Harold Land: “The Fox” (1959) Contemporary

Selection: The Fox

Critically acclaimed as Harold Land’s best album, “The Fox” was initially released in 1960 on the label Hifi jazz, and later re-mastered by Contemporary for this pressing.

Music:

Title track “The Fox” was apparently chosen for its resemblance to the darting movement of that feral predator (or cute bushy-tailed Disney character, if you prefer). A helter-skelter rollercoaster duet with unknown young trumpeter Dupree Bolton leads onto a fine tenor solo from Land, via some nice piano from Elmo Hope.

Hope wrote four of the six the songs and awards himself a good amount airtime on the album, naturally, which stands both as a Harold Land album and an Elmo Hope album. Named after St Elmo’s fire, Hope was a leading light of the Bud Powell school, played with all New Yorks finest in the Fifties before moving West. His narcotics habit resulted in frequent periods of incarceration in Rikers Island and no doubt contributed to his untimely death at the age of 43. Another jazz player who missed out on his share of birthday cards, whilst Land went on to enjoy four more decades.

Land’s playing here offers late ’50s upbeat bop, a contrast to the restless self-expressionist angst found increasingly elsewhere in the course of the ’60s.

Vinyl: Contemporary S7619

The liner notes indicate ©1969,  though with Contemporary, copyright assertion dates are not necessarily dates of manufacture or issue. Possibly the mono reissue may date from this period, but this copy has indications of much later manufacture.

Vinyl run-out detectives will note: Contemporary original  machine stamp matrix codes, Lester Koenig Stereo (LKS) and a pair of D2 mother/stamper codes, meaning it is pressed from plates originating from Contemporary’s re-mastering from the original Hi Fi Jazz recording.

The “H” stamp is not present, meaning it was not pressed by RCA Hollywood, who were Contemporary’s main pressing plant in the ’50s and ’60s up until 1976.  Nor does it carry the later etchings of Monarch, who took over pressing of Contemporary Records following the closure of RCA Hollywood in 1976. So the pressing plant is undetermined, a jobbing-plant, contracted to press for a price.

The cover address is the later PO Box 2628/ 90028 non-residential address first seen in 1979 and the five years following, until the sale of the company to Fantasy 1n 1984. If it had been manufactured in 1969, it would bear the 90069 zip code of Contemporary’s Melrose Place address. The cover is certainly manufactured any time between late ’70s or early ’80s, and not 1969.

Taking cover and vinyl into account, a genuine Contemporary but end-of-label-life reissue, at best late ’70s  probably early ’80s. Flawless near-silent vinyl, stereo production and great music.

Collector’s Corner

Original text, album and vinyl pictures (2011) updated in May 2016. Five years on, and we have learnt a few tricks – colour fidelity, paper-white picture frames, more readable sharpened hi-contrast text, and a lot more knowledge about the Contemporary label.