Catching Up: Bill Evans, Tina Brooks, Hank Mobley, Et Al
Life has been busy. Artificial Intelligence tells me the adage “man plans, God laughs” is a Yiddish proverb: “Der mentsh trakht, un got lakht.” Who knew? While I may not believe in the actual wording, I do understand the sentiment. Fortunately, my health has been good, so that hasn’t been an issue. All of which is to say that most of the time that I’ve had to devote to my passion for jazz and jazz collecting has been put into my radio show and podcast. As I said, I love doing the radio show, so that’s not a problem. But I do sometimes feel guilty about not writing more frequently here at JazzCollector.com, especially when I go through the emails I’ve saved and realize that I’ve been saving some of them for more than half a year. In any case, I will try to catch up now, even if some of the conversations with readers are too dated to do anything about.
Starting back in July, I saved the article Celebrating Hank Mobley, from the Substack column Jazz and Coffee written by Syd Schwartz. I know there are a lot of Mobley fans out there in the Jazz Collector world, so I think you will enjoy it.
From the same author, I saved the following article Explorations With the Bill Evans Trio. The author had written the liner notes for an audiophile reissue of Explorations, which he revisits in this post. The liner notes, IMHO, are well written and informative.
The new set, called Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings on the Craft label is just out now, with 17 alternative takes and outtakes that have never been issued. I applied for a review copy and never got a reply, so I guess it’s time to just order it – on vinyl, of course – which I will do just as soon as I finish typing this post.
Also in July, I received a note from a reader as follows:
Subject: Blue Train BLP1577 mono on side 1, stereo on side 2
“Hi, I have a copy of Blue Train, BLP1577, Liberty version, purchased in UK in 1967 that is stamped RVG, BN-LP-1577-A, with 9M on side 1, and RVG Stereo, BN-ST-1577-B on side 2. I have never seen any mention of this combination of mono on side 1, stereo on side 2 before. Have you ever heard of this?”
I replied as follows: “It sounds to me like they used whatever labels they had on hand, rather than the record being stereo on one side and mono on the other. Blue Note was prone to do that, especially during the transition to Liberty. Also, to my knowledge Blue Train was recorded in mono, so if it is stereo, it would be reprocessed stereo. If you want I could put something on my site to see what other collectors think? — al”
His reply: “It’s not the labels that are mixed mono and stereo (they are both BLP1577 – i.e. mono), but the markings on the vinyl record itself. And sure, please share on your site to see if others have come across this. Thanks.”
It’s taken a few months, but here it is if anyone has any thoughts.
Here’s one from August with a happy ending, or so it seems:
Subject: Tina Brooks
“Hi. I have a copy of Tina Brooks true blue first edition is in vgplus condition. On my turntable, one track, true blue, has a series of about eight mild pops. I’m interested in selling it but when I brought it to Fred at the Jazz Record Center he said it has it has a locked groove at that point. Is this something you would be interested in looking at or do you have any advice for me? I know of all the tricks with a toothpick, etc. but it’s such a valuable record. I really don’t wanna fool around with it. Thanks.”
My reply: “I don’t know what a locked groove is, but I’m sure I’ve encountered it.
I used to use a nickel or a quarter, but I would never try something like that on a record like True Blue. I you would like, I can put a note on my site and see if anyone has any ideas and/or if they would be interested. Not sure of an ultrasonic cleaner would help, but a collector I know swears by it. I don’t have one myself.”
His reply: “Thanks for getting back to me. I didn’t know what a locked groove is either, but it’s basically when something keeps the stylus from moving forward and keeps repeating. Well a funny thing happened when I went to pick up the record at JRC… I brought a toothpick with me figuring I would see if I could find something in the groove and get it out, so I asked Fred if he would play the record and we could find the exact spot. Well, it played just like it did on my turntable this time a bunch of pops, but no ‘locked groove’! He tried it on a second turntable and same result. So he’s putting it up for sale now with an appropriate description. Anyway, I just wanted to get back to you and I really appreciate you taking the time to ride with me.”
Here’s one I’ve been saving since September:
Subject: albums test pressing
“ I have a bunch of album test pressings that have not been played. Gene Ammons July 17, 1996; count basie big band 1994; Johnny Adams June 29, 1995; Johnny d. Lane march 20, 1997; chico freeman spirit sensitive dec 14 1994; duke ellington mar 31 1994; art pepper plus eleven may 24, 1994; and some regular albums; these are all in white sleeves with numbers on them.”
My Reply:
“Thanks for reaching out. This is not an area where I have any expertise. My site focuses on albums primarily from the 1950s and early 1960s. In my experience, collectors don’t have a great interest in test pressings, particularly reissues. I don’t think there would be much value in what you have. Having said that, I could mention the items in a post and see if anyone replies. Otherwise, you might be fine taking them to a local record store, depending upon where you are located. If you are in the New York area, the Jazz Record Center would be the place to go.”
Reply: “If you could mention it they are mainly first test press predating other presses. I am actually in rural Idaho.”