diegodobini2
"Content is not an original creation of this channel, and may have been repurposed from another source without adding significant original commentary(actually I did), substantive modifications, or educational or entertainment value."
LOL
no entertainment value here, go elsewhere, bye. :D
diegodobini2
Joey DeFrancesco – Finger Poppin' - Celebrating The Music Of Horace Silver (2008)
https://youtu.be/-JV4To4VMmo
Cd Liner Notes:
Celebrating the Music of Horace Silver with Tom Harrell, Tim Warfield and Byron Landham
The opportunity to record Joey DeFrancesco on the Doodlin' Records label came up in the Spring of 2008. Early dis-cussions with Joey were encouraging and the idea of recording a batch of Horace Silver compositions was readily accepted by Joey and his long time drummer and friend, Byron Landham. A date was set and the chore of finding two suitable frontline instrumentalists was now on my shoulders. I knew that an organ combo attempting to play tunes that have been most associated with piano, bass and drums, would be challenging but that this would also ensure thrilling results. Opting to go guitar-less, I looked for a tenor player within Joey and Byron's sphere of music. Tim Warfield was my first and only choice. Ever since Shirley Scott had told me that Tim was 'her favorite young tenor player' I had wanted to work with him in some capacity.
The notion of having a former member of one of Horace Silver's many quintets also loomed in my mind. I had always remembered trumpeter Tom Harrell when he played with Horace. I first saw and heard him at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco. Horace had both Bob Berg and Tom Harrell on the front line that night and I never forgot how pas-sionate Tom's voice was. When I called Tom and asked him to be a part of this project he quickly accepted.
I was quite anxious to begin this recording on July 16, 2008 in Exton, PA.
The sound engineer, Glenn Faracone, came highly recommended. I had worked with him when he drummed with Papa John DeFrancesco on tour but now I discovered that his talents were wide spread and that he was at the helm of a very successful recording studio and music complex I can not say enough about Glenn and his staff and the degree of dedication that they all exemplified. Thank you to one and all...
'Strollin' was the first piece attempted this day. It had been a tune that Joey was particularly fond of and one that he definitely wanted to include in the CD. He had heard Don Patterson play this tune on Don's last recording session and before that, Shirley Scott's rendition from 'Shirley Scott Plays Horace Silver' (Prestige 7240). The band fell right into the groove as this would set the mood for the rest of the session.
'Swingin' the Samba' required Joey and Byron to first discuss a few rhythmic possibilities. What they settled on was perfect. The band gave this one a few rides and each time it sounded better and swung harder as evidenced by
an alternate take which is included.
As Joey stated several times, 'The Jody Grind' was not a Blues per se but he sure gave the tune à Bluesy feel as did everyone else. Joey jumped into an introduction after which the guys began to swing it into submission. There have been a lot of versions of this tune - even Jimmy Smith's take on Dee Dee Bridgewater's tribute to Horace Silver - but I think everyone will agree that this raucous rendition by Joey is unique.
'Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty' really got to Joey. I remember hearing him say, just a few minutes after we had our 'keeper' take, "That's one tune that you'll probably never hear me play again"! I think he found the head to be a bit awk-ward and the actual structure of the tune to be challenging but you certainly couldn't tell from the masterful way he interpreted this classic Silver composition. Joey emphasized the right notes; created the right affect; and took that tune to a very special place!
'Finger Poppin' was fast and furious. Tim and Tom made sure their lines were accurate and coordinated; the rest was about energy and rhythm changes. Joey kept mentioning the fact that Horace Silver compositions were harder than he and Byron had anticipated. It's like they have their own, built-in arrangements. Joey was grateful to me for 'pushing' him in the direction of more difficult tunes and steering him away from the more commonly covered Horace Silver pieces.
'The African Queen' was the longest recorded track that afternoon. Tim felt really good about the tune and how everyone dealt with it. He even claimed it would be 'our radio track. He had spent a lot of time with this piece; listen-ing to the original recording and now playing with the written transcriptions that were in front of him. At first he picked up his soprano saxophone but later decided on the tenor. Since the original recording showcased a fiery Joe Henderson solo, Tim thought it wise to distinguish himself in a different tonality. This may have been the reason for Tom sticking with his flugelhorn. The soft tones of this brass instrument meshed beautifully with those of Tim's tenor. In conversations between takes, Tom told Tim and I how he first heard Freddy Hubbard apply the techniques of jazz trumpet to the flugelhorn and how this had been his quest ever since. Byron's drumming was really the glue that held this piece together. What he came up with was both creative and inspiring.
At one point Joey looked at the remaining charts in his hand and sighed. He plopped them on the organ and announced: "Let's just do 'Sister Sadie". After some mild protesting from me, it was decided that 'Filthy McNasty'
would be a great compromise. Joey kicked it off and the rest is history. No second take; just straight ahead, 'fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, Jazz Organ Groove.
