So for a first question… one thing that has „puzzled“ us here quite a bit in the last few weeks was the Prestige label… (for which you worked only a brief time, but still) i find it hard to make this one single question so instead this bunch of stuff:
If you read, say, the german wikipedia article on Prestige you get the impression that (stylized) Bob Weinstock drove to New York got together six or seven junkies, drove them to the Van Gelder Studio where Mal Waldron or Teddy Charles was already waiting with a bunch of arrangements which were then recorded without rehearsal. What’s (most) wrong with this story? How independent were the single producers like you, Don Schlitten, Esmond Edwards… it’s remarkable that often production, some compositions, photographs and cover design came from one and the same person which vaguely suggests that there was a lot of independence… true? more than elsewhere? How much did artists influence things like recorded material, line-ups, sequencing, cover art… for instance, could John Coltrane have said „I’d like to have Hank Jones on my next album.“ or was this type of thing highly uncommon then (and why…)
edit: nail75 rightly pointed out an unfair imprecision: the above collection of clichees about Prestige is only very partially taken from the wikipedia entry, i’ve read all of it more than once in various places but only some of it there…
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