Sony Jazz Connoisseur series

[Kyo]

Just realized that Sony introduced their new "Jazz Connoisseur" series in March - looks like there are a few CD debuts here:

> Stan Getz  Featuring Joao Gilberto – The Best of Two Worlds
> Helen Merrill –  Parole E Musica
> Phineas Newborn  – Fabulous Phineas
> George Russell– The RCA Victor Workshop
> The Dave Pike Quartet – Pike’s Peak 
> Dave Bailey – One Foot In The Gutter
> Chet Baker – Chet Is Back!
> Ray Bryant – Little Susie
> Gary Burton – A Genuine Tong Funeral  (By Carla Bley)
> Johnny Coles – The Warm Sound 
> Paul Desmond – Easy Living
> Les Doubles Six - Les Doubles Six  
> Duke Ellington – Far East Suite
> Gil Evans – Plays The Music of Jimmy Hendrix 
> Dave Grusin  – Kaleidoscope
> Lee Konitz – Stereokonitz 
> Jeanne Lee with Ran Blake – The Newest Sound Around
> Lou Levy – A Most Musical Fella
> Charles Mingus– Tijuana Moods
> Pony Poindexter – Pony's Express
> The Bud Powell Trio – Strictly Powell
> Sonny Rollins – What’s New ?
> Charlie Rouse – Yeah !
> The Sextet Of Orchestra USA – Mack The Knife
> Martial Solal – At Newport ‘63

[jazzbo]

Actually, each of these are reissues of earlier cds that were released in Europe and feature the same mastering etc. They sound very nice and are very well priced.

Edited September 5, 2016 by jazzbo

[felser]

I  picked up the  Lee/Blake recently, , it's a pretty interesting listen.  Anyone familiar with the Solal?  How does it compare to his other work?  I have most of the others in various previous releases.  What do people think of the Konitz and the Grusin?  On the Grusin, I'm attracted by the Foster/Thad front line, but repelled by almost 10 minutes of "Blue Monk" (which I've never liked by anyone, even Monk).  On the Konitz, I'm drawn by the era and by the presence of Rava and D'Andrea, but repelled by the varitone and by the shortness of both the album and the individual cuts.  I've never heard the Solal, Grusin, or Konitz  And what of the Orchestra USA?  Drawn by Dolphy, repelled by the material.  Have never heard it, either.

[jazzbo]

The Konitz is excellent imo. Variatone use is quite well-handled, different from the way Eddie Harris or John Klemmer etc. use the device. I really like it.

The Solal is interesting. A bit more straight forward than some of his European work in some ways, certainly than his later work. 

The Orchestra USA I like a lot. The material doesn't bother me, so there's that, and the arrangements and playing are great.

I didn't buy the Grolnick, that and the Rollins are I think the only ones I didn't buy in this series. They can be had very cheap.

The sound is excellent on all those I have.

[felser]

Thanks Lon, I'll definitely follow through on the Konitz and the Orchestra USA.

[JSngry]

Lee and Varitone was fun...for me anyway, apparently not so mu. J for him. But if you were ever in the "Lee is cool, but a little light" mind (and there are those...) then hey, problem solved with Varitone. And if you're not, then it's really fun to hear THAT sound make THAT kind of movement.

Also, I do want to advocate for Kurt Weil in general. That stuff is...pointed

 

And look where it can lesd *not that it needs to lead anywhere, judt that it vsn.

 

 

 

Just remember that no matter what Mack The Knife has become, it I began life as one of the more sinister things out there. Mack was a freaking thug, man, not some rattypacky coolster.

[Chuck Nessa]

yup

[JSngry]

I'm also of the opinion that anytime you come across anybody doing "The Barbara Song" you should carpe diem, because that thing can run deep.

 

[Chuck Nessa]

yup 2

[felser]

The Zwerin Mack set is on order, as well as the Konitz, the Russell (hoping it's a sonic upgrade from the 1990 CD I have), the Pike, the Grusin, and the Solal.  They're all under $2 new on Amazon marketplace from UK sellers, so I can't go too far wrong with it coming out to under $35 total including shipping for the six.

[JSngry]

I picked up the Grusin, having been unaware of its existence until now. It is good enough for at least one listen, maybe a few more over time. The horns are not so much a "front line" as they are added color on some tunes. What solos are allotted are very nice. However, the record was clearly conceived as a showcase for Grusin, and as such, it does not fail, nor does he. It's obvious that he would have never become a "jazz star", but it's also obvious that he's no dummy either (and if you knew him back in the pre-GRP days for his work with Brazil 66 & on It Takes A Thief, you already knew that).

