New ESP re-issues

[Chalupa]

Cribbed from the DMG newsletter....

NEW YORK ART QUARTET [ROSWELL RUDD/JOHN TCHICAI/LEWIS WORELL /MILFORD

GRAVES] - New York Art Quartet (ESP Disk 1004; USA) "Originally

released in 1964 as ESP 1004. Featured artists: Milford Graves

(percussion); Leroi Jones: (vocals); Roswell Rudd (trombone); John

Tchicai (alto saxophone); Lewis Worrell (bass). Original recording

digitally remastered from the original ESP tapes! Manufactured in the

USA by the original label. "The unique front-line horn arrangement of

trombonist Roswell Rudd and Danish alto saxophonist John Tchicai

weave rapid intricate lines around Lewis Worell's bass and the

frenzied drums of Milford Graves. Poet Leroi Jones (now Amiri Baraka)

is added to the quartet for his revolutionary/militant spoken word

diatribe 'Sweet-Black Dada Nihilismus.'" --Al Campbell, All Music

Guide

STEVE LACY With ENRICO RAVA/JOHNNY DYANI/LOUIS MOHOLO - The Forest

And The Zoo (ESP Disk 1060; USA) "Lacy's profound influence on the

avant-garde can be traced back to this phenomenal session with Enrico

Rava (trumpet), Johnny Dyani (bass), and Louis T. Moholo (drums)

which is a pivotal recording in the career of the master soprano

saxophonist. Steve Lacy's involvement in avant garde jazz began with

this historical recording date for ESP-Disk' recorded live in Buenos

Aires in 1966. Original artwork. Digitally remastered from the

original tapes. Manufactured in the USA by the original label."

PAUL BLEY TRIO With STEVE SWALLOW/BARRY ALTSCHUL - Closer (ESP Disk

1021; USA) This is the wonderful pianist Paul Bley's second superb

album for the ESP label. It features his amazing trio from 1965 with

Steve Swallow on bass and Barry Altschul on drums. Seven of the ten

tracks were written by Carla Bley, with one each by Paul Bley,

Annette Peacock and Ornette Coleman. Liner notes, photos and more

re-mastered from the original tapes. "This incredible record should

be in every collection, it is comparable in its democratic intensity

and high melodic content to Chick Corea's classic 'Song of Singing'."

- from The Penguin Guide To Jazz. Digitally remastered from the

original tapes. Manufactured in the USA by the original label."

BOB JAMES TRIO With BARRE PHILLIPS/ROBERT POZAR - Explosions (ESP

Disk 1009; USA) "A strange release comprised of 5 very avant-garde

numbers featuring electronic sound effects, sport commentaries and

the music of a beautifully improvising jazz trio. With Bob James on

piano, Barre Phillips (bass) and Robert Pozar (drums).

[porcy62]

Good News!

Hope they don't kill the sound with too much compression.

[robviti]

henry grimes, henry grimes, henry grimes!

[AllenLowe]

Tammy Grimes

Earl Hines

Hines Hines and Dad

sorry, wrong thread -

[AndrewHill]

Have all these but the NYAQ...will definitely be snapping that one up.

I have to admit too, that I'd like to see more of the obscure items in the catalogue that have maybe only seen one or two reissues, if that like the Henry Grimes, Byron Allen, Karl Berger and Alan Silva dates. The Bob James and NYAQ is a good start though.

[porcy62]

Have all these but the NYAQ...will definitely be snapping that one up.

I have to admit too, that I'd like to see more of the obscure items in the catalogue that have maybe only seen one or two reissues, if that like the Henry Grimes, Byron Allen, Karl Berger and Alan Silva dates. The Bob James and NYAQ is a good start though.

How was the remastering?

[AndrewHill]

Have all these but the NYAQ...will definitely be snapping that one up.

I have to admit too, that I'd like to see more of the obscure items in the catalogue that have maybe only seen one or two reissues, if that like the Henry Grimes, Byron Allen, Karl Berger and Alan Silva dates. The Bob James and NYAQ is a good start though.

How was the remastering?

The Calabre edition (w/ the red slip case) of Paul Bley's Closer is ok if maybe slightly better than average. So most likely I won't make the upgrade. What I wouldn't mind obtaining is a better remaster of Bley's Barrage which the Calabre to me, sounds like a real murky mix. The Lacy and James that I have are from the Italian label Abraxas. The Lacy sounds remote in the mix where its hard to here Johhny Dyani at times. The James though sounds really good and everyone is mixed up front so you really get to hear Barre Phillips pluck every note.

[clifford_thornton]

The Lacy is good, but the one from that era that REALLY smokes is Sortie, issued originally on the Italian GTA imprint (RCA-related, iirc). Has Kent Carter and Aldo Romano in place of Dyani and Moholo.

Apparently the ESP was taped at a fluxus event/happening; I suspect Guillermo Gregorio has some recollections of that period in Argentine art and music, and could probably contribute some interesting anecdotes/thoughts if asked nicely.

