*** Booker Ervin *** (non-BN recordings)

[MartyJazz]

'cause Booker plays on it.

It's a two tenor front line

Sorry. I didn't realize that an album titled THE TENOR OF BILL BARRON, would have more than one tenor on it. Obviously, that side is not one of the 3 Barron LPs I do have.

[JSngry]

Oh, but it should be one of 4!

[Cali]

A query for the more knowledgeable members of the board: Did that Enja "Lament for Booker Ervin" LP ever make it to CD?

Yes! And for me, it's the best Booker Ervin solo on record.

[couw]

A query for the more knowledgeable members of the board: Did that Enja "Lament for Booker Ervin" LP ever make it to CD?

Yes! And for me, it's the best Booker Ervin solo on record.

yup and it takes more than 20 minutes, so buckle up!

[John L]

An interesting discussion here.

I am a big Booker Ervin fan. He was a voice, a unique voice. When Booker picked up the horn, you knew right away WHO was preaching to you.

Charles Mingus and Randy Weston also thought very highly of him.

[Brad]

Any suggestions on where to get Hot Line. I checked Cd universe and the Groove but nothing doing. Well, actually cd universe has it as a $38 import but that's a little too rich for me.

[Rooster_Ties]

Just picked up my very own copy of "The Trance" just now (found one at half.com, brand new and still sealed, for only $9, plus postage), and it just arrived in today's mail.

I've got it on now, and it's just as amazing as when I first heard the copy I borrowed from Spontoonious (which prompted this thread).

What a great date!!!

Edited November 14, 2004 by Rooster_Ties

[B. Goren.]

From time to time I use to go to the shelves and look for some old stuff I haven’t listened to for a long time. Today I took with me to the office Booker Ervin's The Blues Book. What a great player Ervin was!!! And what a great front line was it- Booker Ervin & Carmel Jones! And also Richard Davis is doing an amazing job. I think Booker Ervin can stand in the same line with some of the greatest players of the 60's. There is no doubt in my mind that all the "books" he recorded for Prestige are among Prestige best recordings ever.

[makpjazz57]

Leave it to this great board. Did a search here and came up with this thread on Booker Ervin. I do have The Blues Book, but that's about it. I was doing some work on my PC and had MusicNet@aol going on "shuffle." MusicNet allows you to listen on line, user-controlled. to thousands of jazz tunes - one of my choices today was Stolen Moments from "Structurally Sound." Reminded me of how much I love Ervin's style of playing. Also, Ervin, like Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, Prez and others - you know you are listening to Ervin after just a few notes!

Marla

[kh1958]

If you like The Trance, note that he recorded another LP on the very same day, Settin' the Pace, with the same group plus Dexter Gordon.

[AllenLowe]

Exultation with Frank Strozier is another great album - and whoever said Ervin has only two solos ain't really listening. I knew Barron when he was up at Wesleyan and when I told him how well I thought he held his own on the Savoy date with Booker he was quite flattered - but that is some great album -

[sidewinder]

There's a rare chance to hear the two Bookers (Ervin and Little) in performance with the Teddy Charles New Direction Quartet (with Mal Waldron) on the LP 'Metronome Presents Jazz In The Garden at the Museum of Modern Art'. Just recently got a Japanese vinyl of this one. Nice version of Ervin's 'Scoochie' on this one.

[montg]

Today I took with me to the office Booker Ervin's The Blues Book. What a great player Ervin was!!! And what a great front line was it- Booker Ervin & Carmel Jones! And also Richard Davis is doing an amazing job

I'm listening to this now for the first time, and this is some truly exciting stuff. I agree with your assessment of Richard Davis. More than once, recently, I've heard a bassist doing something interesting ,checked to see who it is, only to find it's none other than.

for the blues book

[Peter Friedman]

Some of my favorite playing by Booker Ervin is when he recorded with Mingus.

[theteach]

Cookin' I think is such an underappreciated album. The build up to track #5 Well, well is a real pay-off. This weekend I couldn't get over the soloing going on on Track 1 of the Blues Book. I just kept repeating 6:10-11:20 over and over again. The soloing there is just plain clever and smart.

Booker Ervin rocks. I picked up the Parlan set on Mosaic just for those OOP albums with Ervin.

Lou

[beeeeeep]

For me the best Book Ervin album is his candid one: That's it!

Great work with his inspiring rhythm section.

[paul secor]

For me the best Book Ervin album is his candid one: That's it!

Great work with his inspiring rhythm section.

Welome. Hope you'll keep the posts coming.

[Chuck Nessa]

The Prestiges are ok too.

[AllenLowe]

well, I'm late and too lazy to read through, but my favorite is Structurally Sound - maybe because it's the second LP I ever owned (the first was Worktime by Rollins; I either had incredible taste at age 14, or these were the only two jazz records I could find in Massapequa) -

also like the session with Frank Strozier -

Booker is the greatest ever. More soul than a barrel of Lou Donaldsons -

[mikeweil]

I picked up this double LP up recently and totally dig it. It's one of the Blue Note Re-Issue Series; don't think it made it to CD (although not sure if parts of it might not have gone to CD).

Both sessions were isued on CD:

[king ubu]

Exultation with Frank Strozier is another great album - and whoever said Ervin has only two solos ain't really listening. I knew Barron when he was up at Wesleyan and when I told him how well I thought he held his own on the Savoy date with Booker he was quite flattered - but that is some great album -

well, I'm late and too lazy to read through, but my favorite is Structurally Sound - maybe because it's the second LP I ever owned (the first was Worktime by Rollins; I either had incredible taste at age 14, or these were the only two jazz records I could find in Massapequa) -

also like the session with Frank Strozier -

Booker is the greatest ever. More soul than a barrel of Lou Donaldsons -

you're not that late, really... and I fully agree with your controversial statement

[mikeweil]

In today's mail I received a Japanese CD reissue of The Blues Book that finally adds the leftover track Groovin' High that was issued on the leftover LP of the same name. I always wondered why they didn't add these tracks to the OJC CDs as bonus tracks.

Had to get me this as I recently found a British double CD of all the quartet "Book" sessions on the British JazzLips label that adds the other three leftover tracks - nice to have it all in one package.

All tracks recorded at the sessions for The Freedom Book, The Space Book, The Song Book, common denominator is that all are quartet tracks - with the only blues tune from The Blues Book added as bonus track. They did a nice remastering job - Alan Dawson's drums have more presence than on the LPs or OJCs!

Seems like I now have all Prestige recordings of Booker, including all of his sideman dates.

Edited December 24, 2009 by mikeweil