OJC Recomendations

[jacknife]

I only have a handful, probably less than 10, cds from the Original Jazz Classics series of which there must be a zillion. Just wondering if you folks could recommend a few must haves.

[AfricaBrass]

I wouldn't even know where to start.

Here's some of my OJC faves.

Wes Montgomery - Full House

Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music

Miles Davis - Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin'

The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall

Cannonball Adderley - Live In San Francisco

Shelly Manne - Live at the Blackhawk (all the volumes are good IMO)

There's a zillion more, but these are some of my favorites.

[wesbed]

I know the question is in regard to OJCs. However, I narrowed my interest in the Fantasy catalogue by considering for purchase only those titles that had been remastered with the K2 process.

Even if you don't care about the remastering, you can use the K2 remasters as a guide to which OJCs to purchase. Purchase the less-expensive OJC version of a given session in place of the higher-priced K2 version.

[AfricaBrass]

Red Garland - Soul Junction

Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard

Art Pepper - Meets the Rhythm Section, + Eleven, Thursday Night at the Village Vanguard

I better stop, I could go on and on and on....

[AfricaBrass]

I know the question is in regard to OJCs. However, I narrowed my interest in the Fantasy catalogue by considering for purchase only those titles that had been remastered with the K2 process.

Even if you don't care about the remastering, you can use the K2 remasters as a guide to which OJCs to purchase. Purchase the less-expensive OJC version of a given session in place of the higher-priced K2 version.

Good advice!

[vibes]

Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane

Anything by Wes Montgomery

The Book Series by Booker Ervin

Anything by Bill Evans

Anything by Walt Dickerson

[Claude]

Paul Horn - Something blue

Sonny Criss - Sonny's Dream

[jacknife]

I forgot about the K2's, I guess I have a few more than I thought. AfricaBrass's list is essentially the ones that I have minus the Shelly Manne. Keep the rec's coming.

Saxophone Colossus is one of my fav's. I just picked up today Jimmy Woods - Conflict and Eddie Lockjaw Davis - Battle Stations.

I guess I'm looking for suggestions on some of the lesser known treasures in this series.

[Chuck Nessa]

With their great catalog you need about 200 of them right away. You can buy the rest later.

[vibes]

Teddy Charles - Coolin'

Eric Dolphy with the Latin Jazz Quintet - Caribe

Tal Farlow - The Return of Tal Farlow

Nat Adderley - Work Song

Stan Getz/Cal Tjader Sextet

Barney Kessel - Feeling Free

[jacknife]

you need about 200 of them right away

GOOD LORD! There goes my budget umm...but which 200?

[connoisseur series500]

you need about 200 of them right away

GOOD LORD! There goes my budget umm...but which 200?

I've only got around 100 of Chuck's essential-200, but here's the ones I like:

Many Bill Evans titles

Many Yusef Latif's titles

Many Blue Mitchell titles

Many Booker Ervin titles

Many Wes Montgomery titles

Many Cannonball and Nat Adderly titles

Miles Davis' "Workin, Relaxin, etc"

Coltrane on Prestige

Some individual ones:

Charles Earland, "Black Talk"

Walt Dickerson, "To My Queen"

Pepper Adams, "10 to 4 at the 5 spot"

Pepper Adams, "Encounter"

Jack Mcduff, "Honeydripper"

Cedar Walton, "Cedar"

Art Blakey, "Ugetsu"

Art Blakey, "Caravan"

Harold Land, "Harold in the land of Jazz"

Harold Land, "Eastward HO!"

JJ Johnson, "Concepts in Blue"

Richard Groove Holmes, "Misty"

Roland Kirk, "Kirk's Work"

Thelonius Monk, "Monk"

Thelonius Monk/Sonny Rollins

Wynton Kelly, "Kelly Blue"

Obviously, I need to get more myself.

