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Post by dottorjazz on Jul 17, 2018 16:49:37 GMT
William Claxton designed the labels too. I don't remember, actually I noticed it right now, to have seen such an explanation elsewhere. side one: BEGIN SIDE A side two: END SIDE B is there a different way to listen? Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted |
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Post by dottorjazz on Jul 17, 2018 17:03:21 GMT
its companion is JACK SHELDON QUINTET WITH ZOOT SIMS on Jazz West JWLP: 2 Sheldon tp, Zoot Sims ts, Walter Norris p, Bob Withlock b, Lawrence Marable dr. recorded 1955 both these 10" were later compressed in a 12" jazz West JWLP 6, published later the Claxton's picture is similar to others published by Pacific Jazz the labels have simply SIDE A and SIDE B.   |
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Post by gst on Jul 17, 2018 17:32:00 GMT
I swear I've heard the 12" version and at the time it didn't do much for me, however I just played a few tracks again and I'm digging it. More swing than I recalled.
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Post by dottorjazz on Aug 7, 2018 9:55:38 GMT
another very, very small label, Skylark, The George Redman Group, Skylark LP 20 this is a quintet featuring Herbie Harper on trombone and Bobby Gordon on baritone, he's better known as Bob Gordon. the music wil be reprinted on Tampa.   |
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Post by dottorjazz on Aug 7, 2018 9:57:19 GMT
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dg
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Post by dg on Mar 18, 2021 19:33:37 GMT
my interests in Jazz vary into different directions. the one which is less considered here is West Coast. I'm gonna try to raise interests among friends and readers here as well as learn from you all. the statement: East=serious, West=weak is simply silly. there have been great musicians and great music in the 50s, on the Atlantic side and the Pacific one. some records are not heavy weight but they give me pleasure in listening.....
Gerry Mulligan was one of the best known of the West Coast cool school of jazz musicians. He was born in the Queens section of New York City but his family moved around the country extensively when he was growing up. When a child in Marion, Ohio, Gerry had some life-changing experiences: here he had an African-American nanny, Lilly Rose, who he greatly admired and spent much time with at her own home, where he was introduced to jazz, had access to a piano and also occasionally met musicians who would stay at Rose’s house when they were in town for gigs. While travelling in parts of the United States, black musicians often stayed in private homes since they didn’t have access to many of the hotels and motels. Gerry began his musical career playing clarinet and then saxophones, and by 1946 was in New York arranging for Gene Krupa’s popular big band. He also began working for Claude Thornhill where he met fellow arranger Gil Evans. Mulligan moved into Evans’ apartment, which was a hangout for many progressive New York musicians, including Miles Davis. This led to the formation of the famous Nonet and the recording, in 1949 and 1950, of THE BIRTH OF THE COOL sessions, which included three of Gerry’s compositions – “Rocker,” “Venus de Milo” and “Jeru.” He arranged these three and also three of the other tunes – “Godchild,” “Darn That Dream” and Miles’ “Deception.” Also playing baritone sax on the sessions, he made a major contribution to the sound of the band, which had an unusual instrumentation of trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, alto and baritone saxes, piano, bass and drums (and occasional vocals by Kenny “Pancho” Hagood, who was the first husband of Alice McLeod, later the wife of John Coltrane). The BIRTH OF THE COOL sessions were produced by the great arranger/composer Pete Rugolo. Rugolo also was the arranger/conductor for two of the only handful of jazz vocal albums I can listen to more than once or twice: June Christie’s SOMETHING COOL (1955, Capitol) and THE MISTY MISS CHRISTIE (1956, Capitol). He also wrote music for a vast array of American movies and television shows, from Leave It To Beaver to Lost In Space.One of my favorite tracks from Miles Davis’ BIRTH OF THE