Left Bank Jazz Society Recordings (Baltimore only)

[bertrand]

I believe this is the complete list, or am I missing something? I am leaving off the Lee Morgan (not from Baltimore) and Sun Ra: Of Mythic Worlds (origin is still unknown). The date on the Mickey Fields is still unclear.

Left Bank Jazz Society – Commercially Available Recordings

 

Jimmy Heath/Freddie Hubbard: Jazz Gems 6/13/65

Walter Namuth: Left Bank ’66 1/9/66

Blue Mitchell: Baltimore 1966 3/20/66

Coleman Hawkins: Supreme 9/25/66

Jackie McLean: Dr. Jackle 12/18/66

Jackie McLean: Tune Up 12/18/66

Freddie Hubbard: Fastball 4/23/67

Wynton Kelly: Left Bank ’67 11/12/67

Joe Henderson: Four! 4/21/68

Joe Henderson: Straight, No Chaser 4/21/68

Wynton Kelly: Left Bank ’68 9/22/68

Al Cohn/Zoot Sims: As Easy As Pie 1968 10/27/68

Gary Bartz: Home! 3/30/69

Duke Pearson: Baltimore 1969 4/27/69

Dexter Gordon: LTD 5/4/69

Dexter Gordon: XXL 5/4/69

Roy Brooks: The Free Slave 4/26/70

Roy Brooks: Understanding 11/1/70

Sonny Stitt: Just The Way It Was 3/21/71

George Coleman: Baltimore 5/23/71

Cedar Walton: Three Sundays In The Seventies 9/5/71; 2/27/72; 2/3/74

Etta Jones: A Soulful Sunday 2/27/72

Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt: God Bless Jug And Sonny 6/24/73

Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt: Left Bank Encores 6/24/73

Stan Getz: My Foolish Heart 5/20/75

Mickey Fields:  The Astonishing Mickey Fields XXX

Edited August 1, 2021 by bertrand

[mjzee]

4-21-68 JOE HENDERSON, tenor sax; WYNTON KELLY, piano; PAUL CHAMBERS, bass; JIMMY COBB, drums

Release: Joe Henderson - Four! (Verve)

 

[Mark Stryker]

3 minutes ago, mjzee said:

4-21-68 JOE HENDERSON, tenor sax; WYNTON KELLY, piano; PAUL CHAMBERS, bass; JIMMY COBB, drums

Release: Joe Henderson - Four! (Verve)

 

Plus the second volume of this material issued as "Straight No Chaser" on Verve.

[bertrand]

Of course. They dropped off due to a cut and paster error in my Word Document. Exactly why I posted here. Added.

Edited August 1, 2021 by bertrand

[bertrand]

So the next question - for the two CD sets (McLean, Wynton Kelly '67, Henderson, Wynton Kelly '68, Dexter, Ammons/Stitt), do we think these are the full performances or did they still leave out some tunes? Shows were 5 to 9PM, but there were breaks with food vendors and all that extraneous stuff...

Note: The Walter Namuth had extra tracks for those who did the kickstarter. An hour and 46 minutes of music, still a little light...

Edited August 1, 2021 by bertrand

[JSngry]

What kind of food vendors? 

Serious question, meant to flesh out the overall flavor (sorry...) of the events.

[mjzee]

The Astonishing Mickey Fields was probably 3/24/68, since it's listed in the Left Bank history as "Groove Holmes trio, guest Mickey Fields."  Would make sense that the LP came out under Fields name, as Holmes was probably under contract.  IIRC, this is the only date that lists both Holmes and Fields.

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/82143-left-bank-releases-upcoming/&do=findComment&comment=1705901

[bertrand]

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

What kind of food vendors? 

Serious question, meant to flesh out the overall flavor (sorry...) of the events.

I can try to get more details on that as part of my research. From all accounts, these gigs were a fun hang. I know there was a lady with cakes, and fried chicken. None of that artsy-fartsy nouvelle cuisine.

[JSngry]

Or snootytooty wines, right?

Cakes, eh? Do we know anything about this lady?

I'm a pie guy myself, but people can get serious about their cakes, for real.

For real, if there's no food, the ok. But if their is food and it's not some vendor after stuff, that's part of the total picture. 

As time goes by and ownership of the story changes hands, it's important to get as much of the total picture as possible, if for no other reason than so people can choose to see what's being left in and what's being left out.

 

[bertrand]

The Mickey Fields is more complicated than that due to incomplete listings in the Yearbooks. I also see that Mike Fitzgerald has another gap in his listings. I have to compile a list of updates for him.

