Big Beat Steve

It's certainly an enjoyable record (I found my copy - a 70s reissue on French RCA - in one of those Special Offer bins and at 2.50 euros you can take chances) but it probably will be of less interest to those who are specifically into the original Andy Kirk band and will appeal more to those who are into Al Cohn and his 50s acolytes. (So you should be safe anyhow according to your interests.) Here is the Down Beat review from 1957: The approach of trade listeners in 1957 may not be exactly the same as that of today's collector listeners, so YMMV, as the say. And this excerpt from the liner notes of the 70s reissue on French RCA may also be of interest to put things a bit into perspective:

I had to think a little but now remember: It was the "Blues Box 2" 4-LP set on MCA that I bought in 1977 when I was 17. As this was Vol. 2 I wondered about Vol. 1 but this was nowhere to be found at our local shops. Then a school buddy's father (a collector himself) stepped in and inquired with the right people at the local record shop where I had bought the first one (a shop that sometimes carried interesting stuff you did not see elsewhere but was kind of pricey). And soon afterwards the "Blues Box Vol. 1" was there for me to pick up. I still have both and whenever I see a secondhand copy memories of my school days come up. https://www.discogs.com/master/955304-Various-Blues-Box-2 https://www.discogs.com/release/5371665-Various-Blues-Box-1 Re- the Count Basie Roulette box sets on Mosaic: I never had had my eyes on the studio box set as I had accumulated all the Basie LPs on Roulette over time (except 1 or 2 vocalist LPs that I wasn't too hot about anyway). But the Roulette "Live" box set I recently scored was too good an opportunity to pass up, particularly since most of the contents really is new in any form. So I am looking forward to explore it.

Maybe not only one CD a year but one every 1 or 2 months, but basically that's a good idea. But (at least for me) only for those box sets where it would be too overwhelming (or way too much of a good thing) to absorb all the CDs/records one after another right after the purchase. Sometimes I can't wait to hear it all (but admittedly that's been the case for only a minority). Let's see how things work out for my most recent purchase (at a very good price) - the Count Basie Live Roulette 8-CD box set by Mosaic.

There would be a lot to say ... In brief, I find them convenient for exploring an artist or a musical area in a comprehensive manner (provided the box sets are compiled thoughtfully), and those that come with just as comprehensive liner notes (often not just booklets but BOOKS) are not just an audible but also a visual treat. Though the investments sometimes are heavy ... if bought new. When found secondhand, anything is possible, either they soar in price or they can be found dirt cheap (such as about a year ago when I came across the 4-CD box set of "Sidney Bechet in Switzerland" in mint condition for a measly 10 Euros at our local record shop - but in the music BOOKS section because they clearly had taken it to be a BOOK ). And FWIW, I still like or even love my VINYL box sets too. There were some nice ones there too. But of course you cannot reshuffle their contents the way you do with yours. OTOH, sometimes these box sets even turn out to be the most economical way of purchasing a chunk of music (and I am not at all talking about Public Domain label multi-CD compilations, though some of these "XX classic albums by YY" are convenient too). Way more affordable than buying the individual CDs or LPs that made up the box set. Both new or secondhand. So sometimes it pays if you did not (or were unable to) snap up certain items right after they were released but quite a while later when they had progressed from several individual records to all in one box set.

