nighthawk68

Coming out April 15th. Here's the blurb: Don Byas (1913–1972) may be lesser known than the counterparts he played with―Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others―but he was an enigma. He never stayed with a band for long, and eventually went solo partly to make more money and partly due to his inability to work with bandleaders. Often drinking to excess, alcohol fueled his sometimes-erratic behavior on and off the bandstand. He went through at least thirteen different groups in fifteen years of professional play before leaving for Europe in 1946. Despite his fractious personality, in Europe he found peace and contentment as a family man in the Netherlands, where he lived out his days with his second wife and their four children. He learned at least seven languages during his years in Europe, and on traveling to a new country could pick up a few phrases in short order, soon speaking to the locals and even composing songs in their native tongue. In Sax Expat: Don Byas, author Con Chapman argues that Byas’s relative obscurity arises from his choice to live in Europe, where he missed out on recording opportunities and exposure in the US that would have made him renowned and wealthier. His numerous achievements, including his solo on Count Basie’s “Harvard Blues,” which is a model of restrained invention; his interpretation of the sentimental movie theme “Laura”; and his duets with bassist Slam Stewart were included in the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz and secured Byas’s place in jazz history. This biography brings to life an amazing jazz story.

I found a box listed on the spine as "Jazz Brochures" with BMI stamped all over the box, It Contains a letter and ten booklets for different artists that contain an essay and discography. Curious if anyone has seen this before? Is it collectable? The bookstore was asking $50 but I couldn't find any information online.

I'm hoping someone can give me some information on several Italian LP box sets (listed below) that were issued in the late 80s. I did search the forum but didn't have much luck. The Parker, Young and Holiday don't seem to have a label but from the similar title I assume they were put out by the same outfit. I wonder if the other box sets are also put out by the same outfit since they were also based in Italy and came out around the same time. I'm also curious how much of this material has ben issued elsewhere. Any information would be appreciated. Lester Young: Live And Private Recordings In Chronological Order (No Label) Billie Holiday: Live And Private Recordings In Chronological Order (No Label) Charlie Parker: Live And Private Recordings In Chronological Order (No Label) Earl Bud Powell – Pure Genius Always (Mythic Sound) Coleman Hawkins: Bean And The Boys - Live And Uncommercial Recordings 1940-1965 (Queen-disc – BEAN 01-21)

You're right. I shorted by two albums.

I see a number of folks picking John Patton albums. I'm aware of the Mosaic Select which collects his first three Blue Notes. I wonder why Mosaic never did a complete box on him?

An impossible task. Here's what comes to mind for favorites, and this would probably change week to week. -John Coltrane - Blue Train (One of my earliest Blue Notes so maybe a nostalgic pick. Listened to this for the first time in ages recently and still floors me.) -Baby Face Willette - Face to Face (Wish he had recorded more.) -Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (I go back to this one often) -Wayne Shorter- JuJu (Same as above comment, a masterpiece.) -Sam Rivers - Fuchisa Swing Song (No a bad debut and of course his other Blue Notes are not to shabby.)

Been on a Sam Noto and Ronnie Cuber kick lately and this checks off both boxes. Some fine originals and some spirited playing.

I recently grabbed all the Xanadu at Montreux volumes. Some wonderful music and a nice addition to my growing Xanadu collection.

I had the pleasure to hang out in Joe's basement on a couple of occasions and listen to records for hours. It's like entering another world going down those steps. He's quite a character. https://sundayblues.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DSC2955.jpg https://sundayblues.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DSC2937.jpg https://sundayblues.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_0578.jpg

I'm intrigued. Maybe this one?

Impressive work! I don't really have anything to add to this. One of the many confusing things about Hooker's early discography is that it seems the titles are sometimes named different for the same songs depending on the the release. For my upcoming radio show I digitized the Green Bottle LP. I threw it up on Dropbox if anyone's interested: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oz530zex4bk66t8/AAB59QrqE5jZjtZMdtDTJjnaa?dl=0 There is also a very detailed Hooker discography online that was last updated in 2019: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/HookerSessionDiscography.pdf

You mean, have they been reissued or is the material elsewhere? I'm not sure.

Nice summation of the history of these recordings. I was a bit disappointed in the set for the same reasons although quite happy with the sound quality. I wish the notes would have been more in-depth as well. Here's some more details that I wrote down as I plan on spotlighting the Sensation label on my radio program: Ace acquired a lot of John Lee Hooker sides when they purchased the Sensation label from Bernie Besman. This collection contains all of the Ace-owned Besman John Lee Hooker sides gathered in one place for the first time. Bernie had also sold some sides to United Artists and to Greene Bottle before then. Those previously sold sides showed up on a double LP on Green Bottle titled Johnny Lee in 1972. It was not the first "alternate" Besman issue; Specialty Records and United Artists had already come up with three LPs during 1970-71 (Alone and Goin' Down Highway 51 on Specialty and Coast To Coast Blues Band -Any Where Any Time Any Place on United Artists). In 1973 United Artists issued the three album set, John Lee Hooker's Detroit which which was issued on a 3-CD set in 1995 as Alternative Boogie: Early Studio Recordings 1948-1952 which included additional material.

.. Great 1961 date that wasn't release until 1979. No idea how this stayed in the can .Pepper Adams smokes on this one.