According to Wikipedia, Gramavision is not a part of Rykodisc. They must have dropped the name at some point then.

btw chris, Jamaladeen Tacuma was the bass player for Ornette Coleman in the 80s ad released a few solo records with his own band "Cosmestic" too.
Al Macdowell was another bass player, and I'll admit he is slightly obscure. He did 2 albums on Gramavision in 1989 and 1991, with a enjoyable afro-jazz flavor to them.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkoG:
Jazz flutist Sam Most recoded some really great albums on the Zanadu label. I don't think any of them ever made it to CD. If they have, I've never found them.

I'm not all that familiar with Most, but I am familiar with and am a big fan of the Xanadu Label. It was run by a guy named Don Schlitten who worked at Prestige Records as a producer and then along with Joe Fields, current owner of HighNote Records, founded a label called Cobblestone back in the 1970s. I don't know what happened -- it was long before my time as a jazz listener -- but Schlitten and Fields parted company and Schlitten went on to form Xanadu Records & Fields Muse Records.

There have been three or four different Xanadu reissue programs, but all kind of petered out after a short while. The Most titles must have been among those that have slipped through the cracks.

quote:

Originally posted by K-Bee:
btw chris, Jamaladeen Tacuma was the bass player for Ornette Coleman in the 80s ad released a few solo records with his own band "Cosmestic" too.
Al Macdowell was another bass player, and I'll admit he is slightly obscure. He did 2 albums on Gramavision in 1989 and 1991, with a enjoyable afro-jazz flavor to them.

I've actually heard of Tacuma, but have never heard him play. I must admit I've never heard of Macdowell, though.

Meanwhile, some out of print requests:

Kenny Burrell:
Night Song (Verve)
Listen to the Dawn
Groovin’ High (Muse)
Weaver of Dreams (Col. 1703) (vocals)
Freedom (BN)

Burrell is a crack bop guitarist and some of his titles never made it to CD. I don't know much about NIGHT SONG. Lots of Verve material has made it to CD, but I guess NS hasn't.

Many Muse titles made it to CD, either reissued by Joe Fields or Joel Dorn when he headed a company that bought the catalog from Fields.

WEAVER OF DREAMS is on Columbia and as far as I know hasn't made it to CD. FREEDOM is probably a title from the 1980s when the Blue Note label was reactivated and it may have been on CD, but then gone out of print, like so many titles Blue Note issued in the 80's.

Jackie Byard:
Parisian Solos (Futura/’71)
Live at the Jazz Inn (Futura/’71)

A couple of obscure titles from the late jazz pianist. Futura is a French label. Some titles from this label did make it to CD, but as far as I know, neither of the two Byard sides.

quote:

I'm not all that familiar with Most, but I am familiar with and am a big fan of the Xanadu Label. It was run by a guy named Don Schlitten who worked at Prestige Records as a producer and then along with Joe Fields, current owner of HighNote Records, founded a label called Cobblestone back in the 1970s. I don't know what happened -- it was long before my time as a jazz listener -- but Schlitten and Fields parted company and Schlitten went on to form Xanadu Records & Fields Muse Records.

From the liner notes of the 1980 album "From the Attic of My Mind"

quote:

Let's begin with a truism: The innovator doesn't always get the recognition due him. Often it goes to those of his followers who, consolidating, extending or simply popularizing his advances, happen to be at the right spot at the right time when the general public finally catches up to whatever it is the innovator has set in motion. No more lamentable example of this situation can be instanced than, the career of Sam Most, a genuine musical innovator and pace setting jazz flutist whose music and whose contributions have been widely admired and acknowledged by his peers but who has been little known outside the precincts of professional music. For more than a quarter of a century Most has been one of the pre-eminent forces in the development of the flute as a jazz voice, one of the earliest in fact to champion its use in a strict jazz context and, through the example of his work in the early and middle 1950s, one of the fundamental sources of all subsequent developments the instrument has undergone. Nor has his mastery stopped there, for Most has continued to grow, his music to deepen and his proficiency to intensify as, over the years, he has seen his innovations disseminated ever more widely.
While most of the top flutists active in jazz over the last several decades have acknowledged the seminally important role Most played in introducing the instrument to modern jazz and in developing a number of its most widely used techniques, as well as having openly avowed the influence he exerted on the shaping of their own respective musical approaches, Sam has not been what you'd describe as a household word

My current Sam Most albums

On Vinyl(hand aconverted to CD)
Xanadu 141 Flute Flight
Xanadu 160 From The Attic Of My Mind
Xanadu 173 Flute Talk (With Joe Farrell)
Cat 7609 But Beautiful

On Cds
R2 75731 The Herbie Mann Sam Most Quintet
XCD 1237 Mostly Flute (Xanadu on CD)

It turns out I do own one CD with Most as a leader "Mostly Flute" on Xanadu. I probably bought it because of the finger poppin' sidemen: Duke Jordan, Tal Farlow, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins. I'll have to give it a spin.

