New Fantasy Releases

[Lois Gilbert]

N E W S F R O M F A N T A S Y , I N C.

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"Live at Falcon Lair," a previously unissued session featuring ZOOT SIMS
(on alto saxophone) with the JOE CASTRO Trio, will be released by Pablo
next month (4/27). The trio includes bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Ron
Jefferson. http://www.fantasyjazz.com/catalog/s...3.html#2310977

Sims is beloved, of course, for his peerless tenor artistry, and for his
personal approach to the soprano sax in his later years. But aside from a
couple of tracks on the Riverside album "Zoot!" (1956) and two dates for
ABC-Paramount (1957), there's little documentation of the mid-50s period in
which Sims experimented with the alto. "Live at Falcon Lair" fills in the
blanks.

"The circumstances of this 1956 session were decidedly loose," writes Zan
Stewart in his notes to the new CD. Joe Castro "was then a bebop-based
pianist known for his appearances with the Lighthouse All-Stars and his
trio work around Los Angeles.... For several years, he lived with tobacco
heiress Doris Duke, to whom he was married from 1956 until 1964, at Falcon
Lair, Duke's estate in tony Benedict Canyon (just northwest of Beverly
Hills proper)....

"At Falcon Lair, Castro and Duke had built what they called 'The
Playhouse,' an apartment over a three-car garage adjacent to the main
house. Here, Castro regularly invited friends in to jam." Among the
frequent participants were Zoot, Stan Getz, and members of Stan Kenton's band.

"Zoot was a joy, a groove to be with," Castro told Stewart. "He was a
wonderful guy, unpretentious and played his ass off. Playing with him was
like floating on air. When he was in town, he used to come to Falcon Lair
and jam, just play whatever we liked." And what's captured here, Stewart
writes, is "strong, deeply musical performances from players who know their
craft."

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Also due from Pablo 4/27 is "BUD POWELL: Bebop," the third CD in as many
years from the Mythic Sound trove of Powell recordings.
http://www.fantasyjazz.com/catalog/p...t.html#2310978

"Like its predecessors ["Paris Sessions," "Parisian Thoroughfares"]," says
annotator Ted Panken, "'Bebop' documents some of the more inspired moments
of Powell's waning years; unlike them, it captures the maestro in his
youthful efflorescence."

On "Bebop," Powell is heard with a tentet including J.J. Johnson, Lee
Konitz, and Max Roach at the Royal Roost in 1948; in Paris with a trio
(Pierre Michelot, Kenny Clarke) in 1960; and four years later in Edenville,
France, in a quartet setting with saxophonist Johnny Griffin.

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THELONIOUS MONK's "Brilliant Corners" is one of 50 recordings selected for
the 2003 National Recording Registry; Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, and
Charles Mingus are the other jazz artists represented. The Registry was
established in the Library of Congress by the National Recording
Preservation Act of 2000 "to maintain and preserve sound recordings and
collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant." http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2003reg.html

The deadline for 2004 Registry nominations is 7/15.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-nrr.html

As announced here last week, Fantasy will release "Brilliant Corners" in
Super Audio Compact Disc format (SA-CD) 4/27.
http://www.fantasyjazz.com/html/sacd.html