Sabers have been rattling for a while regarding the Concord-Fantasy merger and the possible consequences to what was once rightfully referred to as “the world’s mightiest jazz catalog.” The events of the past year are inconclusive, but there are still many who fear the worst. Concord has confronted the growing consumer apprehension with vague assurances and reactive moves that have in some senses backfired.
Certainly, publicist Terri Hinte’s separation from the company about a month ago was an ominous harbinger. Her parting announcement echoed all the class and composure I’ve come to expect from her, but there was also the hint of contretemps in her departure. A revamp and consolidation of the Concord and Fantasy websites winnowed the previously comprehensive listings of the latter down to a fraction of the size. One of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” situations if ever their was one. The current Summer Blowout Sale, featuring 300+ titles from the back catalog at practically giveaway prices, seems to corroborate conjecture that preserving the catalog in its voluminous entirety isn’t high on the Concord checklist. Then there’s the ongoing repackaging trend where “Best Of” compilations appear to be the flavorless soup de jour for the foreseeable future.
It’s highly unlikely that Concord will melt down the priceless bullion in their vaults --the Monk, the Coltrane, the Miles, etc.-- and sell it off as scrap. But there is a slew of lesser known discs that are almost certain to receive the axe, gems like Gil Melle’s Primitive Modern/Quadrama, Jimmy Hamilton’s Can’t Help Swinging and Taft Jordan’s Mood Indigo. It’s this sad probability that’s had me mulling over the fate of one of my favorite Fantasy creations- the beloved two-fer.
Fantasy’s two-fer program was one of my favorite series. The concept was simple and nothing new. Two albums, usually by the same artist, paired on a single disc, sometimes with one or two tracks excised because of time constraints (an action that had many completists shaking their fists in ire). Blue Note, Verve and more recently Collectables have trafficked in pretty much the same product. But there was something about Fantasy’s take on the formula that set it apart. Reprinted liner notes and tiny facsimiles of original album covers were often included. What I dug most was the chance to sit down with between 70 and 80-minutes of music that I would otherwise probably never hear. List prices were admittedly steep ($16.98), but the value was readily apparent once the case was cracked.
The truly troubling thing for me is that there’s still a lot of material in the Fantasy vault ripe for the two-fer treatment. With Concord’s continuing preference for compilations and distillations the odds of these albums being reissued in their entirety seem hardly worth betting on. So here’s a tumbler raised to the two-fer and a brief index of some of my favorites as a commemorative act of catharsis:
1.) Gene Ammons – Gentle Jug
2.) Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – Streetlights
3.) Bill Jennings & Jack McDuff – Glide On
4.) Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis & Johnny Griffin – Blues Up and Down
5.) Dick Wellstood & Cliff Jackson – Uptown and Lowdown
6.) Buddy Tate & Claude Hopkins – Buddy and Claude
7.) Four Trombones – The Debut Recordings
8.) Shirley Scott w/ Stanley Turrentine – Soul Shoutin’
9.) Rusty Bryant – Legends of Acid Jazz, Vol. 2
10.) Gene Ammons – Up Tight!
11.) Sal Nistico – Heavyweights!
12.) Gus Mancuso – & Special Friends
13.) John La Porta – Themes and Variations
14.) Clifford Jordan – Mosaic
15.) The Sandole Brothers – And Guests
16.) Harold Mabern – A Few Miles From Memphis
17.) Eric Kloss - & the Rhythm Section
18.) Woody Shaw – Blackstone Legacy
19.) Mongo Santamaria – Afro Roots
20.) Cal Tjader – Los Ritmos Calientes
21.) Charlie Byrd – Byrd By the Sea
22.) Billy Taylor – Warming Up!
23.) Bola Sete – Voodoo Village
24.) Cannonball Adderley – Dizzy’s Business
25.) Red Rodney – Quintets
As always, anxious to hear other folks' favs in the form of typed boquets…
Posted by derek on July 20, 2006 9:55 AMMy Fantasy double Furry Lewis 'Shake Em On Down' will go with me to my grave. In addition to being an amazing record, it's got that nice reproduction of the grey sleeve with FURRY LEWIS written nice and big. If only they kept the giant shot of his face from the original vinyl cover!
