Category Archives: Reissue

Miles Davis: The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige

Leave a reply

Two-disc overview of Davis’ formative period as a leader

This 2-CD set looks at the catalog of trumpeter Miles Davis during his five year stay on Prestige. Davis had recorded numerous sides behind Charlie Parker and led a few one-off sessions, but it was at Prestige where he was first afforded the time to try out new groups, develop original material and evolve his sound across a series of albums. Disc one of this set cherry picks from his early albums, featuring a variety of lineups that variously include Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson and Thelonious Monk. Also employed were a number of ace rhythm sections that included Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Percy Heath and Paul Chambers. Disc two picks up in 1955, at a time when Davis was signed to both Prestige and Columbia, alternating releases between the two. By this point he’d organized a quintet lineup of Chambers, Jones, Red Garland and legend-in-the-making, John Coltrane.

The selections mix originals, standards and a few show tunes, such as Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” that provide launching pads for interesting explorations. Disc one shows off the variety of players with whom Davis made music, and often echoes the cooler West Coast sound he’d recorded a few years earlier for Capitol. Disc two is filled by the quintet that Davis put together for Columbia, and was then contractually obligated to share with Prestige. These tracks cover sessions from 1955-56 that were strategically released over the course of five years, starting with The New Miles Davis Quintet in ’56 and finishing up with Steamin’ in 1961. Given the high quality of many of Davis’ latter-day albums for Prestige, it’s difficult to say if these are all of the essential sides, but they do provide a good overview of the Davis’ growth as a leader, and a guide to the in-print original albums. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Bill Evans: The Definitive Bill Evans on Riverside and Fantasy

Leave a reply

An overview of Bill Evans’ sides on Riverside and Fantasy

This two-disc set bookends Evans most productive years, offering key sides from his initial stay on Riverside (1956 through 1963) and later work on Fantasy (1973-1977). The collection opens with a piece from his first album, 1956’s New Jazz Conceptions, and really kicks into gear with the formation of his first stellar trio (featuring Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums) for 1959’s Portrait in Jazz. With LaFaro’s death in a 1961 car accident, Evans withdrew from performing for several months, finally forming a new trio with bassist Chuck Israels and releasing two new albums (Moon Beams and How My Heart Sings!), from which the original “Very Early” and the Dave Brubek composition “In Your Own Sweet Way” are drawn. Paul Motian surrendered the drummer’s throne to Larry Bunker for the last of Evans’ albums on Riverside, Live at Shelly’s Manne-Hole, after which the pianist move over to Verve.

Evans’ years on Verve (which can be sampled on The Best of Bill Evans on Verve) included some remarkable experiments, such as the overdubbed Conversations with Myself, and it was while on Verve that he connected with bassist Eddie Gomez. Gomez was still part of the trio (along with drummer Marty Morell) when Evans landed at Fantasy, opening his run with 1973’s The Tokyo Concert. When Morell departed, Evans and Gomez recorded as a duet on 1974’s aptly-titled Intuition. Though Evans recorded the majority of his catalog with a trio of piano, bass and drums, this set includes several interesting non-trio sides. 1958’s “Peace Piece” is a terrific solo performance that foreshadows other pianist’s 1970s improvisations, a date backing Cannonball Adderly yields a soulful take on Evans’ “What What I Mean?” and fruitful collaborations with Kenny Burrell, Lee Konitz and Tony Bennett are featured.

Disc two picks up where disc one left off, opening with a quartet featuring Zoot Sims and Jim Hall, and a remarkable solo recording that pairs the love theme from “Spartacus” with Miles Davis’ “Nardis.” Though these tracks were recorded for Riverside, they were lost in the shuffle of Evans’ switch to Verve, and left unissued until the early ‘80s. Evans’ years at Fantasy were spent mostly with the trio of Gomez and Morell, though by the end of the run the latter had given way to Eliot Zigmund, featured here on the closing “I Will Say Goodbye.” As on any cherry-picked collection, once could debate whether the track selection is “definitive,” but the span of these two CDs gives a fair view of Evans’ time on Riverside and Fantasy, and with the original albums still available, this is a useful roadmap guide for newcomers and an enjoyable summary for fans. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Albert King: The Definitive Albert King on Stax

Leave a reply

Prime Stax material from a blues legend

Albert King had been bouncing around various blues scenes for over fifteen years when his 1966 signing to Stax led to both the label and artist achieving new levels of commercial success. King’s earlier sides for Parrot, Bobbin, King, Chess and Coun-Tee had found mostly regional success, though 1961’s “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong” did manage to crack the national R&B top twenty. But it was the sides he cut for Stax, many with Booker T & the MGs as his backing band, that would rocket him to stardom and mint an indelible catalog that included the classics “Crosscut Saw” and “Born Under a Bad Sign.”

