The search for Jay Migliori's lost Transition album (TRLP-18)

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I'm still waiting to hear back (again) from Jay's niece. She has replied a few times via Facebook but has gone silent.

[Stonewall15]

What gives me hope is the LP is listed in the Lord Discography. I think this suggests that the LP was on the way to release and somehow did not make it. The tape or the LP may be tucked away in some closet or other storage medium. I if it shows up I hope that Fresh Sounds Records would release it on CD as they have done with other Transition LPs.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Sorry to say, but Patty Migliori's niece & nephew say that they have not found any more studio recordings of their uncle. So if this tape was given to Jay, he didn't keep it anywhere with the rest of his tapes.

[sonnymax]

16 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Sorry to say, but Patty Migliori's niece & nephew say that they have not found any more studio recordings of their uncle. So if this tape was given to Jay, he didn't keep it anywhere with the rest of his tapes.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

What his niece said was, "I checked with my cousin and if it’s a studio recording they don’t have it." This does seem to imply that there might be more live recordings. Maybe one of those "live" recordings is a mislabeled studio date?

[JSngry]

Did Tom Wilson leave an "estate" or did he just die?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

13 hours ago, JSngry said:

Did Tom Wilson leave an "estate" or did he just die?

Didn't Wilson sell the masters of the Transition label back in the 50's? Even if he kept this one, he's been gone since 1978 so if there were any tapes in his possession, you would think someone would have done something with them by now.

Was the Pepper Adams session from TRLP8 ever released on another label?

[JSngry]

I would assume nothing about the disposition of effects unless there was a formal estate plan.

I don't know any real details, but it seems maybe that Tom Wilson led a somewhat hedonistic lifestyle, so that might be a trail worth following if it's not too late already.

[Chuck Nessa]

Back in the mid '60s while working at Delmark we purchased 3 Transition masters (1 Donald Byrd & 2 Sun Ra) from a firm with Phoenix in the corporate name. No indication Tom Wilson was involved at this point.

[jazzbo]

Re: Pepper Adams

I found this (easily, those here may have read this) on this page: https://richardvacca.com/tom-wilson-and-transition-records/

Other projects were recorded but never released. There was a Boston quintet co-led by tenor saxophonist Jay Migliori and trumpeter Tommy Ball; one track was issued on a sampler LP and the rest has yet to emerge. One track survives from a Dave Coleman date featuring baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams and violinist Dick Wetmore. A Paul Chambers session included Adams, John Coltrane, and trombonist Curtis Fuller. Complete session tapes have never surfaced.

[Stonewall15]

Three tracks from the the Pepper Adams/Curtis Fuller session on the unissued TRLP-8 were released. First on Blue Note LP BN-LA451-H2 and then on Mosaic Select Paul Chambers MS-005 CD#2. They are "Trane's Strain", "High Step" and "Nixon, Dixon and Yates Blues". "Trane's Strain" also was released on TRLP-30.

The Dave Coleman session on TRLP-12 was never issued. One song "Backstreet" with Dave Coleman, Dick Wetmore and Pepper Adams was released on TRLP-30. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

2 hours ago, Stonewall15 said:

Three tracks from the the Pepper Adams/Curtis Fuller session on the unissued TRLP-8 were released. First on Blue Note LP BN-LA451-H2 and then on Mosaic Select Paul Chambers MS-005 CD#2. They are "Trane's Strain", "High Step" and "Nixon, Dixon and Yates Blues". "Trane's Strain" also was released on TRLP-30.

The Dave Coleman session on TRLP-12 was never issued. One song "Backstreet" with Dave Coleman, Dick Wetmore and Pepper Adams was released on TRLP-30. 

I have those 3 tracks on the Paul Chambers CD "Chambers' Music". So I guess maybe one or two tracks are missing from this unissued LP? Because the 3 issued tracks total 27 minutes.

[Chuck Nessa]

37 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I have those 3 tracks on the Paul Chambers CD "Chambers' Music". So I guess maybe one or two tracks are missing from this unissued LP? Because the 3 issued tracks total 27 minutes.

and here...

