It's the right way to go. I have a Humpback Victrola and a Regal portable 78 player, both 90 years old but still working great. Steve recommended I play 78's through my system instead, for full fidelity. I bought a Shure mono cartridge and put it on my Philips 212 and the sound difference is night and day. Check thrift stores for 78's. I've had good luck with some reissues like those Steve mentioned earlier. One example of the many I've found is a Louis Armstrong reissue set, pictured below. It's a heavyweight gatefold jacket, 4 x 10" 78RPM album set, with a bunch of 1920's sides repressed in the late 40's. They sound great, and you find them CHEAP! (The sides are: Gutbucket Blues,Yes Im In The Barrel,Muskrat Ramble,Skid Dat De Dat, Coronet Chop Suey,My Heart, You're Next,Oriental Strut)
Nice LA set. Yeah I see stuff like that all the time in the thrift stores. Gonna look closer now. Did any of this stuff end up on good sounding 33's?
The New Orleans Owls..... http://www.amazon.com/Owls-Hoot-New-Orleans/dp/B000007SE7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291652162&sr=1-1
I'm sure it did, but the best & easiest & cheapest way to get this material is to order the JSP box set, which sells for less than $18.
Regardless, Christian was a great jazz musician well worth checking out. By the way it looks like several others mentioned artists that really don't fit what the OP is looking for.
Agreed. That's right, I don't see much 1920s/early 1930s "hot jazz" either, apart from some stuff in RZangpo2's lists
Australia also made high quality pressings of Columbia and affiliated records, and unlike EMI in the UK who brought all labels under its banner in conformity with the type of pressings offered on HMV (solid shellac) continued producing laminated pressings for all EMI items after its inception. (If a cracked 1940s Aussie HMV of Glenn Miller's 'Chattanooga choo-choo' is any indication, that is--it is a laminated disc--imagine a Victor-sourced HMV record that looks like it was pressed by Columbia, and you have the idea.)
Without steering this music thread too fr into a discussion of 78 rpm playback gear. Bear in mind that some of those re-pressings from 20's parts are going to play some of the 'odd' speeds they were originally cut. Armstrong's Heebie Jeebies for instance, properly plays at about 80 rpm. Helpful to have a TT with a pitch control.
Good point. Plus there's the need for a phono pre with all the different EQ curves. And a good 78 cart. Probably why I haven't really dug into it much yet. Lot's to keep in mind. But the music! Seems like it's worth it.
I'd recommend the two volumes of Louis Prima on JSP. These are Davies transfers of marvelous hot jazz just like Jerry likes. And most feature the clarinet of Pee Wee Russell. Pee Wee was one of the true individuals of hot jazz. An incredible mind!
Just to restate what kind of early jazz I'm looking for: Late 20's early 30's bands or small orchestras that played dynamic music. Mostly instrumental if I had my druthers. I'd like to avoid schmaltz and overtly commercial stuff. I already have recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Luis Russell, Henry "Red" Allen", Jelly Roll Morton, Jabbo Smith and others I've mentioned throughout the thread. I love the idea of lesser known (to me at least) artists suggested here, like Bennie Moten, Bix, washboard bands, Brit bands, Johnny Dodds, Tiny Parham, Clarence Williams and all the assorted collections. Still, my biggest disappointment is the availablity problem and high costs of finding these gems. Oh yeah. And noise reduction on some labels' CDs.
If you outfitted yourself with a decent basic TT/cart setup, and you're prepared to sift through a lot of records, maybe it is. As has been said over and over, the music can never sound better than off the original records. I recently dug up a nice Missouri Jazz Band side on Banner, but it was the lone 'prize' within a whole bunch (several hundreds of records.) Actually there were a few other things I liked, too, but not jazz. The real desirable early jazz stuff is getting rarer all the time, out in the wild. Leaving aside those that have been ground to nothing on old wind up machines with steel needles tracking at ounces of pressure. Collectors have been after them pretty steadily for years now, and even those 40's era re-pressings (which used to be virtually junk records) are now going up in value, and rarity.
That Rhythmakers album looks great. A search on amazon, however, gives me a used copy for 50 bucks! Anyway to get this at a reasonable price?
I collect all kinds of stuff. So I know the hard work of digging...and the thrill of finding the gems. I'm already digging thru 100's, if not 1000's of LPs a week so I might as well dig thru the couple of dozen 78s that are usually stuffed under the LP racks too. One thing I collect is old Marx toys so I know the world of looking at 1000s of beat up items to find the one that slipped thru unharmed. Call me sick but I like the hunt. Lot's of new names for me to keep in mind. Thanks to everyone again.
Yeah, Retrieval has a copy for $12. They have been known to use NR but the Rhythmakers CD I spoke of also claims to use NR. (My Retrieval copy of the Luis Russell Orchestra doesn't appear to have NR!) I was thinking of ordering the Retrieval Rhythmakers version to compare, but maybe we can do our own shootout! http://www.amazon.com/1932-Complete...1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1291663625&sr=1-1-spell
Thanks, Jerry. Previewing the tracks... damn that stupid old-timey singing, though, hate it. That Bugle Call Rag you linked to... good lord is that wonderful. I'm thinking instead of getting this CD that has awful singing and a bunch of repeated tracks, just downloading a few tracks. Any particular recommendations there? If anyone's interested in Bix Biederbecke and Frankie Trambauer and listens digitally, my approach was to get this JSP box set called Bix & Tram, 5 CDs, rip the whole thing, delete all the tracks that are burried under terrible vocals or sweet arrangements, group the remainder by whether Bix or Tram was leading the session, and come up with my own single CD compilations by each artist. Those two "cds" are pretty amazing to listen to. I don't do vinyl, and certainly not 78s so yeah I'm limited to digital. It's kind of ridiculous though if in 2010 that means I'm limited in what music I can collect.
Thanks Mike! It just shows that there's always more to learn and stuff we aren't aware of. Except with you and the Grateful Dead, of course! Yeah, I hate some of that schmaltzy singing too. To recommend select cuts I need to play my copy and make notes, which I'll be happy to do. The best cut IMHO is a vocal also, but by Henry Red Allen: "Who Stole The Lock." WILD!!! I strongly suggest that anyone who likes that cut seek out more Henry Red Allen, and Luis Russell with Allen in the band. Check out Allen's 1933 sessions with Coleman Hawkins, who he continued to record with into the 1950's! Allen also stars in the music and video releases of the famous "Sound of Jazz" sessions, where he's reunited with many titans of jazz, including Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell, Count Basie, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Billy Holiday, Rex Stewart etc. I was thinking of ordering that JSP Bix/Tram set. Thanks for the editing tip!
This is Vol. 1 of the Prima on JSP, easy to find online cheap. Really great stuff, no editing really needed. I'm not really a big fan of the Prima of the late thirties and beyond but love this early stuff. It's Hot Jazz done with zest and style.
Two thrillers from 1932.... Reefer Man ~ Harlen Lattimore & Connie's Inn Orchestra The Man From Harlem ~ Cab Calloway Orchestra (from the Stash compilation 'Reefer Songs' 1932 -1945)
Benny Moten? I like this one. A hot double cd from HEP mastered by J. R. T. Davies, 46 cuts. 1929- 1932. Dynamic with a nice soundstage, clean and clear. With a great booklet written by Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix.
And, uh....hmmm....."Benny" was his cousin(Yeah, that's the ticket!), this comp is from "Bennie". Sorry. Too much goin' on around the computor, today.
