Want Booker's BACK FROM THE GIG?

[JSngry]

http://www.dustygroove.com/jazzlp2.htm#7143

Carpe diem.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I don't know Jim... $14 for VG+? Is it really worth that? I see this title around a lot. It typically goes for $15-25 and usually in better condition. I tend to avoid VG rated LPs. They're usually pretty beat. Anyone ever buy a Dusty Groove VG+ record?

Kevin

[ejp626]

If we're definitely going to see the Unissued session as a Conn, then it isn't that interesting to me. If this gets pushed back for some stupid reason (like one of the performers adopted Islam or something), then I'll be upset for passing on it.

[JSngry]

I'd not (usually) buy anything from DG rated lower than VG+. That's their "cutoff" point for me. Also, they seem to apply a chronologically sliding scale, so a 60s VG+ is liable to be a bit more worn than a 70s VG+. Plus, they give weight to cover condition, which is important for some people, apparently. But in my experience (and I buy lots of stuff from them), an item like this in VG+ is going to be a good buy, and if I didn't already have it, I'd buy it. What's it go for on eBay?

As for seeing it "a lot", well, maybe in some places, but not everybody lives in those places, dig?

Perhaps I should've been posted in the Vinyl Forum....

[kh1958]

I have this one, but didn't realize it was hard to get. If memory serves, it's the second session (the unreleased one) with Woody Shaw, Kenny Barron and Billy Higgins, that's makes it worth a mere $15 and then some.

[AllenLowe]

I was once talking to a well-known producer who loved Booker Ervin and who did a fair amoount of sessions with him but who thought "Back from the Gig" contained sessions that were sub-par - this producer said to me "there's a REASON they didn't release a lot of that stuff." I tend to agree -

[Dan Gould]

Which brings up a suspicion I've had:

The era of the BN LT reissues, and those brown double LP sets, like the Booker ... they were made basically from the mid 70s to around 1980 or so, right? In other words, the era when fusion was at its height, or at least accoustic jazz was at its lowest. I think the release of those sessions was partially an attempt to appeal to the jazz fan who hadn't followed the fusion bandwagon and was probably plenty pleased to hear unissued dates by their favorites.

Nevertheless, I like almost all of them, including the Booker. The Horace Parlan date is very fine, in fact, and the Booker is a worthy, if not exactly stellar, session, too.