2024 Recordings In Review
By Dennis Davis
Surely the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2024 (in the Davis household, at least) were the titles from the Transition Records label, released in the Blue Note Tone Poet series. Some years ago, Tone Poet Joe Harley teased us with the news that titles from the short-lived Transition Records label were in the pipeline. Started by Tom Wilson in 1955, Transition was sold to Blue Note in 1957, after releasing a handful of titles featuring Donald Byrd, and single titles from Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra. Those original titles were pressed in such small numbers that most original Transition discs fetch four-digit prices (whatever your currency). Except for a few Japanese or pirated releases, the re-issue landscape remained bare of Transition titles until 2020, when Sam Records released Byrd Jazz (Transition 5), a release that was limited to 300 copies and that sold out long ago. Those who were lucky enough to snag one, those 300 discsserved only to further whet the appetite for further high-quality Transition Records reissues.
Last year, that hunger was satisfied as the Tone Poet series finally issued Byrds’ Eye View (Transition 4), Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill (Transition 17); and Watkins At Large (Transition 20); all recorded in 1955/56. The first title is essentially an early Jazz Messenger’s session. Beacon Hill is a quartet session featuring Doug Watkins on bass and a couple of Boston area players. Watkins At Large is an all-star date with Hank Mobley, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Duke Jordan, and Art Taylor. Sadly, Watkins’ promising career on bass was cut short a few years later when he died in an automobile accident at the age of 28.
Musically speaking, all three issues are consistently excellent while the cover art is uniformly interesting. The earliest release is a Rudy Van Gelder recording and, while the two later titles were recorded by less celebrated engineers, all three feature big, fat tube mono sound. Not as detailed or wide bandwidth as the best to come, but an undeniably flavorful concoction.
Another rarity reissued last year was Sahib Shihab and The Danish Radio Jazz Group (Sam Records/Oktav OKLP-11). Shihab played with Monk, Gillespie, Blakey, and many others. He changed his name (Edmund Gregory) after Islamic conversion and left the US for Denmark. He toured with the Kenny Clarke/Francey Boland Big Band for a dozen years throughout the 1960s, but for my money this little-known recording is the best big band recording of the decade – and right up there with the best from any decade in terms of sound quality. It throws a huge soundstage, features astonishing dynamics and the music is both exciting and fun. The original is unbelievably rare and pricey; so much so you could afford to buy a pretty decent new cartridge with the money saved by purchasing this reissue.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and another new recording from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, on their Acony label (Woodland Studios Acony ACNY 2416LP). Welch and Rawlings are Nashville royalty, and their eclectic synthesis of country, bluegrass and folk first came to many a music lovers’ attention hearing Wech sing on the soundtrack of and appear in a cameo in the Coen Brothers movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou? If you are not familiar with Welch’s earlier albums (all of which are worth owning) and have no idea quite what to expect, think of Alison Krauss, once the reigning darling of audiophile labels, pared back and looking to record a little country/bluegrass blend. Combine her distinctive voice with Rawlings’ incredibly articulate and incisive guitar and the pair’s almost preternatural vocal harmonies and the blend is as powerful as it is captivating. Throw in the fact that Welch and Rawlings’ Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville produces some of the best sounding, all analog recordings made today and it’s no surprise that their fans (count me among them) devour each new release and touring schedule. This latest LP was pressed on translucent black vinyl at a newly refurbished pressing plant, also partially owned by Rawlings and the sound is as transcendent as the music.
