Make a Jazz Noise Here

[Bogey]

Hey, I should get that Armstrong collection.  Do you like the music?

I've been thinking of getting the JSP/Davies transfers of the Hot 5s/7s, even though I own that nice hardback-book edition from Columbia from a number of years back.  I've heard that the Davies transfers have a decisively different flavor to the Columbia transfers, and I believe it, since everything I have heard from Davies' hand is Transfer Magic, notably those boffo early Benny Moten discs (Frog UK) and the great great great Jelly Roll Morton box (JSP).  It's [the Hot 5s/7s] just such raw, tubthumping, life-affirming music, and in Armstrong's own case, so brilliantly, fluidly played...I really know almost nothing whatsoever about his music after WW2, it's a shame.

My recs in the order you should buy:

#1 ESSENTIAL!


#2
 

(I believe there is a different cover for this one.)

#3


#4



Then you start picking off stuff, IMO.  There is a bunch of Decca stuff, which is decent.  The Handy disc, Ella and Satch, etc. and other live runs.  The thing that I noticed about the later live with the All Stars is at first it sounds similar from disc to disc.  Just another concert recorded.  However, it's Satch! 

There are three or four sets I still want on the shelf.  I was going to order one tonight, but I need to make sure that it does not have too many tracks from others I have on the shelf.   For example, I have the California Concerts' discs, but there is a Decca set that has one of the Cal. concerts on it, but I need the other disc of material.  There are some Pops' fans here, so maybe they can weigh in.

[Bogey]

For example.  I almost bought this one a while back:



It has 51 tracks.

But then these came out:



29 tracks



21 tracks

So, the top one may have one extra track, but then you get into packaging (which most Armstrong cds are well done) and quality of mastering.  So, do some homework and expect that whatever you buy now will be reissued down the road.

[Octave]

Bogey, that is terrific....exactly what I needed.  I've been idling re: the RCA-VICTOR 4cd box because of a problem with the sound that I hoped would get corrected.  I think there are two editions of this box, the later of which seems to be well OOP while the earlier is available but flawed, if reports can be believed.  I mean these:


The first from ~1997 (still available) and the second from ~2001, OOP.  The PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ (Morton/Cook) included this box (pretty sure) in its "core collection" at least a couple times, listing the dates/subtitle as "1932-56".  I've heard a few similar complaints about the older/black set, such as in this Amazon review:

Potentially great set with two fatal flaws [December 17, 2010]
By J. Douglas Benson
This is fantastic Satchmo; the man is my hero and I love his early stuff. A complete collection like this is a wonderful thing to own... well, except that as a musician I find it hard to listen to the first two discs. Here's why:
In the 1990s many of the major label engineers who first began working with digital noise reduction (Cedar, Sonic Solutions) focused solely on the noise reduction. They strove to get rid of the scratch and hiss, sometimes with good results, sometimes with disappointing results, as the noise reduction also reduced the sensitive high frequencies of the music itself. Luckily in this case, the tonal characteristics of the music have been preserved nicely. The problems lie elsewhere.
Problem 1: all the records seem to have been transferred at the "standard" speed of 78.26 r.p.m. Victor actually used several other speeds as well, and many or most of these early Armstrongs are running too fast or too slow.
Problem 2: most of the records on the first two discs are off center to various degrees, and the pitch wobbles, making the whole band sound out of tune. This is something that needs to be tackled when the original transfers are made (and it's easy to do) but for some reason these guys didn't do it. Maybe they were working with early tape transfers or previous reissues instead of original discs.
Anyway, put these two things together, and the result (to me) is an almost unlistenable collection of fantastic recordings.
Bummer!

I'd heard this complaint quite a bit earlier than 2010, and it gave me stay in buying the set; I heard the same complaint about the 2001 edition, but I can't corroborate it properly.  If I am missing an improved set of these recordings, somebody let me know!

Also, those interested in the HOT FIVES AND SEVENS and the later RCA-VICTOR recordings might be wary of the following recent set:

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I am almost certain that the "RCA-VICTOR" recordings are only "complete" (if that) up until 1932, so not covering all the contents of the "RCA-Victor" 4cd box set that Bogey recommends above, making the title a little bit misleading.  It seems that the 10cd might contain two discs of of the RCA-Victor 4cd; the other two discs from that older set cover the 40s and 50s. 

