jazzkrow Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 Seldom do I get SO excited about a new find. So it was a real treat when I opened my latest package from the #@*^@ at Dusty Groove and pulled out the Fresh Sound re-issue of "Little Band Big Jazz" by Conte Candoli's All Stars-originally issued by Crown Records (lp) in 1960. I've heard that it was also issued with Vince Guaraldi as the leader. I expected some swinging West Coast Jazz but nothing that would knock me out. Man, was I wrong....... This cd is SO soulful in the best of the hard bop vein. Each of the bandmembers shines: Buddy Collette sticking to tenor sax matches Candoli lick for lick in ensemble playing-you'd swear you're listening to a Blue Note prime 60's date. His solos will have you nodding in ecstasy. Vince Guaraldi's swinging blues lines are a revelation-no "Peanuts" sleepy piano lines here-I've never heard Vince play like this before. Leroy Vinnegar: what can you say about Leroy that has not been said before-steady as a rock, always in the pocket-dependable as you can get. Stan Levey: clean cymbal work and right up front-whomever did the mastering on this session for Fresh Sound needs a raise! and lastly, CONTE!! As soulful as ANY prime 60's Byrd, or Hubbard-clear, warm, strong, and swinging so hard. WHAT A SESSION.. The only shame is that you get only 28:54 of music, but they make every second count-not a weak moment. And a great color shot of the band in session on the cover. Give the "bastards" at the Groove your $12.99 and listen to this "Little Band" make BIG JAZZ... Guaranteed that you will hit the replay button on your cd player-and wonder why this session was kept locked up for so long. If this session had been released on Blue Note, it would fit in nicely as one of their classic issues. CHECK IT OUT....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 I got this from the Bastards a few years back in original vinyl form. I second the recommendation, though perhaps not quite so enthusiastically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 In a Candoli thread on AAJ (available HERE) I posted the following: One of my early jazz lps was a Crown disc (stereo - red vinyl) called "Little Band, Big Jazz" by Conte. The rest of the band was Buddy Collette, Vince Guaraldi, Leroy Vinnegar and Stan Levey. This disc was stolen from my dorm room during the summer of '62. That fall I went to a concert in Des Moines by Shelly Manne and his Men. Conte was in the band with Richie Kamuca, Russ Freeman and Monty Budwig. I talked to Conte after the concert, told him how much I liked the record and mentioned it had been stolen. He said he had a box of that record back in his room and invited me to meet him at the hotel for a new copy. I sat waiting in the lobby and here comes Conte and Russ, looking for me. I later heard him with Supersax and in a group we assembled for the Chicago Jazz Festival. After the fest he played at Joe Segal's in an all-star group including Jaki Byard. I remember an intermission at Joe's, sitting at the bar with Conte and Jaki. The crowd was very small that night and Conte was lamenting the lack of fans who remembered him as a "home town guy" or even as an important player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Nice story, Chuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ariceffron Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 why wiould conte travel around the usa with a box of crown records Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ariceffron Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 is this the 1st instance of a crown lp being reissued on cd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Conte was proud of it and wanted to promote it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Is the cover photo on this one the same photo used for JAZZ MASQUERADE or whatever that other Crwon thing was? Is it the same record too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 is this the 1st instance of a crown lp being reissued on cd? Probably the first time it has been bootlegged too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 is this the 1st instance of a crown lp being reissued on cd? No. some Joe Houston things have been, and so's the Hawk thing. There might even be more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nelson Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Given the notoriously wretched quality of recycled PVC in Crown's vinyl -- there was no telling what blips-n-blobs you'd find embedded in each LP -- how'd the master tapes manage to survive the 45-plus years of various owners, bootleggers, and media mogul creeps? (Who owns the tapes now?) And so, while it may be nice to see 'Little Band Big Jazz' in CD format -- y'all are begging my question: How good is the remastering to CD and who did it? Is the sound clear, clean, and crisp in detail? Is it in true stereo? Or has it been compressed with more bass? Shall I call the Consumer Reports test kitchen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 My original red vinyl stereo lp was pressed on virgin vinyl and had great sound. The black mono copy Conte