I had recently started reading the earlier Listening to Prestige Vol. 1 (1949-54) session-by-session book (well, it's not that comprehensive session-by-session wise and otherwise a somewhat mixed bag too), but before additionally getting started seriously on the new "Listening to Prestige" label history book by Tad Richards as well I went back to this one (below) that I had gifted to myself for Christmas (based on recommendations by fellow forumists): Well-written, a fluent and informative read - about the music, the band and the man as an orchestra leader, anyway (as some other reivewer said, there are other books for other aspects of Stan Kenton the man ). I am now a bit more than halfway through the book (up to the Mellophonium years) and can say it really gives today's reader a good look into the "Kenton era" in all its facets. I've seen reviews of this book by, on the face of it, renowned reviewers who faulted Michael Sparke's book for a lack of "critical musical analysis" of Kenton's music. I don't know what they'd have expected this to be - how would anyone do a readable (!!) in-depth analysis of the Bob Graettinger scores or even those of Johnny Richards that remains readable to anyone OUTSIDE the confrerie of advanced musicologists in their ivory towers? I.e. readable to the average layman reader and listener and collector of the Stan Kenton music. For this target group of readers, however, I find the author has found the right balance of presenting, describing and characterizing the music in a way that makes you reach for certain records in the Kenton corner of your record shelves to give them a spin again or to revisit other records where the less than ethusiastic description by the author makes you wonder whether you did right in buying that platter in the first place. So, no, the author is no Kenton fanboy all the way through but does cover the weak spots too. Another bone of contention by some reivewers was the alleged excessive reliance on quotations from former band members and "subjective opinions". It may be only me but I find it is exactly these statements from those who worked with the man that brings the music and the life and working conditions of the Kenton band really into life and makes it all more understandable to present-day readers. This is another point where I wonder how things would have to be done to please these professional reviewers and what, if proceeding by the same yardstick, they would they have had to fault other authors for in THEIR biographies (and there are plenty out there where the weak spots stand out glaringly even to the non-expert reader). In fact, as I had come into posession of the below Kenton biography by William Lee last summer I decided on a two-fold approach and for large stretches of the Sparke biography I read the Lee biography in parallel for additional info - and testimonials (quotations ) from band members. On its own, the Lee biography can be a wearisome read for anyone but unconditional Kentonites who gladly absorb every snippet of everything ever written about Stan Kenton ... The quotations from former band members are even more numerous and even lengthier there, the capsule biographies given in the chronology for most new band members can distract and wear the reader out in the long run, and the reprints of contemporary press coverage of Kenton and his band activities often are redundant and colored by period copywriter blurb anyway (and not totally easy to quickly absorb for the reader due to a clumsy page layout). But if taken piecemeal and in moderate and well-targeted doses, those quotations and period press articles can be interesting and helpful in better understanding the reception of the Kenton band in its times. Even though those testimonials by former band members may be a bit colored by the fact that many seem to have been collected soon after the death of Stan Kenton (so a tone of "de mortuis nil nisi bene" may well have reigned here and there). All in all, when used in a targeted manner as a "source book" the Lee biography complements the one by Michael Sparke in a very useful way. In short, even without having access to the Lee biography, I'd recommend the Sparke bio any time to those who are not yet familiar with any Kenton biography - and thanks again to you forum members who pointed me towards this one.

Digging up this thread again now, another 12 years later: Among the records very recently bought from the estate of a deceased collector I also took home another copy of the Esquire 4-CD box set (ESQ100-4), but alas it also has only 22 tracks on CD 4. So this slipup seems to have been a fairly widespread problem. Since Sidewinder was not totally sure in 2013 which tunes exactly had been omitted (see his post of Dec. 1, 2013 above), I am wondering now: Did anyone ever do a closer comparison of the contents of this CD with other releases of each of the tunes supposed to be on this CD to find out which tunes EXACTLY were omitted and which is which now among the Tito Burns and Norman Burns tracks on the 22-track version? At any rate, its still a great set and a backup copy can do no harm.

After a quick comparison this is the enlarged 1944 version of the dictionary again. Makes sense as this must be the most comprehensive one. And a nice opener photo of that legendary 1939 party photo session intended for a LIFE magazine story (that never ran, unfortunately). In addition to the musicians named in the caption, Hot Lips Page, Max Kaminsky, bassist Clyde Newcomb, J.C. Higginbotham, Chu Berry, Cozy Cole, Eddie Condon, Rex Stewart and Johnny Hodges are in the pic. (And there were more at that party, including Juan Tizol, Billie Holiday, Bud Freeman, Dave Tough, Cootie Williams, pianist Dave Bowman and Brad Gowans). Who wouldn't have liked to listen in to THAT?