As for the sound of this new 10cd set, here's a somewhat lengthy post from the Organissimo forum by Ricky Riccardi, author of a book on Armstrong's later music and Archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, who was commissioned to write the liner notes for this recent Columbia/Sony set; it is quite candid about the nature of the transfers.  Basically, he prefers the JSPs for the early H5/7 records:
http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/70238-louis-armstrong-complete-okeh-columbia-and-victor-1925-1933/page-4#entry1238658
Or a post at Riccardi's blog, specifically on the H5/7, in which Riccardi goes into A/B/C comparisons with sound samples from various editions:
http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2012/12/so-you-wanna-buy-hot-fives-and-hot.html
Sounds like Sony dropped the ball, at least on those crucial earliest recordings.  What a shame.  It's nice to know that the other discs in that box don't sound quite as bad.  Riccardi doesn't even sound entirely unhappy about the sound of the H5/7 discs, so maybe all this will matter very little to those acquiring these earlier recordings for the first time.  Here's a little interview/interchange culled from Facebook and posted at the Steve Hoffman music forum:
Thanks to poster Fer Urbino at the organissimo board, here is a compilation of facebook posts by Ricky Riccardi (Armstrong expert, liner notes writer of this set) about the set and its sound:

Q: Is it worth replacing Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the original Columbia CD Vols 1-???, the JSP Hot 5s/7s etc with this set? For those of us who have been gathering these things for a long time, can you make a case for this particular issue?

Riccardi: I'm proud of my little liner note offerings but I'm going to be honest: if you have everything you mentioned, there's no need for this set. It's really aimed for those who have heard a few samplers and want to get it all, the Hot Fives, Sevens, Hines stuff, OKeh big bands, Victor recordings, etc. A lot of that 1929-1933 has been out of print in the US for much of this century so it's nice to have them back.

Having said that, I just started listening and my original fears seem to be true: every disc is a straight rip of Sony's original releases from the late 80s and early 90s. To my ears, that's not a bad thing for most of the set but just skipping around, it appears that every single one of the 1925 and 1926 Hot Fives are pitched a half-step low! That is NOT a good thing. Man, I wish I heard this set before they produced it; maybe I could have warned them! They're going to get KILLED by the audiophiles for this...

... for this new set, they skipped the 2000 transfers entirely (a little noisy but in the correct keys!) and went back to the original issues from the late 80s. The transfers are clean thanks to a lot of processing but the lack of pitch correction was embarrassing then and even worse now.

Having said that, it's really the first two discs. I think the other 8 sound great and for anyone that doesn't have this music, it's a good bargain set. Even if you have the Hot Fives but kit much else, getting the 1927-1933 material on 8 discs for $65 ain't bad.

... when life returns to normal after the move and power outages, I'll do a long blog with A-B comparisons of a handful of the Hot Fives as released over t last 20 years.

Columbia did a helluva lot of reissues in the early CD days (all those "Jazz Masterpieces" with the blue borders). Now they're just repackaging them with the same inferior sound... So they did nothing except put old discs in new sleeves.

Again, I hope people enjoy my notes and I'll recommend it to newbies but I know this set is going to make people angry...and I hope they don't take it out on me! (The new Satchmo at Symphony Hall, well, that was my baby from start to finish so any problems with that, yes, direct them to me!)

And then there's this (14cd, 1925-1945), the contents of which I've not even begun to suss out:

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Thanks so much for those previous recommendations, Bogey; I know I'm going to enjoy these records.

[Bogey]

You know Doc Oc, I have been listening to that Big Band set I posted above.  The first disc was nice, but the second one smokes, so you might as well add that to your list.

[San Antone]

A great one by an Italian Jazz Quintet

Enrico Rava ~ Shades of Chet

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Recorded in 2013.

[Bogey]

Some really nice swing here.  Well recorded as well.




A number of the tracks has the vocals of the Skylarks on vocals.  (Think Andrews Sisters.)  Nice stuff.

[Brian]

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has a new album of all-original compositions.
Click that link to listen to the title track, which is absolutely COOKIN'!! 

[Karl Henning]

Good, clean fun!

