Keynote label

[romualdo]

Have given up waiting for the Mosaic Keynote set (too many contractual problems I presume?) & I'm not interested in the Japanese LP set, so I'm trying to pick up the individual CD's that were released in the very early 90's.

So far I've managed to find the Coleman Hawkins 4CD set (picked up a still sealed copy for a great price), Lester Young & Lennie Tristano. From what I can gather ther are another 7 Cd's in the series

4. The Keynoters With Nat King Cole (Vol. 9)

5. Red Rodney - Early Bebop -> this one always seems to command a high price!!

6. Benny Carter/Arnold Ross (Vol. 7)

7. Red Norvo (not sure of title)

8. The Small Herds (Chubby Jackson/Bill Harris/Flip Phillips) -> have ordered a copy of this

9. The Fabulous Ellingtonians

10. Roy Eldridge & The Swing Trumpets

Any more that i havn't found? - I know this is not comprehensive but it cuts a huge swathe through the keynote discography

[tranemonk]

what's the story with the Keynote label?

[jazztrain]

You're missing the Lester Young (Volume 1) and also the Lennie Tristano (Volume 2).

The title of the Red Norvo is Red Norvo Improvisations.

Anticipating that the question of what on the label (and the LP box set) was not issued in this series of cds, see previous link: Keynote

Have given up waiting for the Mosaic Keynote set (too many contractual problems I presume?) & I'm not interested in the Japanese LP set, so I'm trying to pick up the individual CD's that were released in the very early 90's.

So far I've managed to find the Coleman Hawkins 4CD set (picked up a still sealed copy for a great price), Lester Young & Lennie Tristano. From what I can gather ther are another 7 Cd's in the series

4. The Keynoters With Nat King Cole (Vol. 9)

5. Red Rodney - Early Bebop -> this one always seems to command a high price!!

6. Benny Carter/Arnold Ross (Vol. 7)

7. Red Norvo (not sure of title)

8. The Small Herds (Chubby Jackson/Bill Harris/Flip Phillips) -> have ordered a copy of this

9. The Fabulous Ellingtonians

10. Roy Eldridge & The Swing Trumpets

Any more that i havn't found? - I know this is not comprehensive but it cuts a huge swathe through the keynote discography

[Brute]

I believe that if Mosaic would reissue this it would be one of the best projects they have ever undertaken. The LPs contain some of the absolute best small group swing of the era. Don't get me wrong, the CDs that were reissued are fantastic but as mentioned, there are still hours of music from that label that hasn't been properly re-released or released at all. I did manage to track down the LP set a few years ago through the library system (God bless the LIBRARIES!!) but I'd still purchase a reissue if Mosaic could pull the trigger. It would be great to have the entire label's output in one set and remastered to boot!

FYI, here is King Ubu's post with the full discography:

Keynote Discography

Edited July 12, 2010 by Brute

[Big Beat Steve]

I believe that if Mosaic would reissue this it would be one of the best projects they have ever undertaken. The LPs contain some of the absolute best small group swing of the era. Don't get me wrong, the CDs that were reissued are fantastic but as mentioned, there are still hours of music from that label that hasn't been properly re-released or released at all. I did manage to track down the LP set a few years ago through the library system (God bless the LIBRARIES!!) but I'd still purchase a reissue if Mosaic could pull the trigger. It would be great to have the entire label's output in one set and remastered to boot!

So that legendary 21-LP Japanese Keynote set does not have the entire recorded Keynote output after all (at least the master takes)?

[J.A.W.]

You're missing the Lester Young (Volume 1) and also the Lennie Tristano (Volume 2).

He mentioned those two in his post (second paragraph)

[Brute]

Sorry Steve, I meant reissued on compact disc. Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that the LP set has it all.

[brownie]

The 21 LP set had 334 performances (115 were unissued at the time of publication).

Mosaic Records were selling the vinyl set for $179 (plus postage) back in the mid eighties.

[jazztrain]

Right you are. Silly me.

You're missing the Lester Young (Volume 1) and also the Lennie Tristano (Volume 2).

He mentioned those two in his post (second paragraph)

[jazztrain]

Brute:

The LP box set is not quite complete.

From memory (for what it's worth), there was an alternate take from one of the Coleman Hawkins dates that was left off. I think it was issued earlier on a Queen Disc LP. I don't remember off hand if the missing alternate was included on the 4-CD Hawkins issue. If I have time later I'll try to figure that out.

Also, the Benny Carter CD had a lot of material that wasn't on the LP box set. Again, if I have time later I'll post information on that material.

Finally, again from what I can remember, some of the LP boxes were issued without a bonus, one-sided, 45 rpm that contained an untitled blues by Tristano.

Sorry Steve, I meant reissued on compact disc. Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that the LP set has it all.

[Brute]

Thanks Jazztrain. It occured to me that some of the sessions may have been issued on various compilations CDs, too. I don't know for sure but I am thinking of the Classics series in particular.

[Big Beat Steve]

Thanks Jazztrain. It occured to me that some of the sessions may have been issued on various compilations CDs, too. I don't know for sure but I am thinking of the Classics series in particular.

