garthsj Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 (edited) AT LONG LAST!! This music may not be of interest to everyone (although it should be) but Hep Records have just released a wonderful album of all of the music recorded by the Buddy DeFranco Big Band in 1949-1951. This music had never been all pulled together in one place before, except for a very obscure and rare Japanese CD, which was not as complete as this issue. The music ranges from the George Russell "experimental" "Bird in Igor's Yard" to fine a "dance band" treatment of Jerome Kern's "Why Do I Love You". The album concludes with six early cuts of DeFranco's small groups recordings for MGM (with Kenny Drew, Jimmy Raney. Teddy Kotick, and Art Taylor) which were among the very first 78's I purchased at age 12! These small group recordings demonstrate why DeFranco was so far ahead harmonically of most of his contemporaries then trying to play bebop. (I wonder if he had played a different instrument than the clarinet, say, the tenor sax, whether he would have been considered one of the absolute giants today ..?) Allegro has a sale on Hep CDs .. there is some great stuff here: http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalo...?sku_tag=HEP377 Edited December 24, 2005 by garthsj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Thanks, Garth -- I'm on it. Any other Hep discs you particularly want to recommend while the Allegro sale is on? I have a fair bunch already and to fill out this order I added Mary Ann McCall's "You're Mine You," "The Artistry of Artie Shaw," Harry James' "Big John Special," and (from another label and realm) Bruno Maderna's Violin Concerto on Stradivarius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 The Mary McCall and that most recent Artie are wonderful, Larry. You might like the two most recent Thornhill entries as well, particularly 1949-1953, as much of that material has rarely, if ever, surfaced before in the post-LP era (I particularly like the 1953 sessions that Thornhill did for Albert Marx's Trend label--they include four Mulligan arrangements that CT had been sitting on for several years). I'm sure you already have the Raeburns and the Shaw 1944-45 set; some of my other favorites from the series include these: Georgie Auld--JUMP, GEORGIE, JUMP Johnny Bothwell--STREET OF DREAMS Benny Carter/Jimmy Mundy/Gerald Wilson--THEY ALL HAD RHYTHM and GROOVIN' HIGH Sam Donahue--all of them Benny Goodman--PLAYS EDDIE SAUTER and PLAYS MEL POWELL Jack Jenny--STARDUST Teddy Powell--RIDIN' THE SUBWAYS Teddy Wilson--JUMPIN' FOR JOY (collects all of TW's 1939-40 big band) Much discussion of Hep & its various titles here. The DeFranco is tremendous--I did a Big Bands show last month devoted to it & the new Hep Don Redman, if anyone wants to sample a few sides: Two Heps I'd waited a long time to hear the legendary "A Bird in Igor's Yard" (do you suppose this was a part of the aborted Mosaic Capitol Big Bands box?); interestingly enough, none of the sides from that session were released at the time, according to the liner notes, which also quote De Franco telling Downbeat in 1951 that "that was one attempt at pioneering I never should have made." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 The DeFranco is great. . . a friend burned the 78s onto cdr for me about four years ago, and it's great stuff. One of the Heps I keep coming back to is the Basie Jubilee one. . . . Awesome stuff. Great label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Thanks, Ghost and Jazzbo. I have JUMP, GEORGIE, JUMP, Goodman PLAYS EDDIE SAUTER and PLAYS MEL POWELL Jack Jenny's STARDUST, and a previous LP issue of most of the Wilson big band stuff. The rest I'll look into; the Thornhill sounds intriguing, as does the Basie Jubilee (which I think I may have). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinging Swede Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 (edited) This is one I certainly will get, but it is worth noting that there are about 5 unissued tracks from these Capitol and MGM sessions. It would be nice to hear them too, and the only way that would happen is probably if these sessions would be included in some future Mosaic set. Edited December 25, 2005 by Swinging Swede Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garthsj Posted December 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 I was away from the computer so that others have already responded to Larry.. but I would certainly get the "Artistry of Artie Shaw" ... for some perverse reason I am also very partial to Joe Temperley's albums ... Those lovely bright yellow MGM 78's were the first "modern jazz" records I bought ... after wetting my teeth on RCA Goodman's and Shaws. I will never forget the shock when I first listened to DeFranco's version of "Carioca" .. it was enough to make this budding clarinet player want to give up the instrument. It still sends shivers up my spine today. No one can really play the clarinet that way! Most, but not all, of the MGM 78's have been collected in Japan, first on an LP (which I sold with the rest of my collection) called "King of the Clarinet" (which was the title of the very first 10" LP I ever purchased, and which I still have in a frame on the wall of my study where I am writing this note), and now available on a Japanese CD entitled "Gone With The Wind" (Verve Polydor POCJ-2608). There are a few titles still missing ... IF ever there was a MAJOR jazz artist calling out for the the full Mosiac treatment it would have to be Buddy DeFranco! They did a great job with the Sonny Clark - DeFranco music .. but why not the rest? Just look at the price that set goes for today ... I would even settle for a DeFranco-Tommy Gumina Select .. that would fit nicely, and the music is very harmonically "progressive" ... I am very pleased to see that Buddy has so many fans on this list ... and he continues to play great modern jazz! This is one I certainly will get, but it is worth noting that there are about 5 unissued tracks from these Capitol and MGM sessions. It would be nice to hear them too, and the only way that would happen is probably if these sessions would be included in some future Mosaic set. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Forgot to mention that both of the Joe Mooney Heps are also well worth picking up. Some prior discussion here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Bird In Igor's Yard came out on a Capitol reissue LP years ago, but it's nice to have it together with the band - interesting, as well, because, though DeFranco is a great player, he is not at Russell's level; like a fair number of moderm performances of that era that fall within advanced arrangements, it's a little jarring to hear a new sound come out of the arrangement, and than have the soloist play as though it were just any contemporary piece - but than, there were no real "free" improvisors at that time, Trisano et al nothwithstanding - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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