The Gaslight Gaslite Gang 1980 Private 1980

Some pretty hip outfits and sweet facial hair.

The Gaslight Gaslite Gang 1980 Private 1980 NO CAT#

Paul Gray was a KU undergrad from 1965 to 1969. He started this group and opened his own Jazz House in 1972, later which was renamed the Jazzhaus. Paul Gray fronted his own house band and led a small Lawrence Jazz scene during the time. The band actually did get some pub, appearing on an early reality TV show titled 'Your All-American College Show' plus were featured on an Andy Griffith TV Special, but, never made any major label recordings.

The group is pretty standard, swing and bop, nothing groundbreaking. Sometimes they get a bit New Orleans and Dixie, but I find the band more rooted in the KC Swing sound. What's funny about the release is the multiple errors that adorn the jacket and label. For one, according to the cover, the LP is by the Gaslight Gang and titled, Paul Gray's Jazz Place Proudly Present the Gaslight Gang. The backside, shows an over-the-top bio and would have you believe the title of the album is Gassing With Gray. Yet, the title I'm going to use here is the the record label, which simply states Gaslite Gang 1980 (notice, the change in the spelling of Gaslight).
 It's a pleasant, easy to listen to live recording.

Bob Brookmeyer And Friends Columbia 1965

Bob Brookmeyer And Friends Columbia 1965 CAT #CL 2237

Pretty outstanding list of players for KC trombonist, Bob Brookmeyer. This album was a reunion for Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer who had worked together at length for years prior to 1965. It features standards and some Brookmeyer originals.

In 1965, Getz and Brookmeyer were aging and through being cool. What saves the album from standard, boring, white-guy jazz is the young players they brought aboard to fill out the sessions. Namely, a young Herbie Hancock filling out the tunes with some interesting keyboard runs. It also, as the cover indicates, includes Gary Burton, who had done plenty up to this point, but was still young at the time of this release. Hancock and Burton's imagination was allowed to carry the album. Without them, the album would still be top notch, just not as memorable.

Brookmeyer's Jive Hoot

Charlie Parker The Genius of Charlie Parker #7 Jazz Perennial Verve 1982

Charlie Parker The Genius of Charlie Parker #7 Jazz Perennial Verve 1982 CAT#UMV 2617

Yet another Charlie Parker comp I couldn't resist for the price...Maybe $1.99?  Can't be for certain, but it didn't put me back much.

This one, I'm not as embarrassed about.  This was part of a Verve reissue series that began in the 80's.  Verve founder, Norman Granz, supervised the series, pressed a number of classic Clef releases (before Verve it was Clef) in Japan and made sure the mastering was done in mono to be as true to the original as possible.  I have a few and while I'd be better versed talking about varied pressing of rock records, I'm pretty happy about the sound quality on these.

Mainly due to the mono sound.  Once stereo became vogue, Verve (and countless other labels) cranked out awful remastered stereo versions of classic albums that were still in demand and needed repressing.  When the original selections found on this compilation were first mastered, they were done so in mono, because that's what everybody had: a speaker and a turntable.

Even after two speakers and a turntable became standard, mono still sounded great.  Despite that, labels had to adjust levels and create effects.  Great if a band like Led Zeppelin was behind it and using it to their advantage.  Terrible for anything originally mixed in mono, it wasn't the artists or engineers intent to have some guy adjusting volume knobs to give the perceived effect of "surround" or "large", the mono mix hits you in the face all at once, it can be great and in many ways; better.

This comp particular has some moments that punch you in the gut along with standard fare, vocal tracks and Parker with strings.  It's a solid representation of the many styles Parker covered and brought his innovation, too.

Charlie Parker The Happy "Bird" Charlie Parker Records 1961

Charlie Parker The Happy "Bird" Charlie Parker Records 1961 CAT #PLP 404 S

Kind of a neat release, the label Charlie Parker Records was initiated by Parker's widow, Doris Parker and producer, Aubrey Mayhew.  The label was founded to release the unreleased works of Charlie Parker that were being exchanged through various bootlegs.

This release is nothing spectacular and pretty easy to track down.  It'd make mores sense for a completest as the tracks here are extended jams of tunes released in better format.  That is to say, I'd be much better off concentrating on proper Parker albums rather than random compilation pick ups.

The sound quality is poor, but again, it's a trade off for the extended times of the tunes.  4 tracks, including a 15 minute rendition of "Scrapple from the Apple" (misspelled Appel) and 13 minutes of "Lullaby in Rhythm" which is mislabeled "I May Be Wrong."  The spelling errors and miss labeled tunes alone should speak to the quality of the release, but hey, it's Charlie Parker and some moments are straight jam sessions.

Charlie Parker S/T Archive of Folk Music Jazz Series (Everest) 1968

Charlie Parker S/T Archive of Folk Music Jazz Series (Everest) 1968 FS-214

Another yard sale budget Charlie Parker compilation find.  It'd be cool if I had some original issues, but I don't have that kind of money or patience.

This features a great selection of tunes, some of which were recorded live.  But, it all sounds like crap.  The company that put this out, Everest, did tons of these types of releases.  All of which nail down on some great tracks, but none of which sound that good.  They first centered around releasing folk, like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, but found jazz as another quick avenue for releases.  The jazz LPs get the "Jazz Series" tag.

Again, great track selections, however, most of the releases are culled from 78 RPM discs.  Not the original tapes, but the actual beat to hell 78 RPM disc that were taped, then pressed onto vinyl.  You get the crackle found on the source along with creepy ambient noise.  As stated, some tracks used here are old live recordings.  For Charlie, they just threw on recordings you can find elsewhere in better fidelity.  Further, Everest "re-channeled" everything for Stereo, which usually doesn't help anyone.  So, if you can deal with that, purchase the crap out of all these releases for a dollar.  Another issue I have with these, nothing is said about where they got these tracks from?  Outside of a "Statement of Purpose" on the back cover that explains to you it'll sound like shit, they don't notify you who played on the tunes or the original 78 disc...that's some crap archiving if you ask me.

