Within four notes of the first solo you’ll know immediately that it was Stitt, and within two notes of the second solo, you’ll know it was Rollins. Nat Hentoff, one of the giants in jazz journalism and a personal hero, was responsible for writing the liner notes. Is it possible he missed something, or is it just a typo that somehow got past the reviewers? I have no idea, but having been a journalist for my entire career, these kinds of mistakes drive me crazy and should be caught well before they ever see the light of day. These are just a few of the examples I’ve encountered since I began doing the radio show six months ago. I’m sure you’ve all encountered many more, which you are welcome to share here. Booker Erwin? Really?

From Dan: You heard that Konitz is gone. Dig how charming he was

https://youtu.be/6R9qyYfuCzI

After watching the clip, which is, indeed, quite charming, I replied that I regretted never seeing Konitz, although I had many opportunities.

From Dan: I saw Konitz in the 80s. I was doing a gig downtown and my friend Dave Shapiro was playing with Lee at Sweet Basil. I walked in as he was counting off the last tune of the night …Yours Is My Heart Alone by Franz Lehar at a fast tempo. He smoked the shit out of it and that memory still lingers. This is a great clip. I don’t like Lennie, but Lee plays great.

Here’s The New York Times Konitz obit. Here’s the one from WBGO.

Here’s an interview with Wynton Marsalis talking about his father.

Here’s another piece from The New York Times, talking about Giuseppi Logan and Henry Grimes.

Here’s an obit on Bootsie Barnes.

Whilst I’m in the process of going through emails and stuff, here are a few interesting exchanges with Jazz Collector readers.

From Jay: I have a quick question for you if you don’t mind. I’m curious about your opinion of the Penguin Guide(s) to Jazz by Richard Cook and Brian Morton. I know there are numerous editions (I have the 2nd and 5th) and that because Mr. Cook passed away some time ago the series is no longer being updated, still I’m curious how the books are viewed by the jazz cognoscenti.

My reply: Hi, Jay. Nice to hear from you. I don’t have an opinion because I have never read it or looked at it. I learned jazz from listening to what I liked and then checking out more from the same artist. For example, if I heard Dexter Gordon as a sideman on an album and liked him, then I would check out one of his other albums. And I’d listen to friends and other musicians who had similar tastes, and follow them. Sorry I don’t know about the book, but I can put a question on the site.

From Jay: Thanks so much for your reply! I’d be very curious to hear what others think. In my very rudimentary opinion-gathering it seems that people who developed a serious interest in jazz quite a while back haven’t paid much attention to the book, whereas jazz fans who might be less fully immersed enjoy it. I’m somewhere in between and both share your approach but love the book. One last question: Is there any jazz criticism that you do read/have read and would recommend? Again, thanks so much!

My reply: Hi, Jay. Again, my grounding is in the era of the 1950s and 1960s. I haven’t gone back and re-read a lot, but my favorites were Ralph J. Gleason, Nat Hentoff and Leonard Feather, in terms of their knowledge of the music and relationships with the musicians. There was a book a couple of years ago of interviews Gleason did in his home with some of the jazz greats. Link is below. For pure writing, Whitney Balliett of the New Yorker had a great style. I also like Gene Lees, Ira Gitler, Gary Giddins and, of the current writers, Ben Ratliff, and another recent jazz critic for The New York Times, Nate Chinen.

https://www.npr.org/2016/05/23/478884245/from-duke-to-the-dead-ralph-j-gleason-loved-it-all

From Jay: Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Most of the names I’m at least familiar with, but would like to dig deeper into a couple. Two faves of mine are an early edition of Feather’s Book of Jazz and a well-marked-up copy of Ted Gioia’s History of Jazz.

There was a question from a reader about a particular Joe Henderson record:

Diego: Hi, I wanted to ask for some advice. I’ve been wanting to get Joe Henderson’s Page One record. It is quite rare but expensive. Hard to go about it. There is many options stereo or mono, old reissues vs new reissues. Any advice? I would appreciate it! Thanks!

My reply: I have no idea of your circumstances, financial or otherwise. My feeling has always been it’s never about the record and always about the music. If you really love the music and are getting the record to listen, the Japanese pressings are typically great. If you are a collector and want a first pressing, then you either have to pay the price or wait. My philosophy was to get the music first and worry about an original pressing later. Took me 50 years to get Shades of Redd, but I always had a copy for listening — that’s how I came to love the record in the first place.