I am now probably going to buy a bunch of cheap blues comps I don't really need. Thanks for the link, Derek . . .
Posted by: Michael at July 22, 2006 5:58 AMDon't tell me all the titles listed in the sale are discontinued. Am I reading this wrong?
Posted by: Ted at July 22, 2006 9:26 AMI’m with you on that Furry two-fer, Michael. “Judge Boushay Blues” has one of my all-time favorite blues lyrics: “they arrested me for forgery, and I can’t even sign my name.” Beautiful reverb sound on his national steel guitar too. The Big Joe Williams two-fer Walking Blues is well worth owning also… some amazing slap blues bass by the dapper Willie Dixon on that one. I wish they’d gotten around to releasing more from the Bluesville catalog in that format before the merger; as it stands there’s only a handful to savor.
Ted, yep, all those titles are going the way of the Dodo, but the big name ones are still available in other editions (ie. Boss Tenor is now circulating as an RVG, etc.). On the other hand, an album like Duane Tatro’s Jazz for Moderns ain’t long for the record store racks.
Posted by: derek at July 22, 2006 11:11 AMHard to harbor ire toward Concord with a sale like that. My willpower held on the blues & folk comps, but I had to shell out for the gospel ones: tons of classic tracks & in many cases hopelessly rare otherwise.
Is it true that the sale is only for U.S. customers? If so, that sorta sucks.
Derek,
If it's any consolation, emusic seems to have most -- if not all -- of the fantasy / prestige catalog. In any case, I searched for a random sample from your top 25, and found them all. Unfortunately, emusic's files are MP3s, so we won't have the audio quality of the CDs, but at least they're easily accessible. Thanks for the list, by the way -- I don't think I've heard ANY of those albums. Now I certainly will, though.
Posted by: James at July 22, 2006 1:01 PMFeel free to post some gospel recommendations my way. Blues, too, if you feel the urge. I never even tapped into that side of the label.
Deleting 'Honeydripper' ? I'm guessing there are a lot more that aren't even listed there and are already sold out. Too bad the Smithsonian didn't step in and acquire this one.
Posted by: Ted at July 22, 2006 1:22 PMGood to know, James. Emusic’s a great repository, but I’ve still yet to really get my ears around mp3s.
T, The Honeydripper just got RVG’d too. Don’t want to trump Mazinga, but the All Music Guide has audio files included in its listings for all of those gospel comps. I was impressed by what I heard on the Chalice set in particular. The Bluesville series runs to eleven volumes, I think. I don’t own any of them, but do have a lot of material on single album releases. I’d feel confident laying money down on these:
Vol. 3: Beale Street Get Down
Vol. 8: Roll Over, Ms. Beethoven
Vol. 9: Down the Country Way
Vol. 11: Country Roads, Country Days
:(
So I was very willing to go through the trouble of 'registering' with concord to buy my choices, but alas, you must have a US shipping address and a US billing address . . . .
That Beale Street Get Down disc seems to lift a selection of tracks from the Furry Lewis two-fer. Well worth hearing to anyone who hasn't heard it.
My favourite lyrical bits are when Furry replaces words with the guitar (a bit hard to type), but I do like 'I been waitin on you girl since you was twelve years old'.
Patient and dirty: generally how I like my blues...
Posted by: Michael at July 25, 2006 5:13 AMI dunno, Derek -- if the marketing folks at Concord are up on their stuff with "the long tail" and so forth, they'll realize that evolving niche markets are the key to future growth. "Sell fewer of more items" is the new mantra.
otoh, Amazon's latest quarterly results aren't too encouraging...
/marketspeak
Posted by: djll at July 27, 2006 4:12 PMQuestion:
does anyone have a good jpeg of the twofer cover art for, "Eric Kloss & the rhythym section" ???
cheers
j
HERE.
Coincidently, it’s in my at-work listen pile today, along w/ This is Buck Hill, Max Roach 4 - Plays Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond - Quartet, Istanbul 1925 and Ken Nordine - Colors.
Posted by: derek at May 17, 2007 8:46 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................
