50s House

In 2000 when Blue Note upgraded 1958's House Party as part of the label's superior Rudy Van Gelder series, they augmented the title with a ten-plus minute driving blow of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" as a well-chosen bonus track. Now the effort is bookended by some primal Bird, which was always a forte of the assembled coterie. In addition to sharing three of the five sides with the RVG edition of The Sermon! (1958), there are two selections from the August 25, 1957, confab of Lee Morgan (trumpet), George Coleman (alto sax), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Eddie McFadden (guitar), Kenny Burrell (guitar), and Donald Bailey (drums)…

Taken from a Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, Ella Fitzgerald is backed by pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Jo Jones on two well-rounded sets. Actually, the two dates are quite similar, with eight of the nine songs being repeated (although the second "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Oh, Lady Be Good" find her backed by a riffing eight-horn all-star group), so this album is mostly recommended to her greatest fans. However, the music is wonderful, there are variations between the different versions, and her voice was at its prime.

Taken from a Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, Ella Fitzgerald is backed by pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Jo Jones on two well-rounded sets. Actually, the two dates are quite similar, with eight of the nine songs being repeated (although the second "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Oh, Lady Be Good" find her backed by a riffing eight-horn all-star group), so this album is mostly recommended to her greatest fans. However, the music is wonderful, there are variations between the different versions, and her voice was at its prime.

Hooker bounced around between label affiliations like crazy in the 1950s, recording under almost as many fake names as he did labels during that decade. His two lasting record company hookups occurred with Chess in the early 1950s and Vee-Jay later on in the decade. All of Hooker's Chess masters from that decade (he would later record in the '60s for them as well) are here on this two-disc, 31-track collection. Unlike other Chess artists, Hooker did little of his recording in Chicago, preferring to work out of his Detroit home base, where he continued to record for other labels under a variety of pseudonyms. His 1951 Chicago session excepted, the rest of the tracks emanate from Detroit sessions that also saw issuance on the local Gone, H-Q and Fortune labels…

John Lee Hooker - That's My Story & House Of The Blues (1959-1960) {Soul Jam Records 600826 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 407 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 54 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastered
© 1959-60, 2013 Riverside / Soul Jam Records | 600826
Blues / Electric Blues / Delta Blues / Acoustic Blues / Detroit Blues / Blues Revival

Although Orrin Keepnews' Riverside Records was primarily a jazz label, the company dabbled in blues in the 1960s – and one of the bluesmen who recorded for Riverside was John Lee Hooker. Recorded in 1960, this Keepnews-produced session came at a time when Hooker was signed to Vee-Jay. The last thing Keepnews wanted to do was emulate Hooker's electric-oriented, very amplified Vee-Jay output, which fared well among rock and R&B audiences. Keepnews had an acoustic country blues vision for the bluesman, and That's My Story favors a raw, stripped-down, bare-bones approach – no electric guitar, no distortion, no singles aimed at rock & rollers.