"I Surrender Dear" From "Persuasive Percussion" Plus Tracks From the Weirdest Jazz Album Ever Are Today's Tracks Du Jour

normalcy returns next time!

An odd set for the weekend: a track from the Command Records stereo classic Persuasive Percussion—everyone's favorite late '50s stereo demo record and a few tracks from Triiple Play among the weirdest jazz albums ever!

On the left channel a string section plus a few other instruments playing "pop" arrangements. And on the right channel some of jazz's greatest musicians of the early '60s (and before and after) playing jazz arrangements, sometimes of the same tunes and sometimes completely different tunes.

This was the brainchild of Tom Wilson who produced early Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan albums and had his own '50s era jazz label. The jazz players included Bill Evans, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Curtis Fuller, Charlie Persip, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers and Eric Dolphy (!) among others.

It's an oddity that I've never seen anywhere so I include a few tracks from this record. I'll get back to normal stuff next time!

Comments

2026-05-30 10:21:52 AM

Come on wrote:

If they’d send the first record into space as a documentary for human mankind, the aliens would probably stay away due to determined bad taste. In case of the second one they’d probably stay away due to assumed intelligence.
2026-05-30 10:32:34 PM

bill schweitzer wrote:

If I'm not mistaken, the Jazz only tracks were issued under Golson's name as "Just Jazz" (true enough) on Audio Fidelity.
- 2026-05-30 11:02:24 PM
  
  Michael Fremer wrote:
  
  I did not know that!
  - 2026-05-31 01:53:47 AM
    
    bill schweitzer wrote:
    
    yes. One of the most confusing sessions in Jazz history. Here is a succinct description of the fiasco from All Music Ken Dryden: After the small-group sessions were taped (not all of the musicians are on every track), an 11-piece pop orchestra was dubbed over the original recordings, playing the chord changes of the pieces on which each of the jazz compositions was based. That LP released as “Pop + Jazz = Swing” on the Audio Fidelity label, was evidently a total flop. Some time following Eric Dolphy’s death in 1964, the original masters, minus the overdubbed pop orchestra, were released as Just Jazz!
    - 2026-05-31 01:55:57 AM
      
      bill schweitzer wrote:
      
      BTW it's a pretty good album.
2026-05-31 12:56:18 PM

Ivan Bacon wrote:

"normal stuff". You? Right!