether this set will offer improvements in the digital space. The 1986 set was unlistenable. The 1999/2003 version is a vast improvement but not ideal. It's overly bright, unbalanced in places and distorted in places. The Chronological Classics are ok; the best versions on CD to my ears are the French RCA versions based on the Black & White LP twofers. When I want to hear this music on CD, I reach for the French RCA.
This is some of my favorite music in the universe, so I've gone out of my way to get as many LP versions of this material as I can on LP, almost all of which are preferable to any of the CDs. The French RCA twofers are excellent sonically, but the pressing quality can be a little inconsistent, so it's taken me a minute to find clean and quiet ones. The 1950s and '60s RCAs are also excellent -- Duke Ellington at his Very Best, The Duke and his Men, In a Mellotone, Jumpin' Punkins. Caveat: Get the early versions of these if you can (black or purple labels, which are better than the later orange label versions). The 1961 RCA set Indispensable Duke Ellington for mysterious reasons sounds awful, like fake stereo before fake stereo existed. Then there are the Smithsonian issues c. 1980 -- still wrapping my arms around the sound on these but the booklet notes from Larry Gushee and others are fantastic.
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Gang -- I can't tell you how proud I am that the documentary I have coproduced and written, "The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit," will make its debut at the Freep Film Festival with screenings on April 13-14. This has been a true collaboration by co-producers Daniel Loewenthal (who has done a masterful job directing and editing), Roberta Friedman, and myself, and we are honored and humbled for Detroit audiences to be the first to see what is a landmark -- the first feature-length documentary to explore Detroit's remarkable jazz history. We have embedded the story of the city's innovative and influential musicians within the compelling economic, social, and cultural history of the city and its resilient African American community. More later on our plans for world domination.In the meantime, Nate Chinen has written a nice piece that captures the flavor of the film and gives the backstory of what began four years ago this month. There's also a clip so you can get a taste of what we've done. https://www.wrti.org/wrti-spotlight/2024-03-13/watch-a-clip-from-the-best-of-the-best-jazz-from-detroit?fbclid=IwAR3tnvCNYLcOAyTGrPXog19L4HlOJNxnWhuuACtSbUXtrKPNGBJWprCUUOI
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31 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:
I think George Braith is still alive.
Yes, he is. Good catch. I just looked him up when I added Sheila Jordan to the list and I thought I saw that George had died, but, luckily, I was wrong.
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On 3/8/2024 at 9:57 PM, T.D. said:
Lou Donaldson can be added to the list. Can't think of any others offhand.
Also Sheila Jordan. #JazzFromDetroit
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Update:
I have learned that the the 1963 Japanese performance I need was also issued once on DVD. Anybody got this one? https://www.amazon.com/Cannonball-Adderley-Angeles-Tokyo-Lugano/dp/B001IQDAZM
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Gang —
Does anyone have a copy of the 1963 Japanese television studio performance by the Canonnball Adderley Sextet on laserdisc? Some of it is on YouTube, but I’m trying to track down a clean copy of the footage. Thanks.
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4 hours ago, JSngry said:
Sweet Pea Atkinson always adds value.
A unique personality. I met him a couple times but didn't really know him. Didn't say a lot unless you were close to him. Don loved him.
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The record is fantastic, and I'm not just saying that because I wrote the liner notes. Charles is still in great form at 84.
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10 hours ago, medjuck said:
I remember them featuring Mel Torme on one release.
They also had Frank Sinatra Jr. guesting on a record too.
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Folks are of course free to rant any at time about labels issuing rejected materials contrary to artists' wishes -- I have mounted that soapbox myself. And folks are free to shake their fists at any and all manifestations of the vinyl boom -- though despite qualms about price gouging, I do not share your disdain and remain decidedly pro-vinyl, pro-Tone Poet, pro-analog (but not anti-CD).
However, I would urge commentators to keep their eyes on the ball as it relates to this particular thread. The most welcome aspects of the news I posted about Wayne is that he has expressly approved of the material Blue Note is going to issue. That's a win all around. I do not know what material is being considered, but someone in a position to know tells me that the rejected 1970 date with Tyner, Vitous, Mouzon, etc. is not, at least, the first one slated for release. Hard to believe there's anything in the deep vaults we don't already know about. I suspect what is on the docket are live tapes of the quartet with Perez, Patitucci, and Blade and/or some of the orchestral or chamber music projects in the last decades of Wayne's life.