[Jim R]

A few more... still the tip of the iceberg:

Benny Golson - New York Scene; The Modern Touch

Gil Evans & Ten

Art Farmer - Early Art; Portrait of Art Farmer

Dexter Gordon - The Tower of Power; The Jumpin' Blues

Gigi Gryce & Jazz Lab Quintet

Wynton Kelly - Kelly Blue

Barney Kessel - Kessel Plays Standards

Hampton Hawes - For Real

Jimmy Heath - The Thumper

Lee Morgan - Take Twelve

Blue Mitchell - Blue Soul

[Patrick]

I have about 70 of these. Several of the recommendations above are absolutely essential (especially the Miles, Monk, Trane titles).

Truly essential in my book (a quick, short, list):

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in SF; Coltrane - Coltrane, Soultrane; Davis- Workin', Relaxin', Steamin', Cookin', Walkin'; Dolphy at the Five Spot; Evans- Sunday at VV, Waltz for Debby; Monk- Plays Ellington, Brilliant Corners, Misterioso; Pepper- Meets Rhythm Section, + Eleven; Rollins- Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West

Other great, though less heralded, titles:

Burrell- Ellington is Forever; Haynes- We Three; Lacy- Reflections; Lateef- Eastern Sounds; McIntyre- Looking Ahead; Reece- Asia Minor; Russell- Ezz-thetics; Waldron- The Quest

[doubleM]

Most of the Farmers, Blakeys, and Dorhams, Ted Curson "Plays Fire Down Below", Mal Waldron's titles are all excellent, Tommy Flanagan's as well. Go to town!

[Guy Berger]

Some personal favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:

Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (THIS IS THE BEST MILES DAVIS I HAVE HEARD ON PRESTIGE -- BETTER THAN THE QUINTET TITLES WITH TRANE!!!)

Miles Davis All Stars, Walkin'

Miles Davis, Bags' Groove

Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness (w/John Coltrane on the title track)

Thelonious Monk Trio

Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane

Sonny Simmons & Prince Lasha, Firebirds

The Jaki Byard Experience

Gene Ammons, the Happy Blues

McCoy Tyner, Sahara & Enlightenment

[wesbed]

Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (THIS IS THE BEST MILES DAVIS I HAVE HEARD ON PRESTIGE -- BETTER THAN THE QUINTET TITLES WITH TRANE!!!)

I have to agree with this comment. I purchased the Miles Davis/Jazz Giants when it was initially offered as a K2. I purchased it because it was Miles Davis with other recognizable names, and was a K2 Remaster. I didn't expect much but figured it would be a good addition to my collection.

I wondered why Fantasy would spend its time/effort to remaster this set of music, of all things. I played the CD several times and was constantly pleased at what a nice collection it is. When I get in the mood for Miles on Prestige I will usually pull the Jazz Giants off my shelf before I look to the Workin/Relaxin/Cookin/Talkin/Eatin/Smokin/Sleepin' albums.

[DrJ]

There are simply way too many to list, particularly without knowing your tastes. There are literally hundreds of great ones.

[Spontooneous]

Please pardon any duplications here, but:

Harold Land, The Fox

Elmo Hope Trio

the Eddie Davis/Johnny Griffin live dates

Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny and Blue Spring

Oliver Nelson, Screamin' the Blues

Art Pepper, Smack Up

many, many others

We gotta get a cheaper hobby.

[Free For All]

Just buy everything you see as soon as you see it for the rest of your life. Amen.

