Jimmy Raney

[fasstrack]

different animals with certain similarities - P90s are a little guttier, the CC a little plumper -

sorry for the scientific terminology -

So a P90 has a bit more grit, a bit more edge?

I've thought about a P90 for my Epi Joe Pass.

I had 2 Guilds with that pickup. One I'm hoping to get back. I love that sound and it's unmatched for me.

Thanks for putting this up. Rene Thomas was fine too BTW, and thanks for remembering him too. A combo of Jimmy, Django, and his own Belgian soul to my ears. I like Stan Getz: Dynasty, w/Thomas, Eddie Louiss, and I forget the drummer's name. He wasn't even supposed to be a jazz drummer, but they swing their asses off. Stan plays like an animal on that one. Around '70, I think.

[Jim R]

Guys, check this out: Charlie Christian pickup essay

Both great pickups, but for my money, there's nothing like a CC.

One important thing not mentioned in Phil's article is that the for the original CC pickups (and those made up through the 1960's, to a lesser extent), cobalt was used in the magnets. Gradually, as it became more scarce and more expensive, it was used less and less, and by the time of the 1970's ES-175/CC, the overwhelming consensus was that the great CC sound had been lost. I don't know what the status of cobalt supply is these days, but it has a tremendous number of uses, and my understanding is that the competition for it had driven the price up. CC pickups are being reproduced (most notably in England), but I haven't heard any of them as of yet.

As a sidenote, something similar happened in the glass industry. In the 1930's, in the heyday of Art Deco, cobalt blue glass was all the rage, and was widely used in making mirrors (including coffee table tops, and clock and radio faces). Over the years, it went out of production, and collectors have paid a premium for that color of glass. Just a little cobalt trivia. If anybody has more info about cobalt, I'd love to learn more.

[fasstrack]

If anybody has more info about cobalt, I'd love to learn more.

It was an early cancer treatment. Other than that.......?

Charlie Christian's sound lives! In my ears since age 17, and also in the guitars I've owned and played. Mostly in our ears, though, and memory can mean a lot if used right. And sound gets passed on. I believe that. As long as we listen.....

Edited April 4, 2009 by fasstrack

[Cliff Englewood]

Any other opinions on this one, I know some people don't like the bass playing,

[fasstrack]

Any other opinions on this one, I know some people don't like the bass playing,

Nice record. Jimmy plays nicely on Dolphin Dance and also does a very good job with Enigma. Al Haig was playing with a harder touch then for some reason but plays good for sure. They still made a good team. I think the problem with the bass was the recording, Jamil sounds fine and so does Frank. Choice recordings always sound the worst and you can't judge a group's sound by them. The music was good, and that's the main thing.

That was Al's working group, I believe, with Jimmy as add-on. I should say Jamil was Al's regular bass player at a gig at Gregory's. I think Eddie Diehl was on the gig on guitar. 70s sometime. Chuck Wayne also played in that group but I'm not sure who played when.

Al made another record, same guys but with Eddie Diehl instead of Jimmy. It was released as Manhattan Memories---and the tune they called Manhatten Memories was actually written by Eddie as BeBu, for Bu Pleasant, and given that title and credited to Haig. Typical. Nice record also, though: One side trio, one with Eddie. He's featured on two ballads: Nuages and My Little Brown Book and gets a nice solo on a Cedar Walton tune, but the tempo drags or sounds weird on that one as I remember. Al just sounds funny to me. Nice tunes and worth having though, as is Strings Attached. Actually, I'd like a copy. I have it on cassette. PM me please, if anyone wants to unload it or knows where it can be gotten.

Edited April 29, 2009 by fasstrack

[Cliff Englewood]

Cheers fasstrack.