King’s career at Stax caught fire at precisely the right moment to have maximal impact on the growing American and British blues-rock scenes. His playing was not only a primary influence on Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and other rock guitarists, but the advent of multi-act ballroom shows gave King a stage on which he could play directly to an audience outside the roadhouses and blues clubs; his 1968 performance at the Fillmore West, heard at greater length on Live Wire/Blues Power, is excerpted here in a shortened single version of “Blues Power.” The stinging notes of King’s guitar fit perfectly against the soulful vamping of the Stax house bands (including the Bar-Kays and Memphis Horns), offering continuity with the label’s other acts and differentiating his records from those of other blues guitarists.

King’s decade on Stax provided varied opportunities, including a tribute to Elvis (“Hound Dog”), a session with fellow Stax guitarists Pops Staples and Steve Cropper (the former singing John Lee Hooker’s “Tupelo, Part 1” and the latter singing his original “Water”), sessions at Muscle Shoals (Taj Mahal’s “She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride”) and with John Mayall (“Tell Me What True Love Is”), and an opportunity to wax covers of blues and rock classics, including Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor,” the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” and Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom.” The 34-track set comes with a 20-page booklet of photos, album cover reproductions, session data and detailed liner notes by Bill Dahl. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Booker T. & The M.G.’s: McLemore Avenue

Leave a reply

Booker T. & The M.G.’s salute the Beatles

This 1970 album pays tribute to the Beatles studio swan song, Abbey Road. The original album’s tracks (save “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Oh! Darling” and “Octopus’s Garden”) are arranged as instrumentals in three medleys and a solo spotlight of George Harrison’s “Something.” Booker T’s organ and piano, and Steve Cropper’s guitar provide most of the vocal melody lines. The results are interesting, if not always particularly inventive. Many of the songs find resonance with the group’s soulful style, but neither the arrangements nor the performances offer the last-gasp creative dominance the Beatles poured into the final work.

By this point in Booker T. & the M.G.’s career, the soul grooves that had backed Stax’s great vocal acts and launched iconic instrumental hits were second nature, and perhaps that’s part of the problem. A few of the performances, such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “You Never Give Me Your Money,” fail to strike any new sparks, and sound more like the uninspired cover versions churned out by faceless studio groups in the ‘60s than the high-octane output of the era’s most famous instrumental soul combo. In contrast, Al Jackson kicks up sparks with his resonant tom-tom lead in to “The End,” Booker T and Steve Cropper cut winning solos on “Something,” and the four parts of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” fits the four instrumentalists like a glove.

Concord’s reissue reproduces the original album cover – a Memphis-based pastiche of the original – and adds liner notes by Ashley Kahn. The album’s original tracks are augmented by five additional Beatles covers drawn from the group’s albums, all remastered in 24-bits by Joe Tarantino. Among the bonuses are an unreleased alternate take of “You Can’t Do That” and an unlisted radio ad delivered as an “Her Majesty” like coda at the end of the last track. Interestingly, this was the next-to-last album recorded by the MGs for Stax, mirroring Abbey Road’s place in the Beatles’ recording history; but it was the group’s terrific last LP, Melting Pot, that was their own proper swan song. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Roy Orbison: The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)

Leave a reply

A rock ‘n’ roll legend’s legendary mono singles + a vintage concert film

Roy Orbison’s five year blaze of musical glory on Monument Records is distilled here to the singles that rocketed up the chart over and over again. This 2-CD/1-DVD set collects all twenty singles released in the U.S. on the Monument label, dividing the A- and B-sides between the CDs. Disc one is an intense concentration of hits and valiant misses that digs deeper than the regularly anthologized chestnuts. All of the A’s, save “Lana” and “Paper Boy,” made the pop chart, offering up lesser known sides that include the pained “I’m Hurtin’,” despondent “The Crowd,” blue-collar “Working for the Man,” and a bluesy cover of “Let the Good Times Roll” that features harmonica from Charlie McCoy.

