I pride myself on hardly ever having misjudged people. Naturally, I have been completely wrong at times (and when I am/was wrong, I am/was completely off), but as far as I recall, the number of blunders were rather limited. It is my profession to evaluate people and although that is often quite difficult, I usually get it right at some point, especially if I am able to spend longer periods of time with the people in question.

That’s why I would state that Ed Thigpen is not only a cool guy, but also a true gentleman. Now, I have absolutely no idea if he walks around at home throwing terrible tantrums or if he has a tendency to easily go off the rails in more private settings, but whenever I had the chance to experience his personality up close, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would be a great friend to have.

See, when I lived in Copenhagen, I met Ed Thigpen and was actually his student for a shorter period of time. Not that he remembers, I think, but I do. If he did remember, I’m sure he would recall a rather lazy and seemingly disinterested student who didn’t hang around for all that long. Case closed.

The story is easily told. I attended a school called CIS (Copenhagen International School) and Ed Thigpen gave drum lessons there for a while. And I took some. I didn’t get very far because I was a bone-headed person then, only interested in playing loud noisy stuff myself, and although I was interested in jazz also then, I had my sights set on Stewart Copeland, Simon Phillips and the likes. I could kick myself today, but it’s too late for that (well, not really, but rather pointless in the end). But the memories of those few lessons are fond ones nevertheless. For example, there was this small miniature set standing in the basement of the school, built by some local manufacturer, and at some point I sat down and did a small bit of my Gene Krupa impression, floor tom and all, and Ed Thigpen smiled benignly and after I was finished he sat down and gave me his. Those 30 seconds or so just stunned me and, in a way, intimidated me as well. That was certainly not his intention, but I just went home and said to myself that I was never going to be that good. What I remember best though was his extremely pleasant way of talking, of explaining things and, when playing, his impeccable attention to detail, both as a teacher and a drummer. And his incredible patience.

I never had the feeling I needed to have the chance to turn the clock back a few decades, but in this one instance I’d love to have that chance, just to show that the more mature person I am today (I hope) would have approached the whole thing quite differently than I did in my rebellious years, trying to soak up as much of the incredible routine and professionalism Ed Thigpen was and is oozing on a daily basis.

No matter what, I credit Ed Thigpen with also rekindling a flame that had been burning brightly in my younger years and had started to flicker badly around the time I met him and took those comparatively few lessons. I’ve often stated on this site that my love for jazz came (mostly) from my father’s record collection and his obvious love for the music, but that love and interest had taken severe hits and was overpowered by heavy metal, punk and other rather noisy variants around that time. At that time, “Sunday Papers” by Joe Jackson was a few miles closer to my heart than the Count Basie big band’s smoking version of “Corner Pocket”, and the trade-offs between Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing of Judas Priest were regular favorites which relegated those of Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman in small group sessions to the dusty parts of my old shelf system.

I might not have learned my drum lessons, but I pricked up my ears the second Ed Thigpen started talking about jazz, about his experience, his hard work and the many highlights of his career. From my vantage point today, that made me search out the records again that I had listened to intensively the years previously and before I knew it, that door had opened again, first a tiny bit and then, after a comparatively short time, it was kicked open wide. Today, things have reversed completely. I still enjoy a rush of 60s, 70s and 80s metal, blues, pop and fusion, but jazz, especially that of the small group session type, has become the music I have listened to most these past 20 and more years.

Of course, I had seen Ed Thigpen play live tons of times, both before I met him and after, until today. He had moved to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, in 1972 and when I got there in the end 70s, he was well-established in the scene, frequently appearing live in Sweden with two famous Swedish singers, Sylvia Vrethammer and Alice Babs, and around Scandinavia and the rest of Europe with such luminaries as Svend Asmussen, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander, Ernie Wilkins, Kenny Drew, and, last but not least, Thad Jones, whose orchestra(s) I went to see frequently. And from the time I left Copenhagen, sometime towards the end of 1982, until last year’s Copenhagen Jazz Festival, I tried to catch Ed Thigpen every time he happened to be playing when I was around, at the now defunct Montmatre Jazz Club, or at the new Copenhagen JazzHouse.

As I got older I tried to get my hands on any of his recordings I could find and today I would consider him my favorite drummer, only rivaled by Jeff Hamilton. Not surprisingly, the latter is as tasteful a player as Ed Thigpen.

I) Beginnings:

Edmund Leonard “Ed” Thipgen was born on December 28, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ben Thigpen (born on November 16, 1908 in Laurel, Mississippi - died on October 5th, 1971 in St. Louis), is still today known as an accomplished drummer himself, having worked with the Andy Kirk Band in the 1930s and 1940s. Ed Thigpen grew up in Los Angeles and attended Thomas Jefferson High School there, a school which boasts such alumni as Dorothy Dandridge, Art Farmer, Chico Hamilton and Dexter Gordon. At Jefferson High Thigpen played in the high school’s swing band which was led by renowned teacher Samuel Browne. Browne’s name is closely intertwined with the history of Los Angeles and its music scene. The following comes from Rhino Records‘ website (link now dead):

The ’30s saw the beginnings of an integrated faculty in the Los Angeles public secondary schools, which dramatically impacted the music programs. High schools along the Central Avenue corridor had mixed enrollments–black, Hispanic, Japanese-American, Chinese-American, and white students. However, the faculties were solidly white. Despite the fact that many college-educated blacks lived throughout the community, none had been hired until the mid-’30s, when Samuel R. Browne was contracted to teach music at Jefferson, a few blocks east of Central Avenue at 41st and Hooper. Years later Browne recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that upon his hiring he was called into the office of an assistant district superintendent who cautioned him: ‘Remember, Brownie, now that you’ve got the job, you’re going to have to do the work of three white men.’ Browne remained at Jefferson for over two decades, creating a model program in jazz education and directly impacting the lives of many musicians, in and out of the classroom, who subsequently became major contributors to the art and culture. In Michael Ullman’s Jazz Lives, Dexter Gordon fondly remembers, ‘In high school we had a very good teacher named Sam Browne–very dedicated. He had all these wild young dudes. We used to call him Count Browne.’

In 1949 Thigpen graduated and after a year as a sociology major at Los Angeles City College he dropped out to pursue a career in music. His professional debut came with the Jackson Brothers Quartet that same year and later Thigpen continued his studies in New York at the Manhattan School of Music and with legendary drummer Jo Jones. In 1951 and 1952 Thigpen worked with Cootie Williams at the Savoy Ballroom and travelled with him and other bands all over America. Until 1954, the year he went on tour with Dinah Washington, he served in the Army as a drum instructor and later as a drummer with the Eighth Army Band in Korea (interestingly enough, this was also the time when he met Oscar Peterson in Tokyo, Japan, taking a short trip there from Korea). While studying percussion in New York, he worked with Lennie Tristano, Johnny Hodges, Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon and from 1956 until 1959 with the Billy Taylor Trio.

II) The Oscar Peterson Trio

Although Thigpen is such a versatile drummer who has been on over 700 recordings of the most varying nature, he is still best remembered as a member of Oscar Peterson’s most famous trio. As a replacement for Herb Ellis, guitar, Thigpen joined up on January 1, 1959 and stayed until 1965. He had first met the bassist of the trio, Ray Brown, when he was a kid and through his father he had the chance to meet many of the jazz greats, such as Ben Webster, early on. So, when Norman Granz’s “Jazz at the Philharmonic” was touring Asia, Thigpen flew over from Korea and met up with Peterson and Ray Brown in Tokyo, Japan. There he spoke to Brown:

‘The only thing wrong with this group is you need a drummer. I need to play with this group. I love this group.’ And they went out and proceeded to swing so hard I thought ‘Well, maybe I’ll miss it, but I still would like to play with the group.’ So it was four years later that I joined them. Yeah, it was a lot of pressure though. It was. Because whatever insecurities I had…I was in awe of those guys, I loved them, I really loved them, and when it’s like that, you give everything you have. They were so heavy, so fantastic and, obviously, so acclaimed, that I was in awe of both of them. Ray was very kind. All the time. He just took me under his wing and saved me.

A lot has been written about this trio, but it is certainly one of the best if not the best trio Peterson ever had and maybe even the best jazz trio in history (yeah, I know, Peterson detractors will certainly not agree, but they never will agree to anything Peterson was in, so …). Ed Thigpen’s quiet and extremely intelligent as well as relaxed but hard-swinging style perfectly supported Peterson and, especially, bassist Ray Brown. The recordings of this trio should be cornerstones of any jazz collection and well worth seeking out. A highlight certainly seem to be the “London House Sessions” which were this trio’s claim to fame. They showcase the intimate musical relationship these three stellar players enjoyed and one is not surprised that Oscar Peterson himself listed the live recordings from Chicago at the top of his list of favorite recordings. Oscar Peterson himself, referring to the many hours spent simply playing and rehearsing with Brown and Thigpen, said: “Some of the best playing I’ve ever done has been in the basement with Ed and Ray.”

Everyone who knows me has heard a million times that I’m a huge fan of the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, and not a week goes by in my life in which that trio doesn’t appear with at least (=minimum) one full session on my stereo. What amazes me every time is the incredibly tight rhythm section of Ed and Ray that shows every second of the practice sessions these two went through. I have often suspected Ed Thigpen to have been the driving force behind the intense practicing that was done, especially because I do detect a streak of perfectionism in Ed’s playing, but I could be entirely wrong, especially if you know or suspect that Ray Brown was made of equal material. No matter what, Ed’s and Ray’s playing is some of the tightest, most ingenious, sometimes seemingly easy (because faultlessly pulled off) and often quite humorous (I often find myself laughing about some stunt the two pulled on a number) that I’ve ever heard. I’m in awe every single time.

III) Advanced School of Contemporary Music

In 1960, the members of the trio, Peterson, Brown and Thigpen, along with composer Phil Nimmons, founded the Advanced School of Contemporary Music (ASCM) in Toronto, Canada. The National Library of Canada writes:

Located in Toronto, from 1959 to 1964, the Advanced School of Contemporary Music (ASCM) was founded by Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen and Phil Nimmons, all of whom taught aspiring, young jazz musicians from across North America. The faculty also included Ed Bickert (guitar), Eric Traugott (trumpet) and Butch Watanabe (trombone).

