Dizzy Gillespie Verve/Phillips Small Group Sessions

[Ron S]

Now on "Future Projects" page.

[tranemonk]

OHHHHH!! I AM SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just called them... they said .. not likely to be ready to be preordered until next Fall.... Hmm... Might have save that Mosaic Gift card I'm about to get!!!

Now on "Future Projects" page.

Edited December 23, 2005 by tranemonk

[Ron S]

OHHHHH!! I AM SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just called them... they said .. not likely to be ready to be preordered until next Fall.... Hmm... Might have save that Mosaic Gift card I'm about to get!!!

Now on "Future Projects" page.

Dude, you should just open a "Standing Preorder" with them, for whatever may come down the pike.

[Brad]

Next fall. Oh, what a bummer but I'm so excited about this. What a great set this is going to be!

[JSngry]

How's the bulk of the Phillips material? Most of what I've heard has been fine, but somewhat truncated in terms of time per cut and, perhaps, a little "compromised" in theme. No doubt, radio-friendly considerations were at play, and hey, it's still good, but...

[A. Kingstone]

I love Dizzy Gillespie but I have no idea who Verve Phillips is.

[JSngry]

Mercury Limelight's older half-brother from a previous marriage.

[J.A.W.]

Pity they spelled the name of the Dutch record label Philips wrong...

Edited December 23, 2005 by J.A.W.

[jazzbo]

My favorite of the Philips stuff are "The New Wave" and "On the French Riviera" --both damned good.

I think I have all the stuff in this set. . . . Going to be a good one.

[Ron S]

Pity they spelled the name of the Dutch record label Philips wrong...

Don't blame me--I'm just the messenger.

[J.A.W.]

Pity they spelled the name of the Dutch record label Philips wrong...

Don't blame me--I'm just the messenger.

I'm not blaming you at all, I was referring to the Mosaic page.

[tranemonk]

I like THAT idea... but who knows they might slip the Four Freshman II on my CC....

OHHHHH!! I AM SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just called them... they said .. not likely to be ready to be preordered until next Fall.... Hmm... Might have save that Mosaic Gift card I'm about to get!!!

Now on "Future Projects" page.

Dude, you should just open a "Standing Preorder" with them, for whatever may come down the pike.

[tranemonk]

LOL LOL

I love Dizzy Gillespie but I have no idea who Verve Phillips is.

[Ron S]

Pity they spelled the name of the Dutch record label Philips wrong...

Don't blame me--I'm just the messenger.

I'm not blaming you at all, I was referring to the Mosaic page.

I knew you weren't blaming me Hans--at least not for THAT! Just kidding around.

[JSngry]

Is Limelight material being included?

[tranemonk]

so let the year long speculation begin... !!

What's going to be in this set?? Discography??? Interestingly the Verve LPR "Sittin' In" which was just released a few months ago will not be on this set... (I think... and that's a good thing since I don't like having duplicates...) That's a very good record for those who didn't get it...

here's is some of what I figure might be on it... (all from AMG... so take it for what's it worth...)

The Greatest Trumpet of Them All - The '57 Octet date with Gigi Gryce

The Ebullient Mr. Gillespie - '59 date with Junior Mance, Les Spann and Chino Pozo

An Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet - the live '61 date with Leo Wright

Jazz on the French Riviera Or is it Dizzy on the French Riviera? - Philips

New Wave - Philips

Something Old, Something New - Philips (Kenny Barron, James Moody)

The Cool World - Philips

Dizzy Gillespie Goes Hollywood - Philips (Kenny Barron, James Moody)

Questions...

Dizzy Gillespie Duets (1957)?

The more I think about this... I'm very happy... It's stunning to believe that this will be 1st Dizzy Mosaic set!

[J.A.W.]

Is Limelight material being included?

I don't think so; the Mosaic page doesn't say anything about the Limelight recordings. Besides, Limelight was a subsidiary of Mercury and had nothing to do with Philips.

[JSngry]

But...Mercury & Philips were connected by the time Limelight came into being, at least in the U.S.

[J.A.W.]

But...Mercury & Philips were connected by the time Limelight came into being, at least in the U.S.

You mean they had the same distributor? The two labels didn't have any connection until much later, when Polydor, which acquired Mercury in the 1970s, and Phonogram, the Dutch parent of Philips, merged and became PolyGram. The two labels are now part of Universal, of course.

[JSngry]

Not sure if it was a distrubution deal or what, but Mercury & Phillips stuff (jazz stuff, anyway) in the 60s were "intermingled" in the sense of advertising on inner sleeves, etc., at least as best I remember it. There was also a commonality of design when it came to providing label address info on the back of album covers and stuff like that.

I'm thinking that the Dizzy Limelight stuff was more of a "shift" from one family label to another, like Booker Ervin's shift from Pacific Jazz to Blue Note, than signing with a totally new company. But I could well be wrong.

Perhaps Chuck or Jack can expound on the specifics?

Edited December 23, 2005 by JSngry

[J.A.W.]

Not sure if it was a distrubution deal or what, but Mercury & Phillips stuff (jazz stuff, anyway) in the 60s were "intermingled" in the sense of advertising on inner sleeves, etc., at least as best I remember it. There was also a commonality of design when it came to providing label address info on the back of album covers and stuff like that.

