Alan Bates (producer) RIP

[clifford_thornton]

https://londonjazznews.com/2023/02/01/rip-alan-bates-black-lion-candid-records/

Complicated legacy given that a lot of musicians feel they were not paid or properly compensated via the labels he helmed -- Black Lion, Freedom, certain sectors of the Fontana/Philips and Polydor imprints, and later a revamped Candid.

He sold a lot of the tapes from prior exploits to DA Music. I don't know whether his departure from the earthly realm will mean more material surfaces and in better packages but I hope so. Still waiting for that planned double Spontaneous Music Ensemble album slated for Polydor to come out.

[JSngry]

That guy did a LOT of stuff. For that we can certainly be thankful.

I do think that the revamped Candid had a certain gemminess that is not appreciated in today's enviroment.

RIP, with P standing for PAY.

[sidewinder]

Sad news, RIP. I did see him in action once at a live Candid club recording.

[clifford_thornton]

58 minutes ago, JSngry said:

That guy did a LOT of stuff. For that we can certainly be thankful.

I do think that the revamped Candid had a certain gemminess that is not appreciated in today's enviroment.

RIP, with P standing for PAY.

Indeed.

[mikeweil]

Without his releases I never would have heard some of the rare West Coast stuff - thanks, and R.I.P.

He gave us those last Monk Trio recordings!

Edited February 3, 2023 by mikeweil

[Chuck Nessa]

Didn't know he was still alive. Don't know about the negative stuff, but my dealings with him were honorable.

[soulpope]

R.I.P ....

[sidewinder]

We can certainly be thankful over here for the LPs he put out on Black Lion back in the late 60s and 70s. Those LPs raised the profile here for quite a few artists - for example I don’t recall seeing anything much by Charles Tolliver on Strata East but the Black Lions were visible in the shelves. Similar for important releases by Anthony Braxton and Julius Hemphill as domestic releases.

The one time I saw him it was quite fascinating getting snippets of opinion a couple of tables away of the recording in progress and how the band were faring.

I always thought that he was resident in NYC but it would seem that in recent years he resided in Barnes, Greater London. Important work in promoting and recording some more recent local artists.

Edited February 3, 2023 by sidewinder

[Gheorghe]

R.I.P.

Like @sidewindersaid, the Black Lion LP´s were a main thing for jazz listeners in my youth.

We had the Don Byas at Montmatre, the Dexter Gordon "Montmatre Collection", "Hawk in Germany" (with Bud !), Philly Joe Jones "Mo Jo" with some fantastic british musicians, "Illinois Jacquet" with Milt Buckner and the great Tony Crobie from UK, Monk´s "Nice Work in London" , and at least three Bud Powell albums (Invisible Cage, Strictly Confidential" and "Hot House". That´s what I had bought then. 
It seems that Alan Bates was eager to record Bud Powell and even visited him in N.Y. in late 1965 at some hospital, hoping to bring Bud back to Europe and to further recordings....

[mjzee]

I remember when Clive Davis was starting up Arista, he made a big splash by announcing Arista Freedom and releasing all those Montreux dates.  Nice presentation, good promotion…ironic given it was Davis who effected the big jazz purge at Columbia.  Arista Freedom helped give Arista a big dose of respectability it wasn’t getting from Tony Orlando & Dawn.  Much later, Candid had that great run of Stacey Kent albums - still some of my favorite jazz vocal dates.  And of course he achieved so much more besides.  RIP.

[JSngry]

It was Ricky Ford's three Candid dates that got my attention, much more than his Muse records did. Those were "interesting", but the Candid's were gripping!