Winter has been upon us over here more than "usual" these past weeks too. But with your post and the weather reports (including from the US) this quip about "digging" just was unavoidable, wasn't it? Of course you are right about sitting down and enjoying. That's what I did every now and then after my early morning snow-shoveling workouts - working off my stack of unlistened-to recent arrivals in my record room.

Dig it? Out of the snow?

I suppose, though, he'd have been outdistanced by Jean-Christophe Averty over on French radio. That man was on permanent speaking overdrive on his "Les Cinglés du Music-Hall" show (which presented its share of early French and US jazz too) I tuned in to repeatedly in the 80s. And the funny thing was that there was a second host on that show who was calmer and more factual. So this one (forgot his name) came across like a sort of "straight man" to Averty. Re- the silence in Strozier's reply, I somehow understand this on the part of the interviewee. (Have heard similar situations in radio interviews elsewhere.) The radio host rambles on and on about this and that about the interviewee and tells the interviewee what he did and and did not and whatever ... (as if the interviewee would not have known for himself and been able to tell it himself to the listeners if asked the right questions ...). Small wonder some of those prodded for a reply felt like "What am I doing here anyway if YOU do all the talking?" Some interview hosts just ought to restrain themselves a little in such situations.

On a slightly more somber subject, some time ago I noticed a "miscellaneous news" item in a 50s jazz magazine that showed the following tongue-in-cheek practical use of this jive lingo: A recently-deceased cool cat had had the following words engraved on his gravesite marker prior to his passing: "DON'T DIG ME, CATS - I'M GONE!"

Thanks for the link to the article on Dan Burley. I knew about the reprint of the Dan Burley Jive handbook but for some reason never bought it. Maybe it was because I regretted they had needlessly changed the cover (not for the better). Does your reprint at least look like the "inside" is an actual reprint that reproduces the 40s layout? The contents of the Cab Calloway "Cat-ologue" dictionaries must be online out there. About 20 years ago I found (on two different websites) and printed out lists of the Calloway dictionary that were described as the "Revised 1939 Edition" and a somewhat expanded list that seems to correspond to his "New Hepster's Dictionary" of 1944. The introduction to the "Revised 1939 edition" describes the glossary taken from the original booklet as "containing about two hundred words and expressions employed by the hep cats when they talk their jive, as Harlemese is called on Lenox Avenune. This is nearly twice the number of words included in the original glossary." So this is an indicator of the scope of the dictionary. I have no idea if these are still online on the same sites. But there are others. I just found this one that reproduces the 1944 version of the Hepster's Dictionary: https://dancesafari.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/The-Hepster’s-Dictionary.pdf This article (that I just discovered after googling) also is interesting as it provides a peek into the actual booklet and shows what the 1939 edition really looks like: https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2021/03/04/a-hepsters-dictionary/ I wonder what they paid for their "acquisition" that they describe there. Googling shows there are couple of original copies for sale on various bookseller platforms. But the prices range from $1,000+ to some $3,000!

Yes, worth watching and listening to any time. Particularly since she has also been graced with excellent reissues (and in some cases first-time discoveries) in recent years.

Amazing ... I wasn't even aware that the ubiquitous BILLY bookcases by IKEA had such a CD insert spinoff too. The way my record collection has expanded in more recent years and is now occupying two Billy bookcases in an adjacent room as well (in addition to a wall of sturdier and modular shelves in my original music room) I'd be able to make good use of some of these inserts. But as they have been discontinued 10+ years ago as you say ...

I wouldn't disagree with you about 40 CDs being a bit much.