COOL sessions is “Venus de Milo,” a pretty tune composed and arranged for the Nonet by Gerry Mulligan. In my collection I have the music as the 1972 LP that was released as CAPITOL JAZZ CLASSICS VOL. I: MILES DAVIS AND HIS ORCHESTRA, THE COMPLETE BIRTH OF THE COOL – this is the version of the classic having the original 11 tracks with the addition of “Darn That Dream”; and as a 1998 CD release which has the 12 studio tracks and additional material that was recorded at two gigs in September of 1948 at the Royal Roost in NYC for radio broadcast. “Venus de Milo” was not among the tracks recorded at the club. In 1952, Mulligan moved to Los Angeles and did arrangements for Stan Kenton. In after-hour sessions at The Haig, he met Chet Baker and formed the piano-less quartet that would bring them both to wider recognition and fame.  (Click on to enlarge) A sing-along with trumpet solo? Chet Baker, drummer Larry Bunker, Mulligan and (I think) Carson Smith, in a cropped version of a famous photo by William Claxton. The quartet - Mulligan, Baker, Smith and Bunker – playing Mulligan’s composition “Jeru,” from Volume 2 of THE GERRY MULLIGAN QUARTET (1953, Pacific Jazz). “Jeru” was Miles Davis’ nickname for Mulligan. |
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Post by bassman on Mar 19, 2021 11:29:14 GMT
Important footnote: The Complete Birth of the Cool is not from the original master tapes, nor was any other edition before the 2001 Van Gelder edition. Quoting Michael Cuscuna:
"All previous reissues of this material have been derived from the 1957 12-inch LP master, which turns out to be second or third generation. The original tapes of each tune were filed individually and sound considerably better. Rudy Van Gelder returned to these masters, transferred them in 24-bit to digital and worked his sonic magic. The result is a clearer and more present sound than ever before on these classic recordings."
If you own several editions of Birth of the Cool such as I do and compare them to the RVG reissue, you will find that the difference is remarkable.
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Post by Doom Girl on Mar 19, 2021 14:42:48 GMT
I actually prefer to listen to the BIRTH OF THE COOL on the Capitol vinyl record, rather than any of the CD editions. A lot of people think the RVG has a "shrill, brittle sound." Mulligan himself thought the vinyl editions all had a "cloudy" sound - supposedly why he made the RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL, a misguided venture, at best.
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Post by Doom Girl on Mar 19, 2021 14:59:55 GMT
As so often the case, I guess it's a matter of taste. I don't consider myself an "audiophile." This from a post on Hoffman's forum:
"Anyway, the RVG version uses the original tapes for the first time. Unfortunately the RVG version features the worst mastering. Even though the songs are in mono it sounds as if they were transferred on a stereo machine. The hiss travels from side-to-side in the stereo picture and the imaging is sometimes funky, like it's stereo, but not. And the EQ is killer! Sounds like lots of top-end boost.
Also for some strange reason the song "MOVE" has been digitally limited on the RVG version. This appears to be the only song that has been limited like this. Maybe because it's the first track and they wanted it to really grab you? Who knows. Some other tracks feature minor limiting, but none as bad as "Move".
Has anyone else listened to all three of these versions? I'm surprised in reading some posts from the archives that people actually liked the RVG version. It's awful...but then again, so are the other two, but for different reasons."
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Post by gregorythefish on Mar 19, 2021 15:19:59 GMT
i'm not an audiophile, nor do i have an opinion on the topic or even a dog in the fight, but i have noticed that it is inexplicably trendy in audiophile circles to pretend to hate RVG.
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dg
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Post by dg on Mar 19, 2021 16:24:49 GMT
i love a lot of west coast jazz. people tend to not like it so much because of the heavy arranging that is often associated even with small group sessions, but strong music is strong music.......