Biggest problem I've always had though, is not the label itself, it's if you see the comps at an antique mall or a store where vinyl is not primary, the store or dealer thinks they've got something special and throw a $10 price tag on it.  There's a Volume II for Charlie Parker I've spotted a number of times, never once have I seen it a price I'd feel comfortable with.

Move

Charlie Parker The Charlie Parker Story Volume 1 Verve 1957

Charlie Parker The Charlie Parker Story Volume 1 Verve 1957 CAT# V6-8000

Another yard sale find, another cheap Charlie Parker compilation album.  Actually, these Verve volumes are fairly well regarded, however, this version is a repress of the original that's been "electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo" and collectors know, that's a bad thing.  So, it likely holds true that the original owner purchased it at a bargain price long after the original release.  Further, while the Verve volumes do seem to garner respect, they are at times, very commercially selective.  This is your introduction to Parker, with some good cuts, but not the deep cuts.

Like any other genre changing musician, there is a legend about Parker.  He was a KC jazz musician, just an everyday player that no one paid much attention to.  In interviews, he stated to get where he wanted to be, he took himself out for a while, claimed he was "woodsheding" in a family members Kansas City home/shed for months on end.  He just locked himself up and practiced.  Developed his rapid pace and progressions over the course of months.  He knew how to play before, but what he came up with in a small Kansas City shed was about to surprise everybody.

The players that witnessed his new style where obviously floored.  For them, here was a guy that months ago was decent at best, all the sudden he comes up on them just laying down impossible progressions.  That started the legend, similar to Robert Johnson's story, that Parker struck a deal...because there's no way someone can be that good.

Charlie Parker Apex of Bebop Volume 2 Sarabandas 1986

Charlie Parker Apex of Bebop Volume 2 Sarabandas 1986 CAT# LPJT 41

I've got way too many Charlie Parker compilation LPs.  Most of them are budget comps, at the time of thier original purchase, these were likely several dollars cheaper than reissues of Bird & Diz or April in Paris that surrounded it.  I find these LPs almost every summer at garage sales in the greater Kansas City metro area.

While I can't brag or say I'm proud about my Charlie Parker compilation collection, I would say finding this type of album is one of my favorite parts of Parker's legacy in Kansas City.  I like the fact that years ago, when everybody had a stereo system in their living with at least a modest collection of LPs, the people of Kansas City, Overland Park, Shawnee, Lees Summit, etc, felt the need to have a Charlie Parker album.

I enjoy the idea that something they read or heard about Charlie Parker struck them or gave them some sense of pride.  They realized that this guy from Kansas City reinvented jazz and it made them think, "I should own some of his music."  So, they went to the record store, Montgomery Ward or Sears and found themselves in the Jazz section sifting through Charlie Parker albums.  Not having a clue about jazz or bebop, they opted for a safe purchase, a cheap, likely marked down compilation of his claimed best works.

When they got the LP home, they likely spun it and hoped to understand it.  I'm a sure a few did.  However, as evidenced by the amount of these of these compilations found all by their lonesome sitting next to a collection of easy listening and pop albums, most people didn't.  Still, they kept it.  They thought enough of Charlie Parker and their city to hold onto it...at least until they sold all their albums at a yard sale.

Charlie Parker The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever Prestige 1973

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever Prestige 1973 CAT #24024

2 years away from his death in 1955, Charlie Parker was invited to play in Toronto, Canada, with 4 other giants of Bebop.  Apparently, some well to do's in Canada decided they wanted an event, brainstormed and decided they'd invite the biggest innovators in bebop to come perform.  By this time, bebop wasn't the radical confusing scene Parker had started.  It was generally accepted as jazz (not "China Music" like Louis Armstrong once dubbed it), the innovations provided by Parker and Gillespie were now commonplace.

Surprisingly, they showed up to play.  Legends say Bud Powell was drunk from the onset, Gillespie was busy leaving the stage to check on a boxing match, and Parker was playing on a cheap alto sax with plastic parts.  It represents the last time Gillespie and Parker would collaborate on an album and finds Parker in good form despite being only two years away from heroin ending his life (he didn't die of an overdose, he died because he was an addict) and playing a cheap sax.  This has been released many times and under different names.  The first being Mingus' own Debut label entitled Jazz At Massey Hall.  This Prestige edition differs in that it contains the trio of just Mingus, Powell, & Roach (supposedly from a different night and also rumored to also have Art Tatum behind the keys rather than Powell).  But, those dudes aren't KC so don't have to spend much time arguing that.

The thing that this LP really showcases is the influence Parker had.  Kansas City, KS born, Kansas City, MO raised, the guy reinvented jazz.  There's pre-Bop and post-Bop, and Charlie Parker is Bebop.  The quintet he is a part of is his and legendary; he's the ringleader.  He's the one that showed them the way.  Even Gillespie, who was far more advanced in theory than anyone, wouldn't have found his true calling had he never heard Parker explode on a saxophone.  Throughout the album, Parker and Gillespie are stride for stride and he explodes on "Salt Peanuts" and "Wee".  He also finds his moments on the ballad "All The Things You Are."

And, I worried about this LP.  I mean, after all, it was two years before his death, could he be all that good at this point?  Of course, it's easy to forget, Parker died at age 36, he was 34 at the time of the recording and still cutting some of his best sides.

Wee