Roger Hiles

You're right-- that's too bad, and another reminder of how much we owe Fantasy for keepinng the OJCs in print all these years. Of course, Amazon.com has a Japanese import of the CD for those willing to spend $46.49!

It's sad that Columbia/Sony didn't release these as normal CDs-- I agree "copy-protecting" these is a curious choice. Maybe jazz is more popular than I thought! To save the trouble of dealing with cp, I passed on all but "Jeru". Except for the cp nonsense, it's a quality reissue. A nice session (especially the bossa nova "Capricious"), good liner notes, everyone's name spelled correctly on the cover. On the bright side, I bet this encourages at least a few people to discover Linux and possibly Ogg Vorbis (open-source sound standard). Computers should enable us, not confine us.

Always happy to recommend Shelly Manne albums! The live sets from the Blackhawk and the Manne-hole are among my favorite jazz albums. "Checkmate", with some little known John Williams numbers (written for an otherwise forgotten TV show) is also quite good. All these are Contemporary/OJCs. Of course, from my avatar you know I'm also going to recommend "2-3-4" on impulse, which features Shelly with Coleman Hawkins and Hank Jones.

Yes it was-- came out in 1996 in long-box format with a picture of the Benny Goodman postage stamp on the front. Includes a 43 page booklet with notes by Loren Schoenberg, Helen Oakley Dance and Harold E. Samuel of Yale, a few pictures, and track info. Music Masters 01612-65130-2

This batch of "April" releases are (mostly) up on the Fantasy Web site (finally!): OJCs Only 6 of the 10 20-bits in the original January announcement are listed: 20-bits So it doesn't look like these four made it (at least not yet): Miles Davis, Dig Coleman Hawkins, Soul John Coltrane, Standard Coltrane Yusef Lateef, Eastern Sounds "Street date" is Aug. 30 for both.

Here's the latest on this batch: The Jazzmatazz site lists a release date of August 30 for everything-- OJCs, 20-bits, plus the Sonny Rollins live date. The are only links to CD Universe for pre-orders for a few titles so far (NOT including Son of Gunn), but at least it's something positive. The Fantasy site's new release page has finally been updated (after about 6 mos.), but only the Rollins date is listed.

Found a review of this in (of all places) Forbes.com's CEO Network: Book Review Better Than A Dry Martini Richard Hyfler, 06.21.05, 12:46 PM ET In 1953 Iola Brubeck wrote to more than 100 colleges and universities enclosing reviews of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, a struggling outfit led by her pianist husband. The promotion paid off. Albums like Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at the College of the Pacific, recorded live before enthusiastic audiences, made the group one of the most popular in the country, and within a few years Brubeck would appear on the cover of Time magazine. In 1959 the quartet recorded an album featuring a song in 5/4, a time signature not commonly used in jazz. The co-author of that enduring hit, "Take Five," was the band's alto sax player, Paul Desmond, who is now the subject of a lavish, beautifully produced, large-format biography by Doug Ramsey called Take Five (Parkside Publications, $44.95). Throughout his career, Desmond was a fount of melody. His trademark sound and laid-back swing--he said he wanted to sound like a dry martini--hinted at the influence of tenor saxophone master Lester Young, a tendency shared by many white saxophonists of the time. Desmond thrived at medium tempos, separating him from the mass of saxophonists ripping through bebop chord changes in the wake of Charlie Parker. Even Parker was a fan, and Desmond topped magazine polls at a time when that counted for something. Ramsey's book avoids most of the negative press criticism of Brubeck (and of Desmond), but behind the praise for Desmond there was often the suggestion that he was too good for Brubeck, an altogether less subtle musician. But Desmond fell for Brubeck early and hard. Though they met in 1944 while in the Army, it wasn't until 1946 that they played music together. "The musical rapport," Desmond said, "was very evident and kind of scary." Over the next few years, Desmond endeavored to perform with Brubeck as often as possible, sitting in often without pay, and eventually became a member of his working band. They separated over a dispute about a job that left Brubeck and his family in poverty. Brubeck determined never to work with Desmond again. The musical analysis in the book is limited--mostly annotated transcriptions of some Desmond solos by other musicians--but for the general reader there are scores of photos and the liberal use of Desmond's lifelong correspondence with his father, Emil Breitenfeld, an organist and arranger in San Francisco responsible for much of his son's musical education. A 1949 letter draws a picture of the 24-year-old Desmond on the road with a mediocre dance band and in the throes of a crisis of confidence as he works his way to the East Coast. He's insecure about his tone and his improvisational skills, worried about his place in a musical world dominated by Parker and bebop. "The closer I get to NY," he wrote, "the more uncertain I get." Brubeck, he realizes, is his answer. A subsequent letter, written on the way home, describes "Operation Paradise," including his playing goals ("Emotion, honest and simple") and mechanical goals ("Pretty, but strong, sound. Volume with dignity to match Dave's"). The ultimate goal was to get back with Brubeck, which he did, playing in his regular quartet until 1967. Off the bandstand, Desmond was never without female companionship, when he wanted it. Unfortunately, he was often attracted to the wives of his friends. He was known as a great wit, though sometimes at the expense of unfortunate strippers or lounge pianists. He may be the only jazz musician to have had a piece published in Punch, the legendary British magazine. It was a fragment of the book he threatened to write about life on the road, called "How Many of You Are There in the Quartet?" He was picky about his drugs: He never messed with heroin, had no interest in marijuana, and made his way through the Army on Benzedrine and through the rest of his life on Dewar's scotch and cigarettes, plus the occasional acid trip at New York's Museum of Modern Art. After his final run with Brubeck, Desmond took it easy. He lived well and played sporadically, and finally succumbed to lung cancer at 52, surprised to find that it was lungs and not his liver that gave out first. His last concert was with the Brubeck family's group, and he needed a transfusion to get there. Away from Brubeck he rarely played any of the pianist's countless compositions. Perhaps he understood the value of a good accompanist: Brubeck made him sound better, much better than the "sound of a dry martini."

