John Coltrane Trane 90

John Coltrane
Trane 90
Acrobat

Issued to coinide with the 90th Anniversary of the birth of John Coltrane, Acrobat's public domain 4-CD small box "Trane 90," provides a brief survey of the bulk of John Coltrane's astonishing musical career. It doesn't fully cover Coltrane's career because of changes in copyright law in Europe made the original studio recording of "My Favorite Things" (issued in the UK 1964), along with "A Love Supreme" and his last (free jazz) recordings including "Interstellar Space," unavailable.

I trust most of those reading this will be aware of a fair amount of Coltrane's recordings, so a brief summary describing each disc will probably be most helpful. Disc 1 is subtitled "Stablemates - Coltrane the Sideman" and includes Coltrane as a member of assorted Miles Davis groups along with a couple of performances with Thelonious Monk. Included in the selections on this disc includes "Stablemates," the composition by Coltrane's close friend Benny Golson, with Miles and other selections with Miles include Stan Getz's "Dear Old Stockholm," Monk's "Straight No Chaser," "So What" from "Kind of Blue," and a live performance of "On Green Dolphin Street," along with "Monk's Mood" and "Trinkle Tinkle" with Monk himself.

Disc 2 is titled "Straight Street - Coltrane the Leader" and opens with "Straight Street" from an early Prestige date, followed by "Moment's Notice" from his Blue Note album "Blue Train" with a terrific band that included Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. Other noteworthy tracks include "Giant Steps,""Naima," and "Blues For Bechet," in which we see the evolution of Coltrane's quartet (except Steve Davis is on bass on this last number). This disc concludes with the lengthy "Africa" with the classic quartet with orchestra and the spectacular live "Chasin' the Trane" that is almost a duet with drummer Jones.

Disc 3 is "Just Friends - Coltrane Collaborations" and opens with his guest appearance on Sonny Rollins' "Tenor Madness." Noteworthy here is Tadd Dameron's "Soultrane" from a Dameron led prestige date, "Two Bass Hit" from a Red Garland recording, his participation in a George Russell Orchestra date that produced "Manhattan," playing on a Cecil Taylor date for "Just Friends," A session with Milt Jackson that produced "Bags & Trane," and his own "Grand Central," from a Cannonball Adderly session with Miles Davis' then rhythm section.

Disc 4, the final disc is titled "Impressions - Coltrane broadcasts and private tapes," has some fascinating selections starting with Trane with Dizzy Gillespie and Johnny Hodges, then a performance with Miles that was on the Tonight show hosted by Steve Allen in 1955 and another with Miles in 1956 from Philadelphia. The disc and the music closes with classic Coltrane performances of "My Favorite Things" from Newport, "Impressions" from Finland and "Body and Soul," from Birdland in 1962.

As an be seen, there is a generous amount of Coltrane, including some material that most may not be familiar with (thinking about the early live performances on Disc 4). In addition to the four hours and 45 minutes of music, the set comes with a booklet with a fascinating essay by Simon Spillett that discusses Coltrane's legacy, the controversies his music generated and the veneration he still hold over us today. This is very reasonably priced and likely would make a wonderful gift (or stocking stuffer) for a novice jazz listener.

I received from Clint Weiler at MVD Entertainment and this was published in the 2016 Jazz & Blues Report Megal Gift Guide that can be found at jazz-blues.com.

John Lee Hooker The Modern, Chess & Veejay Singles Collection 1949-1962

John Lee Hooker
The Modern, Chess & Veejay Singles Collection 1949-1962
Acrobat

 There have been so many reissues of John Lee Hooker's amazingly prolific recording career, especially those of his early recording career, to which a four-disc set from Acrobat is another addition. The title of this collection, "The Modern, Chess & Veejay Singles Collection 1949-1962," fairly describes its contents. It is not an exhaustive reissue of Hooker's early recordings, but one simply organized around those commercially issued 78s and 45 of Hooker's music that was released on the Bihari Brothers Modern label, recordings issued on Chess, and then a good selection of Hooker' s Vee-Jay recordings ending in 1962. That date likely reflects that those recordings were not affected by European copyright law changes that extended the period for copyright of recordings for recordings issued in 1963 and after, so that they were not in the public domain in Europe. 