From the beginning, I had wanted to fit-in a version of 'Peace'. I conceptualized Tom Harrell's voice on this tune even before I found out he was available for the record date. By the time we got to this tune it was late in the afternoon. Tim would lay-out and Joey and Tom would have this one to themselves over Byron's accompaniment. Tom began to blow spontaneously. His sound was coming straight from his heart and we knew it; we could feel it. Joey waited and then asked Glenn to begin recording. Both Tom and Joey played the tune as if time had stood still for them. Their hearts were truly into it. Yes, fatigue had weighed-in by this time but the music seemed to be driven by a higher force. When Joey first walked back into the booth to hear the playback we all just looked at one another, wondering which words we might use to describe what we had just heard. Not five seconds into the playback, however, we were all breathing deeply with the realization that the take was nothing less than brilliant. Tom's spent energy had been transformed into a courageous, almost painful expression of time and space, as if the title of this song was to characterize his interpre-tation. It seemed to all of us that real peace wouldn't and shouldn't come to us in spirited fashion. It should carry with it a residue of the pain and anguish that preceded its existence. Tom had captured the essence of this tune for all of us that afternoon and he did it in his own and inimitable way...
Pete Fallico
3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 37
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diegodobini2
Dizzy Gillespie Y Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Gillespie En Vivo (1985)
https://youtu.be/A2OtiABXfEI
Original Liner Notes:
Dizzy Gillespie, a master of jazz composition and performance, was the most prominent figure participating this year in the 5th Plaza 85 Latin Jazz Festival, alongside Dave Valentin, Richie Cole, and Tete Montoliu, contributing to its resounding success on a stage filled with styles, languages, and artistry.
Gillespie's work has framed a notable development in the international jazz movement since the 1940s, with the emergence of bebop, signaling the return, after an expansion to large orchestras, to small ensembles and systematic improvisations based on a theme.
In Cuba, one of the two major areas of cultural affinity with jazz (the other being Brazil), the tradition of practicing the genre dates back to the 1920s. Figures such as Chucho Valdés, Carlos Emilio, Felipe Dulzaides, and the rising star Arturo Sandoval represent the immediate precursors to the younger generation of Cuban jazz musicians today. Within it, it is possible to point out figures for the future, but who are already fully fledged talents: Orlando Sánchez, Oriente López, Carlos Miguel Nuñez, Felipe Cabrera, and the Proyecto Group under the direction of pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, a leader recognized by his contemporaries who performs "Con Alma" alongside Dizzy Gillespie.
The participation of young musicians in the Festival has been a determining factor in the renewed vision and authenticity that Cuban jazz is recognized today. The imminent development of this genre in Cuba places a large representation of new performers on the threshold of takeoff, who undoubtedly already have much to say in the ranks of talent. Evidence of this is the excellent performance of "Manteca" by the immortal Cuban musician Chano Pozo, joined by all the musicians who participated in the Festival.
Instrumental solos in Manteca:
Arturo Sandoval: trumpet
Lázaro Cruz Olmos: trumpet
Dizzy Gillespie: trumpet
Manuel Valera: alto saxophone
Rafael Carrasco: flute
