Jeremy Steig

[danasgoodstuff]

After having thought about it for decades, finally picked up da bastards reissue of this on CD. And I'm way glad I did, it's odd that it came out on BNBback in the day but he and Eddie Gomez (who I gohot & cold on) and Don Alias are in a zone here. And I'm not generally big on flute either but he makes it do whatever he needs it to do here. Any thoughts on this or his other work?

[danasgoodstuff]

And how could BN's marketing dept miss the opportunity during all the Oh Brother buzz?

[jazzbo]

You're taking about "Wayfaring Stranger" I presume. This is a good reissue. Part of this album was reissued by Blue Note some time back on their Steig albums compilation cd.

I like Steig and I would suggest getting the Enja duo with Eddie Gomez "Outlaws," and the Japanese reissue cd "This is Jeremy Steig" that came out last year.

And how could BN's marketing dept miss the opportunity during all the Oh Brother buzz?

When Cuscuna was over the BN reissue program, he had this practice of not pushing to put out albums that didn't sell well at the time of release as he believed that meant they wouldn't sell well as a cd reissue. He broke this practice often enough for artists he was personally very interested in the work of, and for some artists that are better known now than they were then and whose cds were selling. But this and many others just sat in the can.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

When Cuscuna was over the BN reissue program, he had this practice of not pushing to put out albums that didn't sell well at the time of release as he believed that meant they wouldn't sell well as a cd reissue. He broke this practice often enough for artists he was personally very interested in the work of, and for some artists that are better known now than they were then and whose cds were selling. But this and many others just sat in the can.

Truth is, he was right about most of them too. Several slow sellers were issued on CD and they were slow sellers again. Don Wilkerson, George Braith, Leo Parker and Booker Ervin were always tough sellers. Not every Blue Note artist garners much more interest today than they did in years gone by. Only a few like Grant Green became hotter as the years went by. One of their bigger sellers back in the day, The Three Sounds, seem to have lost their cachet today. That's why so few of their LPs were reissued on CD in the US.

[CraigP]

When Cuscuna was over the BN reissue program, he had this practice of not pushing to put out albums that didn't sell well at the time of release as he believed that meant they wouldn't sell well as a cd reissue. He broke this practice often enough for artists he was personally very interested in the work of, and for some artists that are better known now than they were then and whose cds were selling. But this and many others just sat in the can.

Truth is, he was right about most of them too. Several slow sellers were issued on CD and they were slow sellers again. Don Wilkerson, George Braith, Leo Parker and Booker Ervin were always tough sellers. Not every Blue Note artist garners much more interest today than they did in years gone by. Only a few like Grant Green became hotter as the years went by. One of their bigger sellers back in the day, The Three Sounds, seem to have lost their cachet today. That's why so few of their LPs were reissued on CD in the US.

Interesting that Booker Ervin wasn't a good seller for BN. The 2LP reissue Back From The Gig is great.

[jazzbo]

I'm aware Kevin. We're lucky that between the US and Europe and Japan nearly the entire label made it to cd in the last three decades.

Edited February 18, 2013 by jazzbo

[mjazzg]

If we're talking "wayfaring stranger" then count me as a big fan - great rhythm to it throughout. I've never gone on to investigate other Steig so I'll be reaing posts with interest for other things to try

[mikeweil]

All the Steig Solid State and Blue Note albums are great, and the double on Capitol, IMHO - took me years to get all the vinyl, but I never regretted it. Steig, Gomez, Perla, Don Alias, Jan Hammer, Sam Brown - great players sharing a vision of loose funky jazz playing.

[David Gitin]

I'd love to hear MONIUM again!