Louis Cottrell Trio

[Brownian Motion]

Cottrell's Trio was recorded by Riverside Records in 1961 as part of the "New Orleans: The Living Legends" series. This title is, imo, the class of the series. Accompanied by only bass and guitar or banjo, and playing a program that is mostly free of NO warhorses, Cottrell's clarinet sails over the chords like a warm breeze.

I picked this up new on Amazon for 3.99 plus shipping from Newbury Comics. They have at least one more.

[paul secor]

One for others to grab before it goes out of print. (Perhaps it's o/p already.)

edit: Should add that Chris A. was the producer for this recording. He might want to add a few words when he's around.

Edited June 8, 2007 by paul secor

[Kalo]

Sounds like one to get. Any other recommendations from this series?

[Christiern]

I'm glad to hear that you like the Cottrell album, I was quite pleased with it. Mr. Cottrell was also the head of the black musicians' union in N.O. (yes, there was segregation, even there) so I got to know him on that level, too. Wonderful person. When I told Bill Grauer (Riverside's head, who sent me to N.O.) how cooperative Cottrell and the union was being, he told me to take them all out for dinner. Well, I would have loved to do that, but the law forbade it--ditto problem when I offered Emanuel Sayles a cab ride one night, following another session.

Segregationist laws and attitudes were also behind my decision to do the sessions at this wonderful old hall, in the Quarter. I had originally intended to include a couple of white musicians, so the local studios had to be ruled out. As it turned out, that was a blessing in disguise, for the Jeunes Amis hall not only gave me a desirable, American Music-like sound, it was also a place where all the musicians had performed many times before, so they felt quite at home.

Back in those days pre-computer days, almost half a century ago, I used to enter my session info into a little loose-leaf note book. Here are my Cottrell sessions from that book (the in-between session--#14 was an all-day affair that yielded 2 albums by Billie and Dede Pierce.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Christiern

[Brownian Motion]

Thanks Chris. It's such a luxury to have you around to comment.

[Stereojack]

Thank you, Chris. I've owned and treasured this LP for many years.

[Christiern]

Rummaging through a pile of old photos, I found one that I took on the second day of recording the trio:

Cottrell, Emamuel Sayles, McNeal Breaux - N.O. Jan. 27, 1961

BTW, McNeal owned a wonderful little restaurant in the Quarter and, being white in 1961^*, I had to enter through a back door. He was also a cousin of Wellman Braud, the wonderful Duke Ellington bassist.

^* I'm still white, but I would no longer need an exit strategy to leave McNeal's restaurant.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Chris, I've long loved that album (despite some "flexible" pitch), and thought the sound was terrific. I don't have a copy of it, or the others recorded in that series, and I can't pull the engineer's name from my memory, but the aural aspects of those sessions is natural and authentic, so he should be credited along side you, I think.

[Christiern]

Dave Jones was the engineer, a great guy who loved the music and, I hope, is still around. He also recorded the Bill Evans Vanguard sessions, which I was present at.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Minimal miking and equipment, maximum music, on the N.O. sessions, and the Evans. 47 year old recordings, but couldn't be improved upon today, I'd say. Jones achieved simplicity, as Roy DuNann did...

[Clunky]

I got this session very recently and love it. My Japanese LP is in mono and sounds very natural , was it recorded in stereo as well and were there any extra takes released ever?

[Christiern]

Yes, all the recordings in the "Living Legends" series were recorded in stereo and issued separately in mono, as well (that's how it was done when mono styli could damage stereo grooves). In post #4 of this thread, you will see my own record of these recordings and their initial issue. I don't know what Concord did with the CD reissues, but I put out 2 LPs of the Cottrell sessions and included a couple of tracks on a 2-disc LP that kicked off the series (see below). Most of the material in the double LP (Riverside 356/7 and 9356/7) did not duplicate what followed in the individual sets. I had such a "sampler" set in mind when I did the sessions, so when I called for another take, it was often with that set in mind rather than needing a better performance.

In Cottrell's case, yo will note that I rejected four selection from the first session and one from the second. "Slow Drag" Pavageau was, I thought, a bit to rough for Cottrell's smooth style, so I decided to replace him with McNeal. I also did not like the vocal version of "Down By the Riverside," so I left it unissued.

As for Dave Jones, I agree that he was very good--had a better ear than Rudy, I think, and did wonders with just an Ampex in a travel-worn enclosure and one or more microphones.

[Clunky]

. In post #4 of this thread, you will see my own record of these recordings and their initial issue. I don't know what Concord did with the CD reissues, but I put out 2 LPs of the Cottrell sessions and included a couple of tracks on a 2-disc LP that kicked off the series (see below). Most of the material in the double LP (Riverside 356/7 and 9356/7) did not duplicate what followed in the individual sets. I had such a "sampler" set in mind when I did the sessions, so when I called for another take, it was often with that set in mind rather than needing a better performance.

apologies for not noticing Post 4, in my defence I read the thread before I logged in and therefore couldn't see any attached images !

I was lucky enough to have picked up an LP copy of Riverside 356/357 at the same time I found the Cottrell LP. It's a wonderfully varied set, the Cottrell selections are my favourite but the Billie and Dede Pierce tracks are wonderful too. The story in the liner notes can't help but draw you into the music. Many thanks Chris.