Transition label

[Dmitry]

I recently got a Toshiba-EMI LP of Byrd's Eye View on Transition/Blue Note and realized I know nothing about the Transition label except that it was based in Boston. I guess at some point Blue Note acquired it. I assume this cover was a later addition, because it looks like a Reid Miles job.

Unfortunately my place is being painted at the moment and I have no access to the Goldmine book. Can anyone shed the light on the Transition label? I couldn't find the discography on the web.

A scan ot two of what their record labels looked like would be nice too.

[jazzbo]

A small label run by producer Tom Wilson (a good thing). Didn't last long enough, some of the dates that weren't issued by Transition were bought by Lion and issued on Blue Note, now I believe that EMI has the label and has issued Japanese cds and US cds under the Blue Note name.

Every Transition I've heard I've really liked!

I'm not sure but I think this was the original lp cover of the Transition lp. You do have, do you not, the "Donald Byrd" Transition lps two cd Connoisseur set? (This Byrd, the "Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill" and the Doug Watkins Transition lp are all included in the two cd set).

Edited August 6, 2004 by jazzbo

[jazzbo]

Part of the indefatigable work done by our board member Mike Fitzgerald:

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Labels/transitn.htm

[Dmitry]

You do have, do you not, the "Donald Byrd" Transition lps two cd Connoisseur set? (This Byrd, the "Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill" and the Doug Watkins Transition lp are all included in the two cd set).

Well, duuh. I have these -

BN 52438 Louis Smith: Here Comes Louis Smith

BN 84437 Paul Chambers: Chambers' Music

DD 411 Sun Ra: Sun Song

DD 414 Sun Ra: Sound Of Joy

Looks like Transition sold their masters piece-meal.

I had no idea that Byrd Conn 2fer was in existance. That's what the sheltered existance of a vinyl freak does. I better pick it up. Thanks for the link, Lon.

[JSngry]

Tom Wilson was in the mix somehow, A&R, owner, I dunno. Cecil Taylor's first album was on the label.

I have that particular Byrd side on a somewhat scratched original LP (found it for a fin about 20 years ago and bought it to satisfy my geek fetish). The cover is just pasted on a generic blue jacket, which I thought odd until I found out a few years ago that there was a liner note booklet included (and which was seperated from my copy somewhere along the way). I'm guessing that this was S.O.P. for the label.

A cheapo webcam pic of the label is attached. My copy only has a label on one side, and it's held on by aged scotch tape. The label on the other side is missing. Also of interest is that the record is totally flat - no raised outer edge or anything in the center. That was the norm for a while for all labels, I believe,

BTW - in very fine print in the lower right corner of the cover photo, there is a credit to "Rimson - Wilson".

[Dmitry]

Thanks for the scan, Jim. Now I know what it looks like.

Here's a quote I found regarding the label and its labels.

"...I remember the original LP's on the Transition label. Produced by a small-budget company in Boston's Harvard Square, they were issued in plain cardboard sleeves with all of the liner notes included in a booklet insert (I've got the LP's but the booklets have long since disappeared--as have the round labels, which must have been attached to the vinyl with LePage's school paste)...."

[JSngry]

Whose quote is that, Dmitry?

[Dmitry]

It was in a review of the Transition Sessions Connoisseur on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...685500?v=glance

[king ubu]

Isn't there a Donald Byrd album that is now owned by Delmark (and are the Sun Ra's also with Delmark now)?

There's a bit of information in the new liners of the Byrd/Watkins conn - but I don't have it with me. I think the liners do tell the story of Wilson and his label (he was founder/owner/producer, as far as I know), and also mention what albums are in EMI/Blue Note's possession now (the Taylor, the Byrds, the Watkins, the Chambers, any more?).

ubu

[jazzbo]

You're right Flurin, First Flight is a Byrd on Delmark that either was a Transition or may/would have become one, and the two Sun Ras on Delmark were Transitions. You are also right that the Connoisseur booklet contains a label history of sorts.

[brownie]

I received several albums from Transition when I started looking for US jazz records at the time the label appeared. Have only two left now. The Byrd's Eye View (I still have the inside notes) and the Transition Sampler which had tracks by Sun Ra, Trane/Fuller/Chambers and Cecil Taylor among others . Lost the second Donald Byrd and the Doug Watkins years ago

Waiging in vain for the full Coltrane/Fuller session to appear on that label!

Glad the two Byrds and the Watkins were reunited in the BN 2CD set.

The liner notes to Byrd's Eye View is a 12-page booklet written by Tom Wilson with nice photos probably taken during the recording session. Cover art is credited to Ira Rimson and Tom Wilson!

Problem with the Transition LPs was that the covers were very tight and once you pulled out the vinyl and reinserted it a few times, the seams would split.

[JohnS]

Every Transition I've heard I've really liked!