Sayyd Abdul Al Khabyyr: baritone saxophone
Gonzálo Rubalcaba: piano
Hilario Durán: keyboard
Roland
Walter Davis: piano
Nasier Al Khabyyr: drums
Gonzalo Rubalcaba (1964) studied composition at the Instituto Su-perior de Arte.
In 1980, he traveled to Colombia to the Buga Song Festival, accompanying singer Beatriz Márquez, and won First Prize for Orchestration.
In 1983, he visited the Congo and Zaire with the Aragón Orchestra as a pianist.
He formed the Proyecto Group, which he directed and participated in at the UNEAC Contemporary Music Festival in 1981 and 1982, in the first two Jazz Latino Plaza Festivals, and in the Varadero 84 Song Festival.
He received First Prize at the Arts Schools Festival in 1981.
Under Rubalcaba's direction, the Proyecto Group recorded its first album in 1984 with the Cuban Recording and Publishing Company.
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diegodobini2
Ryo Fukui – Scenery (1976)
https://youtu.be/NizIWgb_7QQ
Original Liner Notes:
「福居良トリオについて」
(いとう・まさたか)
私が福居良に初めて会ったのは、約1年半程前、東京からの出張で札幌に来ていた頃、当地のジャズ喫茶「ニカ」の山本氏から誘われて行ったクラブでの演奏が最初だった。
「きれいなピアノだな!」というのが、その時の印象だった。
当時のメンバーは現在とは異なっており、いわゆるナイト・ クラブの片隅での「カクテルバンド」的地味なトリオであったが、ピアノだけは格段に光っていた。2回目にその店に行く時は、友人に頼んでカセット・デッキを持ち込み、録音した事もあり、特に「オン・ア・クリアー・デイ」の良さは、水割りのうまさを倍加させてくれたものだ。
その後、札幌へ来る毎に彼の演奏に接し、メンバーの変更と共に音の充実して行くのが手にとるようで、札幌へ来て次の演奏を聴くのが楽しみになっていったものである。
その間、彼のトリオはジャズ喫茶、クラブ等のレギュラーの仕事も増え、前述の「ニカ」及び「びーどろ」(この「びーどろ」 という店は今、札幌では最高にノッてる店で、ヤング大集合のごきげんなライブ・スポットである)を筆頭に、札幌はもちろん北海道内に「福居良」の名前を拡げて行った。レコーディング・メンバーである現在のトリオとなったのは76年3月であるが、 このメンバーになってからの充実度は素晴らしいものがあり、 伝法論の心暖まるベース・ワーク。福居良の実弟である福居良則のワイルドなドラミングをバックに、ピアノが鍵盤を跳びはねてゆくという感じである。
然し、何といっても彼、福居良の本領はバラード・プレイにあり、ピアノを恋人のようにやさしく愛撫している時のタッチ、 フレージングは抜群である。ピアノもあれ程やさしくされれば本望であろうし、彼のファンに女性が圧倒的に多いのは、あながち無関係でもなさそうである。
こういう音を持つピアニストであるから、今回のアルバムについても彼のセンスが充分発揮されており、特に最後の「シーナリィ」については、彼がこのアルバムの為に作曲したものでファンタスティックなメロディは彼独自の世界である。
またこのアルバム自体、スタンダードを中心に出来るだけ楽しめるアルバムをねらったものであるが、中でもB面の「ウィロウ・ウィーブ・フォ・ミー」について、札幌のある女性などは何故かこの曲の熱狂的ファンで、この曲がきこえてくると結構ウルサかったりというような楽しいジャズ・ファンもおり、ジャズを自分風に最高にエンジョイしている人が多いようである。 このように北海道のジャズ・ファンは楽しく、かつ恐ろしい人達が多く(?) 福居良トリオもこの厳しい環境の中で、増々素晴らしいグループになって行くことであろう。
ここでメンバーの略歴を簡単に記しておこう。
まず、リーダー兼ピアニストの福居良。昭和23年生れの28才。 津軽三味線の名人、福居天童を父に持ち様々な楽器に親しんだが、ピアノは22才になって始め、上京後ジャズ理論を1年学ぶ。 その後、松本英彦のグループで本格的な演奏活動をスタートし、 全国に亘る楽旅の他都内のジャズ・スポット「アズ・スーン・アズ」「ピット・イン」等で活躍。75年に札幌へ帰り、札幌を中心にクラブ、ジャズ喫茶等で自己のトリオで演奏を開始。その間、 メンバーも多少変更があり76年3月に、ベースに伝法論、ドラムに実弟の福居良則が加入した現在のトリオとなり、その後は 76年5月に札幌ジャズ・フェスティバルに参加、日本のトップ・ グループの中で素晴らしい演奏を展開し、一際大きな拍手を受けた。また8月には北海道ツアーを敢行し大成功を納める等、 現在の活躍は目を見張るものがあり、このアルバムによって彼のファンが増大することは確実であろう。
次に、演奏と同じくやさしい顔と暖かそうなオナカをしている伝法論。函館生れの26才。高校時代から熱心なジャズ・ファンであり、とうとうベースを独学でものにし、他方、友人達と
ジャズ・スポットの経営に参加したこともある程の才人である。 安定したバッキングは定評があり、温厚な人柄からくる演奏内容には、ピアノの福居良を凌ぐ女性ファンが多いと聞く。
次に、一見キース・ジャレット風のひげをたくわえたドラムの福居良則。26才。高校時代よりドラムに親しみ、彼も独学でドラムをマスター。フルバンド、ロック・バンドのドラマーとして活躍していたが、兄、福居良の帰札後、現在のトリオに参加。ダイナミックなドラミングでグングンとのせてゆくライブでのソロなどは最高である。大食家としても有名。
福居君の新作によせて
いソノてルヲ
北海道が毛ガニとジャガイモだけではないことはよく承知していた。北海道が北島三郎と森山加代子だけでないこともよく承知していた。
私の長年専門としているジャズの演奏家に関して言えば、北海道はまさに宝庫であった。
私と同じ世代では不思議とトラムベット奏者が多い。福原彰、 福島照之、千葉勲など。
モダン・シーンでは何と言ってもペースの水橋孝が有名だ。 彼の土産ん子らしい根性は範とするに足る実績を日本のジャズ史に残した。
若い所ではベースとサクスが多い。ベースの川端民生、長木喬嗣。
サクスではテナーの高橋知己、菊地昭紀、バリトンの多田賢一。 思いつくまに、この他ピアノ寺下誠、ドラムス藤井信雄と
枚挙にいとまがない。
新人発掘に成功しているトリオが、こに又新しい人材をレコードを通して北海道から、全国のジャズ・ファンに紹介することになった。
津軽三味線の名人を父に持ち、22才になってからジャズ・ピアノをはじめた好漢・福居良君である。
筆者は、彼のテープに収められたジャズを聞き、まことに気分爽快になった。
この爽快感は、同じトリオの本田竹礦のデビュー・アルバムを聞いた時と同じ質のものである。
彼のピアノ音楽を要約すると次の三つの点が特色としてあげられる。
第一にスイングしていること。近頃、ジャズで最も重要な要素であるスイングをないがしろにする一部の傾向があるが、福居君のジャズは一貫してスイングしている。
第二に唄っていること。選曲も唄物を中心に、ジャズ・オリジナルを三分の一配する所など心憎い。どれもがよく唄っている。新人としての気負いが無くて良い。
第三にレギュラーのトリオのためバランスが良い。サイドメンに有名人を使って新人を盛り立てる制作方針もあるが、このアルバムでは常に一緒にプレイしているレギュラーをそのま用いた。これが成功していると思う。
トリオの演奏した曲は全6曲。A面のオープナーはミディアム・パウンス・テムポで奏される「イット・クッド・ハプン・ トゥ・ユー」。君の身の上にも起り得る･･････こと?