[clifford_thornton]

wonder if the Chambers session was even a complete date? i.e., 3 tracks and maybe some false starts/unusable takes.

[Stonewall15]

Could very well be that the 3 tracks were the only ones usable and did not warrant the release of TRLP-8.

[Stonewall15]

Bump. Maybe 2025 will be my lucky year by finding TRLP-18!

[Stonewall15]

Bump. Still hoping!

[Stonewall15]

On 6/30/2015 at 10:54 AM, Stonewall15 said:

Looking for Transition LP TRLP-18 "Jazz Down Beat" by Jay Migliori. Lord discography lists this LP but other sources say that the LP was never released. Perhaps it was issued by another label, such as Blue Note or Delmark, or by another title. The LP TRLP-30 "Jazz In Transition" booklet shows track listing and picture of this session and the LP has one of the TRLP-18 songs (Something's Gotta Give).

It is likely that this session was never actually released as an LP. It probably exists only as a magnetic tape. The tape, if it still exists, is probably stored somewhere on a shelf or in a box of miscellaneous music. Hopefully the tape will eventually show up where it can be produced as an LP or on a CD.

Please PM me.

Dan. 

Bump.

[jimmyjrg]

I know there's a few Transition fans here, so I thought I'd share an article I wrote about the search for Jay Migliori's lost album for the label: https://medium.com/the-shadow-knows/searching-for-jazz-down-beat-jay-migliori-s-lost-album-50bcbdd56363

The short version is that I tried and failed to get in contact with Jay's widow or daughter to ask about the LP. I also contacted two labels who have issued other unreleased albums by Jay and they knew nothing about the Transition session.

What I do know is the following:

Group: Jay Migliori Quartet featuring Migliori (tenor sax), Tommy Ball (trumpet), Danny Kent (piano), Paul Morrison (bass), and Floyd Williams (drums).
Recorded: 7 November 1955 in Boston
Catalogue number: TRLP-18
Title: Jazz Down Beat

Tracks:

Bags’ Groove
The First One
Pat and the Lady
Black Dog
Let Yourself Go
Budo
Button for Butch
Something’s Gotta Give

The final track was released on the compilation album Jazz In Transition (TRLP-30). All of the information about the recording come from the TRLP-30 booklet.

[sonnymax]

If you're searching for Jay, you should search this board as well. You'll find a member of this board has been looking and posting about this date for 10 years: Looking for Transition LP TRLP-18

[Big Beat Steve]

Just for the record, and in connection with the apearance of TRLP-18 in the Tom Lord discography, this album has earlier been listed in Jepsen's Jazz Records Vol. 5 (published in 1963) and in the discography by Walter Bruyninckx, both in the printed edition published in the 80s and in the somewhat more recent (and updated) digital version.  The entries look like any normally released album. Jepsen and the printed edition of Bruyninckx forgot "Budo" in the track listing but this was corrected in the digital version of the Bruyninckx discography. It is likely that THIS is where Lord picked up his info. 

So it really seems like this album was "reputed" to exist for decades and decades and for a long time nobody ever made an effort to really check and set the record straight. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Big Beat Steve

[jimmyjrg]

1 minute ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Just for the record, and in connection with the apearance of TRLP-18 in the Tom Lord discography, this album has earlier been listed in Jepsen's Jazz Records Vol. 5 (published in 1963) and in the discography by Walter Bruyninckx, both in the printed edition published in the 80s and in the somewhat more recent (and updated) digital version.  The entries look like any normally released album. Jepsen and the printed edition of Bruyninckx forgot "Budo" in the track listing but this was correctedin the digital version of the Bruyninckx discpgrpahy. It is likely that THIS is where Lord picked up his info. 

So it really seems like this album was "reputed" to exist for decades and decades and for a long time nobody ever made an effort to set the record straight. 

Thank you. I hadn't seen either of those books. That's interesting to know that the album was appearing in lists before Lord.

@sonnymax Yes, I've been in touch with Dan. He motivated me to write this up so all of the information was collected somewhere.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I merged @jimmyjrg 's topic with this one to get all of the interested parties in one place.

[clifford_thornton]

Thanks for this writeup; it puts the album in a little more context. Maybe someday we'll get to hear it!