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The Red Garland Quintet, Stan Getz/Joanne, Della Mae, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Vinyl Reviews

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The Red Garland Quintet – All Mornin’ Long

The Red Garland Quintet - All Mornin’ Long
Analogue Productions (Prestige)
200 Gram Vinyl
Mono
Mastered by Kevin Gray

Musicians: Red Garland, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, George Joyner, and Arthur Taylor

Tracks:
1. All Mornin” Long
2. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
3. Our Delight

Like so many of these old Prestige jazz recordings, this is another LP of great music and really good sound. I find this true of most of the Prestige recordings whether they are mono or stereo. This recording was originally released in November of 1957 and I promise you it won’t disappoint. Even though Red Garland is not the biggest name on this list of all-time great jazz musicians, he is most definitely the real start of this LP. The music is everything you would expect from such iconic jazz players, and the solos by Coltrane and Byrd are equally great. Add to this the superb job that Analogue Productions and Kevin Gray have done and you have a really great musical experience waiting for you.

Stan Getz/Joanne Brackeen – Live At Montreaux

The Red Garland Quintet - All Mornin’ Long
Steeple Chase Vinyl Record
2 Disc

On January 28 and 30, 1977, Stan Getz along with pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Billy Hart performed live at the Café Montmartre Jazz-Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. Unlike the Red Garland recording mentioned above, this album is not the last word in recording. It’s a very nicely recorded live performance, but you will never have moments when you think it sound really alive. It has a much more you-are-there prospective than a they-are-in-the-room-with-you prospective.

Still, the music is so good, and the sound is good enough that it’s an album I’m happy to have in my room and it even made it into my Atocha Record Cabinet where I keep my 500 most listened-to LPs. It truly is great music!

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood, Sweat & Tears
Ltd Edition
180g 45RPM
2 vinyl LPs
Pressed at RTI for ORG
Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Master Tapes

Tracks
LP1 – Side A:
1. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie
2. Smiling Phases
3. Sometimes in Winter
LP1 – Side B:
1. More and More
2. And When I Die
3. God Bless The Child
LP2 – Side C:
1. Spinning Wheel
2. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
LP2 – Side D:
1. Blues – Part II
2. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie

I was 16 in 1970 and going to San Marcos Academy, a college preparatory school, and music was close to being the most important thing in life at that time. We got our allowances in blue plastic chips that we called “Mickey Chips.” You could only spend them at the “Sabre,” the school store. I share all this because this is part of what music is all about – memories. I remember going down to the “Sabre” with my chips and buying this LP. It was so different from Led Zeppelin, Cream, or any of the other groups we listened to every night. It was eye opening for me and I had discovered another type of music I liked.

The people at ORG have given us a rather amazing-sounding 45rpm version of this great LP. As I sit here listening I have to admit I had forgotten how great this album was. It was the winner of three Grammy Awards in 1970.

It was made during the brief period at the end of the ’60s and the early ’70s when Blood, Sweat & Tears fused a rock & roll rhythm section to a horn section. This eight-piece band brought us a great sound and “Blood, Sweat & Tears” was a runaway hit. I had three singles go gold, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die.”

The sound of this reissue blows away my old and admittedly warn copy. It has a huge sound stage, great dynamics, and the horns sound incredibly alive on my system. If you remember it like I do, rush out and buy it. If you have never heard it, then it’s even more imperative that you buy it.

Della Mae – This World Oft Can Be

Della Mae - This World Oft Can Be
Vinyl LP plus MP3 download
Rounder
Tracks:
Side 1
1. Letter From Down The Road/And Other Things
2 Maybeline
3. Paper Prince
4. Empire
5. Hounds
6. Ain t No Ash Will Burn

Side 2
7. Heaven s Gate
8. Turtle Dove
9. Pine Tree
10. Like Bones
11. This World Oft Can Be
12. Some Roads Lead On

It’s safe to say I like good Bluegrass music, and I was excited when I saw that Rounder had a new artist recording with them: “Della Mae.” Della Mae isn’t a person but the name of a relative new Bluegrass or American Roots all-girl band. They self released an album in 2011. They were founded by Kimber Ludiker who handpicked musicians from all over. There is singer Celia Woodsmith from a blues/rock background, while guitarist Courtney Hartman’s background is from the Berklee College of Music, bassist Shelby Means made her way playing with bands in Nashville, and mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner comes from a traditional bluegrass background. Together, the five women who make up “Della Mae” may come from all over the United States, but they have an impressive resume and more importantly make beautiful and fun music.

They recorded this, their first work for the Rounder label at Cash Cabin Studio, Johnny Cash’s former recording base, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Joining them for this recording is guitarist Bryan Sutton in the producer’s chair. If the studio’s inspirational vibes were not enough, Courtney Hartman played June Carter Cash’s vintage 1933 Gibson L5 Round Hole guitar on “Some Roads Lead On.”

If, like me, you enjoy this kind of music, then you should give them a try. The recording is very good and most of the cuts are very good, though some of the songs were better than others. Still, a really fun LP of good music.

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