Tom,
Couldn't agree more with these statements. Lester Young is certainly one of
most under-appreciated soloist in jazz history. Even today, there is big
wall of disadvantageous thoughts about his art, based primary on some
critical observations originated back in 1950s where his playing is
described as overwhelmingly into alcohol. The fact is that Lester was among
the most sensitive players ever born, with deep sense for injustice, largely
gifted when hearing and musical ability is concerned. Even booklets on some
of the latest box sets about his music (Verve, 1999) is written with these
"drinking problems" involved largely (I wonder if author of those liner
notes ever listen to material) and nothing more.
Also, you are perfectly right about 3.5 (or 4.5) minute recording time of 78
records. Charlie Parker once sublimated saying something like... if you
can't tell something in 3-minute period, there is nothing you can tell in 10
minutes...
Best wishes,
Milan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 12:20 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Yet another great box set from Mosaic
> Mosaic has been on a great roll lately. Their latest box set of the first
> Count Basie/Lester Young recordings (1936-1940) is truly awesome:
> http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=239-MD-CD
>
> First of all, a good bit of this material hasn't been in print since the
> late-middle LP era (and most of those anthologies I have from that era
> don't sound very good). And another good bit was never issued before,
> although some of that is incomplete takes and other flotsum and jetsum.
> The restoration is great, where they had good grooved sources the sound is
> excellent and even where they had not so good sources they did better than
> most of the LP anthologies that include some of this material. The booklet
> is also superb. Lester Young is under-appreciated, in my opinion. Basie
> has a deserved spot in the Jazz Pantheon.
>
> It's interesting to hear how Basie and company could boil tunes down to
> 3-minute essences for 78's. In a lot of ways, I like this jazz better than
> a lot of the over-extended stuff that came later. Big-band stuff suffered
> a lot without the discipline of short sides, not that you _can't_ write,
> arrange and most importantly play a great 5- or even 10-minute tune, it's
> just that few could and fewer did. Meanwhile, when you strip it down to
> the 78 or 45 side, a real gem is just packed to the last second with
> leap-out-of-the-speakers goodness. It's too bad that the newfangled
> Magnetofon never made it over here in the late 1930's. So much good music
> was made in the last decade of 78's and almost all of it would sound
> better if it had been recorded on tape. The flipside of course is that
> those tapes might well be dust now, whereas the laquers and metal parts
> are obviously still playable, even if they don't sound great.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
>
> --
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