フランク・シナトラの私設マネージャーをしていた作曲家ジミー・ヴァンヒューゼンの体調で、1944年のパラマウント映画 「エンド・ジ・エンジェルス・シング」の主題歌として作られた。
ロリンズをはじめ、大物ジャズメンの名演が沢山ある。リラックスしたプレイで、先にも述べた通りよく唄っている。 スロー・バラードの「アイ・ウォント・トゥ・トーク・アバウト・ユー」はバップ初期の名歌手、ミスターB、ことビリィ・ エクスタインの作品。
エクスタインはピッツバーグの産で、ヴァルブ・トロムボーン奏者、1947年にパーカーやガレスピーをふくむ楽団をひきい壮観であった。粘っこい低音歌手として多くのヒットを放った。 「アーリィ・サマー」はピアニスト、市川秀男のオリジナル。
ロックとジャズ・ノバの中間のような現代的ビートを持った曲。 市川は静岡出身で、ジョージ大塚トリオやジョージ川口の下で働き、作曲面でも多くの立派なジャズを書いている。
B面は先ず女流作曲家アン・ロネルの「ウィロウ・ウィーブ・ フォ・ミー」でスタートする。柳よ泣いておくれ･･…………………
1930年代初頭に生れたこの甘美な旋律はジャズのスタンダードとして多くの名演を生んでいる。ヴォーカル・ナンバーとして親しまれている。
「オータム・リーヴス」はシャンソンの名曲と言うより、現在ではジャズ・ナンバーになりつつある。
作曲はジョセフ・コスマ、AA'CB型のマイナー・テューンで、 本来は2度ともどらぬ恋の回想曲だが、本場のモンタン以下、 アメリカではクロスビー、コール、シナトラと多くの名唱があり、ジャズではマイルスが最も有名。
アルバムのクローザーは「シーナリィ」、アルバム・タイトル
にもなっている福居君のオリジナル。
シーナリィとは舞台面とか道具立、書き割りと言った意味の英語である。全体の景色、風景、背景と言ったニュアンスもあり、構成のしっかりした作品。
もち論、自作だけに生き生きと弾いており、サイドメンのサポートも申し分ない。
1 month ago | [YT] | 30
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diegodobini2
Eric Kloss – Life Force (1968)
https://youtu.be/HDsd2kyKtJg
Original Liner Notes:
"II we could only realize that though the Life Foes sup. plies us with its own purpose it has no other brains to work with than those it has so painfully and Imperfectly evolved in our heads, the peoples of the earth would take some pay on their gods: and we should have • religion that would not be contradicted at every turn by the Thing. Thaws giving thew, to the ThingThavOught.Tote." (George Bernard Stow. preface to The Irrational Knee. 1905)
Shaw believed in a Life Force, which he called "the enlightened man's name for what used to be called The Will of God". So did Henri Bergson, a Frenchborn Irish Jew who knew a lot about nearly everything-he was France's 1st delegate to the League of Nations. and e Nobel-Prize winner for literature: he called it elan vital, and founded upon it a new religious philosophy. So does Eric Klass. the young saxophonist who pays the honest and grace. ful music you'll hear on this record. It is tempting to speculate on how Shaw might have described the Life Forces maneuvenngs in the case of Eric Kloss. Eric was born, a little too soon, on April 3rd, 1949, in a quiet little college town 70 miles north of Pittsburgh. (Or as Shaw might have said: "The Life Force was apparently in such a hurry for this particular specimen to are the light-cruelly ironic phrase-that it overplayed its hand: the birth was 12 days premature.") In his incubator. the hospital ignorantly gave him too much oxygen. permanently destroying the optic nerves, thereby blinding the little boy for life. (Let our imaginary Shaw tell the sequel: "Having made the colossal blunder. the Life Force now did its best to make up for it Its choice of medical care had been disastrously bad: but Its choice of a father turned out to be the best possible: a man who cheerfully-and that is the word-dedicated the rest of his lie to mitigating the consequences.") In short. Dr. Alton Kloss. who was then Dean of Admissions at Thiel College, methodically set to work to learn all there was to learn about care of the blind, quickly became an authority, resigned his deanship, and was made superintendent of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. Eric matriculated there at age four. ("Plainly resolved to do things up Prawn. our Life Force now saw to it that this one plant should grow more beautifully, more sensitively, an the dark than most of us manage to in the as blind as that Force itsell, but surging with the mysterious and marvelous gift called Music-) Fortunately, music was intimately interwoven with the School's curriculum, and Eric was a signally rewarding pupil. The staff included Bobby Koshan, a local jazz pianist, and Henry Marconi. a reed man. but. most essential of all, doubtless, was Eric's dad, himself a pianist, who saw to It that his son got to hear. in person, every worthwhile musician who can* anywhere near Pittsburgh. At 10. Eric switched from piano to sax-with Marconi-and speedily distanced his teachers. His progress was incredible.
