Big Beat Steve

The Red Norvo Trios (both the one with Tal Farlow and the one with Jimmy Raney) are just great but apart from the Savoy reissues there is more addition from the Tal Farlow/Charles Mingues trio period that deserves a hearing: "The Red Norvo Trio featuring Tal Farlow/Charles Mingus" on Natural Organic 7001. The tracks on this LP (which I guess was released sometime in the late 70s or early 80s) seem to come from transcriptions and do not duplicate the Savoy sessions. I've no idea if any CD release of this is available (I guess I am what some call a Vinyl junkie - one of those who buy CDs mainly to fill gaps in their collection when the vinyl is either unavailable or unaffordable) but it's a nice addition to the Savoy tracks.

While we are at it, is there any reissue available of the "Rusty Bryant Plays Jazz" LP (Dot DLP 3079) from 1957? I must admit (now call me names if you want to ) that within my collection of blues and R&B I have a certain liking for the "Honkin' Sax" school, including the very first Rusty Bryant LP (DOT DLP-3006), and tofollow things up in sequential order I'd like to explore his next item where he got more seriously into jazz. Any info appreciated!

How about trying this one for a start? Latin Jazz - The Perfect Combination by Raúl Fernández Chronicle Books, San Franciasco 2002 (ISBN 0-8118-3608-8) It does cover more recent latin jazz artists too but has a heavy emphasis on the 30s, 40s and 50s - and splendid photos and background info! I found my copy in the sale bin of an art bookseller over here in Germany so it should be available Stateside too. Good luck tracking it down!