Late Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 (edited) I'm just now exploring these labels, and I was wondering if anyone had any reviews and/or impressions ... Thanks for posting your thoughts! (Edited to update the image ...) Edited April 8, 2006 by Late Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 I have Henry Franklin THE SKIPPER and would wholeheartedly recommend it. I also have Walter Bishop, Jr. CORAL KEYS which is pretty cool too. I'm interested in Doug Carn, if anyone has heard his stuff chime in! Phil Ranelin's VIBES FROM THE TRIBE is cool, especially the title track. BTW, the Black Jazz site has a disclaimer about an illegal "Best Of Black Jazz" compilation on Soul Jazz records--might be the one you posted an image of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 The Bishop 'Coral Keys' also has the huge plus of having Woody Shaw on half of the tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 (edited) I think this is their official site: http://www.blackjazz.com/ EDIT: It seems odd, like the disclaimer is a hack job. I can't get past it to the regular site. Edited October 3, 2003 by Noj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 I definitely recommend the Doug Carn sets on BJ. "Adams Apple" is my favorite - a real solid outing all the way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Thanks BFrank. If I can find any of these--I've only seen them in sparing numbers at a couple choice shops. May have to order over the internet from somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 I have both lps of The Awakening on this label. Both are smokin' sessions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 (edited) EDIT: It seems odd, like the disclaimer is a hack job. I can't get past it to the regular site. The site itself requires Macromedia Flash 6. If you already have that, you might need to adjsut your firewall. I had to, and did, and the site works just fine. If THAT doesn't work, go here http://www.blackjazz.com/main.html but w/o Flash installed, you'll just get a black screen. I've not heard a Black Jazz album I didn't like at least quite a bit. Some, even more. It's a label I'd feel safe in recommending a wholesale exploration of. Tribe I know less about. A few old vinyl things by Wendell Harrison & Phil Ranelin, and that's it. The recording's a bit less than fully pro, but good enough. Althoguh the music is just a tad uneven, it weighs far more to the good side than not. I've been meaning to pick up those reissues myself! FWIW, here's a pop-up from the BJ site, a further note about the bootleg. Edited October 4, 2003 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I mentioned Rudolph Johnson's "Second Coming" in another thread - check it out! "Water Bearer" is a beautiful tune, I can't describe it... Can anyone recommend Franklin's "The Skipper At Home"? The personnel suggests that this could be a very interesting disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Burke Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 (edited) Interesting, Jim. This not only means that Soul Jazz produced a comp of unlicensed material but it also means that....Black Jazz is still a functioning company?! News to me. I have some problems with the whole Soul Jazz/Universal Sounds thing but I never imagined they were pulling a BYG on us. That's too bad. Up until now they've bugged me simply because they've somehow become the bastion of all things reggae, soul jazz, funk, etc. In my opinion, most of thier reggae comps are VERY mediocre and I think one could make a strong argument that the only reason they've become so popular is because they have neat looking covers and the advertize HEAVILY. 'STUDIO ONE SOUL' was kind of a joke. There's much better Coxsone-produced U.S. soul covers out there. And the 'STUDIO ONE STORY' comp was just flat out weak. Plus, I don't want to hear about reggae, jazz, and funk from a label that also issues wimpy synth-pop like A Certain Ratio. Gimmie a break..... On the other hand, I'm looking at those releases as a vinyl buyer and almost everything they issue is still in print in Jamaica. The Jackie Mittoo stuff, the Studio One records, the 'ROCKERS' material, etc. It's just not very hard to find that material, man. And the original full-lengths are amazing! If you ask me, CD buyers should stick with the reissues on Heartbeat and Blood & Fire. Those guys have it all covered, they take chances by issuing less marketable titles, and they're legit. I get the impression Soul Jazz simply rides the tides of fashion. Edited October 7, 2003 by Brandon Burke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 Some cat bought the Black Jazz catalog a few years back and has been re-issuing it. I have the some of the Doug Carn sides. Nice stuff. Worth listening too. I also have Chester Thompson's organ record and it's pretty hip. He was the organist for Tower of Power back in the day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 (edited) I have four Doug Carn LPs from that label and find them all very good, but you have to like vocals. Carn wrote lyrics to many famous jazz tunes by Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner and even John Coltrane, and Jean Carn sang them with a big voice with a wide vibrato, but in a jazzy way far removed from her later disco outings. I like it a lot. There's a lot of black consciousness in the music, in a positive way, and Doug Carn played excellent organ and Rhodes piano on these records, all the sideman are good, Michael Carvin, Charles Tolliver, Alphonze Mouton, René McLean, Garnett Brown, Olu Dara and Walter Booker are among them. Others I have are the two Henry Franklin LPs and one by Calvin Keyes. Good music, not overwhelming, but certainly better than a lot of other more commercial stuff issued in the early 1970's. Nice mixture of modal bop with a few funky touches. BTW one tune on the Henry Franklin LP "The Skipper", "Beauty and the electric Tub" was not written by Henry Franlin as credited, but by Doug Hammond - that's what the composer told me, a very good drummer who led his own groups in the US and Europe and now teaches drums at the conservatory in Linz, Austria - Steve Coleman cut his teeth in Doug's trio. I guess the Doug Carns are the best in the Black Jazz catalogue. Edited October 7, 2003 