Moons aplenty have passed since I owned an operational turntable and it’s a condition unlikely to be rectified considering the continuing flood of LPs available online. Even so, I occasionally experience pangs of want for a working stylus. Such was the case last Friday night when I sought shelter from the blood-freezing Minneapolis weather in the basement vinyl room of a local brick & mortar. Flipping through racks in an effort to warm sausage-swollen fingers, I stumbled across a set of platters that chased away the tendrils of cold from my senses and set me to wondering feverishly about the contents.
Packaged in gatefold sleeves, Newport in New York, The Jam Sessions, Vols. 1-4 has a definite whiff of Norman Granz and the old ploy of bundling players with the expectation of pyrotechnics about it. There’s no overt sign of his name, but bop sage Ira Gitler pens the liners on each set. Biographical sketches and period photos of each player also grace the interiors and some of the mug shots are priceless (Mulligan in his shaggy hippy phase and more starched floral print collars & muttonchops than you can shake a pachouli stick at). There was also another LP set, documenting the Soul/Blues portion of the ’72 program feat. Curtis Mayfield, B.B. King, Roberta Flack, Herbie Mann and Les McCann in various combinations (seems even back then the phrase “jazz festival” had conveniently loose connotations).
Sufficiently defrosted & precariously late for a social engagement I left the store before sampling any of the sounds on a tryout turntable, but not before scribbling the set lists and personnel down on a scrap of receipt so as not to forget (below). Anyone heard these and care to comment? The version of “So What” with sax phalanx of Moody, Phillips, Gordon, Sims & Kirk(!) has my mouth watering, as does the rhythm section of Williams, Heath, Roach & Black on “A Night in Tunisia.” It’d also be a hoot to hear Mingus mix it up with the reliably loony Buckner on “Jumpin’ at the Woodside.” Train wreck or transcendent meeting of pros, I’d be curious to find out.
Newport in New York, The Jam Sessions, Vols. 1 & 2 (Cobblestone)
Side A
Perdido (18:53)
Side B
Misty (3:29)
Now’s the Time (13:50)
Joe Newman, tpt; Nat Adderley, tpt; Illinois Jacquet, ts; Budd Johnson, ts; Tyree Glenn, tbn; Gerry Mulligan, bs; Jaki Byard, p; Chubby Jackson, b; Elvin Jones, d. Recorded: 7/6/72, Radio City Musical Hall.
Side C
Blue ‘N Boogie (28:11)
Clark Terry, tpt; Howard McGhee, tpt; Sonny Stitt, ts; Dexter Gordon, ts; Gary Burton, vbs; Jimmy Smith, org; George Duke, p; Al McKibbon, b; Art Blakey, d. Recorded: 7/6/72.
Side D
So What (25:13)
Harry “Sweets” Edison, tpt; James Moody, ts; Flip Phillips, ts; Dexter Gordon, ts; Zoot Sims, ts; Roland Kirk, ts, stritch, manzello, whistle; Kai Winding, tbn; Chuck Wayne, gtr; Herbie Hancock, p; Larry Ridley, b; Tony Williams, d. Recorded: 7/3/72.
Newport in New York, The Jam Sessions, Vols. 3 & 4 (Cobblestone)
Side A
Jumpin’ at the Woodside (21:33)
Side B
Lo-Slo Bluze (22:35)
Cat Anderson, tpt; Jimmy Owens, tpt; Charles McPherson, as; Buddy Tate, ts; Milt Buckner, org; Roland Hanna, p; Charles Mingus, b; Alan Dawson, d. Recorded: 7/6/72.
Side C
Bag’s Groove (16:19)
Side D
A Night in Tunisia (18:37)
Dizzy Gillespie, tpt; Benny Green, tbn; Stan Getz, ts; Milt Jackson, vbs; Josh Blair, vln; Kenny Burrell, gtr; Mary Lou Williams, p; Percy Heath, b; Max Roach, d; Big Black, cga. Recorded: 7/3/72.
Posted by derek on January 27, 2007 3:09 PMThat "So What" really brings back the memories. First Roland Kirk I ever heard, and of course it knocked me back on my ear. All the circular breathing (circus-trick breathing) you'd ever need. The other saxists sound ok, Dexter coming off best, but Zoot's not too bad. Herbie has a nice long solo, poised between modal rock and a hard bop place.
It's really "Impressions" but I guess George Wein had never heard Coltrane's build off of Miles' tune.
Posted by: djll at January 27, 2007 9:06 PMbtw I first heard this music on an 8-track...
