DMP

Grant Green's "Feelin' the Spirit." And look in the used LP bins for Les McCann's "The Gospel Truth," which adds Charles Kynard to his trio.

I've heard Watts live a couple of times - don't think his recorded output had prepared me for how strong a player he is!! Eye-opening. (And "Planet Love" should be a reissue candidate.)

"Virginia Woolf" was an early CD release, when the Verve catalog was part of Polygram. (#823 309-2) In its initial LP release, and after the success of "Bashin'" (which had one side of big band material and a second side with trio) it was probably the first full-blown Smith + big band album - all organ, the band was strictly a back-up - and set the formula for much of Smith's subsequent Verve recording. At the time it came out, and as someone who grew up with the Smith Blue Note albums, it was a little off-putting - semi-classical touches, organ solos that didn't always seem to have much to do with what was going on, twangy guitars, no spots for anyone but Smith, and a sound level that ranged from loud to very loud. (Not to mention the goofy division of the title song into 2 arbitrary sections.) However, having said that, it's always been one of my favorites. "Organ Ginder" is (for me) the best of his Verve output - I might put it on my 10 best list - and many of the others mentioned (particularly "Bluesmith") are very good. "Respect" is also excellent, and I don't know how it's slipped through the reissue cracks.

And this new reissue of "Big Band" - is this supposed to be an improvement over the previous issue? That one had more tracks, and in session order. I'm not sure I get this. (Similar situation with the second CD reissue of Johnny Smith's Moonlight in Vermont" - 3 less tracks.)

Is anyone actually listening to this? The crowd noise (which I recalled above, from the LP) is still unbelievable! I understand that we sometime have to put up with sub-standard recording or other annoyances to listen to great music, but "The Boss" - recorded in an era when "live" recordings were fairly routine - has to be some kind of record. (And it's not like the audience noise has any relationship at all to what's being played - don't think anyone was evening listening to the good music that was being played.) With all the many fine "Verve" Jimmy Smith titles that are yet to be reissued, I don't get it . (Even Benson's "live" appearances with McDuff are better than this.)

Parker's appearance with Woody Herman is also available...

I would also give a strong recommendation to Mann's "Windows Open" and "Hold On, I'm Comin." And the original "Village Gate" is a classic, in its own way. Another good one is his first Newport album (available on "Wounded Bird"), the one that opens with "Soft Winds.". (The group includes Dave Pike, Atilla Zoller, and Don Friedman.)

This exchange has got me thinking... Hubbard is a wonderful player, maybe the best of his generation, and I've enjoyed his albums since buying them when they were originally released. But, as I think about it, I don't necessarily find his Blue Note albums as appealing as the output of other artists on the label - they're maybe a little cold? Can't put my finger on it. It's hard to find fault, but there's a little distant about them. I agree with the post above about his sideman appearances. (For me, his solo on "Maiden Voyage" is one of the greatest of all modern trumpet solos.) I do like "Blue Spirits' very much, but, since it was the first Hubbard LP I bought as a kid, maybe nostalgia plays a part.

If I recall, the album is a good one, but what kept me from playing it much was there was a constant buzz from the crowd. I don't mean applause or clapping (like a live Cannonball album, for example, or that over-dubbed enthusiasm on a Jack McDuff LP), or a phone ringing (like every record made at the Blackhawk) - which often add to the record's ambience - but a constant din. Maybe the CD release will correct this.

"Ape Woman" is on a Cal Tjader "Verve," with a different title - I can check when I get home. That cut is the highlight of the Smith LP. Actually, I think 2 1/2 stars is about right for that mishmash.

"Free For All" is one of the great jazz albums of all time, don't know of many records by any artist that are so strong from beginning to end. (Thank goodness they didn't gum up the CD's with extra tracks.) Did Wayne Shorter ever record a better solo than on the title cut? But also very strong - "Ugetsu" - rarely mentioned, but the band was at its peak.

This New Charles Earland reissue - "Funk Fantastique" - the title tune was called "Morgan" on the original "Intensity" release. Must be an alternate take. (Good album, though - Lee Morgan's final session.)

The "Reprise" date is okay - not up to the "Impulse" albums. But it's easily available in a good-sounding reissue from "Collectables."

Now THERE'S a project for "Mosaic" - the complete Charles Lloyd quintet with Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo - Clumbia, Reprise, and Impulse.

Since so much of the Blue Note catalog has been remastered, "upgraded," and put in the digital domain, does it even matter about the original tapes? The cheap, European knock-offs can be made from pristine CD's!

"Soft Samba" - wasn't there a promotional tie-in with some kind of booze? (Rum, maybe?) Much like Brubeck's "Jazz: Red Hot & Cool?" (That was a shade of Revlon lipstick.) (Or something.)

Ayers is also on Newman's "Lonely Avenue" - nice.

Is Eric Dolphy on "West Coast Bibes?" I thought was on "United Artists," but that's all part of the Pacific Jazz/Blue Note/Captitol conglomerate these days.

"Stoned Soul Picnic," from the same period, is also good. Parts of "Daddy Bug" were released on LP without the "sweetening" - that version has never made it to CD. (And catch Ayers on the Curtis Amy "Mosaiic Select.")

Isn't "Art Deco" on A&M?

Not sure I've ever made it to the end. And on the CD there's no break.

I have one of those 12" disco singles of a cut from the "RCA" "Monuments - wonder how much play THAT got in the clubs.

Have you heard his "RCA" album?

Wait a minute - the first Blue Mitchell LP was "directed by Joe Henderson?" Wasn't that one pretty much the recently broken up Horace Silver group? (With henderson taking over for Junior Cook...) I better pull out the Mosaic book.

Not sure if Hubbard and Turrentine's best work is on "CTI," but it was far superior to their subsequent material on (respectively) "Columbia" and "Fantasy."