Comments on: Signed and Sealed: A Rare Combo

By: Joe L

Joe L — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 14:25:57 +0000

I have original pressings of Concorde and the first two Prestige 10″s, and I rarely, if ever, play them. Just too staid for my tastes. I like each of the musicians individually, and appreciate – in the abstract – what they were trying to do with MJQ, but the music is just not very interesting to me. Compare Kenny Clarke on Concorde to his playing on Kook’s Clique, and it’s no contest which LP I will spin every time.

By: Terryfromflorida

Terryfromflorida — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:00:59 +0000

(Listening to Concorde while typing this)
I only have 2 vibe albums, one is Concorde and the other is Lem Winchester “Another Opus” on New Jazz. On the rare occasion I get in a vibe mood, I usually reach for Lem. I have a soft spot for these guys who were taken away from us too young. Also Lem was a deputy as am I (although I refrain from revolver tricks).
I accept that these 2 albums have almost zero collector appeal.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:07:02 +0000

I agree that the MJQ are undervalued by today’s jazz fans, Concorde, Django & Pyramid, among others, are some stellar albums!

By: Earl

Earl — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 15:47:22 +0000

…and the instrumentation (vibes, piano, drums and bass) NEVER changed

By: Earl

Earl — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 15:46:29 +0000

Terry

I really don’t know what you are referring to:

The group was amazingly consistent, with Jackson, Lewis, Kay and Heath for many many years – they did add Sonny for one session and Giuffre for another, and Kenny Clarke was the drummer in the very oldest albums but the aforementioned group created at least 25 albums over more than twenty years without change in personnel

By: Terry

Terry — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 14:50:08 +0000

Perhaps the MJQ material has not aged well due to the fact that the group was constantly undergoing personnel changes. It also seems that there is no continuity in the instrumentation. I always thought that they used whatever musicians were hanging around the studio waiting for a gig. While I like almost all of their albums, there is just no flow to their catalog at all.

By: Gregory the Fish

Gregory the Fish — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 20:59:59 +0000

joseph: i don’t really know. when i was first getting into jazz i randomly bought some cheap LPs and obviously (in retrospect) wound up with some MJQs. knowing nothing about them, i thought they would be a free type of band, and was soundly disappointed. i’ve never really enjoyed them, although hard bop and such has come full circle for me. love that, too.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 20:37:30 +0000

Earl , Gregory the Fish,

I am in agreement with what you say. MJQ LP’s and especially the later ones have not aged well with collectors. I think one of the reasons is that they maybe had so much exposure on the Atlantic label that maybe they are considered too accessible (?)

That being said, I still really like Concorde and Django.
Yes, Milt on his own is great.
One example Milt Jackson at the MOMA on Limelight.

By: Ron Perkins

Ron Perkins — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:26:14 +0000

Bash! Dave Bailey Sextet DG Mono available as well as Horace Silver The Stylings of Silver Original Blue Note..Art Blakey 4003 Jimmy Smith Groovin at Smalls Paradise Blue Note 1586 EBAY Bre-perki and bren_perk

By: Earl

Earl — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:19:47 +0000

It seems to me that Ng Chee Kia’s LP is a later pressing (perhaps from the NY 23 era)in which left-over Lexington labels were applied

As to Jeff’s question, Fred Cohen’s book talks about worn “centers” which originally created a deep groove, but are at the end of their useful cycle and no longer producing the deep groove; worn stampers were quickly replaced, but the centers were not, there being no reason to worry about whether a deep groove was being created or not.