The typical semester lasted 20 weeks and included weekly lessons on a student’s primary instrument, plus compulsory courses on piano, both in composition and theory. Most importantly, the students took part in experimental group playing with established musicians (Peterson, Thigpen, Brown, et al.) after which their performances were critiqued. Peterson also thought it was essential for all aspiring jazz musicians to have an understanding of the origins of jazz. Therefore, study included courses in music appreciation consisting of lectures, discussions and listening periods with visiting musicians.

The school’s main goal was to provide young jazz musicians with a structured environment for learning. Having accomplished teachers provide such training proved beneficial for many artists such as Skip Beckwith (bassist), Wray Downes (pianist) and Charles Mountford (vocalist) who all went on to successful jazz careers after graduating from the school.

Despite its popularity, the school closed after only five years. Unable to keep up with the growing demands of the school, and burdened with an overloaded touring schedule, Oscar Peterson chose to focus his time on his performance career instead. He did, however, go on to teach at York University in 1986 when he was appointed as adjunct professor of Music in jazz studies. He has remained involved with the university ever since, serving as its Chancellor from 1991 to 1999.

All throughout this time, the trio appeared at nightclubs and concerts regularly and several LPs were recorded.

IV) Freelancing and Teaching

Wanting to try his luck as a freelance musician and teacher, Ed Thigpen left the trio in 1965 and moved to Los Angeles a little later. This new direction was also signaled by the publication of his first book, “Talking Drums”, which was published in Toronto in 1965. Around the same time he started doing drum clinics regularly and continued performing and recording. In 1966 he could be seen working with Junior Mance and Duke Ellington in New York as well as with Ella Fitzgerald, whom he accompanied on virtually all of her world tours until 1972. Additionally, in Los Angeles Thigpen worked and recorded with Peggy Lee, Oliver Nelson and Gerald Wilson.

V) Session Leader

In 1966 Ed Thigpen recorded his first solo effort, “Out of the Storm“, and the list of musicians on that recording is impressive: Kenny Burell (guitar), Clark Terry (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano) and Ron Carter (bass).

This often overlooked little gem, with a running time of just about 32 minutes, was reissued in 1998 by Verve (Elite Edition) and it showcases Thigpen in a more exposed position. On the album you can hear Thigpen play a variable pitch tom-tom (a tom operated via a foot pedal almost like a tympani drum) which gives him more of a lead role. The tracks on this album are Cielito Lindo, Cloud Break (Up Blues), Out of the Storm, Harper, Elbow and Mouth, Heritage and Struttin’ with Some Barbecue. The highlight of the CD is Burrell’s Elbow and Mouth. On this blues tune, Thigpen shines on the pitch tom-tom while Clark Terry does the rhythmic backing playing the trumpet mouthpiece only (a mouthpiece-only solo is also thrown in for good measure). This CD is one of my perennial favorites in somewhere around 40 to 50 meters of music, especially because Ed managed to again and again put a smile on my face with his touch of humor that permeats this wonderful session. When Cielito Lindo kicks off after the drum intro, it just makes you smile and tap your feet. And that’s not the only truly entertaining bit - in the best sense of the word - on this session.

VI) Denmark

In 1972, Thigpen relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark, intensified his teaching as well as touring and performing with his own bands and a long roster of renowned artists. In 1973 he began a close working relationship with Svend Asmussen, whose quartet he toured extensively with. In 1974 he released another LP, “Action/Reaction” (GNP 2098), which was more rock and soul oriented.

Compiling a list of artists Thigpen has worked with since the early 70s is difficult, but looking at some of the highlights shows the breadth and stylistic variety of his work. Thigpen has worked with Thad Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, quite a bit with Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, Ben Webster, Art Farmer, Benny Carter, Monty Alexander, Teddy Wilson, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Sonny Stitt, Cal Tjader, Frank Sinatra, Toots Thielemans, Duke Jordan, Teddy Edwards, Ernie Wilkins, Mundell Lowe, Horace Parlan, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Drew, Mal Waldron, Oliver Jones, Gerry Wiggins, Horace Parlan, Blossom Dearie, Dorothy Ashby, Teddy Charles, Charlie Rouse, Bernard Pfeiffer, Paul Quinichette, and many others, mostly in the 70s and 80s. In 1999 and 2002 he was a member of the Eric Watson Trio and in 2001 of the Monty Alexander Trio. If you actually find an online store which has more than a few sessions available that Ed Thigpen appeared on, the results usually run a minimum of 10 to 20 pages.

VII) Later Period

Several recordings of the later period with Thigpen in the lead are still available and more than well worth your time and money. In 1989 Thigpen recorded with his quartet, which included Johnny O’Neal on piano (”Easy Flight”, reissued on Stunt Records on January 1, 2002), in 1990, he assembled a fine cast of musicians, including Roland Hanna, Branford Marsalis and Terrence Blanchard for Ed Thigpen and Friends, who can be heard on “Young Men And Olds” (Down Beat (11/90) - 4 Stars - Very Good - “Thigpen’s tasteful, swinging, sensitive, and well-recorded drums continue to amaze…his style remains thoroughly eloguent…”), and in 1991 he released “Mr. Taste” (reissued by Justin Time Records in 1996, liner notes by Gene Lees), a wonderful and highly recommended recording of a “killer trio” (”Down Beat”, 5 Stars, 7/92) featuring Ed Thigpen on drums, Tony Purrone on guitar and the wonderful Mads Vinding on bass (listen into the album).

True highlights for me are two CDs released by Stunt Records in 1999 and 2002 respectively. “It’s Entertainment” (Stunt CD 19186), recorded by the Ed Thigpen Rhythm Features live at the Copenhagen JazzHouse on May 13 and 14, 1998, showcases everything that is good about Ed Thigpen. It’s got humour (Ed’s announcements are a hoot at times), wonderful playing (track 5, “Shufflin Long”, is my absolute favourite) and perhaps one of Europe’s best piano players, Carsten Dahl, a player easily comparable to the early Ahmad Jamal in his use of empty spaces rather than cascades of (unnecessary) musical notes. Add to this a young bass player whom we are going to hear a lot more about in the future, Jesper Bodilsen, also a former member of an excellent Danish quartet (Casper Villaume Quartet), and what you have is a wonderful recording which has become one of the CDs most often in rotation at my house.

Stunt Records wanted to celebrate Ed Thigpen’s 70th birthday with a recording of him in collaboration with an international artist. Both Thigpen and Stunt Records favored Grammy and Poll winner Joe Lovano and after a warming-up tour, the Ed Thigpen Rhythm Features released “The Element of Swing” (Stunt CD 01222), again recorded live at the Copenhagen JazzHouse (October 1 and 2, 2001), in early 2002. Thigpen had met Lovano at an IAJE (”International Association for Jazz Education”) conference earlier and they had both expressed the wish to work together in the future. This recording shows that Thigpen and Lovano have lots in common: both their fathers were inspirations to them, they both see music as not being “a technical thing first, but a matter of relationship and communication.” So it is no surprise that as soon as they started working together, Thigpen noticed: “Joe and I were on the same page with a lot of stuff.” This recording is a good example of Thigpen’s breadth when it comes to grooves, moods and styles, at the same time conserving that which he calls “feel-good pulse. This feel-good pulse or rhythmic beat is the unifying force that binds the ensemble, the soloist and the audience together”.

In an interview with Mike Zwerin, Ed Thigpen commented on his role as a teacher: “At this age you feel yourself in the position of a mentor, whether you like it or not. The youngsters who are now the new names want to sit down and listen to what you have to say. You know one thing sure, the jazz tradition will never die. This music is too good.” Ever since his time at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, Thigpen had intensified his teaching considerably. When he moved to Scandinavia, he started teaching and hasn’t stopped. At university-level he has taught mostly at the Swedish Music Högskolan and the Copenhagen Rhythmic Conservatory (interestingly enough, some of Denmark’s finest musicians have been Thigpen’s students, such as the aforementioned Carsten Dahl, who once started out on drums and only later switched to piano, Jesper Bodilsen and many other young(er) ‘cats’), he has given master classes at many universities, he was on the board of the jazz-division at the Illinois School of Music, is on the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society and, last but not least, was the recipient of the 2002 Humanitarian Award from the International Association for Jazz Education. He has written several instructional books such as Talking Drums, Be Our Guest (co-authored with Ray Brown), Rhythm Analysis and Basic Coordination (Copenhagen, 1977), The Sound of Brushes, and Rhythm Brought to Life and has two instructional videos out, Jazz Drumming and The Essence of Brushes.

VIII) Today … and Beyond

What else is there? The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), the 2002 Danish Jazz Awards and an induction into The PAS (Percussive Arts Society) Hall of Fame. Ed Thigpen is as active as ever. Although he still resides in Copenhagen, Denmark, today he can often be found traveling extensively in North America and Europe, leading his own groups and heading gigs as a featured artist. You can find him educating the next generation(s) of drummers at clinics and seminars all across the globe and, most importantly, you can see him live regularly, especially in Scandinavia. His appearances are not difficult to find.

The man who so often integrated himself so well into any setting in order to not be unduly noticed is - to many - truly a giant of jazz music of the past 50 years, a man who has not only helped shape jazz, both traditional and modern, but has also shared his knowledge with new generations and, I’m sure, a man who will also continue to do so for many years to come.

As Oscar Peterson once stated in an interview, “Ed Thigpen was a reflective yet complete percussionist. He wasn’t really a drummer, he was a percussionist. He had that feeling all the time that it wasn’t just drums that he was sitting at. He sees his drums as a complete, not instrument, but orchestra. Whatever he wants it to be. Ed Thigpen has a touch on the drums that you seldom hear. Jo Jones had that same thing.”

Yep, the man is that good, and better.