Nashville A-listers McCoy, Boots Randolph, Floyd Cramer, Buddy Harmon, Hank Garland and the Anita Kerr Singers were regulars on Orbison’s sessions in RCA’s legendary Studio B. These mono singles, remastered by Vic Anesini, are incredibly fine in both detail and cohesion – much like the great recordings of Blue Note. They’re a real testament to the work of session engineer Bill Porter, who often captured the big productions and Orbison’s incredible dynamic range live-to-tape on only two tracks. Disc two shows that Orbison and his production team didn’t just slap together the flipsides; the B’s were polished productions with full arrangements that often featured strings and backing chorus. Orbison charted three of his B-sides (“Candy Man,” “Mean Woman Blues” and “Leah”) and recorded some great material, including “Love Hurts” and Cindy Walker’s “Shahdaroba,” for the flips.

The set’s DVD features a 25-minute black-and-white film of a 1965 live date recorded for a Dutch television station. Orbison was in Holland to pick up an award for “Oh, Pretty Woman,” his last chart-topper, and nearly his last single on Monument before decamping for MGM. He didn’t know it, but he was entering a twenty-five year Top 10 drought that only ended when his mid-80s induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the taping of A Black & White Night and the formation of the Traveling Wilburys resuscitated his recording career. But in 1965 he’d recently delivered “Oh, Pretty Woman” and “Goodnight,” both of which are featured in the live performance, and with a new contract in hand, things must have looked rosy.

The video is grainy, but the sound quality is surprisingly good. Orbison is backed by a six-piece band in sharp suits and Beatle boots, and “Pretty Woman” co-writer Bill Dees can be seen playing keyboards and singing background vocals. The performance is tightly contained, with Orbison moving little and hiding his eyes behind trademark sunglasses; it’s as if he’s channeling every bit of his emotion into his superb vocals. Without the instrumental grandeur of strings, a backing chorus or RCA’s Studio B, Orbison still wrings every ounce of emotion from the lyrics, and despite his lack of physical performance, he still grabs you with how good these songs could sound live. Whatever dialog there may have been with the audience has been clipped from this video, and though the crowd is surprisingly sedate, the band still cooks as they play “What’d I Say.”

Disc one, which is available separately, turns out to be a nearly complete greatest hits anthology. Were you to substitute three B-sides for less successful A’s, you’d have all of Orbison’s key chart history at Monument. The track sequencing, on the other hand, is a mystery, as it doesn’t follow either the recording or chart dates, and three singles are inexplicably designated as bonus traks. Splitting the A- and B-sides onto separate discs seems to favor the marketing department’s ability to sell the A-sides separately over giving package buyers an opportunity to listen to the singles in order. The separately is a nit really, given that consumers can easily rearrange the track sequence to their liking.

The four-panel digipack and 36-page booklet includes recording (but not release or chart) dates, chart position, and (where known) recording personnel. Also included are photos, picture sleeve and label reproductions, and short liner notes that provide an overview of Orbison’s time at Monument but no song-by-song rundown. These recordings have been released many times on compilations such as The Big O, The Essential Roy Orbison, The Soul of Rock and Roll and the omnibus Orbison: 1955-1965, but this is the first time that all of the mono mixes have been brought together in digital form. The video is worth watching once or twice, but the original singles are worth keeping forever. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Roy Orbison’s Home Page

David Cassidy: The Higher They Climb the Harder They Fall

Leave a reply

Pop idol flies free and becomes an artist

The genuine artistry of this album is a lot more clear thirty-six years distance from its 1975 release. With the bright lights of Cassidy’s teen idolatry having faded, the album can be viewed on its merits, and is left to stand on its own as a truly terrific pop statement. Still, part of what makes it so interesting is the relief of Cassidy’s earlier work and the infusion of his hard-won artistic freedom. These are the sounds of an artist finally charting his own musical course, rather than a pawn buffeted by the demands of his young fans and the needs of his record company. Freed from his post-Partridge Family contract with Bell, Cassidy moved to RCA where he was paired with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston as producer. Johnston delivered Cassidy first crack at “I Write the Songs,” and though the single was a chart-topper in the UK, it was withheld in the US in favor of Barry Manilow’s subsequent hit.

