What Jazz are you listening to now?

[San Antone]

Speaking of Ellington, his long work Black, Brown and Beige was never officially recorded (the 1956 recording with Mahalia Jackson is a very truncated and incomplete version) except for a January 1943 concert at Carnegie Hall.  This is available in a number of iterations, the most available is this one which I have:



Sound quality is adequate and offers the work in its entirety.

There was a 8CD box of all the Carnegie Hall concerts in the '40s which also includes it as well as many others, but it is out of print:



But this is a box I will hunt down.

[king ubu]

Two things:

- The Carnegie concerts are a great bunch! The Reissue box uses the same Cedar-ed/No-Noised and pretty death-sounding remasters the old CD editions (which I have) did ... I never compared, but that's what I heard from reliable sources. I don't have a big problem with the sound, but it usually takes me 15 or 20 minutes to adjust to the sonics.

- There are two more Carnegie Hall concerts from the era ... one is on Storyville (click) and available in the first of their two Duke boxes (also contains the Fargo 1940 recording, which was around previously in a deluxe/anniversary edition with extended booklet) ... and one was never on any official release, I think - I've got this edition of it:
https://www.discogs.com/de/Duke-Ellington-And-His-Orchestra-Carnegie-Hall-November-13-1948/release/6400903

[George]

Love the Blanton/Webster band! But then I love ALL things Ellington. The early forties band was great, the late forties band was amazing, the mid fifties to mid sixties band was great ... and all the thirties music is glorious anyway!

Re: Blanton/Webster, I still remember how hurtful it was to get that big sucker, the 24 CD RCA box ... it was for sale in a local store here for 550 CHF (that would've been around 400 US$ at that time I guess. I think I got it a bit cheaper, but music prices were crazy around here at that time, and that was the same time I was still in high school and had virtually no money (unless I'd work during vacation, which I did many times) ...

Anyway, I think the Blanton/Webster portion of the box is around 6-7 CDs, so that 3 disc set is just the main stuff, but no way complete, alas. And it was never reissued later on, with all the RCA/BMG mess that went on. Now they're back to putting out some stuff, but many years ago, they practically freezed all reissues, including Duke's (Monk was completed by that time, Brubeck and Miles were the only ones that still got some reissues ... not even for the double Basie jubiilee in 2004 they put out a big box, just the - more than decent, mind me - "America's Band No. 1" selection set with four discs).

I'd still with for a complete 1947-52 Columbia package (there was one in France, but that was before my time), and I'd also wish for a set collecting all the 1956-62 material that has not been reissued as part of the great Legacy reissues (the ones that were stopped around that time). And I'd wish they'd do right with some of the botched reissues ("A Drum Is a Woman" for one).

But then nobody seems to care anymore at Sony's.

They really need to reissue the big Ellington Centennial box, like they have been doing with classical budget boxes.

[San Antone]

Two things:

- The Carnegie concerts are a great bunch! The Reissue box uses the same Cedar-ed/No-Noised and pretty death-sounding remasters the old CD editions (which I have) did ... I never compared, but that's what I heard from reliable sources. I don't have a big problem with the sound, but it usually takes me 15 or 20 minutes to adjust to the sonics.

- There are two more Carnegie Hall concerts from the era ... one is on Storyville (click) and available in the first of their two Duke boxes (also contains the Fargo 1940 recording, which was around previously in a deluxe/anniversary edition with extended booklet) ... and one was never on any official release, I think - I've got this edition of it:
https://www.discogs.com/de/Duke-Ellington-And-His-Orchestra-Carnegie-Hall-November-13-1948/release/6400903

I don't mind the sound and found the 8CD box on Amazon for under $40, so I ordered it. 

They really need to reissue the big Ellington Centennial box, like they have been doing with classical budget boxes.

Agree 110%.

[Spineur]

A bit of a sexist cover by todays standard
But with Donaldson-Patton-Green-Dixon playing together what more do you need ?

[San Antone]

Weather Report's eponymous album, their first.  I am one of those people who prefer the early records, and lost interest when Jaco Pastorius joined the band. My favorite of their's is the second record, I Sing the Body Electric, especially the track "Unknown Soldier".

[SimonNZ]

Andrew Hill - Spiral (1975)

[king ubu]

I don't mind the sound and found the 8CD box on Amazon for under $40, so I ordered it. 

Excellent!

But with Donaldson-Patton-Green-Dixon playing together what more do you need ?

Hm ... I wouldn't mind an interesting soloist - or just the trio as such. Donaldson is okay, but not a favourite at all ... and this album with the terrific trio of Patton-Green-Dixon will always be a bit of a let-down for me, because Donaldson just doesn't quite make it in my book.

Weather Report's eponymous album, their first.  I am one of those people who prefer the early records, and lost interest when Jaco Pastorius joined the band. My favorite of their's is the second record, I Sing the Body Electric, especially the track "Unknown Soldier".

I prefer early WR by a margin, too. But I still got into Jaco period (and later) WR eventually. Never went for the recent boxes, but have most of the studio albums up to a point.

[San Antone]

The State of the Tenor, Vols. 1 & 2 : Live at the Village Vanguard
Joe Henderson
Ron Carter
Al Foster

[San Antone]

Duke Ellington : New Orleans Suite

Not among his greatest recordings, imo, but still very good and always enjoyable.  Sadly, it was the last for Johnny Hodges since he died before the album was finished, but he still appears on more than half of the tracks.

[SimonNZ]

Oscar Moore - The Fabulous Oscar Moore Guitar (1962)

[Mirror Image]

Duke Ellington : New Orleans Suite

Not among his greatest recordings, imo, but still very good and always enjoyable.  Sadly, it was the last for Johnny Hodges since he died before the album was finished, but he still appears on more than half of the tracks.

Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies, Portrait of Wellman Braud, and Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta are top-drawer Ellington IMHO.

[SimonNZ]

v/a - Prestige: First Sessions 1949-50

[San Antone]

Duke Ellington : Liberian Suite

The suite represents one of Ellington's early extended compositions and was commissioned for the Liberian centennial: "As to the music, it is not Ellington's most sophisticated piece of music, but it is filled with bracing rhythms, juicy parts for the horns and saxes, and one stunning vocal part." (Allmusic review)

[SimonNZ]

Susanne Abbuehl - The Gift (2013)

[Baron Scarpia]

Sonny Rollins. Moving Out (1954)

[George]

Listened to some of this at work today. My first time through it, a year or so ago, it didn't really click. But after listening to a ton of Miles's fusion stuff in the interim, I feel my ears can more readily pick up and enjoy this release.

Now enjoying this (incredible mastering!):

[Alek Hidell]

Coupla my recent ones ... well, three of them, actually.

   

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Susanne Abbuehl - The Gift (2013)

One of my favorite albums and vocalists of all time! The voice is incredible and the choice of material is a wonderful departure from the tired old warhorses. I actually never liked Emily Dickinson until I heard her poems sung by Ms. Abbhuel! Instrumentation is very cool too (Compass features not one, but two clarinets). Get her other ones on ECM, you won't be disappointed.

[SimonNZ]

One of my favorite albums and vocalists of all time! The voice is incredible and the choice of material is a wonderful departure from the tired old warhorses. I actually never liked Emily Dickinson until I heard her poems sung by Ms. Abbhuel! Instrumentation is very cool too (Compass features not one, but two clarinets). Get her other ones on ECM, you won't be disappointed.

I hadn't realised they were Emily Dickinson poems - I'll have to listen again later today. This was the first time I've heard her and was very impressed.