Roger Hiles

So the EmArcy LPs are: Terry Gibbs (1956) Vibes on velvet (1956) Mallets-a-plenty (1956) Swingin' Terry Gibbs (1956) More vibes on velvet (1956) Terry plays the Duke (1958) Steve Allen's all-stars (1958) And on Mercury: Launching a new sound in music (1959) Explosion! (1962) Jewish melodies in jazztime (1963)

I guess there's always Andorra's thriving recording industry...

I got out "Terry Gibbs Plays Jewish Melodies in Jazztime" to give it a listen. I was suprised to find it was recorded January 11-12, 1963-- just 3 weeks after Manne's album. As far as I know, these were the first "jazz does Jewish folk" albums recorded (and the only ones for years). Does anyone know if there was some connection between the sessions?

Just posted on the Fantasy site: SHELLY MANNE Steps to The Desert Contemporary CCD-7609-2 ~ $14.98 AVAILABLE 5/11 Hava Nagila (Come Let's Be Happy), Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen; Yossel, Yossel; Zamar Nodad, Bokrei Lachish, Tzena, Exodus, Die Greene Koseene, My Yiddishe Momme, Orchah Bamidbar (Steps to the Desert), plus CD bonus tracks Zamar Nodad (single edit), Exodus (single edit), Tzena (single edit), Hava Nagila (single edit) with Shorty Rogers, Teddy Edwards, Victor Feldman, Al Viola, Monty Budwig Recorded December 17-20, 1962. AKA: "My Son The Jazz Drummer!"-- I wonder why they changed the title?

Jim Rotondi has a new cd out on Sharp Nine Records: "The pleasure dome", with Jesse Davis, David Hazeltine, Ray Drummond, and Joe Farnsworth. IMO, this is a standout release & there is a very appealing melodic quality (brought out especially when Jim switches to flugel) to this terrific straight-ahead music that rewards repeated listening. 1. On Y Va (Let's Go) 2. The breeze and I 3. The pleasure dome 4. My ideal 5. A Bientot 6. Yours is my heart alone 7. Mamacita 8. Hush

Cover art for these two:

Looks like the Mosaic Selects will not be offered at retail after one year, as planned originally. The new March Mosaic catalog states that "the current economics of the retail market prevent us from using this avenue of distribution." For now, at least. Otherwise the series seems to be going well, judging from the number that have been released.

This is out on the Colorado-based Jazzed Media label: "Phil Woods and Carl Saunders play Henry Mancini" (with: Jeff Jenkins, piano ; Ken Walker, bass ; Paul Romaine, drums) 1. The Pink Panther 2. Lightly 3. Walkin’ Bass 4. Soldier In The Rain 5. Free and Easy 6. Fallout! 7. Goofin’ at the Coffee House 8. Dreamsville 9. Mr. Lucky 10. Sorta Blue 11. A Quiet Gass 12. Two For The Road A nice album, makes me think of old Peter Gunn episodes, Nocturne records, etc.! (Available direct at: www.jazzedmedia.com or from Amazon.com)

Just posted on the Fantasy site: ZOOT SIMS with THE JOE CASTRO TRIO Live at Falcon Lair Pablo PACD-2310-977-2 ~ $14.98 AVAILABLE 04/27 A Night in Tunisia, Pennies from Heaven, I'll See You in My Dreams, It's Always You, Blues for Nat, Swinging with Rudolph, East of the Sun (West of the Moon), J.C. Blues Recorded April 1, 1956. BUD POWELL Bebop Pablo PACD-2310-978-2 ~ $14.98 AVAILABLE 04/27 Introduction by Leonard Feather , Perdido, (Back Home Again In) Indiana, Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid, I’ll Be Seeing You, 52 nd Street Theme, Ornithology, Blues in the Closet, Now’s the Time, Confirmation, Hot House, Salt Peanuts, Lady Bird, I Remember Clifford with Nelson Boyd, Kenny Clarke, Buddy DeFranco, Jacques Gervais, Johnny Griffin, Benny Harris, Guy Hayat, Budd Johnson, J.J. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Pierre Michelot, Cecil Payne, Max Roach, and Chuck Wayne Recorded in New York City, Paris, and Edenville, France, between 1948 and 1964

I first noticed the new "EMI" logo on the Miles Davis "Birdland 1951" CD that came out in January.

Just a note for those interested in getting the material on the "Complete CBS Recordings of Eddie Condon and His All Stars" (Mosaic#152) on CD, most has been reissued on three "two-fers" on the Collectables label: Click here for details

Note on the Mosaic web site: 'The Brookmeyer set is currently on backorder and is expected to ship the week of February 23rd. You may order the set and we will not charge your credit card until the set ships.' I guess this means it's selling better than expected!

