What to Reissue Number Two

[JSngry]

I'll stay behind this one record as my personal vote for a JLH reissue so to not overload the thread.

I'm with you on this one. I wish more people (anybody?) had heard & lived with Iapetus for a while, but Motivation is, like Iapetus, a wholly unique record that has been virtually unheard.

As I type, I'm listening to Iapetus on headphones. I gotta say — this really is a great record. More than Motivation, I think, this is a band effort. While Caliman is clearly the leader on the session, the rhythm section has that feel (not muscially, but socially) of the great Hancock-Carter-Williams team. It's weird — tenor players working today would eat this up, I'd think. Meaning, I can't believe that this session hasn't seen a reissue anywhere. The record, though it bears traces of its recording year, has an unusually modern feel to it. This is to say that the music, almost note for note, might easily be heard in a hip club anywhere in the world today.

I think of Iapetus as the next step after Filles de Kilamanjaro that Miles himself never took...but a group of Bobby Hutcherson sidemen did, on an album that got a ***** review in DB (iirc) & then vanished w/o a trace.

There's really not anything else quite like it, and yes, it stands on its own merits as strong today as it did then. I think it qualifies as a stone classic.

Now that I think about it, so does Oliver Nelson's Black, Brown, & Beautiful on Flying Dutchman, the original one, not the later reissue compilation of the same name. That arguably is Nelson's true masterpiece, more so than Blues and the Abstract Truth. And it's never been reissued on CD, not even on compilations that I know of. But it is strong, strong music.

[paul secor]

I'd be curious to know if JLH has read any suggestions that have piqued his interest. That might give posters an idea of what to suggest or stay away from.

[Late]

I'd be curious to know if JLH has read any suggestions that have piqued his interest. That might give posters an idea of what to suggest or stay away from.

Good call. I'd also be interested to know what records JLH has heard of those suggested in this thread. I'm trying to think along a Dixon/Hemphill axis (one that I'm also very fond of), but the Steig throws me a little, though I too like that record a lot. If Jimmy Giuffre's Free Fall hadn't been reissued, I'd be screaming for that one. I'm still amazed that Cuscuna put that one out — a beautiful reissue, with intriguing bonus tracks to boot.

I think that an Ellington reissue might actually be the most commercially viable, but perhaps not what JLH has in mind.

[jonathanhorwich]

Frankly, most of these suggestions I have never heard. I downloaded a few and am listening to them. I may have to beg a CDR from a few members so I can hear the music. I'm glad I asked as this stuff is all new to me.

Someone mentioned they were surprised at my choice of Steig. Not sure why, but I picked it because I have never heard better jazz flute playing and Denny Zeitlin plays brilliantly. Classic or not, it is a brilliant performance. Far more so than Steig with Bill Evans which should have been killer but was only good to my ears.

Any more comments would be appreciated.

By the way, I downloaded Alonzo Levister, Manhatten Monodrama and listened to it tonight and it is brilliantly done. Absolutely fascinating.

Jonathan

Edited April 2, 2011 by JLH

[colinmce]

A eureka moment!

On CD briefly, twice: once as a Bluebird CD with a bad cover and once as an RCA France CD. Ridiculously expensive on the secondhand market, but a vital and singular document by an underrated performer.

[Justin V]

Here's one: Bill DeArango's self-titled Emarcy 10" from 1954. I have it and would love to hear it remastered. It has never been reissued.

Edited April 3, 2011 by Justin V

[Niko]

By the way, I downloaded Alonzo Levister, Manhatten Monodrama and listened to it tonight and it is brilliantly done. Absolutely fascinating.

(you haven't reissued it yet, but that sounds like a good start...)

[ep1str0phy]

Probably never going to happen, but it just occurred to me: Sam Rivers, Contrasts. It's (problematically) on ECM, but their reissue series seems to have gone bust, and this one is in sore need of rehearing/reevaluation:

I mention this in large part because it's a desert island disc for many folks I know. The leitmotif and/or refrain sounds like, "I burnt out my vinyl copy."

Edited April 3, 2011 by ep1str0phy

[AndrewHill]

Any classic Sun Ra's that haven't seen the light of day?

[Stefan Wood]

Burton Green on Columbia with Byard Lancaster

Edited April 4, 2011 by Stefan Wood

[Late]

Any classic Sun Ra's that haven't seen the light of day?

Quite a few, in my opinion. Here are six, off the top of my head:

1. Discipline 27 II

2. The Soul Vibrations of Man

3. Astro Black

4. The Antique Blacks

5. Voice of the Eternal Tomorrow

6. The Sound Mirror

These are all very solid Ra albums in my opinion. (Some Ra records can be aimless unless you're a hardcore fan.) Atavistic was on schedule to reissue Continuation, but it never materialized. Anyone know what happened? Between the Unheard Music Series and Art Yard, Ra reissues are still trickling out.

Of the six titles listed above, I consider Discipline 27 II a true Sun Ra classic. This one is trance-like at times.

[jeffcrom]

Any classic Sun Ra's that haven't seen the light of day?

