Allan Songer

Good ! A friendly relationship and set sale (even if prices are high) that's what we expect from a site. If you know some, would you share them with us ? Ron Rambach and Jeff Barr are working on it. I'll let you know as soon as they are on-line. We may be waiting a long time! Ron does SO well on the high-end stuff on ebay I really think he'd be taking a step backwards profit-wise by selling direct. He hasn't had a "list" in over a year, so maybe he's going to make the next one an on-line only list? Haven't heard about Jeff's website in a while. Is he really working on a "shopping cart" type site?

Good ! A friendly relationship and set sale (even if prices are high) that's what we expect from a site. If you know some, would you share them with us ? HERE is the latest one I received . . .

I haven't seen Freddie around much the last 2-3 months here in L.A. I used to run into him over at Atomic Records in Burbank quite often--the guys there say his hands have been giving him fits lately and that he can't play for more than a few minutes without it becoming really painful. Freddie did a flurry of gigs--most of them trio, but one with Phil Ranelin and Herman Riley, about a year ago here in L.A. and he sounded great. He told me that he was on some kind of medication that really helped with his "carpal tunnel" alllwing him to play full gigs for the first time in 2-3 years. I don't know if he can't afford the meds, but I do know that he really DOES need the money--he's barely scraping by . . .

WTF? Sell out? In 1966 Teddy was sitting in L.A. with NO gigs to speak of and landing the Prestige deal was a really nice thing for him! The records are good and were absolutely done to the taste of the day, but so what? Sunset Eyes is on ebay once a month and isn't hard to come by. I knew Teddy for the last 25 years of his life and I miss him every day. He was my all time favorite player--must have heard him live at least 100 times, including his last public gig at Spazio with his string big band. Herman Riley had to take most of the tenor solos, as it was all Teddy could do to conduct and MC the show, but he gave his ALL as he ALWAYS did.

Killer Atlas LP with Art Pepper

I bought one record from this nimrod--a Prestige Hank Mobley that he said was NM/VG+. This was several years ago and I paid him $202 for the record. The jacket was pretty nice, a solid VG+, NOT NM and the record was in beat-minus condtion with TWO skips and hideous surface noise. I asked for my money back and he told me to "pound sand" and said I was probably going to pull "the old switcheroo" and send him my beat copy and keep his nice one. I left negative feedback with 20 seconds to spare and I have NEVER EVER even looked at one of his auctions.

Me too. I've heard him three times--once in the mid-70's--he could still blow the horn, but the music was really boring and insipid. Then again around '89 and '92. Pretty weak. But "the worst trumpet playing I have ever heard on stage" award goes to Freddie Hubbard about 3-4 years ago. He couldn't play more than about ten seconds at a time because his lip was so bad--eventually he sat down at the piano and finished the set at the keyboard. Now, THAT was sad to see (and hear). I will be at the gig in D.C. in March and I'll report back.

Charles Owens (maybe THE most underappreciated L.A. reed man), John Heard, Roy McCurdy, Jon Mayer at Charlie O's. Then over to Dinnerhouse M at 12:30 or so to hear the Theo Saunders trio. A full night, for sure!

JEEBUS! Herbie

I too am a HUGE fan of Contemporary/Stereo Records. This was the first label that I actively collected back in the late 70's/early 80's as a LABEL and I have all of them--every mono and stereo original pressing. I think the first green labels appeared in either late 1968 or early 1969 from what I can determine. At first they were still thick, "deep groove" pressings but soon became thin, flixible pressings. The thick ones sound as nice as the black label pressings. And I concur that DuNann was the FIRST engineer recording jazz to get Stereo "right." And he also did THE best job recording piano. I ended last night's session listening to Gerald Wiggins' "Relax and Enjoy It," an easy-swiging gorgeously recorded LP that never gets it's due!!

I have every single Pacific Jazz/World Pacific issue--and if there were Stereo and Mono issues I have both. I even have most of the "alternate" covers as well. Do You collect Contemporary/Stereo Records, Jazz West, Intro, Score, Dot, Mode, Imperial, Dooto . . . Some good stuff pressed out in LA on the local indy labels, thats for damn sure . . .

I have run across a lot of "Sparton" pressings of Contemporary and Impulse! releases. I actually founda SEALED Art Pepper "Intensity" pressed by Sparton--black label, deep groove. Sounded great--traded it for a Gerald Wiggins LP . . .

And even Atomic has had several copies in the past few years... this one looks pretty nice, though. My pal Greg bought his VG+ copy for $1 at Ashby BART Station Flea Market. I have a really, really BEAT-MINUS original and the 80's Japanese reissue. Can't say I love the session--I pulled it out once in the last 5 years when I went on a 5-6 day Jackie Mac binge after he passed . . .

I find it difficult ot understand someone dropping four bills on a Liberty pressing. Would someone so new to collecting Blue Notes really spend that kind of money? Guess so. I wonder if they keep scatching their head about this "DG" and "ear" thing in many of the ebay listings?

Almost every single Transition I have come across over the years has seam splits an half of them had the top and bottom seam COMPLETELY split!! And at least 1/3 of them are missing one or both labels! The only one I've had that had a traditional back cover is TRLP-1 "Jazz in a Stable." All of the others have plain backs with all the info and pics in a booklet (you're lucky to have it--half of the Transitions you come across are missing the booklet). Transitions were pressed on styrene. If there were taken care of they can sound great--most weren't. Very brittle and they didn't stand up to abuse like a Blue Note!

1999 = ebay

Yeah--like TRIPLE it's value. Jeesh . . . .

Japanese LP issue of Omegatapes session. Nice.

\ Harold Land, The Fox on HiFi Jazz

At one time not that long ago I had FOUR copies of TRUE BLUE in various states of condition. I eventually took the best jacket and the best hunk o plastic and put them together and sold the rest--too early as usual, but now I have one VG+ jacket and one NM hunk o TRUE BLUE plastic. But it actually hurt a bit when I mailed them out to Japan, Hong Kong and Germany . . .

Every time he's for sale, bidders become crazy. i don't know this one. So great ? I have it on cd. Nice, but nothing special, imo. How very sad for you . . .