Storied Trove of 1930s Jazz Is Acquired by Museum

[Mark Stryker]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/arts/music/17jazz.html?_r=1&hp

Edit to add posted audio clips: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/17/arts/music/savory-collection.html

Edited August 16, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Guest Bill Barton]

Wow, just wow...

[AllenLowe]

great work by Doug Pomeroy - I wish they had mentioned that that Calloway piece appears to have a Chu Berry solo, and one which helps us to see why Bird admired him.

[John L]

Incredible!

[ghost of miles]

Wow, just wow...

My reaction as well. The copyright issues alluded to at the end of the article would be a nightmare, but if they could be resolved for some of the recordings, imagine what a 7-CD best-of Mosaic compilation might sound like.

[papsrus]

That's a wonderful story. Curiously, I didn't see any additional details at the website of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. You'd think they would be trumpeting this project.

In any case ...

Edited August 16, 2010 by papsrus

[Big Beat Steve]

Mindboggling!

I do hope they will do some sort of project of releasing this music to the collector public.

And 70 years after the recording date even U.s. copyright should not be that much of a problem anymore?

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[J.A.W.]

Awesome. This would make a great Mosaic box or a series of boxes...

[medjuck]

Maybe they can sell it through Andorra. That may be a crime but it's also a crime for this not to be made public.

[carnivore]

It's great news but tragic that the stuff sat around for so long...we could learn so much from it, especially hearing guys away from the pressures of the recording studio.

[papsrus]

I wonder if Savory's work for the CIA was partly what made him guard these recordings so closely -- kind of like, once he went to work for them everything he'd ever done needed to be kept quiet. You know how they can be.

Certainly, making them public would have brought him attention that he/they wouldn't likely want.

[paul secor]

Great news! Let's hope that this music can find its way an appreciative audience.

[ghost of miles]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/arts/music/17jazz.html?_r=1&hp

Edit to add posted audio clips: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/17/arts/music/savory-collection.html

Thanks for the link to the audio clips, Mark. Amazing to hear the difference between the original and the remastered track on that Calloway performance.

[Dan Gould]

Its an incredible find and hopefully these recordings will indeed see a commercial release someday (at 70 years out from the most recent recordings, I can't see how copyright even comes into it but what do I know?)

But jeez, I could have done a better job on click removal.

[Quincy]

The way to get this released is if everyone starts writing the museum, asking if they have comfy coaches that allow for hours & hours of listening. Also bugging them about their interconnects and the like. If they realize they could end up having a bunch of jazz fanatics hanging around scaring away more normal patrons, they'll get the legal stuff figured out.

Such a great find!

[brownie]

This is a dream that hopefully will become a reality when all the music is made available to the general public!

[Dave James]

An astonishing find. I wonder how long it will be before there's a complete listing of the recordings in the collection.

With regard to the copyright, there was a reader comment at the conclusion of the Times article that made reference to some sort of Disney influenced amendment to the original copyright law that operated to extend the duration of the original protections.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Dave James

[bichos]

i´m totally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for years there were rumours about this collection. (imagine, the randall islans open air concert). was bill savory the husband of helen ward? (i´m not at home to confirm it). there was a few years ago a sell on ebay with a few books from the ward/savory estate and they described that the recording collection was lost. (maybe my recollections are wrong...)

this is one of the greatest finds in recent years (and it can be compared with the bird/dizzy town hall concert 1945 or the lester young jam session (still unissued)).

put bill savory together with jerry newman, bob andrews, boris rose and timme rosencrantz! they all captured great music for the future. hope this collection will go published!!!

keep boppin´

marcel

[Randy Twizzle]

It's a good thing that Phil Schaap didn't have anything to do with this or we'd have a few discs filled with radio static labeled something like "pause tracks"

'

[J.A.W.]

It's a good thing that Phil Schaap didn't have anything to do with this or we'd have a few discs filled with radio static labeled something like "pause tracks"

...and horrid mastering

[king ubu]

Amazing!

[ghost of miles]

With regard to the copyright, there was a reader comment at the conclusion of the Times article that made reference to some sort of Disney influenced amendment to the original copyright law that operated to extend the duration of the original protections.

Yes--the Mickey Mouse revision, or something akin to that.

[gmonahan]

I couldn't get over the sound of Armstrong's trumpet--clear and gorgeous as if he were in the room. We GOTTA have all this!

gregmo

[jazztrain]

Wow! some astonishing clips are posted there.

However, the last clip (which they call "Blues Jam") with Armstrong and Waller has been issued many times before. It's from a Martin Bloch Jam Session broadcast that is usually dated as December 14, 1938.

Does anyone recognize any of the other clips as having been issued before? The short nature of some of them makes it more difficult to determine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/arts/music/17jazz.html?_r=1&hp

Edit to add posted audio clips: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/17/arts/music/savory-collection.html

[brownie]

The Armstrong/Fats/Teagarden is the only one I was familiar with.

The others are unknown territory