That's the completion of the Blue Note 5000 Series. Next week we will start the Blue Note 1500 Series.
As promised, there were additional tracks from BN LP 5052 (New Sounds From Olde England) - These are from the same session but not licensed by Blue Note, they eventually turned up on an MGM release.
Deep Purple
I'll Remember April
Rhumblues
Two Sleepy People
Amalgam
Mike Nevard's British Jazzmen (MGM E 3157)
And that's your lot.
"Daylie" Double
You're Mine You
Pennies From Heaven
Groovin'
Viscocity
Portrait of Jennie
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
Amoeba's Dance
Crisp Day
Skiddoo
It Didn't Happen
Shuffle Montgomery
Brass Rings
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
Did Germany experience rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century due to an absence of copyright law? A German historian argues that the massive proliferation of books, and thus knowledge, laid the foundation for the country's industrial might.
From the Sleeve Notes;
"There is a legend (or if not, there ought to be, and it shall be promulgated forthwith) that once upon a time there was a musician so great that nobody was quite capable of appreciating him. His technique made Horowitz and Tatum seem like bumbling amateurs. He played chords nobody else had ever played, because his stretch was as wide as his imagination, and he composed music that was extra-terrestrial. But observing that his work could never fully be absorbed or understood, he locked himself in a room with a Steinway and spent the rest of his life there, and when he died there was not a single soul on earth who had ever heard him play."
"The story of the man in the legend has certain elements in common with that of Herbie Nichols, except that in the latter's case there is a happy ending."
From the sleeve notes;
It was to be expected, after the noteworthy showing made by Lou Mecca in his two LP appearances with Gil Melle on 5054 and 5063, that this brilliant new guitarist would soon be presented in a session of his own.
From the sleeve notes;
"Hank Mobley may never 'make' the cover of Time Magazine. His name may ever be on the lips of the 'chi-chi' set, and it is doubtful to assume that he will switch to Cronkite Whiskey and become a Man of Distinction. But from his work on this record, Hank Mobley certainly should be recognized by the general public, (as he is now by those 'on the jazz scene') as one of the most important of today's young tenor saxophonists."
Sleeve Notes;
"Kenny Dorham's Blue Note debut as a leader marks an important phase in his career. After hearing these sides, the fans who for so long had only vaguely aware of his real capabilities will learn that here is a soloist and a composer whose sound and pen are destined from now on to play a lively and stimulating role on the jazz stage."
From wikipedia;
"Watkins was born in Detroit, Michigan. He started playing French horn when he was nine years old, having played the trumpet, the recognized jazz instrument, for the Ernie Fields Orchestra in the mid-1940s.
By the late 1940s, however, he had played some French horn solos on Kenny Clarke and Babs Gonzales' records.
After moving to New York City, Watkins studied for three years at the Manhattan School of Music.
He started appearing in small-group jazz sessions, including two led by Thelonious Monk, featuring on "Friday the 13th" on the album Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins (1954)."
"Watkins recorded with numerous jazz greats, including John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis and Gil Evans, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Randy Weston, and the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. He co-led, with Charlie Rouse, the group Les Jazz Modes from 1956 to 1959, and he toured with Quincy Jones and his band from 1959 to 1961"
BT and TalkTalk want a judicial review of the Digital Economy Act, saying the controversial new law could infringe "basic rights and freedoms," reports the BBC. The act – which proposes to disconnect persistent illegal filesharers from the internet – was passed into law in the April wash-up period before parliament was dissolved.
Both BT and TalkTalk are understood to want the high court to clarify whether the act conflicts with existing EU regulation. Ofcom has said plans to disconnect people from the internet would not come into force until next year.
Concerns over "basic rights and freedoms" to access the web are made worse by the manner in which the act was passed into law, BT and TalkTalk say. The act was "rushed through" parliament with "insufficient scrutiny", claim the internet service providers.
After two hours of debate in the House of Commons, the bill was given royal assent – the vote in the government's favour by 189 votes to 47. Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said at the time: "We did our best to prevent the digital economy bill being rushed through at the last moment. It badly needed more debate and amendment."
Source BBC/Guardian
From the liner notes;
"This is Gil Mellé's fourth LP. In the course of his remarkable series of enterprises for Blue Note he has previously presented a quintet and a sextet, both on BLP 5020, a second quintet with an altered personnel on 5033, and a carefully organized and rehearsed quartet with which, on 5054, he introduced a delightful sample of what (if we were given to slogans) we might describe as New Jersey Jazz.
It seems to us that Gil has progressed steadily in the course of these various excursions, and that with this new release he has found the most vivid and capacious format of all. Actually the group featured here is simply the quartet of 5054 with one man added, but that single addition is of such stature as to change the entire tonal impact of the unit.
The addition in question is the tuba player, Don Butterfield."
