2 x 12” METAL ACETATE Clifford Brown Max Roach 1955 Study in Brown + Blues Walk
  $   365

 


$ 365 Sold For
Dec 16, 2024 Sold Date
Dec 9, 2024 Start Date
10   Number Of Bids
  USA Country Of Seller
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Description

This is an exceedhing rare item: two 12” metal acetates that include the songs included on the Clifford Brown and Max Roach 1955 Emarcy LP "Study in Brown" (EmArcy – MG 36037) and also three additional tracks that were recorded at the same three 1955 sessions (February 23rd, 24th & 25th at Capitol Studios in NYC). The 1st pressing of the original mono 12" LP was issued that year.
This item is from the estate of Ira Gitler, influential jazz critic and historian, whose writing appeared regularly in magazines like DownBeat and JazzTimes. He wrote several books on the subject including multiple editions of The Encyclopedia of Jazz. Ira Gitler was also one of the most prodigious writers of liner notes, annotating more than 700 albums. In 2017 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Acetate Condition There are some surface marks throughout the four sides, but overall beautiful sound and surface noise is fairly low for the age. There is one significant scratch, at the start of a side, coming in half way through the firsst track, Swingin' and ending after the start of George's Dilemma. I just played these tracks and the scratch did not impede the path of the normally weighted needle (no skipping/jumping), and was only noticeable in the audio as a slight popping sound. (See photos.)
To be clear, these are not test "pressings" as they are not pressed. Acetates are lacquer-coated aluminum discs cut with a lathe, usually directly from the master tapes.
Cover Condition The unique cover included was 'created' by Ira Gitler using a spare copy of Gigi Gryce's Signal 1201 LP (1956). Black paper was pasted over the original artist's name before Gitler's lettering was painted on, and black paper covers the liner notes on the back. The top and bottom have been reinforced with black tape and the cover is fully split on the spine. Generic white paper inner sleeves are present. (See photos.)
Determining when these acetates were cut: These acetates were mostly likely cut right after the February 55 recording sessions, and they include three tracks not included on the "Study in Brown" LP:

  • The Blues Walk was issued on "Clifford Brown and Max Roach" (Emarcy – MG 36036)
  • The alternate take of The Blues Walk and an alternate take of Land's End were not issued until 1984, on "More Study in Brown" (EmArcy 195J-1)
This information comes from the session index at the Jazz Discography Project (see photo): https://www.jazzdisco.org/clifford-brown/discography/#550223 and Discogs.com The numbers written on the labels match the numbers from the session index.
The blank, handwritten label has a logo showing these were cut at "Capitol Custom" which operated in New York and Hollywood from 1953 to 1973. Capitol is also where the sessions were recorded. It makes the most sense that they were cut before the track selection was finalized for the 1955 album, and that's why the three extra tracks are present.
The acetates likely came from Mercury/EmArcy with only the numbers. The pencil notations of track titles are in Ira Gitler's handwriting. After Brown's tragic 1956 death, Gitler wrote the notes to the Prestige "Memorial" album (PRLP 7055) where he wrote "Because of of phonograph records... Clifford Brown will never die."
Comes from a smoke-free, pet-free home.


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