I'm thinking that the Dizzy Limelight stuff was more of a "shift" from one family label to another, like Booker Ervin's shift from Pacific Jazz to Blue Note, than signing with a totally new company. But I could well be wrong.

Perhaps Chuck or Jack can expound on the specifics?

From Goldmine's "Price Guide to Collectible Jazz Albums 1949-1969" (1994 edition, compiled by Neil Umphred):

Philips: From inception through 1963, Philips used a black label with "Chicago 1, Illinois" on the bottom. From 1964-66, the black label had "Vendor: Mercury" on the bottom. From 1966-70, the black label with no print extra disclaimers on the bottom was used. Throughout this time, mono albums bore a "PHM" prefix and were part of the 200-000 series; stereo titles had a "PHS" prefix and were part of the 600-000 series. Gold or white label promos were issued. From 1970-74, a black label was used with "Manufactured and Distributed by Mercury" on the bottom."

Mercury: (...) Labels distributed by them (Mercury) were primarily the Norman Granz labels Clef, Down Home, Norgran and Verve (through 1960) along with Savoy and Regent. Along the way they also picked up Keynote and Limelight before becoming a part of the PolyGram group.

[JSngry]

Ok, case in point - Woody's Big Band Goodies, a collection of the Philips-era band (and with, I believe, at least some material left over from other Philips sessions) was originally released in 1964 (while the band was still releasing sides on Philips) on Mercury's "budget" Wing label.

Details here: http://www.cosmicsounds-london.com/DUSKO/wgoodies.htm

Now, maybe this Philips/Mercury thing was strictly American. I don't know. But it's what prompted my curiosity as to whether or not the Limelight material might be included in this set. That, and how Dizzy went straight from Philips to Limelight (a subsidiary of Mercury, which was at least somehow connected w/Philips at the time), w/o skipping a beat have me wondering.

[JSngry]

From Goldmine's "Price Guide to Collectible Jazz Albums 1949-1969" (1994 edition, compiled by Neil Umphred):

Philips: From inception through 1963, Philips used a black label with "Chicago 1, Illinois" on the bottom. From 1964-66, the black label had "Vendor: Mercury" on the bottom. From 1966-70, the black label with no print extra disclaimers on the bottom was used. Throughout this time, mono albums bore a "PHM" prefix and were part of the 200-000 series; stereo titles had a "PHS" prefix and were part of the 600-000 series. Gold or white label promos were issued. From 1970-74, a black label was used with "Manufactured and Distributed by Mercury" on the bottom."

Mercury: (...) Labels distributed by them (Mercury) were primarily the Norman Granz labels Clef, Down Home, Norgran and Verve (through 1960) along with Savoy and Regent. Along the way they also picked up Keynote and Limelight before becoming a part of the PolyGram group.

How did they "pick up" something they helped create? Seems to me that Limelight was a sort of "boutique" label for Mercury, with the emphasis on ultra-deluxe packaging. But maybe Mercury picked them up almost immediately after the label's formation?

Can somebody get ahold of Jack Tracy? If anybody can speak authoritatively on the matter, it's him!

[J.A.W.]

Ok, case in point - Woody's Big Band Goodies, a collection of the Philips-era band (and with, I believe, at least some material left over from other Philips sessions) was originally released in 1964 (while the band was still releasing sides on Philips) on Mercury's "budget" Wing label.

Details here: http://www.cosmicsounds-london.com/DUSKO/wgoodies.htm

Now, maybe this Philips/Mercury thing was strictly American. I don't know. But it's what prompted my curiosity as to whether or not the Limelight material might be included in this set. That, and how Dizzy went straight from Philips to Limelight (a subsidiary of Mercury, which was at least somehow connected w/Philips at the time), w/o skipping a beat have me wondering.

I still think it was a distribution deal Philips had with Mercury before the Polydor/Phonogram merger.

[J.A.W.]

From Goldmine's "Price Guide to Collectible Jazz Albums 1949-1969" (1994 edition, compiled by Neil Umphred):

Philips: From inception through 1963, Philips used a black label with "Chicago 1, Illinois" on the bottom. From 1964-66, the black label had "Vendor: Mercury" on the bottom. From 1966-70, the black label with no print extra disclaimers on the bottom was used. Throughout this time, mono albums bore a "PHM" prefix and were part of the 200-000 series; stereo titles had a "PHS" prefix and were part of the 600-000 series. Gold or white label promos were issued. From 1970-74, a black label was used with "Manufactured and Distributed by Mercury" on the bottom."

Mercury: (...) Labels distributed by them (Mercury) were primarily the Norman Granz labels Clef, Down Home, Norgran and Verve (through 1960) along with Savoy and Regent. Along the way they also picked up Keynote and Limelight before becoming a part of the PolyGram group.

How did they "pick up" something they helped create? Seems to me that Limelight was a sort of "boutique" label for Mercury, with the emphasis on ultra-deluxe packaging. But maybe Mercury picked them up almost immediately after the label's formation?

Can somebody get ahold of Jack Tracy? If anybody can speak authoritatively on the matter, it's him!

According to the first edition of "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz" (1988), Limelight was founded in 1962 as a subsidiary of Mercury and was directed by Jack Tracy. Obviously, Umphred was wrong with his "pick up" remark in his Goldmine guide.