Time Life - Giants of Jazz

[charlesp]

The discussion on another thread about Bix Beiderbecke caused me to pull out a 3-lp compilation put out by Time Life. In the late-1970's/early 1980's, Time Life issued about 30 of these 3-lp boxes in the series, focused almost entirely on pre-WW II jazz.

As a music omnivore and not a specialist in pre-WW II, I think that there is a place for well-programed compilations of music from the 78-era. The Time Life Giants of Jazz series are well-progamed, have excellent sound (transfers by Frank Abbey), and wonderful documentation. Again, those who are students of, or who have a deep affinity for (Lon), pre-WW II jazz, the compilations will not be enough. But vinyl lovers who want to experience this wonderful music can find these sets, often in great condition, @ used book stores and second-hand vinyl emporiums. Fun to listen to without a series of endless alternate takes.

Here are the ones that I can recommend:

Henry "Red" Allen - STL-J16 - booklet by Richard Sudhalter & John Chilton

Louis Armstrong - STL-J01 - booklet by Chris Albertson & John Wilson

Count Basie - STL-J22 - booklet by Stanley Dance & Richard Sudhalter

Sidney Bechet - STL-J09 - booklet by Frank Kappler, Bob Wilber & Sudhalter

Bix Beiderbecke - STL-J04 - booklet by Curtis Prenergast & Sudhalter

Bunny Berigan - STL -J25 - booklet by John Chilton & Sudhalter

Benny Carter - STL -J04 - booklet by Morroe & Edward Berger

Johnny Dodds - STL-J26 - booklet by Frank Kappler & Bob Wilber

Duke Ellington - STL-J02 - booklet by Stanley Dance & Dan Morgenstern

Coleman Hawkins - STL-J06 - booklet by John McDonough ( Why did they leave out "Piccasso" ?)

Earl Hines - STL-J11 - booklet by Stanley Dance

Billie Holiday - STL-J03 - booklet by Melvin Maddocks - Great 3-lp compilation

James P. Johnson - STL-J18 - booklet by Frank Kappler, Dick Wellstood & Willa Rounder

Jelly Roll Morton - STL-J07 - booklet by Chris Albertson

Red Norvo - STL-J14 - booklet by Don DeMicheal

Pee Wee Russell - STL-J17 - booklet by John McDonough

Joe Sullivan - STL-J27 - booklet by Richard Hadlock

Art Tatum - STL-J24 - booklet by A.B. Spellman

Jack Teagarden - STL-J08 - booklet by Leonard Guttridge & John Wilson

Frank Teschemacher - STL-J23 - booklet by Marty Grosz - unlike the others in this series, the Teschemacher has every known recording of his on 5 lp sides and one side of recordings that may or may not include Teschemacher !

Fats Waller - STL-J15 - booklet by David Thompson

Teddy Wilson - STL-J20 - booklet by George Gelles & John McDonough

Of course, as 3-lp compilations, they only whet the appetite and are wholly inadequate for completists or huge fans of the particular artist, but they are fun and very well documented.

There are others in the series that I don't have and, as a result, cannot comment.

Edited September 4, 2004 by charlesp

[wolff]

The above are different from the Time Life Big Bands series that contains a few of the same artists, in 2 LP sets. The above seem more complete with better booklets.

Why is Chris Albertson in bold?

[sal]

Why is Chris Albertson in bold?

He frequents this board.

[Leeway]

Why is Chris Albertson in bold?

He frequents this board.

If Chris notices this post, maybe he can add some background and additional information on these sets.

[Christiern]

If Chris notices this post, maybe he can add some background and additional information on these sets.

I don't know what I can add that might be useful. The selections were made by TL's editors, mainly Jerry Korn, Phil Payne and Jeanne LeMonnier, all great people to work with and all jazz enthusiasts, but not experts. As annotators, we had the great advantage (apart from receiving fees that would be outrageously high even 25 years later) of being able to avail ourselves--through the editors--of TL's amazing research department. As a result, the notes often contained new information, interesting (albeit sometimes trivial) details that previously had escaped the inquiring minds of low-budget jazz writers.