So starting with the first gigs in 1964, here is what I see for Groove Holmes in the Yearbooks:

1) 10/29/67: No personnel listed other than Holmes.

2) 3/24/68: Holmes and Fields, no other personnel listed.

3) 8/18/68: Holmes, Fields, Freeman, Jackson - but this is the annual 'Jazz on the Chesapeake' boat ride, not the Famous Ballroom.

4) 5/18/69: Thornel Schwartz on guitar, but a last minute substitution is not impossible.

5) 3/1/70: Holmes/Schwartz/Jackson, no Fields.

6) 8/16/70: Same trio, boat ride.

7) 3/7/71: Different band, congas instead of tenor

8) 8/15/71: Boat ride, only Holmes listed.

9) 1/30/72: Different band

10) 6/4/72: Different band

11) 3/25/73: Holmes quartet, no personnel given

12) 8/19/73: Holmes and McGriff

13) 2/10/74: Holmes and McGriff

14) 6/23/74: Holmes and McGriff

15) 12/1/74: Holmes quartet, only 3 people listed

16) 5/4/75 - different band

17) 8/28/75 - trio outdoors

18) 5/2/76 - quintet

19) 4/24/77: With Mickey Fields, but otherwise different band

20) 6/1/86 - trio, no personnel listed

21) 9/10/89 - trio, no personnel listed, moonlight cruise

Yearbooks end in 1989, so getting dates after is tough. Holmes died in 1991. More gigs are possible.

The CD-R I have of the Fields record has 4/27/77 penciled in on the LP cover. The closest is 4/24/77, but that is with Fields, Namuth and a drummer named Darryl Washington. So not this one.

So the LP is most likely 67 or 68. All three could have that personnel, but only one (the boat ride) actually lists those four. Would they have recorded the gig on the boat though?

Holmes is just one example to demonstrate how much work still needs to be done. Reviews in newspapers etc. need to be located to confirm personnel. The Yearbooks are very inaccurate. Examples:

1) The personnel for the Duke Pearson Big Band is quite different than what is in the Yearbook. Uptown probably got it off the part of the tape he did not release.

2) 9/28/69 is allegedly Thad Jones/Pepper Adams with Richard Williams, but I have a tape of part of this (no idea where it came from, Fowler told me he did not have it). There is only Williams, no Thad. BUT it is not a full concert. Maybe Thad showed up late, and took over from Williams. Or maybe the part I don't have has two trumpets. Mayne Thad told them to stop recording when he showed up, or maybe what I have is an audience recording. Someone told me they remember Williams doing the whole gig, and Thad never showed...

3) One Lee Morgan gig shows no bassist. Billy Harper does not remember doing a gig with Lee with no bass.

Much research to be done. Newspapers, first-hand accounts etc. are needed. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by bertrand

[bertrand]

26 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Or snootytooty wines, right?

Cakes, eh? Do we know anything about this lady?

I'm a pie guy myself, but people can get serious about their cakes, for real.

For real, if there's no food, the ok. But if their is food and it's not some vendor after stuff, that's part of the total picture. 

As time goes by and ownership of the story changes hands, it's important to get as much of the total picture as possible, if for no other reason than so people can choose to see what's being left in and what's being left out.

 

A lot is being left out, I can tell you. There was a disinformation/misinformation campaign. Check out this video in which I try to get Fowler to get into specifics with little luck. One thing I am sure, and a statement in the video confirms this, there was much infighting. Probably why a lot of tapes were lost. I think both the founders were ousted at some point. A key person (who died last year) was Mildred Battle, I can tell she was very controlling. I met her a couple of times but could not get much out of her. Key member Judy Webber just died. She took tons of photos, but she told me they were not organized in any way. Who knows what will happen with that. I had gotten her number for a guy doing  a documentary on Baltimore pianist Yusuf Salim. He called her but did not get much. I would have called her had I known she was about to check out.

(117) Baltimore Jazz Conference 2020: History and Highlights of the Left Bank Jazz Society - YouTube

Beyond the recordings which are of course a key element but sorely mismanaged, there is a lot more history to pin down. One nice development here, I am visiting next week - apparently, I will be the fist to visit since they got the collection in December 2020:

Left Bank Jazz Society Collection - Coll312 (pastperfectonline.com)

Left Bank Jazz Society Inc. Collection (umbc.edu)

PS: I know Tadd Dameron never played Left Bank, I will let them know when I visit.

Also, the links above work funny. You can also google 'UMBC Left Bank collection 312' and 'UMBC Left Bank Finding Aid'.

