Big Beat Steve

The writing must have been on the wall for a long time for those "authentic" neighborhood stores, especially those that cater to a niche market in culture. When I noticed (to my great disappointment) in the fall of the year 2000 that the Compendium Book Shop (where I had done a lot of my music book buying for years whenever I was in London) in the Camden Town district of London had closed down for good (with a very bitter sounding notice to the former clientele, blaming it on real estate developers etc., still displayed in the bare shop windows) I realized a page had been turned for good. On the other hand in that same year I had just signed with eBay and the years that followed showed that internet opened up a whole wide world of buying opportunities that no array of brick and mortar stores catering to the "collectors" segment could ever have supplied. Within a scant few years I managed to complete gaps in my collection by buying items many of which I had never ever been able to see for sale anywhere (despite mail order and visiting specialist shops and fairs wherever I went) for almost 20 years before. Not to mention geographical boundaries. One rare book I had been searching on the web for many months finally came my way from an eBay seller from South Dakota! Not likely even the keenest overseas collector would pick that area as his favorite hunting grounds during a U.S. visit ... So the internet that contributes to the demise of those specialist shops is a mixed blessing but on the bottom line it is a tradeoff of the new vs the old where not all of it is really bad. What I do regret, however, is the colorful neighborhood atmosphere that goes out the window at the same time. But often we are only to blame ourselves. The prices in those small shops are often higher than those in the huge retail outlets so the consumers' urge to save as much as they can on standard items is another step towards the demise of those small shops because they just cannot survive on the special items (that only they carry and that are the main impetus for visiting these shops).

Your loss ...

It definitely did not. I have a few of these Cool'n'Blue CD's, and the booklet to the Teddy Edwards CD which has a release date of 1994 lists the Serge Chaloff CD among the previous releases in that series (actually one of the earliest), so the date of 1992 given by Swingin' Swede could well be correct. The 2005 date therefore might be a repressing date. BTW, the entire Savoy "Pumpernickel" session (with alt. takes) is on the well-known "Brothers and Other Mothers" 2-LP set which I trust cannot be THAT rare in secondhand circles.

I just wonder where the "plays Alto(s)" etc. stuff has been taken from. This WAS reissued before, e.g. by U.S. MCA Impulse (MCA-29069) in the 80s. (And there must have been other reissues) Lots of possibilities of doing a needle drop even without having to dig out an original.

By all means get the "Boston 1950" set on Uptown (if you haven't done so already). As for the three CD's you're listing, aren't they for complete novices only? Hey, all of those tracks have been all over the place in countless other compilations so should be present in relatively advanced collections of serious collectors anyhow. Maybe you might want to check your collection to see how many duplicates you might be running up with these. The three final tracks on the Cool'n'Blue CD must be from the "Stars of Modern Jazz" concert at Carnegie Hall, Christmas 1949. The line-up includes Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Benny Green and Curley Russell (all names are indicated on the cover you scanned). The entire concert has been out on IAJRC 20 (LP) (and certainly elsewhere), so again nothing exclusive here. (P.S. Ha, Swingin' Swede beat me to the Xmas info while I was typing mine from the LP cover )

Merci, Michel!

Thanks for clarifying this, Jazztrain. The Japanese Prestige book I quoted from states in conjunction with these three twofers: "Original Jerry Valburn recording". (Hence my statement above) Evidently the book' authors are in error, considering what the liner notes say, and more than just slightly misleading.

@Chris Albertson: I got the name of Jerry Valburn from "The Prestige Book (Discography of all series), Jazz Critique Special Edition 1996" published in Japan. On page 294 (listing of the Prestige twofers) the name Jerry Valburn is mentioned as the source in connection with the twofers 24073, 24074 and 24075 that contain the Carnegie Hall concert recordings which (according to Bruyninckx) were first issued on those twofers at all. Now if the Japanese slipped on this one and the name of Jerry Valburn is incorrect in connection with these recordings, then I do stand corrected, but it's the Japanese who are to blame. @MG: Your reference to michel Ruppli is quite correct, of course. I know leased or reissued recordings not originally done for the respective label are listed separately by Ruppli (and I was thinking of his discographies as a model, of course), hence my surprise that any Ellington entries should appear anywhere in a manner that would make it even possible that they were the earliest recordings done for Prestige (as Chewy's post suggests).