Given the masses of reissues, that's a touchy question and I doubt it is easier to answer than it was 21 years ago when the discussions in THIS thread were "hot". I've wondered about this myself. At any rate I think it MUST be one that goes across label boundaries. Ultraphone/Swing/Decca/Columbia/Rhythme etc. all would have to be included, regardless of who "owns" what. And then it all depends on the programming/compiling philosophy: Will it be Django Reinhardt with the QHCF and/or his solo/trio/"Django's Music" recordings only or will his sessions with other French band leaders (Alix Combelle, Philippe Brun, André Ekyan etc.) and visiting US musicians backed up by French groups (where Django always made important contributions IMO) be covered as well? Back in the vinyl days when I started out, the "Djangologie" series of some 20 LPs by EMI/Pathé probably was the most comprehensive and best-organized one. But of course it was limited to the labels linked to Pathé. And these were too much for my student funds anyway ... and I already had some on individual other LPs and could not afford dumping these. Later on (in the late 80s) I bought this 8-LP set on Affinity (UK) which gives a good cross-section (including his very interesting recordings with visiting US jazzmen) but is not comprehensive either, of course: https://www.discogs.com/release/5952389-Django-Reinhardt-Django Over time I picked up most of those LPs from the Djangologie series that more or less fill the gaps left by this Affinity box. Plus some "outliers" such as the sessions from Belgium, Italy, the session with US musicians from 1945, etc. But if I wanted to be still more comprehensive yet I'd have to almost start from scratch and get the Frémeaux CD series - as the "Intégrale - Saison 1 to 3" box sets which include 40 CDs. Which from all I've read and heard would be the most definitive multi-disc compilation today. They are listed at a shade over 60 EUR per box set on Amazon - which sounds like a fair price. And above all a way better deal than buying twenty 2-CD sets. https://www.amazon.nl/s?k=Django+reinhardt+Intégrale+Frémeaux&crid=1DJ95NVEHL3SM&sprefix=django+reinhardt+intégrale+frémeaux%2Caps%2C89&ref=nb_sb_noss BTW, talking about value for money, some years ago I picked up the below P.D. set of 10 CDs secondhand at a special sale locally for the huge amount of 1 (one!) EUR: https://www.discogs.com/release/4287199-Django-Reinhardt-Djangology If found very cheaply, it is an OK gap filler for non-completists. It includes most everything of the studio recordings from April 1937 to July 1943 (search me why they cover this time span), and the fidelity is good. Sure, its presentation is basic, no session details at all, but at such a minimum investment this can be overcome if you have a decent Django Reinhardt discography (which I think I have). And at any rate, working your way through his discographical work to see what you have and don't have on any given multi-disc set (below the level of the Freméaux packages) and where you can fill any remaining gaps most efficiently can still be a long-winding affair. Better not to be a completist ...

Yes, that's a well-done book. I bought my copy in 2011. The chapters on the various labels provide good overviews that are not extensive but detailed enough for most purposes, but for some labels that are really well-documented you instinctively use this book more as an appetizer and then reach for the more comprehensive ones (such as Colin Escott's "Good Rockin' Tonight" on Sun Records). I've also found this book is usefully combined with the label chapters in the "Both Sides Now" online album discography on labels such as King or Duke-Peacock. As for them not saying anything bad (or not much, really) about the men behind the labels, could this be one reason why they chose not to do a chapter on Savoy Records, for example, I wonder? At any rate, I think Herman Lubinsky was way more controversial than Syd Nathan.

A nice one! Bought an original through eBay sometime in the early 2000s and then made several photocopied and staspled sets (with color cover and all) and passed them on to cats in today's hepcats scene around here. All copies were snapped up in no time at all. Sometime ago (while searching for Down Besats, I think) I noticed it's now online and dowmloaded the file "just in case". I wonder when someone is going to put Dan Burley's Jive dictionary online (not just the bare contents - they are somewhere out there, as is the one by Cab Calloway) but the exact facsimile. Here's a more recent publication for recommended reading on the same subject: https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Fridge-Dad-Dictionary-Hipster/dp/0767908406

Talking about liner notes (those that were not just obvious sales blurb for a brand-new release), I think most people would he hard pressed to decide whose body of work overall was on a higher level - Nat Hentoff or Ira Gitler. One fact that also came to mind (without wanting to slight the achievements of Nat Hentoff in ANY waY) - I seem to have read somewhere that Hentoff probably would not have been too keen on seeing some of his early record reviews for Down Beat from the 50s being recirculated in later decades. Becauses his assessments had changed. And though I cannot name precise examples right now (I would have to re-read in detail) I remember having felt similarly when reading the early volumes of those Down Beat Record Reviews books. There were instances that left you wondering what his judgment would have been, say, 10 year later.