[EKE BBB]

A "few" OJC releases I´d recommend:

Adderley, Julian "Cannonball" Know what I mean? 1961 Riverside/OJC

Allison, Mose Mose Allison sings the 7th son 1957 (57-59) Prestige/OJC

Basie, Count / Sims, Zoot Basie & Zoot 1975 Pablo/OJC

Byard, Jaki Here´s Jaki 1961 Prestige/OJC

Coltrane, John Settin´ the pace 1958 Prestige/OJC

Dolphy, Eric At the Five Spot Vol.2 1961 Prestige/OJC

Dolphy, Eric Far cry 1960 New Jazz/OJC

Dolphy, Eric Memorial album 1961 Prestige/OJC

Dolphy, Eric Out there 1960 Prestige/OJC

Dolphy, Eric (Quintet) Outward bound 1960 New jazz/OJC

Dorham, Kenny Quiet Kenny 1959 New jazz/OJC

Evans, Bill Interplay 1962 Riverside/OJC

Evans, Bill (Trio) Explorations 1961 Riverside/OJC

Evans, Bill (Trio) Sunday at the Village Vanguard 1961 Riverside/OJC

Evans, Bill (Trio) Waltz for Debby 1961 Riverside/OJC

Evans, Gil Gil Evans & Ten 1957 Prestige/OJC

Guaraldi, Vince (Trio) Jazz impressions of Black Orpheus Fantasy / OJC

Hawkins, Coleman At ease with Coleman Hawkins 1960 Moodsville (Prestige) / OJC

Hawkins, Coleman Coleman Hawkins All Stars featuring Vic Dickenson and Joe Thomas 1960 Swingville (Prestige) / OJC

Hawkins, Coleman Coleman Hawkins with the Red Garland Trio 1959 Swingville / OJC

Hawkins, Coleman Soul 1958 Prestige / OJC

Hawkins, Coleman The hawk relaxes 1961 Prestige-Moodsville / OJC

Johnson, J.J. Pinnacles 1979 Milestone/OJC

Manne, Shelly Shelly Manne and his men at the Blackhawk Vol.1-5 1959 Contemporary/OJC

McDuff, Jack The honeydripper 1961 Prestige / OJC

McGhee, Howard Magee´s back in town 1961 Contemporary / OJC

McLean, Jackie 4, 5 & 6 1956 Prestige/OJC

Mingus, Charles Right now: Live at the Jazz Workshop 1964 Debut/OJC

Monk, Thelonius Alone in San Francisco 1959 Riverside/OJC

Montgomery, Wes The incredible guitar of Wes Montgomery 1960 Riverside/OJC

Parker, Charlie The quintet. Jazz at Massey Hall 1953 Debut/OJC

Pepper, Art Intensity 1960 Contemporary/OJC

Pepper, Art The way it was! 1956 (56-60) Contemporary/OJC

Pleasure, King King Pleasure sings 1952 (52-54) Prestige/OJC

Rogers, Shorty / Shank, Bud Bud Shank & Shorty Rogers: California concert 1985 Contemporary / OJC

Rollins, Sonny Worktime 1955 Prestige/OJC

Rollins, Sonny (Quartet) Tenor madness 1956 Prestige/OJC

Turner, Big Joe / Basie, Count The bosses (Count Basie & Joe Turner) 1973 Pablo / OJC

Webster, Ben /Zawinul, Joe Soulmates 1963 Riverside/OJC

[sidewinder]

Fave OJCs (some in the 'limited' series) include:

Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons - 'Firebirds'

Gil Melle - 'Primitive Modern' and 'Quadrama'

Mal Waldron - 'Impressons'

Yusef Lateef - 'Eastern Sounds'.

All very highly recommended

[Shrdlu]

This is really hard to answer, as there is so much material: virtually all of the catalogs of Prestige, Riverside, etc. So, perhaps your question is: what's the sound quality like, considering that most are fairly old 16 bit CDs. Generally speaking, they've always been very good, and I have never been disappointed with any of them. At the risk of flogging a topic to death, let me warn you against getting any German (ZYX) produced OJCs that are 20 or 24 bits - which they all are now; those are rubbish.

I don't especially like the artwork - kinda depressing in a way - but that's really unimportant.

So, go for it!

[connoisseur series500]

Which brings up the question: what do you guys think of the K-2 remasterings? I think I've only got one of them and have declined to upgrade so far. Should we be upgrading?

And what about those gold discs?

[jazzhound]

Meet Oliver Nelson