[Leeway]

If Chris notices this post, maybe he can add some background and additional information on these sets.

I don't know what I can add that might be useful. The selections were made by TL's editors, mainly Jerry Korn, Phil Payne and Jeanne LeMonnier, all great people to work with and all jazz enthusiasts, but not experts. As annotators, we had the great advantage (apart from receiving fees that would be outrageously high even 25 years later) of being able to avail ourselves--through the editors--of TL's amazing research department. As a result, the notes often contained new information, interesting (albeit sometimes trivial) details that previously had escaped the inquiring minds of low-budget jazz writers.

Thanks Chris. Those high fees sound pretty nice! Thanks Mr. Luce (or at least his money), I suppose. Is there anything you can add on the quality of the transfers, viny, etc? How would these sets stack up, let's say, against Mosaic's LP sets?

[Chuck Nessa]

Chris does not mention Time/Life paid him soooo much money, he did not care about the product . Those guys did spend money 'cause they were out of their element.

A bunch of my friends (and enemies) were involved in the project, and most were troubled by the outcome, but not enough to bitch in public.

These are wonderful sets and if you are tempted, buy the fucker.

[charlesp]

"How would these sets stack up, let's say, against Mosaic LP sets ?"

Mosaic has nothing to worry about, the two approaches are very different. Mosaic chooses a theme and strives for complete coverage of the chosen theme. Time Life were surveys of the chosen artists' work from a variety of labels, but, except for the Teschmacher set, never complete.

Notwithstanding Mr. Albertson's modesty, the research is not the only strong suit of the Time Life booklets, the writing is frenquently beautiful and compelling, and never less than professional. The Mosaic booklets, of course, are also excellent, but the Time Life booklets hold their own.

I view the Time Life sets as a fun supplement to the Mosaic approach, and if you are a vinyl lover and come accross one of these Time Life sets for a reasonable price, grab it ( the fact that the sets were issued by Time Life means they were not as rare as some jazz LPs and many appear to have been purchased but hardly played ). The sets are not the Holy Grail of recorded jazz.

Edited September 4, 2004 by charlesp

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Chris -

Do you recall any specifics of this kind of research info?

Mike

["Things that are trivial and meaningless are often of great significance to me...professionally." - Sgt. Hobson, B.A.]

[medjuck]

I owned all these sets and loved them. (I eventually gave some away to someone who wanted them even more than me.) My only complaint was that their concept of Jazz history stopped even earlier than Ken Burns's . I was hoping they would continue with sets by Bird, Mingus etc.

[BruceH]

I like these sets. If you consider them "core samples" of person's (pre-WWII) career you'd be close to the feel of them. The Bunny Berigan and Joe Sullivan sets actually got me into those figures; the others were just nice additions to what I already had. The Ellington box has got to be my all-around favorite Ellington anthology, even more than the Smithsonian, just on sheer listenability. Not all the booklets are equally good, but the average is quite high, and some of them are just a joy due to the combination of info and good writing.

Frankly, I think there is still a great need for anthologies like this. Well-done, reasonable-length overviews done for the general public rather than overwhelming super-complete megaboxes for the specialist (though I have my share of the latter.) I really, really, (really!) hate to say it, but the closest thing on the market now are probably those Ken Burns compilations, but they are limited to only one CD per artist, which seems a tad slim in some cases, though good for newcomers. And why did Burns & co. feel compelled to make the covers ugly as sin? Ah, well...

In short: Hell yeah, if you're into vinyl and see some of these Time/Life Giants of Jazz boxes in good condition at a cheap price, believe me, you could do a lot, lot worse. They be good.

[Uncle Skid]

I just discovered this series -- came across the Earl Hines set for $10 in a used shop. Booklet and LPs in very good shape.

They also had the Benny Carter set for the same price... I might need to go back!

[Larry Kart]

Of the ones I have, the Teschemacher (Marty Grosz) and the Norvo (Don DeMichael) have especially interesting notes.

[Christiern]

Marty Grosz has a great sense of humor.

