trane on Bethlehem

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

was thinking about getting this one- the arrangments sound nice but very different than tranes usual- i dont think they were orginally his sessions- i really like bethlehem though i might just take a chance on it- i have this 4 lp beth. sampler series set and its like 1/2 west coast jazz, and the rest of it like like mel torme and other vocals

[Rosco]

These would be the Art Blakey Big Band sessions, right?

They're ok. Nothing earth shaking, but pretty nice. It's a pretty opportunistic piece of packaging; IIRC Trane doesn't even solo on every track.

[brownie]

Coltrane did not record under his name on Bethlehem.

Best way to listen to the sessions he took part in is this double CD on Bethlehem

It is complete!

[Hot Ptah]

I enjoy that set a lot. Apart from Coltrane's contributions, the music is quite good and appealing to listen to. It is not a Trane conception like "A Love Supreme" or "Africa Brass" or something like that, but I think that it is far more than just something for the completist.

[BruceH]

Coltrane did not record under his name on Bethlehem.

Best way to listen to the sessions he took part in is this double CD on Bethlehem

It is complete!

I like it a lot! But then, I tend to like Coltrane before he became "Coltrane."

[Sundog]

Dude, it's a must buy for the "Micro Cosmic Sound" alone.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

It is complete!

This is t-h-e set responsible for getting me into jazz. Prior to hearing it played in a music shop in Austria, I'm pretty sure that the only jazz stuff I had on hand was a Ronnie Laws ('Pressure Sensitive') cd.....a Stanley Clarke ('Journey to Love') ...and a couple of Chick Corea LPs. It just blew me away.

[BruceH]

Wow.

[jazzbo]

I really like the "Winner's Circle" material. . . with and without Trane.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Yeah, Winner's Circle is pretty hot!

[JSngry]

...

It is complete!

Except...

There's a Japanese issue of the big band material that includes a lot of false starts and between song chatter (including some disgruntled "AGAIN?" type stuff).

It would appear that Blakey's chart-reading skills were not immediately up to the task at hand and that the band was forced to wait for him to figure out the charts by playing them over and over until he did.

[jazzbo]

That was the impression I got too from the Japanese Bethelehem version.

Still. . . when they finally got these down there's some exciting moments!

[JSngry]

Indeed!

But you know, I wonder about Bethlehem's recording policy. Seems like they let tape run when a lot of other labels would have shut off. The reissue of Johnny Hartman's Songs From the Heart is just downright bizarre in the that respect. The guy clearly hasn't learned all the songs yet, but Bethlehem has take after take of him fucking up. And they eventually released them!

Was "runthrough" not in their vocabulary?

[jazzbo]

I think they held an interest in their tape supplier's company.

Yes, what's also interesting is that the tapes of all these takes are still around.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

in the liner notes to my raymond scott cd it quotes art blakey as sayin the reason he switched from piano to drums is one day he had to play these raymond scott charts and it looked like fly shit on paper and they were really hard