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Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers – The Witch Doctor (1967) (2021 BN Tone Poet) Day 8 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – The Witch Doctor
2021 Blue Note Tone Poet | Original release 1967

This is a fantastic 1961 session (not issued until ’67) with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and Bobby Timmons, but man the drum solos are recorded horribly.  Seems really odd, seeing as it was the drummer’s group… Nice Tone Poet pressing though, in general.  One of my pandemic pleasures has been buying up lots of these Blue Note reissues of titles that have generally been beyond my reach; under Don Was’s stewardship of the catalog, they have been doing a first-rate job at making them available to people who are not willing or able to pay the ‘trophy hunter’ prices of the collectors market.  There are occasional blips and hiccups in quality control — I returned a Paul Chambers release last summer which had very noticeable distortion which, according to a little research, seemed to afflict a whole bunch of copies in that pressing run.  But by and large I have no complaints. Or at least few.

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers – The Witch Doctor (1967) (2021 BN Tone Poet) Day 8 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

Chet Baker – It Could Happen To You: Chet Baker Sings (1958) (2021 Craft Records) 12 Days of Xmas – Day 2

Chet Baker – It Could Happen To You: Chet Baker Sings
2021 Craft Recordings RLP 1119 – Original Release 1959 Riverside

Around the world in late December, millions of the faithful gather together to commemorate the birth and short life of a golden child: Chet Baker, born December 23, 1929.  He would have been 92 this year.  If you love Chet’s vocal sessions – and I happen to love them – then you likely already know this essential record. This 2021 Craft Recordings reissue does not disappoint.  The sessions feature the magnificent Kenny Drew on piano, and Philly Joe Jones sharing the drum chair with Dannie Richmond.  It is also features the future Lionel Ritchie hit, “Dancing On The Ceiling” in it’s original arrangement.Chet Baker – It Could Happen To You: Chet Baker Sings (1958) (2021 Craft Records) 12 Days of Xmas – Day 2

Kelle Patterson – Maiden Voyage (1973) (2020 Black Jazz / RGM) – 12 Days of Xmas, Day 1

Kellee Patterson – Maiden Voyage
Vinyl transfer in 24-bit/192 kHz | 300 dpi scans | Jazz, Vocal Jazz
2020 Real Gone Music RGM-1189/ Original Release 1973 Black Jazz

Welcome to what might become a new tradition here: Flabbergasted Vibes’ Twelve Days of Christmas.  There’s been a ton of great music that has helped me get through the last year, and although I don’t have as much time to write about it as I did once upon a time, I’d still like to spread the word and the joy, hence this “holiday event” with some short and sweet blog posts.  In 2021, reissue label Real Gone Music finished putting out the rest of the Black Jazz catalog, the first time this significant body of work has received a legitimate reissue campaign. This Kellee Patterson album was resissued last year, and is a singular entry in the catalog of Black Jazz records – a set of sweet and soulful vocal jazz. She would go on to make some solid jazz-funk-disco albums later in the decade, but nothing that sounded quite like this.   Note that the title track is the classic by Herbie Hancock with the addition of lyrics.  The reissue features informative liner notes from Pat Thomas, but unlike the original releases, these are not also pressed as quadrophonic discs.

Kelle Patterson – Maiden Voyage (1973) (2020 Black Jazz / RGM) – 12 Days of Xmas, Day 1

Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut (1974) (2021 RSD Strut reissue)


Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC & mp3|  300 dpi scans | Jazz
2021 RSD Strut Records , Ltd. ed 3000 copies | Original release 1974

 

Original copies of this flabbergasting bit of rare groove jazz, released by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture,  change hands for thousands of dollars. It’s seen a couple of CD releases but was reissued as a double LP with extras by Strut Records for RSD 2021 with a later, single-LP version planned for the fall. But forget the scarcity factor: the music is jaw-dropping good, like Lalo Schifrin met Perez Prado and early Sun Ra for a jam at the Great Pyramids.  Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut (1974) (2021 RSD Strut reissue)