Here's a hint: On cduniverse, if you do a title search for "RVG", this batch comes up on one page. Or perhaps this link will work.

The Jazzmatazz site reports Verve will reissue the impulse! release "Soul sisters" by the Gloria Coleman quartet on March 9. This was talked up in John Corbett's "Vinyl Freak" column in the July downbeat. Maybe this is the start of a trend! Here's the column: Soul Sisters (Impulse!, 1963) More than 60 years separate the first jazz recording in 1917 and the introduction of the CD in the early '80s. In this column, DB's Vinyl Freak, John Corbett, unearths some of the musical gems made during this time that have yet to be reissued on CD. Ah, the silt of history covers all sorts of things. Many great forgotten records are forgotten because they were pressed up in small batches on tiny labels and hardly anybody ever had a chance to hear them in the first place. But being on a bigger label by no means assures great ones of being remembered--it's easy for special little recordings to get lost, passed over repeatedly in the megacorp milk-the-cash-cow mentality. Some of the niftiest music in the world still languishes in the jazz industry's main vaults. Hard to believe, with its super heavy cover, that anyone could ever overlook Soul Sisters, but alas, every time I see a new batch of Impulse! CD reissues, I'm disappointed not to find this wonderful funky diamond among them. Recorded by Rudy van Gelder in `63, after the group had apparently been working for some time at a club in New York called Branker's, it's a minor masterpiece of soul-jazz. Not to mention the gravity-defying architectural wonder that is Pola Roberts' beehive! Leader Gloria Coleman was a stellar B-3 player--there were not many women organists at that time, Shirley Scott and Trudy Pitts excepted--and she penned five of the six tunes on the LP, all of them blues-based swingers. On "Hey Sonny Redd" she tweaks the requisite one-note organ routine, adding little details to the drone; and throughout the record her driving pedal work means you have to force yourself to remember there's no bassist. Coleman's featured partner Roberts is a very hip drummer, understated but totally full of pep. She doesn't bowl things over like Joe Dukes, but she percolates underneath, stirring the soul with an easy ride, subtle snare bursts exploding like kernels in a Jiffy Pop popper. Soul guitar kingpin Grant Green and saxophonist Leo Wright (thankfully fluteless on this date) round out the foursome. "Melba's Minor," dedicated to Melba Liston, has a saxophone-less A-section in which, as liner notician Stanley Dance put it, "... one can imagine Grant Green out on the steppes with his balalaika." That stretches the bounds of poetic license, methinks, but perhaps ... it is a strangely Russian, soundtrack-like theme, in any case. Coleman takes a great solo, with nice dissonances and some more single-note shenanigans. Written for then recently deceased saxist Ike Quebec, "Que Baby" is a very groovy up-tempo groove, a nice way to kick the LP off, while "Funky Bob" is a slow grind blues concocted by Green for producer Bob Thiele, with a chewy alto solo and ultra laid-back guitar. Compositionally, "My Ladie's Waltz" (dedicated to Coleman's daughter with husband, saxophonist George Coleman) is the record's apex, a really funky tune in 3/4. Pssst ... hey GRP! Soul jazz is back, baby. This polite tap on the shoulder should remind the folks who control the Impulse! archives of their li'l treasure, and maybe Soul Sisters can find the ready audience for which it's been waiting for the last 38 years. Down Beat , July, 2001, by John Corbett

Second votes for "Best of the West" and "Critic's choice". And speaking of Pacific Jazz, how about Gil Evans/Cannonball Adderley (PJ-40) and Teddy Edwards' "It's about time" (PJ-6)?

I've been waiting for "The Modern Jazz Quartet At the Music Inn" (Atl. 1247) with Jimmy Giuffre for years. "The Historic Jazz Concert At Music Inn" (Atl. 1298), was recorded two days later (August 30, 1956) with with a larger group including Giuffre, Pee Wee Russell, Rex Stewart, Herbie Mann, Teddy Charles, Dick Katz. "The Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn vol. 2 " (Atl. 1299) with Rollins was recorded two years later, and has been out on CD for years. Mostly, though, these Music Inn/Lenox School of Jazz recordings have not made it to CD yet, and maybe they'd make an interesting box set. Other records included could be "Third Stream Music" (Atl. 1345), by the MJQ (and guests), John Lewis' "The Wonderful World Of Jazz" (Atl. 1375) with Herb Pomeroy, Jimmy Giuffre, Gunther Schuller, Jim Hall, John Lewis and Connie Kay, and John Lewis/Gary McFarland's "Essence" (Atl. 1425).

