Big Beat Steve

I will have to look through my 1953 jazz mags again tonight but unless I am VERY MUCH mistaken Charlie Ventura was not on that Scandinavian tour at all. Flip Phillips, Prez and Willie Smith were the reedmen.

I see what you mean. But out of sheer curiosity: What else does the "Space Age Bachelor Pad" section of your collection include?

Interesting to see such documents surface ... especially if you can put them into a wider historical context: The Swedish jazz mag ESTRAD wrote about the Scandinavian JATP tour of 1953: "Lester Young rehabilitated himself thoroughly after his rather weak appearance the year before, and it became clear that he certainly isn't finished as a musician - not at all, in fact. Norman Granz explained that Lester Young did not appreciate Moax Roach's drum work to the same extent that he likes J.C. Heard's backing, and there may be something to it ... Among the bigger group's appearances we warmly remember Lester's wonderful "I Cover The Waterfront" and his playing in "LEster Leaps In." ORKESTER JOURNALEN had this to say: "But there was Lester! Sure he played unevenly last year, but how about this year! Anybody who had been disappointed by his playing during his last visit will probably have changed his opinion now. What is more, he was featured much more than before, and I think, having listened to him through five entire concerts, this was for his own good. ... In the ballad solo features, Lester rated a fair bit above the rest, especially during the two final concerts where he put his special and inimitable stamp on "I can't get started." And he seems to be just as fond of melodies such as "I cover the waterfront" and "She's funny that way". So that's how it was, back then ... P.S. Yes - the alto player appearing on the 1953 JATP tour was Willie Smith.

Actually the one who "turned the tired Benny Goodman band inside out" in the early 40s was the other half of Sauter-Finegan: Eddie Sauter. Still very nice recordings that resulted. BTW, anybody know of a good facsimile reissue source of the Sauter-Finegan LP "Sons of Sauter-Finegan"? (Preferaby vinyl, because THAT zany Jim Flora cover you just GOT to have in its original size!)

Regarding that "Must Have" Lester Young stuff on CP, you are talking about the Royal Roost recordings from '48 and '49 (according to the liner notes), i.e. Be Bop Boogie/ These Foolish Things/ D.B.Blues/Just You Just Me etc.? (how many C.P. records with Prez were there, after all?) Re-"Bird Is Free", some of it really is incredible if this is your first exposure to "live Bird", e.g. "Sly Mongoose" or "My Little Suede Shoes". Did somebody say there was no melody in bebop? The club sound with talk, tinkling glasses, etc. would certainly be called "extra lo fi" by some but actually if you put that record on very late at night you can almost picture yourself right among the crowd. Somehow I've never had any trouble "listening through" that background noise.

"Paper Moon" by the Phil Urso Quartet was on JWC 505 ("Solo Flight"), also a one-off, according to discographies. Some of those compilations also featured tracks not issued elsewhere on individual artists' LP's so they weren't just "samplers" all the way. I wouldn't rate those "orphaned" tracks as session leftovers only, either.

Did I overlook something or did this really go totally unnoticed here? Famous arranger Bill Finegan left the building on June 4. R.I.P. http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2008/...n_19172008.html

Yes - hats off to that seminal figure Louis Jordan. An influence in many ways. Any Louis Jordan is fine. But say, Durium, you mentioned those who claimed "Saturday Night Fish Fry" was the fist Rock'n'Roll record (Jim Dawson and Steve Propes, in fact ) but still there is no need for you to say you like the tune "anyway"?? Especially since you picked the cover of his 50s Mercury album cover (or the Bear Family reissue in your case) that came from a period when he clearly jumped on the R&B/R'n'R bandwagon to give his career some new impetus. Louis Jordan was one of those who straddled the stylistic fence of swing, R&B and R'n'R without really altering his style all that much, and that's quite some tribute to his music.

Take ANY noted jazz scribe now in his 60s or late 50s and have a look at pictures of him taken in the early 70s and then ask that question again. :D Or, for that matter, take a look at pictures of any jazz or blues musician (especially if he's black and/or if he's been on the scene since the early 50s, i.e. was well past the age befitting the "young ghetto dude image" by the 70s) taken at about that time. Aren't some of them just painful to look at? In short, those were the times, for better or worse ...

The "Bird Symbols" and "Bird Is Free" LP's (U.S. pressings) (and probably more which I didn't pick up) still were available new in a local record store here in the mid-70s when I had just begun to explore Bird, and as they were fairly affordable they were some sort of door opener to Bird for me. Still have them, BTW, and my copy of a Cecil Payne LP (UK pressing) isn't too bad soundwise either. Now was this a bootleg label or not? One of my C.P. Records LP's is made up of Dial masters (no doubt not in the public domain then), and these were circulating in numerous other guises and labels elsewhere but on the same markets at the same time too.

Agree with what's been said. Fast drying is essential. And even then ... Over the years I've come across quite a few LP's with evident severe water damage to the jackets but pristine vinyl. And this even in cases where even the INNER SLEEVE was water damaged and all wavy. Figuring that somebody who went to the pains of getting a record dried and cleaned properly would also invest in a new inner paper sleeve, this makes me wonder if records sometimes even survive O.K. even without further treatment. Not that I would trust this, but it does mean not all is lost. Good luck!

