Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Early Eric Dolphy

We were cleaning this record yesterday to put it up on eBay: The Chico Hamilton Quintet With Strings Attached, Warner Brothers 1245. It is an original pressing in pretty nice condition. It was in a pile of records to sell. It was not one I was even considering keeping, so it wasn’t even going to get a mention in the Jazz Vinyl Countdown. Then I looked at the liner notes, where it mentions a “newcomer” on reeds by the name of Eric Dolphy. I had forgotten about Dolphy getting started with Hamilton. Anyway, I decided to give this record a second chance. I put it on the turntable. Quite interesting Dolphy — he plays mostly straight, but you can absolutely hear the direction he will head towards in the next few years. So, after listening to several tracks, what’s the verdict?

Read the rest of this entry »

Win A Free Record: Billie Holiday at Carnegie Hall

Okay, it is time for our next Jazz Collector free collectible give-away contest. We always try to find interesting items for you, and this time we are offering up this: The Essential Billie Holiday Carnegie Hall Concert, Verve 8410. This is an original pressing with the MGM label and the gatefold cover. The record is in nice condition, although there are some marks at the end of side two. It’s an interesting record in that it was recorded in 1956 and issued here in 1961 as part of Verve’s Essentials series, which were tributes to jazz greats on the Verve labels, several of whom, unfortunately, had died. These included Lester Young and Charlie Parker. This LP was recorded live at Carnegie Hall as part of a concert in which Holiday sang and in which she also  had several sections of her autobiography, Lady Sings The Blues, read aloud to highlight various aspects of her life and to

Read the rest of this entry »