How many Conn series do you own?

[Noj]

Some list there, Dr J. The whole OOP business really chaps my hide.

Picked up Lee Morgan THE PROCRASTINATOR...didn't know it wasn't issued at the time it was recorded. When did it originally come out?

[connoisseur series500]

The Elite series was sort of like Verve's version of the Connoisseur series - more obscure titles from the catalog. Like the Conns, there were several runs, but then they ended up folding the more obscure titles into their LP sleeve and other reissue series, which has meant that they do less and less obscure stuff, just a few mixed in here and there with the Getz, Gillespie, etc "mainstays" of their catalog (not that those aren't often excellent, but still...). For example, it's probable the recent Billy Mitchell reissue would have been an Elite. Also like the Conns, often they'd throw in as a bonus other obscure/unreleased stuff.

The sound quality was uniformly excellent, and the packaging (well, except for the first few which came in a bizarre peek-a-boo slipcase that was totally unnecessary) was quite nice, with repros of the original artwork and labels as well as new graphics. The liners were often quite good too; original notes were always included, but they invariably added new stuff, often including things like interviews with the leader or a key player from the session in addition to the usual historical material. If it sounds like I was really fond of this series, it's because I was.

I BELIEVE this is a full listing (in no particular order) - the first run were issued in September 1997 and the last in August 2000:

Billy Bauer - PLECTRIST

INTRODUCING JIMMY CLEVELAND AND HIS ALL STARS

LISTEN TO ART FARMER AND THE ORCHESTRA

Dizzy Gillespie - PERCEPTIONS (great J.J. Johnson here)

Illinois Jacquet - THE KID AND THE BRUTE (w/ Ben Webster)

Hank Jones - URBANITY

Yusef Lateef - BEFORE DAWN (stands nicely with his roughly contemporary Savoys)

Meade Lux Lewis - CAT HOUSE PIANO

Paul Quinichette - THE VICE PRES

Alan Shorter - ORGASM

Jack Teagarden - THINK WELL OF ME

CLARK TERRY

Dinah Washington - THE BEST IN BLUES

THIS IS TAL FARLOW

Sonny Stitt - ONLY THE BLUES

Harry Edison - THE SWINGER/MR. SWING (2 CD set)(Jimmy Forrest is basically co-leader)

Lee Konitz - MOTION (3 CD version - as opposed to the replication of the original LP only for the more recent edition)

JOHNNY SMITH

The Jazztet - HERE AND NOW

Lawrence Brown - SLIDE TROMBONE

Art Blakey - BLAKEY (w/a bonus date led by Joe Gordon)

Ray Brown - BASS HIT!

Roy Eldridge - SWINGIN' ON THE TOWN

The Jones Brothers - KEEPIN' UP WITH THE JONESES (originally on MGM)

Walt Dickerson - IMPRESSIONS ON A PATCH OF BLUE (ditto)

Buddy DeFranco/Oscar Peterson - THE GEORGE GERSHWIN SONGBOOK

Modern Jazz Society - A CONCERT OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC (John Lewis, Getz, Lucky Thompson, and others)

HERB ELLIS MEETS JIMMY GIUFFRE (some nice Art Pepper on this one too)

George Russell Sextet - AT THE FIVE SPOT

Wynton Kelly - IT'S ALL RIGHT!

Stan Getz and the Clarke-Boland Big Band - CHANGE OF SCENES

Louie Bellson - SKIN DEEP

Lalo Schifrin - DISSECTION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF MUSIC FROM THE PAST AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES...(and it just keeps on going, you have to see the title to believe it, this is not a joke!)

Ed Thigpen - OUT OF THE STORM (w/Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell)

Various - ELITE EDITION COLLECTORS' DISC

One last thing to mention is that, unlike the Conns, it seems these were often given a very spotty distribution...often unless you snagged them in the first few months after issue, they disappeared, and in fact a few (the Lalo Schifrin and Johnny Smith come to mind) were some of the harder CDs I've ever tried to track down. As all are out of print now, you may have a task ahead of you to locate some of these if you're interested.

Great stuff, Dr. J.

I had a couple of those sessions and traded them away (such as the Roy Eldridge.) I also know where to get the Tal Farlow and the Walt Dickerson. Does anyone know if those two are good sessions? I believe there are some extra copies of the Dickerson as well there.

I've kept the Jazztet, "Here and Now," which seems readily available. Wouldn't part with that one!!

