mjzee

https://foldoc.org/veeblefetzer

Ricci American Decca box, disc 4. Very nice sonata/partita set.

Freddie Hubbard Mosaic, disc 5.

Disc 1.

Ricci American Decca box, disc 3.

Disc 4.

Latin jazz, of a more recent vintage (1990s or closer). This is as per the recording quality: the piano and percussion are too up front. Since the latin rhythm is so straight-forward and insistent, I’m gonna guess the leader is more of a latin star than jazz. Chico O’Farrill? The problem with latin percussion, to my ears, is that it doesn’t really go anywhere, which doesn’t give much for the soloists to work with: it doesn’t matter what they do, the rhythm’s gonna keep going on. Now, this is more like it. Guitarist’s got a great tone and is very soulful. Trumpeter’s laid back, isn’t trying to prove anything or blow anyone’s eardrums out. Sax sounds like Turrentine. My guess is, it’s the organist’s date, but I don’t know who. I could listen to this all night. Like Someone In Love. Trumpeter has listened to Miles on mute. Nice conga in the background. I’m gonna guess this IS Turrentine, with maybe his brother on trumpet. Nice piano: Horace Parlan? Another nice track. Self-assured tenor. Johnny Griffin? Driving bass. I liked this. God Bless The Child. Nice chart. A showcase for the tenor; no clue who it is, but he has a lot of personality (but not too much). Might be Wynton Kelly on piano. Always nice to hear this tune. Billie’s Bounce. Charlie Rouse on tenor? McCoy Tyner on piano? It’s OK, but it sounds like they’re not really committed to the tune, almost like they want to turn it ala Miles’s Gingerbread Boy. I like the outro; sounds like a New Orleans marching band leaving the stage. Ah, a Coltrane homage. Nice groove. Pianist strays off the path like McCoy, but I don’t think it is McCoy because the left hand is too light. The pianist is just marking time until the tenor comes back. In some ways, this is like latin music: it isn’t really going anywhere. The tenor does have a nice tone, and he’s not going apeshit on his horn until the end, which is truly a blessing. I’m going to guess David Murray. I like this. Give me the grease! I’m gonna guess Houston Person on tenor. Can’t identify the singer, but he’s good. A lot of fun. Nice, in a Jazz Messengers/Jazz Crusaders way. Preach, brother! I’m gonna guess Ron Carter on bass. Sax sounds a little too much like Turrentine, so I’m gonna guess some younger cats, ala Grant Stewart, Jim Rotondi, et al. Nice energy. I have this: Tickle Toe by Al Cohn, Scott Hamilton and Buddy Tate from their Concord album Tour De Force. Nice album; Cohn is a monster. Another pianist in the McCoy camp. Drummer loves those cymbals: Tony Williams? Freddie Hubbard? It’s OK; a lot of energy. I do think that the McCoy approach, in general, saps performances of some of their individuality. I enjoyed this a lot! Thanks for posting.

Loved Judy Collins's version of Someday Soon.

Four Strong Winds is a strong song; always loved Neil Young's rendition of it. R.I.P.

Introspection (Take 2) is not on the Japanese set. Per Mike's link, they have different timings: take 2 is 3:03, take 3 is 3:07. However, it would be odd that Mosaic would leave off take 3, or that they were the only label to have take 2.

There's a mention of the CAC on page 203 of Mark Stryker's excellent book "Jazz From Detroit": One of the most enduring organizations has been the Creative Arts Collective (CAC), founded in 1978 by A. Spencer Barefield and still active 40 years later. An exploratory guitarist and composer, Barefield has worked and recorded extensively with Roscoe Mitchell and produced an exceptional series of concerts at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1979 to 1992 in which cutting-edge national artists like Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams mixed it up with Detroit musicians.

Disc 1: Vivaldi's Four Seasons

There's an interesting discussion about Newk's Time on the Hoffman boards: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/sonny-rollins-newks-time-mastering-adventures-with-steve-hoffman-kevin-gray.188488/

Will also be available (on CD and mp3) from Amazon:

Freddie Hubbard, disc 2.

I've been snapping up those Galaxy albums as I see them, usually on Dusty Groove. They're relatively inexpensive, usually in good shape, and tend to have surprising personnel. Fantasy/Galaxy didn't spend a lot to promote their new releases, so many titles flew under the radar. IIRC, Galaxy was co-owned by Fantasy and some Japanese label (but I could be wrong about that).

They were appearing at Basin Street at the time, so maybe there were plans to record them there. I remember seeing an Italian bootleg in the early 80's that was recording live at Basin Street. As for the cover, I think it was released after Clifford's death, so maybe Max was sensitive.

Do you like your Focal speakers? Houston currently has a dearth of audio dealers, but Focal has opened a store showcasing its products.

It dropped to 17 degrees in Houston last night, with 40 mph winds. Interesting night. We covered all the bushes, and brought in anything that could be blown around. The heating system can't really cope, because the houses aren't really built for this sort of weather, but we're doing OK. Other neighborhoods have had sporadic outages when branches were blown against power lines, but overall the system is coping with power demand. Right now it's 32 degrees. It'll be cold the next two nights; next week it'll hit 70 again.

Disc 1. Sound quality is very nice and smooth. Intriguing note: Mosaic says the front cover photo is "With the J.J. Johnson Quintet at The Village Vanguard, NYC, July 1960." Was this recorded? Why was Francis Wolff photographing it?

I had the 7 Billie Holiday discs on King Jazz. Sound was OK, and I played them until supplanted by the superior-sounding Sony box. But they were cheap back in the day; don’t know what a Freddie Keppard would cost today. I was always intrigued by George Avakian’s participation in the label; seemed like a real break from working with the major labels.