1950's 10 for the ear

Bluebrew · September-29th-2004, 08:09 AM

Having just unpacked my vinyl collection and not having been in contact with the jazz scene for a while I found myself listening to these 10 recordings to warm up my engine.

A Study in Brown - Clifford brown - Max Roach. Especially Harold Land. What a great foil he was for Clifford's playing. The extrovert and the understated.

Echos of an Era - Stan Getz - This is a twofer from Roulette. It the complete recordings from the old Storyville label. Jimmy Raney is superb.

Party Time - Arnett Cobb. Nothing like a little Texas tenor with your coffee.

The Jimmy Giuffre Three - with Ralph Peña and Jim Hall. The West Coast experience at its tops.

The Chase and the Steeplechase - Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon. I'm speechless. "Rhythm" changes to the max.

47 minutes and 35 seconds of Sonny Stitt - All alto. These recording give creedence to the old statement "If there had never been a Charlie Parker there would have always been a Sonny Stitt."

If I Had You - Brew Moore

Walkin - Miles Davis A great Horace Silver solo and a message from Lucky Thompson, not to be teken lightly.

Tenor Madness - Trane and Rollins

Shorty Rodgers and his Giants - Atlantic recordings. More layed back stuff from the West Coast

SinginSumo · September-29th-2004, 08:43 AM

Although I'm sure I could play devil's advocate for any of the decades of jazz, perhaps the Fifties represented jazz at its zenith for me. For example, I doubt that there is little in any company's catalog decade-by-decade that could come close to the 1950's era Blue Notes. The irony in Bluebrew's post is that every album he included was very sweet indeed but none were recorded on the Blue Note label!

Tanager · September-29th-2004, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinginSumo

For example, I doubt that there is little in any company's catalog decade-by-decade that could come close to the 1950's era Blue Notes.

I actually prefer the 60's Blue Notes, to be honest. I find them more interesting by a fairly wide margin when viewed as a whole, although there are some notable exceptions (Blue Train and the Blakey quintet with Brownie, for example).

Bluebrew · September-29th-2004, 12:27 PM

There is no doubt that Bluenote produced a great part of the fine jazz during the 50's but as I go through my collection and put it on shelves I am finding that while I have a lot of Bluenotes I also have an equal amount of Prestige recordings. I would be interesting to see both company's cataloges side by side.

A question. I have few CDs but plan to get a few more things. There used to be a company "Original Jazz Classics" which bought the Prestige cataloge. Does anyone know if they are still in business making CDs out of the vinyl recordings?

Tanager · September-29th-2004, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluebrew

A question. I have few CDs but plan to get a few more things. There used to be a company "Original Jazz Classics" which bought the Prestige cataloge. Does anyone know if they are still in business making CDs out of the vinyl recordings?

Fantasy owns the entire tamale, and yes, OJC releases are pretty easy to come by.

Richardo Caerleoni · September-29th-2004, 01:23 PM

HAROLD LAND IS /WAS GOD...."Miror Mind Rosie" with Elmo Hope ?

Pete C · September-29th-2004, 01:45 PM

you can view the OJC catalog at

http://www.fantasyjazz.com/html/ojcmain.html

Chris D · October-1st-2004, 03:05 PM

And you can still find a lot of OJC LP records if you look.

tristano's ghost · October-2nd-2004, 04:07 PM

Fantasy also keeps nearly all of its stock in-print (they own their own warehouse). They were recently purchased by Concord; hopefully the status of their catalogue will remain the same.

Count me as a fan of the 1950s/60s (I do a weekly radio program devoted almost entirely to that era); I'll toss in most works by Gil Melle, George Russell, Charles Mingus, Lennie Tristano, and Herbie Nichols for starters.

Pete C · October-2nd-2004, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristano's ghost

I'll toss in most works by Gil Melle, George Russell, Charles Mingus, Lennie Tristano, and Herbie Nichols for starters.

Melle's stuff is delightful. I'm sure you know those interesting Teddy Charles items on OJC too.

BlueMiles · October-2nd-2004, 09:30 PM

Damn, but the 1950's were good!

You could start with Miles. His music from 1954-1959 is some of the greatest stuff ever laid down--from Walkin' to Kind of Blue. There was a lot more greatness to come, but he could have retired in 1959 and still left us with unbelievable riches.

Rollins' best decade was the 1950's. Ditto Monk. I would say Mingus did most of his greatest work in the 1950's. You've got Blakey and Silver hitting their peaks. Getz, Brubeck, Giuffre. Brownie and Dizzy. By the end of the decade, we were starting to see the emergence of Ornette, Trane, and Jackie McLean.

I'm also amazed by the 1960's (especially the first half), but for me the 1950's have been and will always be the great Golden Age.

Labels like Prestige and Riverside were probably even more vital (IMO) than Blue Note. I'm with those who see Blue Note's greatest period as the 1960's.

BlueMiles · October-2nd-2004, 09:37 PM

I love the 1950's--this was indeed the greatest jazz decade.

Bluebrew · October-3rd-2004, 02:41 PM

I agree whole heartedly. I think that since the 70´s jazz is on a kind of "holding pattern" where everyone is looking for a door to open. I don't think this is surprising at all considering the incredebly rapid devlopment it experienced in the first 60 years of it's inception. 30 years of relative inactivity (compared to the first 60) is not a lot of time historically speaking. I think we will soon enter in some new jazz age and maybe one we least expect.