CD and Vinyl Finds

A few weekend finds. (I'm always looking.) Quite a few Blues recordings added to the cd section since the last time I looked. Compact discs and vinyl found ......

'Between Life & Death' from Studebaker John. From 2004. Slide guitar. There's never enough slide guitar in the world.

'Revelator' from Tedeschi Trucks Band. From 2011. I'm always a sucker for slide guitar. Southern-Rock, jamband tunes. A musical lineage stretching back to The Allman Brothers.

'Eye to Eye' from Ronnie Earl, Pinetop Perkins, Calvin Jones & Willie Smith. A 1996 recording. 

'.... at Home' from Julie London. On vinyl from 1960. Torch singer. 

I remember her from the 1970's television show, 'Emergency.' It was years later when I discovered she was a jazz and pop vocalist in earlier days.

Swinging Ella

Saturday evening vinyl find enhancing my collection. Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers. Hopefully most people know who Ella Fitzgerald is but just in case, these are Jazz vocals.

A 1961 pressing of a record originally released in 1959, a mono version on the Verve Record label and the beautiful black vinyl, in near pristine shape. The store owner commented that I had just pulled off a great discovery. I was initially taken in by the cover photo. 

I was flipping through a random stack of albums on the counter of the record store, finding nothing special, when suddenly near the bottom of the stack, there was this!! Proving once again, that you never know what you might find. Had I come across this record two or three years ago, I'd likely flipped right on by. Fortunately, I've grown and advanced when it comes to music appreciation.

Claire Austin

When Your Lover Has Gone by Claire Austin.

Torch singer!! I stumbled across this gem at my local record store. A new name for my collection. Jazz and Blues vocalist from the 1950's. This album recorded in 1956. I'm always intrigued by anything from the year I was born. The cover photo and that it's a part of the Original Jazz Classics Series were also huge draws. 

The store owner told me that if I was unhappy for any reason, to return it. I sure hope he's not waiting for the return 

On The Radio

Sometimes you hear things for the first time on the old school radio station. Driving around town this afternoon I was introduced to: 'Sunbath' by Woody Shaw. Trumpet fueled and soulful. I read that it's from 1975. Woody Shaw - Sunbath

Prior to that, I heard a piano ballad tune called, 'Fix It' sung powerfully and beautifully by Lady Blackbird. Lady Blackbird - Fix It. The opening piano notes had me thinking of the classic song, 'Peace Piece' by Bill Evans but then she starts singing and not to lessen Bill Evans by one ounce, but WOW!! It's from an album titled, 'Black Acid Soul' and it's been ordered without any additional research or song sampling. This voice deserves to be coming through my speakers with the volume turned up. 

Big Band Jazz Radio

A few years ago, I stumbled across this treasure trove of  recordings of old radio programs in an antique shop. There were nine or ten records in the bins. I knew nothing about them but the price was good so I took a chance on one, loved it and quickly returned to purchase the others. Shortly later, I discovered three or four more records from the series in my local record store.

Live recordings of Big Band Jazz and Swing from the 1930's and 40's on the Hindsight Records label. I think there's a few from 1950's programs as well. There's an announcer introducing each song which gives the feeling of sitting around a radio in those years, possibly on a Saturday or Sunday evening ..... Maybe a glimpse into what my parents and grandparents life may have been like.

Mono recordings. Interesting liner and song notes on the back side of each album cover. Part of my awakening in recent years into styles other than the music I grew up with. Sometimes the search for vinyl records leads to great discoveries. History!!!

Judy Garland

It wasn't all that long ago when I would have never listened to Judy Garland. I would have never given it a chance. But with age came an interest in the music from the decades before I was born.

Big Band sounds from the late 1930's and 40's. This now is history to me ..... as much as any book I own. I want to hear these sounds that my parents most likely danced and sang along to. Bonus points for being on vinyl.

I don't recall purchasing this but I obviously did. Looking through the collection and there it was.

Billie Holiday

This was last evening's listening experience. A pleasure. Billie Holiday ..... Not something that I would have listened to as recently as ten years ago. Fortunately I've since managed to evolve beyond an apparent state of clueless. Jazz vocals from the 1940's and 50's.  A compilation of recordings. One of the greatest voices in history. Some of the songs were recorded on 78's and sound a bit scratchy but that only adds to the ambiance.

The great Jazz bassist, Charles Mingus is playing on some of the tunes.

I found the compact disc earlier in the day at the public library's annual book sale. Fifty cents for great music!! A bargain!! Note that her first name was spelled incorrectly on the album cover.

New Direction in Jazz

Ambrose Akinmusire's 2014 recording, the imagined savior is far easier to paint.

I see the title in lower case lettering wherever I seek information.

On the Blue Note Records label which rarely disappoints the listener.

Completely new sounds for me. The alternative directions in Jazz that I've been searching for. Stunning and wildly imaginative!!! An extreme pleasure to take in.

Ambrose Akinmusire is a trumpet player.

All About Jazz Review ...... Because lacking the proper vocabulary, I'm at a total loss to describe these sounds.

Today's Vinyl Jazz Discoveries

An afternoon stop at my local record store. Seems to be a Jazz kind of day. Lured in by the liner notes, song notes and album cover artwork of each.

• Don Shirley - Drown In My Own Tears
• Jimmy Lunceford and His Orchestra
• Clark Terry / Bob Brookmeyer Quintet - The Power of Positive Swinging

Then listening to the "Divaville" Jazz program on KMHD-radio, Gresham, Oregon ..... Dedicated to exploring Jazz Vocal recordings primarily from the 1930's-1960's years. Great voices heard here!! Despite the news and rumors over the past decade that it's dying, there's still good sounds to be heard on the radio.

Divaville Radio
KMHD Jazz Radio

In the liner notes ..... "One index of the singular pleasures to be had from the music of the Clark Terry - Bob Brookmeyer Quintet is that it not so much defies categories but rather ignores them."

I wonder occasionally that if it wasn't for myself, would some of these records ever be taken home?  I often declare, "No more!" ..... but then a week or two later, I'm back searching through the vinyl bins. There always seems to be something previously un-noticed. It's my addiction I suppose.