[jeffcrom]

I've enjoyed reading this thread - I pulled out In Three Attitudes tonight. What a great album. That led me to give another listen to a kind of strange album: The New Jazz Sound of Show Boat, by Barry Galbraith's Guitar Choir, arranged and conducted by John Carisi. Does anyone else know this record? It's apparently a more commercial substitute for what would probably have been a much better album; Carisi wrote an arrangement of "Israel" for Galbraith's five-guitar ensemble and wanted to arrange an entire album, but Columbia wanted the music from "Show Boat" rather than originals. The guest soloists (Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and Carisi) take the lion's share of the solo space; there are only three real guitar solos on the record. I think that the 16-bar solos in "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" and "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" are Galbraith, and the full chorus on "Why Do I Love You" is Raney, who is the only other guitarist mentioned in the notes. I'm not at all confident in attributing the solos this way, though. Does anyone who has heard this album have any more informed opinions?

[fasstrack]

Cheers fasstrack.

Aw, I bet you say that to all the nut jobs.............

[fasstrack]

I've enjoyed reading this thread - I pulled out In Three Attitudes tonight. What a great album. That led me to give another listen to a kind of strange album: The New Jazz Sound of Show Boat, by Barry Galbraith's Guitar Choir, arranged and conducted by John Carisi. Does anyone else know this record? It's apparently a more commercial substitute for what would probably have been a much better album; Carisi wrote an arrangement of "Israel" for Galbraith's five-guitar ensemble and wanted to arrange an entire album, but Columbia wanted the music from "Show Boat" rather than originals. The guest soloists (Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and Carisi) take the lion's share of the solo space; there are only three real guitar solos on the record. I think that the 16-bar solos in "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" and "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" are Galbraith, and the full chorus on "Why Do I Love You" is Raney, who is the only other guitarist mentioned in the notes. I'm not at all confident in attributing the solos this way, though. Does anyone who has heard this album have any more informed opinions?

I taped it when they did a show on John Carisi around '93 on WKCR. Loren Schoenberg interviewed James Chirillo. Carisi was gravely ill, and I could tell by their hushed tones he wouldn't be around much longer. They played that Showboat record and the 5 guitars also included Tony Mottolla I think. The rest would be a guess. They also played a Carisi piece I like a lot: Counterpoise #2. I saw the guitar part on that one at Carisi's before he got sick. I'm glad it was James, not me . He said he sweated it. I wanted to borrow the part but I don't think he had a copy. I also asked Don Leight, who was his roommate for it. Barry galbraith was Carisi's best friend and could read and play anything possible on guitar---and if it wasn't he'd tell him, and back to the drawing board.

An interesting thing about Carisi's writing: he 'borrowed' a lot from himself. (Puts him in good company with Handel, etc.). He had this plagal cadence Gospel thing he used in that duo piece and also somewhere on Into the Hot (the record with Gil Evans on the cover but his work nowhere to found inside. Or was it Out of the Cool? The one with Cecil Taylor on the other side).

He really liked this 2-chord thing and played over it a lot.

Edited April 30, 2009 by fasstrack

[Raneyjr]

Any other opinions on this one, I know some people don't like the bass playing,

Nice record. Jimmy plays nicely on Dolphin Dance and also does a very good job with Enigma. Al Haig was playing with a harder touch then for some reason but plays good for sure. They still made a good team. I think the problem with the bass was the recording, Jamil sounds fine and so does Frank. Choice recordings always sound the worst and you can't judge a group's sound by them. The music was good, and that's the main thing.

That was Al's working group, I believe, with Jimmy as add-on. I should say Jamil was Al's regular bass player at a gig at Gregory's. I think Eddie Diehl was on the gig on guitar. 70s sometime. Chuck Wayne also played in that group but I'm not sure who played when.

The record reflected a reunion of sorts. There was another record Special Brew and a concert at Carnegie Recital Hall that I was in attendance for (I was 12). At that point Dad and Al were pretty friendly and resumed their long piano hopping walks where Al would drop in on all the showroom owners and play. Al also gave Doug his first playing opportunities at Gregory's. Doug sat in on Strings Attached on "Out of Nowhere". My father didn't want him to do it because he thought it was too early in his career to be recording (he had only been playing jazz for a few years at that point).