What's keeping you from going BOTH ways, i.e. buying vinyl whenever you prefer THAT medium and keeping and/or digitizing your CDs at the same time? Dumping all your CDs in order to go the vinyl-only route is just as silly as dumping all your vinyl in order to go "all CD" (as many did in the 90s). I can't really consider those who are dead set on sticking to one single medium (and dumping their other media in the process) "real" collectors - they're just music consumers or maybe music bookkepers IMHO. Digitizing your music for convenience is another matter (and where's the problem with buying your vinyl (or CDs) AND digitizing your music whenever you want it on an iPod etc.?) but I'm still not convinced ALL digitized media are going to last as long as vinyl does. And having to do backups of increasing data volumes on additional drives ever so often also leaves me wondering where all this is going to end. As for making one's existence easier, carrying thousands of tunes on iPods is an advantage, of course ... but as for home listening ... honestly, I really cannot see how things get easier if I have to select tracks and artists from PC databases (especially if I do not fancy leading my entire home existence in front of my PC anyway ) instead of just having to pull a record or CD out and put it onto the turntable/CD player? To me it's a bit of an "emperor's clothes" thing, all this ...

John, this was the Paris Festival in 1949. Modernism or not, I guess a weedhead was a weedhead (no matter waht the musical inclinations were) and meant good company if you were in for some weed. So backstage friendships might make any sort of alliances possible. :D

We may not be talking about exactly the same period. Revolutionary Blues with Bechet was c. 1944-45 IIRC. I was referring to somewhat later dates, including some recorded in France. But be that as it may - it may be a matter of "agree to disagree", I guess, and besides, it's the book that alocis asked about.

Yes, the book is fun and great reading. I guess some details in it need to be taken with a grain of salt, though. But those biographical sources that stated that "Mezz was a major figure in classical jazz not so much for his playing but as a purveyor of almost unlimited quantities of marijuana to the musicians and for writing "Really the Blues"" are spot-on. Some of his mid-40s King Jazz recordings with Bechet may be quite OK (I only have part of them) but a lot of what he forced into record grooves after that period was just some laughable noodling and doodling of scales. Nice amateur attempts but if it hadn't been for his earlier behind-the-scenes presence and the continued (and just as laughable) patronage and hero worshipping by Hugues Panassié he would have been nowhere overall. But that's beside the point here. The book IS enjoyable.

That's the very thing I LOVE about the "teenager" tracks that appear in 50s and 60s films . They sound nothing like real rock and roll - thankfully. Yes, the contrast IS fascinating. That's why I go for that kind of 50s soundtracks too (though I love all facets of TRUE 50s r'n'r as well). Listened to the entire LP again last night, and actually a few of the tracks give a fairly passable imitation of danceable instrumental R&B (OK, the West and East coasters among the jazzmen did better with their Boots Brown and Dan Drew lineups ) but some of the score is really a bit weird if you picture it as the background to r'n'r-inspired 50s teen action.

Druid jazz musicians? How about MOONDOG? (of "Improvisation in 4/4"/"Improvisation in 7/4" etc. fame on Coral / c.1953) He certainly looked the part, and his music was waaay out there too.

Enzo Iannacci? I DUE CORSARI!! But hearing them sing in English is a VERY acquired taste!

Yeah, that should be fun. And to confuse those present, make a point of choosing those records marked "CANTA IN NAPOLITANO". :D (The Godfather in the house will be soooo pleased! ) Coming to think of it, how about MARINO MARINI? Though I imagine records by some of the artists you name might perhaps be a bit difficult to get in the States.

Not according to the FS website. But since they seem to be re-reissuing their LP catalog (often combining 2 LP's on one CD) not all hope is lost yet. I was indeed glad to get hold of that Fresh Sound LP. The cover art alone would have been worth the price of admission to me but the music is something else too, of course - though (as in the case of "The Wild One") it is a bit out of tune with the kind of music that you'd expect the protagonists of the movie would have been listening to.

There has been a thread dedicated to these recordings here some months ago, launched by the guy who did the remastering for a recent CD re-reissue of those concert recordings IIRC. The big point made was that fidelity had been improved considerably for that recent CD reissue (though this is not the CBS or Jazz Factory reissue show in Marcello's links). The search function ought to yield it. That said, I'm still quite happy with my CBS LP of those recordings.

Before Italy-based Italians (not umpteenth-generation expatriate Italians ) chime in, here's my 2c: Get yourself a load of ADRIANO CELENTANO discs! Perfect for every Italo occasion, starting with his "Azzurro" classic and - for a change - right up to his 50s r'n'r cover sung in Italian! And if you're more in a (retro-)swing mood, try RAY GELATO MEETS THE GOOD FELLAS.

Oh ye of short memory!! Forget about Star Trek muzak and check out his soundtrack to HOT ROD RUMBLE (1957). THATS' where the (cool) jazz connections are. :D

Of course there is. It's just that the essential has already been said. Being (a.o.) a 40s jazz nut, in fact Johnny Guarnieri has always been one of those where I figured if he's in the line-up it's bound to be good (and I've never been disappointed). As for records to check out, there was a JG LP on the IAJRC collector label that tied up a few loose ends as it brought together great performances (mostly from the 78 rpm era) that had been scattered here and there and therefore had been unjustly overlooked. Would have to look at my copy of the LP tonight for more details.

Could you bring yourself to thin out your own collection in a SUBSTANTIAL way in your lifetime to ease the plight on your nearest and dearest after you've left the building? Better appoint a knowledgeable and trustworthy caretaker in good time (and tell him so) to make sure your beloved ones won't dump your prized collections or be fooled into throwing it into the greedy hands of a cutthroat wheeler and dealer who'd give only a tiny fraction of even its wholesale worth.