In case you're referring to Prestige 7645 containing Ellington recordings of 1933, these were originally released on Columbia. In 1933 the Prestige label was a VERY long way away. And in case you're referring to the 1944/46/47 Carnegie Hall concerts issued in the 24000 twofer series, these were originally recorded by Jerry Valburn (when Prestige did not exist yet either) but not released on Prestige (or anywhere else) before these twofers came along. And when did these come along? In the 70s - at a time Prestige had been around for more than 20 years. Whoever presented a label discography in such a manner that recording dates could be understood to give the impression the dates indicate the first recordings FOR RELEASE ON THE LABEL (without regard to recordings leased from other companies or simply being reissued) sure made a fine mess of it. And where does Fletcher Henderson come into all this? (Except that he also is on Prestige 7645) Now this sure is some weird post... :D

Nah, that's Jimmy Wright from L.A., a WHITE drummer who had a scorching R&B band (his Rhythm Makers, the bandleader's name was also spelled Jimmy WRIEGHT on some releases) that tore up the West Coast from '53 to '56. Porkey Harris who received featured billing on some of the tunes was his guitarist. Regular saxists were Art Reed and Russ Young. But Chuck Higgins also recorded with him. Check out his "Let's Go Crazy Crazy Baby" LP on Saxophonograph BM-1301!

AMEN TO THAT! Elder Don Clementine speaketh righteous words!! :tup

Down Beat reviewed this album like this in 1957: An interesting excursion into the long-line theme development of Brock. His playing is functional and rhythmic, although somewhat florid on ballads such as Willow. Among his most effective devices is the repetition of a riff-like figure, as on Etude, which adds to his drive. On Four Brothers, he captures the feel of four separate entities united rhythmically. Blues, despite the title, is melodic and moving. Caperton and Hanson** back admirably, with Caperton particularly good in solo spots. Overall rating: 3 1/2 stars **Brooks Caperton, bass, and Rick Hanson, drums BTW, there is no need for the second apostrophe (Top's) on the cover at all. In this play on words Savoy simply meant to say he was "tops".

My reply was more aimed at Chewy's reaction that I understood to mean that if Blue Note artists and recordings had crept up on labels like Crown the curiosity value alone would have made them immensely desirable. You know how it is ... great music cropping up on obscure labels, and collectors moaning today "If only he had been given decent recording and pressing facilities... what could he have achieved ... etc. etc."

No so sure. Is Jackie McLean's one shot on an R&B-oriented label (Jubilee - his "Fat Jazz" LP) more than a date that is considered "O.K., good but not overly sensational" by jazz collectors? I cannot see that this relative "obscurity" of a "famed Blue Note artist" gives it extra collector value. Anyway, I agree with your post, MG. The Biharis had found their niche and no doubt their Kent releases and United reissues (which got me hooked onto Modern/RPM R&B in the late 70s too) allowed the label to carry on for a relatively long time.

Good heavens, don't touch on that! Thank goodness the Modern masters were bought by a collector label that knew what they were doing and had the diehard collectors in mind and not by some big company white-collar exec dimwits who'd reissue the big "name artist" sellers over and over again but let the rest gather dust in the basement. I'd dread the thought of seeing the umpteenth B.B. King reissue of his Modern masters but missing all those rarities, especially in the R&B and Jump Blues field. The sad part of it is, though, that as those records are largely in the public domain now it is inevitable that even a collector label like Ace will be ripped off by P.D. labels (even labels touted on this very site as such great achievements and benefits to the collectors) hopping on the bandwagon and cashing in on previously compiled stuff. Hope this won't slow down Ace's activities too much.

Like I said: ACE Records rule! Though this Downhome stuff rather atypical of the Modern label releases.

Yes - the MODERN/RRM label issued a lot of important and timeless R&B music (and some other styles such as jazz and even some Country as well) and are a key label of the 50s but if you want to discuss the label beyond the music you will soon find the Biharis were about as liked and appreciated as Herman Lubinsky of Savoy. In short, I am sure many, many artists felt very much exploited by them - down to the way they usurped writer's credits on most of the original material the R&B artists wrote. All the Josea, Taub and Ling names you find in songwriters credits are cover-ups for the Bihari brothers and the share of royalties they took for themselves. To collectors the label must be a nightmare, especially the CROWN reissues. Just have a look at the way they rehashed previously issued music on their budget LP's, slapping new fake titles to the tracks and thus confusing record collectors forever. Or not even giving proper credits at all, as on those Jazz compilations (e.g. "Jazz Surprise"). I think the only serious source for the timeless music are the reissues that the ACE label from the UK has been doing for a very, very long time. I think they bought the rights to all the masters outright so for once some sensible reissue programming from the Modern/RPM vaults is occurring there (right down to excellent liner notes).

Too bad ... another great one from the Golden era of jazz gone. R.I.P.

A FULL tracklist somewhere? These group credits sound very familiar.

Yes, a very handy reference listing of one of the key jazz labels. So it took 21 LP's to release all this in one collection? (cf. the Japanese Keynote box) Somehow I had figured there was more music, though I probably underestimated the number of alternates.