Within a year or so he was being invited onto the stand at spots like the Crawford Grill, with musicians like Lennie Tristano and Sonny Shit at 12. Bobby Negri asked him to join has trio at the Playhouse Stagedoor Club in Pittsburgh. The young pro became their featured soloist, in 1962 he played with the group at the Three Rivers Festival and tore everybody up. The season ing and sharpening process went on. with club dates not only around Pittsburgh but in Cincinnati, Atlantic City, and New York, with Charles Boll's Trio, and sitting in with idols like Stitt. Eric Dolphy. Horace Silver, Art Farmer. Terry Gibbs. And always at his side, his familiar shadow-Kloss Senior-guiding, assisting. unobtrusively placing a chair, handing an Instrument, adjusting a mike. In 1965, 15-yearold Eric was • rave et the Civic Arena's Jazz Festival; Down Beat and other an periodicals joined the chorus, es did many well known musicians who made the event. He was a guest on the Mike Douglas snow, WIIC produced a documentary film on Eric Kloss' life & times. He cut his first Prestige album a year later. By fall of '67 ho had cut 5 more. The title Life Force was a natural. Far from brooding over his cruel fate. Eric Kloss has chosen to face the world he would never see with a joyous affirmation of everything beautiful in it-not In a spirit of mawkish sentimentality but. so to speak, lust the opposite: easily, unceremoniously, humorously-in a word, swinging. That world has given him much love-and the fact shows; young Eric is as beautiful to look at as to hear. "I want to be always learning and growing." he says he's currently taking a Liberal Arts course at Duquesne). ". .. I'm looking to find a new emotional spectrum. let's say-In which the basic element is Love." Teamed here with Eric are four of the many fine musicians he enjoys: Jimmy Owens, brilliant young trumpet star, voted No. 1 last year in Down Beat's International Critics' Poll; Pat Martino. 23.year-old guitar sensation from Philadelphia who broke it up at the 1967 Newport Festival. working with John Handys group (his own Prestige album, String:0PR 7547. is lust out): Ben Tucker. one of the an world's most wanted bass players: and of course Alan Davison, who played such exciting (Hums on a previous Kloss LP First Class Kress, PR 7520). This album begins with Soul Daddy, a tune contributed by a friend of Ben's, tenorrnan Charles Austin. who teaches school in Florida. Its a kind of subdued, insistent vamp in Btlat minor, that moves along in the leisurely manner of an escalator, each soloist stepping aboard for a couple of choruses. as if thinking aloud. then stepping off again, as the steadily moving conveyor continues on its way, and out of our ken.... The structure Is deceptive, with a 9-bar theme-the "extra" bar seems unobtrusively natural as it stretches out the vamp In an ascending cadence that ends it. But (as is often the way In jazz themes of irregular length), this reverts to the normal 8 in the improvised solos: habit is strong. Eric takes 3 on tenor, a sober lament: then Jimmy takes 2: then they explore the theme again in free obbligati until the fade. In the somewhat up tune You're Turning My Dreams Around, Eric. after the initial statement, gets right down to business with a letting B.natural entering note that is the quintessence of oblique jazz "commentary" (the key is Ellen). then bounces along for an-other 64 bars, before Owens casually drifts into focus with a nice matching jaunt. Next we hear Pat Martincis clean gutter. solidly backed up by Alan Dawson's sharp, driving beat and Ben Tucker's dry, clipped bass line. The title track is an 11-minute.andA6-second American version of an Indian raga, that starts with a tempoless ad lib 'vocalise" by Eric's tenor and wanders over its whole range, complete with quarter-tones and a creditable imitation of the sitar's subtle sigh, while the rhythm collectively improvise behind him. Then, shifting Into a beat Martino utters a succession of 3 ascending chords over Tucker's organpoint that seem to spur Klass to more intense strop Inge. The pulse ceases again, and now it's Owens' turn to wail (literally) on fluegelhorn, at first unaccompanied, then once more against a pulse; then Martino and Tucker improvise a duet-first without then with • pulse, and this leads toe gradually building ensemble of all five Instruments, collectively ad bribing on the
unchanging 3-chord pattern. The track ends as it began, in a tempo-less void suggestive of cosmic chaos and Old Night. Now to evaluate such an offering? Is it good jazz? Is it jazz at all? ---->
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diegodobini2
Jimmy Woods – Awakening!! (1962)
https://youtu.be/JU3smUyw56I
2nd option :) https://youtu.be/1jhWrIuGkzg
Original Liner Notes:
JAZZ REMAINS INTRIGUINGLY UNPREDICTABLE because it continually attracts so many new players who seem to have the capacity to make singular contributions to the music. In most cases, however, it takes considerable time to be reasonably sure which of the "new stars" are not just auditory illusions. Only rarely, in my own experience, have I been convinced at a first hearing that an unknown is most surely going to become known, and for a long time to come. One such occasion was in Contemporary's studios early in 1958 when I listened to Ornette Coleman for the first time. Another was in the course of reviewing Joe Gordon's Lookin' Good (Contemporary M3597, S7597). One man on that session, alto saxophonist Jimmy Woods, seized my attention with such force that I had no doubts at all that a major awakening was taking place, and this album Woods' initial set as a leader-strikingly reinforces that impression.