Kenny Dorham (tp) Hank Mobley (ts) Horace Silver (p) Doug Watkins (b) Art Blakey (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, February 6, 1955
I think you could probably call this an EP, it is short even by 10" standards - 4 tracks, totalling about 20-22 minutes. It is a nice set and you will have heard the tracks in various compilations and re-editions.
You can see that Horace Silver was making money for Blue Note.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
This is another of those Vogue sessions licensed for US release, it was originally Vogue (F) LD 21.
Session List;
Roger Guerin (tp, tu) Nat Peck (tb) Jean Aldegon (bcl) Bobby Jaspar (ts) Fats Sadi (vib) Maurice Vander (p) Jean-Marie Ingrand or Pierre Michelot (b) Jean-Louis Viale (d)
Paris, France, May 8, 1954
Various Artists - Best From The West: Modern Sounds From California, Volume 2
*Liner Notes as per Volume 1
Recorded under the Direction of Leonard Feather
The Music on these two LP's was recorded at a series of sessions at Radio Recorders Studio in Hollywood, Cal. Shorty Rodgers, the former Herman and Kenton sideman who is now generally considered the uncrowned king of west coast jazz, lent invaluable help, especially providing some of the original music heard on the sessions.
Various Artists - Best From The West: Modern Sounds From California, Volume 1
*Liner Notes as per Volume 1
Recorded under the Direction of Leonard Feather
The Music on these two LP's was recorded at a series of sessions at Radio Recorders Studio in Hollywood, Cal. Shorty Rodgers, the former Herman and Kenton sideman who is now generally considered the uncrowned king of west coast jazz, lent invaluable help, especially providing some of the original music heard on the sessions.
This one has also been re-issued in various formats several times - and you can hear why, he and the quintet are in good form.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
Side One
01. Jay (J.J.Johnson)
02. Time After Time (Styne-Cahn)
03. Old Devil Moon (Lane-Harburg)
Side Two
04. Too Marvelous for Words (Mercer-Whiting)
05. It's You or No One (Styne-Cahn)
06. Coffee Pot (J.J.Johnson)
Another of the often re-release sessions, but still worth a listen.
J.J. Johnson(tb) Wynton Kelly(p) Charles Mingus(b) Kenny Clarke(ds) "Sabu" Martinez(conga-*) Recorded on September 24,1954 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
No liner notes for this one. Re-released often as part of different formats and compilations.
Having said that - there is a reason for that, you get Kenny Dorham, Elmo Hope, Art Blakey, Matthew Gee and Percy Heath.
Interesting to think that Elmo Hope was heading towards being the in-house pianist for Blue Note at this stage - you can hear why.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
From the sleeve notes;
"The problem of breaking through the barrier between obscurity and recognition on the jazz scene is one that has, inevitably confronted every musician of talent at some point in his career. For Gil Mellé, still in his early twenties, some of the bastions fell not long after his first Blue Note releases on BLP 5020, with the Quintet and Sextet and 5033, with a new quintet.
Since then, Gil has grown perceptibly in status (for his newest adventure is a more compact, more permanent one than it's predeccessors..."
From the sleeve notes;
As Julius Watkins said, "I think of the horn as sometimes very romantic, sometimes somber, sometimes a heroic type of expresssion". In these four performances he has shown, very eloquently, just what he had in mind.
This is one of my favourites and as you probably know, (a) not easy to get (b) often expensive (c) never re-issued.
This one has a good story behind it as well - which only adds to the enjoyment (at least for me...).
Mike Nevard worked for Melody Maker and in the course of Leonard Feather's Jazz Club USA tour and other entrepreneurial activities, Feather commissioned him to assemble the cream of GB's (read London's) jazzers.
I'm sure some of you will agree with me that there were others, who could easily and should have been included in the selection - I'm thinking specifically of some guys from North of the Border (more north than the Watford Gap mind you).
If you can read the liner notes - you will enjoy it.
You also get Johnny Dankworth playing under the pseudonym of 'King John I'
In the past, I tried to research where the session was recorded and who had the copyrights - it would seem they were owned by Decca at some point and absorbed into another catalogue, and absorbed again probably - I never did get to the bottom of it.
However, I did find out that these songs were not the entire session, yes, there are more and I tracked them down - as well as getting a copy of the record.
I'll share them with you, once we reach the end on the 5000 series, as a form of mop-up and bonuses section.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
-Never Released on Blue Note-
featuring Clifford Brown
There are 3 volumes listed by Blue Note, but Volume 3 was never issued. However for complete-ism, I have assembled the tracks together.
Again Vogue. Lionel Hampton at this point is, 'More and More Crazy'.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
featuring Clifford Brown
featuring Clifford Brown
Again Vogue. Lionel Hampton must have been, 'Real Crazy'.