Coda: I will say that I would LOVE to hear the three rejected performances from the aborted Speak No Evil session with Billy Higgins, but if Wayne doesn't want that released, then it shouldn't be released.
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“I will say that you haven't heard the last of Wayne Shorter, let me put it that way. Wayne knew he wasn't going to be around much longer, and he earmarked a lot of stuff to be released.”
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23 hours ago, JSngry said:
Do you know that Dorn made that decision unilaterally?
This is a good question. I assume Yusef was more than a willing participant in the conception and execution of the overdubbed tracks given all the other records he and Dorn were making at the time. However, those tracks are still a drag to me, because the only documentation we have of this group -- Yusef's finest working band -- in its pure form are the quartet-only tracks on 10 Years Hence. So, this new set is REALLY welcome. An interesting coda, however, is that there are still 29 (!) unissued tracks from the two nights recorded at the Keystone Korner from which the material was drawn for 10 Years Hence.
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13 minutes ago, JSngry said:
1953, with Wardell. Has Universal put this one out?
Are you aware that you've posted this on what would have been Wardell's 103rd birthday?
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Coda: The pianist in the band, Emmanuel (Manuel) Riggins is a Detroiter and drummer Karriem Riggins' father. Green, as most of you probably know, was living in Detroit in the '70s.
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Hutcherson and Hancock also cross paths on:
Lee Morgan's The Procrastinator (1967)
Hutcherson's Components (1965),
The single trac "Memory" on Tony Williams' LIfetime (1964)
The duet track "Maiden Voyage" on Jazz at the Opera House (1982)
There are two concert videos that I know of that circulate on YouTube with both players in the group -- one from Japan in 1987, the other other from Antibes in 2003.
I think there are a couple of stray duet tracks on the two Round Midnight records on Columbia and Blue Note but my memory is hazy here.
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This news is making the rounds today.
At the risk of coming off as self-aggrandizing, I feel compelled to point out that this was my idea. In March 2023, I posted a thread on Twitter that started like this: "I want a Tone Poet release of the complete Sonny Rollins' 1957 Village Vanguard material: The original LP as released, plus the 2 LPs of additional material first issued in the '70s ..." I tagged Blue Note folks including vice president Cem Kurosman, who a couple of months ago confirmed to me that my tweet did indeed inspire the new package. He told me BN was going to reissue A Night at the Village Vanguard as a single LP when they saw my tweet and decided to change course and do a Tone Poet along the lines of my suggestion. I am at least hoping to get a free copy in return since I have not, to my knowledge, received an assistant producer credit.
Anybody got any other ideas you want me to pass along as long as I've got their ear?
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Moderators -- cutting and pasting an entire article, as Teasing has done -- even with a link included -- is copyright infringement. It's stealing, adding one more nail into the coffin of the media and putting folks like me and my colleagues out of work. Please remedy.
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10 minutes ago, Eric said:
👍
The four I listen to regularly:
Volume 1 (Blue Note)
Now’s The Time (RCA)
Standard Sonny Rollins (RCA)
Silver City (best of Milestone comp)
I checked out the two RCA’s based on Mark Stryker’s list on the board. I have come to adore them. Same adoration for Volume 1. Also spend a lot of time with +3.
👍
1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said:Here is my list of Favorite Sonny Rollins records.
As you can readily see, my preference is strongly for Rollins early period.
1. Saxophone Colossus - Prestige
2. Newk's Time - Blue Note
3. Vol.2 - Blue Note
4. Worktime - Prestige
5. Live at The Village Vanguard - Blue Note
6. Way Out West - Contemporary
7. Vol.1 - Blue Note
8. On Impulse - Impulse
9. The Sound of Sonny - Riverside
10. Alfi - Impulse
11. Sonny Boy - Prestige
12. Moving Out - Prestige
👍All great of course.
Michael Cuscuna has died at 75
in Artists
Posted
Blue Note Records has confirmed that Cuscuna has died at age 75. Damn. He was a hero and a mensch. I had many interactions with Michael over the years and cherish them all. I always learned something from him. He supported my work and made it possible for me to use several Francis Wolff images in “Jazz from Detroit,” including the cover. A HUGE loss.