Meanwhile, I'd like to see these LPs pop up on CD:

George Cables:
Wonderful LA aka Jazz Trio King ABCJ 160(Atlas) New 2500 (Atlas/‘82/#1022)
Some of My Favorite Things (Atlas/’80/#1002)
Old Wine, New Bottle (Atlas/’82/#1015)
Sleeping Bee (Atlas/’83/#1026)

I don't know much about the Atlas label, but I'm pretty sure it was a Japanese label and Cables recorded prolifically for it as you can see. I know someone released a box set of titles Art Pepper recorded on Atlas, but unless the aforementioned LPs popped up on CD in Japan as far as I know they haven't been reissued.

Cables, incidentally, is still on the scene and swinging as well as ever. He's got an upcoming gig at the Jazz Standard and I may attend it.

OK, George Cables brings to mind the 1978 Bobby Hutcherson vinyl " Highway One" on Columbia. Check out the players:
Bobby Hutcherson, vibes; George Cables, Cedar Walton, piano & electric piano; James Leary, Van Zalinge, bass; Eddie Marshall, drums, Kenneth Nash, percussion.

It used to be one of my favorites.

Hadley Calliman: Impetus (Mainstream)

Dont' know much about this one, but someone recommended Calliman to me because my favorite jazz genre is hard bop. This one, as far as I know, never did make it to compact disc and Calliman remains undeservedly obscure. Mainstream is a label that only had some of its titles released on CD.

Conte Candoli: ’54 10” LP w/ Claude Williamson

Candoli was a left coast, or Southern California based trumpeter, and he recorded a 10" inch LP released in '54 with Claude Williamson on piano. I don't know the label -- I assume it is Pacific Jazz -- but critic Harvey Pekar gave it the thumb's up in an article that appeared in the "Jazz Times" publication in '04.

Val Capers:
Affirmation (KM Arts/’82)
Portrait in Soul (Atlantic/’65)

Ms. Capers is a blind jazz pianist who borders on the obscure. She had a CD back in the 90's released by CBS/Sony, but has since slipped back into obscurity.

These two LPs, as far as I know, have never been released on CD.

Michael Carvin: First Time (Muse)

This must have been one of the Muse titles that slipped through the cracks and was never released on CD by Muse or by 32Jazz, which owned the Muse back catalog for awhile.

Carvin is a drummer who is still on the scene.

Joe Chambers: Double Exposure (Muse)

Chambers is a legendary drummer who is mostly known for his sideman dates on many classic Blue Note Records. Here he has a leadership date on his own for another hard bop label, Muse. This one also, as far as I known, has never seen the light of day on CD.

Paul Chambers: East/West Controversy w/ Hampton Hawes (Xanadu)

This Xanadu title must have been one of those that slipped through the cracks and didn't get a release on CD in the multifarious CD reissues of that label. Chambers, the legendary bassist, is most famous for his tenure in Miles Davis' great bands. Hampton Hawes, a left coast based pianist, is a hard swinger is probably best known for his great jazz memoir. Both artists had their careers, and lives, wrecked by substance abuse issues.

Chris:
If you are into Hawes, there is a three disc set call "All Night Session" Contemporary S7574, 7575,& 7576 from 1956. It has the following line up:
Hampton Hawes - Piano;
Jim Hall - Guitar;
Red Mitchell - Bass;
Bruz Freeman - Drums
It did make it to CD and is one of my favorites.

Thanks for the heads up on the Hawes' discs. I think I own those and I've gotta give them another spin soon. I haven't played them in eons.

James Clay/Marchel Ivery: Texas Tenors (Mark 104/1985)

I think someone recommended this to me. Clay was a Texas-based saxophonist who did record some CDs that were widely distributed and is the better known of the two sax players. He was another one whose career and life were ruined by off the bandstand problems. Ivery, who reportedly impressed Art Blakey enough that Art invited him to become a Jazz Messenger, was based in Texas for his career. He recorded a good CD for the defunct Texas-based label Leaning House, but other than that I don't know much about him. Mark him down as a local legend.