On a last personal note, it is my biggest wish to one day get together with Ed again, for an hour or two, talk jazz with him and have a cool “Tuborg” in some smokey or (if Ed should be so inclined) smoke-free jazz club anywhere in Europe.

I’d pick up the tab, for sure. :)

**********

Some quotes:

Oscar Peterson:
“Ed Thigpen was a reflective yet complete percussionist. He wasn’t really a drummer, he was a percussionist. He had that feeling all the time that it wasn’t just drums that he was sitting at. He sees his drums as a complete, not instrument, but orchestra. Whatever he wants it to be. Ed Thigpen has a touch on the drums that you seldom hear. Jo Jones had that same thing.”

Jeff Hamilton:
“I was listening very carefully to Ed Thigpen with the Peterson Trio. There were two albums in particular: ‘The Trio Plays’ and ‘Night Train’, both on Verve. Those two albums just killed me.”

Billy Cobham:
“Ask Cobham to name the drummers who inspired him while he was developing his craft and he reels off an impressive list: Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Stan Levey, Kenny Clarke, Louie Bellson, Gus Johnson, Don Lamond, Grady Tate, Connie Kay and Ed Thigpen.”

Van Morrison:
“So that ruins what I feel about jazz…those heavy drum solos and that shit. I’d much prefer to hear somebody like Ed Thigpen (drummer with New York session group Stuff, and featured on innumerable hits) take a solo. I mean, that’s what it is. I’d much rather hear that than the jazz/rock thing because it’s blowing an aspect of jazz that I really like…the level where you can snap your fingers to it and you can groove to it. You can do anything to it.”

Steve Smith:
“I’ve had many wonderful teachers and mentors, including - my first drum teacher, Billy Flanagan, to Gary Chaffee, Alan Dawson, Ed Thigpen, Jim Chapin, Fred Gruber, Pete Magadini, and Efrain Toro. […”> In my suitcase I carry a practice pad that I can strap onto my leg, an Ed Thigpen “Brush Up” brush practice pad, a metronome and some lightweight dancing shoes that I wear when I play.”

Nnenna Freelon:
“He comes back and forth to the United States all the time and I was lucky to catch him when he was in New York. Ed Thigpen has been out there for a very long time. When I asked him to play drums on my date, I pulled on his tasteful expression of rhythm.”

Three On Three: Ed Thigpen, Jeff Hamilton, And Peter Erskine On Playing ln A Piano Trio:
“Hamilton and Erskine both credit Ed Thigpen as an important influence through his pioneering work as a member of The Oscar Peterson Trio from 1959 to 1965.”

“Free For All”:
from the Organissimo forums: “The most startlingly outstanding acquisition, though, was the Thigpen side Out of the Storm. This contains some amazingly great Clark Terry playing. It’s one of those things you listen to and just crack up, it’s so good. He does a solo on mouthpiece only that transcends “schtick”. Thigpen, Herbie, Burrell, Ron Carter and Clark. Can’t go wrong w/that band. Plus, I got Ed Thigpen to sign my copy.”

Note: This is a modified and slightly updated repost of a profile I published years ago on a site that has since gone the way of all things digital … up into extremely thin digital smoke.

I do 98% of all my music shopping online. I know that I’m helping the demise of the record store swiftly along, but I need to save cash to feed my habit(s) and I simply cannot pay some of the outrageous prices my local shops ask for releases that often cost me one half to one third of that asking price online.

Still, shopping online - although it does have its pleasant sides - is often a Hegelian nightmare of gargantuan proportions. I cannot shake the feeling that people employed by any of the regularly frequented online outfits manage to rise to their level of incompetence within a minimum of one hour after having been hired. The level and intensity of stupidity is at times unmeasurable and the software employed, the logistics planning and just about every aspect of shipping and handling seem to have been entrusted to a group of autistic preschoolers with a serious attention deficit disorder. Communication skills are those of single-cell organisms and if you do get a message, it’s usually of the simplest boilerplate type, held together by too many returns (or none at all) and a hefty dose of play dough.

So, without further ado, here goes part V of the always popular - but recently neglected - “Trials & Tribulations” series:

01) The Amazon Spelling Bee
Have you ever mistyped anything in an Amazon query? Yes? How did it feel when that ghastly “Your search ‘xyz’ did not match any products” turn up? And shouldn’t there be a preposition in there? This has got to be the most idiotic oversight that has made it through a gazillion revisions of any Amazon website unleashed on an unsuspecting buying public. I mean, just about every piece of software, most search engines, and every other website offer a spell check or at least try to correct you when you bungled your query, but not Amazon. If my testing is any indication (I just love misspelling shtuff), some of the more popular typos will indeed lead you to what you were searching for (leave out an -e- in Beethoven on Amazon.com and you will reach your goal despite your error in judgment), but if you add one -z- too many to Thin Lizzy … you’re screwed. Nothing with “Thin” in it, nothing with “Lizzy” either. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Niente. I wonder how many trillions of dollars were lost by not providing alternative search results. Not that anyone at Amazon seems to care.

02) The Design Monkeys
Speaking of Amazon. I think I started shopping there two minutes after I had set up my first dial-up connection eons ago. Since then, the various Amazon sites have turned into such crowded, totally cluttered and butt-ugly design abominations that anyone with any sort of aesthetic sense would probably stick two blunt pencils into each eye (and one up the rear end) after repeated viewings. What was once a site that had at least a fraction of usability has degraded into the epitome of scrolling and usability hell. 50 different font cuts, 30 different sizes, 90 different colors, varying line heights, information buried deep within the recesses, important information not available, a trillion images strewn about, javascript this and scrolling that, a massive player, reviews interspersed with “also buy that” and “recommended” sections, ringtone ads, a totally confusing grid (is there actually one?), this centered and that not, a mile-long page for even the most negligible release, a quadrillion links from everything like “explore more” to “this way to the bathroom“, a hierarchy of information that is a logistical nightmare, the right answer to a specific question buried three clicks deep and a mile away from where you need it (and suspect it) … the list is literally endless. Good grief. Who works there? Do they actually get paid for the shite they produce? It’s a pity they didn’t keep the blink tag. That would have at least enabled us to have epileptic seizures and be done with it. Presently, only eye cancer can save us from this negligible design stew. By the way, all Amazon sites have gone through a redesign lately. The design team is now officially eligible for the “E.T. Design Award of the Year” (a plastic kid’s phone). For the next iteration I would suggest more font sizes, more colors, more buttons, 7 columns, 72 rows and three different players. I would also abandon the shopping cart. Useless.

03) “Yep, we’ve got it“: The In-Stock Myth
I don’t know about you, but these past two or three years I’ve increasingly had the tendency to fall into that “we’ve got it right here for you” booby trap which - more often than not - blew up right in my face. Ka-bloom. I order this CD of which there are four left, put it into my shopping basket, finalize the purchase and hit that “Pay up, dude” button. I then receive the mail stating that my order is being processed. Here comes the bummer (and I have checked this several times because it happens more and more often): I check my order status and what was once available is suddenly not available anymore. “Will be sent in like 10 to 14 days, man. Relax already.” Hell, they just said they still had some. Of course, a hundred customers probably hit the “Pay up, dude” button at the same time I did, relegating me to the furthest wooden tourist seats in the back of the line, but, see, that’s not the case. My order status says it’s not available anymore until they have stocked up again whereas the site, often for another day or two, still blurts: “Just 4 more available! Buy Now! Dude!” Another way to make the customer feel like the lowest life form on the planet who should have never, ever bought anything from these monkeys. Oh, yeah, “… only on Amazon“. Of course.

04) Ignoramuses Abound: The Official review
Why have official reviews on sites like Amazon when the people reviewing the product would rather be dead than actually listen to the CD? I’m not even going to cite the kind of either pedantic or incredibly shallow (take your pick) crud some reviewers publish there, but reading any of it is usually a complete waste of time. Besides, sites like Dusty Groove America don’t have bad CDs. It doesn’t matter that the product they are selling is not even a footnote in music history, has been trashed for its horrible remastering and the faulty liner notes. You will invariably be told with a a large ladle of hyperbole that the product is just bloody fantastic. Which brings us to …

05) Ignoramuses abound: The Customer Review
Why have customer reviews if most of them are crap? Most CDs which are considered sonic waste products are epitomized to the high heavens, those that sound decent are relegated to the sonic slush pile. No matter how irrelevant the product is, there’s always one customer who will tell you that this particular release is a God-given addition to the category of “Best Things since Sliced Bread“. Now, I don’t mind getting a somewhat objective opinion on why that release is so good and I do appreciate customers trying to save certain releases from the slush pile of music history by supplying creditable information as to why I should get that release, but 99% of the time the review is completely without any utilizable information whatsoever. You know, the “Blue is Blue because it’s Blue” type of review. Add to that dyslexia and literacy issues that plague most online sites today (don’t even get me started on the degradation of language abilities across all continents, countries and cultures) and what you (have to) read is usually an outrageous waste of precious screen real estate. “Me likee that thar CD. YMMV. Yo!” Yeah, right.

06) “We’ll Nuke It for You Free of Charge“
I’ve talked about packaging (*giggle*) and handling (*scream*) issues before, but these past two or three years things have gotten a lot worse. If you buy anything that is not of a standard size or happens to sprout meticulously-crafted special packaging, chances are that either the online shop or the shipping outfit WILL mangle it beyond recognition. It’s in a digipak? We’ll bend the hell out of it. Is it over-sized? We’ll stick it into a box which is three millimeters too short. Is it really big? We’ll put it into a sixteen gallon box … without any padding material. Are you a collector? Take a flying … I’m sure you’ve had your experiences with all of that as well, but the last thirteen (I’m not above counting) Amazon shipments and every single shipment from an outfit in Germany named Zweitausendeins had busted items enshrined in the sub-par packaging materials used. Busted jewelcases, dented digipaks, torn booklets, dented boxes, missing parts, … the list is endless. Of course, I could play the return game endlessly but it ain’t worth it most of the time. My time is too precious to run back and forth between home and post office incessantly to replace a CD that cost me $5. And they know it. Wankers.

