150 Vintage Titles Imported for U.S. Sales

More than 150 select titles recorded by Columbia Records during the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s are now available in the United States. TriStar Music Imports, a subsidiary of Sony Music, is importing albums by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Duke Ellington, George Benson, Art Blakey and many others. These albums have either never been available as domestic reissues or have been deleted from Sony’s regular jazz reissue lines: Sony Legacy and Columbia Jazz Masterworks.

Many of these classic releases are now being carried by retailers such as Tower Records, the Virgin Megastore, the Wherehouse, Poo Bah Records in Pasadena and Rhino Records in Westwood.

Davis is represented by more than 20 recordings, including “Miles Davis at Fillmore,” documenting his June 17-20, 1970, performances at the Fillmore East in New York, leading a band with Keith Jarrett (organ), Chick Corea and Jack DeJohnette. There are many collections by Monk, a best bet being “Live at the It Club,” recorded at the Los Angeles nightspot in 1964. Getz’s acclaimed 1975 date “The Master” is also available.

These CDs are imports from Japan and Europe, and they cost a bit more than domestic albums, with list prices ranging between $15.98 and $18.98 per disc. TriStar general manager Howard Gabriel said the firm plans to continue expanding its catalogue.

‘Great Day’ in Stores: “A Great Day in Harlem,” the stirring Academy Award-nominated documentary about a classic photograph of jazz greats taken by Art Kane in 1958, is out on video. The film, distributed by Capital Cities/ABC, runs 60 minutes and sells for $19.98.

The film was produced by longtime jazz fan Jean Bach and is composed of footage taken by bassist-photographer Milt Hinton at the photo shoot (which included more than 70 jazz giants from Thelonious Monk and Lester Young to Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie), recent interviews with musicians who were there and still photographs.

The film has had phenomenal success since it premiered just over a year ago at the Playboy Jazz Film Festival in West Hollywood. Besides the Oscar nomination, “Great Day” captured the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and has played to enthusiastic audiences around the world.

A Pianist’s Life: “Music in the Key of Oscar,” a recent 106-minute, two-cassette video from View Video, chronicles the life of the stellar pianist Oscar Peterson.

The Canadian artist narrates the film, which offers choice vintage footage and a recently filmed reunion of Peterson’s mid-’50s trio including bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis. The film also candidly details the race problems that the pianist and other black musicians experienced, particularly in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Interviews with Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and others are included. The set retails at $29.98.

Other recent View Videos, all priced at $19.98: “Antonio Carlos Jobim: An All-Star Tribute,” the late master’s final recorded concert, which also includes Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn and Gonzalo Rubalcaba; “40 Years of MJQ,” with the Modern Jazz Quartet, augmented by a chamber orchestra, playing “Concierto de Aranjuez” and other works; “Jazz Machine,” with drummer Elvin Jones’ riveting band with saxmen Ravi Coltrane and Sonny Fortune, and adventurous bassist Dave Holland’s “Vortex,” with altoist Steve Coleman and current “Tonight Show” drummer Marvin (Smitty) Smith.

GRP Interactive: GRP Records is promoting its new tribute to the Beatles, “I Got No Kick Against Modern Jazz,” in a different way--on the Microsoft Network. Microsoft subscribers who access GRP’s Jazz Central Station can take part in contests (with “No Kick” CDs and posters as prizes) and listen to 30-second sound bites of tracks from the album by McCoy Tyner, Tom Scott and George Benson. From Dec. 10-16, the artists on the album will engage in nightly online “chats” with subscribers.

Coming Up: Chick Corea will perform Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Luckman Theatre at Cal State Los Angeles. Information: (213) 466-1767. . . . Roy Hargrove, this year’s winner of Down Beat magazine’s trumpeter of the year award, will bring his quintet to the Veteran Wadsworth Theatre on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. Information: (310) 825-1101.

Free Music: The lilting vocals of Kate McGarry are spotlighted tonight, 5:30 to 8:30, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (213) 857-6000.