Comments on: Down By The Riversides (With A Blue Note)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:19:34 +0000

Bill, I’ve noticed the same thing about Riverside albums and the visual condition not reflecting how they play. Honestly, i dismissed it as a small sample size observation. I have also noticed the same thing about Impulse. As opposed to a Blue Note or even more so Prestige, they are more likely to have consistent surface noise when they don’t look great. I’ve tried to formalize this observation with some research, but it’s a pain because I’m not privy to enough data.
I actually believe, that Impulse originals are the highest Quality pressings of any Jazz label. I can justify this by saying I think this was somewhat a peek in pressing quality before a lot of companies started going cheap. From my understanding, Impulse, and to a lesser extent Riverside, had a higher budget than Blue Note and Prestige which may have allowed them to use a more HQ pressing plant. This is conjecture though and would love to hear the opinions/observations of anyone else. Pal Joey is a fine album, it was actually the second Kenny Drew album I ever had. I bought it for $1 at a garage sale, but 1112 Black Label with alternate cover not an original white label with the dancer cover. I do dig it.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:18:36 +0000

Thanks for the info, Rudolf. I will have to keep an eye out for 12-249. Collecting Riverside LPs is fun because they seem to be a little easier to locate in used record shops and at record shows. Plus, many of them are somewhat affordable compared to the albums issued on labels such as Blue Note and Prestige. Another thing I’ve noticed is that even copies which look as though someone went ice skating on them play pretty well.

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:54:17 +0000

Kenny did some three albums in duo format dedicated to the great American songwriters. They came on the Judson label, an affiliate of Riverside. The other player in the duo was Wilbur Ware. I for one prefer the trio album he made for Riverside of Pal Joey songs (12-249). Bassist is again Wilbur Ware and on drums is Philly Joe. They are really cooking.

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:46:18 +0000

Wow, neat story about your dad. He had great taste in music. I’ve always wondered if the Kenny Drew album ‘I Love Jerome Kern’ is any good? Has anyone ever heard it? It definitely has a neat cover!

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:36:13 +0000

there have been so many gorgeous Riversides which ended up in the $ 1 bins or which just went unnoticed, never to be seen anymore. In the latter category I mention 12-252 “Chicago Sounds” – Wilbur Ware Qnt and 12-248 “Seven Standards and A Blues” – Ernie Henry Qrt.