This same reader had asked a question about the quality of U.K. pressings versus U.S. pressings. He had a chance to buy a U.K. pressing and wanted to know if the sound quality was equal, better or worse. I told him to post the question on the Jazz Collector site and I promised him someone would answer. Well, he did post the question and it somehow got buried and NO ONE ANSWERED. Now is your chance, please. Wouldn’t want me to break a promise.

One more reader question:

“I am hoping you can help me find some information on a record I inherited from my grandfather. The record is ‘King Oliver and His Creole Band – Volume One’, autographed by Baby Dodds on 09-30-1945.  I have searched the web and found very limited information on the record, and potential value with the autograph by Baby Dodds. Any information you could provide would be very much appreciated.”

As I usually do when asked about an autograph, I requested a photo and copied our other friend Dan from the Jazz Collector site, who is very knowledgeable about autographs and other ephemera.  I thought this might be quite an interesting find, but alas, it was not to be. After viewing the email and the photo, here is Dan’s reply:

“Thanks for sharing. Who doesn’t love a great vintage King Oliver side!  Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the autograph is actually part of album’s cover photo and is printed on all copies of this particular album. As for value, like most things, it’s all based on market demand, album condition and grading. You are probably looking at around $25 based on what I’ve seen similar copies sell for on Popsike. Hope that helps.”

I posted the picture below, primarily the share the great shot of young Louis.

Finally, I saved a link to the following article because the headline irritated me all out of proportion: “Why Count Basie’s Band Was the Rolling Stones of Swing.” All due respect to the writer, who is clearly knowledgeable and respectful of the music, but why that headline? Why compare, why stretch something so out of time and context, when you could just as easily pay tribute to Basie and his band all on their own, with their own accomplishments? I have no idea what about it bothered me, so I figured I’d put it out there and see if anyone else has a similar visceral negative reaction. Maybe it’s just me.

A few weeks ago I got into an interesting email discussion with one of our loyal readers, Dave Sockel, who sent me an article about the plummeting market value of Elvis Presley collectibles, particularly old Elvis vinyl. Dave’s email came with the subject line: “A cautionary tale for all of us?” This was my reply:

“I remember reading something a few years ago — I think I posted on Jazz Collector — about a “50-year-rule” for artists. Basically, 50 years after the peak of the artist’s popularity and/or death, he or she is all but forgotten and the demand for their stuff starts to really erode. We’ve kind of seen it with the beboppers in Jazz, and a guy like Art Tatum. When I started collecting, Tatum records were collectibles. Not any more.

“You see it really clearly with popular artists. At one time Bing Crosby was the No. 1 artist in the country, making more money than any other entertainer. Today’s generation has literally never heard of him and, if they have, it would only be because of “White Christmas.” They would have no knowledge of his popularity. My son had some friends over in their 30s. I asked if they had ever heard of Billy Eckstine, who was a big star. My son was the only one that had ever heard of him, and that’s only because of me.”

Dave’s reply:

“Agreed.  I have been reading the archive online copies of Hentoff’s Jazz Review from 1958-1960.  Probably 2/3s of the record reviews and content is devoted to New Orleans or Dixieland type material with the rest touching on the moderns like Coltrane or Rollins.  You couldn’t give away the trad stuff today even to Goodwill. Good news is that the NY 23 copy of Blue Train should be dropping in value soon, right?”

It’s an interesting topic because, clearly, so many of us here in the Jazz Collector community are heavily invested – literally and figuratively – in artists and music that could easily apply to this 50-year rule. The records that have established themselves as the most “collectible” of the era seem only to be going up in value, with no end in sight.

Will there eventually be a drop off in these records. It’s hard to see, frankly, given that the demand remains high and the supply will always be limited. But it’s hard to generalize because there seem to be exceptions to every rule: Charlie Parker Savoys don’t have the same cachet as they once did, but the 10-inch Dials are still in tremendous demand. Same with artists such as Lester Young, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges and Coleman Hawkins: While their entire catalogues are perhaps not as prized as they once were, there are certain records that still command top dollar and are continuing to go up in value.

Is the Jazz Collector market more like an art market, where the “50-year rule” does not apply? Or will Hank Mobley 1568 to the way of Elvis or Bing Crosby? I happen to think it’s mostly the former – value will continue to increase for the higher end collectibles. Thoughts?

“Along with sonny Rollins, John Coltrane has become the most influential and controversial tenor saxophonist inn modern jazz. He is becoming, in fact, more controversial and possibly more influential than Rollins. While it’s true that to musicians especially, Coltrane’s fiercely adventurous harmonic imagination is the most absorbing aspect of his developing style, the more basic point is that for many non-musician listeners, Coltrane at his best has an unusually striking emotional impact. There is such intensity in his playing that the string of adjectives employed by French Critic Gerard Bremond in a Jazz-Hot article on Coltrane seemed hardly at all exaggerated. Bremond called his playing ‘exuberant, furious, impassioned, thundering.’

