The Many Sides of Jazz at the Philharmonic

Jazz impresario Norman Granz was one of the first to recognize the inherent possibilities for music in the 33 1/3 long playing album. This new format, introduced by Columbia Records in 1949 allowed extended performances for the first time, a rather novel listening experience for jass aficionados in those heady times.

The first releases to take advantage of the new long play format were the Jazz At The Philharmonic series or JATP as they were affectionately referred. Introduced in 1950 and essentially in print in one form or another since. JATP played a relatively important role in the development of recorded jazz.

If One were to highlight or para-phrase this thirteen year event, one might include Nat King Cole/Les Paul trading off on "Blues," some screaming Illinois Jacquet solos, Flip Phillips' masterful use of repetition on "Perdido," Charlie Parker creating remarkable solos "Lady Be Good" and "Embraceable You", or Ella Fitzgerald holding her own with the very best players of the day. In addition, Slim Gaillard and the humorous "Groove Juice Symphony", Meade Lux Lewis, Billie Holiday, the Gene Krupa Trio, Coleman Hawkins, Ken Kersey, Slam Stewart, and Lester Young, among others. Or maybe Oscar Peterson's first performance in America, which is played to a visibly impressed audience. Among the other all-stars heard from are Roy Eldridge, Buck Clayton, Dizzy Gillespie, Howard McGhee, Bill Harris, J.J. Johnson, Trummy Young, Willie Smith, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich, among still many others.

The first JATP album was issued on Moses Asch's Stinson label with Asch retaining the rights to the tapes, a procedural error that granz would not replicate in his later dealings. This 10" album was issued and again on a dark, opaque red vinyl. volumes 2 & volumes 3 then appeared as 10" albums on Argo Records in 1950. At this point Granz signed a distribution deal with Mercury Records.

The first title was How High The Moon (Mercury Mg-35001) which would serve as the first volume of the series from this point on Granz basically ignoring the existence of the Stinson release. Eight more JATPs followed as part of the 35000 series in 1950: Volumes 4-11 all 10" albums designated by Mercury exclusively for Granz productions

By 1951 Granz had established his own Clef Records to be distributed by Mercury as Mercury/Clef. Naturally the first order of business was to reissue (again) each of the JATP albums how high the moon and Volumes2-11 were issued as Clef 10" albums in 1951. In lieu of actual catalog number seach title was numbered MG C-Vol 1 through 11. then followed three new titles Volumes 12 13 and 14 in 1953 HHTM was issued by Mercury as a 12" album, MG C-508 and Clef appeared for the first times as a solo label that is it was simply Clef Records no longer Mercury/Clef and once again each of the titles was reissued as a 10" album carrying the same "MG C-Vol" catalog numbers

in 1954 - 55 Granz issued the JATP series on 12" albums, each new title combining two for the earlier discs. That is the new 12" albums had one 10" albums on each of its sides . These were known as Jazz at The Philharmonic, New Volumes 2 - 7 with new Volumes 2 containing old volumes 2 and 3: New Volume 3 was the old 4 and 5 : New Volume 4 was the old 6 and 14: New Volume 5 was old 7,10 and 11 : New Volume 6 was the old 8 and 9: and New Volume 7 was old 12 and 13.

Each of these new volumes featured a previously used David Stone Martin Cover. These were then followed by volumes 15 through 18 boxed three albums sets with new material. Each box featured cover art from DSM and contained a bonus booklet.

This Link Will Take You to a Mercury Records Discography indexed
by catalog and by sessions, very cool!!
Mercury Catalog Discography

In 1956 Granz consolidated his record labels along with Clef he issued albums on Norgran and Down Home into Verve Records and, ...., reissued all of the older titles on the new imprint as 12" albums while the first seven volumes kept their old catalog numbers, the three-album sets were now numbered consecutively as JATP, Volume 8 (formerly 15). Volume 9 (formerly 16) Volume 10 (formerly 17) and 11 (formerly 18). These were kept in print by MGM after they acquired the label in 1960.

Finally a twelfth volume featuring Ella Fitzgerald was announced and advertised but never materialized -- it is possible that Ella At The Opera House (Verve 8264 - 1958), which features the JATP all-stars was culled from these recordings??

This Link Will Take You to a Verve Records Discography indexed
by catalog and by sessions, very cool!!
Verve Catalog Discography

the Clef/Verve Labels: A Discography Vol I, The Norman Granz Era (Discographies Series Number 26)
This book provides comprehensive listings of recordings made or issued under the Clef, Verve, and subsidiary labels between 1944 and 1961, when Norman Granz owned both labels and conducted recording sessions. This volume also lists classic performances by Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and many other great names in jazz.

