Prestige Rudy

Richard "Groove" Holmes - Soul Message (1965) {2006 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
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© 1965, 2006 Concord / Prestige | 00888072300149 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Organ Hammond B-3

“I was the engineer on the recording sessions and I also made the masters for the original LP issues of these albums. Since the advent of the CD, other people have been making the masters. Mastering is the final step in the process of creating the sound of the finished product. Now, thanks to the folks at the Concord Music Group who have given me the opportunity to remaster these albums, I can present my versions of the music on CD using modern technology. I remember the sessions well, I remember how the musicians wanted to sound, and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger.” — Rudy Van Gelder.

Al Smith - Midnight Special (1960) {Prestige-Bluesville OBCCD-583-2 rel 1996}
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© 1960, 1996 Prestige/Bluesville Records / Fantasy | OBCCD-583-2
Blues / Regional Blues / Soul-Blues / Urban Blues / West Coast Blues

For many decades, African-American churches have worried about losing their best singers to secular music. And inevitably, many of them will, in fact, explore secular music instead of devoting 100 percent of their time to gospel. Al Smith is a perfect example. The obscure singer's roots were gospel, but he favored a jazz-influenced approach to blues and soul when he recorded two albums for Prestige/Bluesville: Hear My Blues in 1959 and Midnight Special in 1960. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's famous New Jersey studio, Midnight Special finds Smith backed by a rock-solid quintet that consists of King Curtis on tenor sax, Robert Banks on organ, Jimmy Lee Robinson on electric guitar, Leonard Gaskin on acoustic bass, and Bobby Donaldson on drums.

Elmo Hope - Hope Meets Foster (1955) {Prestige OJCCD-1703-2 rel 1991}
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© 1955, 1991 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1703-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

This session featuring pianist Elmo Hope and tenor saxophonist Frank Foster was originally recorded on October 4, 1955 in Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack Studio for Bob Weinstock and Prestige Records. Rounding out the quintet are Freeman Lee on trumpet, John Ore on bass and Art Taylor on drums. The group tackles three Hope originals, two Foster originals and a solid rendition of "Georgia On My Mind." Hope had a very unique piano style which to me was a perfect synthesis of Monk and Bud, but his career was ultimately stunted due to drug addiction, incarceration, overall poor health, and ultimately his premature death in 1967 at the age of 44. The music should please bop fans.

George Braith - Musart (1967) {Prestige–Real Gone Music RGM-0167 rel 2013}
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© 1967, 2013 Prestige / Real Gone Music / Dusty Groove / Concord | RGM-0167
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Saxophonist and composer George Braith released five recordings during the 1960s before going silent for a couple of decades. He is well known as an innovator, able to play two saxophones at once – he was inspired after seeing Roland Kirk in a Philly club – though he used that technique only when a tune warranted it. Braith's first four albums – Laughing Soul, Soul Stream, Two Souls in One, Extension (all cut for Blue Note except Laughing Soul) – wove hard bop and soul-jazz that was ubiquitous for both labels at the time. His final offering for Prestige, 1967's Musart, is a whole other thing.

This was a forerunner of the Miles Davis Quintet as it was his first session with Red Garland and Philly Joe Jones. Up to then his Prestige dates had been of the "all star" variety. (Oscar Pettiford fills that bill here.) By the fall, John Coltrane and Paul Chambers would come aboard to help form the first of a continuum of great Davis working groups. On "A Night in Tunisia" Philly Joe used special sticks with little cymbals riveted to the shaft. Recorded June 7, 1955 at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, NJ. With Red Garland, Oscar Pettiford, Philly Joe Jones.

It's hard to believe after hearing the eloquence of "Then I'll Be Tired of You" or the title track, but John Coltrane's ballad mastery was the last of his skills to receive wide appreciation. The notion that Coltrane the balladeer was as commanding as Coltrane the uptempo wizard or Coltrane the blues player finally gained acceptance in the early 60s, when this album first appeared and quickly became an important exhibit in the reconsideration. The extended performances boast additional delights, including Paul Chambers's arco bass on "Stardust," Red Garland's well-paced choruses on "Time After Time," some of Wilbur Harden's best trumpet work on "Love Thy Neighbor," and Freddie Hubbard's earliest on "Then I'll Be Tired of You"…

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane's album Settin' The Pacewas originally released in 1961. Coltrane had recorded some unissued recordings while under the label Prestige, after his fame grew and he was no longer with the label they used these recordings and released albums without Coltrane's approval. This was one such album. The decision to release this album now is to a certain extent determined by economic considerations, but it also happens to throw light on certain aspects of the jazz business which warrant discussion. Had the album been released at the time it was recorded it would have reached the small nucleus of Coltrane followers then active, and of the rest been largely ignored…

Betty Roché - Lightly and Politely (1961) {Prestige OJCCD-1802-2 rel 1992}
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© 1961, 1992 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1802-2
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Standards

It is ironic that what is arguably singer Betty Roché's finest all-around recording was also her last. For this session, which has been reissued in the OJC series on CD, Roché (backed by pianist Jimmy Neeley, guitarist Wally Richardson, bassist Michel Mulia, and drummer Rudy Lawless) improvises constantly and uplifts a variety of superior standards, including "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," "I Had the Craziest Dream," and three songs by her former boss, Duke Ellington. It's recommended, particularly to jazz fans not aware of Betty Roché's musical talents.