Thanks to all involved in sharing this with the world! Album of the year, indeed!

The new K2s were first announced on the Fantasy web site as part of batch that would include new OJCs, slated for April. Next, the release date was pushed to this summer, and then all references were removed from the web site and replaced with news of a new Sonny Rollins cd due out August 30. So I suppose it could mean they might come out after August 30...

The reference to Jack Sheldon got me thinking of the Manne's capitol "Lady" lp & I googled it. It got a Grammy nomination in 1964 (for "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group or Soloist with Large Group"), though it lost out to Laurindo Almeida's "Guitar from Ipanema". Rod Levitt's "Dynamic Sound Patterns of the Rod Levitt Orchestra" was also nominated, which I found surprising. For best "Rock and Roll Recording", Grammy voters showed their savvy by passing over the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" in favor of "Downtown" by Petula Clark!

I've noticed all the OJCs being highlighted on Dustygroove-- wonder if this isn't a sign of discounting/inventory clearance by the new owners?

Yeah, I was hoping "Son of Gunn" would make it out before anything drastic happened to the Fantasy catalog. When did the last OJC (til now, hopefully!) come out? I think it was Johnny Griffin's Pisces-- came out in October 2004.

For what it's worth, the news about this batch of reissues has been removed from the Fantasy website and replaced by news of a new Sonny Rollins release due out on August 30. Whether that means they are no longer coming at all, or are coming after August 30, who knows?

Thanks from me too. For the last several years I have been waiting for Classics to hit 1955-1956 for several people. Guess I'll have to keep waiting!

Chet Baker quintet / At the Forum Theater Chet Baker, trumpet Phil Urso, tenor Bobby Timmons, piano Jimmy Bond, bass Peter Littman, drums And on two tracks: Bill Loughbrough, chromatic tympany This is terrific early Baker-- Phil Urso really helps make this session cook! Of course, the chromatic tympany pieces (luckily only two) take some getting used to.

The Columbia Woody Herman, v. 1: Apple Honey!

Just wondering if anyone had an update about the "distribution problem"? The March Worlds Records catalog saying they are still able to get inventory items only and that stocks are running out at their source. No new releases since September of last year.

Notice the OJCs being promoted at Dusty Groove? Am I being paranoid, or could this be a sign of discounting (and inventory clearance) by Fantasy?

Is this the one you mean: Modern Sounds From The West (Best From The West Vols 1 & 2) on Lonehill? Leonard Feather presents early West Coast jazz from 1954-55 performed by three small groups. The first finds Conte with Charlie Mariano, Marty Paich, John Graas, Monty Budwig and Stan Levey, the second with Conte, Buddy Collette, Jimmy Giuffre, Gerald Wiggins, Howard Roberts, Curtis Counce & Stan Levey, and the third with Sweets Edison on trumpet instead of Conte, joined by Herb Geller, Bob Enevoldsen, Lorraine Geller, Joe Mondragon & Larry Bunker-- all featuring Shorty Rogers' writing. This was Blue Note's only West Coast session. Added to the CD is a 1956 session with Conte in New York backed by Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Barry Galbraith & Osie Johnson. It's wonderful music for fans of West Coast jazz. The sound is OK overall, but one track is marred by some odd sounds. Otherwise, about what you'd expect from this type of label. Yes, I know about Lonehill-- but I've given up on EMI ever bringing this out. Of course, tomorrow they'll probably announce an RVG of this!

The Fantasy web site now says the release date for these has slipped to "sometime this summer".

Another vote for "Golden Eight".

The Fantasy web site mentions the following OJCs due out in April: Shelly Manne & His Men Play More Music from Peter Gunn Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings Passion Dance / McCoy Tyner Mama Pinned a Rose on Me / Mary Lou Williams Ramblin' with Mose / Mose Allison

Good to know they didn't copy-protect this set-- looks like I've run out of reasons not to buy this! (Oh well, savings accounts are over-rated anyway).

I was just reading about Verve copy-protecting the new Jimmy Smith reissue, and had a scarry thought-- Does anyone know if Verve is copy-protecting this set? Yikes!

Thanks to the Jazzmatazz site I've just found that this set is available from CD Universe for $91.21! (although described at the "Complete Verve sessions"). Link to CD Universe Never noticed this with any Mosaic sets before.