In agree with the assessment of the sound. Not good engineering on this one. Although I find the recording of bass on records in the 70s generally to be lousy. This was during a period in the 70s where bassists were demanding a lot more solo time cranking up their amps, and engineers were also cranking them up in the mix and not getting a good balance. It always sounds like TWANG. TWANGLIA etc to me. It really bogs down the swing in my view

Edited May 2, 2009 by JonRaney

[fasstrack]

Any other opinions on this one, I know some people don't like the bass playing,

Nice record. Jimmy plays nicely on Dolphin Dance and also does a very good job with Enigma. Al Haig was playing with a harder touch then for some reason but plays good for sure. They still made a good team. I think the problem with the bass was the recording, Jamil sounds fine and so does Frank. Choice recordings always sound the worst and you can't judge a group's sound by them. The music was good, and that's the main thing.

That was Al's working group, I believe, with Jimmy as add-on. I should say Jamil was Al's regular bass player at a gig at Gregory's. I think Eddie Diehl was on the gig on guitar. 70s sometime. Chuck Wayne also played in that group but I'm not sure who played when.

The record reflected a reunion of sorts. There was another record Special Brew and a concert at Carnegie Recital Hall that I was in attendance for (I was 12). At that point Dad and Al were pretty friendly and resumed their long piano hopping walks where Al would drop in on all the showroom owners and play. Al also gave Doug his first playing opportunities at Gregory's. Doug sat in on Strings Attached on "Out of Nowhere". My father didn't want him to do it because he thought it was too early in his career to be recording (he had only been playing jazz for a few years at that point).

In agree with the assessment of the sound. Not good engineering on this one. Although I find the recording of bass on records in the 70s generally to be lousy. This was during a period in the 70s where bassists were demanding a lot more solo time cranking up their amps, and engineers were also cranking them up in the mix and not getting a good balance. It always sounds like TWANG. TWANGLIA etc to me. It really bogs down the swing in my view

Yo, Jon. Emailed you a week or two ago. We'll meet soon. Glad we hooked up.

It's sad about Choice: He made some very noble attempts to record very deserving artists, then buried them in the wort sound in recorded history. It couldn't have been on purpose. Honestly I didn't like Special Brew that much. It just didn't come off to me. Maybe Al playing electric piano or something. Didn't click for me. I like Strings Attached much better. Everybody was on there.

[jeffcrom]

Picked up a stack of vinyl at an Atlanta used record store this weekend, including Strings & Swings. I really like the Suite for Guitar Quintet (guitar and four strings, not five guitars) on side one. Not a hint of corniness or "swinging the classics" - just well-integrated composition and improvisation. And Raney's playing on the 1969 Louisville concert on side two is deep and impressive. The "local talent" backing him up is pretty good, too, especially Bobby Jones (pre-Mingus) and pianist Bob Lam.

[fasstrack]

Picked up a stack of vinyl at an Atlanta used record store this weekend, including Strings & Swings. I really like the Suite for Guitar Quintet (guitar and four strings, not five guitars) on side one. Not a hint of corniness or "swinging the classics" - just well-integrated composition and improvisation. And Raney's playing on the 1969 Louisville concert on side two is deep and impressive. The "local talent" backing him up is pretty good, too, especially Bobby Jones (pre-Mingus) and pianist Bob Lam.

The bass player on that is also a guitarist, and I think a good friend of Raney's. Jon could tell you more than I. His name is Jack Brengle, that's all I know. There was some clip of them talking and maybe playing on a website called Classic Jazz Guitar or something, under Raney's name. They have little bios of the cats. I don't think it's up anymore.

[fasstrack]

On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2007‎ ‎1‎:‎29‎:‎31‎, brownie said:

Looking forward to listen to this double CD of Jimmy Raney at Bradley's in 1974.

Due out very soon from Gambit:

 

 

From the Absolute Distribution site:

 

An extended previously unissued live performance by one of the true masters of jazz guitar. Two hours of never heard solos by Jimmy Raney recorded in the year of his musical comeback.

 

Personnel: Jimmy Raney (g) & Bill Takas (b)…plus Eric Diehl (g) (on CD 1, #6-7 & CD 2, #3-5 only).

