Finally, a WOODY SHAW thread...

[king ubu]

IMHO, it is just as good as "Little Red's Fantasy".

One of my favourite Shaw recordings!

ubu

[Noj]

It also includes "Zoltan", a great great Shaw original (where else does this appear???) as well as a nice Harper ballad.

This thing really cooks - check it out folks!!!

[Eric]

It also includes "Zoltan", a great great Shaw original (where else does this appear???) as well as a nice Harper ballad.

This thing really cooks - check it out folks!!!

ah yes - duh

[Eric]

Discovered this funky little re-issue label, Wounded Bird. They seem to specialize in really crappy 70s rock, but have done some stuff by the MJQ and other jazz artists. AND, I saw they just re-issued Kevin Eubanks "Guitarist", which came out on Musician. So ... I emailed them to ask for the two live Woody CDs that came out in the early 80s on Musician. Here is their web site if you are inclined to do the same.

http://www.woundedbird.com/about.htm

Edited August 1, 2004 by Eric

[Free For All]

Woody Shaw

Anyone visited this site? There is some nice stuff to check out. Thanks Miles 251!

[sidewinder]

Woody Shaw

Anyone visited this site? There is some nice stuff to check out. Thanks Miles 251!

That's a nice tribute on there from Woody III. Thanks for the link !

[Late]

This is one of the more spirited threads here. Nice reading.

Can anyone here post the catalog number for the Japanese issue of Little Red's Fantasy?

[DrJ]

Revisting this thread, it's a really good one. A couple things:

Free For All Posted: Aug 22 2003, 10:57 AM  

Count me in as a Woody fanatic. The first time I heard him was on a Columbia LP called "Montreaux Summit"- it was a label concert of current Columbia recording artists done in the 70s (Dexter and Woody, Getz, Maynard etc.). Maynard's band was sort of the "house band" and was probably the reason I picked up the side (that's where my interests were at the time). On one tune Maynard was trading w/Woody (talk about "when worlds collide")- needless to say, my eyes were opened and my priorities changed forever.

Whoah, this kind of slipped by me the first time through this thread. Sounds really interesting to say the least...is this one that pops up often in the used bins? Anyone else heard it who can comment?

Here's what's in All Music Guide:

Montreux Summit Vol. 1

Montreux Summit Vol. 2

Montreux Summit - "First Divide" (???)

Appears to be only SOME overlap among the material on a couple of these. Also it is not clear to me whether it's all from one year or whether these were done in a few different years. Whatever, the line up of artists on the first one sounds tantalizing.

Also: am I crazy or did I hear some type of rumor that there were going to be further live Woody Shaw dates released by some small label this year (neither High Note nor Columbia but someone else)? I could SWEAR I remember seeing that a few months back somewhere on the board, but have not heard a thing since and haven't seen anything during in-store or on-line browsing.

Edited November 6, 2004 by DrJ

[dsgtrane]

Whoah, this kind of slipped by me the first time through this thread. Sounds really interesting to say the least...is this one that pops up often in the used bins? Anyone else heard it who can comment?

I've got Volume 2. Sort of a mixed bag. The Shaw and Gordon stuff is good but most of the other stuff sounds rather dated, not surprising considering the time period. Interesting enough I bought the album for some of the other musicians, long before I ever discovered Woody and Dexter.

Edited November 7, 2004 by dsgtrane

[dsgtrane]

Back cover

[pryan]

My Dad has volume one. It's good stuff, but like Maynard said it was kind of like "Star Wars". Woody plays well but he's not at the top of his game. If you want to hear Woody and Maynard duel in the upper register, get vol. 1. There is some good Dex as well, but it makes more sense to get his Live at The Village Vanguard double-Lp (w/Woody's band); much more coherent stuff, more substance, less flash.

[DrJ]

Thanks for posting the album and your impressions dsgtrane, and for your thoughts pryan. I'm such a nut for both Woody and Dex that I will keep an eye out for these even given the limtiations you mention.

[Kari S]

Woody was a fantastic composer. "The Moontrane", "Zoltan", "Little Red's Fantasy", "Rosewood", "Katrina Ballerina"... Moontrane is one of my all time fav tunes. And he was only about 17 when he wrote it...

I've been kicking myself for not getting the Last Of The Line set when it was available. If anyone has Love Dance in mp3, feel free to PM me.

