Hank Bagby Soultet: Opus One (Protone, 1964). Obscure west coast date. AND, Bagby also co-led a group w/ Elmo Hope in the late 50's/early 60's!??

Rooster_Ties · September 14, 2022

This CD showed up on the Dusty Groove website for a hot minute earlier this week (and sold in hours -- I missed out, but I found another one on discogs for about $23 ppd). But I preserved the Dusty hype, which the album actually mostly lives up to (it's all on YouTube, and I'll post all the individual tracks in pairs throughout the day).

First, here's Bagby's wikipedia page, which mentions him co-leading a group with Elmo Hope on the West Coast in the late 50's and early 60's. But to the best of my knowledge, this is the only LP he's ever been on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Bagby

And the Dusty Groove verbiage.

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/948351

Hank Bagby Soultet

Opus One (Japanese paper sleeve edition)

CD (Item 948351) Jazzhus Disk (Japan), 1964 — Condition: Used

One of our favorite "lost" albums ever – an amazing small combo jazz session that rivals the best that 60s Blue Note or Prestige had to offer! The group's led by tenor player Hank Bagby – an artist we only know from this record, but who has a rich sense of imagination that comes out right from the start – not just on his well-penned tunes for the record, but also on his inventive arrangements, and his way of leading the sharp combo through the perfect realization of his musical vision! Bagby's tenor solos alone are worth the price of admission – but the record's a cooker that really gets equal energy from the whole ensemble too – trumpeter Chuck Foster, pianist Dave MacKay, bassist Al Hines, and drummer Chiz Harris – perfect throughout on original tunes that include "Dee Dee", "The Great Wall", "Soul Sonnet", "Kiss Me Quigley", "Iborian", and "Algerian Suite".

Edited September 15, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

Dan Gould · September 14, 2022

If you've heard this does it really sound like BN/Prestige or are Da Bastards blowing hardbop sunshine up our collective skirt?

Rooster_Ties · September 14, 2022

28 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

If you've heard this does it really sound like BN/Prestige or are Da Bastards blowing hardbop sunshine up our collective skirt?

The guy's name was Hank. What else you need to know?

JSngry · September 14, 2022

I have heard this and it is not at all bad.

Plus, Dave MacKay is one of those guys whose dots connect in some interesting ways.

Rooster_Ties · September 14, 2022

Frist two cuts (of six). Not a bum track on the whole thing (and no throw-away ballads, or blues-heads either).

Edited September 14, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

T.D. · September 14, 2022

I've listened some, and it's pretty good.

At this time, my subjective bar for acquisition-worthy hard bop dates is set pretty high, so it's tough to say.

How likely is this to resurface? The DG listing you linked to was for a used copy, I assume just one unit was in stock.

Edited September 15, 2022 by T.D.

Rooster_Ties · September 14, 2022

Here's cuts 3 & 4 (out of 6)...

Rooster_Ties · September 14, 2022

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

I have heard this and it is not at all bad.

Plus, Dave MacKay is one of those guys whose dots connect in some interesting ways.

MacKay really has a great presence on this Bagby date. What's your word, Jim? -- he's 'frisky'!!

And, goddamn, I'm just seeing below that he studied with Lennie! And Bill Evans!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Mackay_(musician)

More bio there than I was expecting, and I don't have time to read it all this second -- but Lennie Tristano was not a name I was expecting to see in his list of mentors. EDIT: I just skimmed the first part of his bio again, and am just seeing now that MacKay was blind... so maybe that helped connect him with Tristano (perhaps) -- not that that was a requirement for studying with him (certainly not!).

Edited September 14, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

sonnymax · September 14, 2022

3 hours ago, T.D. said:

How likely is this to resurface? The DG listing you linked to was for a used copy, I assume just one unit was in stock.

Digital downloads available from Amazon and Apple Music. As Jim pointed out elsewhere, this is one of those situations where it's good to have friends who like to share.

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

Here's the last two tracks (of six)...