Quite a few, in my opinion. Here are six, off the top of my head:

1. Discipline 27 II

2. The Soul Vibrations of Man

3. Astro Black

4. The Antique Blacks

5. Voice of the Eternal Tomorrow

6. The Sound Mirror

These are all very solid Ra albums in my opinion. (Some Ra records can be aimless unless you're a hardcore fan.) Atavistic was on schedule to reissue Continuation, but it never materialized. Anyone know what happened? Between the Unheard Music Series and Art Yard, Ra reissues are still trickling out.

Of the six titles listed above, I consider Discipline 27 II a true Sun Ra classic. This one is trance-like at times.

I would add A Fireside Chat With Lucifer.

[soulpope]

a personal fave - with me a true (but to most unknwn) classic

http://www.cosmicsounds-london.com/DUSKO/bobby.htm

[Clunky]

Here's one: Bill DeArango's self-titled Emarcy 10" from 1954. I have it and would love to hear it remastered. It has never been reissued.

This is indeed a great set but probably what the OP had in mind, won't be surprised if we saw a Spanish edition of this set.....

[jostber]

Any classic Sun Ra's that haven't seen the light of day?

Quite a few, in my opinion. Here are six, off the top of my head:

1. Discipline 27 II

2. The Soul Vibrations of Man

3. Astro Black

4. The Antique Blacks

5. Voice of the Eternal Tomorrow

6. The Sound Mirror

These are all very solid Ra albums in my opinion. (Some Ra records can be aimless unless you're a hardcore fan.) Atavistic was on schedule to reissue Continuation, but it never materialized. Anyone know what happened? Between the Unheard Music Series and Art Yard, Ra reissues are still trickling out.

Of the six titles listed above, I consider Discipline 27 II a true Sun Ra classic. This one is trance-like at times.

I go with this list, and would add "Universe In Blue", "Unity", and "My Brother The Wind, Vol.1". The latter has seen a vinyl reissue a couple of years back.

"The Antique Blacks" was released by Art Yard on CD and LP last year:

http://www.flyglobalmusic.com/fly/archives/europe_reviews/sun_ra_the_antique_black.html

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/459-the-antique-blacks

http://boomkat.com/cds/245287-sun-ra-the-antique-blacks

'The Ridiculous "I" and The Cosmos Me' must be one of the better song titles ever.

[clifford_thornton]

Second that one - probably his best of the "early period."

Edit: This was a response to the post on Burton Greene's Columbia record.

Edited April 4, 2011 by clifford_thornton

[Late]

"The Antique Blacks" was released by Art Yard on CD and LP last year.

Oops — forgot about that one; downloaded from eMusic. Better go listen to it now!

Isn't A Fireside Chat With Lucifer half of Nuclear War? Sometimes straightening out Ra's discography is near impossible.

[clifford_thornton]

Nuclear War was issued on a 12-inch EP by the UK punk label Y Records. I don't know what the Atavistic CD reissue contains otherwise.

[jeffcrom]

"The Antique Blacks" was released by Art Yard on CD and LP last year.

Oops — forgot about that one; downloaded from eMusic. Better go listen to it now!

Isn't A Fireside Chat With Lucifer half of Nuclear War? Sometimes straightening out Ra's discography is near impossible.

No, they're completely different albums, except that the track "Nuclear War" appears on each. Ra did things his own way.

[Chalupa]

Burton Green on Columbia with Byard Lancaster

Oh yeah!

[clifford_thornton]

Burton still doesn't get enough props. He's great - and his music of the last decade or so has been really happening.

I was talking with a friend of mine about the Manfred Schoof Quintet/Sextet LPs of the '60s - on CBS, Wergo, and FMP. There was some talk with John Corbett about it a few years ago, but securing the rights was going to be a huge problem. Another friend of mine seemed to have no problem reissuing a piece formerly on Wergo recently, and FMP is not too hard to deal with. Lippmann owns/owned the rights to Voices after he left CBS and reissued it on LP himself at one point long ago, so it seems to me this would be feasible. Probably not a big money-maker, but this music ranges from really good to freakin' awesome, so hopefully someone might someday bite.

[mikeweil]

The market is very very small even over here for reissues of German jazz recordings. There is a CD every now and then, but I know they do not make any money on it. These albums sold less than a thousand copies back then, and it isn't much more today.

[king ubu]

Got that one in the mail today! Looking forward to giving it a first spin later on!

It was partly (four of the six cuts, I think) on CD, as was the entire (I think) "African Herbs" - sure those Kaz/Camden discs are (to my best knowledge) bootlegs, but I don't think there's any market for reissues of these.

And they're anyway pretty far from what Jonathan is looking for, I think.

[David Ayers]

We need to up this thread and maybe close the other one. Jonathan's basic point is he wants to reissue excellent music, not merely hard-to-find music - the point I think being to advance the historical image of the art by bringing back 'lost' masterpieces, more than just to satisfy collectors who are itchy to fill a gap. And as you guys know you can find most titles you can dream of via google so there has to be good artistic reason for Jonathan to invest in a CD reissue.

[AmirBagachelles]

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