There are 3 volumes listed by Blue Note, but Volume 3 was never issued.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
The Digital Economy Act 2010 was recently forced through into law by the UK Labour Government, with full assistance by the Conservative front bench.
Regardless of how you feel about piracy and whether or not rampant illegal downloading has detrimentally affected the UK economy, it is now with us.
Although many MPs are trying to distance themselves from the Act, it is questionable that it will be repealed.
From wikipedia;
History of the Act
The Act follows the Digital Britain report[7] of June 2009 and contains many of its suggestions. It was announced in the 2009 Queen's Speech before the United Kingdom parliament.[8]
The first reading of the bill was presented to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 16 March 2010.[9] The bill received its second reading on the 6 April 2010 in a Commons debate and was given support by the Conservative front bench[10] and as expected[11] was not debated at length in the Commons, and was instead pushed through in the "wash up". It passed third reading on 7 April[12] with Royal Assent granted on 8 April.
The Digital Economy Act 2010 has been brought into law - a sad day indeed.
featuring Clifford Brown
Again Vogue. At this point you begin to see why Lionel Hampton was getting angry. He had specifically banned his band from playing outside and solo. You can see by the number of sessions getting done in Paris, that the young ambitious players were taking every opportunity to record.
I have read different stories about Lionel Hampton's savvyness, when it came to extracting the maximum from promoters - so these out sessions would have cut him out of any earnings.
Touring a Big Band was an expensive proposition, so extra income would probably have helped to pay for the tour - I have to sympathise with him in that respect.
Still these 'out-of-school' / extracurricular recordings documented some up and coming talent.
There are 3 volumes listed by Blue Note, but Volume 3 was never issued.
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
This is again a Vogue session - recorded during the same Lionel Hampton Big Band European Tour of 1953. Licensed by Blue Note for release in the US. In fact from jazzdisco, it would seem licensed by many!
* Gigi Gryce/Clifford Brown/Art Farmer - The Many Faces Of Jazz, Vol. 8 (Mode (F) CMDINT 9560)
* Clifford Brown - The Complete Paris Collection, Vol. 3: Jazz Legacy 52 (Jazz Legacy (F) 500102)
* The Clifford Brown Big Band In Paris (Prestige PR 7840; Fantasy OJC 359, OJCCD 359-2)
* Clifford Brown In Paris (Prestige PR 24020)
* Gigi Gryce And His Orchestra Featuring Clifford Brown - Jazz Time Paris, Vol. 10 (Vogue (F) LD 173)
= Gigi Gryce/Clifford Brown - Gigi Gryce And His Big Band, Vol. 1 (Blue Note BLP 5049)
For specific tracklistings, have a look at the excellent Jazz Discography Project
Again this was originally a Vogue session licensed by Blue Note for US release.
Quoted from Don Waterhouse,
"On the strength of what he was putting down, Blue Note gave him the first session under his own name on 28 August 1953. By this time Brownie had signed up with Lionel Hampton, who was about to set off for europe with a heavy-weight big band comprising such talents as Art Farmer, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Cleveland and Gigi Gryce. Hamp had forbidden his men to undertake any recording work during the tour, although he himself did not hesitate."
"But such trivial constraints failed to dull the enthusiasm of Hamp's young crew, and, following a memorable jam session in Paris' Tabou Club, pianist Renaud was immediately entrusted with assembling the rhythm section for a series of recording sessions featuring this exciting new trumpet phenomenon."
This session was originally a Vogue release - which was later licensed for the US by Blue Note.
I found this quote on answers.com,
"Hampton's popularity allowed him to continue leading big bands... and the 1953 edition that visited Paris (with Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Cleveland, Gigi Gryce, George Wallington, and Annie Ross) would be difficult to top, although fights over money and the right of the sideman to record led to its breakup."
Dave Burnes (tp) Jimmy Cleveland (tb) Frank Foster (ts) Danny Bank (bars, fl) George Wallington (p) Oscar Pettiford (b) Kenny Clarke (d) Quincy Jones (arr)
Audio-Video Studios, NYC, May 12, 1954
allmusic have some interesting background on him
"George Wallington was one of the first and best bop pianists, ranking up there with Al Haig, just below Bud Powell. He was also the composer of two bop standards that caught on for a time: "Lemon Drop" and "Godchild."
... He arrived in New York in the early '40s and was a member of the first bop group to play on 52nd Street, Dizzy Gillespie's combo of 1943-1944.
After spending a year with Joe Marsala's band, Wallington played with the who's who of bop during 1946-1952, including Charlie Parker, Serge Chaloff, Allan Eager, Kai Winding, Terry Gibbs, Brew Moore, Al Cohn, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, and Red Rodney.
He toured Europe with Lionel Hampton's ill-fated big band of 1953, and during 1954-1960 he led groups in New York that included among its up-and-coming sidemen Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean"
