Kathleen Loves Music

Tom Pomposello > Honest Tom Pomposello

Produced by Fred Seibert

Original LP. Click the titles to play.
1. Tommy’s Jump
2. Old Joe Clark
3. Jesus Died on the Cross (To Save the World)
4. Movin’ Too Fast
5. Supreme Court Breakdown
6. Amazing Grace
7. Meeting You
8. St. Louis Blues
9. (I’m) Watchin’ The T.V.
10. Hey Little Girl (Who Made Your Dress?)

Oblivion Records OD-6

Click here to read some of the stories behind this album.

And click here for covers, photographs, and other printed ephemera.

CREDITS, from the original LP cover:

1. TOMMY’S JUMP Array
(By H.T. Pomposello)
Tom. electric mandolin
Michael Altshuler. Guitar
Bruce Kapler. tenor saxophone
Michael “Kid” Avanzini. Bass
David Longworth. Drums
Recorded 9.3.75

2. OLD JOE CLARK Array
(Traditional; arranged by H.T.P.)
Tom. Dulcimer
Kid Avanzini. Bass
Nicholas “Nick” K. Moy. pitch pipe
Recorded 10.6.73

3. JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS [TO SAVE THE WORLD] Array
(Traditional; arranged by H.T.P./Special thanks to John Fahey)
Tom. bottleneck-dobro
Michael Altshuler. Guitar
Kid Avanzini. Bass
David Longworth. drums
Recorded 7.4.74

4. MOVIN’ TOO FAST Array
(By Roosevelt Sykes / H.T. Pomposello)
Tom. vocal & electric [Read more…]

Willis Jackson
with Pat Martino
Single Action

Produced by Fred Seibert

1. Evergreen
2. Bolita
3. Makin’ Whoopee
4. You Are My Sunshine
5. Hittin’ The Numbers
6. Single Action
7. Evergreen (outtake)

Willis Jackson: tenor saxophone
Pat Martino: guitar
Carl Wilson: organ
Jimmy Lewis: bass
Yusef Ali: drums
Ralph Dorsey: percussion

Willis Jackson single handedly pulled me away from the avant garde and towards the soulful, bluesy expression of jazz that was popular in the African American neighborhoods of mid-century America. He didn’t mean to, he didn’t want to, it was just that he was so damn good.

Less a producer than actually a recording supervisor (my credit on this album) I arrived at our first session together with virtually no information on what we were recording or who was playing. Willis was tough and a little paranoid so this situation played out during the three or four sessions we did together. I’d never heard any of his music (it wasn’t cool enough within the jazzbo circles [Read more…]

Friends > Marc Cohen, John Abercrombie, Clint Houston, Jeff Williams

Produced by Marc Cohen & Fred Seibert

[Note: Marc Cohen now performs on piano as Marc Copeland]

Original LP. Click the titles to play.
1. 5/8 Tune †
2. Black Vibrations *
3. Nursery Rhyme
4. Loose Tune ††
…:::UPDATE, Feb 08: These MP3s are CD quality, 320kpbs:::…

Marc Cohen: electric alto sax, ††add tenor sax
Jeff Williams: drums
Clint Houston: fretted bass, †acoustic bass
John Abercrombie: 6 string guitar, *12 string guitar, ††no guitar

Click here for covers, photographs, and other printed ephemera.
…..
Friends
Oblivion Records
OD-3 (1973)

Click here for covers, photographs, and other printed ephemera.

CREDITS, from the original LP cover:

Recorded December 1972, by successful exploitation of Columbia University’s WKCR. To everyone who has ever been there, thanks folks.

Produced by Marc Cohen and Fred Seibert
Engineering: Fred Seibert
Brains behind the engineering: Don Zimmerman
Microphones behind the brains: Marc Seiden
Pal: David Reitman
Graphics: the Oblivionettes co-starring Sue DeLaney
Photography: Trebor Trepla, Fred Seibert, and Robert Alpert (Mark Focus Jr.)
Advice: Don [Read more…]

Johnny Woods
Mississippi Harmonica

Produced by Tom Pomposello and Fred Seibert

Original 45rpm single. Click the titles to play.

1. Long Haired Doney
2. Three O’Clock in the Morning
…..
Oblivion Records
O#2 (1972) [45 rpm single]

Click here to read some of the stories behind this record.

And click here for covers, photographs, and other printed ephemera.
……
Original credits

Johnny Woods: harmonica

Recorded Thursday, April 27, 1972, Olive Branch, Mississippi, by Tom Pomposello

Remastered by Fred Seibert

Graphics by the Oblivionettes featuring Susan DeLaney

Cover photo by Tom Pomposello

This recording was made possible by a special grant from the Dick Pennington Blues Foundation

Addition copies of this disc can be had by sending $1.00 (plus 25 cents for postage and handling) to:

Oblivion Records
P.O. Box X
Roslyn Heights, New York 11577

©(P) 1972
……
Original liner notes

During the spring of 1972, I spent some time in Mississippi visiting with my friend and teacher Fred McDowell. Now Fred had promised to show me around and introduce me to a few of his musical [Read more…]

Hank Jones
Groovin’ High

Produced by Fred Seibert

1. Algo Bueno
2. Anthropology
3. Sippin’ at Bells
4. Blue Monk
5. Groovin’ High
6. I Mean You
7. Jackie-Ing

Hank Jones: Piano
Sam Jones: Bass
Mickey Roker: Drums
Thad Jones: Cornet
Charlie Rouse: Tenor Saxophone

As soon as we saw the incredible reaction to our first release with Hank Jones, Bop Redux , in 1977 it was clear to Muse Records’ founder Joe Fields and me we needed to record a sequel. Hank’s absence from the scene for 25 years (in the CBS Orchestra) had only made him better, and the yearning for the emotion and craft of originators of bebop was burning a hole in the hearts of 70s jazz fans. We moved recording from my base at CI Recording in Manhattan (the former Mercury Records studios) to Rudy VanGelder’s in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the most famous studio for jazz in the world.