[San Antone]

Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Bill Evans, Jimmy Garrison & Paul Motian (wow) ~ Live at the Half Note



Super group.

[San Antone]

I've been in a Miles jag, but now I'm switching to Mingus

Charles Mingus "Mingus Ah Um"

[San Antone]

Sonny Rollins ~ The Freelance Years: The Complete Riverside and Contemporary Recordings

Picking up only ten days after Fantasy's Complete Prestige Recordings box leaves off, these five discs run through one of Rollins' most fertile (some insist, the most fertile) periods. Not only are Rollins' Riverside and Contemporary sessions as a leader and sideman collected in toto; Fantasy also includes three tracks recorded for Period in 1957, which can finally be heard within the context of Rollins' late-'50s hot streak.

The box kicks off at the end of 1956 with almost all of Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners album, where Rollins alternates with alto saxophonist Ernie Henry. Then comes a quantum leap in inspiration, Way Out West, which is just bursting with invention and wry humor as well as cyclical references to previously played tunes; it relies only upon bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne for support without needing anything more. Four tracks from Kenny Dorham's Jazz Contrasts find Rollins taking a subdued or conventionally frenetic bop backseat, while The Sound of Sonny approaches Way Out West's level as Rollins operates with piano trio backing and alone. Sonny appears only in flashes on Abbey Lincoln's sometimes melodramatic That's Him. Following the Period tracks, where Rollins' tone is especially grandiose in the Ben Webster tradition, Rollins, bassist Oscar Petitford, and drummer Max Roach extend themselves astonishingly well through the colossal, nearly 20-minute title track of The Freedom Suite. The odyssey concludes on the West Coast with another great session, the unquenchably swinging Sonny Rollins Meets the Contemporary Leaders -- Rollins' last before his first "retirement" -- where various combinations of sidemen provoke some especially creative playing from Sonny.

All previously released alternate takes are included, but there is only one unreleased track -- a rip-roaring alternate of "You" from the Contemporary Leaders sessions -- which will drive Rollins completists entirely mad. If the budget allows, it's worth the splurge.

[Octave]

Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Bill Evans, Jimmy Garrison & Paul Motian (wow) ~ Live at the Half Note



Super group.

That is a great record, what crazy firepower.  I remember Konitz and Marsh sounding especially fine when they lock into their counterpoint dance.  I wanted the edition you pictured to replace my lost original Blue Note issue, partially because iirc this newer/2008 edition included another live recording, maybe a whole LP.  Sadly, it now seems to be gone gone gone.     I hope I get another shot at it.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Sonny Rollins ~ The Freelance Years: The Complete Riverside and Contemporary Recordings

Absolute gold there, sanantonio.

[San Antone]

Some great deals for someone wishing to begin a jazz collection:

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4CD or 3CD sets for $14.99 or $11.99.  Many more in addition to the four I selected.

[San Antone]

Listening to a playlist created from three albums done in 1961:

Miles Davis - Miles Davis In Person At The Blackhawk, April/1961



John Coltrane - Ole, May/1961



Bill Evans Trio - Live at the Village Vanguard, June/1961

[San Antone]

Been listening to piano trios today, right now:



Recorded at the end of Evans's tenure with Fantasy, and not released for four years, this album is nevertheless fantastic.  The trio, of Evans, Eddie Gomez and Elliot Zigmund, broke up shortly after with the departure of Gomez - but are in fine form on this recording.

[San Antone]

Two excellent box sets

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And if you have not got enough of Paul Motian with that one, this is another worthy box

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[Leo K.]

Herbie Hancock is amazing.

[San Antone]

[Papy Oli]

Do you accept Jazz beginners here ?  0:) ... I only have 3 or 4 jazz albums in my collection so far (Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert, the two Getz/Gilberto and the Meola/McLaughlin/De Lucia's Friday Night in San Francisco). I had "Birth of the Cool" and "Ascensceur pour l'Echafaud" years but ended up giving those away... I remember I had some Wynton Marsalis and some Art Blakey on tapes years ago too but that never really clicked...

Thought i would try a couple albums again on the cheap  :

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and a Monk Riverside collection which includes "Mulligan meets Monk", "5 by Monk by 5" and " Alone in San Francisco".

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I am listening to the Monk ones already via the Autorip / Cloud. I like that a lot !!