Welcome Orrin Keepnews

In addition to producing several hundred records, Orrin Keepnews is a fascinating writer. His cogent and savvy liner notes grace many albums on Riverside, Jazzland, Milestone and Fantasy. In 1988, Mr. Keepnews collected many of them, along with writings in Down Beat, The Record Changer, and The Jazz Review and they were published:"The View From Within: Jazz Writings 1948-1987", (Oxford University Press).
Some choice quotes:
"Producing jazz records has been my major preoccupation...since the early 50's, when I ruined a perfectly good hobby by transforming myself from a jazz fan into a professional." (p.3)
"After all these years, I find myself unable to avoid an unhappy conclusion: jazz criticism is a bad idea, poorly executed." (p. 219)
"No one ever said jazz was easy to understand...You do have to work hard at it. It is high art, and folk art, and a commercial enterprise; heartfelt and a put-on; instinctive and learned." (p. 238)
There are revealing chapters titled:
What I Do For A Living (Inside the Recording Booth)
Three Separated Views of Thelonius (Monk)
Some of My Best Friends (Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Cannonball and Nat, Bill Evans)

And so, as we look forward to Orrin Keepnews at this forum, you'll find he has carefully recalled his greatest experiences for us already in this important book.

 

Wow!! I cant wait to start reading what Mr Keepnews posts. Welcome!!!

 

Welcome, Mr. Keepnews. Thanks for recording Bill Evans so much...what a sound! You really helped to capture that.

 

I just want to acknowledge the serious welcome I've gotten from so many of you. Now I've got to figure out the most effective way to present myself around here -- while still saving a little time for myself.

Let me note that I'm real short on time right now -- haven't done my tax returns yet, and am getting ready for a New York trip to do a 3-CD Fats Waller overview for Columbia Legacy (I'm pretty enthusiastic about the overall combination possibilities opened up by the BMG/Sony coming-together), but I'll be reasonably helpful as soon as I can. Now, for openers, I hope I can figure out how to send this message....

 

Welcome aboard Mr. Keepnews!

 

Welcome! 3 CD Fats Waller overview! Cool! Can't wait for that one.

 

I can't wait to read what you have to say Mr. Keepnews. I also can't wait to hear how that Fats Waller project turns out!

I have only a little bit of Fats in my collection, but I love what I have. The Bluebird reissue from a couple years back sounds great (mastered at Sony) but is too short. I also have a couple of very nice RCA LP reissues from the mid/late 50s that are great.

Hopefully those masters are still around.

Looking forward to your posts,
dan c

 

Your first post already brings us good news, Mr. Keepnews. Fats Waller would be mighty cool with me. Sorry about Uncle Sam getting in the way of things.

Thanks for joining us.

Best regards,

Elegy

 

Please keep us posted on the Fats Waller set. I'd love to add more of his work to my collection.

Is there any chance of an SACD set? Hint, Hint.

 

All Fats reissues are too short, in my opinion. The man needs a comprehensive box set.

Welcome, Orrin. Nice to have you here.

Mart.

 

I'm so excited about the Library of Congress's announcement of a recently discovered recording of Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie hall !!! ..

Wouldn't it be terrific if Mr. Keepnews and/or Mr. Hoffman were to be asked to help prepare a commercial release of what must be an incredible slice of music history ? There doesn't seem to be any news being made public concerning the sound quality of the original tapes, but regardless of this, I can't wait to hear these recordings !

 

I cannot believe that I missed this thread, considering it was me who started the ball rolling!!

I must be blind

Mr Keepnews, welcome to the forum. I look forward to your input and insights on the forum. May your sons produce many heirs and your herds of camels multiply many times over!

 

There aren't many people still alive today with more inside information regarding jazz of the golden era than Mr. Keepnews. That he's willing to share that information with us, here, is absolutely wonderful news for this jazz fan. Welcome!

 

Glad to see you here O.K. I just got through rereading your new liner notes for a Monk album that you also did the original notes for. I always find your writing to be excellent. Hope to see you around here discussing all things jazz.

 

Dear Mr. Bresnahan,

Will you please ask Mr. Keepnews if Sony/Legacy plans to complete the remaster/upgrading of the Columbia Thelonious Monk catalog. Specifically:

1. Big Band & Quartet in Concert (1963) remix and remaster
2. Monk's Blues (1968) remix and remaster

Plus unissued live material:

3. Brandeis University (1965)
4. Mexico City (1967)

Is there any additional Columbia material left that I'm forgetting?

Thanks!!