Great find!

Your recommendation of the Savoy 2-LP set is seconded. (Must be "The Most Versatile Band in the Land" - Savoy SJL 2261 with tracks from the Hit and Majestic labels that were bought up by Savoy). 17 or the 24 tracks are arranged by Sauter. But to those triggered by the music examples in your post: the three Youtube tracks you have linked to are not on that set. All three originally were recorded for RCA and were on a 1955 RCA Camden LP, according to the discographies. "Cyclops" and "Idiot's Delight" also are on "Howdy Friends" (Limited Edition LP 102).

You aren't wrong. Writeups from German jazz sources mentioned him as a sort of pioneer of "third stream" in jazz (which was a big thing over here in the 50s and 60s - obviously there were many who did not dare to stray too far from good old classical music into outright "toe-tapping" jazz and felt more comfortable when they still had their aural reference points reminding them of classical music ). The third stream as heard elsewhere is not that evident to me all in all with the Sauter recordings (and the "Eddie Sauter in Germany" LP I mentioned certainly is not as far out as the concert piece from the Donaueschingen festival that Ghost of Miles speaks of in his text for his Night Lights show, but then Donaueschingen always was a meeting place for the "weirdos in jazz" ). But a certain tendency is there, and I also am among those who need to be in the mood to really dig the Eddie Sauter scores. FWIW, just before Christmas I bought an original copy of the Sauter-Finegan's "Return of the Doodletown Fifers" on United Artists, and my first listening impression was that I need to revisit the record later when I am more in the mood for this. (Which often does happen, as I do enjoy my doses of Kentons, Raeburns and Thornhills too. File under "another chapter in progressive jazz", then! )

I had missed this radio show the earlier times round, so it is a nice reminder. Just one detail about the script about your show that's accessible under your link: Eddie Sauter made much more of a splash here on the German jazz scene than is apparent from your rather short mention of his activities in Germany. And he really added a asting page of history to late 50s jazz here. As for the reasons hinted at why his stay with that radio big band ended, it is certainly much less "problematic" than your text sounds. It all boiled down to the permanent problem that no big band in those settings could survive at that time on an all-out jazz repertoire, so a percentage of more commercial "dance band tunes" had to be accommodated. And this contrast probably grated Eddie Sauter more in the long run than it would have certain other band leaders. But it wasn't really a question of the perception of the quality of Sauter's work as such by the deciders. Recommended listening for everyone: the 2-LP set "Eddie Sauter in Germany" on Big Band International 2706. BTW, admittedly I have not looked in detail at the texts accompanying your shows past and present for some time, but I see now that you no longer have a setlist of the tunes broadcast during a show (so that the readers can check beforehand what they will be listening to). Pity, because these setlists came in handy ...

Happy to report that the promised Amazon delivery date was kept - I just freed my copy of this book from my mailbox. Contents look promising after quickly flipping through it - and it's a print-on-demand job indeed: "Printed by Libri Plureos GmbH in Hamburg, Germany". But a neat job, so nothing to complain about this printing procedure - which definitely seems to make delivery more reliable and speedier. Pity only that the Pacific Jazz book by James Harrod will take another 3 months or so to arrive. I am tempted to get started on this Prestige book very soon but OTOH would have liked to read both books one right after another or both in parallel. Seeing and comparing two appraches to two different label histoires would no doubt be interesting (and instructive).

I received my shipping notice yesterday (9 January), and delivery is still announced for next Monday (12 January). Keeping my fingers crossed now ... Am really looking forward to that book. Though I am sorry to say that the earlier "Listening To Prestige" session presentation Vol. 1 (1949-53) I ordered and received before Christmas, though really interesting, is a bit of a mixed bag (or "uneven", to put it another way) IMO and to the extent I've so far read it.