Comments on: A Couple of Golden Oldies

By: caetano

caetano — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:20:36 +0000

This thread allows us to remember that some of the greatest jazz artists were on major labels for much of their careers. Columbia in the late 1950s alone had Miles, Duke, Armstrong, Brubeck, etc. Within a few years, they had Monk too for a stretch. Those records were never rare and never of great financia value as collectibles. But they were just among the greatest recordings ever. To me, that’s the greater value everytime.

The Blue Note madness is about collecting RARE records from a small independent label and watching the global market for these commodities heave and sway with the location of yet another NM Hank Mobley or Jutta Hipp lp with Plastylite Ear and deep grooves, etc. I love reading about this here, but my music budget means that I am officially so over the Blue Note collectors market.

By: GST

GST — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 20:47:54 +0000

GTF: I knew someone would call me out on that ?

Just think you could own an original NM- copy of A Love Supreme as well as all of Coltrane’s other Impulse and Atlantic albums for the price of a true first NM- pressing of a Blue Train. I know which I would take. Of course if you could afford both…

By: Gregory the Fish

Gregory the Fish — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 20:24:15 +0000

GST: “A Love Supreme” is not Coltrane’s seminal work!? Blasphemy! 😉

By: Shaft

Shaft — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 18:41:49 +0000

Collecting and Listening to Great Music is not always the same thing 😉

It however great when they coincide 😉

By: Michel

Michel — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 18:23:16 +0000

GST, excellent note. Very clever. I completely agree with you. Personnally, i’m a huge fan of Blue Note, but i think Blue Note tends to narrow our tastes in Jazz, and has made many of us (including me, of course) ignore many aspects of Jazz music. Everytime i put Stan Getz’s “Sweet Rain” or Rolf Kuhn’s “Streamline” or Freddie Greene “Mr Rhythm” or any Bobby
Timmons Riverside recording on my turntable i said to myself : “thank god, i quit my Blue Note addiction !!”

By: GST

GST — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 15:09:22 +0000

I think the fetishizing of Blue Note is interesting especially when you look at everyone’s “Stupid List.” The majority of the people listed recorded very little for Blue Note (e.g. Miles, Coltrane, Monk, and Evans). Although I guess one could argue when some of them did record for Blue Note they produced their seminal work (Coltrane and Dolphy to name two), and a least a few people listed Mobley and Morgan amongst their favorites which albums fetch a premium in the collecting world.

By: don-lucky

don-lucky — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:41:32 +0000

…It’s funny how that list made us start to look back at the music itself, and decide what we truly enjoyed, beyond just what is rare or collectable.
I spent a lot of time looking over the signed LP’s and collectables hanging on my office wall, before I realized that these treasures would not necessarily make the list, because even though they may have value, it really came down to the music. The minute I posted my response, I couldn’t help putting on some Louis Armstrong Hot Fives / Sevens (It was on my list) just to help reassure myself about what I had been contemplating all afternoon.
That being said, so many of our selections are great because of who they played with… Granted, any of them playing solo would be amazing, but who knows if their contributions would have been as monumental if not for the sidemen on their small band recordings. Billie Holiday for example was my number one selection, and Lester Young & Teddy Wilson would most certainly been her accompaniment. I wonder how those lists of ours will change in the days, weeks, months and years ahead of us. Thanks for putting it all into perspective Al !