Julius Wechter on Jazz:West

[James Harrod]

Julius Wechter fans might enjoy my latest bit of jazz research on the background of Jazz:West records and the album featuring the Julius Wechter Quartet. I also discuss his unissued quintet session that was slated for release on Intro Records. There are other details that set the discography record straight.

http://jazzwestcoastresearch.blogspot.com/2012/11/julius-wechter-on-jazzwest-intro-james-a.html

 

[Steven J. Gross]

This is some fantastic stuff James!

 

[Rudy]

Well there's a blast from the past--I remember Mr. Harrod from the Jazz West Coast mailing list from ages ago!

Great writeup on the Jazz:West label--I'll have to digest more of it when I get a chance!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Love the recording of "Undecided". Wish it was cleaned up. Would love to hear more of this!



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

He has some other interesting blogs as well--I was reading through the Stars Of Jazz presentations. That was a television show hosted by Bobby Troup, and I hadn't heard of it until I discovered an RCA album under that name that featured Troup (which I bought on CD many moons ago). West coast jazz is one of my favorite styles, so I know I'll burn a few hours reading through all of this.

 

[mikeargo]

This is really great stuff. Thanks so much, James. The test pressing of "Undecided" is a treat--Cy Colley on clarinet is a real revelation, Julius is tight on vibes. Interesting to see the early Wechter-Tedesco collaboration. What was the session date? Any chance of hearing the rest of the tracks?

OK, I gotta ask: Is Herb Kimmel related to our own www.kritzerland.com Baja Marimbas Lazy Days Bruce Kimmel? If not, what are the odds?!?

Mike A.

 

[James Harrod]

This is really great stuff. Thanks so much, James. The test pressing of "Undecided" is a treat--Cy Colley on clarinet is a real revelation, Julius is tight on vibes. Interesting to see the early Wechter-Tedesco collaboration. What was the session date? Any chance of hearing the rest of the tracks?

OK, I gotta ask: Is Herb Kimmel related to our own www.kritzerland.com Baja Marimbas Lazy Days Bruce Kimmel? If not, what are the odds?!?

Mike A.

Thanks to all for your kind comments. There is a good chance that the quintet master tapes are among the other sessions from Aladdin/Imperial that passed through various owners with one of the last/latest/current(?) being EMI. In this age of the download it would be great if Emusic or iTunes or one of the other digital purveyors would make both the quartet and quintet sessions available. I asked Herb Kimmel if he was related to Bruce Kimmel and the answer was no, but it is a curious coincidence. The test pressing is not in great condition as noted in the sample, let's hope that the current or future owner of the session will free it from the vault along with the the quartet session as a digital download.

Jim

 

[mikeargo]

Jim, is there any chance of hearing more of the quintet master tapes??

Mike A.