The Prestige Label @ 60

The Very Best of Prestige Records
Prestige/Concord 2-CD set

Arguably, Prestige and Blue Note Records were the two greatest labels of the Hard Bop era. They recorded many of the same artists, including jazz giants like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Jackie McLean, and Sonny Rollins, as well as less publicized musicians like Gil Mellé and George Braith. They even shared the same recording engineer: the venerable Rudy Van Gelder. However, where Blue Note’s sessions had a burnished intensity, Prestige’s were looser, more spontaneous. They were the two sides of the same jazz coin. After their counterparts recently marked their 70th year, Prestige now celebrates their 60th anniversary, with The Very Best of Prestige Records, a commemorative double-disk collection of their classic instrumental jazz sessions.

Though the label would be known for its earthy Hard Bop and funky Soul-Jazz, the first session produced by label founder Bob Weinstock showcased the cool, cerebral music of pianist Lennie Tristano and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. Logically enough, the anniversary set starts here with “Subconscious-Lee.” It is immediately followed by one of the label’s all-time greatest hits, James Moody’s “I’m in the Mood for Love,” which the tenor titan has probably played nearly every night since this 1949 recording. “Mood” is actually a bit of an anomaly, because it was a Swedish recording licensed by Prestige, uncharacteristically featuring Moody on the alto saxophone.

Probably Prestige’s most important signing was a young Charlie Parker sideman named Miles Davis, so naturally he is well represented in this collection. Although many critics were initially unimpressed by Davis, he would develop during his Prestige tenure into one of the best-selling jazz artists of his time. His stint with the label included the bulk of his recordings with what is now considered his first great quintet of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Philly Joe Jones, and of course John Coltrane on tenor. Included in the anniversary set is their rendition of “If I Were a Bell,” recorded during a marathon session Davis cut to satisfy his Prestige contract before leaving for the big money offered by Columbia Records.

Several of Davis’s own sidemen would also sign with Prestige, probably the most notable being Coltrane, who would cut his bop teeth at the label as he was developing his “sheets of sound” innovations. Trane is heard in several contexts here, including “Why Was I Born?” from a beautiful late-night duet with guitarist Kenny Burrell. Sonny Rollins, another tenor player Davis recorded with and long coveted for his working group, also signed with Weinstock, recording Saxophone Colossus, which remains probably the most analyzed album in jazz history. “St. Thomas,” included in this collection, is a defining example of Rollins’ jazz calypsos, which still sounds fresh and invigorating.

The second disk is largely dominated by the greasy soul-jazz sounds that became Prestige’s bread-and-butter in the 1960’s, which is all good. If any artist personifies the soulful side of the label, it would probably be R&B-influenced tenor-man Gene Ammons. Despite serving two considerable prison stretches, Prestige kept his records in circulation, most certainly including his perennial favorite, the azure blue “Hittin’ the Jug.” There are also a couple of departures from the soul-jazz vibe on disk two, the most notable being Yusef Lateef’s gorgeous “The Plum Blossom,” taken from the Eastern Sounds LP. Recorded in 1961, it was Lateef’s fullest exploration of Eastern musical forms up to that point, yet he still kept it firmly grounded in the jazz idiom. Here Lateef plays the Chinese globular flute and bassist Ernie Farrow plays the rebat (or rabaab), sounding like a cross between the upright bass and the mbira.

The Very Best exclusively collects instrumental jazz, foregoing Prestige’s significant jazz vocalists like Mose Allison, and not even touching on the music of their Bluesville subsidiary label. While the Prestige catalog has had several owners since Weinstock sold his interest, a great number of their jazz sessions are available on CD, including the original source albums for every track on the 60th anniversary set. However, there are a few sessions that really deserve a long-awaited reissue life, particularly the three LPs released by the Morris Nanton Trio, with Norman Edge on bass, who still play together and have a loyal following for their monthly Shanghai Jazz gigs, but perhaps I digress.

While everything collected here is available elsewhere (often in multiple formats), it is all certainly rewarding music. Prestige has an undeniably rich jazz discography, well worth celebrating on its 60th anniversary.

