More Record Store Day Titles From Zev Feldman on the Jazz Detective, Elemental and Resonance Labels
the man is busy digging up forgotten jazz (and rock) treasures
As reported in our previous RSD listing, this year's Record Store Day will be filled with many worthwhile treasures covering every genre. Best of all for some of us, Record Store Day, April 20th this year, does not conflict with AXPONA, which this year is April 12th-14th.
The above hyperlinked article lists the Chet Baker/Jack Sheldon release below, and references another pair of Zev Feldman Cannonball Addlerley releases not included, for one reason or another, in this press release. Here's the recent press release listing (and another exciting one just sent here):
Art Tatum – Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings – Resonance
(3 LP 3 CD)
A previously unissued 3-LP collection of recordings from the incomparable pianist Art Tatum, captured live at the Blue Note jazz club in Chicago in March of 1953 with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart. These recordings were transferred from the original tape reels and mastered for LP by engineer Matthew Lutthans. Containing nearly 3 hours of never-before-heard Tatum at the height of his powers, this deluxe, limited-edition 180-gram 3-LP gatefold set includes rare photos and memorabilia from Herman Leonard, Bob Parent and the Holzfeind family archives (owners of the Blue Note jazz club in Chicago); plus liner notes from Columbia University professor and author Brent Hayes Edwards; as well as statements from Ahmad Jamal, Sonny Rollins, Monty Alexander, ELEW, Spike Wilner, Johnny O'Neal, Michael Weiss and Terry Gibbs.
Chet Baker/Jack Sheldon – In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album – Jazz Detective
(1 LP, 1 CD)
A never-before-released studio album from West Coast trumpet icons Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon recorded in Tustin, California in 1972 with pianist David Frishberg, bassist Joe Mondragon, drummer Nick Ceroli and guitarist Jack Marshall. The recordings were produced by Jack Marshall and Hank Quinn, and the tape comes from the personal archives of the legendary film producer Frank Marshall (Jack Marshall's son) - The Last Waltz, the Indiana Jones and Bourne Identity franchises, Gremlins, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Jurassic World, The Color Purple and countless others. Frank Marshall notes, "The tapes got packed away in our garage on Lido and were never released. Until now. After 50 years in storage, we can finally enjoy and celebrate this long, lost gem of an album.”
Co-produced by Zev Feldman and Frank Marshall, the all-analog recording is mastered by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab directly from the original master tape reel and manufactured at Memphis Record Pressing. The limited-edition 180-gram LP edition (and deluxe CD) includes an extensive insert with rare photographs, newly-commissioned liner notes and interviews and testimonials from musicians who were inspired by and knew and played with Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon.
Yusef Lateef – Atlantis Lullaby: The Concert in Avignon – Elemental
(2 LP, 2 CD)
The first official release of the legendary saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef captured at the Cloître des Célestins in Avignon, France on July 19, 1972, the recording features Lateef with pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. This is an official release from Elemental Music in cooperation with the Yusef Lateef Estate and INA France. Transferred from the original tape reels, this recording was originally captured for an ORTF Radio broadcast restored and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. The limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP edition (and deluxe CD) includes an extensive insert with rare photographs, newly-commissioned liner notes by Shannon Effinger, and interviews and testimonials from Kenny Barron, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Adam Rudolph, Reggie Workman, Joe Lovano, Tia Fuller, Bennie Maupin, James Carter and Sonny Rollins.
Mal Waldron/Steve Lacy – The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp – Elemental
(2 LP, 2 CD)
Featuring Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille
Transferred from the original tapes (preserved by Patrick Wilen, son of legendary saxophonist Barney Wilen), MAL WALDRON & STEVE LACY: THE MIGHTY WARRIORS is presented as a 180- gram vinyl limited edition 2-LP SET.
Package includes reflections by producer Zev Feldman and acclaimed jazz writer Adam Shatz, as well as the testimonies of the concert’s bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The extensive booklet also contains interviews with Jane Bunnett, David Virelles, David Liebman, Vijay Iyer, Evan Parker, and Mal Waldron’s widow, Hiromi Waldron, as well as never before seen photos from the actual concert taken by Hugo Peeters. Mastered for vinyl by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, and pressed by Memphis Record Pressing.
All of the performances heard on this set are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED.
Sun Ra – Sun Ra at the Showcase: Live in Chicago – Jazz Detective
(2 LP, 2 CD)
This album contains previously unissued live recordings of the legendary intergalactic composer/pianist Sun Ra captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL on February 21, 1976 and November 4th & 10, 1977. This is an official release on producer Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective record label, in partnership with Elemental Music, and in cooperation with the Sun Ra Trust. Researched and compiled by longtime Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, and transferred from the original tape reels, this limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP edition (and deluxe 2-CD set) includes an extensive insert with rare photographs from the actual performances by Hal Rammel; liner notes by acclaimed author John Corbett; and interviews and statements from a who's who of music icons including Marshall Allen, David Murray, Dave Burrell, Matthew Shipp, Thurston Moore, Amina Claudine Myers, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Weiss and Reggie Workman.
