Customer Reviews

Newport

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own this record in LP, and have been expecting its release in CD for years! This combines two vintage jazz groups at the top of their form, and stimulated by the live audience and the Newport Jazz Festival aura. Catch Paul Desmond's soaring alto -never underestimate the "dry martini" sound. I'm in a Dancing Mood captures the essence of the early Brubeck sound, in different tempos and moods. As for JJ and Kay, the flawless trombone duet can be appreciated at its fullest in what appears to be an easygoing sound while in effect is a virtuoso performance of two masters of their instruments. Five stars all over! To Columbia Records: please, please reissue this masterpiece!

The audience at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival was certainly lucky. Not only did they witness these performances, there was a recording to support the superlatives they no doubt used describing them; that is, until the recording went out of print. The title of this review simply says it all. I have been listening to this record, my father's LP with pops and clicks, for 40 years. A CD re-release is criminally overdue. Yes, the live "In Your Own Sweet Way" appears on a recent Brubeck "best of" collection but there's more here: the magical atmosphere of the recording is best experienced as a complete work. The listener is caught up in the excitement, e.g. the emcee, while introducting Jay & Kai, mentions that this appearance is likely their last as a duo. You feel lucky to "be there." Their twin trombones soar through their set which opens with "Lover Come Back to Me". Brubeck. Jay & Kai. Both on one live, mid-50's Newport recording. Let's get with it, Columbia.

I heartily agree with the review posted by Juan Oliver Colom. I too have had the LP since it was released and it has been played so many times over the years that it has become very scratchy, with an occasional jump. The call for its re-issue in CD form is now international - Puerto Rico and Australia!! So, Sony International, please get on with it!

I join with the other reviewers in everything they say about this great recording. I have been carrying my LP around for 50 years and it still is good to hear. It is LIVE in the real meaning of the word. I am old enough to remember the days when Willis Conover was the DJ on the Voice of America Jazz Hour and his voice together with the enthusiastic audience at the NWPT in 1956 certainly adds to the atmosphere of a classic disc.
Please, somebody re-release it!

Saying that this record is great jazz displays a firm grasp of the obvious. More than that it is a classic representation of a significant era for jazz. It is four great tunes by the Brubeck Quartet with Norman Bates and Joe Dodge. It is Jay and Kai live as a duet. It represents an event that has become iconic in the history of jazz. From the Willis Conover intro to the final applause it, better than almost any recording I've heard, captures the mood of the real NJF (not to be confused with later imitations). It is truely difficult to understand why the companies that have owned the rights to this recording have kept it sequestered in the face of international pleas for them to release it on CD.

I used to own this in LP form, and recorded it to cassette many years ago before the LP wore out. But what i want is the CD! Two-Part Contention is my favourite recording of all time.
by the way, the listing descriptions for tracks 5-6-7 are wrong. They read
5. Lover, Come Back to Me - Dave Brubeck,
6. True Blue Tromboniums - Dave Brubeck,
7. NWPT
but in fact all three of these are by JJ and Kai.
If you would like to sell me this CD then please call 250-361-3090, thanks.

It is obvious there is a market for this album. What record company makes the step and issues a CD version?