Jimmy Smith

[Kevin Bresnahan]

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

Pretty sure that the artists in that series signed a release with the radio network that allowed for recording for future use, although that meant rebroadcast or releasing a record, I'm not sure.

That may be true, but if an artist was under contract to a record label, the owner of the recording would have to get permission to release this for it to be legal. I believe that technically, the artist's label owns the rights to release it.

[JSngry]

here, sure. not sure about there.

It's a Grey area to be sure. But enough money can clear it all up, witness miles.

[Gheorghe]

Thanks for mentioning the "Baby Grand" live date. I´ve almost forgotten about it and spinned it yesterday. Jimmy Smith always brings a big smile to my face. What a wealth of music, that incredible latin section of "Caravan", that heavy sound on the ballads, the fingerbusting uptempos and that cute medium-tempo tunes with a bit of Errol Garner-fealing.....

 

[Big Beat Steve]

5 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

Thanks for mentioning the "Baby Grand" live date. I´ve almost forgotten about it and spinned it yesterday. Jimmy Smith always brings a big smile to my face. What a wealth of music, that incredible latin section of "Caravan", that heavy sound on the ballads, the fingerbusting uptempos and that cute medium-tempo tunes with a bit of Errol Garner-fealing.....

 

Just to underline the appeal of Jimmy Smith at the time, if the record reviews in early 60s copies of the Bulletin du Hot Club de France are anything to go by, Jimmy Smith was one of those jazzmen commonly ranked under "modern jazz" that even inveterate anti-bop moldy fig Hugues Panassié really approved of (Erroll Garner was another one, BTW).

[Late]

On 6/14/2018 at 6:51 PM, Late said:

Serious question — first, look at all the extra material from the live At "Club Baby Grand" recording dates. Has any of it, outside of the two volumes released, ever seen the light of day? I'm a little surprised that Cuscuna didn't make it available when the U.S. discs were reissued. Perhaps the Japanese market, for Blue Note's 90th anniversary, will see fit to dig into the vaults. (Or maybe tapes don't exist anymore. That would be a shame.) Thoughts?

25 tracks were recorded in total (in one night). 8 were issued.

Please, somebody purchase these before I do (again). A good price for amazing music.

[JSngry]

Ok, done, or at least attempted. We'll see tomorrow.

[GA Russell]

There is a Jimmy Smith 5 Original Albums set (I think the title should include "vol. 2"), which includes Home Cookin', Crazy! Baby, Midnight Special, Back at the Chicken Shack and Softly as a Summer Breeze.

https://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-CD/dp/B079229SL9/

What do you folks think of these albums?  Are these as good as his Verve albums (which I think were recorded soon after)?

Edited December 23, 2018 by GA Russell

[Stereojack]

4 hours ago, GA Russell said:

There is a Jimmy Smith 5 Original Albums set (I think the title should include "vol. 2"), which includes Home Cookin', Crazy! Baby, Midnight Special, Back at the Chicken Shack and Softly as a Summer Breeze.

https://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-CD/dp/B079229SL9/

What do you folks think of these albums?  Are these as good as his Verve albums (which I think were recorded soon after)?

Personally, I like all of these records better than anything on Verve. No fancy production or arrangements, no singing, no gimmickry - just unadulterated playing, impeccably recorded. "Back at the Chicken Shack" is a desert island disc.

[GA Russell]

Thanks, Jack!

[mikeweil]

On 14.6.2018 at 3:51 AM, Late said:

Serious question — first, look at all the extra material from the live At "Club Baby Grand" recording dates. Has any of it, outside of the two volumes released, ever seen the light of day? I'm a little surprised that Cuscuna didn't make it available when the U.S. discs were reissued. Perhaps the Japanese market, for Blue Note's 90th anniversary, will see fit to dig into the vaults. (Or maybe tapes don't exist anymore. That would be a shame.) Thoughts?
25 tracks were recorded in total (in one night). 8 were issued.

Please note that the unissued tracks are makred"rejected" in the source you linked - this makes it very unlikely they still exist. If there was any usable material from these sessions, Cuscuna would have used it.

[JSngry]

17 hours ago, Late said:

Please, somebody purchase these before I do (again). A good price for amazing music.

 

15 hours ago, JSngry said:

Ok, done, or at least attempted. We'll see tomorrow.

Yes, done. If it had been any easier, I would have paid somebody!

[HutchFan]

15 hours ago, Stereojack said:

Personally, I like all of these records better than anything on Verve. No fancy production or arrangements, no singing, no gimmickry - just unadulterated playing, impeccably recorded. "Back at the Chicken Shack" is a desert island disc.

Yup. All of records in that BN set are stone classics. 

But I love JS's Verves too. They're just a bit less consistent. 

[felser]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Yup. All of records in that BN set are stone classics. 

But I love JS's Verves too. They're just a bit less consistent. 

For the most part, the Verve's are just very different.  The few straight ahead dates he did on Verve are quite good.

