Concord Records is set to release five new titles to commemorate the 40 year anniversary of Pablo Records. The story of Pablo records is a story of one veteran producer’s return to the
music he loved best. Norman Granz, founder of Jazz at the Philharmonic, so
missed the recording aspect of the music business — which he’d abandoned in 1962
when he sold his Clef, Norgran, and Verve labels to MGM — that a little more
than a decade later he decided to take the plunge and start up yet another
label. Based in Beverly Hills, California, at the time, Granz secured a
distribution deal and launched Pablo Records in 1973, quickly building a
world-class catalog of albums by legendary artists Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass,
and Oscar Peterson — all of whom Granz managed — as well as Count Basie, John
Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Sarah Vaughan, and many
others. After releasing more than 350 albums in a span of less than 15 years,
Granz sold Pablo to Fantasy in 1987, which in turn merged with Concord Records
in 2004 to form Concord Music Group.
The five new titles are:
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Ellington
Suites
The three Ellington Suites in this release were recorded at
different times along Ellington’s legendary and prolific arc: The Queen’s Suite
in February and April 1959 (written for and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, but
not widely released until 1970); the Goutelas Suite in April 1971; and the Uwis
Suite in October 1972.
“Ellington would record his orchestra at his own expense, and then stockpile
the recordings,” says Nick Phillips, Vice President, Catalog and Jazz A&R at
Concord and producer of the Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. “These were
recordings that were later sold to Norman Granz, who had the good sense in the
’70s to collect these then-unreleased suites on one album.”
Nearly 40 years after its first release, “this latest edition of The
Ellington Suites adds a studio discovery: the never-before-released ‘The Kiss’
is a track recorded in 1972 at the same session that yielded the Uwis Suite,”
says Ashley Kahn, author of the new liner notes for the reissue. “[It] is
included herein as a reminder of how — all the way to the end of his timeline —
Ellington was at work at new creations, ever intrepid and ever expansive. Today
The Ellington Suites, music he produced to his specifications and at his
expense, are as powerful a statement as any to the remarkable consistency that
colored the entire, storied career.”
Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Ray Brown, Mickey Roker: Dizzy’s Big
4
Recorded in September 1974, Dizzy’s Big 4 provides a snapshot of
the bebop pioneer still in superb form at age 57. “Joined by a rhythm section of
fellow Pablo all-stars, Diz is heard at his bebopping best in a compelling mix
of Gillespie classics (‘Be Bop’ and ‘Birks’ Works’), a then-new Gillespie
composition (‘Frelimo’), and standards (‘September Song’ and ‘Jitterbug
Waltz’),” says Phillips. “The sheer joy of four like-minded musicians spurring
each other to new musical heights is palpable throughout this Pablo
classic.”
Willard Jenkins, author of the new liner notes for the reissue, concurs.
“Befitting a Pablo session, the four musicians comprising Dizzy Gillespie’s Big
4 have an obvious simpatico with each other’s artistry,” he says. “Despite the
fact that this is an all-star assemblage, the parts are beautifully matched and
throughout the session a keen sense of camaraderie prevails.”
The reissue includes two bonus tracks, previously unreleased alternate takes
of “Russian Lullaby” and “Jitterbug Waltz” — both of which are significantly
different versions of the same songs that appeared in the original release.
“When you’re talking about master jazz improvisers like Dizzy Gillespie, Joe
Pass, Ray Brown, and Mickey Roker, every single take of any given song is going
to be fresh and different,” says Phillips. “These alternate takes are no
exception.”
Oscar Peterson & Stephane Grappelli:
Skol
Recorded live at Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, on
July 6, 1979, Skol features the six tracks from the album’s original LP release,
plus three previously unreleased bonus tracks from the same performance:
“Honeysuckle Rose,” “Solitude,” and “I Got Rhythm.”
“The title of the album, Skol, is of course a Scandinavian toast: ‘Cheers!’”
says Tad Hershorn, archivist at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers
University and author of the new liner notes for the reissue. “It exactly suits
the spirit of this sparkling music reintroduced here in observation of Pablo’s
fortieth anniversary.”
Hershorn adds: “Oscar Peterson was just over the
halfway point of a career beginning in the mid-1940s up until just shortly
before the time of his death in 2007 at age 82 . . . Stephane Grappelli
catapulted to fame in the 1930s as part of the original Quintette du Hot Club de
France led by legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt.” But the two co-leaders are just the beginning of this story, says Phillips.
“Add Joe Pass, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and Mickey Roker, the end result
is an impressive array of talent on a single album.”
Zoot Sims: Zoot Sims and the Gershwin
Brothers
Recorded in June 1975, Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers
is a set of ten well-known Gershwin classics executed by Sims on saxophone,
backed by Oscar Peterson on piano, George Mraz on bass, Joe Pass on guitar, and
Grady Tate on drums. “It’s arguably the best album Zoot Sims ever made,” says
Phillips, “not just on Pablo but in his entire career. It’s that good. He sounds
absolutely amazing on this album.”
In addition to the ten tracks from the original release, the reissue includes
three bonus tracks: “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and previously
unreleased alternate takes of “Oh, Lady, Be Good!” and “I’ve Got a Crush on
You.”
“Zoot brought to the formal business of studio recording the same unflagging
spirit of swing that motivated him in casual settings like the Paris boîte and
the Mississippi steamer,” says Doug Ramsey, author of the new liner notes to the
reissue. “For this music by the Gershwins, he had at his disposal a dream rhythm
section of four peers who shared his dedication to the propositions that jazz
must swing and must pursue the ideal of beauty.”
Ramsey adds: “Let your ears be your guide and let Zoot, Oscar, Joe, George,
and Grady guide your ears. It is good that this music has new life and is again
available as an essential installment of the Zoot Sims legacy.”
Art Tatum: The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol.
1
The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1 got under way with an
evening session in December 1953 where Tatum walked into the studios of Radio
Recorders in Hollywood with a portable radio. He sat down at the piano bench,
opened the first of many bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon (provided by Granz),
listened to about a half hour of UCLA basketball and said, “Let’s go.”
“From there, the music poured forth to produce 69 masters over two days,
nearly all on first takes with no playbacks,” says Herschorn in his new liner
notes to the reissue. “It was an auspicious beginning for a peak moment in the
histories of Granz and Tatum. Picking up again in April 1954 and concluding in
January 1955, the series came in at over 125 songs . . . The endurance of the
Tatum recordings, celebrated with this reissue of Volume 1 in recognition of the
fortieth anniversary of Pablo Records, proves that the highest ambitions of both
men continue to be revered in the 60 years since Tatum, a man of few words and a
daredevil on the keyboard, first uttered, ‘Let’s go.’”