07) The Global Citizen
Because the US dollar has gone and rotted on us Europeans, shopping has become both more satisfying and more frustrating. As Europe adds a hefty amount to the price tag of just about any item sold within the EU - and that’s just because we happen to live here - it has become even more lucrative to find items abroad, usually at a fraction of the price, even when shipping costs are added to the equation. The problem is that what was once reliable - shop A is cheap and shop B isn’t - has changed drastically. Today, at least in my experience, you have to hunt around a myriad of online stores repeatedly to find the cheapest offer. One day later, what was cheapest in shop A has suddenly increased by 50%. It’s almost as if people randomly hit buttons in their Excel spreadsheets to make prices jump up or down. For the fun of it. $7.99 on Monday, $15.56 on Tuesday and $4 on Wednesday. It seems to be the most popular corporate arcade game today. Who would have thought that price calculation could be such fun?

08) The Postage Horror
Sometimes I get the impression that certain online shops are currently preparing for World War III. You know, finding suitable digs in the Colorado mountain ranges, buying truckloads full of food supplies for their employees to be evacuated to some deep cave there, gas, electricity … the works. There is no other explanation aside from corporate entertainment outrunning their annual budget. You know how it goes: You hit some site that offers an item for $11, you hit “Checkout” and make sure they still have the same price listed there … and you find a $30 shipping and handling fee. If you are lucky … because some sites, after you have gone through the whole procedure, will simply tell you that the item cannot be shipped to your region. Which brings us to …

09) “International Delivery Available“
There must be some corporate agreement to add “International Delivery Available” to every damn item you offer on any site, anywhere. Even if you don’t even deliver to the next state in your own country. I don’t know how many times I ordered an item from some (especially American) outfit only to be awarded the “Idiot of the Day Award” via an e-mail stating that, yeah, you guessed it, “international delivery is not available“. Of course not. How could I have misread “International Delivery Available!“? I have no idea. I must be deaf, dumb and blind. Of course, if you do waste a minute on trying to complain, you are immediately awarded the second prize of the day, which is usually the “You Just Wasted 5 Minutes of Your Life Writing an E-Mail Which We won’t Answer” award. I have my hallway plastered with those.

10) “Cracked, Dented …and Bewildered“
“Item: New.” Ever read that on some marketplace or other site? Yes? The hell it is. I’ve had cracked items, smudged items, busted items, soaked items, spray-painted items, barfed-upon items, stepped-upon items, … you get the picture. If you are a regular online customer, you almost expect this kind of misinformation, but it is frustrating nonetheless when it does happen. Especially if the seller starts an e-mail war with you, invariably stating that the item left his place in “as-new condition“. Difficult to prove that it wasn’t that bearded mail person who opened your package, took out the item, drove an SUV over it, had his/her kids play “Ultimate Frisbee” with it, wrapped it up again, added some butter to the wrapping paper, placed it carefully in the box again … and then delivered it to your door in a shiny new and undented box, tape in place and obviously untouched. I demand the death penalty for sellers who are lying through their teeth.

12) Item Description
While we’re at it: “First edition. Released 1989. Remasterd by Joe Tarantino at Fantasy Studios. Original liner notes by Nat Hentoff. As new.” You check online, decide that it’s the only release of that particular recording worth getting, you get stoked by reading the rave reviews for that release, get excited because you are getting hold of that release at a reasonable price. In short, you rejoice. Four weeks later you open the shipment up and get this: “Third edition. Released 2003. Remastered by some dude at EMI. No liner notes aside from the ones spewed across a single illegible page by a musical illiterate. No track info. Incorrect track lengths. Wrong cover. Was salvaged from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.” Actually, what you got was the only reissue universally trashed for the lowest possible quality standard imaginable. Ain’t online life fun?

13) “Send All My Stuff in One Shipment“
You do know that you have that option, right? It does come in handy when you order stuff that isn’t available until restocked together with items that are in stock. Get what’s available and have the rest delivered later. Good thinking, design monkeys. It. Just. Doesn’t. Work. I don’t know how many times I’ve ordered stuff from Amazon.co.uk that was in stock and they split up my shipment because the logistics monkeys deemed it necessary. You know, 3 CDs of which two just have to be shipped in a different box. You then receive a message that box one (with two CDs) has just shipped and two seconds later another message stating that the 3rd CD has just … you get the picture. Then you wait. Box two arrives first (after two or three days) … and box 1 appears at your doorstep two weeks later (I’m not kidding; happens all the time). Utterly baffling and probably the most uneconomical way of doing things. That’s life in the U.K. for you.

14) Make a killing at “Wounded Knee“
“Wounded Knee” is a synonym for the various Amazon marketplaces. It’s not my term, although I am presently unable to unearth the forum post that first brought that term to my attention (it was an old post on a Rolling Stone Magazine forum). I thought it was certainly a politically incorrect term (a reason for me to enjoy it), but I also thought it aptly described a tendency of Marketplace dealers to rip off both you and your hide. Come on, people. Just because an item is a bit more rare, it does not mean you have to add $300 to the price tag. As an uninitiated customer I used to think it was a typo, you know, accidentally entering a $300 price tag instead of §3, but I quickly learned the error of my ways. There are people out there who will slap a couple of thousand percent on any item that, usually for a day or two, seems to be unavailable on the same site. Enter the item, check if anyone else is offering it and if not, type in $700 as an asking price. Is it a rare boxed set? Make that a thousand. Stupidity is limitless.

15) The eBay Myth
eBay is a place to make a killing or at least a place where - with a bit of luck - you can get some items at a reasonable price. Maybe that was the case 5 or 10 years ago, but today everyone is in on the game and what once made eBay a place to frequent has morphed into a global myth. Maybe I’m not patient enough anymore, but there are just too many people with a disdain for money on the various eBay sites, you know, the ones with a million to spare who will invariably outbid anyone by entering $600 for an LP that is worth $6. Just to have it. They’re usually Japanese … or used to be … difficult to tell nowadays because eBay made it impossible to see who is who. I haven’t been on eBay since the beginning of 2007 and I don’t intend to go there anymore either. Well, perhaps for entertainment and to watch people spend 2500% more than the asking price for the same item on any of the major second-hand sites.

16) Delivery “Next Door“
I live in a small town, close enough to civilization (although not noticeable) and far enough away from crime, drugs, pin-stripe suits and McDonald’s. I’m not far away enough from the idiosyncrasies that are the mysteries of the German postal system though. Apparently, postal workers are paid too little to offer any sort of service. So, after 14 years of having lived here, they learned that leaving my packages with any next-door neighbor used to be cool with me. It was, because it worked. The problem today is though that said postal workers (the delivery monkeys) do not deem it necessary to inform me of the fact that they did leave a package with my 78-year old neighbor and after I wrote three mails of complaint to the online site I purchased said item(s) from, the lady usually gets out of her wheelchair, pulls her tired bones over to my front door and rings the bell: “I’ve had a package lying around for you since the first of last month. Would you mind picking it up?” On top of that, the delivery monkeys don’t even ring my doorbell anymore. Because I have a day job, they assume I’m not there. Even when I am at home, nursing some destructive disease or a mere cold, they run next door, leave the package there, do not fill out any notification and drive off. Needless to say I also left the same note on my front door for two consecutive years around the end of the year: That one week where they do ring in hope of scrounging together some sort of tip or extra cash, they are forced to stare at a big red A4 paper with a major expletive on it. I guess that’s why they don’t ring the bell anymore either.

How about you?
Any shopping nightmares?

To cut to the chase right away, whenever you mention the Concord Music Group on any jazz board, chances are that people will start cussing relatively fast, despite some of the exemplary work they have produced.. The problem was and is that Concord purchased Fantasy Inc. (the owners, for example, of the prestigious Original Jazz Classics reprint series series, Galaxy, Debut Records, Riverside, Milestone, Prestige, Pablo, and just about everything else under the sun that many collectors were/are salivating for) … and proceeded to shut down that company’s Berkley California warehouse where lots of that Fantasy OJC stock was shelved, fired the Fantasy vault workers, shut down their mastering studio and shipped the tapes off to the infamous Iron Mountain storage facility.

Get this: The high-security Iron Mountain storage facility, used by many companies, is located in an abandoned limestone mine located in Pennsylvania and all records are destroyed after a specific period of time, depending on the customer’s contract. If at all, digital backup copies will probably be the only thing left of lots of this material once that time period is up and, on top of that, the folks running this trash compactor for irreplaceable cultural gems are rumored to have some really bad logistics in place, meaning it’s not exactly easy unearthing, for example, master takes of any stored session.

A nightmare, really.

First it was a rumor:

I just heard through the grapevine that Concord in their cost cutting wisdom has let go Stuart, the Fantasy vault guy who knew where every tape was and are shoveling all of the tapes to the infamous IRON MOUNTAIN storage facility. The saying is: “Once in Iron Mountain, never out of Iron Mountain”.

Remember when all of the Columbia Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel masters were misplaced there for 20 years?

So, the vault archivist Stuart is out of a job as is the entire Fantasy Recording and Mastering Studio engineers, technicians and all related personal. In other words, anyone who knows anything about the history of Fantasy, Prestige, Riverside, Contemporary, Specialty and the other labels now controlled by Concord are gone with the wind.

This is truly a shame. The story is that while the Fantasy Studio staff was being told of their impending removal, the Iron Mountain people were in the parking lot padlocking the doors of the building so they could start removing everything. Getting rid of the people who know what they are doing to save a few dollars is really stupid. It’s happened before (Bill Inglot) and it will happen again but still…..Stupid. (Source: The Steve Hoffman Forums)

Then it became reality.

Things got worse when many Fantasy (and connected labels’) releases shot up in price around the globe as they became more and more rare, Concord themselves seemed to be having blowout sales en masse to remove old Fantasy stock, and it soon became clear that many of the sessions would probably not be reissued on CD anymore. “Digital Downloads” were to be the thing of the future.

Without expanding on this utter and complete mess that we have Concord to thank for, the planned triple boxed set series of John Coltrane’s Prestige sessions was certainly affected by this and, up until today, the last box, the sideman dates, still hasn’t been released.

