A convocation of Cool this week – a gathering of legends under the auspices of Jazz At The Philharmonic. This one from May 20, 1958 at the Stockholm Konzerthus and recorded for posterity by Sveriges Radio.
In on the festivities for this date were Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Lou Levy, Pete Johnson, “Big Joe” Turner, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Max Bennett and Gus Johnson.
The Jazz At The Philharmonic series was a legendary gathering of some of the greatest names in Jazz under one roof from 1944-1983. Conceived by Norman Granz, who recorded most all the concerts and which were released via Verve from 1944-1949 and variously on Verve, Pablo, Mercury, Asch and Clef Records.
The tours stopped in the U.S. in 1957, but continued in Europe until 1959, where they became sporadic until 1983, when the very last JATP concert was held in Tokyo in October of 1983.
The Jazz At The Philharmonic series did a lot to promote the cause of modern Jazz and to bring it to audiences in places all over the world. Not only were the recordings big sellers, but the artists benefitted greatly from the tours. And because they were preserved (for the most part), these concerts have been benchmarks in Jazz history and are sources of repeated listening and study ever since.
I’m not sure if this Stockholm concert has been issued, it was recorded by the Swedish Radio Network Sveriges Radio, And even though it’s 38 minutes from what is undoubtedly a much longer concert, it’s still great to listen to.
So crank it up and enjoy something cool this weekend.
And as long as you’re here – Mind if I bug you about Past Daily for a second? We’re in the middle of our annual Past Daily Fall Fundraiser, and we’re scraping around for contributions and support in helping us keep the site up and running and the history preserved and restored. If you can swing it, and have a few bucks on you that you’d like to kick in for a Tax-Deductible cause, please click on the link right here: (Past Daily’s Fall Fundraiser) and chip in what you can. And you KNOW we will appreciate it keep all this history and rare sounds coming your way every day – all year long.
