Yes, now that I pulled the original Keynote album, that is all correct. So my father left Majestic
early 1947 or late 1946. I thought he was there longer. He didn't join them until after he got
discharged from the Marines, finished recouperating in a hospital in San Francisco and came back
home. So I doubt he worked for Majestic more than a year or so. Anyway, the exact timeframe isn't
that important. The main point I was making is, he and Hammond first worked together at Majestic.
See Hammond's autobiography.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 2:30 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Nice Sonora Article
Sorry, April 28th, according to this article. And they say it was waxed at
Reeves.
UD
On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 2:29 PM, David Lewis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> April 25, 1947
>
>
> http://www.doaks.org/library-archives/dumbarton-oaks-archives/from-the-archives/dumbarton-oaks-concerto
>
> UD
>
> On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 2:06 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> When was Stravinsky conducting "Dumbarton Oaks" recorded? That was
>> originally released on Keynote and recorded at Majestic, I am pretty sure.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 2:03 PM
>>
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Nice Sonora Article
>>
>>
>> The latest Keynote session I can find is from May 1947, and these turn out
>> to be records I well know, via their Mercury 78 album set issue "Lennie
>> Tristano"
>>
>> Lennie Tristano Trio
>>
>> Lennie Tristano (p), Billy Bauer (g), Bob Leininger (b)
>>
>> New York, May 23, 1947
>>
>> KH200 BLUE BOY (2:52)
>>
>> KH201 ATONEMENT (2:33)
>>
>> KH202-1 COOLIN’ OFF WITH ULANOV (2:51)
>>
>> KH202-2 COOLIN’ OFF WITH ULANOV (2:32) (*)
>>
>> Dave Lewis
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Dave, Hammond did a bunch of Keynote sessions at Majestic Studio, he talks
>>> about it in his autobiography. He worked there up until the studio
>>> closed.
>>> Keynote was bought by Mercury right about the time Majestic closed up,
>>> and
>>> some of the Keynote titles were quickly reissued as Mercury records. The
>>> reason so much Mercury work was done at Reeves in the late 78 era/early
>>> LP
>>> era/dawn of tape as a master media in the US timeframe was the connection
>>> of Reeves hiring my father and John Hammond taking the Mercury work
>>> there.
>>> Mitch Miller was hired by Hammond, as was David Hall. In addition to all
>>> of
>>> Mercury's early self-produced classical content, Reeves was the recording
>>> site for Norman Granz produced sessions with Charlie Parker ("With
>>> Strings," which was arranged and conducted by Mitch Miller) and Machito,
>>> parts of "The Jazz Scene," among others. Granz started working with my
>>> father at Reeves, and they continued to work together into the 50s. Granz
>>> started doing more of his recording on the west coast and at smaller NYC
>>> studios later on, but he still did occasional sessions with my father up
>>> to
>>> the time he sold Verve to MGM. My father always singled out Hammond and
>>> Granz as two people who taught him a lot about music and how sound and
>>> music work together. For those interested in the history of recorded
>>> jazz,
>>> and how the jazz business works within the record business, it's very
>>> worthwhile to read John Hammond's autobiography "On The Record" and the
>>> recent book about Normal Granz by Tad Hershorn. Hammond and Granz were
>>> probably the original "frienemies," highly inter-connected, respectful of
>>> each other's accomplishments but rarely able to be friendly to each other
>>> because of rivalries and jealousies.
>>>
>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 1:22 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Nice Sonora Article
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Tom,
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Just as" they were failing is about right, as Majestic filed for
>>>> bankruptcy in February 1948. Hammond was fired by Majestic in January
>>>> 1947,
>>>> but I'm sure by this time
>>>> no one cared who was in there. I wish I knew which session this was;
>>>> Hammond, of course, was subsequently hired by Mercury and maybe that's
>>>> where this session
>>>> ended up as well.
>>>>
>>>> My ARSC Journal article about Majestic is in AMP, but it is currently
>>>> mis-linked.
>>>>
>>>> best,
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 7:09 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Majestic's NYC studio was still operating in 1948. I know this because
>>>> my
>>>>
>>>>> father was chief engineer there and he made recordings with John
>>>>> Hammond
>>>>> there in 1948, shortly before moving to Reeves Sound Studios. The
>>>>> story I
>>>>> always heard was that he was hired by Reeves just as Majestic was
>>>>> failing.
>>>>> Mercury ended up buying Majestic's catalog, along with Keynote, Swan
>>>>> and
>>>>> some other small NYC labels.
>>>>>
>>>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:22 PM
>>>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Nice Sonora Article
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> One post-war label definitely on my radar is Sonora, "Clear as a Bell"
>>>>>
>>>>> (not.) I haven't seen this before; Robert L. Campbell's study,
>>>>>> published in June. Our own David Diehl helped out with it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://myweb.clemson.edu/~campber/sonora.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One thing: The Majestic label did fold at the end of 1947, not in
>>>>>> early
>>>>>> 1949. By February 1948 they were already being dissolved in the
>>>>>> courts.
>>>>>> However, they did do the same thing Sonora did; stripped the record
>>>>>> label
>>>>>> out of the Radio and Television interest and saved the latter.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dave Lewis
>>>>>> Hamilton, OH
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>
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