For completists only....

[Pim]

Finishing my almost complete Mal Waldron discography I wondered: any boardmembers here who have collected a complete discography by an artist? Or anyone who has that as a goal?

Anyone yet completed Duke Ellington’s? 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Pim

[Milestones]

That has to be a difficult chore for any artist with a large discography.  I have tons of Miles Davis, but there's a fair amount from the 1970s and 1980s I won't bother with, then there's the "Bootleg Series" and just plenty else.  And does one have to include all of his appearances with Bird?

Ellington....I can't even imagine.  

 

 

 

[Ken Dryden]

I have extensive collections of numerous artists, though I hesitate to call any of them complete. There's bound to be a hard to find import-only album or bootleg that I have never run across, not even counting appearances on others' recordings. 

If we're only counting releases under an artist's name, I think that I own everything by Jaki Byard as a soloist, co-leader or leader, as I managed to pick up a number of European and Japanese releases to fill in some gaps. An added bonus is that I have a dub of the remaining unissued tracks from The Lennie's On The Turnpike date.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Ken Dryden

[jcam_44]

I’m pretty sure I have the complete discography of Bob Reynolds as a leader/co-leader. I have everything from Christian Scott as a leader. These are all relatively small compared to Mal. I would estimate I have 85% of Vinny Golia’s releases as a leader/co-leader. Anything Makoto Kawashima releases I buy. I’m working on Masabumi Kikuchi discography but it’s hard and expensive. I’m also working on getting the complete Asian Improv Records catalog slowly. 

[jlhoots]

I tried to get a complete collection of Sonny Clark once upon a time. Got pretty close, but not all the way.

[Jim Duckworth]

Not through personal dilligence, but rather by purchasing a series of JSP boxes I believe I have everything by Fats Waller and Django Reinhardt. The closest I've come to researching, searching, and acquiring close to a full discography would be Lester Young-but I readily concede that my collection is not complete.

[gmonahan]

I have the Bixology series which makes me pretty close on Bix. And like Jim says, JSP has done a nice job on Fats and Django.  And over a fair number of years, I think I'm pretty close on Sinatra. And Ella. And Teagarden. And even Frank Rosolino. But Ellington? Nah, and I have more by him than any other artist!

 

 

 

gregmo

[sgcim]

It's hard to follow an artist all the way to the end. Towards the end, they usually go somewhere I don't like, lose what they used to have, or over- record and I know all their licks.

If they die young, or quit after hitting some type of wall, it's easier to have most of what they did. One example of that is:

Eddie Costa- dead at 31, but leaving behind an extensive discography as a studio musician. I think I have just about every jazz session he ever played on. He was just starting to add McCoy's bag to his playing when he died.  Others that I have made a concerted effort to have a full discography of are:

Tal Farlow- Every note he played up to 1960, and then he lost it.

Joe Puma- I think I have most of it.

Dick Garcia- All I lack are private tapes of him jamming with his family on Sundays that his nephew has, but aren't for sale...

Ed Bickert- Just about all of his leader and sideman dates.

Jimmy Raney- I even have stuff never released.

Johnny Smith- all of it

Lenny Breau- all of it.

[mikeweil]

Cal Tjader, of course .... 

There is only one Concord LP and a very rare Fantasy 45 missing in my collection. Not every issue, but every recording. I had an offer for the 45 from a private collector, but $ 75 plus shipping was more than I wanted to spend. The Eiji Kitamura LP on Concord will be rather easy to get during the next months. 

I have almost everything with Don Patterson, and Melvin Rhyne.

Artists with rather smal discographies that I completed are: Carla White, King Pleasure

Artist that I am trying to complete: Mongo Santamaria

[medjuck]

Gil Evans:  though I think there were a couple of cuts on a Japanese box set of the Live from Sweet Basil cds that aren't on the individual  cds. (Still looking for that box set.). And yes that includes the Johnny Mathis and Pearl Bailey recordings.   Every studio session of Bird's and only missing a couple of the known to exist field recordings.  Every known Miles studio sessions and most of the live cds. Every known Bix recording that wasn't with Paul Whiteman. 

oh Yes. Maria Schneider.  Van Morrison. The Beatles.  Every Prez studio session. 

I have more cds by Duke Ellington  than by anyone else and I'm still missing a few of his later Pablo releases as well as a few singles made for obscure labels in the '20s and '30s.  And many, many air shots. 

Don't think I'm missing any Coltranes. 

Edited October 11, 2020 by medjuck

[Milestones]

I've done pretty well on McCoy Tyner--most of the Impulse, all the Blue Note, the vast majority of the Milestone, all the Telarc, the last three on his own label.  But I'm talking about as a leader.  Countess sideman dates, and trying to get all the Coltrane he appears on (including numerous live albums) would be quite a challenge.

 

 

 

[HutchFan]

I have almost everything from Bobby Hutcherson and Richie Beirach.

 

[Chuck Nessa]

I have about 9000 cds and lps. Not sure I have any "complete" collections.

[Ken Dryden]

6 hours ago, Jim Duckworth said:

Not through personal dilligence, but rather by purchasing a series of JSP boxes I believe I have everything by Fats Waller and Django Reinhardt. The closest I've come to researching, searching, and acquiring close to a full discography would be Lester Young-but I readily concede that my collection is not complete.

There is one Fats Waller title issued by a collector who lives in Thailand that you might not have. Let me look up the title.

