Allan Songer Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Gotta get in some Jimmy Smith for you all in honor of his passing. This one is Blue Note 1529, "The Incredible Jimm Smith Live and the Club Baby Grand in Wilmington Delaware, vol. 2" There are KILLER versions of "Caravan" and "Get Happy" that flat-out BURN! I think you can still get this one as a Japanese import CD. http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2282931 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 One that I haven't heard anyone talk about here is the 1963 album, "Monk's Dream." The Thelonoius Monk Quartet's first recording for Columbia and his first recording after taking several years off. Fantastic album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Monk's Dream. After spending several years at Riverside Monk finally hit the big time with a Columbia recording contract in 1962. Going from Riverside (or Prestige or Blue Note) to Columbia is sort of like going from AA minor league baseball to the New York Yankees! "Monk's Dream" is Monk's best album of the 1960's and other than some fabulous trio recordings made in the 1970's for Black Lion, this is Monks last truly great record. There weren't many new Monk compositions in the 1960's-- he generally reworked his classic tunes with the quartet and did his own take on pop ballads in the trio and solo recordings. The general wisdom is that Columbia (Teo Macero) and Monk weren't a great fit--that he was somehow constrained by the label--but I don't buy it. In Charlie Rouse Monk finally found the PERFECT horn--a much better fit than Coltrane or Johnny Griffin! There is a magical sort of telepathy between Monk and Rouse that can send tingles up your spine when the two interact. All of the Columbia quartet records are solid, but "Monk's Dream" is a masterpiece. There are two solo piano cuts and the rest are from the full quartet--Dunalp and Ore really understood Monk's music and Rouse seemed to be INSIDE Monk's head! If you only own a hadful of jazz recordings, "Monk's Dream" should be one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I have an original 2-eye stereo copy (one of my 80 cent LPs!) and even though it's far from perfect, the recording is magnificent. It's one of my favorite LPs and I play it at least once a week. Thanks for the background Allan. All I knew about it was written on the back of the cover. I also own copies of Monk's Blues and It's Monk's Time (both on Columbia) but neither grab me like Monk's Dream. Not even close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Gary, Got any Jimmy Smith or Thelonius duplicates you want to part with? yer bud, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 No dups but I could burn you copies of The Sermon and Cool Blues. They're the only ones I have on CD. The Jimmy Smith LPs I have are all original and I probably paid more than $20 for the cheapest one. I got the other 2 Monk LPs new (reissues) for about $8 at Tower Records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I have some Jimmy Smith dupes--House Party (BN 4002), The Sermon (a few of these I think), BN1529, BN1512, BN1514, Dyanimic Duo (Verve) and maybe some others. I've been thinning out lately, so not as many as usual. None of them are pristine--in fact they're VG to VG- at BEST--it's REALLY hard to find NM B-3 records--the folks who bought these tended to play the CRAP out of them on marginal equipment. When you DO find a clean original Jimmy Smith Blue Note it's a rare day indeed (with the excpetion of later titles like "Bucket!" or "Rockin' the Boat" for instance)! I've been looking for a NM Baby Face Willette "Face to Face" for TWENTY YEARS! I have a solid VG copy and that is the best I've come across in all my years of looking. Right how there's a PERFECT one on ebay--it will sell for over $200 I'm sure . . . I guess I've grown used to clicks and pops on organ records--they don't seem to bother me a bit . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I've been looking for a nice copy of The Sermon for ages. They always seem to be VG at best. My copies of Prayer Meeting, House Party, Midnight Special, Bashin', Softly As A Summer Breeze, Chicken Shack and Bucket are all at least NM- or better. All my Verve copies like The Cat and Virginia Woolf are almost perfect. It's those early BN copies that are impossible to find in good shape. Allan - If you have a half decent dupe of The Sermon, save it for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 You're right--the Verves are out there in NM shape for 5 to 10 dollars each for the taking. Some titles (Bluesmith for one) are pretty rare and can sell for 10 to 15 dollars! LOL! I was talkin' about the 1500 series and early 4000 series Jimmy Smith Blue Notes (original deep-groove Lexington and 47 W. 63rd pressings). It took me YEARS to find nice copies of the "February 1957" sessions (Blue Note 1547, 1548, 1551, 1552) and I'm still looking to upgrade my 1551 and 1552--they are nice but are pressings circa 1961 or so--deep groove but not true "firsts." The copy of "The Sermon" that I play is from about 1965--"New York" labels with deep grooves (I have a first pressing but it rice-krispies all the way through). And I still don't have a playable original of Blue Note 1528--the one I have is THRASHED, so I listen to the CD when I want to hear that one! I had a remasaterd Stereo Liberty of 1528 that was mint and I regret selling it now--I let it go for about 8 bucks a few years ago. And you have to remember that these Jimmy Smith LPs were the BEST SELLING BLUES NOTES of the period, so if you think digging up a nice copy of BN1552 is hard, try to find a clean Clifford Jordan or JR Monterose record! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovedrummin Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I've been listening to a variety of music this week and generally driving my wife crazy. Elton John: Goodbye Yellowbrick Road (DVD-A) Steely Dan: Gaucho (DVD-A) Allman Bros. Band: Dreams (CD box set) Spencer Davis Group: Best Of SDG (CD) Terry Reid: Bang, Bang, You're Terry Reid (CD) The Zombies: Greatest Hits (CD) The Carpenters: The Singles (SACD) Jimmy Smith: DotCom Blues (CD) Plus a couple compilation CDs I made titled "My Happy Organ" - everybody from Dave "Baby" Cortez, The Rascals & The Doors to Deep Purple, The Animals & Rhinoceros. Gotta love those Hammond B-3, Farfisa & Vox organs. OOPS! This should have been in the week of Feb. 14th. So I added it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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