[bertrand]

One more oddity begging further research - Ray Draper playing TRUMPET with the Messengers in the late 70s?!?

[bertrand]

I saw the collection yesterday - great material.

Some photos in the Yearbook of Groove Holmes gigs, but not enough clues to put a date on the Micky Fields record.

[sidewinder]

On 02/08/2021 at 4:41 AM, bertrand said:

I can try to get more details on that as part of my research. From all accounts, these gigs were a fun hang. I know there was a lady with cakes, and fried chicken. None of that artsy-fartsy nouvelle cuisine.

The ‘Understanding’ notes mention that it was in the main a ‘brown bag’ catering affair, so I guess people did their own thing.

[JSngry]

I would take "brown bag" to mean BYOB?

They would need a license to sell/serve alcohol, right?

[sidewinder]

37 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I would take "brown bag" to mean BYOB?

They would need a license to sell/serve alcohol, right?

That was my interpretation of it, yes. Bring your own food and drink.

Edited August 7, 2021 by sidewinder

[JSngry]

But apparently you could buy food, at least chicken and cake...and besides some biscuits, what else would you need, really?

[bertrand]

I think it was BYOB. but you could bring your own food, or buy. Let me ask on the Facebook group.

Edited August 8, 2021 by bertrand

[bertrand]

(will post the comments here for those who avoid Facebook, check for updates)

Me:  In the discussion about the new Roy Brooks Left Bank CD on the Organissimo Jazz Forum, the question came up about the food that was sold during Left Bank concerts. Did people usually bring their own food for the most part or did they buy it? And it was BYOB, correct?

BYOB but Left Bank supplied table set ups (Chips, pretzels etc.) most attendees brought food and there was some smoking chicken served for sale from the kitchen. And I mean finger licking good!

And Gladys the cake lady.

Fried chicken and set-ups. You could always get a pint across the street at the Wigwam

It was great to see folks arriving still dressed in their ‘Sunday best’ church garb, some of the gentlemen had small briefcases that contained flasks and shot glasses and jiggers. LBJS provided the ice!

 

[JSngry]

"Set-ups", yeah! Is that still at hing, do young people today even know what that is? Does it even work like that now?

The bar-in-a-briefcase too, hell yeah. I used to work with an older guy who carried a bar in a freakin' double-sized trumpet gig bag. People like that were pros! They always drank and never got sloppy, always handled business and were always sippin', having a taste (a taste!). I suppose you could call them high-functioning alcoholics, but...they would have to decide that for themselves. I just know that when I drank, they were my role models, and now that I don't drink, I have the highest respect for how they accepted the responsibility of their choices.

That's the kind of jazz audience I grew up around, a community, not an "audience". RIP.

[Joe]

6 hours ago, JSngry said:

"Set-ups", yeah! Is that still at hing, do young people today even know what that is? Does it even work like that now?

The bar-in-a-briefcase too, hell yeah. I used to work with an older guy who carried a bar in a freakin' double-sized trumpet gig bag. People like that were pros! They always drank and never got sloppy, always handled business and were always sippin', having a taste (a taste!). I suppose you could call them high-functioning alcoholics, but...they would have to decide that for themselves. I just know that when I drank, they were my role models, and now that I don't drink, I have the highest respect for how they accepted the responsibility of their choices.

That's the kind of jazz audience I grew up around, a community, not an "audience". RIP.

You remember Ships Lounge on Lowest Greenville? That was a beer and set-ups establishment. Might still be. Interesting jukebox, too, back in the day.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Joe

[JSngry]

I think I had settled down/in by that then, but I sure hope they still live.

[Mark Stryker]

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

"Set-ups", yeah! Is that still at hing, do young people today even know what that is? Does it even work like that now?

The bar-in-a-briefcase too, hell yeah. I used to work with an older guy who carried a bar in a freakin' double-sized trumpet gig bag. People like that were pros! They always drank and never got sloppy, always handled business and were always sippin', having a taste (a taste!). I suppose you could call them high-functioning alcoholics, but...they would have to decide that for themselves. I just know that when I drank, they were my role models, and now that I don't drink, I have the highest respect for how they accepted the responsibility of their choices.

That's the kind of jazz audience I grew up around, a community, not an "audience". RIP.

Best part of living in Detroit is that this community still exists. Another way to say this is that the jazz audience here IS a community. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

oh- wheres the lee morgan really from?  the lee-clifford jordan one right

[bertrand]

It was sponsored by the DC chapter of Left Bank, and the concert took place in Hyattsville, MD.