The qualities most immediately evident in Wood's playing are his passionate, penetrating sound and speech-like phrasing; fiercely secure sense of swing; and an empirical commitment to freedom that leads him into new ways of expanding the jazz language. He is not, it should be emphasized, a follower of Ornette Coleman or any of the other tradition-expanders of this newly restless jazz generation. By himself, Woods has developed his own intensely distinctive style. For all of his provocative daring, moreover, Woods has a much stronger, built-in feeling for cohesiveness than many of the more re-nowned frontiersmen of contemporary jazz.
W OODS CAME TO JAZZ in mid-adolescence. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, October 29, 1934, Woods moved to Saginaw, Michigan, when he was seven, and four years later, to Seattle. At eleven, he started to play clarinet, but aside from school marching band experience, his musical horizons were limited until four years later when he hung around rehearsals of Bumps Blackwell's band for which Quincy Jones was an arranger. By the latter part of 1951, Woods was a member of a rhythm and blues combo led by Homer Carter. From 1952-56, he served in the Air Force, and though he did play tenor saxophone at officer's club dances and similar func tions, he had few chances to play jazz except for occasional furloughs to Los Angeles where he sat in at sessions.
After being discharged from the Air Force in September 1956, Woods took a job as a stock boy at Bullock's department store in Los Angeles, and there he met elevator operator Ornette Coleman. He was not influenced by Coleman's way of playing. If he had any influence at that time, it was Sonny Rollins. Essentially though, Woods has always worked out his own directions because, for one thing, he has never had enough money to collect records or to visit jazz clubs.
As music jobs became scarce, Woods started to study ac-counting in February 1957, but an opportunity to go on the road with Roy Milton's rhythm and blues combo intervened. After some four months with Milton, other rhythm and blues gigs followed, but diminishing work and the theft of his tenor in 1958 caused Woods to withdraw from music for several months until he picked up a friend's alto from a pawn shop. He immediately felt more comfortable with that instrument.
In February 1959, Woods went back to Los Angeles City College. His major was music and he received an Associate in Arts Degree two years later. Woods took occasional rhythm and blues gigs to make extra money, but he hadn't had a jazz job for almost two years when he was asked to replace Walter Benton in Horace Tapscott's unit. When that job ended in December 1960, Woods put his horn away again until Joe Gordon, who had heard him with Tapscott, called for him for the Lookin' Good sessions in July 1961. "I was at my wit's end then," Jimmy recalls. "That seemed like my last chance.
If I didn't make it, I felt I'd really be strung up and never be able to do what I wanted."
However, Woods was signed by Contemporary, and Awak ening! is the first result. Jimmy continues going to school, and supports his family as a night attendant in the Probation Department at Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles. "I still want to make my career in music," Jimmy emphasizes, "but I took this job because I felt that if I couldn't play, I could at least communicate with people in this way."
On the basis of this extraordinarily personal and powerful album, I expect that, as difficult as the jazz life can be, a place will have to be made in jazz for this quality of musical com-munication. Woods, as you will hear, is not only a startingly stimulating player, but a a fresh addition to the comparatively thin ranks of indigenous jazz composers.
AWAKENING, LIKE MOST OF WOODS' compositions, was shaped gradually over a period of time. "I hear part of a melody," says Woods, "write it down, and then I may not hear more of it for days." This song took form as Woods paced the corridors of Juvenile Hall by night. Structured in thirty-two bars, the tune starts with an eight-bar interlude, and the interlude is repeated between the bridge and the last eight bars. There is an intriguing contrast between Martin Banks' crisply cohesive solo and Woods' statement which, though wilder in sound and design, is not less organized.
Circus illuminates one aspect of Woods' lyricism; Woods, like all major and potentially major jazzmen, is essentially lyrical in the sweeping ardor of his conception. In his work, the "cry of jazz" is uninhibited. A lonelier evocation of that "cry" is heard in the piercingly poignant, Not Yet. The tune is in forty-eight bar form, and contains a remarkably con ceived and executed solo by bassist Gary Peacock, who has grown markedly in the past few years.
Woods' rhythm assurance is also resiliently clear in Not Yet. "Music, before it sounds good to me," says Woods, "has to be rhythmic." New Twist indicates further how inventively rhythmic Woods can be.
The opening of Love for Sale telescopes two basic elements in Jimmy Woods playing the spare but rhapsodic tender-ness of the a cappella introduction and the surging virility of his plunge into regular jazz pulsation. A third element-the ability to continually surprise-is also explosively evident in this track, and for that matter, throughout the album.
Woods' own favorite number in the album is Roma, an eighty-bar ode to his wife, Romanita. "She's been an inspira-tion to me," Woods says, "as I've attempted to combine music, and education and work. She's understood and accepted the many disappointments we've suffered. I feel this tune, even in its angry moments, expresses the unity and sincerity of our relationship." Roma is in 3/4, and rarely has a jazz soloist superimposed so absorbing a series of rhythmic variations on that meter.
Little Jim is Jimmy Woods' son. Before going to work one evening. Jimmy had scolded him. The impetus for the song came from a symphonic piece which Woods heard on the radio at work that night. "Little Jim itself," Woods explains, "is not a literal offspring of the symphonic work, but I was feeling sad, and I was influenced by the melancholy of the classical melody." A feeling of regret at having to hurt someone you love-even if it is for his own good-pervades Little Jim. Here, as in Woods other originals, the immediacy of emotion comes from the fact that Woods' playing and writing is a direct extension of his daily experiences, hopes, and frustra-tions. There are no barriers of self-conscious "artistic problem-solving." For Woods, music is part of speech, a more thorough way of expressing who he is and who he wants to be.
