Prestige LPs: 1960s Blue Label Pressings

[Shrdlu]

In the 60s, i ordered a lot of Prestige LPs straight from the company in New Jersey. They were a bit dodgy, and the German counterparts (where available) were the way to go.

[Gheorghe]

6 hours ago, Shrdlu said:

In the 60s, i ordered a lot of Prestige LPs straight from the company in New Jersey. They were a bit dodgy, and the German counterparts (where available) were the way to go.

In the 60´s I was too young. In the early 70´s some LPs were available here. They had other album covers than the original albums. This was my very first "Jazz Album", I mean the first jazz I heard. 
Another one was the Tadd Dameron-John Coltrane which I also liked because it had Trane and Philly J.J. so I bought it shortly after the "Steaming". Further albums followed (Rollins, Monk, MJQ). 

About the 60´s the most I bought would be the Impulse label, which I associated with the 60´s, and the few BN we could get (I got the Sam Rivers 2 LP set from the BN LA Series with brown paper cover). 

So maybe I didn´t really know that Prestige had continued in the 60´s. Maybe what came out was not exactly on my focus. I associated Prestige as one of the two major labels of leading musicians of the 50´s, and Impulse as a leading label of the 60´s. And goin back to bop, Savoy and Dial as bop labels....

Edited March 3, 2022 by Gheorghe

[sidewinder]

Yes, the German pressings were done by SABA and are usually excellent.

[JSngry]

9 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

So maybe I didn´t really know that Prestige had continued in the 60´s.

Prestige made a buttload of records all through the 1960s. Maybe they didn't get to your part of the world.

[kh1958]

8 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

In the 60´s I was too young. In the early 70´s some LPs were available here. They had other album covers than the original albums. This was my very first "Jazz Album", I mean the first jazz I heard. 
Another one was the Tadd Dameron-John Coltrane which I also liked because it had Trane and Philly J.J. so I bought it shortly after the "Steaming". Further albums followed (Rollins, Monk, MJQ). 

About the 60´s the most I bought would be the Impulse label, which I associated with the 60´s, and the few BN we could get (I got the Sam Rivers 2 LP set from the BN LA Series with brown paper cover). 

So maybe I didn´t really know that Prestige had continued in the 60´s. Maybe what came out was not exactly on my focus. I associated Prestige as one of the two major labels of leading musicians of the 50´s, and Impulse as a leading label of the 60´s. And goin back to bop, Savoy and Dial as bop labels....

Bob Weinstock sold Prestige Records to Fantasy Records in 1972. He was recording new music the entire time. Prestige was still recording and putting out jazz records pretty actively until about 1975. A few new records came out in the late 1970s before its existence as an active label came to an end.

[Gheorghe]

21 hours ago, JSngry said:

Prestige made a buttload of records all through the 1960s. Maybe they didn't get to your part of the world.

I had a look at the discography from the 60´s . It´s very possible that they didn´t get to my part of the world. On the other hand I see there is very much accent on organ players and blues singers, which is not my strongest point. I love some of Jimmy Smith´s BN albums, mostly with horns , and above all, the Larry Young albums. But very little else. 

Maybe among the circles I moved in, my listening to 50´s Prestige (those 7000 series I think) and BN was mostly for historical reasons, to learn about Miles´ first quintet, Trane´s and Rollins´ and McLean´s albums, to learn a good acoustic band playing bop and hardbop and ballad material can sound, how to develope solos, so most of the listening was a kind of studying to learn the basics, and the 60´s "Study Model" albums mostly were from other labels like BN and Impulse, first the Atlatic Ornette, then when the 60´s went on, increasing much of Impulse (mostly to study modal improvisition, free form and so on). So we would not collect all albums of a certain label, but buy and swatch stuff I have mentioned.....

It was the same with the Savoy label when one of our members said I got only the basic material (I mean Bird, Dex, J.J Johnson, Don Byas etc. ) but I think later it was more rhythm and blues or some kind of that category 

[JSngry]

60s Prestige = Booker Ervin, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Don Patterson, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss as label roster. Plenty of interesting one-off dates as well.

 

Sonny Criss too.

[Gheorghe]

On 4.3.2022 at 2:11 PM, JSngry said:

60s Prestige = Booker Ervin, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Don Patterson, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss as label roster. Plenty of interesting one-off dates as well.

 

Sonny Criss too.

It is possible that Buddy Terry was not so well known over here. I just had a look at google and the musicians who played on his albums are very well known. But he himself doesn´t seem to be very popular among fellow fans or musicians of my generation.....

One of the guys had Dexter´s "Tangerine" which I borrowed and taped. It sounds good and I like that combination of veterans like Thad Jones, Hank Jones and the very young Stanley Clark, who sounds great. 
Then I had heard the Gene Ammons in Montreuw with the Hampton Hawes trio (on fender rhodes, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass and the veteran Kenny Clark). Sounds strange now and maybe acoustic purists hate it, but during my youth this was a very usual sight, a Fender Rhodes and a Fender bass. You even had difficulties to find a young acoustic bass player. When I felt "ready" enough to organize a group I came by to the Viennese Jazz Conservatory and asked who are students at the bass class and there were 20, among them only 2 on acoustic...