Max Harrison's A JAZZ RETROSPECT

[Larry Kart]

Just came across this thread - not sure how the hell it got from Max Harrison to attacks with dildos but there you go..

A similar but earlier book - 'Modern Jazz - 1945-70 The Essential Records' (a silver paperback) was the better one I think - compiled by Max Harrison/Alun Morgan/Ronald Atkins/Michael James/Jack Cooke back in 1975 (still recall the vast sum of £2.90 I paid for it - big money back then). A very succinct selection of 200 titles - I've used this list over the years as the basis of building up a collection and I can't recall it ever leading to a single dud choice. Very fine book. The later title (by Harrison, Thacker, Nicholson) had more recent material added in (mainly by Stuart Nicholson) and although it's much bigger, covering a larger stylistic range, I've found some of the choices (Wynton 'Live at Blues Alley' etc.) less than convincing. Still, a good volume to delve into on occasion.

That one is a gem, as I may have eaid earlier in this thread. Max at his best, plus brilliant contributions from Cooke and James, and very good work from Atkins and Morgan. Unfortunately, my copy walked away from me several years ago, damnit.

[sidewinder]

I remember at the time it came out that the 'Modern Jazz 1945-70..' book could be quite frustrating as the LP issue numbers given were very difficult to track copies of. Either rare Blue Notes, deleted original UK issues or real obscurities on labels like Dooto, Jaro and Hi-Fi Jazz which were pretty well nigh-on impossible to get hold of in any shape or form in the record shops back in 1975. It was many, many years before I got to hear some of these recommendations.

Yep, the groundwork of this book must have been in the work these authors put in during the 60s-early 70s in 'Jazz Monthly'. Some incredible, scholarly essays in that publication !

Edited November 12, 2007 by sidewinder

[Larry Kart]

Yep, the groundwork of this book must have been in the work these authors put in during the 60s-early 70s in 'Jazz Monthly'. Some incredible, scholarly essays in that publication !

My (and Chuck Nessa's) friend Terry Martin wrote never surpassed (IMO) essays about Art Pepper, Coleman Hawkins, Ornette Coleman, and others (plus topnotch reviews) for Jazz Monthly in the early 1960s.

[lee_re]

On 9/23/2007 at 9:44 AM, Larry Kart said:

7. A comparison between Montrose’s career and those of two comparable figures, saxophonists Bill Perkins and Bud Shank, might help to explain why Harrison’s "And musicians pretend that the good or bad opinions of writers on jazz make no difference!" is such a naïve and peculiar statement. Perkins, Shank, and Montrose all worked in the same West Coast milieu in the mid-to-late 1950s, all three received positive attention from a number of jazz writers and from their musical peers, and all three made recordings under their own names and as sidemen. None of them, however, made a living for any significant stretch of time as the leader of his own group; instead, the chief source of profitable work available to them was in Hollywood film studio and television industry orchestras. The multiply demanding lifestyle of studio work was, however, not to the taste of every jazz-oriented musician: Perkins left it to work as a tape editor in the recording industry, returning to the studios intermittently and with reluctance; Shank remained in the studios for many years, then moved to Port Townsend, Wash.; and Montrose chose or took the Las Vegas show band option. One would imagine, then, that among the chief reasons Montrose made so few records after his mid-1950s moment in the sun, while Perkins and Shank have continued to record under their own names from time to time, was that Montrose simply was "off the scene" -- working in another city, and one that is not a home to the recording industry, as Los Angeles is. Lack of favorable reviews from jazz writers had little or nothing to do with any of this.

 

Came here looking for some words on Max Harrison, as I've read only some and have a used copy of A Jazz Retrospect incoming. Reading Larry's article, I just wanted to add one thing possibly worth noting about Montrose is, different from the others named, including Bob Gordon (he and Gordon fare quite well rounding out the sax line on Niehaus's debut), from what I understand his heroin addiction contributed to him landing in Las Vegas. Montrose's early recordings are very interesting from the composition/arrangement perspective, but per the names mentioned, I personally don't rate him at the level of Perkins or Shank. Shank's playing, though, continued to get more interesting over time.  

[AllenLowe]

12 hours ago, lee_re said:

Came here looking for some words on Max Harrison, as I've read only some and have a used copy of A Jazz Retrospect incoming. Reading Larry's article, I just wanted to add one thing possibly worth noting about Montrose is, different from the others named, including Bob Gordon (he and Gordon fare quite well rounding out the sax line on Niehaus's debut), from what I understand his heroin addiction contributed to him landing in Las Vegas. Montrose's early recordings are very interesting from the composition/arrangement perspective, but per the names mentioned, I personally don't rate him at the level of Perkins or Shank. Shank's playing, though, continued to get more interesting over time.  

Just about Max Harrison and Jazz Retrospect - I regard Harrison as in the pantheon of great jazz critics, and I have read Retrospect several times. He has a few blind spots (eg on African and jazz) but he is always worth reading.

[lee_re]

I’m looking forward to digging in, blind spots and all. 

[Niko]

"from what I understand his heroin addiction contributed to him landing in Las Vegas"

I read that story, too, and always found it a bit incomplete... why didn't Chet Baker and Art Pepper end up in Las Vegas? Generally, most of the heroes of West Coast Jazz had a tough time recording small group jazz between the early 60s and mid 70s, Shorty Rogers, Russ Freeman all have similar gaps in their jazz discographies in that time (Shelly Manne would be one exception). And then stuff picked up again a bit, but on a smaller scale, Discovery became far more active again, there were some Japanese productions, some by Fresh Sound ... but indeed not much out of Las Vegas... the series on Woofy was later

https://www.discogs.com/label/789229-Las-Vegas-Late-Night-Sessions

there were some private productions out of Las Vegas but much fewer than Los Angeles

https://www.discogs.com/release/13343133-Raoul-Romero-Orchestra-Meditations-On-The-Zodiac-

and it seems Don Schlitten was the only one who regularly got Las Vegas musicians on his LA albums (Montrose with Frank Butler, but especially the series by Sam Noto)... so that does explain why Montrose was less involved in those 70s and 80s productions than others, in line with Larry's theory.... also, those David Holt productions were a bit obscure I guess (found one of them recently, it's ok but e.g. the Discovery albums of Jay Migliori or Bob Cooper, I like a lot better)