Outstanding Alternate Takes

[Guy Berger]

What about the alternate "Right Now" off Jackie Mac's album of the same name?

Guy

[Noj]

Good call (as usual) Guy Berger. It doesn't bother me to hear it right after the original.

How 'bout the alternate take of "Moanin'" on the Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers album of the same name? I'm interested to know what the musical terminology is that describes the two different approaches of the soloists on each of these. There appears to be a 'delayed' approach to the alternate. I like the original better, but it is an interesting contrast that opens a window to the workshop, so to speak.

[Shrdlu]

The non-robotic, almost lyrical approach that Coltrane takes on one of the Giant Steps versions in the Atlantic box was a revelation after being thoroughly familiar with both the master take and the one alternative take which came out in the 1970s. Who knew?

Mike

Bird's alternate of "Parker's Mood." Cruel beauty.

Yeah, pretty much all of Bird's alternates would apply here.

And Prez on the alternate of "Shoe Shine Boy" would too. The differences between the two takes makes the stories of him in K.C. jamming endlessly on one tune w/o repeating himself totally believable and cause more than a little "wish I had a time machine" envy.

Well said (with the alteration to the Pres title). Bird, Pres and Trane were so inventive that just about all of their alternates are of great value.

With others, I am often glad that the CD reissue has no alternates, even if the album is a gem.

[Guy Berger]

Just thought of another one... the alternate of Keith Jarrett's "Everything That Lives, Laments" from the Mysteries box set.

Not sure if either take of "The Man I Love" (from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants) counts as an "alternate", but they are both pretty awesome.

Guy

[medjuck]

Not sure if either take of "The Man I Love" (from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants) counts as an "alternate", but they are both pretty awesome.

Guy

Right on. I'm not sure, but I think Take One was released first. Usually it's a later take that becomes the "master" take. Which getes confusing since they'e often now sequenced chronoligically. Which makes the "alternates" the earlier takes. (Or maybe I'm just easily confused. )

[Chuck Nessa]

I love the alternate take of Billie Holiday's "No More" that appears on her COMPLETE DECCA RECORDINGS

Funny you should mention that. I was always intrigued by the takes of Big Stuff from the same set.

[medjuck]

Big Stuff! Bernstein kept bringin her back into the studio to get it "right"!. They all sound pretty good to me. Interesting to see the results of his work here and listen to him talking to Miles Davis on the recordings of "Sweet Sue" on the Miles/Trane box set.

[ADR]

I'm amazed nobody has mentioned either Sam Rivers "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" included in the Mosaic box, or Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco" from the Blue Note sides. These are both absolutely essential recorded documents of incredible bands working their way through interesting/difficult material.

Good call on both of those.

The first alternates that jump into my mind as being truly outstanding are the alt.s of "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" from "Fuschia Swing Song" and the long alternates of "Jean de Fleur" and "Django" from Grant Green's "Idle Moments".

The alternates on "Idle Moments" are at least the equal of the issued takes and I'm fairly certain that the only reason they weren't used is that they were already using the long take of the title track and the long takes of the other tunes wouldn't fit on the LP format of the day.

[Guy Berger]

The first alternates that jump into my mind as being truly outstanding are the alt.s of "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" from "Fuschia Swing Song" and the long alternates of "Jean de Fleur" and "Django" from Grant Green's "Idle Moments".

The alternates on "Idle Moments" are at least the equal of the issued takes and I'm fairly certain that the only reason they weren't used is that they were already using the long take of the title track and the long takes of the other tunes wouldn't fit on the LP format of the day.

The alternates of Idle Moments also fit well into the mood of the CD -- it's one CD I'm not likely to stop or eject as soon as the original LP ends.

Guy

[nmorin]

The really fast alternate take of "Hand Jive" on Miles' Nefertiti (take 2, I think).

[JSngry]

How's about all them Bud Powell BN alternates, the ones from THE AMAZING BUD POWELL sessions?

Them's good eats!

[Noj]

I've said it in numerous other threads, but Wes Montgomery's alternate of "Bumpin' On Sunset" from the Tequila reissue is THE GOODS!

[Nate Dorward]

The alt.take of the title track of Hub-Tones--they probably excluded it because though Hubbard's solo is I think better, the time gets turned around at the very end of the track. Them's the breaks.

[Guy Berger]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I've been listening to the alternate takes on Keith Jarrett's Shades in-depth for the first time. There's a really great alternate of "Shades of Jazz" (a great tune, IMHO!) with both Dewey and Keith offering great solos. I think they canned it because Dewey comes in late for his solo.

Guy

[Alexander Hawkins]

Free For All Posted: Jun 30 2004, 12:07 AM 

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QUOTE (JSngry @ Jun 29 2004, 05:18 PM)

Sonny Rollins' alternates from both the Contemporary & the RCA sessions. WHOA!

Yes! I was going to mention the long version of 52nd Street Theme. Sonny goes a full 12 rounds on that one. 

I was just thinking listening to it earlier how much I enjoyed the alternates from 'Way Out West'.

[BERIGAN]

On the Bud Freeman Neatwork (1935-45) cd there is a version of The Buzzard I haven't heard anywhere else. Bunny Berigan and Bud Freeman in particular really changed their solos. It's better than the released take IMO.

On the Benny Goodman RCA cd the Harry James years, they have a version of Life Goes to party (Take 2) that is much faster, more energetic than the released version. Gene Krupa has a lot to do with this.

On the cd Okay, America!: Alternate Takes and Rarities The Boswell Sisters. There is a hummed version of Sing a Little Jingle that is so much better then the released take, it ain't even funny! 3 versions of Was that the Human Thing to do that to me shows no one in the 30's improvised better than the Boswell Sisters.

[mikeweil]

Wes Montgomery's alternate takes from the Milestone years - he was one of those artists who took a different approach each time.

Agree heartily on the Prez takes mentioned above !

[John L]

I love the three takes of Bird of Paradise. You can can almost go step-by-step through the process that transformed All the Things You Are into an original composition on the spot.

I would never want to be without the alternates to the Kansas City 6 Commodore sides. Each alternate is a masterpiece in and of itself.

Then there are the alternate takes of Billie and Lester's "All of Me" that were too long at the time to fit on 78s. It don't get no better.

[sal]

I love the alternate of "One Finger Snap" from Emperyan Isles.

[Jazz Kat]

I haven't met an alternate take I like. Whenever I hear bonus tracks, I always know why they picked the one they did to be the master. Or at least think it. Or maybe I just been used to the master take, automatically, the alternate take is un-superior to the master take.

[Brownian Motion]

I would never want to be without the alternates to the Kansas City 6 Commodore sides. Each alternate is a masterpiece in and of itself.

Not to mention Charlie Christian. A sizable slice of his recorded legacy is alternate takes.