Posted by: djll at January 27, 2007 9:08 PMIt's a fun set. Your reference to the JATP like nature of the music is spot on. I found this as a boxed set with vols. 1-6 for the princely sum of $3.99 while doing some crate digging.
Posted by: Tim at January 27, 2007 9:29 PMBonus points for people who can name all eight musicians in order in the pic.
Posted by: Marko Melkon at January 28, 2007 7:30 AMYou can pick up a turntable for pretty short money, Derek.
Posted by: walto at January 28, 2007 7:56 AMThanks Tom & Tim for the perspectives on the albums. Scott Yanow’s typically terse review over at AMG cites Kirk’s solo on “So What” as the set stealer. If it’s anything like his improvisations on Mingus at Carnegie Hall then I’ll defintely be taking a trip back to check these out.
True enough, Walt. It’s not really a financial thing, but more a temporal one. I already spend inordinate hours spinning cds & returning vinyl to the equation would all but eliminate any semblance of a social life. Plus, 90 percent of my record collection is currently sequestered in a climate-controlled garage in Tucson. What would you say is your ratio of vinyl to digital listening these days? Others?
Posted by: derek at January 28, 2007 3:01 PMA stab at Marko’s challenge: Jimmy Smith, Zoot Sims, Kenny Burrell, Clark Terry, B.B. King, Buddy Tate, Alan Dawson, “Sweets” Edison?
Posted by: derek at January 28, 2007 3:02 PMI have all of these, kind of swiped them from my father who never listens to his vinyl anymore. All very good, esp. "So What." In addition, there is another single LP, Vol. 5 "The Jimmy Smith Jam, which your article picture is taken from. Each side has one cut.
Side A
"Blue 'N' Boogie"
Side B
"Medley: What's New, Since I Fell For You, The Man I Love, Ode To Billie Joe, Please Send Me Someone To Love"
Personnel:
Joe Newman, Clark Terry: Trumpet
Illinois Jacquet, Zoot Sims: Tenor Sax
Jimmy Smith: Organ
Kenny Burrell, B.B. King: Guitar
Roy Haynes: Drums
Whitney Balliet described the set with "Kirk, who [lit some lights and] completely dominated his group by choosing the numbers, determining background riffs, and playing immense solos." The jam sessions started at midnight each night and were pitched at Radio City Music Hall.
Posted by: djll at January 28, 2007 6:59 PMLower right looks like Joe Newman to me.
Posted by: Specs at January 29, 2007 7:07 AMI listen to at least half of my music at home on vinyl.
Not being able to listen to music on records is as silly as refusing to listen to mp3s, which I do for the most part. Two kinds of silliness.
mp3s to me are like samplings of music i may want to purchase and listen to later on properly. tests.
I'll take what I've got on vinyl. LIke last nite's shirley scott triumvirate: for members only; soul searching; everybody loves a loper
Posted by: field mouse at January 29, 2007 9:35 AMSilly me.
Shirley Scott? Now you're talkin'.
Posted by: derek at January 29, 2007 11:48 AMHi- Due to the radio show I put together every week (it's a public radio station, www.ksfr.org, and there's still two turntables that go through the board) and the recent windfall from an old friend of mine who transferred all of his vinyl to digital and sent me the vinyl (the amazing lists are on my blog), I'm listening to vinyl all the time these days. It's lovely; the sound is spectacular and I'm still a big fan of the heft and general experience of records.
PB
Probably not many here will miss him, but RIP Whitney Balliet:
http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/02/whitney_balliet.html
Posted by: djll at February 4, 2007 11:18 AM(belated)While we're on the subject of Roland Kirk, any of you Baggers who haven't already seen it should straightaway surf over to YouTube and watch an extraordinary French film featuring Kirk and John Cage. It's in three parts, and this is the link to the first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUYtlMuN_V4
French? I thought it was British! (It's the Sound? film, I assume? Haven't checked the link.)
Great film, anyway. It left my 9-yr-old enthralled. Pity that the music gets a little chopped up--I wonder if the complete recording of the Kirk gig exists. Anyway, remarkable confluence of musical figures given Cage's depressingly snarky attitude to jazz.
Posted by: nd at February 17, 2007 3:22 PMI was at the 7/6/72 show as a 16-year-old. After the jams, at about 1 or 2 AM, Curtis Mayfield came on and did a few tunes from Superfly.
Posted by: Peter Cherches at June 23, 2008 1:07 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................