Bottom line for me - as a trio album, not really something I would want to hear. As an artist showcase with enough added solos from the hornists, hey, I've paid more and gotten much less. And really, if there's Thad Jones soling, that's a good place to be for as long as it's happening.

[bluesoul]

http://www.wearesonylegacy.com/news/jazz-connoiseur-part-2

[jazzbo]

Lots of these are in the Sony box sets of Vogue Records. . . . Great stuff in this series, and the first batch had excellent sound.

[felser]

I'll certainly grab the Getz (fabulous) and the Shorter (the only post Blue-Note of his I still listen to) for the sound upgrades.  Any opinions on the Burrell and the Previn?  I assume the Jaspar and the Wilen are already in the Vogue box?

[jazzbo]

The Jaspar and Wilen are in the Vogue box.

I really like the Burrell, it's good. The Previn i haven't heard. . . I may order it. . . I'm not that much of a Previn fan but I like the reset of the quartet.

[RogerF]

Many thanks for this heads up bluesoul. Just bought the Jarrett and Brookmeyer and going to order the Getz.

[Late]

Jazz Connoisseur Series

I hope this series continues, even though it seems an anomaly in 2017. It'll be interesting to see what gets chosen for reissue next.

It would be nice if the Fats Sadi-led Vogue session saw reissue (with its original cover art) in this series.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Late

[gmonahan]

I see Supersax and the LA Voices is back--but only volume one. It would be nice to have all three.

 

 

gregmo

[crisp]

A word of warning about the Previn: a fault in the mixing makes Ellis, Manne and Brown sound like they are in another room. The other one from this batch I've heard is the Burrell, which to me sounds fine.

[OliverM]

The loud glitch on the first track of Desmond's easy living is also really annoying, it's in the midst of Jim Hall's relatively quiet solo.

[Gheorghe]

I had purchased some of the classic RCA a long time ago, during the LP era.

One thing about the mentioned "Strictly Powell". It´s a record that doesn´t get much spinning. I´d say it´s the strangest and most untypical of his records. Well, 1956 was not his strongest year, but he does quite good with some really strong stuff on the Verve album "Blues in the Closet" from the same period and it´s so strange he recorded this completely untypical RCA album, where he sound´s like it might be someone else. It´s not a very exciting record. Even the bass and drums sounds almost as if it was overdubbed later, like the way Tristano would make records at some point.

One strange thing was the album cover on the original RCA album, it was a photograph obviously from Paris much later, Bud very very overweight with a relaxed smile, but not a photography related to the time when the record might have been done....

So the title "Strictly Powell" is really strange, cause its further  removed from Bud´s style than you might imagine.....

 

[Late]

Which cover are you thinking of?

or

 

The first cover looks like it could be from the mid-50's? I've always liked the original "Croscrane" from this album.

[Gheorghe]

13 hours ago, Late said:

Which cover are you thinking of?

or

 

The first cover looks like it could be from the mid-50's? I've always liked the original "Croscrane" from this album.

Thank you, I couldn´t have done it. Yes, the second cover ist the one that was an all the albums for sale when we purchased them in the 70´s.

You are right, the first cover looks like a mid fifties Powell, more slim, neatly dressed but of an outworldish character.

The second cover shows a Powell who sure enjoyed all the french goodies, the cakes, the pastries and being around friends who loved him. I think if he would have stayed in Europe, he would have become something like a "happy old man".

The track "Crosscrane", yes it sounds more boppish, but it seems it was written for the studio and then forgotten, since it never became a classic like other tunes he wrote and played them frequently "live", like "Bouncin´with Bud", "Dance of the Infidels" or the later "Johns Abbey". But this whole album is a big disappointment, even more than some other albums where he mayby fluffed a few runs, even the "Return of Bud Powell" which usually gets low rating , sound more like vintage Bud than this.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Gheorghe

[Late]

Sorry about the huge image (is there a way to shrink it?), but I wanted to bring attention to this particular reissue in the series. The bonus album (previously on CD in at least two different configurations, and with alternates) is the best-sounding version of this (mono) quartet recording that I've heard. It's one of my favorite Brownie recordings. If you like this session a lot, this disc is relatively cheap and worth searching out. (Too bad it doesn't contain the alternates though.)

[Late]

Did anyone here purchase the Betty Carter title from this series? (I'm guessing that it's been out before?) I need to put it on the purchase list.