Paul Desmond

Am exploring many new(old?) artists on the jazz side as I branch of from Miles & 'Trane & Sonny.

Discovered Art Pepper through the gold DCC's, now I'm a huge fan.

What about Paul Desmond?

Heard bits and pieces of an album w/ Gerry Mulligan but that's it. Can get the Classic Records gold 'Desmond Blue' for a good price.

Is that the place to start?

 

Well there's always Brubeck's Time Out with Desmond on Sax. But, Desmond Blue is good too. Desmond's Take 10 is also excellent.

 

Desmond Blue on Classic? I'm gonna have to pull that one and listen......been a long time.

 

For the most part...any Desmond is a gonna be good. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend Desmond Blue as a starter session. I would recommend any of the Desmond/Hall collaborations except this one. Not that the album is bad but I just don't care for the orchestration on this one.

 

I just got EASY LIVING (on Bluebird) in todays mail, won over the weekend. I've listened to it once, and am very impressed. This appears to be a compilation with tracks from 1963, 64 and 65. This CD sounds real good to me.. mentioned in the liner notes... "mixed from 3-track analog to 2-track digital". One track on this disc strangely enough, reminds me of a droning jam within a (live Zeppelin) 1977 No Quarter... only better.

I won BLUES IN TIME mfsl last week, but I'm still digesting that one, and can't really contribute an informed opinon just yet.

I would love to hear any other Paul Desmond recommendations by forum members too! .... and Yes, Dave Brubeck's Time Out SACD is excellent.

 

1) Regarding Desmond Blue, I suggest you get the newest RCA Bluebird release - lots of bonus tracks, and the sound is very good though slightly on the bright side. But you can't go wrong with any CD issue of this album that has ever been put out - they're all very good. The only one to avoid is the second japanese CD edition w/ no bonus tracks from the mid-90s. Although it sounds very warm and intimate, it has an extreme amount of tape hiss for no good reason.

2) Don't bother to hunt down a copy of the Classic Records vinyl edition: It sounds *exactly* like the Gold CD.

3) If you're willing to spend a fortune, find a copy of the Paul Desmond Mosaic LP box set.

4) Avoid the 1975 Brubeck/Desmond Duets, which have recently been re-released in the japanese mini-lp-sleeve-series. It's boring.

5) Find a used LP copy of "Time Further Out".

Arne

 

I like just about anything Desmond recorded with Brubeck. It's interesting to note that Desmond sits out a few of the tracks on Time Further Out. (A few? Heck, most of side two!) In a Brubeck bio I read, if the mercurial Desmond didn't like a song, he wouldn't play on it. Time In is another Brubeck I like.

Opinions are split on the A&M/CTi albums. I'm not wild about Don Sebesky's overwrought orchestrations, but Desmond still gets some good playing in. I like From The Hot Afternoon mainly for all of the Brazilian influence, but others I know prefer Summertime and even more so, Bridge Over Troubled Water which was an album of Simon & Garfunkel covers.

Bossa Antigua is a good one on RCA. I like Desmond Blue personally, but I know one Desmond fan who thinks the orchestrations are awful.

His sound is best described as a "dry martini".

 

What about "Pure Desmond" from 1974/75? I like that album, too...

 

Lots of good Desmond recordings around. Try:

Paul Desmond Quartet "Live" -- reissued by Verve/A&M a couple years ago, a quartet date with guitarist Ed Bickert in which Desmond stretches out quite a bit. A little reminiscent of the work he did with Jim Hall (see the RCAs below).

The two quartet dates Desmond did with Gerry Mulligan are terrific:

Blues in Time (Verve) though this may have a different title.

Two of a Mind -- the new RCA Bluebird reissue of this is the one to get.

His other RCA recordings with Jim Hall have been reissued by RCA/France in excellent sound and with bonus tracks. Look for:

Easy Living (as mentioned above)
Glad to Be Unhappy
Take Ten

Also, 1975: The Duets, his duet recording with Brubeck is sublime, IMHO, not dull at all.

