The two CDs are two of the latest Blue Note re-releases in the Rudy Van Gelder Edition.
Mr Van Gelder is the man who, it seems almost single-handedly, recorded much of what is now recognised as the cutting edge jazz of the 50's and 60's, not only for Blue Note but for many other jazz imprints of the day, such as Prestige.
He was actually an optometrist to trade, who started recording people as a hobby and just invited them round to his parents' front room in their home in Hackensack (what a great name for a town) New Jersey.
It was later revealed that the house had actually been built with the idea of recording music in mind. So I suppose it's not quite so strange to think of various jazzmen turning up of a weekend to camp in the front room and record what would become a world famous record...
He was introduced to the owners of Blue Note in 1952 and, within a few years, his recording technique was the one everyone wanted to use, praised for its warmth and presence.
The operation soon outgrew his parents home and he moved to a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building a few miles away with the imagination-sparking name of Eaglewood Cliffs.
Numerous jazz classics, such as John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", were recorded there.
Nowadays Van Gelder is spending his time remastering his classic Blue Note recordings.
You can read an interview with him here : http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1116
The two discs I bought were actually recorded just three weeks apart, in February and March 1960.
Firstly, Freddie Redd's "Music From The Connection", which is the soundtrack, if you will, from a play which called for around 90 minutes of jazz to be included in the performance, either in the foreground or the background.
Many jazz greats over the years have contributed to the music for various different productions, including Cecil Taylor, but Redd's music is regarded as the original score. The disc includes the great Jackie Maclean on sax.
The other CD is Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers' recording, "The Big Beat" which really moves (man) and includes some of the first great compositions of Wayne Shorter as well as Bobby Timmons' classic "Dat Dere" which I only previously had in the single version on a CD which brings together all the famous Blue Note jukebox 45's from the era.
I also bought a book, to sit alongside another recent purchase while I continue intermittently with the Miles Davis biography I'm reading.
It's called "True Tales of American Life", a series of supposedly true stories submitted by everyday Americans to a radio show in 1999 and now pulled together for this book. It lends itself to dipping in but I'm sure there's a large degree of hokum in there....
The book it joins in the "to be read" pile, is Andrew Smith's "Moondust", in which the author sets out to interview each of the last nine remaining men who walked on the moon. I find the Apollo missions of the late 60's and early 70's fascinating and certainly do not subscribe to the "we never landed on the moon" conspiracy theory.
With the latest news from the Shuttle program seemingly signalling the end of manned spaceflight for some considerable time, it's amazing to think these men went to the moon and back on a ship whose computer had less memory than the average Crazy Frog spouting child's mobile phone does today....
Tonight I went along to Out of the Bedroom for the first time in a few weeks. There was hardly anyone performing whom I'd seen before, in fact no-one I'd seen more than once before, so it was a refreshing change to hear how things are moving on there.
I played "I Re-Arranged the House", "Skylines Full of Cranes" and "The End of Everything". I was disappointed with the first two as I made a few stupid errors, which of course I don't do when I'm playing "in the bedroom"...
However the third song went without a hitch and, to be honest, I'm sure no-one except me noticed the extra bars inserted into the first two songs while I tried to remember what the next chord was....
Heard back today from the guys at the Left Bank and they've confirmed Jamie and I will play there on Tuesday 16 August from 9-11. Now all we need to do is get some people to actually come and see us....
2 comments:
hey dude david i also have a copy of the Paul Auster book mentioned here. I have read half ways through and came to a conclusion that some of the stories are bullshit or take a lot of believing .Maybe it's just me. Too American for my liking.
The Art Blakey cd looks good though.
I've read a couple of short pieces so far - one was good one was puke inducing in its sentimentality.
Yes Blakey rocks, man
Post a Comment