This is one of a number of recent public domain reissues that have compiled complete A and B sides of various musical performers. In the case of performers like Eddie Boyd who have not exactly been over-represented by reissues, this has been very valuable and hopefully made more folks aware of the artist's importance. In Hooker's case where so much has been reissued, and whose importance is undeniable, perhaps there is less value, but one cannot dismiss having such a nice chunk of his early, pre-Endless Boogie recordings available. The value of this release is such even if some of Hooker's most gripping recorded performances are excluded because they were issued on other labels like Specialty, King, Sensation, and other small labels, some of which might have been unavailable for copyright or contractual reasons per the liner notes from Paul Watts.

So we get to hear the original classic Hooker recordings including "Boogie Chillun," "Hobo Blues," "Crawlin' King Snake," "Drifting From Door To Door," "Women in My Life," "I'm in the Mood," "It's My Own Fault," "Dimples," and "Boom Boom," some heard in several versions. The chronological presentation of the material allows one to hear the evolution of Hooker's recordings, including the increasing presence of small groups backing him, along with a few recordings from performances he made originally for the folk market that Vee-Jay released. Generally the sound is quite acceptable although a couple of the tracks apparently came from worn originals. It is also fascinating to listen to the early Vee-Jay recordings where the group and Hooker sometimes seemed not totally together. There is simply too much music here to go into depth about specific performances but it does provide a generous sampling of his music directed towards the commercial record buying public.

Full discographical information is provided and Paul Watts provides an nice overview of Hooker's biography and the recordings on this which as he observes provides a substantial chunk of the recordings during the period he established his reputation and made some of his most influential recordings. If one wanted a collection of early John Lee Hooker, one could do far worse this convenient set.

I received from a publicist. This review appeared in the November-December 2016 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 369) although on the initial posting of the issue was labelled a DVD. Here is the King of the Boogie from the sixties doing one of his more famous numbers.

B.B. King and His Orchestra Live

Acrobat Music, a European label that I am familiar with from some of their public domain reissues of jazz and vintage rhythm’n’blues, has issued their initial batch of releases with their American affiliate of the same name. Among the releases is B.B. King and His Orchestra Live, a 1983 performance at the MIDEM trade fair in Cannes as part of a jazz concert with Dave Brubeck and Pat Metheny. Outside of identifying trumpeter Calvin Owens as leading the band, the rest of the personnel are unidentified. 

This opens with a barn-burning opening B.B.’s Theme, after which the tempo slows down and Owens brings B.B. to the stage. Perhaps because of the setting he launches into instrumental versions of “Why I Sing the Blues, and Darling You Know I Love You. On the former song B.B. opens up with a rocking solo with punching horns framing the funky bass guitar solo before King takes the tune down as he slows down the tempo, interjects some lines from Dueling Banjos, before getting into a call and response with the horns. It is rather unusual to hear these staples of his repertoire done without vocals, but perhaps he was responding to this being a jazz concert. 

A rendition of Sweet Little Angel, opens with a lengthy guitar introduction before he launches into his vocal. It is followed by Everyday I Have the Blues, with a lengthy piano solo to take it out. Labeled as “All Over Again is a powerful treatment of “I Got a Mind to Give Up Living (and Go Shopping Again), with King’s impassioned vocal smartly supported by the orchestra here. There is nothing surprising with The Thrill Is Gone, ands B.B. follows with a good rendition of Caledonia, before closing with a fervent Paying the Cost to Be the Boss. 

This is an enjoyable recording, as if B.B. and his first-rate band were capable of less, and the instrumental renditions of some classic numbers make this an unusual release. However, there is so much live B.B. King out there that is as good, if not better, than this.

I received a review copy from Jazz & Blues Report in which I believe this review first appeared.