The moment of discord with Hank came when I insisted he replace [Read more…]

Charles Walker & The New York City Blues Band
Blues From The Apple

Produced by Tom Pomposello with Fred Seibert
Engineering. Fred Seibert

Click the title to play.
1. Scratch My Back
2. Black Cat Bone
3. Gladly
4. Decoration Day
5. I’m A Good Man But A Poor Man
6. Juice Head Woman
7. Bluebird’s Blues
8. Fast, Fast, Women and A Slow Race Horse
9. It’s Changin’ Time
10. Meeting You

……
CHARLES WALKER & THE NEW YORK CITY BLUES BAND
Blues From The Apple
Oblivion Records
OD-4
1974

Click here for covers, photographs, lyrics, and other printed ephemera.

LINER NOTES:

New York City blues has been one of the Big Apple’s best kept secrets for the past decade and a half. While many local bluesmen have remained “active” at house parties with an occaisional gig at a small club, many others, veterans of a by-gone R&B era, have pawned their instruments and abandoned hopes of continuing a career that long ago abandoned them. In short the New York City blues scene [Read more…]

Jaki Byard
Family Man
Produced by Frederick Seibert

Click the titles to play.
1. Just Rollin’ Along
2. Mood Indigo/Chelsea Bridge
3. L.H. Gatewalk Rag
4. Ballad to Louise
Excerpts from Family Suite
5. Prelude No.16
6. Gaeta
7. Garr
8. Emil
9. John Arthur

Jaki Byard: piano, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Major Holley: bass, tuba, Fender bass
Warren Smith: drums, tympani, vibraphone
J.R. Mitchell: drums
…..
Jaki Byard was one of my great heroes and inspirations when I started listening to jazz in earnest in the early 70s. “Eclectic” was the word that best described him since he recorded in styles directly linked to stride, swing, bop and the avant-garde, all with authenticity and enthusiasm. When Muse Records’ owner Joe Fields asked me to suggest a suitable recording project Jaki immediately came to mind.
…..
Muse Records MR 5173
Jaki Byard
Family Man

Produced by Frederick Seibert
Engineered by Chuck Irwin & Elvin Campbell, CI Recording (110 W57th Street, NYC)
April 28 & May 1, 1978

Muse Records Discography

…..
Liner notes by Fred Bouchard:

Jaki Byard - pianist, composer, family man. Family man? Yes, indeed.

Whatever paradoxes [Read more…]

Mississippi Fred McDowell
Live In New York

Produced by Tom Pomposello, Dick Pennington, and Fred Seibert
Engineered* by Fred Seibert

Click the titles to play.
2nd edition, Spring 1972

1. Shake ‘Em On Down
2. I’m Crazy About You Baby
3. John Henry
4. You Got To Move
5. Someday
6. Mercy
7. The Lovin’ Blues
8. White Lightnin’
9. Baby Please Don’t Go
These MP3s are CD quality, 320kpbs

1999 edition; released as “Live at the Gaslight.”
Disc 1
1. Shake ‘Em On Down
2. Fred’s Worried Blues *
3. Mercy
4. Jesus is on the Mainline *
5. When The Saints Come Marchin’ In *
6. Someday Baby
7. The Lovin’ Blues
8. White Lightnin’
9. You Got To Move
10. Louise *
11. Baby Please Don’t Go
Disc 2
1. Goin’ To The River (Carry My Rocking Chair) **
2. Shake ‘Em On Down **
3. 61 Highway *
4. John Henry
5. My Babe *
6. I’m Crazy ‘Bout You Baby **
7. Red Cross Store *
8. Levee Camp Blues*
9. Good Mornin’ Little Schoolgirl *
10. Don’t Mistreat Nobody (Cause You Got A [Read more…]

Hank Jones
‘Bop Redux
Produced by Fred Seibert, in association with Dick Ables
Grammy Nominee, 1977, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Soloist

Click the titles to play.
1. Yardbird Suite
2. Confirmation
3. Rudy, My Dear
4. Relaxin’ With Lee
5. Bloomdido
6. ‘Round Midnight
7. Moose the Mooche
8. Monk’s Mood

Hank Jones: Piano
George Duvivier: Bass
Ben Riley: Drums

Hank Jones had been a exemplar jazz journeyman until he took a full time day job in the CBS Orchestra in 1952. This record date, the first after his contract finally expired, was arranged by Muse Records’ owner Joe Fields, and he cordially to handle the production. My primary contribution –I was a wet behind the ears 26 year old with no particular skills– was suggesting the jazz standards repetoire as a respite from the relentlessness of the “energy” avant-garde of the previous 10 years. I also chose the engineer and studio, asked Hank to avoid bass solos, named the album after John Updike’s ‘Rabbit Redux,’ [Read more…]

Front cover, The Cecil Taylor Unit, Spring of Two Blue-J’s.
Click to enlarge to printable, full size.

I can’t imagine any regular readers of this blog liking this track, but Googling will turn up quite a few passionate listeners, since this outstanding record has been out of print for over thirty years. Since I engineered and produced the original recording, I thought it might be time fans had access to it. I’ll try and update this post as I get more materials and information, so you could consider it the definitive current release.

Cecil Taylor Unit > Spring of Two Blue-J’s
This music file is very large (35 MB), so be prepared for a long loading time.

Cecil Taylor is one of the three acknowledged leaders of the progressive, free jazz movement of mid-20th century America. To a lot of folks he just plays noise and they find it hard to believe this music is composed, no [Read more…]