Alan Skidmore Quintet - Once Upon a Time
£
102
$
135
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Description
Alan Skidmore Quintet
Once upon a time
Stereo Deram Nova SDN 11 © 1970
My first jazz record! Though not this copy. There’s been many burglaries and losses in between then and now. I bought the original after being dragged by a friend to see this quintet supporting Cecil Taylor and the Thelonius Monk Quartet in Hammersmith. 1970? I think so, though the sleeve notes also mention dates in 1969. The beginning of a lifetime’s obsession.
I’ve seen this go for fairly silly money, but you might hope to pick this copy up at a more reasonable price. I think I’m quite strict in my descriptions, and I’m really torn between describing it as good or very good. Whatever: it’s not a collector’s mint or excellent item, but it certainly is a lovely playing copy. No serious defects to note.
The sleeve is good, too, and sound, though scuffed and a little grubby on the back: sleeve notes still fully legible, though.
The quintet is Alan Skidmore (tenor sax), Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn), John Taylor (piano), Harry Miller (bass), Tony Oxley (drums).
ONE: Once upon a time (Surman) – Majaera (Oxley ) – The yolk ( Taylor)
TWO: Old San Juan (Warren) – Free for Al (Skidmore – Image (Surman)
I’m not really the one to describe the music, as it’s suffused with the glow of nostalgia. It really is the very best of modern British jazz at that time, Harry Miller on bass indicating the vital South African influence that was so important then, and the presence of avant-gardist Oxley on drums just sharpening and lifting it out of the everyday groove. Wheeler’s use of the flugelhorn throughout gives it a wonderfully melancholy tone, missing from Skidmore’s more straightahead and raucous follow-up album, TCB. Really worthwhile all round.
Seller’s notes
We are private sellers (this is a personal collection being sold) and can’t always be as quick as a business – we can’t get to the post office every day, for a start. But we aim to offer a friendly personal service, and though we don’t have a returns policy we aim to solve any problems in a friendly cooperative way.
We don’t specify international delivery, but we’re happy to send goods anywhere. Most parts of the globe we can do surface mail at our existing charge, but air-mail will be a bit more. By all means check if you want, but for small orders you could just trust us; we try to keep postage costs to a minimum, and don’t mind making the occasional loss on postage if we get it wrong. If there is an overseas supplement, it’ll only be a pound or so per record, often less.
We don’t have a fixed multiple order discount, but we always calculate a commonsense reduction when we spot that you’ve ordered more than one record.
We suggest you don’t make Instant Paypal payments the moment you win (though it doesn’t matter if you do). If you wait for our invoice, that will confirm our target date for posting the goods, plus it’ll include any subsequent discounts we’ve applied.
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