Live in London series on Harkit Records

[Joe Carter]

Has anyone purchased any of the Live In London recordings from the Harkit label in England? I'm wondering how the quality is. They've released dates from Stan Getz, J.J. Johnson, Blossom Dearie, Johhny Griffin, Bill Evans and Jimmy Witherspoon. And now they've just released a Sonny Rollins. Here's the blurb:

Sonny Rollins proves once again that he's a master soloist -- no matter what the setting! The album's a live one, recorded in London in 1965 -- and while the setting isn't a bad one at all, it's quite different than the usual tight-crafted Rollins group recordings of the period. Sonny sits in with the house trio at Ronnie Scotts -- led by pianist Stan Tracey -- and dominates the proceedings on a set of extended tracks that feature some wonderfully imaginative solo work. The set kicks off with a ballad medley that runs for nearly 20 minutes long -- then slides into versions of "St Thomas", "Blue N Boogie", "Now's The Time", "Four", and "My One & Only Love". CD also features a 12 minute interview with Sonny from the time!

I was looking forward to a Jim Hall trio date that they had scheduled but they pulled it due to "artist's request".

Joe C.

[MRS]

[MRS]

Do you know who makes up the rhythm section, JC? Danke.

[Joe Carter]

Damn! My cover's been blown.

I don't know who's in the rhythm section. I'm hoping someone will tell us.

JC

[barry]

Harkit's Live in London series is promising. I have bought only the Tubby Hayes and it's very spirited but suffers from something I noticed on some of the Jazz House releases recorded at Ronnie Scott's, especially the Victor Feldman: distortion on notes with high volume.

[Joe Carter]

Originally Posted by barry

distortion on notes with high volume.

Drat! That's what I was afraid of. I'll pass on them for now unless someone tells me the music is really happening. Sometimes I can overlook the sound quality if that's the case.

JC

[barry]

There are brief soundbites from various cds at the harkitrecords website. You might get some idea of the sound quality, etc. The interviews are also of interest.

[barry]

According to Harkit, the rhythm section on the Rollins Live in London is: Stan Tracey (pno), Rick Laird (bs), Ronnie Stephenson (ds).

(Rick Laird soon thereafter came to the US, and later became the electric bassist in the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and I understand is now out of music - he's a photographer.)

Harkit will be adding personnel listings to their website.

[Richardo Caerleoni]

I was at the Sonny Rollins gig in London - during this "season" he was totally amazing. This is when he turned to the audience at RS's and said ref. Stan Tracy..."Do any of you realise just how good this guy is?".

I haven't heard this recording but I've heard the Stan Getz and the Ronnie Scott recordings...agree with the previous comments re recording quality - they do distort and could be a lot better...but I've heard worse from live gigs and the music is excellent.

[barry]

Originally Posted by Richardo Caerleoni

I was at the Sonny Rollins gig in London - during this "season" he was totally amazing. This is when he turned to the audience at RS's and said ref. Stan Tracy..."Do any of you realise just how good this guy is?".

I haven't heard this recording but I've heard the Stan Getz and the Ronnie Scott recordings...agree with the previous comments re recording quality - they do distort and could be a lot better...but I've heard worse from live gigs and the music is excellent.

Thanks for the recommendation - I got the Rollins and he sounds incredible - the only acoustic problem for me is his well-known wandering off-mike at times, prior to using a bell pick-up, so he's very loud at times and way back at others - but Rollins fans, especially those who are into his RCA period, will love this recording.