Apparently, a mixed group of old Fantasy staff plus a person hired by Concord after they had bought Fantasy up were responsible for the reissuing of the old 16-disc Fantasy John Coltrane set in three separate boxed sets and after one had been issued, that newly hired person took his expertise over to Rhino.

Then the second boxed set was published.

Since then, silence, although I have been told recently by the press relations department via the Concord website that the third set is slated for release on October 8th. Let’s hope this does indeed come to pass.

As if that wasn’t complicated enough, apparently the first two new boxed sets were not really complete (as if that was anything new for us jazz collectors) and, like the original 16-CD boxed set from the 90s that many jazz fans had the chance of snatching up at decent prices, the material without Coltrane actually playing - but part of the sessions reissued here - was left out once more, although there would have been plenty of room to include it.

On top of that, jazz fans who had bought the original 16-CD set sometimes stated that the sound on that set was equal - if not better - when compared to the new reissues, others who had both the old and the new begged to differ, stating that the sound was a (huge) improvement.

Hell, if that doesn’t cause a migraine, I don’t know what will. I, for one, missed out on the original 16-CD reissue which was to be had at a very decent price not long thereafter and I cannot compare the sound quality of the massive old set to the piecemeal new ones, but all I can say is that I’m very happy with what I’m hearing. If you are planning on buying into this music, these two boxed sets I’m about to introduce to you are worth it sonically as well.

In summation, we are talking absolute and total confusion; a thoroughly messed up affair, which the average consumer is probably oblivious to. That’s not to say that the boxed sets I’m about to talk about are bad. Quite the contrary is the case, but to see their release in the context of Concord ripping to shreds a huge chunk of recorded jazz history is sad, to say the least.

Nevertheless, in contradiction (partly) what I wrote above, Concord’s boxed sets are indeed a labor of love once they appear, if the appear.

On a last note, before we have a look at these sets; Many casual - or even passionate - jazz fans are sometimes scared of what John Coltrane produced. His later output is way out there in terms of modal experiments, spiritual composition and musical experience. Some have disqualified it as “noise”, others have termed it “awe-inspiring”. Whatever your take is on John Coltrane’s musical legacy, these two boxed sets are often straight-ahead blowing sessions with only hints and touches of things to come. The development, if you are so inclined, can be traced, but what you are served with here are good to excellent sessions that highlight Coltrane’s rapid rise to interpretative and compositional (super-)stardom, which reached its zenith a little later. What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t be weary of the music enshrined on these two boxed … at all. This is fun stuff; it swings hard most of the time, it incites and it makes you hold your breath at times. I kid you not.

The other day I wrote about stumbling over the first boxed set in this planned series of three by mere chance. I had had it on my wishlist for a long time, but - as is often the case with long wishlists - it didn’t jump out at me again until I ran into it face-first, literally, at a very good price at that.

When I got home, although I really didn’t have the time, this first boxed set sucked me in from the get-go and, to be quite honest, I got into trouble because I spent much of the time I was supposed to have invested into work on just listening to 5 CDs worth of John Coltrane.

“Fearless Leader”
The title sucks. There were a ton of people playing more “fearless” stuff at the time and the entitling of this set is clearly trying to cash in on Coltrane’s later reputation. Still, this set puts at your fingertips 11 albums from the Prestige catalog (spanning the years 1957-1958), his leader dates for the Prestige label, Coltrane, Lush Life, Soultrane, Traneing In, Settin’ the Pace, Standard Coltrane, Stardust, The Believer, Black Pearls, Bahia, and The Last Trane. If you look at Coltrane’s career, this material culled from a load of different sessions arrived just after Coltrane had entered his very rewarding association with Miles Davis and while playing on and off with Thelonius Monk (a lot of this stuff was recorded in the “breaks”) and, to be quite honest, I think much of this material is actually quite romantic and decidedly bluesy in nature. There’s bop to boot and a whole slew of ballads, most of which work quite well, especially if you tune into Coltrane’s harmonic explorations which are still far removed from what his mind took him to later in his career (and what some listeners might consider to be somewhat cacophonous). The guy was on the way, but not quite there.

If you are afraid of being beat over your hairless scalp with modal exploration, fear not, because the material is only at times tinged with pyrotechnical displays (within bounds) which are still comparatively muted. The ballads are often breathtakingly smooth (and explosive at the same time).

I love this music.

Musicians? More often than not backed by his reliable trio of Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Art Taylor (dr), we also get Freddie Hubbard, Donald Bryrd, Wilbur Harden and other blowing greats. Plus a truckload full of others.

You know, many reviewers have called this set an example of “formative” material and whatnot. I don’t really agree. How “formative” can material be from a man who had lived at least three lives by the time he reached thirty, drug and alcohol addiction laid aside? You can feel the passion, the exploration, the energy exploding across the sound canvas. People, I implore you to buy this set in it’s somewhat complete glory as one can never be quite sure as to how long it will still be available as an haptically pleasing collectors’ edition. No matter how often Concord and others try to make a shilling with Coltrane’s output, it’s all bound to disappear into the thin air that is digital downloads and 190KB shite. If you value music, the epitome of jazz in the 50s and 60s, the early stages of a magnificent career of one of its masters before he left this earth way before his prime, these two boxed sets (including an as of now imaginary third) are where it’s at.

Interplay
Maybe it’s heresy, but I like the second boxed set in the series even more. Hell, the material on this set can certainly not be marketed as “John Coltrane” material, simply because the material isn’t his whatsoever. As in “also played”. None of his compositions appear - zip, nada, zilch - and some reviewers have therefore tried to relegate this boxed set to the sidelines.

Seven albums and three single tracks from two other sessions, recorded in the span of one single year from 1956 until 1958. Although five albums were released “leaderless”, Tenor Conclave, Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors, The Cats, Wheelin’ & Dealin’ and Modern Jazz Survey 2, later reissued under Coltrane’s own name as Dakar, and two, Cattin’ with Coltrane and Quinichette, essentially co-led by Coltrane and Paul Quinichette, and and Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane, Coltarne’s last date for Prestige not under his own leadership, it quickly becomes clear that at least two individuals provided the “glue” to keep it all together, especially Tommy Flanagan on The Cats and Mal Waldron on Interplay, Wheelin’ & Dealin’, Dakar and Cattin’.

I love Mal Waldron’s (underappreciated as the man was) comping it to near perfection on several tracks (he actually started his career on alto sax and is rumored to have taken on the piano because whoever accompanied on said instrument throughout his career up to that point, err, sucked). Here he’s in the foreground on at least two sessions (altogether, Waldron contributed 12 of the 34 compositions), along with others in which he obviously lead the way. We also get Frank Wess (call me infatuated, but Frank Wess’ - sax and flute - recordings with smaller Count Basie units are some of the best jazz I have in my collection) , the aforementioned Kenny Burrell, Paul Quinichette, Tommy Flanagan, Hank Mobley, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn.
Plus more.
Lots more.

Often jam-oriented blowing sessions,they have that raw energy and spontaneous quality that many of us appreciate so much, Everyone gets ample space, and the interplay is sweet. This stuff grooves. Yes, it’s Coltrane blowing for a half-decent paycheck, but it’s also a Coltrane who sticks out next to the more rational (or lucid …) players whose lines he was using to bounce ideas off. What I like best is that this not a conglomerate of endless tenor battles but an alternating set of much finer and more sublime contrasts that abound.

As is the case with both boxed sets, the sound is more than good. I do not want to enter the remastering battle of the senses again, but both boxed sets sound invigorating on my stereo setup. Yes, maybe you are able to score some more obscure Japanese remasters that might be a tad improved on the soundscape side of things, but these two sets are more than good enough for 99% of the population. They certainly are good enough for me. When given a spin, they kick ass sonically.

Summary
Studying the reviews on Amazon.com, some people have complained about the construction of these boxed sets, but free speech aside, these people have absolutely no clue as to what they are talking about. Both boxed sets are a labor of love, with mostly excellent liner notes,sturdy packaging, excellent photos, albeit with print which is too small for the target audience (as always). I need a magnifying glass to read it all.

In summation; if you do not want to miss out on a cornerstone of jazz history, you simply must buy these two boxed sets, especially since they are available at very reasonably prices. Yes, most of this music will be regurgitated time and again in either completely useless “Coltrane for Lovers” series and the major albums won’t die until the CD dies, but if you want to have a chronological overview of John Coltrane’s output of that time - hoping that the last box will appear as scheduled- this is your one and only chance to get hold of seminal jazz sessions.

For me, personally, the amount of material Coltrane recorded in a mere three years (1956-1958) is absolutely astonishing - especially when compared to what is produced today. I don’t want to lessen any other musicians’ output, but the quality of this seemingly endless stream of great recordings makes anything else almost pale in comparison.

Memories
On a last note: In 1986 I was invited to a dinner at a Danish couple’s apartment. The man in the house - let’s just call him H. - had a girlfriend who was not only a great cook (her catering service supplied anyone from the Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson with food on their Scandinavian tours (does Jackson actually eat anything?), but also someone who had a knack for picking just the right wine for the occasion. She would spend and entire day getting these dinners ready, consulting her handwritten recipes of southern-Italian or northern-French dishes, working her magic for hours on end.

That evening, next door in the living room, H. first put on “Traneing In” with the Red Garland Trio (on the Fearless Leader boxed set) and then “Wheelin’ and Dealin’” (Interplay boxed set). We sat on the windowsill on a warm Copenhagen summer night, taking in the music and letting it drift through open windows across the main road just outside.

We missed dinner entirely and were yelled at for about 6 months thereafter.
It was worth it.

Go Get!
Both sets.
And the third in October!