Anticipation was written in 1957. "When I did this on the date," Woods says, "I decided to write two bars of 3/4 and one bar of 2/4 in two sections of the tune so that the anticipatory beat on the fourth beats of the third and seventh measures would sound more pronounced. During the saxo-phone and trumpet choruses, the tune is played alternately in 4/4 and 3/4. The piano choruses are in 4/4; the bass choruses in 3/4; and the drum chorus in 4/4."
Anticipation is an apt title with which to close Jimmy Woods' first album as a leader, because it presages an im-portant career and a steadily evolving style which will add new stimulus to the growing desire among jazzmen for more meaningful freedom. In trying to explain the irrepressible force which keeps leading him to freer improvisation, Woods says, "Some of it is probably born of frustration. You're trying so hard to do something, and it doesn't seem like you're suc-ceeding. And so, you get angry playing, and sometimes you feel sad playing. It's pretty difficult to express all those emotions fully unless you really try to get everything you feel out of your horn. And gradually, you do begin to get a sense of direction and some confidence. Then, you know a certain thing goes there. Even if everybody else says it doesn't, you know that it just has to be that way. The main thing is to have an idea, and then work it out from there, wherever it leads you. I know I'll never find what I'm looking for, but just the searching for it to see what comes up is what keeps me going." And what Woods finds in that search is certain to absorb more and more listeners. His is a bold new voice to add to the "sound of surprise" which is jazz.
By NAT HENTOFF March 20, 1962
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diegodobini2
Freddie Hubbard – The Night Of The Cookers: Live At Club La Marchal, Volumes 1 & 2
https://youtu.be/HfCZQGNH4lA
Original Liner Notes:
To mention a few-Kenny Dorham, Jackie Mclean and Jimmy Heath have all worked with "Jest Us," a group of young women devoted to the promotion of jozz. While their husbands (Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Bobby Timmons, etc.) are star performers and mainstays in the jazz field, these women have participated unselfishly in promoting this art form which is too often taken for granted. It is valid to say that "Jest Us" are as much to be thanked for this album as are the artists themselves.
Their latest affair was a live recording date at a club in Brooklyn called La Marchal, and if this album depended upon audience approval alone, then fine. But as free and relaxed as the audience was, so were the musicians in their performance. There was a mutual spontaneity between the two, and as you the listener will attest, a ball was had by all.
There is a dual responsibility involved in "live dates such as this album the artist an acknowledgement and understand ing of his audience; the audience
an appreciation blended with confidence in in the performing artists. Unlike a concert stage, the closeness of a small club helps to create an audience involvement that immediately heightens the musician's response. The audience itself is justified in the feeling that they have been allowed an intimate peek into the Soul of Jazz. Through out this album you will become more and more aware of the total freedom, almost to the point where the artists and audience become one in their appreciation of each other.
You won't feel slighted, it's all here for you "live". Everything is the same now, as it was then you are there. only,
VOLUME 1
PENSATIVA
We have a Latin flavor with Lee Morgan giving us a touch of romanticism. Muted, he becomes more convincing, and swings easily. Later we-together become involved as Morgan and Hubbard take us in, out, around, and betwixt "Pensativa."
WALKIN'
Lee Morgan escorts us comfortably and happily into our "Walkin' stage with a hard, funky, finger poppin' rhythm, then lets us have the first dance with Jimmy Spaulding. A seemingly non-ending creativity at improvisation is displayed by Spaulding, giving the listener an "in-depth ear into the basics of "hard bop." Again we have Big Black's "Afro-isms" which lead us even further.
VOLUME 2
JODO
The fact that this is a "live date" should convince you that there is an abundance of freedom, and Freddie Hubbard's opening of this imaginative tune brings it on home. Again, "hard bop dominates. Spaulding gives himself to us, and we enjoy his mastery, la Roca drives us, eternally onward, until we are allowed to unwind again with Mabern's intriguing piano. Big Black is "something else here, and to be so close to his sensitivity is frightening. "Jodo" left me, as it will you, wanting to say thank you.
BREAKING POINT
A bacchanalian piece, not in the Greek sense, but rather in the traditional West Indian meaning of Bacchanal that literally hangs you in there. "Breaking Point takes you there, happily, and escorts you back, remembering. Notice in particular the Afro-abstractions of pa Big Black which makes lovers of the conga lovers again. La Roca's persistent influence adds color to the individual solos, until we are taken away from the "Breaking Point."
All of the artists are members of Freddie Hubbard's regular group with the exception of Lee Morgan and Big Black
Harold Mabern Jr. piano: Mabern has worked with such
musicians as Frank Strozier, Booker and Little, and George Coleman, and his subtle, yet intriguing piano contributes greatly to the originality of this album. He has also worked with Miles, J. J. Johnson, Harry Edison, and Wes Montgomery
Larry Ridley-bass: Ridley's intensive conservatory
training has already distinguished him as one of the most proficient bassists on the current scene. His past performances with artists such as Sonny Rollins, Jackie Mclean, Max Roach and Red Garland illustrate a rare skill.
