Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the
pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead
wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep
with the record.
— Paul, Vinyl Curator
Jay McShann
The Big Apple Bash
1979 · Atlantic SD 8804 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Atlantic |
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| Catalogue number | SD 8804 |
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| Year | 1979 |
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| Mono / Stereo | Stereo |
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| Country | US |
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| Format | LP |
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| Speed | 33 1/3 RPM |
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| Genre | Jazz - Swing/Big Band, Kansas City Blues |
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| Producer | Ilhan Mimaroglu; Ahmet Ertegun (executive producer) |
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| Conductor | Ernie Wilkins |
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| Performer / Orchestra | Ernie Wilkins-led all-star big band |
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| Musicians | Jay McShann (piano, vocals), Earle Warren (alto saxophone), Herbie Mann (tenor saxophone), Gerry Mulligan (baritone & soprano saxophones), Doc Cheatham (trumpet), Dicky Wells (trombone), John Scofield (guitar), Jack Six (bass), Eddie Gomez (bass), Milt Hinton (bass, on 'Dickie's Dream' and 'Jumpin' The Blues'), Joe Morello (drums), Connie Kay (drums), Sammy Figueroa (percussion, on 'Crazy Legs & Friday Strut'), Janis Siegel (vocal, on 'Ain't Misbehavin''), Ernie Wilkins (arranger, conductor) |
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Matrix / Runout
Side A: ST-A-794249-A
Side B: ST-A-794250
Condition
- Cover
- VG+
- Vinyl
- P
Variant chronology
1979 - US original, green/orange label with 75 Rockefeller Plaza rim text (plant suffixes PR Presswell, MO Monarch, SP Specialty, RI Richmond) <- this copy
1979 - US promo (DJ copy with promo stamping/sticker)
1982 - US reissue, later Atlantic label design
This Pressing
US 1st press (stereo, 1979) - Atlantic green/orange label, 75 Rockefeller Plaza rim text; RI suffix = Philips/PRC, Richmond IN plant.
The Album
Jay McShann was one of the last great links to Kansas City's swing-era heyday, a blues-drenched pianist and vocalist whose late-1930s orchestra gave the young Charlie Parker his first important bandstand and recording debut. Recorded at Atlantic's New York studios in August 1978, The Big Apple Bash was conceived as an all-star celebration of McShann's music, pairing veterans of his own era - Basie alumni Earle Warren, Doc Cheatham and Dicky Wells, plus bassist Milt Hinton - with younger admirers like Gerry Mulligan, Herbie Mann (here on tenor rather than his usual flute), Joe Morello, Connie Kay and a then up-and-coming John Scofield, all framed by Ernie Wilkins' big-band arrangements. The program revisits McShann touchstones, including 'Dickie's Dream,' the Basie flag-waver he co-wrote with Lester Young, and 'Jumpin' The Blues,' recreating the tune he first recorded with Parker. Manhattan Transfer's Janis Siegel drops in for a playful vocal duet on 'Ain't Misbehavin',' and McShann's weathered, rock-solid voice and two-fisted piano carry the session throughout. Liner notes by New York Times critic Robert Palmer frame the record as proof of the timelessness of McShann's music at a moment when Kansas City jazz was enjoying renewed attention. Critics received it warmly, and it stands as one of the strongest major-label showcases of McShann's late career, bridging classic Kansas City swing and the modern jazz mainstream.
Tracklist
Side 1
1. Crazy Legs & Friday Strut (7:47)
2. Georgia On My Mind (7:50)
3. Dickie's Dream (6:05)
Side 2
1. Ain't Misbehavin' (5:07)
2. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water (4:41)
3. Blue Feeling (5:10)
4. Jumpin' The Blues (7:11)
The Label
This copy shows Atlantic's late-1970s green-over-orange stereo label with the multicolor box/fan 'A' logo and the 'MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 75 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, N.Y., N.Y. / A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY' rim text plus a (c) 1979 line - the standard Atlantic original-issue design used from roughly 1977-79, ahead of the revised label used on the 1982 reissue. The runout carries the matrix ST-A-794249-RI / ST-A-794250-RI, the RI suffix denoting the Philips/PRC pressing plant in Richmond, Indiana - one of several plants (also PR/Presswell, MO/Monarch, SP/Specialty) used to press the 1979 first run. This Rockefeller Plaza label plus RI plant code places the copy in the first 1979 pressing generation, on par with the other 1979 plant variants and ahead of the 1982 reissue.
Fidelity
Recorded and mixed by Bobby Warner and mastered by George Piros at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, a clean, well-engineered late-1970s Atlantic analog production. The RI plant (Philips/PRC, Richmond, Indiana) pressed to Atlantic's usual solid late-70s standard, generally considered a notch below the Monarch and Presswell pressings some collectors prefer, though still a full-bodied, reasonably quiet cut. No audiophile reissue of this title exists (no Analogue Productions, Music Matters, or Speakers Corner edition), so a clean 1979 US original sits at the top of the album's fidelity hierarchy, with the 1982 reissue a step behind.
Notes
1979 Atlantic SD 8804 stereo - US original first pressing. Green/orange label with 75 Rockefeller Plaza / Warner Communications rim text and a (c) 1979 line matches Atlantic's 1977-79 original-issue design, distinct from the later 1982 reissue label. The runout matrix ST-A-794249-RI / ST-A-794250-RI carries the RI suffix for the Philips/PRC plant in Richmond, Indiana, a standard first-run Atlantic plant variant alongside the PR/Presswell, MO/Monarch and SP/Specialty pressings of the same year. Recorded August 1978 at Atlantic Studios, NYC; released 1979.
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