Steve Cohn Quintet: Sufi Dancers (White Cow WCR 1201)

Ah, the Steve Cohn Quintet. I remember why I added this to my "want to buy/out of print" list. If you order CDs through the Cadence on-line retailer they include a back issue of "Cadence" magazine with your order. I remember this CD was favorably reviewed in one of those back issues so I added it to my list, but Steve Cohn has remained an obscure musician and I assume the White Cow label is one set up just to record Cohn titles. I have never heard of Cohn and don't even know what his axe is.

quote:

Steve Cohn Quintet: Sufi Dancers (White Cow WCR 1201)

Ah, the Steve Cohn Quintet. I remember why I added this to my "want to buy/out of print" list. If you order CDs through the Cadence on-line retailer they include a back issue of "Cadence" magazine with your order. I remember this CD was favorably reviewed in one



of those back issues so I added it to my list, but Steve Cohn has remained an obscure musician and I assume the White Cow label is one set up just to record Cohn titles. I have never heard of Cohn and don't even know what his axe is.

Try this link. They have quite a bit of Steve Cohn on "White Cow" It looks like they have Sufi Dancers on CD.

Buy Music

Thanx for the heads up on the Cohn recording, but they are selling only LPs, not CDs, for that title. I don't think it was ever made available on CD. As I suspected the White Cow label is Cohn's own label. I can also see why I have never heard of Cohn. He seems to be closely associated with the a-g, which is not my cup of tea.

Meanwhile, neither Richie Cole nor the Palo Alto label has been particularly well served in the CD era in terms of getting catalog items released in the compact disc format.

Cole, a long, long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away was a hot saxophone player. He dated a Hollywood starlet -- either Valerie Perrine or Brenda Vaccaro -- I can't tell those two actresses apart. He's also had some off the bandstand issues he's had to deal with, but he's still out there trouping.

Richie Cole
Keeper of the Flame (Muse)
Cool C (Muse)
Alive! (Muse)
Some Things Speak for Themselves (Muse/’81)
Battle of the Saxes (Muse)
Alto Annie’s Theme (Palo Alto)
Yakety Madness (Palo Alto)
Bossa Nova Eyes (Palo Alto)

Muse, which did a great job of documenting hard bop during the 1970s when fusion and to a lesser extent the a-g reigned, was a great label. Unfortunately, much of the output on that label remains out of print. I don't even know who owns the Muse catalog anymore. It has had several owners.

Palo Alto, which was owned or run, by Dr. Herb Wong, has also been ill-served in the CD era, though a company called Quicksilver has been reissing a few Palo Alto titles in recent years. I am most interesting in "Alto Annie's Theme" because reportedly there is a killer version of "Jeaneane" on there, which is my favorite jazz tune.

With reference to Riche Cole you might want to check out "Just In Case You Forgort How Bad He Is" by Sonny Stitt. It is out on CD on th 32 Jazz label and Cole is very present! The players include: Sonny Stitt - Tenor; Richie Cole - Alto;John Handy; Billy Higgins; Bobby Hutcherson; Herbie Lewis; Cedar Walton. I think it was recorded in 1981.

Right now I am listening to "Return To Alto Acres" by Cole in 1982. I had the LP and have cleaned it up (gotten rid of clicks and pops) and moved it to CD. The players are: Richie Cole - Alto & Tenor & Baritone; Art Pepper - Alto & Clarinet; Roger Kellaway - Piano; Bob Magnusson - Bass; Billy Higgins - Drums.

Thanx for the heads up re. the Coles/Stitt pairing. I'm sure I own that 32Jazz compilation. Coles was an awful ballsy guy to go mano-a-mano with a killer tenor player like Stitt. I wish that 32Jazz label had continued in operation. Last I heard it was in bankruptcy.

Johnny Coles: Katumbo (Mainstream)

Mainstream is another one of those labels ill-served in the CD era. Spotty reissue on CD of LPs recorded on a label started by a guy named Bob Shad, who also worked for Mercury. I don't know much about this LP, but I do like Coles, who recorded at least one LP for Blue Note that, thankfully, has made it to CD. I also had a chance to see Coles, who was based in Philly, live once, shortly before he died.

Junior Cook: Pressure Cooker (Catalyst)

Junior Cook was a hard-bop tenor player best known-for sharing the front-line in one of Horace Silver's better -- maybe best -- quintet. I don't know much about the Catlyst label and this LP may have been reissued on CD in Japan.