Brute, that's the reason I was asking. I have a huge lot of the Keynote tracks (i.e. those that were released at the time) on a wide variety of Mercury LPs as well as some CDs so of course I already have the majority of what was released on that label back then. Overall completeness and/or the inclusion of a significant amount of previously unreleased aterial would therefore be "make or break" criteria for any Keynote box set for me. Of course it is nice to have the music all in one place but if I already had, say, 75 or 80% of the music on other discs (that I do not see fit to part with anyway) that would be a tough decision.

[romualdo]

Brute:

The LP box set is not quite complete.

From memory (for what it's worth), there was an alternate take from one of the Coleman Hawkins dates that was left off. I think it was issued earlier on a Queen Disc LP. I don't remember off hand if the missing alternate was included on the 4-CD Hawkins issue. If I have time later I'll try to figure that out.

Also, the Benny Carter CD had a lot of material that wasn't on the LP box set. Again, if I have time later I'll post information on that material.

Finally, again from what I can remember, some of the LP boxes were issued without a bonus, one-sided, 45 rpm that contained an untitled blues by Tristano.

Sorry Steve, I meant reissued on compact disc. Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that the LP set has it all.

The Coleman Hawkins title was an alternate of "Cattin' At Keynote" (Feb 17, 1944) - was on Meritt LP 25 & is not on the Hawkins 4CD set

There were 7 Benny Carter titles from the April 29, 1946 session not in the LP set ("Lady Be Good" x2 tks, "Deep Purple" x2 tks, "Moonglow" x2 tks & a single take of "Give Me Something"

Obtained this info from the excellent entry/Keynote Discography by King Ubu (posted Jan 2008)

[brownie]

For Keynote completists, they will have to look for these two very rare LPs from the '50s:

[Big Beat Steve]

But these are "latter-day" Keynotes that fall widely outside the "classic" Keynote period, isn't it, Brownie?

[Stereojack]

The LP box set is not quite complete.

From memory (for what it's worth), there was an alternate take from one of the Coleman Hawkins dates that was left off. I think it was issued earlier on a Queen Disc LP. I don't remember off hand if the missing alternate was included on the 4-CD Hawkins issue. If I have time later I'll try to figure that out.

Sorry Steve, I meant reissued on compact disc. Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that the LP set has it all.

The Coleman Hawkins title was an alternate of "Cattin' At Keynote" (Feb 17, 1944) - was on Meritt LP 25 & is not on the Hawkins 4CD set

The omitted Hawkins track was in fact the master take which had been issued on 78. The box (and the subsequent CD set) only contained the alternate, and Dan Morgenstern in his otherwise excellent notes denies the existence of a second take as listed in discographies.

[brownie]

But these are "latter-day" Keynotes that fall widely outside the "classic" Keynote period, isn't it, Brownie?

Those two albums were supervised by Harry Lim so they qualify as genuine Keynote recordings

[Ted O'Reilly]

But these are "latter-day" Keynotes that fall widely outside the "classic" Keynote period, isn't it, Brownie?

Those two albums were supervised by Harry Lim so they qualify as genuine Keynote recordings

Agreed, as far as the Pierce is concerned (don't know the Leonard). I hadn't listened to it for a while. Thanks for making me take it off the shelf and remind myself how delightful a Jazz Romp it is...

[Peter Friedman]

Ted,

The Nat Pierce material on Keynote has also been reissued as part of a 2 CD set on Fresh Sound.

The Swingin" Nat Pierce Band - Kansas City Memories - Fresh Sound 2232

Aside from the Keynote material, the 2 cd set also has Nat Pierce sessions from these labels -

Fantasy / Vanguard / Coral.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Ted,

The Nat Pierce material on Keynote has also been reissued as part of a 2 CD set on Fresh Sound.

The Swingin" Nat Pierce Band - Kansas City Memories - Fresh Sound 2232

Aside from the Keynote material, the 2 cd set also has Nat Pierce sessions from these labels -

Fantasy / Vanguard / Coral.

That's the one I'm listening to at the moment (bought from you-know-who) -- in the jazzcity series. I also have a needledrop CDR from a prime original Keynote LP -- the Fresh Sound version is equally good...

[The recording date for CD 1, 1 - 8 (the Fantasy LP "Nat Pierce and the Herdsmen") is wrong, according to Lord, and I agree. Not Hollywood in 1950, but San Francisco 1954/01/27.]

[Brute]

Regarding that "Kansas City Memories" compilation, can anyone tell me off hand which disk/tracks are from the Keynote session(s)? Thanks!

[brownie]

Regarding that "Kansas City Memories" compilation, can anyone tell me off hand which disk/tracks are from the Keynote session(s)? Thanks!

Full details on this double CD

The Keynote tracks (1 thru 7) are on disc 2!

[Brute]

Thanks! Yep, it is listed in the liner notes. I wanted to listen on my ipod yesterday but I was away from the CD! Hmmm, I never realized that was a Keynote session. IMO, those are the best tracks of both CDs.

[J.A.W.]

Have given up waiting for the Mosaic Keynote set (too many contractual problems I presume?)

Mosaic's Scott Wenzel just told me that they are not planning a Complete Keynote CD-set at the moment; the chances that there ever will be one are very, very slim.

[romualdo]

Have given up waiting for the Mosaic Keynote set (too many contractual problems I presume?)

Mosaic's Scott Wenzel just told me that they are not planning a Complete Keynote CD-set at the moment; the chances that there ever will be one are very, very slim.

Has confirmed my worst fears - what a pity but here's hoping!!