[vibes]

RUN and get the Dickerson and Farlow VEE's - they're excellent and if they can be had at a decent price, then so much the better.

[connoisseur series500]

Thanks Vibes; I'll just go and do that. B)

[mikeweil]

Got around to go through this thread only now, I got 54 incl. West Coast etc. listed in this thread.

Didn't count the Larry Young and Freddie Redd as I've got the Mosaics.

Had the Tina Brooks Mosaic but put it on ebay after I had the Conns since I didn't like Minor Move - which I don't have.

Didn't get the Criss Imperials - had them on three Japanese CDs which I put on ebay - like the Prestiges much better.

Got rid of the Dodo Greene, Jutta Hipp, Harold Vick, they didn't grow enough on me after repeated listens.

Didn't get the LaRoca or Jenkins as I have Japanese LPs - oh, I sold the Jenkins later on.

Each of these has its merits, it's just that may storage space and budget are limited ...

I intended to buy all Verve Elites, although I'm not a completist - but got rid of some of these as well: The Stitt, the Hank Jones, the Tal Farlow, the Konitz, the Johnny Smith .... the ones I didn't buy were the Meade Lux Lewis, the Kelly (had it on LP and found it downright boring), the Farmer, the Alan Shorter, the Teagarden, the Edison (If I had known Jimmy Forrest is on it I would have got it for sure), the Bauer, the Eldridge, the Washington, the Brown (this may be one to hunt), the Russell (disappointing compared to the others I have), the Jazztet and the Schifrin. But the one I have I dig very much - the Elites and the Conns.

[ghost of miles]

Seriously David: you've probably got more generous ears than Steve and I have. You might find something of value there. I like Ike Quebec and Grant Green, but we don't hear much of either; or at least, neither of them stretch out at all.

Well, this much-loved CD arrived on Friday, and you're right that Quebec and Green aren't too prominent, although there's enough tasty playing from Ike to make me happy that I got it. I also happen to like Dodo Greene's voice, much more than I thought I would--but the arrangements have a workmanlike quality that gives the album a certain quality of sameness. I've listened to it only once so far, but about halfway through it does start to seem a bit static. However, I think it could be a grower, and I'm glad I got it. Interesting that Dodo is portrayed as a singer's singer in the liner notes--also interesting that the CD (like other Conns) tacks on a second session, its release presumably doomed by consumer indifference to the first. (Wasn't this the case w/the Sonny Red & Fred Jackson titles?)

[Ed S]

I know that my style of listening doesn't suit most on the board, but what I'll do with this disc is throw the Dodo Greene disc on my multi-disc changer along with a bunch of Ike Quebec discs like Easy Living, the 45 Sessions and Blue and Sentimental and hit random. Makes for nice few hours of listening with the Greene vocals spaced out so as to reduce the quality of sameness that you mention.

Funny thing about the Dodo Greene is I have come to like more over time and with each listen. When My Hour Of Need came up as a result of this thread I pulled it off the shelf and gave it a spin. Still like like it.

[Ed S]

I know that my style of listening doesn't suit most on the board, but what I'll do with this disc is throw the Dodo Greene disc on my multi-disc changer along with a bunch of Ike Quebec discs like Easy Living, the 45 Sessions and Blue and Sentimental and hit random. Makes for nice few hours of listening with the Greene vocals spaced out so as to reduce the quality of sameness that you mention.

Funny thing about the Dodo Greene is I have come to like more over time and with each listen. When My Hour Of Need came up as a result of this thread I pulled it off the shelf and gave it a spin. Still like like it.

[Alexander]

Based on the list above, I have 67 Conns (there are some things, like "The All-Seeing Eye", "Inta Something" and "Blowing in From Chicago" that I have in RVG, JRVG, TJOC, or Mosaic form, but I elected only to count those items that I have as Conns). It was only in the last three or four years that I started buying *every* Conn as it came out, regardless of whether I was familiar with the artist or not. I honestly don't know if I'll be getting all of the October Conns, as I feel like I have enough Blue Notes. I'll be getting "The Flip" though.

[BruceH]

You mean, it's possible to have enough Blue Notes?

[BruceH]

44 for me so far (I think). That's not counting West Coast Classic titles... After all, it's a different series. I've got 10 of those.

(I'm also not counting titles that I later got in RVG form but never had in their Connoiseur incarnation.)

Edited October 1, 2003 by BruceH