Gary Giddins talks this up in the recent Jazz Times. It really is terrific but is the sort of reissue that's easy to overlook. Check it out! Performers: Hank Jones (piano), Milt Hinton (bass) & Bob Rosengarden (drums) Rec. 1977. 1. 'Swonderful 2. Queen Of Hearts 3. Mona's Feeling Lonely 4. Right Here, Right Now 5. I'll Remember April 6. Oh, What A Beautiful Morning 7. Lullaby Of The Leaves 8. Re-union 9. Hank You, Thank

So the release date for this has slipped to January? I wonder how missing the Christmas shopping season can be a good idea for Sony/Columbia?

From the Fresh Sounds web site: "On original Lp and CD re-editions, Arnold Ross's four chorus piano solo on "Indiana" had been cut in half, "September in the Rain" had been shortened by the editing out of two choruses (one by Ross, one by Edison), while "This foolish things" had lost the second half of a solo chorus of piano. This Fresh Sound edition puts back all the choruses..." Here's a track list comparing the FS track times with the Definitive release (in brackets): 1. September in the rain 6:32 [4:45] 2. 'S wonderful 3:54 [3:54] 3. Just you, just me 3:51 [3:52] 4. Indiana 5:44 [4:47] 5. Pennies from heaven 6:18 [6:18] 6. These foolish things 7:23 [6:10] 7. Tea for two 6:58 [6:59] In addition, the Definitive release has added three tracks from the Buddy Rich All-stars (with Edison, Rich, Benny Carter, Georgie Auld, Milt Bernhardt, Bob Lawson, Jimmy Rowles, and John Simmons): Let's fall in love [2:47] Me and my Jaguar [3:48] Just blues [6:27] I think it's great that the extra material is finally seeing the light of day. It would be better if PJ or Mosaic were doing it, but at least this gets us a chance to hear it. It also reminds us that in 7 years, the whole 1950s jazz scene will be in public domain in Europe. How many lost treasures will be coming our way via Classics or Fresh Sounds or Definitive? What will this mean for the jazz reissue biz in the U.S.?

Add one more vote for "Best from the West". Does anyone know if these were ever reissued on CD anywhere? Dustygroove has Japanese reissues on LP.

It's so easy to take Fantasy for granted! I've been enjoying the latest batch of two-fers: Gene Ammons: Fine and Mellow Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Good 'Nuff Jack McDuff Big Band: Prelude Now just a few weeks until the next batch. Fantastic!

I'm looking forward to the Mosaic CJB, of course. It's been a long wait! Also looking forward to the live Shelley Manne & His Men on Fantasy, the new Phil Urso tribute to Chet Baker, the remastered Ellington "Far East Suite", and the Brubeck "Time" box set from Sony/Columbia (although I just checked and that's coming in October). Anyway, plenty to look forward to/save up for!

I found the info thanks to the Carl Saunders web site: "This newly recorded session features Denver’s legendary Tenor Saxophonist Phil Urso coupled with LA’s hottest jazz trumpet player Carl Saunders. Backed by an exciting Denver based rhythm section (Paul Romaine, Colin Gieg, and Keith Waters) the group plays tunes associated with the great trumpet player Chet Baker." Phil Urso and Carl Saunders Salute Chet Baker FEATURING: Phil Urso, Tenor Saxaphone Carl Saunders, Trumpet Keith Waters, Piano Colin Gieg, Bass Paul Romaine, Drums TRACK LISTING: Jumpin Off a Clef For Minors Only Halema Mister B. This Is The Thing Funk In Deep Freeze My Funny Valentine Baby Breeze Way To Go Worryin The Life Out Of Me Line For Lyons Back to top Catalog #: JM1001 Pricing: $14.99 - includes shipping & handling to the continental U.S. $19.99 - includes shipping & handling outside of the continental U.S. including Canada, Europe, and Asia Order from: www.jazzedmedia.com

I originally posted this over at AAJ, but need as much help as I can get! I was driving through Colorado the other day when the Denver jazz radio station announced a CD release party for a new Phil Urso/Carl Saunders album (a Chet Baker tribute) would be held at the Denver club Dazzle. This sounds interesting-- Saunders is terrific and I haven't heard a new Phil Urso recording for a very long time. Unfortunately, I missed the follow-up story. Does anyone know what label is releasing this? Anyone attend the party? Thanks for any help!

I don't know if I've ever listened to the discs continuously one after the other, but it's a fine set. TW was such an elegant player, especially by the 1950s, and this set is a joy. If you like TW, you'll like this.