Finally, try looking for the session he did for Warners called First Place Again. It has Desmond with Jim Hall, as well as Percy Heath and Connie Kay fom the MJQ. This might still be available on CD from Discovery. AND Desmond's date with the Modern Jazz Quartet is still in print too, I think.

 

Didn't RCA issue a Complete Desmond on RCA box a few years back? How's the sound on that?

JD

 

Paul Desmond Quartet Live is a great disc - it's the kind of CD that die-hard jazz fans and casual listeners alike can both enjoy. The sax solos are varied and wonderful - with a sound like...a dry martini...as Paul used to say.

Of course, I'm especially partial to this live recording since I was at one of the gigs that were recorded in Toronto.

 

The Desmond/Mulligan disk is a gem!

L.

 

Rick, that Toronto gig must have been great. I regret I never got to see Desmond perform.

John, yes, RCA did release a complete Desmond box. I forgot. I've never heard it, so I don't know how it compares sonically with any of the recent remasterings.

 

I have an RCA box, which is his complete works with Hall and all other RCA work. It's a good place to start a collection affordably.

 

If you like Paul Desmond, look for any recordings with Gary Foster playing Alto. He 's got the same type of sound, just very under recognized.

 

I wish I could say that I enjoyed the gig as much as I wish I had. I was in my early 20's way back then and wound up at the Desmond gig due to a birthday party dinner (the venue was an Italian restuarant!). I was not a jazz fan at the time and tried to enjoy the music but found it tough to get in to. Now, all the years later, I would love to time-travel back and be there again - but at least the CD (and the LP I also have) let me hear it again.

 

Here's another vote for that live album. Desmond sounds great, the sound is good, it's well recorded, Bickert plays very inventively, and they do an interesting reworking of Take Five. Check it out.

 

Avoid the 2LP-on-1CD Paul Desmond RCA discs on Collectables. The remastering quality is only poor to acceptable.

 

Just heard some jazz drinking a latte in a coffee bar...it was Desmond. He is one musician who you can recognize three notes in. Such sweet tone!

 

'cool imagination' is very nice also.

 

Her's the Desmond Blue Gold CD "Classic Records"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2571615846&category=43667


Starting at $13.

 

I was disappointed.

I bought 'Desmond Blue' some years back based upon reputation and I found it to be his most boring record. Every other thing he did was superior, I thought (I have maybe a dozen other PD records, with & without Brubeck).

He and the producer tried so hard to step away from Brubeck they walked him out
past the point of interesting, I'm afraid.

The cover is lovely, though.

If you want orchestra cocktail with sax, the Jackie Gleason lp's blow 'Desmond Blue' away. I kid you not!

 

I've never heard any of Desmond's work without Brubeck. I absolutely love the stuff he did with Dave. It is magic!

 

I've got the RCA complete box. Very attractive and durable packaging (though it's like some of the Miles boxes: booket glued in and hard to maneuver, especially when trying to read the edges of lines).

The sound is exceptionally good--far better, I gather, than what RCA accomplished at around the same time with the Sonny Rollins masters. That said, not all the RCA Desmond albums were equally well-recorded, though they're never less than acceptable.

I realize it's a matter of taste, but I'm usually surprised at the negativity that Desmond Blue seems to engender. I think it's a really gorgeous album, and the string arrangements are far more subtle than they might've been. It's also the best-sounding of the RCA albums, I think.

MK

 

My favorite Desmond reissues are the 24-bit remastered Japanese mini-LP CD versions of Easy Living (Victor BVCJ-37220), Glad to Be Unhappy (Victor BVCJ-37218) and Bossa Antigua (Victor BVCJ-37219). The sound of these CDs is crisp, detailed and transparent, at least to my ears.

I'm still looking for the Japanese mini-LP CD version of Desmond's Take Ten (Victor BVCJ-37216) If anyone knows where I can get one, please send me a PM. Thanks.

P.S. If I've posted this in the wrong place, just let me know.