I agree, wonderful music.

[king ubu]

brownie, I wonder, the Coltrane/Fuller/Chambers tracks (I have them on that brown Chambers/Coltranee 2LP set), were they released separately, or were they the teasers that made people buy that sampler? And do you know there's more from that date?¨

Here's what's on the Chambers Select:

(B) John Coltrane, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Roland Alexander, piano (on “Trane’s Strain” only); Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.

Recorded in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 20, 1956.

#1 originally issued JAZZ IN TRANSITION (Transition TRLP 30). #2 & 3 originally issued on HIGH STEP (Blue Note BNLA 451-2)

DISC TWO

1. Trane’s Strain (B) 11:00

(improvisation)

2. High Step (B) 8:09

(Barry Harris)

3. Nixon, Dixon And Yates Blues (B) 8:26

(improvisation)

I would tend to believe this is all (either all that was recorded, or all that has survived).

ubu

[jazzbo]

I think Wilson was a good producer. I've liked the rock records I've heard of his . . . notably the Dylan ones.

[brownie]

brownie, I wonder, the Coltrane/Fuller/Chambers tracks (I have them on that brown Chambers/Coltranee 2LP set), were they released separately, or were they the teasers that made people buy that sampler? And do you know there's more from that date?¨

That Coltrane/Fuller was announced on the liner notes to the Transition LPs and one track was included in the sampler. That sampler was $1.98 when it was released. The other LPs were at $3.98 back in those days.

The BN Paul Chambers twofer had what was available from the material recorded at that session. Nothing else available unfortunately!

[king ubu]

brownie, I wonder, the Coltrane/Fuller/Chambers tracks (I have them on that brown Chambers/Coltranee 2LP set), were they released separately, or were they the teasers that made people buy that sampler? And do you know there's more from that date?¨

That Coltrane/Fuller was announced on the liner notes to the Transition LPs and one track was included in the sampler. That sampler was $1.98 when it was released. The other LPs were at $3.98 back in those days.

The BN Paul Chambers twofer had what was available from the material recorded at that session. Nothing else available unfortunately!

Another reason to consider them lost... Cuscuna would have certainly put them on the Chambers Select if they were still around! What a pity!

Lon, I like those early Dylan albums too! I guess Wilson DID make a difference with Dylan. And then he was the first (or so one says, at least) black producer in the pop/rock business back then.

ubu

[Guest ariceffron]

whats up w/ that unreleased sun ra date??? is that avaiable now?

[Tony Pusey]

What I am missing from this discussion is Marable (spelling?) album Tenorman. Ripe for a Con?

[king ubu]

whats up w/ that unreleased sun ra date??? is that avaiable now?

Both released on Delmark:

http://delmark.com/delmark.411.htm, http://delmark.com/delmark.414.htm

[king ubu]

What I am missing from this discussion is Marable (spelling?) album Tenorman. Ripe for a Con?

That one was on Jazz: West, not on Transition!

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Labels/jazzwest.htm

ubu

[Tony Pusey]

I stand corrected, Ubu. Still ripe for a Con?

[king ubu]

I stand corrected, Ubu. Still ripe for a Con?

Of course!! I'd love to hear it!

But I don't think we'll see more of these West Coast Conns too soon... no matter if they come from Jazz: West, Pacific, or whatever label's vault.

ubu

[mikeweil]

brownie, I wonder, the Coltrane/Fuller/Chambers tracks (I have them on that brown Chambers/Coltranee 2LP set), were they released separately, or were they the teasers that made people buy that sampler? And do you know there's more from that date?¨

That Coltrane/Fuller was announced on the liner notes to the Transition LPs and one track was included in the sampler. That sampler was $1.98 when it was released. The other LPs were at $3.98 back in those days.

The BN Paul Chambers twofer had what was available from the material recorded at that session. Nothing else available unfortunately!

Another reason to consider them lost... Cuscuna would have certainly put them on the Chambers Select if they were still around! What a pity!

Lon, I like those early Dylan albums too! I guess Wilson DID make a difference with Dylan. And then he was the first (or so one says, at least) black producer in the pop/rock business back then.

ubu

I remember reading something about the mishaps surrounding that session, but can't recall the exact source. Looks liek Red garland didn't make the date - strange enough that tenor man Roland Alexander took the piano chores for one track. Maybe studio time ran out and/or the date was abandoned. These three tracks are all that was recorded, that is for certain.

[BruceH]

Lon, I like those early Dylan albums too! I guess Wilson DID make a difference with Dylan. And then he was the first (or so one says, at least) black producer in the pop/rock business back then.

ubu

Tom Wilson also produced the early albums of The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa. The guy was phenomenal.

[wolff]

Byrd,Donald Blows On Beacon Hill

VA Jazz In Transition on Transition

On vinyl HERE> if you are so inclined.