Ellington - Cool Rock (Laserlight)

[JSngry]

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Rock-Duke-Ellington/dp/B000001VTV

Maybe the stealthiest Ellington album ever released, you look at this and think, ah, leftovers, silly stuff, whatever, but no, there is some badass Ellingtonia all over this thing, most if not all of it from the later-y days, and the band is tight.

Get it for a penny + postage. Or if you like, pay more.

It's all stockpile stuff, and if you're thinking that maybe the riches of the stockpile was depleted by the time they released this one, well, no. I'd not put it at the "major find" level of The Jaywalker, which is kinda equally stealthy, but for waht you pay relative to what you get, hey...

[alankin]

5/20/1965, 6/22/1972, 6/12/1972 - Chicago & Toronto.

[Chuck Nessa]

got it.

[duaneiac]

Yes, that is a good one. Another LaserLight CD that is well worth picking up is this

It's a typical Armstrong concert probably from the very late 1950's or early 1960's. Very good sound quality and it's quite an enjoyable concert which should be easy to find for a very reasonable price.

[marcello]

Me too!

[miles65]

It's all stockpile stuff, and if you're thinking that maybe the riches of the stockpile was depleted by the time they released this one, well, no. I'd not put it at the "major find" level of The Jaywalker, which is kinda equally stealthy, but for waht you pay relative to what you get, hey...

Danish Ellingtonian Bjarne Busk who heard all of the stockpile said that there are still about 10 quality CD's that could be produced from the stockpile. Bjarne compiled the My People CD for Storyville.

[mjzee]

Are there any other Duke Laserlights worth getting?

[jazzbo]

Don't miss out on the "Happy Birthday Duke" discs, they're excellent.

[alankin]

"Things Ain't What They Used To Be" has stockpile recordings from 1966 & 1969.

[gmonahan]

Are there any other Duke Laserlights worth getting?

Lon mentioned these, and I second his recommendation. The Happy Birthday Duke! cds have the band in some good live recordings from 1953 and 1954: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Ellington+Happy+Birthday+Duke!&rh=n%3A5174%2Ck%3AEllington+Happy+Birthday+Duke!&ajr=0

gregmo

Edited September 27, 2014 by Greg M.

[mjzee]

Grabbed a used copy of the birthday box from a reseller; also ordered Cool Rock. Thanks guys.

[mjzee]

Now, those Laserlights are different than the "Private Collection" discs released on Atlantic, correct?

[jazzbo]

Yes.

[Big Beat Steve]

What about these LASERLIGHT CDs (Jazz Collectors Series) in general?

I have two (picked up YEARS ago):

One feat. the Louis Prima orchestra of the Majestic period, and one which is a split feature for the Chico Marx orchestra and the Desi Arnaz band.

Both bought rather cheaply, and I never thought of them as major items, just as impulse buys (at least a period version of "Oh Babe" by the Prima band (omitted on the Savoy twofer), and the first reissue of the Chico Marx band I ever had come across up to that point - novelty interest, for sure ... ).

Now how does this LASERLIGHT CD series rate in general? If these Ellington CDs are such major and apparentyl well-programmed gap fillers, then what about issues by other artists? Is Laserlight universally known for picking really heretofore unissued live or radio items from the vaults?

[kh1958]

Laserlight is a cheap budget label with (mostly) poor product.

[ejp626]

Thanks for the tip. I enjoyed Happy Birthday Duke CDs, though I eventually parted with them. I was surprised there was somebody selling this for a penny in Canada (usually prices are higher than that!), so I have placed an order.

[Big Beat Steve]

Laserlight is a cheap budget label with (mostly) poor product.

So I had figured - cheap budget label with poor playing time and (not necessarily poor but at any rate) filler-type "product" (you mean music, right? ) that is OK for the price paid but not necessarily more.

Which is why why I had sprung for these two discs mentioned above that DID fill gaps in an otherwise exceedingly skimpy reissue discography (at that time).

But how come, then, that quite a few seem to be drooling about those Ellington and Armstrong releases from the same series - artists where on the face of it you ought to be able to easily rehash much more material (from known and released sources) to sell to the unwary from the grab bins? Why the (relatively speaking) "gems" here? What WAS their overall (re)issue policy after all? Really only hit and miss?

THAT was my question.

[medjuck]

I once picked up a Laserlight cd with some of the Ellington Musicraft cuts. Also some King Cole trio transcriptions.