“There is also, however, an extraordinary amount of sentimentality in Coltrane’s work. Part of the fury in much of his playing is the fury of the search, the obsession Coltrane has to play all he can hear or would like to hear — often all at once — and yet at the same time make his music, as he puts it, ‘more presentable.’ He said recently, ‘I’m worried that sometimes what I’m doing sounds like just academic exercises and I’m trying more and more to make it sound prettier.’ It seems to me he already succeeds often in accomplishing both his aims, as sections of this album demonstrate.”

I looked down at the bottom to see which Jazz journalist had written this piece back in 1959 and, to no surprise at all, it was the great Nat Hentoff. When I woke up this morning, there was news in The New York Times that Nat Hentoff had died at age 91.

Hentoff was an important inspiration for me back when I first decided to become a journalist. I thought he was consistently the best of the jazz critics, but what was particularly special about Hentoff was his ability to go beyond jazz and comment with great passion, wisdom and insight on our world. I especially remember his regular columns on the First Amendment in the Village Voice back in the 1970s and 1980s. I still go back and look at his articles in Downbeat on race or on my favorite artists, and I find each one of his liner notes to be a lesson in jazz history, written without the benefit of historical perspective. We could sure use more voices like that today.

serve as introductions to some of the songs. The readings were performed by Gilbert Millstein, who was a writer for The New York Times and who also contributed liner notes to this record.  In addition to Millstein’s notes and commentary, there is also an essay by Nat Hentoff. Here’s an excerpt: “The audience was hers from before she sang, greeting her and saying good-bye with heavy, loving applause. And at one time, the musicians too applauded. It was a night when Billie was on top, undeniably the best and most honest jazz singer alive.”

As a great recording, as well as a piece of jazz history, this is quite a nice package. It also features Roy Eldridge and Buck Clayton on trumpets; Coleman Hawkins, Al Cohn and Tony Scott on reeds; Carl Drinkard on piano; Carson Smith on bass; Chico Hamilton on drums; Kenny Burrell on guitar. The tracks are: Lady Sings the Blues; Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do; Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone; I’ll Be Seeing You; I Love My Man; Body and Soul; Don’t Explain; Yesterdays; My Man; I Cried For You; Fine and Mellow; I Cover the Waterfront; What A Little Moonlight Can Do.

As always, we have one copy of this record to give away to one fortunate reader of Jazz Collector. To be eligible to win the record, all you have to do is comment on the Jazz Collector site — anywhere on the site — between now and Monday Oct. 12, when the contest ends. At that point all of the eligible names will be placed into a hat, or something like a hat, and the lovely Mrs. Jazz Collector will choose, at random, the winning name. As always, we even pay for the shipping, so it is truly a free collectible, as our previous winners will all attest. So please, begin commenting on the site and we hope to have our greatest contest yet.

Quote of the Day:

      “What is soul in jazz? It’s what comes from within: It’s what happens when the inner part of you comes out. It’s the part of playing you can’t get out of the books and studies.  In my case, I believe that what I heard and felt in the music of my church was the most powerful influence on my musical career. Everyone wants to know where I got that funky style. Well, it came from the church. The music I heard there was open, relaxed, impromptu – soul music.” — Milt Jackson, from the liner notes to the LP Plenty, Plenty Soul, Atlantic 1269, liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

One of the criticisms of the Modern Jazz Quartet was that the structure of the band held back the playing of the brilliant vibist Milt Jackson. This was Jackson’s response when he was asked if, indeed, being in the MJQ held him down:

            “No, not actually. It may not sound or look like it when you’re listening out front because it’s all so well planned, but I still get to play more or less what I want to play. I’m relaxed. I’ve always been able to adjust myself to a situation. When I first joined the MIQ, there were times when I looked at the planning as a handicap, but now I’ve come to look on it as an asset. In terms of the business, and musically too. Discipline can be a good thing and having been under discipline can be a help when you do let loose.” — Source: Liner notes to the LP Milt Jackson, Plenty, Plenty Soul, Atlantic 1269. Liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

 “Lester was a one or two take man. He’d say, ‘I can’t do anything better than that,’ and usually that was it. His statements were emotional ones and when they were done, they were done.”

            Norman Granz on Lester Young. Liner notes from the album The Lester Young Story, Verve MG V-8308, 1960. Liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

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. —