Record Reviews

GORDON BECK ~ PAY NOW, LIVE LATER: LIVE AT THE BASS CLEF `85 JAZZ IN BRITAIN 75 (Barcode: 5060774190968) ~ UK ~ Jazz Recorded: 1985 Released: 2025 This is an archival live album the British Jazz pianist / composer / bandleader Gordon BeckFind albums by this artist, recorded in a trio and quintet settings with saxophonists Ray WarleighFind albums by this artist and Iain BallamyFind albums by this artist, bassist Dave GreenFind albums by this artist and drummer Spike WellsFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Beck and one is by his long-time collaborator, guitarist Allan HoldsworthFind albums by this artist. The music was recorded at the “Bass Clef” club in London, owned by legendary bassist / author Peter IndFind albums by this artist. The music covers Beck’s recording career up to the time of the recording, with the first two tracks originating from his early album “GyroscopeFind albums with this title” (played here by the trio) and the rest of the tracks originating from his later recordings, mostly released on the French JMSFind albums on this label label, including those he recorded with Holdsworth. Only one of the tracks offers a previously unrecorded composition. The music and the performances are of course absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth being listened to, and this album, like all the Jazz In BritainFind albums on this label label’s releases, saves it form falling into oblivion. Beck was one of the most important British Jazz heroes, and considering the fact that his concert recordings are quite rare, this great album is a very important addition to his collective discography. The two lengthy trio tracks present the more Avant-Garde side of Beck’s career, while the rest of the music is more melodic and stylistically mainstream oriented, but by no means less ambitious and aesthetically challenging. Hearing both parts of the live performance offers a splendid opportunity to connect the dots in Beck’s artistic development. Of course all five musicians playing here are some of the best British Jazz veterans, and Bellamy, who was just twenty-one at the time of the recording, proudly represents the next generation of the British Jazz Masters. Overall, this is another most welcome and highly interesting release by Jazz In Britain label, which serves as the most important “keeper of the faith” of the local music industry, and a “life saver” of countless reminders of how brilliant the British Jazz scene used to be in the past, all of which might have been lost forever under the endless musical rubbish piling on top of us ceaselessly. We are of course grateful for the effort and dedication!

Updated: 28/11/2025Posted: 28/11/2025

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

JUTTA HIPP ~ THREE CLASSIC ALBUMS REAL GONE JAZZ 498 (Barcode: 5036408174420) ~ GERMANY ~ Jazz Recorded: 1956 Released: 2015 This is a reissue of the three albums by German pianist Jutta HippFind albums by this artist, which were originally released on the Blue NoteFind albums on this label label in the mid 1950s. Hipp grew up in Nazi Germany and started to listen and pay Jazz secretly, as it was fiercely banned by the regime. After the WWII ended she was very active on the German scene, playing with the best German Jazz musicians, who were just starting their careers, like brothers: Emil MangelsdorffFind albums by this artist and Albert MangelsdorffFind albums by this artist, Austrian Hans KollerFind albums by this artist, Hungarian Attila ZollerFind albums by this artist (both resident in Germany) and others. Hipp moved to NY in 1955, with the help of the legendary Jazz critic Leonard FeatherFind albums by this artist, and recorded the three albums included here, after which she left music entirely, for reasons unclear. The first two albums: "Live At The Hickory House Volume 1Find albums with this title" and "Live At The Hickory House Volume 2Find albums with this title" both originate from a live recording at the Hickory House club in NY. Hipp is accompanied by British bassist Peter IndFind albums by this artist and American drummer Ed ThigpenFind albums by this artist. Together they perform ten standards on each of these albums. The third album "Jutta Hipp With Zoot SimsFind albums with this title" is a studio recording of a quintet which places her along American Jazz players: trumpeter Jerry LloydFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Zoot SimsFind albums by this artist, bassist Ahmed Abdul-MalikFind albums by this artist and drummer Ed Thigpen. The quintet performs six compositions, four of which are standards and one each is by Lloyd and Sims. The astounding thing about this music is the fact that although modern European Jazz was not yet born, Hipp plays these commonly known standards with a twist, which puts her already at that time apart from the American pianists. She is way more original, inventive and elegant than the pianists who in many cases wrote these standards. Her European piano mannerisms, for which she was severely criticized by American Jazz players, an experience which probably was the reason why she gave up music, were already very distinctive and pointed out towards the rift that was about to happen between American and European Jazz just a few years later. Anybody listening to these albums must realize that the criminally limited recorded legacy Hipp left us with is just a tip of an iceberg of an enormous talent which alas we´ll never witness. European Jazz lovers and connoisseurs of the twisted path European Jazz followed to differentiate itself from the American tradition will find this music absolutely indispensable. An absolute must for Jazz piano enthusiasts! Side Note The Real Gone JazzFind albums on this label label releases hundreds of album collections, which include usually between three to eight original albums in a two to four CDs sets. Most of these albums were recorded and released in the 1950s and early 1960s. These collections provide the track lists and lineups of the original albums, but no recording information, liner notes and any background information whatsoever. The label takes advantage of the copyright law in UK, which limited the length of the copyright protection of recorded works to 50 years, after which recorded works become public domain. In 2013 UK implemented a correction of the copyright law extending the protection of recorded works to 70 years (like the rest of Europe), but the correction does not apply retroactively, which means that recordings which entered the 50 years rule prior to January 1, 2013 (i.e. recorded before January 1, 1963) remain public domain. There are two great advantages to these releases: they are really inexpensive and they bring back to life many albums not reissued previously on CD, which means it would cost a collector an arm and a leg to get a copy of them. Many of these albums are absolute gems and essential pieces of Jazz history. The disadvantages are: the lack of proper information, original cover art, combining tracks of several original albums on one CD and the sound quality, which depends on where the label gets the source material. From my experience most of the releases have quite excellent sound quality but I have not listened to all of them and some people have complained about it.

Updated: 27/05/2018Posted: 18/05/2016

CD 2 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend