Let Me Tell You 'Bout It

Artist: Leo Parker
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Original recording remastered
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 094631149023
EAN: 0094631149023
ASIN: B000AQACRA

Release Date: 2005-09-13

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Tracks:

Glad Lad
Blue Leo
Let Me Tell You 'Bout It
VI
Parker's Pals
Low Brown
TCTB
Lion's Roar [*]
Low Brown [Long Version][*]

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Customer Reviews:

LEO gets 5 stars--RVG can't top Toshiba.......2006-12-17

It breaks my heart to give this just four stars, because it, along with ROLLIN' WITH LEO, is among my all time favorite Blue Notes (BLUE TRAIN, classic as it is, does not define Blue Note, you'd better know).

I've owned the Blue Notes on LP and CD for many years; in recent years, I find I'm liking the more obscure, lesser known Blue Notes the best. The soulful, good-time feeling on LET ME TELL YOU 'BOUT IT--sometimes churchy, done with taste and not cliche'-ish; sometimes easy or hard swingin'--draws me back to it again and again. Also for me there was the discovery of some fairly unknown wonderful players. Tenor saxophonist Bill Swindell should've had his own Blue Note albums--he's so much more original, soulful and creative than flash-in-the-pan, testifyin' farts like Don Wilkerson, who got lucky and had some success for Blue Note with his "Camp Meetin'" brand of camp. "TCTB" is a tenor-bari chase that should have gone down in history among the classic sax battles. Just check it out.

And Purnell Rice! Where was this fabulous drummer on Blue Note before this? Why wasn't he on more dates to follow the Parker sessions? Man, his drums sound beautiful, and more importantly HE makes all the varied styles of this date groove. A team player, he would've added so much to future BN sessions.

All these cats--John Burks (man, what a really rich trumpet tone) a teenaged Yusef Salim on piano, bassist Stan Conover--were never to be heard on a lot of records, but to me they had the Blue Note stuff. As I say, there is such a warm, happy groovin' spirit to this session--just damn makes ya feel good!

BUT the very engineer who made this session sound so great, has now fallen short of re-issuing it with the pristine, meticulous quality it deserves. If you ask me, this whole RVG series is yet another of Michael Cuscuna's marketing schemes to get you to buy, yet again, the same sessions--and we do! We get suckered in, thinking this will be the best yet because now they are remastered by RVG himself. To my ears, I'd swear these are nothing more than 90's Connoisseur Series remasters (or remasters that might've be shelved for later), repackaged as so-called RVG remasters, with a few added (and fabulous) photos.

If Rudy did remaster these, he really got carried away with the treble and bass control. It's as though he saw this as an opportunity to self-servingly "improve" his recordings, to make them more competitive with today's digitally ear-frying recordings, instead of bringing to us these classics in all their original glory--LIKE THE JAPANESE ALWAYS HAVE.

How is it these Blue Notes STILL, in 2007, don't compare to the meticulously smooth audio of the superior Japanese Blue Notes? I think Cuscuna and Toshiba do this by design--to get you to pay more for the Japanese issues. For cryin' out loud, when Leo wails on the higher end of his horn, my ears cringe; I want to turn down the volume--on Leo's best playing on record. The Japanese version, which I own, blows Rudy's away--you can play it full and loud, and it just sounds smooth--nothing jumps out and bites your ears. In fairness to an aging Rudy, maybe he's losing his high frequency hearing (no sarcasm intended there).

All in all, I'd like to compare a domestic RVG with a Japanese RVG. If the Japanese RVG sounds better, then you know Cuscuna and Toshiba are GUILY! Speaking of BS, the liner notes (as they claimed in the 1990, harsh, brittle-sounding issue) state that the alternate of "Low Brown" was the "preferred" take but was left off because it was too long to fit on the LP. Bull! During Leo's first solo, Stan Conover goes into the bridge too early, and the take nearly breaks down, though it is a really great take. What a shame--this great music on this celebrated label is in the control of shysters, liars.

Well, if you want to save a few bucks and waste them on this issue, go ahead. But heed my advice--always buy the Japanese. The extra cost might even be worth not having to strip off those bastardly sticker seals the domestic Blue Notes STILL stupidly come with. See? The Japanese even think of details like that to ensure your full enjoyment of your purchase.

Leo on Blue Note.......2006-07-11

Leo Parker was one of the first baritone sax players to incorporate the modern sounds of bebop into his playing; interestingly, he could also wail on the blues like any tried-and-true r&ber. After recording a number of sides in the late 40's-early 50's, a drug habit layed him low; this was his first "comeback" recording, done in 1961. He's in very good form throughout the date, though shines especially well on the one blues composition recorded: BLUE LEO. It's a brilliant performance with Leo exploring to the depths of the piece, while bassist Stan Conover keeps everything rock-steady. Anyone out there into reciting poetry to a jazz background, here's the perfect piece to use. The group goes to church twice (LET ME TELL YOU `BOUT IT and LOW BROWN - 2 takes), while GLAD LAD is a jaunty up-tempo ditty full of sunshine and happiness. Trumpeter John Burks takes a nice solo on VI, and tenorman Bill Swindell plays well in many places, particularly on PARKER'S PALS. Unfortunately Parker was able to make only one more album, a month later, also for Blue Note, before dying of a heart attack, another great and premature loss to the jazz world.

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