Details: Fearless Leader

Prestige Records, Berkley, CA
Concord Music Group 2006, Berkley, CA
PRCD6-30059-2

Original Sessions Supervised by: Bob Weinstock
December 26th, 1958 Session Supervised by: Esmond Edwards
Recorded By: Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, NJ
Boxed set produced and compiled by: Patrick Milligan and Cheryl Pawelski
Remastering: Joe Tarantino at Fantasy Studios, Berkley, CA
Project Supervision: Chris Clough
Liner Notes: Richard S. Ginell and Lewis Porter
Editorial: Terry Hinte
Box Cover Photography: Bob Parent
Book Cover: Burt Goldblatt
Albums and Memorabilia: Courtesy of the collection of Yasuhiro Fujioka

Recording dates: May 31, 1957 to December 26, 1958

Note: I’m not one hundred percent sure about the track times; I copied them from a program I use to index my CDs.

Disc 01
01. Straight Street (06:19)
02. While My Lady Sleeps (04:44)
03. Chronic Blues (08:14)
04. Bakai (08:42)
05. Violets For your Furs (06:17)
06. Time Was (07:29)
07. I Hear a Rhapsody (06:03)
08. Trane’s Slo blues (06:06)
09. Slowtrane (07:20)
10. Like Someone In Love (05:00)
11. I Love you (05:31)

Disc 02
01. You Leave Me Breathless (07:25)
02. Bass Blues (07:48)
03. Soft Lights And Sweet Music (04:44)
04. Traneing In (12:36)
05. Slow Dance (05:29)
06. Lush Life (14:03)
07. The Believer (13:50)
08. Nakatini Serenade (11:02)

Disc 03
01. Come Rain Or Come Shine (08:47)
02. Lover (07:58)
03. Russian Lullaby (05:36)
04. Theme For Ernie (04:59)
05. You Say You Care (06:17)
06. Good Bait (12:10)
07. I Want To Talk About You (10:57)
08. Rise ‘N Shine (07:16)
09. I See Your Face Before Me (09:57)

Disc 04
01. If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You (09:22)
02. Little Melonae (14:06)
03. By The Numbers (12:02)
04. Black Pearls (13:13)
05. Lover Come Back To Me (07:28)
06. Sweet Sapphire Blues (18:14)

Disc 05
01. Spring Is Here (06:56)
02. Invitation (10:23)
03. I’m A Dreamer, Aren’t We All (07:04)
04. Love Thy Neighbor (09:24)
05. Don’t Take Your Love From Me (09:16)
06. Stardust (10:43)
07. My Ideal (07:36)
08. I’ll Get By (08:09)

Disc 06
01. Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? (05:14)
02. Then I’ll Be Tired Of You (09:30)
03. Something I Dreamed Last Nighht (10:51)
04. Bahia (06:17)
05. Goldsboro Express (04:46)
06. Time After Time (07:43)

Details: Interplay

Prestige Records, Berkley, CA
Concord Music Group 2007, Berkley, CA
PRCD5-30204

Original Sessions Supervised by: Bob Weinstock
April 20th, 1957 Session Supervised by: Teddy Charles
Recorded By: Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, NJ
Boxed set produced and compiled by: Patrick Milligan, Cheryl Pawelski and Greg Allen
Remastering: Joe Tarantino at Fantasy Studios, Berkley, CA
Project Supervision: Chris Clough
Liner Notes: Nat Hentoff and Lewis Porter
Editorial: Terry Hinte
Box Cover Photography: William Claxton
Book Cover: Don Schlitten
Albums and Memorabilia: Courtesy of the collection of Yasuhiro Fujioka

Recording dates: September 7, 1956 to March 7, 1958.

Note: I’m not one hundred percent sure about the track times; I copied them from a program I use to index my CDs.

Disc 01
01. Just You, Just Me (09:29)
02. Tenor Conclave (11:04)
03. How Deep Is The Ocean? (15:06)
04. Bob’s Boys (08:21)
05. Anatomy (11:55)
06. Interplay (09:41)
07. Light Blue (07:50)

Disc 02
01. Soul Eyes (17:32)
02. C.T.A. (04:43)
03. Eclypso (07:57)
04. Solacium (09:10)
05. Minor Mishap (07:26)
06. Tommy’s Time (11:58)

Disc 03
01. Dakar (07:09)
02. Mary’s Blues (06:47)
03. Route 4 (06:55)
04. Velvet Scene (04:54)
05. Witches’ Pit (06:42)
06. Cat Walk (07:12)
07. Cattin’ (07:22)
08. Anatomy (08:52)
09. Vodka (09:06)
10. Sunday (06:59)

Disc 04
01. Dealin’ (Alt. Take) (10:01)
02. Dealin’ (10:16)
03. Wheelin’ (Alt. Take) (10:26)
04. Wheelin’ (11:22)
05. Robbins’ Nest (15:33)
06. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (08:24)

Disc 05
01. Lyresto (05:45)
02. Why Was I Born? (03:13)
03. Freight Trane (07:20)
04. I Never Knew (07:06)
05. Big Paul (14:04)

Over here in Germany, being a music collector isn’t as much fun as it could be. Like the rest of you, we can of course enjoy those items that we finally managed to get our hands on, but getting there is usually the problem, especially if you are on a tighter budget. Prices are sometimes outrageous here, customs officials handling imports from the US, for example, could perhaps be likened to 500-pound gorillas from whose IQ you automatically need to deduct another 10 points, and when confronted with wrapping and packaging by some international mail order dealers, you are never really surprised when your shipment gets hit by a Chinese water demon in transit.

So, it’s down to shopping in my home country first, then the UK and then the rest of Europe, depending on where I’m able to find things cheaper. Once a year I feel brave enough to order larger shipments from abroad, but I usually have to kick myself afterwards for having done so.

On top of that, once or twice a year, when the time comes around, I frequent the various post-Christmas and pre-whatever sales and try to make a killing, but that’s it. I do have quite a lot of music as well as a limited budget and because of this I also try to stay away from places that could incite me to spend too much money. I usually need an incentive to get me to look for some particular (re)issue and because many sites I have bookmarked supply that, I try to stay away from those as well. Hell, I haven’t been on eBay for over a year because the times when one could really nail a cheap collector’s item are long gone. After years of scoring major bargains on eBay, I got the feeling that there was always that one obsessive-compulsive collector that ruined the price on each and every item I had wanted to bid on … every single time. Some people just have too much money and too much time on their hands.

There was a time - several years in fact - in which I added on to my collection in larger leaps and bounds, but I also reached the point many moons ago at which I thought I had most of the “must-have” stuff I had previously assembled on a mile-long shopping list of sorts. Today I either fill up holes in that collection, explore a new music (sub-)genre or update a few releases with better-sounding reissues. I’m also practically forcing myself to stay away from classical music altogether (well, almost …) because I just know that once I enter that market, I might as well move out of my apartment (and apply for social welfare).

Last, but not least, I’m usually a patient guy. I can wait a year or two until things become much cheaper and there’s hardly an item I buy upon release. In fact, I can’t really remember having bought more than one or two CDs when they came out these past 24 months and then only because they were reduced in the first week of availability. Unless it’s a limited edition and sure to go out of print fast, I usually wait … indefinitely if I have to. Many of the collector’s items I bought years after they were released, many of them used or remaindered. Yes, one misses out on stuff that way, but there is so much to go around that there’s always an item on the wish list that can replace that missed opportunity.

“Zweitausendeins”
The best intentions usually evaporate into thin air once I enter one of Germany’s infamous “Zweitausendeins” stores, a new one of which opened one city down the road about a year ago. Actually, I had effectively avoided both their online site and the new shop for quite some time and because I have unsubscribed from their mailing list, I suddenly had a lot more cash than previously. Still, my subconscious took me right past their store front while on a walk through town the other day. Another inner demon made me enter a few seconds later. Bad idea.

For all of those who don’t know “Zweitausendeins”, a few facts. It is Germany’s biggest budget outfit, founded in 1969 and a fixture on the market for music and book lovers ever since, that usually buys up huge quantities of any book, CD, and DVD, quite a few remaindered, some not, and then slashes the prices massively. Yes, at times you can get this or that item a bit cheaper via an Amazon marketplace dealer or other more reclusive online haunts, but at their best, “Zweitausendeins” has stunningly cheap or more than reasonable offers, especially when compared to prices elsewhere in Germany. They also have quite a few clunkers in their catalog and you shouldn’t just grab anything they offer without having first done some research in regard to the quality of that item, especially if you are interested in sound and general production quality.

If you do use their online site (only available in German) and have your stuff shipped to you, it is likely that you’ll end up rolling around the floor in fits of laughter when you see how they “wrap” and “package” their stuff. Over the years, I’ve had a ton of shipments from them with cracked and otherwise damaged jewelcases, dented books as well as boxed sets (they do replace damaged items without fail though which makes one wonder why they don’t package stuff better in the first place - that must surely be cheaper in the long run?) and when you see their flimsy cardboard boxes and rest your gaze on some crumbled-up brown piece of paper randomly thrown into the box (which is usually much too large for what it’s supposed to be protecting) as “wrapping”, you simply can’t help but wonder if they’ll ever learn. I haven’t complained much because I always have a stack of replacement jewelcases lying around and because most boxed sets had a minor dent at the most, but if you are a perfectionist in these matters, maybe you should order elsewhere.

Still, often their prices are hard to beat, communication with them is good and the people working in their stores - at least the ones I frequent(ed) - know their stuff.

So, last week the sun came out for seemingly the first time this year, I headed into town to have a nice glass of wine at some street café … and walked head-first into said storefront.

You know the skit: “I’ll just have a look if they happen to have some interesting item cheap …”. Yeah, right.

I walked away with John Coltrane’s “Fearless Leader” boxed set (34 Euro), the MPS Art Van Damme 5-CD set “Swinging the Accordion on MPS” (23 Euro), a Columbia Miles Davis “Original Album Classics” 5-CD set for the price of one single CD (11 Euro), and Verve’s “Getz Au Go Go: The New Stan Getz Quartet featuring Astrud Gilberto” (live; 4 Euro). If I hadn’t had them already, I could have walked away with all the other MPS 4-CD and 5-CD boxed sets (Monty Alexander, Eugen Cicero, George Shearing, all 24 Euro besides the Cicero at 19 Euro) or their single releases (for example Monty Alexander’s Montreux live set, 30th anniversary, 7 Euro), the complete EMI recordings (17CDs, 40 Euro) of Jaqueline du Pré, and a trillion other items, like a a couple of meters of Rudy van Gelder Blue Note remasters for 4.99 Euro a piece.