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

Blog post (short article) on this album...

http://flophousemagazine.com/2019/07/28/the-hank-bagby-soultet-opus-one-protone-1964/

Another similar post, with a little more (or slightly different) info...

http://vancouverjazz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5727

And another...

https://www.stitcher.com/show/citr-the-jazz-show/episode/tenor-saxophonist-composer-hank-bagby-the-hank-bagby-soultet-opus-one-52050155

And here's a brief interview (more a synopsis of an interview, the way it reads) with the trumpeter on the session, Chuck Foster. AND, it suggests that this Hank Bagby album got a review in Downbeat! (3.5 starts, supposedly). I’m also now seeing that in the Wikipedia entry for Bagby himself.

https://www.united-mutations.com/f/chuck_foster.htm

Edited September 15, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

Can anyone pinpoint the specific issue of Downbeat that the Bagby album review was in?

(All my uncle’s DB’s are in folios on some bottom shelves behind a whole bunch of boxes of books we’re needing to donate somewhere one of these days. But if I know the issue number, that’d help.)

Dan Gould · September 15, 2022

January 5, 1961 DB has a profile of Elmo Hope. Bagby is mentioned and quoted - Hope's newest group was a co-operative quarter with Bagby. Page 11:

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/DownBeat/60s/61/Down-Beat-1961-01-05-28-1.pdf#search=%22bagby%22

sonnymax · September 15, 2022

20 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Can anyone pinpoint the specific issue of Downbeat that the Bagby album review was in?

June 17, 1965, page 28.

Hank Bagby

OPUS ONE—Protone 133: Dee Dee; The Great Wall; Soul Sonnet; Kiss Me, Quigley; lborian; Algerian Suite.

Personnel: Chuck Foster, trumpet; Bagby, tenor saxophone; Dave MacKay, piano; Al Hines, bass; Chiz Harris, drums.

Rating: * * * 1/2

Take a tenor player who started out as a singer in the 1940s, a trumpeter whose credentials include terms with Si Zentner and Claude Gordon, a drummer who was with both Zentner and Gordon as well as with Henry Busse, Ted Weems, Hal McIntyre, and Johnny Mathis, and what kind of a quintet would you expect by adding bass and piano?

To spare you further agonizing suspense, the answer is: a hard-driving powerhouse right out of the Horace Silver bag (or, more appropriately, bagby).

The tunes, all originals by Bagby or MacKay, have a Silverish tinge. The group's ensemble attack is forthright and bruising, and the soloists are all excellent wailers. Foster's trumpet glows with a crackling, brassy shout as he charges through his solos, while Bagby's tenor has a similarly full-bodied sound and a lifting attack, although he does not always sustain his solos as well as Foster does.

MacKay is a fascinating pianist, dancing joyously behind the solos and taking off on his own with all sorts of fresh exuberance. Harris on drums and Hines on bass provide the strong, steady, surging foundation that performances of this type need.

There's no indication in the liner notes of how long this West Coast group has been working together, but the clean, bright quality of its work gives the impression of plenty of familiarity. (J.S.W.)

JSngry · September 15, 2022

J.S.W. = John S. Wilson?

Dan Gould · September 15, 2022

I would think so.

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

Hadn’t seen any writing credits yet, so I’ll be curious to see which tunes are MacKay’s. I’m hoping the back of the LP is reproduced in the CD packaging, when I hope to have in hand in the next 7-10 days. Not expecting any additional liners, and I’m fully expecting the CD to be sourced from an LP (which is entirely understandable).

BTW, the back cover and LP labels can be easily read in this current eBay listing (better than any of the ones on Discogs).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284492338229

I’m also not seeing any writing-credit info at all in these pics (unless it’s in the short musician bios, and I overlooked it)… So it’s curious that’s mentioned in the DB review (but unfortunate that the DB review doesn’t specifically say which tunes were written by whom).

Also, I’m seeing that the drummer and bass player are different on the first cut (“Dee-Dee”) than the rest of the album.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

JSngry · September 15, 2022

That back liner suggests that all the tunes are Bagby's.. Upper right of the back cover.

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

16 minutes ago, JSngry said:

That back liner suggests that all the tunes are Bagby's.. Upper right of the back cover.

Yeah, I got that notion too. Certainly the ones where the titles had some personal connection to him — but even the rest, it was sort of implied (or I got that, anyway).

