Here’s a beauty from my friends at Infinity Records on Long Island: Sonny Clark, Dial S For Sonny, Blue Note 1570. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd address, deep grooves, etc., and it was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and what looked to be VG+ for the cover. It sold for $2,100.

This is one of the other ones from SweeDeeDee: Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original purple label pressing with the deep grooves and it was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. This one had more than 800 page views and sold for $2,025.

quite amusing. But there are no details on what is amusing about the review, so I am hoping that Rudolf will see this post and share a tidbit from the review. I don’t have many Metronome’s from that era. I do have a lot of Downbeat magazines, more from the late 1950s and just about all of them from the 1960s. I occasionally pore through them — at least the ones that aren’t sitting in storage — and find out interesting tidbits to post here. You can find some of them if you just do a search on Downbeat, using the search feature at the top right of the page.

One of the pleasures of having an extensive jazz collection is that it gives you the opportunity to go back and review the history of jazz in real time, as it was happening. This is particularly the case when you look at old issues of Downbeat or Metronome, or review old liner notes, an art form that began approaching extinction with the advent of the compact disc format. In any case, allow me to share some interesting stuff from my archives.

Downbeat, January 18, 1962

Review: John Coltrane, Africa/Brass, Impulse 6

This record was a departure for Coltrane: The first time he ever played with a brass section. It is now regarded as a classic, rightfully so, particularly the title cut, which makes up the entire first side of the album. At the time, however, the Downbeat reviewer, Martin Williams, didn’t see it that way.  He gave it only two stars, out of a possible five. Here’s a sample from the review:

“I question  . . . whether here this exposition of skills adds up to anything more than a dazzling and passionate array of scales and arpeggios. If one looks for melodic development or even for some sort of technical order or logic, he may find none here.”

Downbeat, May 24, 1962

Advertisement, Riverside Records

This is a great one, an advertisement introducing a new set of albums from Riverside, including Bags Meets Wes, The Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York, Bill Evans’ Waltz for Debby. What’s so great about it is the headline and ad copy, which goes as follows:

“It’s Spring Cleaning Time!

So throw away your worn-out old albums and stock up on a really fresh batch from the varied and ever-swinging Riverside supply.”

Think of the message – throw away your old records – and think of the Riverside catalogue at the time. It’s enough to make you cry.

Liner Notes

Tenor Madness, Sonny Rollins Prestige 7047

One of the great jazz albums of all time and the only recorded collaboration between tenor greats Rollins and Coltrane. Here’s an excerpt from Ira Gitler’s original liner notes:

“(Philly Joe Jones) tells me that Sonny was in his usual pessimistic form. After each number he would shake his head and say ‘Nothing’s happening.’ I have known Sonny since 1951 and he has always been this way. It is this constant searching and trying to improve on what he has done which has brought him about so many of the advances he has made and kept him a dynamic musician.”

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow at Jazzcollector.com. — Al

I couldn’t sleep again the other night so I went into my music room and started poring through the batch of 115 Downbeat and Metronome magazines I bought at the WFMU Record Show in New York last week. Most of the magazines are from the 1940s and 1950s, with a few Downbeats from the 1960s thrown in. I love these things because they give you a real view of the history of jazz as it was happening. I’m always surprised that so few people seem to be collecting the old magazines. It’s okay, because the prices are always reasonable and it would be nice if they stay that way. Anyway, over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some of the interesting items I find as I go through the magazines. Here are a few snippets:

 In the Dec. 12, 1957 Downbeat Sonny Rollins was given The Blindfold Test by Leonard Feather. This is Feather on Rollins: “He was a very conscientious blindfoldee, taking copious notes and reading off his comments in the tape recorder after each number was played.”

 This was Rollins on Duke Ellington: “This record is immediately recognizable as having a Duke Ellington sound. It’s very important to have a sound that you can recognize immediately, and of course Duke is an institution now in music. He’s one of my particular favorites. Always has been a great inspiration to me.”

 In the August 10, 1955 Downbeat, Dave Brubeck fought back against what he said was unfair criticism based on his growing popularity and appearance on the cover of Time Magazine:

 “Just what do the critics want from me? In the first place, I can think of very, very few critics with the musical training to do their jobs properly. I don’t expect critics to be great musicians. But I do think they should have put in a number of years studying music and they should know what they’re trying to evaluate. They should know, for one thing, that our group is always improvising. They should know that we never play the same tune twice the same way.  The critics say I don’t swing. I say we always swing – sometimes we don’t swing very much, but it’s always enough to be considered jazz. That much I guarantee.”

 For the July 25, 1956 Downbeat, Thelonious Monk sat down with Nat Hentoff for an interview. Here’s an excerpt:

 “Do I think I’m difficult to understand? Well, like what? Tell me a particular number. Some of my pieces have melodies a nitwit could understand. Like, I’ve written one number staying on one note. A tone-deaf person could hum it.

”My system of composing? I compose as it comes, as I hear it. I have no foruma for composing. For people who’ve never heard any of my work before and would like to know where to start, I’d say just listen to the music in the order that I’ve recorded it. Get the records, sit down, and dig.”

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow with our newsletter. —