See, that new shop has all the interesting sets displayed up on a shelf that is just at my height and I just needed to walk along and grab them. No digging around for stuff, not much of an IQ needed to spend insane amounts of money. No agility either.

To finish things off, I hit their online site when I got home to check if they had the other John Coltrane box from the same series, “Interplay“, and they did. Plus Miles Davis’ “The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions” (also 34 Euro) and Klaus Doldinger’s “The complete Philips sessions” (24 Euro).

So, in a matter of a few hours, I either bought or ordered 30 CDs (plus a film or two that I’m not even going to mention) and could have added another thirety or more to that pile. Leaps and bounds again. That’s “Zweitausendeines” for you.

I also temporarily got irritated at having previously spent a lot more on some of the stuff I could have now gotten at least 1/3 cheaper. Yes, in light of what I stated above, new MPS releases are usually bought right away, simply because they are damn good.

… And More

What has really gotten to me these past 24 months or so is how wildly the prices not only differ from continent to continent but sometimes also from one area in Europe to another. Germany, and all of us who know this country certainly expect that at each and every turn, is usually the most expensive (people from Switzerland and Austria might disagree). It is ridiculous how much money you can save by just digitally stepping across the Channel and purchasing a lot of stuff in the UK, especially since - in my experience - price cuts are put into effect in the UK weeks (if not months) before they are even considered in Germany. To make matters worse, the current Euro - Dollar exchange rate basically begs us to order from the US as often as we can … if it weren’t for the above-mentioned German customs offices which are, in each and every instance I had to deal with them, run by a horde of mentally deficient primates.

To be fair though, much of what these short-haired humanoids pour over our undeserving heads has been caused by that many-tentacled monster which goes by the name of “European Union”. Protectionism, a thing we believed to have gone the way of the world and died is not only alive and well in said Union, it’s thriving by the minute. I am what could be called a staunch defender of European unity, but my wallet thinks it sucks. Although the minimum amount after which a sales tax is imposed on imported goods is supposed to be raised in the near future, these past two decades the various member governments have earned themselves golden toilet bowls by taxing everything bigger than a stamp and more expensive than a stiff tequila. As is customary, the amount due is calculated from the payment total plus (!) the cost of shipping, and I don’t know how much money I’ve thrown into the gaping mouths of insatiable ministers and vultures of finance and/or trade.

On top of that, the various governments have made it so damn complicated to actually get your stuff out of those iron-fisted grips of customs officials that the fun of actually scoring a good bargain abroad is completely removed from the equation.

Let’s have a look at an example: The other day I ordered three boxed sets from a forum member in the US, an excellent offer he had for members there and which became even better at the current exchange rate. So, I jumped on it, sent him the money - including airmail postage - and he sent it off straight away. Six (!) weeks later I have to find out myself from the local customs office that because of the backlog experienced in and around their cushy cages, the shipment had been lying around there for weeks. Additionally, I was allowed a mere seven days (including two offical holidays) to contact them via mail with proof of purchase (two copies), a letter explaining the transaction, and 15 sets of fingerprints. The latter is, of course, a joke, but not far removed from the printed gibberish (torn by hand, by the way, from a long roll of forms they must have hanging around their offices like toilet paper) we are regularly submitted to over here. “We”, in this case, are the people outside of the bigger cities, the ones who cannot just “hop over” into said cages to pick something up.

So, now I had to locate a PayPal receipt, compose an accompanying letter, fill out a more than confusing form, send it off at my expense … only to be told that because I did not show up personally, I have to probably wait another 4 to 6 weeks until the package is delivered to my house. Of course, should I not be at home when the package is delivered at 10 in the morning (naturally, nobody is assumed to be working in this country here), it will land in another office 20 km away from which I then have to try to somehow extract it. You know, the Monopoly game: “Do not pass GO, …”. Same procedure as every year.

It was ten years ago that I, together with a large number of others - including a load of bookshop owners who have to go through the same procedure for every darn book they order for a customer abroad - filed an official complaint with the federal parliament (they have a committee that has to deal with citizen complaints and requests). We were - almost immediately - informed that we had a case … but: “Do not pass GO, …”

10 years later we are still dealing with the same old same old, although improvements are in sight. I’ll give it another ten to twenty years and then start complaining again.

So, at the end, I actually have to get shopping fits within the confinements of the usually rather small “Zweitausendeins” stores to compensate for all that frustration.

Yeah, it’s a tough life.

:)

As of now, I can neither upload images into my posts (I can, but only by sidestepping Wordpress altogether) and ever since I upgraded to 2.5.1 the problems with that issue have increased, including new issues like a broken feed. I’m reluctant to list the other issues I have which persist, but I can only add three custom fields if I add one, then save, and then add the other two. Took me a while to figure that one out. The visual editor? *Groan* (but that problem WP has been carrying around for ages, so no surprise there. There’s more, but you can find all of it over at the Wordpress forums.

There’s no point in pulling out my hair and investing more time into this right now, so I just have to put this whole relaunch on hold and wait until the Wordpress team has gotten a grip on things to be able to post regularly again and then, in the summer, hop over to another platform. Sorry about that, but there’s nothing else I can do right now.

I do have a couple of thoughts though on this whole thing:

After having spent I don’t know how many hours on the “support” forums, I can only say that I have never ever - with any software (not even with Windows) - experienced such open (and at times a bit more sublime) arrogance as with some posters over there. Just have a look yourself and watch how posts get deleted, threads are closed, beginning users are left with a myriad of either unanswered support requests or are given the standard reply of checking the sticky posts (or whatever) that haven’t fixed issues for lots of people. Sure, it’s all free and run by volunteers, but other sites are doing a better job at it. Believe me. I know.

It’s become a mantra of sorts to stonewall many support requests with “YOU are the culprit / YOUR server is / EVERYTHING but WP / …” instead of at least acknowledging that there must be something wrong with the Wordpress backend.

I’m not even going to comment on the interface issues that have many people stumped. Just have a look at this here which is exemplary (in a much toned-down way) of what’s currently going on. It all seems pretty hopeless right now. You could also look at this next to that or just about any other list of fixes that don’t work for some or many people. Lots of examples in the support forums. Still, I’d rather you just sat down and watched a good film. This one here is on endless repeat.

I actually downloaded and installed Wordpress to be able to return to a regular posting schedule, but the opposite was the case. Wordpress is actively preventing me from doing the most basic things a blogging program / CMS is supposed to be helping me with. Instead, I’ve spent all of three days on support forums, trying to find workarounds for the most basic tasks, have time and again tried the same fixes without any results, have actually deleted the whole shebang and reinstalled it clean as a whistle. Still, nada.

It stumps me completely that Wordpress has been able to mess things up in such a major way. 2.3 worked fine and I refuse to believe that testing was extensive beforehand. All of it seems like a rush job compared to major upgrades I experienced with my past software of choice. I now understand the people over at Expression Engine who calmed everyone down each and every time, stating that they weren’t done with the testing yet. And once they did roll out the update, issues were resolved in a matter of hours. I also believe that that did not have anything to do with EE not being free; it had something to do with real commitment to an excellent product. And that’s all.

So, I’m giving up for now.

Stay tuned for any developments … if they ever appear in my feed.
Right now, I sincerely doubt it.

I have already now decided to abandon Wordpress as soon as possible (I should have heeded the warnings many experienced users sent my way prior to my switching platforms) to try a different route (anything else really), but I just haven’t got the time. I’m right in the middle of the busiest weeks of the year and I don’t need Matt Mullenweg’s software to take the last free hours that I have left.

I’ve mentioned before that “if you have rather large collections like I do, it’s always nice to have a smaller selection close to your stereo if the collection, which is often the case, is stored in a rather elaborate shelf or container system wherever it fits - and that’s usually not right next to your stereo equipment.” Had I known back then that geeky holders like the ones I’m about to feature here existed, I might well have opted for them when I started out with my site.

“Better late than never”, so let’s have a look at these discoveries.

The Human CD Holder is not one product but has been turned into a whole range of CD and other media holders. They all have in common that the CD storage area is made from MDF wood, whereas the “human” is cast from Poly-resin. Each holder features “human figurines that are positioned to look like they assist in holding the CDs.

01) Lifting Man CD Holder (measures 4.7″ x 9.5″ x 8.25″)

The “Lifting Man CD Holder” is my favorite one of the lot and I think I’m going to order one of these to check out if they get here in one piece from the US. As you can see from the photo, it will only hold standard jewelcases and, if you like, standard digipaks (”digipacks”). Anything bigger than that is most certainly a no-go. It also looks like the maximum capacity should be 10 to 11 single CDs, depending on what you put in there. I have quite a few (mostly black/dark wood) figurines standing around my apartment and this one would fit well with those.

You can purchase this CD holder from Amazon.com: “Lifting Man CD Holder” (affiliate link) - $39.95.

02) Pushing Man CD Holder (measures 4.7″ x 20″ x 7″)

The “Pushing Man CD Holder” looks like lots of fun as well, being able to hold more than the “Lifting Man” one, but I wonder if the whole thing is going to tip to the left if you load it up until the end of the CD storage area. From the photo it seems that way, so I guess it’s not meant to be filled up completely.

You can purchase this CD holder from Amazon.com: Pushing Man CD Holder (affiliate link) - $39.95.

03) Climbing Man CD Holder (measures 4.7′ x 20′ x 9″)

The “Climbing Man CD Holder” can also be hung on the wall if you don’t want to have another one standing around. Apparently, the end plate is affixed to the wall and the “climbing man” part juts out staright from the wall. I’m not so sure if I’m a fan of the golden figurine and I wonder why they decided to break the mould and move away from the dark color.

You can purchase this CD holder from Amazon.com: Climbing Man CD Holder (affiliate link) - $39.95.

