Larry Kart Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Pres and the young Sassy share a Town Hall concert on Nov. 8, 1947 -- both in great form and vividly recorded for the most part. I'm not sure that there's any more vigorous and fresh post-war Pres -- and by vigorous I mean not just energetic but really inventive; there's some moves here that will be new to you -- at least they were to me (and they're both beautiful and very hip too). Roy Haynes is the drummer; he's sizzling. And Vaughan -- this may be the best representation of her early self there is on record. Mostly doing ballads, she reshapes them as though she were Tadd Dameron, and when Pres joins her on "I Cried For You," playing his ass off, she responds with a passage that sounds like a cuckoo clock that could tell time in the Fourth Dimension. Best of all, though, is what may be the most remarkable Pres reading of "These Foolish Things" there is -- and that's saying something. I gasped at times at what he does here. Also, you get to hear a relaxed, happy Pres announce tunes and Sarah interact verbally with her rhythm section -- her speaking voice so high and girlish (though her views are quite firm) that it hardly seems to belong to the same person who's singing. http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Stand-Town...8830&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Yep. A favoritest of mine too. I really dig hearing Pres count off the tunes. X 2 (one for each hand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Storer Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Thanks for the tip! So they're together on one tune, and otherwise share the rhythm section? I had a look at Amazon and found this astonishing customer review: "I found it disappointing. Lester Young did too much improvising for my taste." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 i get concerned when reviews mention poor sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Don't be too concerned! It sure is not hifi but the sound is very acceptable. Malcolm Addey took care of the mastering. It's so good to listen to Lester Young in fine form. He obviously was in the right mood at the concert. He got very adequate support from a young Roy Haynes who had joined the Pres band a couple of weeks earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bichos Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 and here are some photos exactly from that concert! keep boppin´ marcel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 About the sound quality -- not everything is perfectly in balance, but the presence on Pres and Sarah and Roy Haynes is very good. In fact, I can think of few studio recordings of the time that capture Pres's sound more vividly. In part that's because Town Hall was a good space acoustically. For example, check out the sound on the Parker-Gillespie 1945 Uptown Town Hall concert. Another thing that's fun -- both Pres and Sarah are very well received, but she just kills the crowd ... and not I think because they've decided upfront that she's a rising star. It's one of those lovely moments where a major artist in flower is legitimately filling the souls of the people to over-flowing. Sarah uses Pres's rhythm section, but Sammy Beskin takes Sadik Hakim's place on piano -- and thank the Lord for that, I say. Hakim can be fun in a weird way, but the way he comps every tune seems to have the same changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 and here are some photos exactly from that concert! keep boppin´ marcel That's got to be the biggest bass drum that Roy Haynes ever used! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Ordered, and thanks for the tip (the Red Garland was a big winner). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Sassy's voice is astounding on this, absolutely heavenly. I love her early vocals best of all, and this is a great place to hear them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I was in the record shop the other day & spotted this one--remembered Larry's enthusiasm, & grabbed it. Not much to add, really--I'm glad Larry mentioned "These Foolish Things" specifically because it is truly a performance for the ages. A more general question: any further recommendations for later (postwar) Prez? I've mostly collected the earlier work (I suppose scared away by the generally mixed rep of his later work, & indeed the few recordings I'd heard were pretty sad at times), but obviously I should be remedying that omission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 A more general question: any further recommendations for later (postwar) Prez? I've mostly collected the earlier work (I suppose scared away by the generally mixed rep of his later work, & indeed the few recordings I'd heard were pretty sad at times), but obviously I should be remedying that omission. Jazz Giants '56 is a good place to start, but if you're like me, even the "saddest" late Prez will end up speaking deeply. Also, there's airshots (Royal Roosy?) of Prez ca. '49 or so that are quite lively and frisky. The Charlie PArker Records sides (recorded at a dance, iirc) are kinda mixed, but when they're good, they're the best Bottom line, though, for me, although I'm not compulsive about it, I will buy any Lester Young recording which I do not already have on sight, and I will not be disappointed. I do think that his later years have been revisionisit-ized, critically, and appropriately so. He might have "spoken" differently, but he still spoke strongly and truthfully, up until the very end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) I was in the record shop the other day & spotted this one--remembered Larry's enthusiasm, & grabbed it. Not much to add, really--I'm glad Larry mentioned "These Foolish Things" specifically because it is truly a performance for the ages. A more general question: any further recommendations for later (postwar) Prez? I've mostly collected the earlier work (I suppose scared away by the generally mixed rep of his later work, & indeed the few recordings I'd heard were pretty sad at times), but obviously I should be remedying that omission. One of my absolute favorites is the 1950 concert that Savoy has released in several formats over the years, most recently on the complete Savoy recordings 2-disc set. The 10 minute slow blues is the hands down highlight, but Pres is really on throughout the entire concert. If you don't have the Aladdin recordings, I highly recommend those as well. Then there is the mid-50s reunion with Teddy Wilson on a couple Verve LPs that is phenomenal. A number of live recordings from 1956 also capture Pres in fine form. Edited February 21, 2008 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I love it all. Don't forget to get the five on OJC of Pres in D. C. Quite good for later Pres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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