Ace Records’ Boplicity label was one of the earliest entries into the jazz reissues market in the mid-1980s. The short release schedule covered classic modern jazz from the 50s and 60s, taking in music originally released by Blue Note, Riverside, Prestige and various smaller independents. We are now re-launching the label as home for our small but distinct catalogue of 1950s and 1960s modern jazz. Featuring bonus tracks wherever possible, each release will strive for the highest quality in sound reproduction, using fresh transfers of the original master tapes.
Our first batch of releases comprises albums recorded by Dexter Gordon, Carl Perkins, Curtis Counce and Buddy Collette for Dootsie William’s Dootone label. A fixture of the Los Angeles scene since the early 1930s, Williams set up his label in the late 40s to take advantage of the nascent vocal group scene. Dootone scored a big hit in 1954 with ‘Earth Angel’ by the Penguins, which allowed him to indulge his passion for jazz.
His opening salvo was Dexter Gordon’s incredible “Dexter Blows Hot & Cool” album. Gordon was a pioneer of bebop tenor and was crucial in incubating a scene for this new music on the West Coast during the late 40s. His Savoy sides from this period are renowned and his “chase” records with Wardell Gray were eulogised by Jack Kerouac in On The Road. By the mid-50s he had become addicted to heroin, which resulted in him being largely absent from the recording studios. Among the few recordings he made during this period was his Dootone album, on which he was joined by the extremely talented pianist Carl Perkins, whose blues-drenched lines perfectly complemented Gordon’s style.
By Dean Rudland