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzman21 Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 I really like all of Black Jazz records. Henry Franklin is real nice on the skipper and as already stated both awakening lps are cool too. I really would like to get Roland Haynes - 2nd Wave lp, but this seems to be the hardest to find of them all. Gene Russell was a genius for putting this label together his records aren't bad either. I see on some Black Jazz lps it has the ovation label name on them, does anyone know's what was the relationship of these two labels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 A wee bit of earlier discussion here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 I've always thought of Rudolph Johnson's "Second Coming" as just about as good a jazz album as you'll find. The playing (by musicians who you might not be familiar with) is first-rate, and the album as a whole is sequenced so it all builds and really hangs together. Don't miss it. No kidding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Spontoonious just got his hands on used copies of Doug Carn's "Infant Eyes" and "Revelation", both on CD, and was kind enough to loan me the discs for a week. Listened to both tonight, and I'm blown away!! And I'm normally not one for vocal-jazz, but these two bands are so damn tight -- and the Jean Carn's got a vibe that's not the least bit corny in my book -- I'm sold!! Gotta find some copies for myself someday, and maybe get Carn's other two Black Jazz releases too. Has anybody here ordered from the Black Jazz website directly?? Seems to be the only decent place to get 'em, as Dusty Groove doesn't have any in stock right now, and they only seem to carry one of them on CD anyway (at least according to a search of their site). The Black Jazz site order process is driven through Paypal, and looks decent enough (kinda low-tech, but it appears to do the job, with a minimum of bells and whistles -- which I like!!). Can anybody here confirm that they've come though for them in the timely way, without any hang-ups?? (Meaning ordering through the Black Jazz site directly??) They also appear to have "OK" prices too. (Certainly not what I'd call "killer bargains", but at $14 per disc, plus $1.50 shipping for the first disc, and $0.50 for each one after the first -- that's at least not highway robbery.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Burke Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 I really would like to get Roland Haynes - 2nd Wave lp, but this seems to be the hardest to find of them all. I think this is the one with "Funky Mama Moose". That's a good jam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEK Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Has anybody here ordered from the Black Jazz website directly?? Seems to be the only decent place to get 'em, as Dusty Groove doesn't have any in stock right now, and they only seem to carry one of them on CD anyway (at least according to a search of their site). The Black Jazz site order process is driven through Paypal, and looks decent enough (kinda low-tech, but it appears to do the job, with a minimum of bells and whistles -- which I like!!). Can anybody here confirm that they've come though for them in the timely way, without any hang-ups?? (Meaning ordering through the Black Jazz site directly??) Sorry I can't give you a direct answer. The folks at Dusty Groove said that the guy who's owned the label for a few years has reportedly been unreliable and even hostile. This was before he switched to Paypal. I hope that you get a favorable reply, because I'd sure like to get Carn's "Spirit Of the New Land" and "Revelation" , which I enjoyed very much on LP back in the day. Now I just have "Infant Eyes" (which I bought from Dusty Groove). I also dug The Awakening's "Hear, Sense, and Feel". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Found some of these as cut outs many yers ago. Still have one by Henry Franklin (The Skipper At Home), two by Carn and one by The Awakening. Interesting period pieces. Would have liked a copy of "Coral Keys" but have made do with taped copy. Got a good price on ebay for Calvin Keys "Proceed With Caution". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Some people ordered stuff for me from Black Jazz com. No complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest akanalog Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 heard marcus belgrave's "gemini" recently. believe that was on tribe. has most of those detroit players. i was unimpressed. it was fine, but didn't really live up to my expectations. i guess i feel for the dustygroove hype but i was expecting something a bit more cosmic. it is pretty earthbound-some electric keys, sure...but the compositions are earthbound, in my opinion. i am intrigued by a few of the recent dustygroove tribe additions such as this doug hammond "reflections in the sea of nurnen" or whatever. but they are costly japanese imports and i have a feeling nothing on tribe is going to live up to my expectations. i heard a doug carn black jazz album once and it was ok. i sold it. not sure which one it was but it was nothing spectacular. i have a kellee patterson (i think that is her name) black jazz LP which is also nothing spectacular. i have a feeling, unlike tribe, there is some black jazz stuff i would like. interested in hearing the franklin albums and the thompson album, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Crappy samples: http://www.blackjazz.com/newrelease.html Rudolph Johnson's "Water Bearer", "Diswa", "The Highest Pleasure" are favorites of mine and my neighbours. The entire "The Second Coming" album is pretty good, I find. Once again, whatever happened to Rudolph Johnson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Ah, I already promoted Rudolph Johnson earlier in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 The first Rudolph Johnson Black Jazz album - "Spring Rain" - is also excellent. This was also out at one time and I picked it up from their site. So, what IS his story?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdd Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 He was in Ray Charles' band for years, perhaps til the end. He lives in LA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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