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE LIVE IN FRANCE:
THE 1966 CONCERT IN LIMOGES
SET FOR LIMITED-EDITION 2-LP RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE
ON APRIL 20 (AND DELUXE CD EDITION ON APRIL 26)
“THE GODMOTHER OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL” HEARD ON 21 TRACKS
NEVER BEFORE RELEASED
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pivotal figure in American 20th century music, though until recently her legend had languished in semi-obscurity. The pioneering gospel/blues singer, extraordinarily gifted electric guitarist and proto rock ‘n’ roll star has been rediscovered of late with a well-deserved induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 with Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard doing the honors. Thereafter, her influence at the dawn of the rock era on none other than Elvis Presley was acknowledged with a searing portrayal by Yola in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 Elvis feature film. All of that posthumous notoriety has earned her the title “The Godmother of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” with her undeniable influence acknowledged by rock cognoscenti everywhere.
This coming Record Store Day, April 20, will see the release of a limited edition 2-LP set (also available on CD and digital download on April 26) titled Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges, a 21-track album of newly discovered and previously unreleased performances recorded on November 11, 1966, at the Grand Theater in Limoges, the city in west-central France best known for porcelain production.
Having been accepted and celebrated by audiences in France and throughout Europe, she toured the continent relentlessly in the ‘60s. Her 1966 performance in Limoges was in fact her third concert there over the years. It was captured on tape that night by the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF) and discovered seven years ago by Zev Feldman, the archivist who was recently profiled in The New Yorker, for his uncanny ability to uncover heretofore “lost” music recorded decades ago by seminal and critically acclaimed artists. Feldman found the Limoges recording while doing a search of the INA (Institut national de l’audiovisuel) France archives and realized he had discovered something very special: an audio document of the formidable American gospel great playing solo, accompanying herself on her electric guitar. Feldman commented, "Sister Rosetta Tharpe has been a towering and trailblazing figure in music even decades and decades after her passing in 1973, and her influence is still being felt to this day. This recording has never been released before and I consider it a very special time capsule of a document that transports you back to a wonderful performance in the mid-1960s in France."
Feldman worked tirelessly to put the music he’d discovered in a setting befitting the brilliance of the artist and the significance of his find. To that end, Live in France is offered in a lavishly packaged set with rare photos, meticulous art direction and voluminous liner notes by Tharpe experts as well as commentary from contemporary musicians who are in awe of Tharpe, her talent and ongoing legacy. The album is being released on Feldman’s new imprint Deep Digs, in partnership with Elemental Music.
The set features a lengthy essay by Tharpe biographer Gayle Wald, author of Shout, Sister Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Wald wrote, “Sister Rosetta was the first guitar heroine of rock & roll. Her heartfelt gospel folksiness gave way to her roaring mastery of her trusty Gibson Les Paul Custom, which she wielded on a level that rivaled the best of her male contemporaries.” Also included are descriptive notes, translated from French by Jean Buzelin, author of Sister Rosetta Tharpe: La femme qui inventa le Rock ‘n’ Roll. He chronicles her exhaustive touring in Europe and her special relationship with French audiences. Her influence on British guitar players including Keith Richards, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton is widely acknowledged with all the overmentioned having seen her perform when she toured with Muddy Waters and other American blues greats. There is also a heartwarming narrative by Donna Rhea Hamilton (grandmother of Tedeschi Trucks Band drummer Isaac Eady), at whose childhood home in Tullahoma, TN Tharpe was a house guest when she came to town – by Greyhound Bus – to perform at the AME Church there in the late ‘60s. She recalls Sister Rosetta as a “sweet, sweet soul, down to earth just like normal people,” and helping her mother cook for the family.
Beyond those exhaustive notes are comments from Susan Tedeschi, ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, Shemekia Copeland, Henry Rollins, Brian Ray and Bonnie Raitt who wrote, “Rosetta was one of the most beloved and influential artists ever in gospel music...and she blazed a trail for the rest of us women guitarists with her indomitable spirit and accomplished, engaging style. She has long been deserving of wider recognition and a place of honor in the field of music history.” Susan Tedeschi also offered, “I don't know of anybody really who plays exactly like she does, but I can hear her influence in people from Little Richard to Elvis Presley, to Clapton, to Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, a lot of different people. You can hear her in their playing, so when you hear that rock and roll thing, it really kind of comes from her.” Billy F Gibbons commented, “As a guitarist I have to celebrate her six-string slingin’ . . . nobody had done anything like that before and is due a debt of gratitude for being the soulful pioneer she was.” Shemekia Copeland commented, “If Rosetta had been a Mister instead of a Sister, she would have been as famous as Little Richard, Chuck Berry or even Elvis. In fact, she inspired all of them. She was that original. And she’s an inspiration to me every time I perform. Sister Rosetta rocked!!!!” That assertion was seconded by Henry Rollins who stated, “Sister Rosetta rocks absolutely.”