 

Tracklisting:

 

CD 1:

1. I Remember You

2. Dancing On The Ceiling

3. How About You

4. I Love You

5. It Could Happen To You

6. Like Someone In Love

7. Indiana/Donna Lee

8. Days Of Wine And Roses.

Total Time:70:28 mins.

 

CD 2:

1. Darn That Dream

2. Billie's Bounce

3. I Remember You (Version #2)

4. Body and Soul

5. Indiana/Donna Lee (Version #2)

6. Out Of Nowhere

7. On Green Dolphin Street

8 Motion 7:24

 

Total Time: 70:02 mins.

 

Recorded: CD 1, #1-7: Live at Bradley's, New York, December 17, 1974. CD 1, #8 & CD 2: December 18, 1974.

 

From 1967 to 1974, the great guitarist Jimmy Raney (1927-1995) went into semi-retirement in Louisville, and didn't make a single trip to the recording studios. Whether this was due to personal problems (like his growing alcohol addiction) or to the lack of interest by the major recording companies, his discography presents a notable gap of almost ten years, which is only represented by a couple of live recordings.

 

Recorded with amateur equipment on December 17 & 18, 1974 at New York's famous Bradley's club, the concerts on this CD occurred just after Raney's comeback. Like many other great jazzmen, Jimmy Raney had a unique musical sound, which encompassed both modern and traditional styles.

 

Considering that this is an amateur recording made at a crowded club, the sound quality here is obviously not up to Gambit's usual standards. However, we felt that the musical and historical importance of these performances more than compensated for any deficiencies on the original masters.

 

All tracks previously unissued!

Always wanted to know who 'Eric Diehl' was. I thought they may have meant Eddie Diehl, but I asked him and it wasn't him. 

[Larry Kart]

54 minutes ago, fasstrack said:

Always wanted to know who 'Eric Diehl' was. I thought they may have meant Eddie Diehl, but I asked him and it wasn't him. 

Joel -- These posts from The Raney Blog suggest that it might well have been Eddie Diehl, even if the man himself says no:

http://www.jonraney.com/forum/solos-discussion/who-have-i-seen-play-with-jimmy/

Wait -- I know, let's ask Phil Schaap!

 

 

 

 

 

[fasstrack]

7 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Joel -- These posts from The Raney Blog suggest that it might well have been Eddie Diehl, even if the man himself says no:

http://www.jonraney.com/forum/solos-discussion/who-have-i-seen-play-with-jimmy/

Wait -- I know, let's ask Phil Schaap!

 

 

 

 

 

Ha. Let's not.....

[fasstrack]

I've been listening to my old teacher and mentor's recording The Master and Live at Bradley's. He's just as good as I remember!

I won't post a link to youtube because I don't believe in what they do (put up music for free so people can steal it). I recommend that people purchase the CDs/vinyl instead.

My other favorites remain the great Wes Montgomery, and I've been enjoying the hell out of Ed Bickert. I heard that he retired from playing after his wife passed away. Very sorry to hear this. We need great music in the world. Check out his many recordings with Paul Desmond (the series is called Live at Bourbon Street), and his own dates. He is so musical and swinging...

[Peter Friedman]

If you like the playing of Ed Bickert, be sure to check out Reg Schwager another excellent Canadian guitar player.

 

[Ted O'Reilly]

Oh my, YES to Fasstrack's and Peter's choices of Ed and Reg.  Unassuming great players both.

[BillF]

With Peter Leitch too, Canada has a proud record when it comes to jazz guitarists.

[mjzee]

Also Lorne Lofsky.

[Chuck Nessa]

More attention should be paid to Raney!

[7/4]

53 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

More attention should be paid to Raney!

I'll 2nd that statement.

[paul secor]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2007 at 11:38 AM, Chuck Nessa said:

Interested parties can get this one from me.

That's a very good one, although I don't believe that it's available from Chuck these days.

Sorry to take attention away from Jimmy Raney. I'll be listening to him later today.

[AllenLowe]

Raney was the only player I ever heard Barry Harris compare to Bird.