Purchace this Book

Jazz at the Philharmonic members from the early 1950s.
(front row, l-r) are Johnny Hodges, alto sax; Flip Phillips, tenor sax; Lionel Hampton, vibes;
Illinois Jacquet, tenor sax; Dizzy Gillespie, trumpet.; (Back row, l-r) Oscar Peterson, piano; Buddy Rich, drums; and Ray Brown, bass.

Jazz Discography Project

A collector's guide to jazz music CDs, DVDs, MP3s and vinyl records (LPs/EPs/45s/78s, etc.):
Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside Records (the big three labels of modern jazz); bebop, cool/west coast, hard bop/mode, free jazz musicians; Miles Davis' personal connections, and more.

Compiled and maintained by the Jazz Discography Project team.
Nobuaki Togashi
Kohji 'Shaolin' Matsubayashi
Masayuki Hatta
Table of Contents

Vinyl Record Care and Maintenance
Cleanliness is absolutely mandatory to achieve the best sound quality of your vinyl records. A clean vinyl record will not only sound better, but last longer. It has long been proven that the playing of dirty records will result in a rapid deterioration of quality and degradation of the original recorded sound, or simply can cause permanent damage to your vinyl records.
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Grading Your Vinyl Records
The following is the grading system first developed by Goldmine Records. Virtually all methods currently in use for the grading of records, is based in some way, shape, or form, on this system. Rather than offer some variation of the original system first developed by Goldmine, Fox Music Company will display the Goldmine record grading method in it's entirety.
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Vinyl Records.., What Are Vinyl Records..??
Vinyl records were introduced and marketed as the unbreakable record, unlike its shellac counterpart of days gone by, that would break at the drop of a hat and becomes more brittle over time.
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David Stone Martin and the Art of Jazz
In the world of jazz there is one artist collected the world over who has never played an instrument not even a note of music but has left his mark on the jazz culture. Illustrator David Stone Martin was one of the most prolific and influential graphic designers of the postwar era, with his signature hand sketched graphics with two or three primary colors, perfectly capturing the energy and spontaneity of the jazz idiom.
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What Type of Records Do You Collect??
Vinyl Record Collectors come in as many shapes as sizes and generations as the vinyl records they collect. Why do people collect records??
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What Is A Phonograph Record??
A phonograph record is an analog sound medium that consists of a flat disc record with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the outside edge (lead-in) and ending near the center of the record (lead-out).The audio content of the record is contained within the spiral groove which extends for more than a half mile. The groove itself is actually narrower than the thickness of a human hair yet
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Lenny Bruce the Charlie Parker of Comedy
When once asked to describe jazz, trumpet legend Miles Davis sarcastically but saliently replied, "You can sweat it down to four words: Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker." Now trying to apply that same old-school, new-school trailblazer to comedy is somewhat more a problem.
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Static Electricity and Your Vinyl Records
Because static electricity plays such a major role in the problem of vinyl record cleaning and that we have repeatedly referred to the malice effects of static electricity, we feel an explanation of this phenomenon is in order.
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Audio Rarities
Fox Music is a Indie Record Store Located in the Heart of Watertown Wisconsin in the Downtown Historic District on the corner of First and Main Street. Our online location Fox Music Company - webpages where you can find and search by Artist, Album or Song - Read Reviews, Bios or Listen to Audio Clips of new release and back catalog tiles and a whole lot more......
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Don't Forget To Take The Fox Music Company
Indie Record Store Picture Tour
Hosted on flickr (yahoo images)...and of coarse you must stop and visit with
Tyson and Boogie
the Record Store Mascots or... is it "Mas-Cats"

Goldmine Records Jazz Price Guide
by Tim Neely

Collectors of jazz on vinyl know how difficult it can be to find pristine copies of original classic jazz recordings, and ever-changing market values can make pricing those albums even more difficult. With this fantastic, updated 2nd edition, collectors will be able to accurately price records using the
most current market values.

This all-encompassing reference features all types of jazz issued on 33 1/3 rpm long-playing records, including Dixieland, bebop, big band, swing, West Coast, fusion, modern and
many others. It includes over 40,000 albums released
between 1948 and today, valued in three grades of condition, as well as a thoroughly illustrated label guide for easy distinction between first editions and later pressings.
Collectors will discover thousands of records not listed in any other price guide!

The Goldmine Jazz Price Guide Contains listings for over 40,000 records in all types of Jazz, updated prices reflect today's market values an illustrated label guide aids in identifying original editions.

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Goldmine Jazz Album Price Guide





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