release date of Horace Silver's “Silver 'n Brass”

[l p]

(recorded 1/75).

anyone know the month/year of release?

thanks

Edited June 26, 2014 by l p

[sidewinder]

I remember hearing a track from it on BBC radio when it first came out (at least in the UK). Late 1975/early 76 I think.

[JSngry]

Yeah, I'm thinking second half of 75, somewhere. Having associative memories of this one trombone player going apeshit batshit crazy over Bob Berg's solo on "Kissin' Cousins" in autumnal afternoon heat in a just-moved-into rental house after getting out of the dorm.

[l p]

Thank you for the info. Yes, i think that the couple of online sources that give 1975 as the release date are probably correct.

Maybe someone on this board will remember a 1975 (maybe 1976) nyc club date when both silver and mingus were on the bill, shortly after the release of "Silver 'n Brass", and they'll post the exact date or week, and we'll all live happily ever after.

[Larry Kart]

Yeah, I'm thinking second half of 75, somewhere. Having associative memories of this one trombone player going apeshit batshit crazy over Bob Berg's solo on "Kissin' Cousins" in autumnal afternoon heat in a just-moved-into rental house after getting out of the dorm.

Listened to the first side of the LP last night. Think I can see why that trombone player going apeshit over that Berg solo was an iconic moment for you -- probably from several points of view. Have no direct experience of North Texas State myself, or even that much of the jazz-ed scene general (though I did have some interesting/illuminating experiences visiting Berklee and the NEC ion the mid-'80s), but that Berg solo and the trombonist's reaction to it probably sums up a great deal -- a world and an era.

[JSngry]

World/era, correct, that it was. But for me, the real "iconic" moments for those had already occurred. For that type of tenor playi9ng, it was Michael Brecker's longasss opening solo on the second side of the first Dreams album (think I heard that in 72 or 73, but jesuschrist was that man playing some kind of youngbloodjazzrock tenor there), and for that type of big band-ish concept, it was Spring of the same year, when Lab '75 was released, the one that was all Lyle Mays. Really an impact there, because Leon Breeden basically handed the full reigns of the band over to Mays for a semester (something it was said has never happened before or since), and since the policy at NT was (and still is) open rehearsals for all bands, it was possible to see/hear that music come togetehr over time. It was unique music by a unique person, and one could be forgiven for thinking for a little bit that it was always going to be like this, that these crazy geniuses were always going to pop up and create a body of idiosyncrtaic hip youngfolkbigband. Of course, it wasn't, but it was fun while it lasted.

Anyway, I still dig "Silver 'N Brass", and that one Berg solo in particualr, all past memories aside. They're just groovy, ya' know? GROOVY!

[JSngry]

Brought this home along with that Billie Holiday live side on RIC, bought on one of the upper floors of a United Jewelers in Shreveport. Believe me when I tell you that the habit of looking for records literally anywhere was gained from an inordinate amount of successful, rewarding reinforcements of doing so. I have a lot of specific memories associated with a lot of my records, but most of us no doubt do,eh?

It all sounds so silly now, but its a silliness I can understand, as I have both fully embraced it and rejected it, and continue to do both.

[Mark Stryker]

Jim -- did you know trumpeter Ray Sasaki, who I believed plays on Lab 75? He was an important mentor of mine at the University of Illinois in the early and mid 80s and was kind of anti-North Texas when it came to aesthetics. A bebopper in the mold of Kenny Dorham and a contemporary classical chamber (avant-garde) chamber musician. He's had an endowed chair at the University of Texas at Austin for a long time now. Great man and musician.

[mjzee]

Brought this home along with that Billie Holiday live side on RIC, bought on one of the upper floors of a United Jewelers in Shreveport. Believe me when I tell you that the habit of looking for records literally anywhere was gained from an inordinate amount of successful, rewarding reinforcements of doing so. I have a lot of specific memories associated with a lot of my records, but most of us no doubt do,eh?

It all sounds so silly now, but its a silliness I can understand, as I have both fully embraced it and rejected it, and continue to do both.

Off-topic, but I went this week to the Menil Collection in Houston. They have the largest Magritte collection outside of Belgium. There, I saw the original of the Dreams cover.

[JSngry]

Jim -- did you know trumpeter Ray Sasaki, who I believed plays on Lab 75? He was an important mentor of mine at the University of Illinois in the early and mid 80s and was kind of anti-North Texas when it came to aesthetics. A bebopper in the mold of Kenny Dorham and a contemporary classical chamber (avant-garde) chamber musician. He's had an endowed chair at the University of Texas at Austin for a long time now. Great man and musician.

Didn't know him personally, he was in his last year there during my first, and...worlds apart, ya' know. Certainly was aware of him though, you had to be! He was "the guy" for classical trumpet playing when I got there, and certainly one of the better jazz players as well. Heard him a lot in a lot of different contexts in that one year, definitely made an impression as to how "versatility" could be either a facile excuse for all-purpose mediocrity or a challenge to be excellent in different realms.