[DukeCity]

When I was in middle school/high school in the late '70s and just getting into playing jazz, my dad got me a subscription to this series so that I could check out the players he listened to when he was growing up. I ended up with 12 or 15 from the series, and even when I was (foolishly) unloading lots of vinyl a few years ago, I'm glad I held on to that TL series.

(related story, off topic: when I came home from 7th grade jazz band with an alto part that said to play "vibrato a la Johnny Hodges" I asked my dad what that meant. The next day he came home with the most appropriate record imaginable: "Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges". Thanks, Dad! )

[patricia]

I have three of the Jazz Giants boxed sets [billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Jack Teagarden], but not the Beiderbeck.

However, I do have Bix in another boxed set which has fourteen records on the Joker label.

It covers his entire career and is in near-new condition.

Don't be put off by the idea that somehow the boxed sets that are not Mosaics are all somehow inferior.

They are not, in my experience.

Not only that, but they are quite often in near mint condition, with booklets included, also in almost unread condition.

I've picked them up for as little as $1 per record, so $3 for the Jazz Giants Billie and Teagarden.

I paid a little more for the Ellington, but still not a lot, considering their excellent representations of the artists' work.

No, they're not the be-all and end-all, but they are certainly not to be scoffed at, IMO.

Now that it's been mentioned here, I actually know where I can pick up almost all of the issues of the Jazz Giants boxed sets.

Thanks for reminding me.

Edited August 28, 2006 by patricia

[tatifan]

For me, the sets are attractive for the booklets and sometimes fit my needs for certain artists (in the day, the Henry Red Allen set was a great introduction to him for me), but I'm afraid the mastering/78 transfer work was only just average for the time, and is well below modern standards (they're VERY filtered on the top end, and pretty lifeless as a result).

[Hot Ptah]

I happened to notice that the Music Exchange in Kansas City has several of these Time/Life silver boxes in 8 TRACK TAPE format, for those still using that form of technology. I saw the Duke Ellington and Sidney Bechet there for sure.

[BruceH]

I just discovered this series -- came across the Earl Hines set for $10 in a used shop. Booklet and LPs in very good shape.

They also had the Benny Carter set for the same price... I might need to go back!

The Benny Carter is excellent---I say jump in, the water's fine! Also, if you ever see the Bunny Berigan box for a good price, don't hesitate. ( )

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I bought 3 of the Louis Armstrong Time/Life sets at a Goodwill awhile back. So I have two that are available for trade in case someone has dupes of a different set. The copies I have are unplayed.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

hi everybody chewy chew chew on the scene here- i have a lot of these on cassette, 8-track, and LP. the Tatum is amazing. i dont care what anyone says its a superb compilatoin. have that one on Track AND cassette. the lp sets can still be pricy but the tape ones ive gotten for as low as a quarter a set-- for reals.

chuck nessa: what do u mean about unhappy w/ the outcome? what should of been different? the discographys are always complete n stuff....i just dont like that stupid cartoon photo that comes w/ it and that stupid letter from time/life.

[patricia]

i just dont like that stupid cartoon photo that comes w/ it and that stupid letter from time/life.

Simply avert your gaze, to avoid the cartoon photo and don't read the letter from Time/Life.

Small problem. Easily remedied, don't you think?

Balanced with the usually almost unplayed condition of the records, I think it's a trade-off worth making.

Like a lot of the boxed sets issued from various sources, Time/Life ones seem to have been bought by people who wanted to have them, rather than people who were likely to listen to them.

Their loss. My gain.

[Kalo]

I've been a fan of this series ever since a buddy in college lent me the Ellington for a while. Still might be the best compilation of his pre-LP work ever.

I've got a bunch of the silver boxes. And as Patricia says, they're pretty easy to find in near-mint condition. A few years ago I went to a used record store in Boston and found a trove of them that had been discarded from a local junior college's library. It was clear that they had never graced a turntable.

[Christiern]

Those were paintings, not cartoons, and they were printed on a separate insert--easily discarded. Ditto Time-Life letter. Sorry Chewy: Complaint invalid.

[kulu se mama]

i recently found a couple of these boxe's factory sealed.

there are no markings on them what-so-ever, how can i tell whether they are lp, cassette, or 8-track?