 

I contacted Orrin to let him know that there were some questions here and he responded that he is on his way out the door for a week but he asked me to post some answers for you.

Kevin

From Orrin Keepnews:
Will you please ask Mr. Keepnews if Sony/Legacy plans to complete the remaster/upgrading of the Columbia Thelonious Monk catalog.
At this time I am actually not doing much for Sony -- apparently they are concentrating right now on material that they consider to have stronger sales potential than most jazz items. But there really is nothing much left undone with the listed material. Note that in order to answer promptly, I am working from memory rather than formal notation, but I think the following is basically accurate:
1. Big Band & Quartet in Concert (1963) remix and remaster
Everything recorded has been reissued -- there is a package that says on the cover that it is the entire concert.
2. Monk's Blues (1968) remix and remaster
I have trouble remembering that this is the title of the Oliver-Nelson-arrangements material, but I believe it is. I have worked through all of this and what has not been issued has to be considered not usable. There were recording problems, band performance problems, breakdowns -- I do not happen to believe that it is valid to issue incomplete and unsuccessful scraps, and it is usually quite disrespectful to the artist. I know that some people feel otherwise, but certainly these particular sessions do not warrant being picked over any further.

Plus unissued live material:

3. Brandeis University (1965)
I have listened thoroughly and found, I believe, one usuable complete selection, which may have been issued, although I'm not quite certain. This was apparently a technically botched evening -- incomplete numbers (at least one lacking both beginning and end), bad sound, etc.

4. Mexico City (1967)
I think there is one quartet number (with an incredibly long Larry Gales bass solo) still unissued, and probably likely to stay that way.

Is there any additional Columbia material left that I'm forgetting?
I don't believe that you have forgotten anything, and it is unlikely that there is any more unknown Columbia material -- but you really can't be certain. Tape vaults can be pretty strange places, and sometimes jazz performances aren't as systematically documented as you might want. Just a few years ago, you may recall, a Monk live-at-Newport set turned up that nobody seemed to have been aware of, so it became possible to make a full CD of his Newport appearances, without Monk having to share the record with an entirely unrelated Miles Davis set.

 

Thanks Kevin for the information.

 

nice update, thanks.

 

Welcome Orrin! You are a legend!

 

Thank you Mr. Bresnahan and Mr. Keepnews!!

 

Kevin is fine with me. I don't know about "Orrin".

 

To Kevin and Orrin Keepnews,

Welcome on board. Orrin, you have given me much pleasure with your fine recordings of jazz and the best written notes on those recordings. I have never met a Riverside jazz LP I didn't like. Especially Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, etc. You are an American musical treasure. Keep those perspectives coming from an era when I wasn't even born. I look forward to reading your posts as they become available. Kevin, I enjoy reading your take on musical and sonic matters. You are nice to have around.

 

Kevin,

I hope Sony will let Mr. Keepnews finish upgrading the last 2 Columbia Lps: "Big Band & Quartet" and "Monk's Blues." Although "Monk's Blues" is a lesser effort, the "Big Band & Quartet" Lp is one of Monk's finest for Columbia.

Please let Mr. Keepnews know there are several areas for improvement with the 1994 John Synder produced CD reissue of "Big Band & Quartet."


1. Sound - Although this was remixed and remastered by Vic Anesini (one of the best in the business) circa 1993, a DSD transfer and more modern mastering technology may further improve fidelity.
2. False overlapping applause - the 1994 mix of "Big Band & Quartet" falsely mixes the outgoing applause from the first set on top of the first several bars of "Darkness in the Delta," which is the first song of the second set. A new remaster should fade out after each set and not artificially mix applause from previous sets on top of music of subsequent sets. If you listen to "Darkness in the Delta" on the 2001 Sony Monk 3-CD compilation, there is no applause at the beginning of "Darkness on the Delta"--it's dry--confirming the John Snyder reissue falsely overlaps applause from different sets on top of songs from different sets.
3. Artificial set breakup - The 1994 version splits the 3 sets down the middle. It would flow better if the first two sets were on disc one, and the third set on disc 2.
4. Original Artwork Restored - The 1994 version not only has the ugly blue-purple Columbia Masterworks border, it also removes the stage spotlight above Monk's head on the original album cover. This is one of the coolest Columbia album covers ever, and the 1994 version butchers it.
5. Original Liner Notes - missing in the 1994 version
6. Photos - no photos from the actual concert in the 1994 version.

About the images below. The first is the original 1964 LP artwork (Note spotlight shining on Monk). The second is the 1994 John Synder produced CD reissue.