Gregory is correct in noting that the West Coast style of jazz was characterized by “heavy arranging,” no doubt due to the fact that many of its leading lights were honing their arranging skills, and making money, with larger groups and applied these same skills with the smaller groups they jammed and worked with – not only Gerry Mulligan, but also shorty Rogers, Bill Holman and several others. With their contrapuntal lines, clever arrangements and impressive improvisations, the duo of Mulligan and Baker made some fine music together, but were a disaster in other respects – a real-life Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty.  (Click on, to enlarge picture) “Saxophonist Gerald J. Mulligan, 26, and his trumpet player, Chesney H. Baker, 23, hit a blue note in their musical careers yesterday. The two were arrested, along with their wives, on narcotics charges. Det. Sgts. John O’Grady and Dick Hill of the Los Angeles police narcotics detail and State Narcotics Officer Matt O’Connor said they had been keeping the two musicians under surveillance for several days because of a tip that the pair had been using narcotics. The officers reported that late Monday night [April 13th] they went to the home at 1515 North Harvard Place where both couples live and found a quantity of heroin and a hypodermic injection kit hidden on the back porch. O’Grady said Mrs. Jeffie Mulligan, 21, answered their knock and admitted them to the home, and that in an immediate search of the premises they found a jar of marijuana. The latter find, they added, was made in the bathroom, where Baker’s wife Charlaine, 22, was taking a shower.” (Quoted from “The Haig – Part 2,” at J. A. Harrod’s Jazz Research website.) Mulligan went on to record “Venus de Milo” again in 1957 with an octet this time - a 5 saxophone group, supported by guitar, bass and drums, for THE GERRY MULLIGAN SONGBOOK (1958, World Pacific), which has seven of his compositions, all skillfully arranged by Bill Holman. The album has Gerry on baritone sax, Lee Konitz, alto, Allen Eager, tenor, Zoot Sims, alto and tenor and Al Cohn on baritone and tenor saxes. Freddie Green plays guitar, Henry Grimes, bass and Dave Bailey, drums. On this version of “Venus de Milo” the sax soloists are Mulligan, Konitz and Cohn. The interweaving of the three sax voices – alto, tenor and baritone – is very nice, both in ensemble parts and in backing the solos. This band, among several of Mulligan’s, makes me wonder though about his seeming predilection for hiring white men, especially among the horn players, not quite so much among the rhythm sections. I love the sound of a good saxophone section and this is a fine one indeed, with a nice blend of the alto, tenor and baritone voices and fine solos. The only quibble I have is the somewhat “clunky” sound of the supporting rhythm section, which doesn’t quite fit with the otherwise graceful flow of the melody. It was thus no surprise when I recently came across a 2008 interview conducted by jazz journalist Mike Myers with the arranger for the album, Bill Holman, who said “My only complaint (with the GERRY MULLIGAN SONGBOOK) was that they added Freddie Green on guitar. I love Freddie, but the feeling I wanted when I wrote the arrangements was not a guitar thing. A guitar playing a steady four-four rhythm nails down the rhythm section a little too tightly. The sound worked well for [Count] Basie for years, but I had a different feel in my writing. It's really a sax soli album, and the guitar makes the trio behind the saxes sound too rigid instead of the looser feel I wanted.” The playing of the rhythm section – a throwback to the swing era – does this otherwise fine album a disservice and it’s hard for me to understand Mulligan wanting this sound – it clearly wasn’t Holman’s choice, so I wonder whose it was. Mulligan recorded “Venus de Milo” again in 1992 for RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL, a CD released on GRP. It recreates the original 12 tunes with the same nonet instrumentation and includes three of the original players, Mulligan himself, John Lewis on piano and Bill Barber, tuba. It has Phil Woods on alto instead of Lee Konitz and Wallace Roney taking over Miles’ trumpet role. Apparently, Mulligan found the original recordings to be “cloudy” and wanted them recorded with the crystal clarity supposedly possible in the era of digital sound. Mulligan reported that Miles had been interested in the project, but, unfortunately, died. I very much prefer to listen to the BIRTH rather than the RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL. Mulligan was inspired to compose a sprightly and lovely tune after contemplating Alexandros’ (or is it Praxiteles’?) classic statue of Aphrodite (or is it Amphitrite?). Guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine had a different take, which he recorded as “Venus” on the late 70s American post-punk epic MARQUEE MOON (1977, Elektra). The enigmatic lyrics are meant to evoke the paradoxical feelings of a close friendship (perhaps similar to that of Mulligan and Baker!). It is hard not to smile at a vision of Verlaine’s best line, “I fell right into the arms of Venus de Milo.” His pronunciation of “Milo” is consistent with Tom Miller’s assumption of the name of the French poet. In looking at pictures of Mulligan and Baker, and also Tom “Verlaine” Miller, one notices the youthfulness of these people who made so much fine music, but then one recalls Mozart, who blossomed with his first compositions at the edge of 5 - musical talent often expresses itself at an early age but then must be protected and cultivated to continue to flourish. In the photo of the Mulligan-Baker “bust,” one is struck by the shamed, down-turned looks of three of these young people – Gerry, Jeffie and Charlaine - but even more so by the defiant look of Baker staring out of the photo. Having read all 450 pages of James Gavin’s biography of Baker, “Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker” (Knopf, 2002), I came to know that Baker was a man of unusual natural ability but that he squandered much of it by his misguided choices. His life story, an almost constant tale of degradation and selfishness, was one I could not keep on my bookshelf, in company with the likes of Gillespie, Mingus, Davis, Dolphy, Sun Ra, Coltrane and many others who also battled personal demons and setbacks – often worse than anything Baker experienced –with the additional burden of systemic racial discrimination, but led lives of rewarding friendships, societal contributions and accomplishments. |
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Post by bassman on Mar 20, 2021 8:54:15 GMT
I actually prefer to listen to the BIRTH OF THE COOL on the Capitol vinyl record, rather than any of the CD editions. A lot of people think the RVG has a "shrill, brittle sound." Mulligan himself thought the vinyl editions all had a "cloudy" sound - supposedly why he made the RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL, a misguided venture, at best. RE-BIRTH is a misguided venture because of the controversial nature of any "revival" attempt. Among other things, I wonder why they chose Phil Woods to sub for Lee Konitz (who did participate in the concert tour, to my knowledge).
However, I like Mulligan's remake of "Israel" on A CONCERT IN JAZZ (Verve V-8415).
As for the RVG remaster of BIRTH OF THE COOL, I think the guy on the Hoffman forum is wildly exaggerating*. But I am not an "audiophile", and I have long given up engaging in such argument. However: Using the master tape instead of a second or third generation tape, RVG was able to avoid a lot of wow and flutter and tape hiss, thus creating a decent sound compared to the "cloudy" Capitol T 762.
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*) EDIT: Just a few words about the observations posted on the Hoffman forum.
"The hiss travels from side-to-side in the stereo picture and the imaging is sometimes funky, like it's stereo, but not. And the EQ is killer! Sounds like lots of top-end boost."
Let us not forget that these are historical recordings. The cymbals will never shine as they would in a modern recording, no matter how much effort you take. RVG certainly did the best he possibly could. I would concede, however, that some of the limitations of late-1940s technology may have become a little more evident through the restoration process. I nevertheless feel the cymbals sound surprisingly good on most of the tracks. (To avoid the purported "imaging" problems mentioned in the post, it may be a good idea NOT to use headphones for listening. Just a thought.)
"Also for some strange reason the song "MOVE" has been digitally limited on the RVG version. This appears to be the only song that has been limited like this. Maybe because it's the first track and they wanted it to really grab you? Who knows. Some other tracks feature minor limiting, but none as bad as "Move"."
I am not so sure about all this. How did he find out anyway? (There are audio diagrams, OK, but do they reveal much about the methods involved? If you know what compression looks like on the screen - "Move" is not a good example.)
Again, let us not forget: Because the titles were recorded at different times, the original sound may have varied considerably. In consequence, RVG's treatment of individual titles may have been done in slightly different ways. This being said, the result is astonishingly uniform all the same.
To wrap this up: YES, the RVG reissue does sound brighter (or, "more brittle", if one really feels this is the appropriate term) than the other versions. I would rather say the overall frequency range is caught extremely well.
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