What are you listening to? January 2024

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Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus (Wilhelm Furtwangler, cond.) - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral" (rec. 1951, rel. 1955)

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This live recording was made at the inaugural performance from the first Bayreuth Festival after WWII. Winifred Wagner, Richard Wagner's daughter-in-law, had run the festival during the war but her friendship with Hitler caused her to be removed from all involvement when Germany fell. This performance paired Wilhelm Furtwangler with Elisabeth Schwartzkopf, both of whom had spent most of the war in Vienna to avoid entanglement with the Nazi regime. The tone of this performance is powerful and subtly resurgent, more perseverant than triumphant. The sound quality is excellent considering its age.

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Bob Brozman - Fire In The Mind (2012)

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Bob's final album before his self-inflicted death brought him back to the acoustic blues with which he began his career. He plays just about everything with strings: a National Reso-Phonic Tricone, a chaturangui, a baglama, a ukulele, even a 1915 Vega Cello-Banjo. His enduring legacy of intimate, vulnerable music belies his tortured life.

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Various Artists - The Panassie Sessions (rec. 1938-39, RCA Victor Vintage Series 1967)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

Traditional American jazz always met with a warm reception in Europe. French jazz critic Hugues Panassie came to New York City in 1938 to record some old school New Orleans music. Louis Armstrong was contracted to Decca so Panassie wanted to use Sidney Bechet's old partner, Tommy Ladnier on trumpet. Trouble was, he couldn't find Tommy. Rumors had spread that he was either dead or in a mental institution but Hugues was nothing if not persistent. In that more innocent era, he simply walked the streets of Harlem with Mezz Mezzrow and eventually struck paydirt. We are very lucky that he did: the 18 sides captured some of the finest musicians while still at their peak in state of the art recordings that sound fresh and crisp today. RCA even got Panassie to pen the liner notes.

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Ladnier

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Panassie
 
Wayne Shorter - Wayning Moments (1962)

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Before his long run on Blue Note, Wayne Shorter released two often overlooked albums on Chicago's Vee Jay label. Instead of the usual Big Apple suspects, Wayne is joined here for his sophomore effort (don't you just love those chichi cliches?) by three of the best from the Windy City: Eddie Higgins (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) and Marshall Thompson (drums). The tunes are all under 5 minutes, short by New York standards but producer Chuck Stewart still manages to give Wayne plenty of space. His fresh yet sophisticated playing certainly foreshadows his later successes but this record was not a big seller. Today a copy of the original stereo issue will set you back $100 or more.

:5.0: on the Sam-O-Meter.
 
Joey Dee & The Starliters - Hey Let's Twist! The Best Of (rec. 1961-63, Rhino comp. 1990)

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Joey Dee (ne Joseph Di Nicola) was unfairly lumped together with Chubby Checker as a creature of the twist craze but his artistic cred as a local rocker is closer to that of bands like The Sonics. Joey got a lot of attention for his high voltage "you name it and I can play it" live sets at The Peppermint Lounge, a celebrity hangout in New York City not unlike the Whisky or Ciro's on the Sunset Strip. This Rhino comp collects the key Roulette singles from his heyday.

Joey had the last laugh: he's still performing and even has a tell all memoir in print. Sounds like his life was as interesting as that of labelmate Tommy James.

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Little Donna Hightower - A Groovy Start (rec. 1951-59, Official comp. 1989)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

This Danish collection carries Donna's career from the age of 17 to 25 while she was evolving from, as the informative notes put it, "big band prodigy, to rock and roll mama, to supper club chanteuse." Her warmth, wit and spirit shine from each one of these rare singles on Decca, RPM and Capitol.

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