These were all done by Calibre before (as were the Byron Allen and the Grimes), so I can't imagine we're getting much new here. Great records though, all of them. The Silva is a favorite of mine, as is the Berger. The tapes are in Berger's care, so I don't think they'll be reissuing that one... as for Skillfulness, I recommended it to Bernard for reissue, but that was some time ago.

[clifford_thornton]

Oh, and I really hope they fixed the track order on the James. At least the original vinyl seems to have it mixed up...

[GA Russell]

I'd be very interested in the Paul Bley.

[fkimbrough]

I'm interested to find out if the pitch was ever corrected on "Closer" - every version I've ever heard was mastered a half-step too high - is Ida Lupino in G or Ab on the remastered version? It should be in G.

[Kyo]

I'd be very interested in the Paul Bley.

Me too. I've liked most of those ESP Disk remasters so far.

[clifford_thornton]

I'm interested to find out if the pitch was ever corrected on "Closer" - every version I've ever heard was mastered a half-step too high - is Ida Lupino in G or Ab on the remastered version? It should be in G.

Very interesting. Now that I have two versions of the song in my head, I suppose that you are right about that.

I don't have the CD, just the ESP vinyl, so can't confirm.

[ep1str0phy]

I really want to see Barrage again, too.

...and I highly doubt that the Lacy will come out better this time than on previous reissues; I have no idea how they'll be able to correct the poor recording balance on that one.

[AndrewHill]

I'm interested to find out if the pitch was ever corrected on "Closer" - every version I've ever heard was mastered a half-step too high - is Ida Lupino in G or Ab on the remastered version? It should be in G.

I never realized there was a pitch problem

[fkimbrough]

I might not have either - like Clifford, I would've though there were different versions in different keys (except that the G pedal for the bassist wouldn't be as friendly to the player in Ab). Bley told me himself - that's how I know for sure. As far as I know, each issue has been a half-step high (and correspondingly, a little too fast). I'd love to hear it at the correct speed.

[AndrewHill]

I might not have either - like Clifford, I would've though there were different versions in different keys (except that the G pedal for the bassist wouldn't be as friendly to the player in Ab). Bley told me himself - that's how I know for sure. As far as I know, each issue has been a half-step high (and correspondingly, a little too fast). I'd love to hear it at the correct speed.

Thanks for the info. I'd be willing to repurchase it if the tape speed is corrected.

[clifford_thornton]

I have the original LP, on which "Ida Lupino" sounds a bit "off" from some other versions of the song. Like most of my vinyls, it's buried in storage so I can't check it now.

Just got a press copy of the new reissue and it sounds good to me - deeper and fuller, so it might be close to correct. But I'm not too sure either way.

[clifford_thornton]

Also, Bernard has noted that some tape issues with the Lacy were corrected, so it might be worth a purchase. Sounded good to me on the first pass of this edition, though I always thought my 5th Ave. vinyl sounded pretty nice.

[fkimbrough]

Thanks Clifford - this sounds promising................

[clifford_thornton]

Do you know if tapes exist of the proposed Bley "Double LP" for ESP?

I know it was proposed in the late '60s, but obviously nothing came of it. Think it may have been assigned a catalog number.

[fkimbrough]

Paul has mentioned that project - it was originally intended to be ballads, with each comprising the length of one side of an LP. He told me that ultimately, it was unsuccessful, as they couldn't stretch the tunes out that long and maintain interest. I think that the tapes were eventually released on Ballads (ECM) and perhaps Virtuosi (IAI), so they're out there - just not on ESP. As you probably know, he wasn't shy about documenting his stuff - the story goes that when he met Manfred Eicher in the early 70's, he showed him a wall of master tapes, and some of those were some of ECMs first releases (including Paul Bley and Gary Peacock).

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, when I mentioned to Altschul that the Bley Trio was one of the "most recorded" American bands in Europe at the time, he seemed kinda surprised by that assertion.

I believe there was one on GTA that went unissued, or perhaps was the source of the Actuel session - things get a little confusing the more the tapes change hands...

[fkimbrough]

My Bley discography is out on loan to a friend who's doing an interview with him, but I think you're right about the unissued GTA session. The Actuel recording is "Ramblin" I believe, and has been issued a couple of times (and perhaps originally) on Red from Italy. It was recorded in Rome in 1966 if memory serves. I did a gig once with Barry, and asked him about the "test" that Paul used to give musicians where he would drop them off someplace in a strange town, and they had to find a girl, a car, a phone, and some smoke by the end of the day, and Barry replied unhappily "that MF stranded me in Rome!" Apparently Louis Moholo found him sleeping on the Spanish Steps. At least that's the way I remember it.........and who knows how it really went down!

[clifford_thornton]

I did a gig once with Barry, and asked him about the "test" that Paul used to give musicians where he would drop them off someplace in a strange town, and they had to find a girl, a car, a phone, and some smoke by the end of the day, and Barry replied unhappily "that MF stranded me in Rome!" Apparently Louis Moholo found him sleeping on the Spanish Steps. At least that's the way I remember it.........and who knows how it really went down!

Of course, that latter portion was left out of Stopping Time.

Pardon the furthering of this digression, but you might be interested to read my Altschul interview at AAJ.