This gallery contains 6 photos.
Track 1: SNAFU (original Moodsville) Track 1 reprise: SNAFU ( UK release Transatlantic 1967) Its only MP3 so you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear a world of difference. To my ears the UK transfer compares quite favourably with the Moodsville RVG … Continue reading
This gallery contains 9 photos.
TokyoJazzCollector Every day, Ebay sellers in the US and Europe head up to the Post with parcels of  collectible jazz vinyl addressed to Japan. I knew there was a strong interest in collectible Jazz in Japan from my tussles with TokyoJazzCollector, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Track Selection: My mans gone now Slow piece, a sombre bluesy melody from Porgy and Bess. Artists Bill Evans (p) Jim Hall (g) recorded Van Gelder Studios, April and May 1966, recording by Rudy Van Gelder and Verve man Val Valentin, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Track Selection: Sunrise, Sunset Recognise it? Yes, from the stage show Fiddler on the Roof, a pretty tune, to which Criss adds new poignancy. Forget the show, I’ve never see it anyway. Sonny constructs it as “call and answer”, with the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Track Selection: Moon-a-tic Artists Clifford Jordan (ts) Cedar Walton (p) Spanky DeBrest (b) Albert Heath (d) recorded NYC, August 10, 1960 Music: Energetic tenor-driven bop, what’s not to like? Jordan is one of many often overlooked tenors, I guess there being so many to choose … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Track Selection: Velvet Scene (Waldron) (Audio Note: as first track, the first minute has a few clicks, fine thereafter. Skip it if you prefer) Artists John Coltrane (ts) Pepper Adams, Cecil Payne (bars) Mal Waldron (p) Doug Watkins (b) Art … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Track Selection: Ping Pong (Shorter) A track whose first US  appearance is on the Division of Liberty release “Roots and Herbs” (BST 84347), taken from Jazz Messengers sessions back in 1961. Tracks from this album also appear as “bonus tracks ” on those superficially seductive … Continue reading
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(Double click to view full screen) 22nd October UPDATE! V2.1 Now contains 50%Â more added Bob Djukic! Banished are those pesky UK editions of the xxxVille labels;Â new –Â the extraordinary 16rpm black and white Fireworks label I had never heard of; … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Track Selection: Head Hunters Artists Yusef Lateef – born William Huddleston – (ts, fl, ob) Hugh Lawson (p) Herman Wright (b) Roy Brooks Jr. (d) recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 15-6, 1966 Music: For 1966 Impulse –  the other … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Most Blue Note pressings made during the 1950s exhibit a deep groove on both sides of the label central area. After around 1960, new pressing dies which left no deep groove were introduced into the manufacturing process, and original first pressings thereafter have no deep groove on either … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Two more second-hand record shops I frequent regularly in London are in the process of closing their doors due to rent increases. The story is the same each time: the business is moving online as the only way to survive. We … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Track Selection: One for Mort Everyone booked for speeding before the finish of this track Artists Carmell Jones (tp) Booker Ervin (ts) Gildo Mahones (p) Richard Davis (b) Alan Dawson (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 30, 1964 Music The Blues Book … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Track Selection: Harlem Nocturne (E. Hagen arr. B. Wilen) Artists Barney Wilen (ts) Ricardo Del Fra (b) Sangoma Everett (d) Alain Jean-Marie (p) Philippe Petit (g) Recorded  November 30, December 1-3, 1986, digitally mixed by Hervé Le Guil; Cover design: comic book artist … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Selection: Society Red (Dexter Gordon) –  long, 12 minutes, but Great! . . . Selection Society Red is big stretching-out blues march, rock steady in 4:4 time, with Hubbard and Gordon very much on the same page. Over 12 minutes it never … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Track Selection 1: Snafu Selection 2: Don’t Blame Me (Dedicated to WordPress) Artists Yusef Lateef (ts, fl, bamboo fl, ob) Barry Harris (p) Ernie Farrow (b, rabat) Lex Humphries (d) recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 5, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 2 photos.
This post is addressed to followers of the Less Evil Black Disc. Followers of its evil twin, the silver disc, (pictured)  may find this a good moment to don their satanic robes and prepare a little human sacrifice to placate The Silver One. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Track Selection: Off Minor (Monk) Track Comparison: Off Minor – Monk himself (Modern Genius Volume 1, Blue Note BLP1510  Monk-Ramey-Blakey, recorded 1947, on 47 West 63rd St labels second pressing)  Artists Bud Powell (p) Pierre Michelot (b) Kenny Clarke (d) recorded live in Paris, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Track Selection: llareggub (“bugger all” spelt backwards, a typically Sixties conceit – naughty words “in code”) Artists Stan Tracey (p) Bobby Wellins (ts) Jeff Clyne (b) Jack Dougan(d) Music Time for a nice cup of tea and an excursion into … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Track Selection: Nakatini Serenade (Massey) Artists Donald Byrd or Freddie Hubbard (tp) John Coltrane (ts) Red Garland (p) Paul Chambers (b) Louis Hayes or Art Taylor (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, January 10 and December 26, 1958 Music … Continue reading
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Last updated: November 5, 2016 (photos and text) Above, UK CBS pressing. It is conventional wisdom that earlier pressings are closer to the source and should sound better. Below, first cover  UK release on Fontana. The opportunity arose to put this conventional wisdom to … Continue reading
LondonJazzCollector 