Vinyl Love for Tenor Classics

The music business is hurting. Hard copy sales are down across the board, with one exception: new vinyl. According to the RIAA, new vinyl sales were up 36% last year, while CDs were down 17%. Of course, CDs still had about 500 times the sales of new vinyl the industry group quickly pointed out, for some reason eager to pour cold water on vinyl’s good press. Ordinarily I do not tell people their business, but it seems to me, the RIAA should be embracing a potential vinyl renaissance. Certainly, LPs are not going to muscle out CDs or downloads, but if a significant number of people starting choosing the LP as their preferred media vehicle, it would be a godsend to the industry. After all, CDs can be burned, files can be copies, and tapes can be dubbed, but there are not a lot of people out there who can press records.

Some labels have re-embraced vinyl, including Concord Records, the current custodians of the classic Prestige and Riverside catalogs, who has been heavily promoting their Collectors Corner as a place to buy new vinyl pressings of their classic jazz releases (the availability on other major online retailers appears spotty). Listening to some of the new some of their classic records repressed in the format they were intended for is a treat.

Recorded in 1961, Eastern Sounds was Yusef Lateef’s fullest exploration of Eastern musical forms up to that point, yet he still kept it firmly grounded in the jazz idiom. LP’s in general sound better than their CDs counterparts, and Eastern is a good example. The sparkling notes of the opening “The Plum Blossom” really jumps out at the listener. Here Lateef plays the Chinese globular flute and bassist Ernie Farrow plays the rebat (or rabaab), sounding like a cross between the bass and the mbira. With vinyl’s richer sound, you can actually hear Farrow’s bass on tracks like “Blues for the Orient” and you get the full auditory sensation of Lateef’s warm tenor goodness on “Don’t Blame Me.” (While Farrow is largely remembered for his work with Lateef, he was active on the Detroit scene as a sometimes leader, and according to his half-sister, Alice Coltrane, he certainly had an impact on jazz history by introducing her to the music.)

There are not many extant recordings of Monk’s group while Coltrane was a member, which is why the 2005 discovery of the 1957 Carnegie Hall concert was such a find. The logically titled Thelonius Monk with John Coltrane was one of their few recording sessions we have always known. Actually cobbled together from two sessions, but it is no less rewarding for it, Monk with consists entirely of the leader’s originals, including the concluding piano solo, “Functional,” a starkly beautiful blues, which makes one wonder why this tune is so under-recorded. While Coltrane was at this point still getting used to playing with Monk, he sounds born to play the achingly tender “Ruby, My Dear.” On the large ensemble tracks, Coleman Hawkin’s full-bodied swinging tenor is totally in-synch with his supposedly more modern colleagues.

Coltrane really hit his stride during his late Atlantic and early Impulse years, but there are plenty of great moments on his Prestige sides. Soultrane is certainly a solid outing, backed up by two thirds of the Miles David rhythm section of Red Garland and Paul Chambers, with Arthur Taylor filling the drum chair. On vinyl, you can really hear and feel Chambers’ bass on a track like the opening “Good Bait,” which I’m sure my neighbors agree is very cool. Soultrane effectively showcases Coltrane’s expressive range, particularly striking on “Theme for Ernie,” a tribute to the late Ernie Henry, an alto player best remembered for his sideman work with Monk and Dizzy Gillespie.

And what possibly needs be said about Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus, probably the most analyzed single “non-concept” record ever? With the introduction of “St. Thomas,” what would become his signature tune, and “Blue 7,” arguably the most acclaimed solo in jazz history, the significance of Colossus is beyond debate. As an LP, its iconic blue-washed cover image of Rollins actually looks as dramatic as intended. Rollins has a reputation for preferring live performance to the studio setting, but his playing on Colossus is exceptional throughout, like the gorgeously lyrical “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” Again, you get the full auditory effect of Doug Watkins’ bass and Max Roach’s bass drum.

It is nice to see a label promoting its classic catalog on vinyl. The sound is richer and the overall experience is more tactile. One can savor the full cover art as it was meant to be seen, rather than as a cocktail napkin-sized insert. Frankly, in my experience CDs are just as apt to scratch and skip as records, so the clear advantage goes to vinyl.