RLR

[Swinging Swede]

There has been no shortage of new labels from the Spanish/Andorran Disconforme guys. Among the more recent ones are Lone Hill Jazz and Gambit, on which we have seen releases of material that may have been OOP but always had been available at some other label previously. But there is yet another new label now, RLR, and I wonder if they are finally tapping into the type of unissued recordings that only have been circulating among collectors.

The first two RLR releases were of rare Clifford Brown stuff: the last Brown-Roach session a week before Brownie’s death (+ Newport 1955), and the encounter with Eric Dolphy. It may have been rare, but if I understand correctly, it had all been available previously on Philology? (I’m not sure about that, so I’d appreciate clarification from anyone who knows.)

But there is a third release now with the Chet Baker Quartet with Dick Twardzik that is purported to be ”previously unissued on any format”! If it is what they claim it is, it is a Cologne concert from October 9, 1955 (12 days before Twardzik’s death) in good sound. A Cologne concert from this tour is not even mentioned in most discographies I’ve checked, but I have seen a couple of references on the net that unissued tapes are known to exist.

Here are the details:

Personnel: Chet Baker (tp, voc), Dick Twardzik (p), Jimmy Boyd (b) & Peter Littman (d) with guest appearances on two tracks from Hans Koller (ts) & Willi Sanner (bs).

Tracks:

1. Announcement by Gigi Campi and Chet Baker

2. Exitus (Phil Urso)

3. Announcement by Chet Baker

4. Tommyhawk (Johnny Mandell)

5. Imagination (J.Burke-J.Van Heusen)

6. Chet Baker presents Dick Twardzick's solo feature

7. Yellow Tango (Dick Twardzick)

8. Someone To Watch Over Me (G. & I. Gershwin)

9. C.T.A. (Jimmy Heath)

10. My Funny Valentine (Rodgers-Hart)

11. Announcement: Campi introduces Hans Keller and Willi Sanner

12. Cool Blues (Charlie Parker)

13. I'll Remember April (De Paul-Johnston-Raye)

14. Exitus (Phil Urso) (Theme) / Closing words by Chet Baker

Total Time: 78:38 mins.

(info taken from www.jazzmessengers.com)

If it is what it is purported to be, is it really previously unissued? And if so, is this the first time the Spanish/Andorran guys have released previously unissued material? And if that is so, what further unissued material could they have access to, and plan to release in the future on this label? Yes, I know that the the Disconforme guys’ practices are questionable, but still, I must say that the prospect of a new label releasing previously unissued recordings of this kind is exciting!

[Pete B]

Interesting. This is not mentioned in Jack Chambers' Twardzik discography . These sorts of things turn up sometimes among traders. It's amazing, the unreleased stuff that makes the rounds.

[bichos]

The first two RLR releases were of rare Clifford Brown stuff: the last Brown-Roach session a week before Brownie’s death (+ Newport 1955), and the encounter with Eric Dolphy. It may have been rare, but if I understand correctly, it had all been available previously on Philology? (I’m not sure about that, so I’d appreciate clarification from anyone who knows.)

But there is a third release now with the Chet Baker Quartet with Dick Twardzik that is purported to be ”previously unissued on any format”! If it is what they claim it is, it is a Cologne concert from October 9, 1955 (12 days before Twardzik’s death) in good sound. A Cologne concert from this tour is not even mentioned in most discographies I’ve checked, but I have seen a couple of references on the net that unissued tapes are known to exist.

Here are the details:

Personnel: Chet Baker (tp, voc), Dick Twardzik (p), Jimmy Boyd (b) & Peter Littman (d) with guest appearances on two tracks from Hans Koller (ts) & Willi Sanner (bs).

Tracks:

1. Announcement by Gigi Campi and Chet Baker

2. Exitus (Phil Urso)

3. Announcement by Chet Baker

4. Tommyhawk (Johnny Mandell)

5. Imagination (J.Burke-J.Van Heusen)

6. Chet Baker presents Dick Twardzick's solo feature

7. Yellow Tango (Dick Twardzick)

8. Someone To Watch Over Me (G. & I. Gershwin)

9. C.T.A. (Jimmy Heath)

10. My Funny Valentine (Rodgers-Hart)

11. Announcement: Campi introduces Hans Keller and Willi Sanner

12. Cool Blues (Charlie Parker)

13. I'll Remember April (De Paul-Johnston-Raye)

14. Exitus (Phil Urso) (Theme) / Closing words by Chet Baker

Total Time: 78:38 mins.