The failure to market “I Write the Songs” is only one of the label’s misfires, as the album’s superb take on the Beach Boys’ late-60s hit “Darlin’” was also allowed to flounder without a proper push. Cassidy’s originals – he wrote or co-wrote half the album’s songs – are more mature than the things he’d written for his earlier albums, and the demise of his teen idol fame provides introspective grist for the songwriter’s mill. Johnston provides sophisticated, varied and dramatic arrangements that are substantially more soulful than Cassidy had been previously afforded, and the singer rises to the challenge with strong vocals that shed the bubblegum style he’d adopted for the Partridge Family. Among the album’s most startling moments is a take on Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-A-Lula” that’s surprisingly fresh and original.

The album’s loosely structured concept has Cassidy dreaming of rock ‘n’ roll stardom, reveling in the music’s roots, contemplating himself as a songwriter and the possibilities of success, and facing the fall. Cassidy must have known that the tide of his former success was more likely to pull him back under than swell into a successful adult recording career, but he remains hell-bent on proving that he’s more than a television show’s fabrication. Much like Ricky Nelson two decades earlier, Cassidy’s innate talents as a singer and songwriter had been thrown into question by his media-fueled success, but with this album he proved that he was more than a prefabricated star. The listening public may not have been ready for that revelation, but thirty-five years later, the proof of his talent is still here to be heard. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Material Issue: International Pop Overthrow [20th Anniverary Edition]

Leave a reply

Expanded reissue of a power-pop classic

In celebration of International Pop Overthrow’s twentieth anniversary, and in memory of the group’s late leader Jim Ellison, Hip-O select has issued this greatly expanded version of Material Issue’s first full length release. By the time the record dropped in 1991, Material Issue had been together nearly six years, had issued an EP and a few singles, and had toured extensively throughout their native Midwest. The album itself was recorded in Zion, Illinois, the home of another great power-pop band, Shoes, and produced by Shoes’ Jeff Murphy. IPO fit well in a year that was dotted with key power-pop albums from Matthew Sweet (Girlfriend), Teenage Fanclub (Bandwagonesque), Velvet Crush (In the Presence of Greatness), Adam Schmitt (World So Bright) and Richard X. Heyman (Hey Man!).

The album sold nationwide, launching a video for “Diane” on MTV’s 120 Minutes and pushing “Valerie Loves Me” into the top ten of Billboard’s modern rock chart. The group completed two more albums and toured heavily, but never recaptured either the bittersweet poignancy of IPO, or its commercial success. Ellison committed suicide in 1996 amid rumors of romantic and artistic disillusion, but he left behind an album that captures the very core of power pop: melodies whose hooks resound with the craft of the Brill Building and lyrics whose heart-on-sleeve emotion drew a map of joy, heartbreak, anticipation, angst, satisfaction and disappointment.

The anniversary edition of IPO adds eight bonus tracks, six drawn from the pre-LP promo-only Eleven Supersonic Hit Explosions, one (the thundering “Sixteen Tambourines”) taken from a College Music Journal sampler album, and the previously unreleased “The Girl with the Saddest Eyes” to close out the set. Among the bonuses are three covers: an emotional rendering of Thin Lizzy’s “Cowboy,” a glitzy version of Sweet’s “Blockbuster,” and a brash live take on Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.” IPO is an essential element of a complete power-pop collection, and this expanded reissue is a great upgrade for fans that haven’t previously picked up the bonus tracks. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Thelonious Monk Septet: Monk’s Music

Leave a reply

Monk gains both critical and popular acclaim

By 1957, Thelonious Monk had been on the jazz scene for more than a decade, but his genius wasn’t yet recognized by much of the listening public. His compositions had found favor with other musicians, and he’d gained some notice as a sideman, but his unique style – both as a musician and as a person – obscured the depth of his invention. Having signed to Riverside in 1955 he recorded standards, Duke Ellington covers, and a widely recognized album of originals, Brilliant Corners, but it was this 1957 session that really solidified public opinion in his favor. Working with a septet that included both Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane on tenor sax, you could hear history’s page turning between the former’s warm-toned balladry on “Ruby, My Dear” and the latter’s modern improvisation. Coltrane was also just emerging as a star, having established himself with Miles Davis, and having led his first session the previous month.