gave me still sounded good. I believe Ace records in England now controls the rights to the catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ariceffron Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 I FORGOT I ACTUALLY HAVE THIS LP TOO ALTHOUGH THE BLACK VINYL ONE-- WHAT A GOOD RECORD. BUDDY COLLETTE HAS HIS OWN CROWN STUFF TOO- BUT I REMEMBER I SKIPPED OVER IT CAUSE IT WASNT THAT GREAT. ALL THESE WEIRD BOSSAS. CHUCK- DO U KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CROWN THAT HASNT BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE. DID PEOPLE USED TO MAKE FUN OF IT. OR DO U HAVE ANY CRAZY CROWN STORIES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzkrow Posted November 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 The cd sounds fine to these ears.... I was surprised at how well it was mixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nelson Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 My copy of 'LBBJ' consisted of black 'composition' vinyl -- even the dead space between tracks was noisy. I'd say Chuck's red vinyl was a first pressing. In the early 60's, Crowns would most likely appear in grocery stores and gas stations -- in cheapo stock bins with the likes of Coronet, Spinorama, Design, and Pickwick. All would be shrink-wrapped in the same crinkly cellophane used for lettuce heads. I avoided them -- I'd go to Woolworth's and score as many 57-cent mono cut-outs as I could. (More than any other label, MGM massively dumped their Verve overstock with corner cover punch holes, but the pressings were always nice.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Is the cover photo on this one the same photo used for JAZZ MASQUERADE or whatever that other Crwon thing was? Is it the same record too? Doesn't look like it. Here are the two covers: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluerein Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 I have a (I guess non bootleg) Japanese CD version of the Candoli & the Masquerade. They were reissued by P-Vine in 1998 together with Way out Wardell (Wardell Gray, Groovin' High (Stan Getz), The Hawk Swings (Coleman Hawkins). The Jazz Masquerade Cd also has the Jazz Surprise! album on it (don't know if the 2 are complete). All 24 Bit remastered in Japan with catalog numbers PVCP-8737 / 8741. All are mono except the Hawkins. This surprised me because The Candoli has a cover with Stereo on it (and Chuck has a stereo LP so it does excists in that format). Cheers, Reinier PS the sound is OK on these but nothing spectacular. I assume them to be better sounding than the Spanish bootlegs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesnik Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Listened to that one the other day and it's great. Definitely more East than West, even though it was recorded in Hollywood with the usual suspects. Still, there's bits of cool in the playing and more swing than usual. So, it lies somewhere in between to my ears, though probably not in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 I just ordered this one. It's dangerous to read these threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ariceffron Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 did they truly reissue it from the master tapes? or is it a lp dub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi guys, sorry to bring back an older topic -- but would anyone happen to have the catalogue number for Conte's 24-bit remastered "Little Band, Big Jazz" CD issued by BMG in Japan? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Also, on a similar note -- does anyone have label / catalogue details for the Japanese exclusive CD reissue of "Toots Sweet"? I'm guessing this is a Toshiba (EMI) release... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi guys, sorry to bring back an older topic -- but would anyone happen to have the catalogue number for Conte's 24-bit remastered "Little Band, Big Jazz" CD issued by BMG in Japan? Thanks! CD Info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi guys, sorry to bring back an older topic -- but would anyone happen to have the catalogue number for Conte's 24-bit remastered "Little Band, Big Jazz" CD issued by BMG in Japan? Thanks! CD Info Thanks Chas, but that's the incorrect catalogue number listed at Amazon.co.uk. It should probably begin with a BMVG- followed by 4 digits, or something similar given that it's been reissued by BMG's Japan label. If anyone has this and could post a catalogue number for me, it'd be really appreciated though... Thx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) Also, on a similar note -- does anyone have label / catalogue details for the Japanese exclusive CD reissue of "Toots Sweet"? I'm guessing this is a Toshiba (EMI) release... Let's see if I can be helpful this time : Toot Sweet Japanese CD (Engrish fans note cover photo credit : " Burt Goldbratt " ) Not really 'Japanese exclusive' since this was out on Rhino in the U.S. in 1999 under a different title : Edited March 3, 2006 by Chas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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