Edited September 27, 2014 by medjuck

[mjzee]

A quick search brought up these intriguing titles, apparently not available elsewhere:

[king ubu]

Those French sets are editions of stuff out on a French label as well, in various editions ... there are many of those, several Monks, Mileses, Blakeys, three Petersons, a great one by the Clark/Boland Big Band, one by Dizzy ... not sure if each of them has been out in each form (there were French single discs, too).

A copy of "Cool Rock" was just shipped ... crossing fingers (I've come to distrust most marketplace sellers).

[Chuck Nessa]

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Rock-Duke-Ellington/dp/B000001VTV

Maybe the stealthiest Ellington album ever released, you look at this and think, ah, leftovers, silly stuff, whatever, but no, there is some badass Ellingtonia all over this thing, most if not all of it from the later-y days, and the band is tight.

Get it for a penny + postage. Or if you like, pay more.

It's all stockpile stuff, and if you're thinking that maybe the riches of the stockpile was depleted by the time they released this one, well, no. I'd not put it at the "major find" level of The Jaywalker, which is kinda equally stealthy, but for waht you pay relative to what you get, hey...

This disc documents my friend Paul Serrano (musician/producer/engineer) in Duke's band on my 21st birthday. Stuff can't get better than that.

[king ubu]

Laserlight is a cheap budget label with (mostly) poor product.

So I had figured - cheap budget label with poor playing time and (not necessarily poor but at any rate) filler-type "product" (you mean music, right? ) that is OK for the price paid but not necessarily more.

Which is why why I had sprung for these two discs mentioned above that DID fill gaps in an otherwise exceedingly skimpy reissue discography (at that time).

But how come, then, that quite a few seem to be drooling about those Ellington and Armstrong releases from the same series - artists where on the face of it you ought to be able to easily rehash much more material (from known and released sources) to sell to the unwary from the grab bins? Why the (relatively speaking) "gems" here? What WAS their overall (re)issue policy after all? Really only hit and miss?

THAT was my question.

The Nat Cole recordings for instance were on a Music & Arts set that is OOP and extremely pricey (alas, I'd love to have it, only have one of the Cole Laserlight discs). Don't know much, but they did some good stuff, such as three volumes of Baden-Baden recordings (compiled by Michael Frohne, I think) - music by Hans Koller, Zoot Sims, Oscar Pettiford a.o.

Then there are the French radio recordigs they did - as I said above, I'm not sure if all of them were out on Trema/Pour ceux qui aiment le jazz or whatever that label's called (I've got some of their releases but never figured which was the actual label name). There's a load of good stuff there, and even though the LaserLight releases look cheap and come with minimal, superficial liners, they're mighty good!

to be continued ... (too many pics for one post)

[king ubu]

these definitely aren't all of 'em ...



in some cases, there are single SACDs culled from 2CD sets - once bought one of 'em accidentally.

the proper French releases first looked like this:



then later they looked like this (digipacks, single discs only, as far as I know, splitting up the previous editions):



one of those SACDs:

(they look nearly the same, except for the logo)

These are French radio recordings, sound is pretty good I'd say (but I'm used to plenty, so don't hold me accountable if your seventhousand dollar tube amp and fifteenhundred dollar headphones make audible any deficiencies of these).

[king ubu]

as for Ellington, there's this one, too:

[duaneiac]

A quick search brought up these intriguing titles, apparently not available elsewhere:

That Buddy Rich CD is very good. It's his big band of, I guess, the late 1960's (LaserLight releases are often short on details). There was also a LaserLight CD called Tuff Dude with a Buddy Rich small band that is worth getting.

The Joe Pass Christmas CD is okay. It's fine for it's purpose (background holiday music) but it is not a major item in his discography.

I have the Ella Fitzgerald CD too. Haven't listened to it in a while, but I recall it being good, but not dramatically different from many other "live" CDs one can find by Ms. Fitzgerald.

I think the same company put out the LRC label (with recordings from Sonny Lester's catalog) and LaserLight. Other worthwhile LaserLight/LRC CDs I have include:

For some reason, the system would not allow me to post more images, but the other titles included

Blue Bossa by McCoy Tyner

Dedication by the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra

Parisian Thoroughfare by Stephane Grappelli

Velvet Soul by Carmen McRae

Crown Royal by Woody Herman

Funkiest Little Band In The Land -- Jimmy McGriff

Edited September 28, 2014 by duaneiac