[pryan]

Just picked up a Woody Shaw Lp entitled MASTER OF THE ART, with Bobby Hutcherson, Mulgrew Miller, Steve Turre, Stafford James, Tony Reedus. Looks pretty good on paper; there's also an interview w/Woody on side two. Anybody else have this one?

[sidewinder]

Yes, I've got that one. Along with the other live Woody on Electra, 'Night Music'. They are not my favourite Woody Shaw but they do bring back the nostalgia of seeing this particular lineup, which is nice.

These must have, in their day, been just about the most available and best distributed Woody Shaw LPs in the UK. Everyone stocked them !

[pryan]

My copy is a "promo" edition. Only cost $5 CDN, though.

[dsgtrane]

Just picked up a Woody Shaw Lp entitled MASTER OF THE ART, with Bobby Hutcherson, Mulgrew Miller, Steve Turre, Stafford James, Tony Reedus. Looks pretty good on paper; there's also an interview w/Woody on side two. Anybody else have this one?

I've got both that and "Night Music" as well. Prefer "Master". Sound is better on it too IMO.

Both were fairly easy and inexpensive to find. Bought both, along with a new copy of "Stepping Stones", sealed a year or so ago through the Amazon shops. Less than $30 for the three I believe.

[pryan]

Just picked up a Woody Shaw Lp entitled MASTER OF THE ART, with Bobby Hutcherson, Mulgrew Miller, Steve Turre, Stafford James, Tony Reedus.  Looks pretty good on paper; there's also an interview w/Woody on side two.  Anybody else have this one?

I've got both that and "Night Music" as well. Prefer "Master". Sound is better on it too IMO.

Both were fairly easy and inexpensive to find. Bought both, along with a new copy of "Stepping Stones", sealed a year or so ago through the Amazon shops. Less than $30 for the three I believe.

I have STEPPING STONES also. It really burns.

Malcolm Addey is the "sound guy" on the MASTER... album. That probably helps to explain things. I'm spinning it for the first time and am really enjoying it. Woody is playing some beautiful fluegelhorn on "Diane" as I type this. Well worth the $5, methinks.

[pryan]

Re "Homecoming": I believe that Woody's band was not the only thing that Dexter "borrowed" around that time. He also hooked up with publicist Maxine Gregg (a.k.a. "Little Red" of "Little Red's Fantasy"), a development that went a long way toward lowering Woody's spirits when he discovered upon returning from a summer European tour that Gregg had cleaned out their apartment and left him for Dex.

I totally missed this comment the first time around. That kind of explains Woody's decline. It's depressing in a way, but I guess Dexter and Woody were never really "buddies", at least not in a close sense. Therefore it is somewhat "excusable" that Dexter stole Woody's woman, or maybe not...

[pryan]

How are the albums that Woody did with Freddie Hubbard in the mid-80s?

[dsgtrane]

Re "Homecoming": I believe that Woody's band was not the only thing that  Dexter "borrowed" around that time. He also hooked up with publicist Maxine Gregg (a.k.a. "Little Red" of "Little Red's Fantasy"), a development that went a long way toward lowering Woody's spirits when he discovered upon returning from a summer European tour  that Gregg had cleaned out their apartment and left him for Dex.

I totally missed this comment the first time around. That kind of explains Woody's decline. It's depressing in a way, but I guess Dexter and Woody were never really "buddies", at least not in a close sense. Therefore it is somewhat "excusable" that Dexter stole Woody's woman, or maybe not...

I missed this too. Ouch!

BTW, as for "Homecoming", I think Woody should have gotten equal billing. IMO it's just as much his recording as Dexter's.

[dsgtrane]

How are the albums that Woody did with Freddie Hubbard in the mid-80s?

Good but they don't blow me away as much as some of his other stuff.

[Late]

If you want to hear Woody in an altogether different setting than what you'd normally expect, check out Pharoah Sanders' Summun, Bukmun, Umyun on Impulse! Though Sanders is on soprano rather than his standard choice of tenor, this session is just as good as Black Unity.

[SEK]

If you want to hear Woody in an altogether different setting than what you'd normally expect, check out Pharoah Sanders' Summun, Bukmun, Umyun on Impulse! Though Sanders is on soprano rather than his standard choice of tenor, this session is just as good as Black Unity.

I like the groove of "Summun, Bukmun, Umyun" even more than "Black Unity".

[Eric]

Highnote is coming out with Vol. 4 of the previously unissued live stuff on 4/26