Live Johnny Smith at Band Camp

[sgcim]

He was only 49 and still playing his ass off. This just came out yesterday and the bass player taped a lot more. There's some distortion when they get loud, but a lot of spirit and swing. The piano player is good, along with the rhythm section.

https://dickpatterson.bandcamp.com/album/the-last-night-at-shaners

[mjzee]

Interestingly, Derryl Goes, the drummer, plays on Smith's 1968 Verve LP "Phase II," which I believe was his last LP other than half an album on Concord.

[sgcim]

24 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Interestingly, Derryl Goes, the drummer, plays on Smith's 1968 Verve LP "Phase II," which I believe was his last LP other than half an album on Concord.

I never knew that. You can tell that the group had a lot of stuff worked out in Colorado, where they played live. Smith got burnt out on NYC sometime in the early 60s. He could see where the music biz was going. He said he never looked back in his rear view mirror as he approached the Geo. Washington Bridge.

[kh1958]

Thanks. I ordered the CD.

[sgcim]

4 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Thanks. I ordered the CD.

Someone I know was so overwhelmed by the CD, he contacted the person in charge of putting out the album, and he says that the bass player on the gig taped a lot of other gigs the group did, and he's obtained legal approval to release all of it! This stuff is JS at his best, with a group that is smoking.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

 

[Ken Dryden]

How do people make any money selling a limited edition CD of 100 copies? Maybe they expect to see a lot of downloads.

[Ken Dryden]

Arrived today, it is a cdr. Cost cutting is evidently necessary for such a small batch.

[kh1958]

A second live Johnny Smith recording has been released on bandcamp.

https://dickpatterson.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-in-the-springs

[sonnymax]

Bandcamp Friday is the 6th!

[tranemonk]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:05 PM, Ken Dryden said:

How do people make any money selling a limited edition CD of 100 copies? Maybe they expect to see a lot of downloads.

I purchased the download as there are three extra lengthy tracks in the download option. Having given the set a listen I completely forgot how beautifully Smith played. I went back to the Mosaic set and remembered why that was one of my favorite sets. I will definitely be purchasing the other Bandcamp title.

[mjzee]

Thanks for the reminder.  I need to get these.

[kh1958]

On 12/3/2024 at 11:37 AM, kh1958 said:

A second live Johnny Smith recording has been released on bandcamp.

https://dickpatterson.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-in-the-springs

Just as good as the first release, plus this one has several solo guitar performances.

[tranemonk]

4 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Just as good as the first release, plus this one has several solo guitar performances.

Good to know. I just bought it but haven't had a chance to listen to it. I hope more of these get released.

[AllenLowe]

I love Smith. One interesting thing that I was told was that he was born in Mississippi to a mixed-race couple (I think his mother was African American). This could not hve been easy, especially in those years.

On 7/31/2024 at 9:05 PM, Ken Dryden said:

How do people make any money selling a limited edition CD of 100 copies? Maybe they expect to see a lot of downloads.

I won't order CDRs; but if you figure that each blank costs them maybe 25 cents, and if they charge $15 for each and sell 100 they are making at least $1000 profit, subtracking some production costs. So that's not bad; if they sell out they just make 100 more.

And, I will add, it's a pity they didn't do more work on those; the sound can be improved hugely through a simple re-EQ.

Edited 23 hours ago by AllenLowe

[Stompin at the Savoy]

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Stompin at the Savoy

[tranemonk]

21 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

I love Smith. One interesting thing that I was told was that he was born in Mississippi to a mixed-race couple (I think his mother was African American). This could not hve been easy, especially in those years.

I won't order CDRs; but if you figure that each blank costs them maybe 25 cents, and if they charge $15 for each and sell 100 they are making at least $1000 profit, subtracking some production costs. So that's not bad; if they sell out they just make 100 more.

And, I will add, it's a pity they didn't do more work on those; the sound can be improved hugely through a simple re-EQ.

Interesting.. Did he identify himself as Black? Mixed-race children (especially of that era) often had the crappy choice of which side of their family to publicly identify with. There's a great movie in my Netflix queue called Passing, which kinda gets to that. I'm curious if he ever talked about it.

Edited 2 hours ago by tranemonk