[Shrdlu]

I first heard Jimmy on a used LP of "Back At The Chicken Shack". The cover looked like it had been dropped in the head, but the disk was fine. I was amazed to hear that he played his own bass line - I had never heard him before.

His sessions with horns are excellent, of course. For me, the best session is the one that produced that LP. I have tended to avoid his recordings with his regular trio: there are a few performances that are nice, but not very exciting.

But then, I decided to go through the 1956 trio sessions. I hit the Baby Grand live date. Well, what a shock! "The Preacher" is the most amazing thing I have ever heard him do. It is Jimmy all the way, baring his soul. He is a Smithophone player, an orchestra unto himself (as with Fats Waller). This is soo intense. I love it when he plants his right thumb on an F (and a C or an A flat) and holds it while playing with his other fingers. This is what Frank Wolff heard when he first heard Jimmy at Small's in Harlem: a room filled with this incredible noise. Frank signed him immediately, and then Rudy worked out a way to record the thing.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

 

[jazzcorner]

His first 2 albums on Blue Note are real winners.

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by jazzcorner
scans added

[Shrdlu]

On 12/23/2018 at 10:30 AM, Stereojack said:

Personally, I like all of these records better than anything on Verve. No fancy production or arrangements, no singing, no gimmickry - just unadulterated playing, impeccably recorded. "Back at the Chicken Shack" is a desert island disc.

Well said. Jimmy's (many) Blue Notes are his best. Too much over-production at Verve. Verve was a waterer-downer label. I am not a fan of Creed Taylor at Verve, though he did produce some superb Jobim albums, there and as C.T.I. (with or without A. & M.). All of Jimmy, Bill Evans and Wes Montgomery were watered down when they went to Verve. But a guy's gotta eat, and they all deserved a good income. Bill was just about starving before Helen Keane got him onto Verve.

I am preparing a post on Jimmy's final Blue Note sessions, four in just 9 days, so spotting this thread is very timely.

[Shrdlu]

I hasten to add that I like Oliver Nelson with that large band of regulars (Ernie Royal, Danny Bank etc.), but Blue Note also used him, and "Joyride", with Stanley Turrentine, is better than the Smith Verve sessions arranged by Nelson.

And and album with Jimmy as santa yet?? Puleeze.

[jazzbo]

On 12/29/2019 at 7:20 PM, Shrdlu said:

Too much over-production at Verve. Verve was a waterer-downer label. I am not a fan of Creed Taylor at Verve, though he did produce some superb Jobim albums, there and as C.T.I. (with or without A. & M.). All of Jimmy, Bill Evans and Wes Montgomery were watered down when they went to Verve. But a guy's gotta eat, and they all deserved a good income. Bill was just about starving before Helen Keane got him onto Verve.

I totally disagree that all of the Evans material was watered down at Verve. Some one could say that about I guess. But much of it is NOT. Especially if you consider the nearly seventy unreleased trio recordings finally presented in the Complete set.

[Brad]

I wouldn’t consider recordings like Trio 64 or Conversations with Myself watered down at all. 

[HutchFan]

IMO...

Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith is not "watered down."  Neither is Wes' Smokin' at the Half Note.  Neither is Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo. And I could easily name a bunch more. 

Of course, Verve had a different approach to production than BN.  A different aesthetic, for sure. ... Some Verve records -- not all -- were more "commercial."  But so what? Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?  I'm glad to have them ALL.

Just my 2 cents.  

[danasgoodstuff]

I don't buy Verves (by JOS or anyone else) 'on faith' the way I've bought vintage BN in the past, but there are lots of fine records by JOS and Wes and Bill Evans and Getz and others on the label - you've just got to pick and choose to find your own sweet spot(s).

[felser]

Some of the Stan Getz albums on Verve, such as "Sweet Rain" and "Dynasty", are superb.  Others are good, others yet are a mess, and some seem lost to history and I don't expect to ever hear them ("Marrakesh Express" etc.).  I like the Montgomery Verve's a lot but they are a very different bag than the great Riversides.  I much prefer my Bill Evans on Riverside but am glad to have his Verves on the cheapo European box set (much preferable to the mountain o' rust monstrosity), though I do pretty much hate the "Conversations With Myself" albums.

[JSngry]

47 minutes ago, felser said:

...some seem lost to history and I don't expect to ever hear them ("Marrakesh Express" etc.). 

Technically, not Verve but MGM!

One that was on Verve that might end up getting lost (unfaily, imo) is this one:

 

This one as well:

 

Neither are "great" by any stretch of the imagination, but the object was to make an MOR/Easy Listening record, and Getz was musician enough to play the melodies with thought and feeling, at least enough of each to distinguish them as being him being the one who did it. I think there's props to be given for that, for keeping your voice true no matter what the surroundings.

 

[JSngry]

This one's with Claus Ogerman and is just different enough to walk both sides of the jazz/MOR sides of the street:

some people are just not able to make these kinds of records. To the extent that these kinds of records don't really need to be made, so much the better. But when they do get made, I want to hear somebody like Stan getz make them, somebody who understands enough about music to not jsut jam or to play by rote, but to freakin' sing.