Rooster_Ties · September 15, 2022

The plot thickens!

(This isn’t on Discogs, btw)

Rooster_Ties · September 20, 2022

Got the CD in the mail last night, have spun it a couple times today already. It's a better transfer than the ones on YouTube (or that you can stream through Pandora) -- what I'd call a 'very good' needle-drop. There's none of the between-track surface noise that's prominent on the various streaming versions.

I continue to be more and more impressed with this album. Well rehearsed, and well arranged. Strong if not mind-blowing solos, with a fairly advanced use of time. Nice image of the original back cover liners on the mini-LP, and the text is reproduced (modern typesetting) in the fold-out liners. NO indication of any writing credits, other than the inference that Bagby wrote everything (re: his notes on each tune, and the source of their names).

Interestingly, "Dusty Groove" gets a "special thanks" (by name) in the liners, along with a number of others. The copy I got still had a price-sticker from Dusty Groove on it too (at least I'm pretty sure it was from them), still sealed two. VERY happy to have a physical copy of this one on CD -- well worth down -- no 'regrats' at all.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

Rooster_Ties · September 21, 2022

I also just found three copyright entries for lyrics having been added to TWO of the songs on this same Soultet album ("Dee Dee" and "Algerian suite" -- And note, the new title of "Algerian Suite" with lyrics is called "I'm Through".)

The third copyright is for something called "Anna Belle King" - which doesn't seem at all related to this same Soultet album, far as I can tell.

They can be seen here...

https://books.google.com/books?id=eDYhAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1711&lpg=PA1711&dq=%22hank+bagby%22+%22Clarence+Henry+Bagby%22&source=bl&ots=qh-kObhX5p&sig=ACfU3U2JjUnof-FibGXTcIK8O4cWHtiziQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjirsfi76b6AhULGFkFHRs_BSgQ6AF6BAgbEAM#v=onepage&q=%22hank%20bagby%22%20%22Clarence%20Henry%20Bagby%22&f=false

And I cut and pasted them from another on-line source of the same information (here)

https://archive.org/stream/catalogofcopy19653195libr/catalogofcopy19653195libr_djvu.txt

ANNA  BELLE  KING;  m  Hank  Bagby  (Clarence 
Henry  Bagby),  lyrics  by  Jane  Court- 
land.   ©  Protone  Music;  ION0V65; 
EP2IO894.

DEE  DEE;  m  Hank  Bagby  (Clarence  Henry 
Bagby),  lyrics  by  Jane  Courtland. 
NM:  "lyrics  were  added."  ©  Protone 
Music;  ION0V65;  EP210899.

I'M  THROUGH;  m  Hank  Bagby  (Clarence 
Henry  Bagby),  lyrics  by  Jane  Court- 
land.   2  p.   Appl.  states  prev.  reg. 
as  Algerian  suite.   NM:  added  words. 
©  Protone  Music;  10Nov65;  EP2IO898.

I've no idea who Jane Courtland is or was (other than the apparent lyricist of these three songs).

PS: A google image search suggests "Anna Belle King" was apparently some sort of non-LP single...

https://www.popsike.com/LISTENNORTHERN-SOUL-POPCORNHANK-BAGBY-BYE-BYE-BYE/330548943817.html

And it appears to be the other side of the same 45 sing I posted earlier, called "Bye Bye Bye"

Edited September 21, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

Rooster_Ties · September 21, 2022

And yet another single surfaces -- presumably vocal(!) versions of "Dee Dee" and "I'm Through" (aka "Algerian suite" per my previous post). Here's where I got that from...

https://www.popsike.com/Hank-Bagby-Dee-Dee-Im-Through-Protone-RARE-SOUL-45-LA-BOP-JAZZ-1965/292806274771.html

I'd be SUPER curious to hear these vocal(!!) versions of "Dee Dee" and "I'm Through" (aka "Algerian Suite") -- but they do not appear to be uploaded anywhere online, at least not that I can find (with Google).

Edited September 22, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

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Hank Bagby Soultet: Opus One (Protone, 1964). Obscure west coast date. AND, Bagby also co-led a group w/ Elmo Hope in the late 50's/early 60's!??

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