mjzee Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 41 minutes ago, HutchFan said: Gheorghe, Muse couldn't compete with the "majors" in terms of paying musicians. (In fact, Tommy Flanagan refused to record for Muse because of Joe Fields' notorious miserliness.) Regardless, the Muse catalog is full of important records by important jazz musicians: Woody Shaw, Pat Martino, Richard Davis, James Moody, Mickey Tucker, Jaki Byard, Sam Jones, Lester Bowie, Hank Jones, "Fathead" Newman, Cedar Walton, Buster Williams, Louis Hayes, Willis Jackson, Roy Brooks, Don Patterson, "Groove" Holmes, Carlos Garnett, Joe Bonner, Clifford Jordan, Mark Murphy, Barry Altschul, and on and on and on. I think one could make a solid argument that Muse and ECM are the two most vital labels of the 1970s -- in terms of documenting a wide range of jazz artists and styles. Just by virtue of the size of their respective catalogs, those two labels played a huge role in capturing the sounds of those years. I agree. I worked in a jazz record store in lower Manhattan in the late 70's - early 80's, and most Muse releases didn't sell very well, so perhaps Fields was just paying a fair amount. I don't know who else would have released so many David Schnitter or Ricky Ford albums. I thought Muse did a great job in supplying a steady stream of soul jazz and organ jazz albums - music ignored by the New York press but still loved at clubs in Newark and Harlem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 12 minutes ago, mjzee said: I don't know who else would have released so many David Schnitter or Ricky Ford albums .... Or would have given Bill Barron a leader date after a gap of nearly two decades .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HutchFan Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 (edited) 19 minutes ago, mjzee said: I worked in a jazz record store in lower Manhattan in the late 70's - early 80's, and most Muse releases didn't sell very well, so perhaps Fields was just paying a fair amount. That makes sense, @mjzee. If it took being tight-fisted to stay afloat & in business, I suppose it's good that Fields did that. Either way, his important work as a documenter of the jazz scene is incalculable. Edited May 24 by HutchFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 1 hour ago, soulpope said: Or would have given Bill Barron a leader date after a gap of nearly two decades .... Three in fact!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 13 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said: This 32Jazz compilation (selected by Jack) is worth exploring. What a great title! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 34 minutes ago, felser said: What a great title! agree! And yeah, Concord really stinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 Jack & Willie playing Hank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 Damn, wasn't thinking who Willie might be but definitely assumed "Hank" was Mobley not Williams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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