(info taken from www.jazzmessengers.com)

If it is what it is purported to be, is it really previously unissued?

hello, swinging swede, thanks for this electrifying informations!

the two rlr records "brown and dolphy - together 1954" and "brown - the last concert" are indeed on the philology (unofficial) label. this was a discussion a few months ago here:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...topic=22517&hl=

there is also on philology (this time official release) a chet baker concert with twardzik from mainz, september 21, 1955. i try to get the book "bouncin´ with bartok" the biography of richard "dick" twardzik by jack chambers. in the meantime you can read a chapter here:

http://www.jazzitude.com/chambers_sadwalk01.htm

but there is a different date for the cologne concert: september 26, 1955 because at october 9, 1955 the group was in strasbourg, france.

btw the concert at the börsensaal in cologne was presented by gigi campi, a legendary person in the german jazz history (especial in cologne in the 50´s). he was owner of a ice cream bar (type of café) and produced jazz concerts there. he also had his own recording label "mod" and recorded the new stars hans koller, jutta hipp among others. (now legendary recordings for collectors). i think he is still alive but has lost interest in jazz....?

you can get the legendary "mod" recordings on two cd´s here: www.jazzprojekte.de

that´s all i know.

keep boppin´

marcel

[Ken Dryden]

I'll getting ready to review the Clifford Brown-Eric Dolphy disc for All Music Guide within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

[Swinging Swede]

Thanks for the info! Are unofficial Philology releases CD-Rs that one had to order directly? (I think I've read about such releases.) Anyway, it will be interesting to see what more will come out on the RLR label.

[gmonahan]

I'm bumping this one to ask about RLR. It's gotten mentioned a few times over the years together with the Andorran labels, so I'm curious if we've ever discovered exactly what the case was with this label. Boot? More or less legit? I recently got hold of most of the Clifford Brown things issued by the label--or reissued by the label. The sound is often pretty mediocre, but there is some amazing Brown on it. Anyway, can you all enlighten me on this one?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Pre-1962 is still bootleg in the US, but public domain in the EU. US PD is currently sitting at 1928.

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

Pre-1962 is still bootleg in the US, but public domain in the EU. US PD is currently sitting at 1928.

This seems to suggest that it's sitting at 1923 for recordings: https://ask.loc.gov/recorded-sound/faq/313179

[Kevin Bresnahan]

You are right on that. The 95 year expiration is just for video recordings. I was blinded by Steamboat Willie's recent appearance in the PD.

This is what I found for sound recordings:

Recordings first published between 1947-1956 are protected for 110 years. For all remaining recordings first made prior to February 15, 1972, protection shall end on February 15, 2067. Recorded after February 15, 1972, 95 years from publication or 120 years from recording date, whichever is shorter.

Which is just ridiculous.

[JSngry]

Didn't RLR source their material from Dime? 

[medjuck]

4 hours ago, bresna said:

You are right on that. The 95 year expiration is just for video recordings. I was blinded by Steamboat Willie's recent appearance in the PD.

And I think for just about everything else (books, films, etc) except sound recordings.

[gmonahan]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:00 AM, JSngry said:

Didn't RLR source their material from Dime? 

Philology put out some of this stuff too, but I can't figure out where they got it either!

 

[Gheorghe]

I think I have some but have not listened to them for many years. It is mostly Charlie Parker. I think on from Bohemia is nice, where they play mostly the standards that otherwise were recorded with strings, just as a quintet with Kenny Dorham. 

Others are not so fine, I don´t really listen to those, where the other instruments are cut out . 

Others I think I already had from the British Spotlite label. 

For live recordings of Bird I prefer the CBS from Birdland, the Carnegie Set with Diz, and the Massey Hall.