04) Zig Zag CD Holder (measures 4.7″ x 21.6″ x 6.3″)

The “Zig Zag CD Holder” is perhaps the most flexible one as it can also hold larger objects … and allows us to be a bit more chaotic by either leaning or piling the CDs or whatever up against/on it.

You can purchase this CD holder from Amazon.com: Zig Zag CD Holder (affiliate link) - $49.95

I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff. If it’s not overdone - and I know people who love to plaster these kinds of geeky things all over their workspace and/or apartment - it can be a real eye-catcher, especially over here in Europe where, as far as I know, these products are unavailable.

Check’em out.

It was a frustrating experience. As is often the case, the Internet turned up quite a bit of information, but all of it seemed, in one way or another, to have been copied from the same two sources, and those weren’t very elaborate.

It was also frustrating because from a quick glance at the hard facts - being European myself - I should have heard of Pim Jacobs before. I have spent half of my life listening to European musicians who toured through Scandinavia and Germany and I was even fortunate to meet and talk to many of them. Never once did that name come up. I don’t know how many musicians passed through Copenhagen’s famed jazz club “Montmartre”, a place I had almost familial ties to, and many of the countless musicians who did pass through must surely have played with Pim. I know they did because I later unearthed that information. Still, I have no memory of ever having heard anything about him.

Sad, really.

See, it didn’t take long to figure out that “Come Fly with Me” is perhaps his most revered recording in many circles, so I ran (not walked) to the next online shop that usually caters to my more immediate needs and ordered it. While I was at it, I ordered two other recordings, one of which turned out to be a clunker. More about that, perhaps, at a later date.

The few snippets I had heard told me already that I would certainly like “Come Fly With Me” and it took quite a bit of patience to wait until it was shipped (by wooden vessel, I suppose, because it took so frustratingly long) all the way from Japan to the - at that time - frozen German shores.

I remember clearly tearing the padded envelope in half and having the disc spinning before it had a chance to acclimatize itself. What I heard was … well, wait for it.

[snip]

Pim Jacobs was, as I found out, not some unknown artist fighting for recognition but had quite a history to show for himself. What attracted me immediately to searching out “Come Fly With Me” and some other releases was the fact that it became clear immediately that he had gone through the same tough school that many other musicians I admired had gone through, that of accompanying the seemingly endless stream of visiting American jazz greats that toured through Europe for decades. I have often referred to my time in various smokey Danish jazz clubs on this site and if you know that people like Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen went through the same school, to name just one artist almost everyone knows (and loves), filling the house bassist position in a club like “Montmartre” for years, having to give it one-hundred percent again and again on short notice, jumping into jam sessions with a 60-second warning, then you also know that Pim Jacobs must have been damn good, even before you had a chance to listen to any of his music. If you then find out that he sat in with jazz greats like Wes Montgomery, to name just one artist (actually, I would think, Montgomery sat in with him), discover an available video of that event and you then see Wes’ face light up instantly, you know you’re in for a treat.

As you can read just about everywhere when you do find something on Willem Bernard Jacobs (born in Hilversum, Holland, on October 29th, 1934 - died in Tienhoven, Holland, on July 3rd, 1996), he came from a musical family and his brother, Ruud, an equally accomplished bassist who was a member of Pim’s trio for years and teamed up with him again and again (and even produced the session we’re talking about here), has an equally long list of world renowned jazz musicians he recorded and played with to show for himself (he also happens to play a mean tenor sax!).

After a somewhat sketchy path towards jazz, he started his own trio in 1954 and the rest, as they, is (Dutch) history. He played, toured and composed full-time, backed such luminaries as Lucky Thompson, Stan Getz, Herbie Mann and a slew of others. Later in life, he teamed up with his wife (they got married in 1960), vocalist Rita Reys, and there is a whole number of their recordings still readily available today. Instead of putting all his eggs into one basket though, he regularly hosted TV shows, bringing together national and international musicians, composed and recorded soundtracks for documentaries, took his and other music into Dutch schools, and even had a Theater in Maarssen named in his honor … apparently a consummate musician and media personality.

Yep, I had never heard of him.

[snip]

“Come Fly With Me”, released in 1982 (originally a Philips LP, as far as I know), is a wonderfully relaxed affair, with a predominantly slow swing feel. The recording just oozes “class”. At times it is almost introspective, with each note carefully placed and played with a wonderfully soft touch, and even the uptempo numbers like “Autumn Leaves” and “I Love You” appear “reigned-in”, for want of another expression. It’s almost as if he restrained himself. I might be wrong because I have so little to go by, but I recall especially Teddy Wilson and other, much lesser-known pianists, doing the same later on in their career, showing what they were musically capable of and forgoing almost all the technical flourishes that they had at the ready. Mind you, there are plenty displayed by Pim Jacobs here, but they are mostly added as the icing on the cake. What I’m hearing here is a pianist in love with the music and not his own way of playing, someone who gave a lot of thought to what best serves the tune.

But that’s not all, yet.

He’s backed up by just the right people. I’ve mentioned his brother Ruud Jacobs before, and he shines as the accompanying bassist here. There are wonderfully singing and vibrant bass notes here; the strings are given plenty of room to breathe. And he plays a mean walking bass as well. Peter Ypma, the drummer, is in the best sense of the word one who supports the two with wonderful brush work on most and a few rock-solid ride-cymbal driven rhythms on the others.

The more I think about it, the more I’m sure this CD soared to the very top of my regular listening pile because of the wonderful tempos these three musicians found for the tunes. It might be a silly observation, but ever since I ripped the CD to my portable player, I always end up listening to “Sultry Serenade” when on one of my many walks. You just can’t help but fall into rhythm; the trio’s interpretation just grabs you. It’s by far my favorite track on this album and it has stood the test of time as well: After more than a hundred times, I still listen to it … and walk to it (Disclaimer: I’m the only German without a driver’s license and walk everywhere).

Because I’m not as knowledgeable and do not have the discographies at my disposal that others have, here’s an interesting observation: “Sultry Serenade”, credited to Duke Ellington and Tyree Glenn here, was also recorded by another favorite of mine, the much more recent “Bassface Swing Trio” from Germany. On their live session entitled “Straight Live” (Rodenstein Records, 2005), the same song - in an uptempo format - is entitled “How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me?” and is credited to Tyree Glenn and Allen Roberts. I guess Ellington took Glenn’s tune and gave it a new twist? I’m sure those readers out there who are better-educated in these matters than I am can enlighten all of us on this fact?

So, what do we have here? Well, already now it’s the best purchase I made these past 6 months, bar none. It’ll be hard to beat by another one. Impeccable musicianship on the highest level, which obviously stems from decades of hard-earned and incessantly trained and perfected ability, makes this CD an absolute must-have. Piano jazz in the trio format doesn’t come much better than this.

Beg, steal and borrow.
Then you have two if one should get lost. :)

Rating: *****/*****

Artist(s): Trio Pim Jacobs
Title: “Come Fly With Me”
Release Date(s): 1982

This CD: Philips JPN-UCCU-5512, Japan 1982
Alternative: Limited Japanese papersleeve edition available.

Titles:
001: I’ve Got the World on a String (05:31)
002: Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year (05:38)
003: Come Fly With Me (06:19)
004: Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes) (04:13)
005: Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (05:37)
006: I Love You (04:51)
007: Body and Soul (05:45)
008: Sultry Serenade (06:31)

Personnel: Pim Jacobs (p), Ruud Jacobs (b), Peter Ypma (d)

Recording Date: n.n.
Recording Venue: Wisseloord Studios
City: Hilversum, Holland
Recorded By: John v. d. Houten and Albert Kos
Mixed By: Albert Kos at Wisseloord Studios

Cover Photo: Bart Mulder

Note: Special Thanks to: H. v. Zalinge, J. v. Gils

You were all privy to the immense spam problem I encountered when the site went live, and I won’t go into all of that again. Unfortunately though - for the time being - I also had to turn off track- and pingbacks completely. They will be turned on again when I have enough time to work my way into a more lethal approach to this infestation that calls itself “spam”. This won’t be until June or July though.

Some stats: Since the 14th of April when the site went live, we’ve had an average of 250 to 300 unique visitors a day and, most importantly, the ones that land here also stay a lot longer than they used to. People having arrived here via Google used to just check out the post they surfed to, now they have a look at a minimum of 5 posts before they take off again (50% of the visitors from search engines now view 5 or more posts). So, the restructuring of the site has been a success.

Additionally, the subscription rate (RSS feed) has gone up considerably and besides a few minor issues in either the old IE6 or the new IE8 Beta (who could have possibly guessed that Internet Explorer would act up yet again?), which I will try to fix next week, not many problems have been reported. I’m still quite sure that a few visitors are probably unable to comment, but my rather rigorous spam protection has blacklisted a load of top-level domains simply because a load of spam also originates from them (so far, I’ve deleted more than 10.000 spam comm ents and trackbacks (in one single week!). Sorry about that, but I am working on a solution.

Two readers and one guest have also alerted me to some seriously broken links on this site (they still had some left-over code from the last version in them) and today, in a five-minute break at work, I ran a script on the database to fix things up. The reports referring to this particular type of broken link were very helpful and the problem was - once it had come to my attention - easy to fix.

Google is hard at work reindexing my site and I’m losing some top spots in search results. I knew this would happen, especially because I haven’t gotten a solid grip on search engine optimization for the new site yet, but I hope to be able to fix these problems in the summer. Not that it’s a priority for me.

The post discussing my hope that readers, writers and/or collectors are welcome to contribute here has lead to a surprising number of contacts with both regular readers and new acquaintances, and I hope to be able to present the first contributed material in a few weeks, maybe even earlier. One new interview with a regular reader has already been started, another one with a known personality will be kicked off in middle May, three longer pieces have already been promised to the site and yet another three I’m in discussion about.

I’m very happy about the readers and visitors who take their time to comment here and I thank you all. Keep ‘em coming.

A few questions have come up that I’d like to answer here, just to clarify a point or two. Please take note:

01) What about copyright?
At the moment, the material I write is copyrighted by me. I k