The septet was anchored by the steady swing of Art Blakey and Wilbur Ware, and the horn section is filled out by Ray Copeland on trumpet and Gigi Gryce on alto saxophone. The four-horn lineup creates more solo variations; when playing as a section they could sound orchestral, or with Monk and Blakey pushing the rhythm, like the front-line of a big band. The selections mostly revisit tunes from Monk’s catalog, giving the pianist an opportunity to rethink his compositions, and the band an opportunity to create new interpretations that, in a few cases (such as “Ruby, My Dear”), might be considered definitive. The album’s one new composition is “Crepuscule with Nellie,” a song written by Monk for his wife, and the source of some frustration in the studio; the album’s original take is complemented here with an alternate that edits together pieces of two other takes. Alternates of “Off Minor” and a studio blues jam are also included. OJC’s 2011 reissue features a new 24-bit remaster by Joe Tarntino, new liner notes by Ashley Kahn, and the album’s original liner notes by session producer Orrin Keepnews. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Cal Tjader and Stan Getz: Sextet

Leave a reply

Two giants of jazz meet for a 1958 West Coast date

This is a sweet 1958 West Coast jazz session that brought together vibraphonist Cal Tjader and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. Also playing on the session is noted San Francisco pianist Vince Guaraldi, guitarist Eddie Duran, bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Billy Higgins. Each of the side men were starting to stir up some notice, though they were each a few years away from their breakthroughs. Getz stands at the session’s center, but leaves room for the others to solo; Guaraldi and Duran offer some particularly interesting lines on “Ginza Samba” and “Crow’s Nest.” Tjader swings a few tunes, but it’s his breezy touch on the ballads that partners most fruitfully with the cool of Getz’s sax. The band creates a relaxed mood for Lerner and Lowe’s “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and swings warmly through Tjader’s waltz “Liz-Anne.” The seven tracks recorded here turned out to be all there is – no alternates, no outtakes – a remarkable occurrence for an ad hoc band that recorded with no rehearsal. The ability of the players to cohere in such short-order (the entire session was three hours) is a testament to both their talent as players, and their shared vision as musicians. Those with an earlier reissue might still want to check this out for Joe Tarantino’s 24-bit remaster and new liner notes by Doug Ramsey. Ralph J. Gleason’s original notes are included in a reproduction of the album’s back cover, as well as in a surprisingly error-filled transcription within the set’s booklet. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers: Ugetsu

Leave a reply

24-bit remaster of 1963 live jazz classic

Art Blakey’s June, 1963 Birdland date with the Jazz Messengers (Freddie Hubbard-trumpet; Curtis Fuller-trombone; Wanye Shorter-tenor sax; Cedar Walton-piano; Reggie Workan-bass; Art Blakey-drums) has been reissued several times before, and deservedly so. This was one of Blakey’s best line-ups of a band that had a wealth of talented musicians pass through its ranks. It’s also a superb live date, supplemented by the introduction of original material that remained in the group’s repertoire for years. This latest CD reissue features a fresh 24-bit remaster by Joe Tarantino, new liner notes by Neil Tesser (in addition to the original notes by Ed Sherman and Orin Keepnews) and a fourth bonus track to augment the three offered on previous editions. The sound quality of this recording has always been very good, though not great; the soloists are crisp and out front (Fuller and Hubbard, in particular, really shine), but the backing combo can get a bit muddy when Blakey really gets moving. The previously unreleased track is a cover of George Shearing’s late-40s classic “Conception,” featuring both drum and bass solos, and interesting unison horn playing. This album remains a real treat for jazz fans, and with a new 24-bit master and an added bonus track, it’s a tempting update even for those who own another recent digital edition. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]