1 hour ago, Milestones said:

I've done pretty well on McCoy Tyner--most of the Impulse, all the Blue Note, the vast majority of the Milestone, all the Telarc, the last three on his own label.  But I'm talking about as a leader.  Countess sideman dates, and trying to get all the Coltrane he appears on (including numerous live albums) would be quite a challenge.

 

 

 

I am pretty sure that I have all of McCoy Tyner's recordings as a leader, co-leader or soloist on Milestone, Impulse!, Blue Note, Half Note, Timeless, Who's Who In Jazz and some other things.

 

[felser]

A lot of artists I have complete "official" leader sessions by, but I don't even attempt complete sideman work.  And then you have the issue of grey market bootlegs, etc.  Do those count towards completion?

[jcam_44]

1 hour ago, felser said:

A lot of artists I have complete "official" leader sessions by, but I don't even attempt complete sideman work.  And then you have the issue of grey market bootlegs, etc.  Do those count towards completion?

I wouldn’t consider grey markets stuff for me to complete my collection personally. 

[Pim]

Nah, me neither. Official stuff only. Next to Mal, I’ve got all Coltrane’s leader sessions and most of his stuff as a sideman. But I do not own the countless live bootlegs from the ‘60’s. 

I also have most of Abdullah Ibrahim’s records. All the Enja stuff, the African recordings and most of his latest work. Still need the Black Lion early stuff and some ‘70’s sessions on other labels.

 

[Stonewall15]

I collect rare LPs by label. I almost have a complete collection of the Transition label. I still search for the long lost TRLP-18 "Jazz Down Beat" by Jay Migliori. This LP is shown in the Lord Discography. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Stonewall15
more information.

[Dan Gould]

I consider my Gene Harris collection to be exhaustive, because I don't consider his mid-70s BN output to exist.

Since I have a couple of rare 45s, I can say I have all of Sam Lazar's output, and Baby Face Willette, including his pre-BN 45s.

I have all of Percy France's official recorded output including unissued studio dates, but there are several dozen recordings held by the Smithsonian and my acquisition of those has been interrupted by the pandemic.

[danasgoodstuff]

I think i have all the Don Wilkerson leader dates, i.e. the 3 Blue Note and 1 Riverside, but that's too easy - for anyone with significantly more recordings and more obscure/hard to get, probably not.

[gmonahan]

As I read through this it occurs to me there are different definitions for "completist." For me, it means having one copy of every track ever issued by an artist in some format. Thus one could have a track on LP or disc or cassette or MP3 but not necessarily duplicated in every format. But I have a friend who is what I call a "radical completist" for Elvis Presley. Not only does he have every track, but he has every LP and cd, even duplicates (including original vinyl pressings of all those 60s movies soundtracks). Given that many of us have duplicate versions of any number of recordings in the eternal search for the best version, are there any "radical" completists here?! I mean, I have all of Sinatra's Reprise recordings on cd, but I don't have all the LPs!!

 

 

 

gregmo

[hgweber]

On 10.10.2020 at 11:24 PM, sgcim said:

It's hard to follow an artist all the way to the end. Towards the end, they usually go somewhere I don't like, lose what they used to have, or over- record and I know all their licks.

If they die young, or quit after hitting some type of wall, it's easier to have most of what they did. One example of that is:

Eddie Costa- dead at 31, but leaving behind an extensive discography as a studio musician. I think I have just about every jazz session he ever played on. He was just starting to add McCoy's bag to his playing when he died.  Others that I have made a concerted effort to have a full discography of are:

Tal Farlow- Every note he played up to 1960, and then he lost it.

Joe Puma- I think I have most of it.

Dick Garcia- All I lack are private tapes of him jamming with his family on Sundays that his nephew has, but aren't for sale...

Ed Bickert- Just about all of his leader and sideman dates.

Jimmy Raney- I even have stuff never released.

Johnny Smith- all of it

Lenny Breau- all of it.

yeah. i think i have most of raney's recorded output including many bootlegs. same for doug. i also have almost everything roland prince ever recorded, again including many bootlegs. i got most of grant green's recordings including the unissued KD and quebec, complete session reels from his BN sessions, etc. i got most of wes montgomery (anyone got the unissued portions of ronnie scotts?) and probably one of the largest pat martino collections out there, including the unreleased vanguard album and tons of live recordings from the 60s until 2018.

[John L]

I am a big Mal Waldron fan and have a very large collection.  But it is certainly not complete.   A complete Mal collection would be HUGE.  

[HutchFan]

On 10/11/2020 at 4:33 PM, Dan Gould said:

I consider my Gene Harris collection to be exhaustive, because I don't consider his mid-70s BN output to exist.

What does that mean, Dan?  Are they some sort of apparition or specter?!?!   

JK

 

On 10/11/2020 at 1:03 PM, Pim said:

I also have most of Abdullah Ibrahim’s records. All the Enja stuff, the African recordings and most of his latest work. Still need the Black Lion early stuff and some ‘70’s sessions on other labels.

Pim - Do you have Ibrahim's Ode to Duke Ellington?  If not, you should seek it out immediately!  It's one of his best, IMO.  

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by HutchFan

[Pim]

5 hours ago, HutchFan said:

What does that mean, Dan?  Are they some sort of apparition or specter?!?!   

JK

 

Pim - Do you have Ibrahim's Ode to Duke Ellington?  If not, you should seek it out immediately!  It's one of his best, IMO.  

 

Yeah I’ve got that one. It’s a great record indeed