We'll see about that when the book is finally for sale on the bookshelves, I guess... BTW, when the debate about this book was going on here at full speed late last summer I inquired at my local #1 stockist of the full Taschen range and the (usually fairly knowledgeable) staff had NOT heard about ANY announcement of such a book at all nor did the complete Taschen catalog they let me take home list anything. I'm just as much looking forward to publication of this book but am having doubts about the outcome. AFAIK these protracted doings are not that typical of Taschen policy.

Am listening to that Xanadu LP right now. It includes sessions of 17 May, 14 November, 21 November and 1 December 1944. The "Thanks For The Memory" session is the 1 Dec. 1944 session. But this is not a Coleman Hawkins session at all but rather an Esquire award winners session (listed as by "Leonard Feather's All Stars" by Jepsen ansd Bruyninckx). Bruyninckx does not list any extra tracks from that session beyond the 4 on the LP. Are you sure those extra tracks are from that session (or one of those 4 sessions) at all? It probably would help immensely and clear up things if you could list those extra tracks not included on the LP.

ANY Dodo is fine, particularly his Dial and Atomic masters and transcriptions reissued on the Spotlite and Raretone LPs in the 80s. Ghost, does the Uptown release you mention include anything not previously issued/reissued elsewhere? Or would I have to buy the CD for the booklet alone?

Lou Levy is ony of my all-time favorite Modern jazz pianists, both as an accompanist and with his own solo recordings from his heyday in the 50s. A lot of obvious recommendations have been made above but one has only been mentioned in passing - his "Solo Scene" LP on RCA, and two so far have been bypassed unless I overlooked something: Both "Lou Levy Plays Baby Grand Jazz" on Jubilee 1101 (1959) and the "Lou Levy Trio" on Nocturne (1954, issued later as a Fresh Sound LP and as part of the "Complete Nocturne Recordings Vol. 1" 3-CD set by Fresh Sound) are well worth a listen. BTW, re- "the Andorran thieves", that Nocturne CD set was made with the full blessing and support of Harry Babasin himself so evidently no theft going on there AT ALL!!! My own RCA/Fresh Sound reissued of "Jazz In Four Colors" is spinning right now, and I find the sound rather crisp and clear. Different pressings, maybe? (The small print says something about being reissued by RCA of Spain so the consent of RCA seems to have been obtained - who would risk a major lawsuit by making false claims about the involovement of one of the majors of the industry?) And for those who have complaints about that "Most Musical Fella" reissue there always is the "all-legal" French RCA reissue in the "Jazz Line" series (if you do not mind the nondescript "updated" cover). If it had not been for the stupid, lazy, indiferent, couldn't care-less attitude of the U.S. label owners all through the 80s (and then some) no Fresh Sound would have been needed anyway. But that's not the topic here.

An eighth ALWAYS being an eighth and a triplet ALWAYs being a triplet in JAZZ? Who was it again who said that the specificities of jazz (= the SWING element in jazz?) made it so very hard to notate jazz and capture it in a meaningful manner in transcriptions? Sounds like that sax man you mentioned did not pay OP the biggest compliment when he made this statement about eighths always being eighths with him. Now just a few other thoughts before somebody "does the needful": What's wrong with discussiong not only likes but also dislikes? Don't you need both to come up with the FULL picture? And isn't this part of any useful discussion? Or else we'd just be "claqueurs" applauding each other's opinions. What for? And if somebody sees fit to dismiss some artist's entire oeuvre because it just "doesn't do it for him" - so be it. Nobody is forced to agree, nobody is even forced to follow debates like this at all. And finally, a word on "being forced to agree". I've heard that remark abefore bout "the inner circle" of forumists dictating tastes in musical matters and making newbies and other posters feel uneasy and unwelcome if they dare to state a differing opinion. Having been around here only for less than 1 1/2 years and being a (relatively) occasional poster only I still consider myself some sort of newbie but so far I haven't seen anything that looked like that "inner circle" forcing their opinions on others and frightening newbies away. I do see that in certain matters those "old hands" are more experienced than I am (my 32 years of record collecting notwithstanding) but do I have to agree with their opinions for all that? OK, so far I've only been at odds with only one of that "inner circle" (and sort of called his bluff in another post on another forum where he also was/is present) but I still take the liberty of making my own statements if I feel like it - just like everybody else ought to be able to do too. After all, aren't we all adults with minds of our own? We can look to others (i.e. more experienced ones) for inspiration and information but do we let them tell us what we are suposed to listen to? In short, take it easy, speak your mind(s), defend your opinions if you have to and don't get frightened away THAT easily! :D