Pete La Rocadrums:
Pete exemplifies a touch I like to associate with drummers: "persistence" in the sense that his being there is a consistent influence on everyone. With La Roca leading the rhythm section, he literally "gits with whatever the cats are putt'n down". Slide Hampton, Coltrane, Getz, Kenny Dorham, and Art Farmer are but a few who have enjoyed his work.
James Spaulding-alto sax:
Jimmy Spaulding began his musical studies before grade school; later, under the guidance of Ramsell Brown at Crispus Attucks, his technique developed. Further studies plus experience with jazz groups in the Chicago area helped to formulate his personal attitude toward jazz. His ample touches of "hard bop" can
only bring admiration from jazz fans as he skillfully blends with the avant-garde element now on the current scene.
Big Black conga:
Big Black is presently with the Randy Weston Sextet and is not only "something else, but his stylings are unheard of-until now. Yet, his sensitivity and response to jazz brings new dimensions to an already familiar instrument. Here, at a risk, I have attached the term "Afro-abstractions" to his work in this album. His artistry creates marks not easily erased, as many of the top jazz groups familiar with his work, both on records and club. dates, will agree:
What can we say about Freddie. Hubbard? What can we say about Lee Morgan? Nothing. It's all been said. Anyone with the slightest interest in jazz has heard of these two stars, and the superlatives have justified their talent. Consequently, I will not attempt to "lay it on you"... let them do it.
-Alfred Davis
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diegodobini2
Eric Dolphy – At The Five Spot, Volume 1. (1961)
https://youtu.be/5B-encSrXfE
Original Liner Notes:
When the quintet whose music appears here played at the Five Spol in the summer of 1961, many people were pleased, not by the music alone, but by the idea. There has been a new music coming for years now, and a group such as this was one of the most definitive announcements that such a music was now definitely here, for batter or worse. It was also interesting, and a good sign, that the members of the quintet had chosen. make their group a cooperative one, which seamed to signity that the music itself would be more important than any one man's quest for stardom
In format, it standard quintet of the kind that the bop era had made traditional saxophone, trumpel, and three rhythm-hot the music hinted at developments going far beyond that concept
To begin with, there is Eric Dolphy, who is enough in himself to make the word "standard" inapplicable to any unit he works A master of all the reed instruments, although he only employs alto saxophone and bass clarinat here, he is one of the most and at times the most-shatteringly intense players in contemporary music At the time of this recording, although ha had just won the Down Beat International Critics Poll as New Star alto saxophonist, the Five Spor engagement represented the first
regular work he had had since leaving Charles Mingus several months before. Since that time, he has been the center of considerable controversy as a member of the group led by John Coltrane.
Trumpeter Booker Little died ass than three months after this recording was made, on October 5, 1961. Some of the things he said to Robert Levin in a Menonome interview ore pertinent to his work here: "Ir my own work, he said, "I'm particularly interested in the possibilities of dissonance. If it's a consonant sound it's going to sound smaller The more dissonance, the bigger the sound. It sounds like more horms, in fact, you can't always tell how many there are. And your shadings con be more varied. Dissonance is a tool to achieve these things. Another part of the interview elaborated on his concept of dissonance, I can't think in terms of wrong notesin fact I don't hear any notes as being wrong it's a matter of knowing how to integrate the notes and, if you must, how to resolve them. Because if you insist that this nate or that note is wrong I think you're thinking completely conventionally technically and fargetting about emotion. And don't think anyone would deny that more emotion can be reached and and expressed outside of the conventional way of playing which consists of whole steps and half steps
There's more emotion that can se expressed by the notes that are played flat His friend Nat Hentoff wrote of him that "Booker heard more than most because he had fewer blocks. than most. In his living, he was neither paralyzed nor twisted by dissonance. He also knew that nothing is fully consonant And his music, es bas been true of all the jazzmen whose work lasts, was himself Bath ware big, and their possibilities had only begun to be realized."
With two such men in the front line, a stabilizing element required to keep the music going in urder standable patterns. This was tha function of pianist Mal Waldron, and he filled his cale to perfection. Waldron has had much experience at exactly this sort of thing, having been the pianist for Charles Mingus for a long period of time. To my mind, he is one of the most consistently excellent. of contemporary pianists, end, un fortunately, ane whose excellence is too often taken for granted. This album contains brilliant examples of Waldron at his best, spinning out a few notes to their fullest imal-cation (Manik does this too), and keeping a powerful puise present at all times. There are few more committed to the music than Waldron, few who play it with more skill and cedication, and few as overdue in their acceptance:
Bassist Richard Davis first came to prominence working with pianists Ahmad Jamal and Don Shirlay, neither of which jobs necessarily prepared him for work in the present group. He also spent quite a bit of time working for Sarah Vaughan. He is a thoroughly grounded classical tachrision, and may be the orly bassist in Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz to list the great Serge Koussevitsky as his favorite Davis is one of several players who are currently making the expanding role of the bass the most interesting phenomenon on the current jazz scene Drummer Ed Blackwell is familiar Serge
with the forthest reaches of the new jazz, hoving come to prominence as a memset of the Orcette Coleman Quartet, and Coleman has said of him that he has "ons of the mast musical ears of playing rhythm of anyone I hove heard
In some senses, on unusual group to be playing together, but in the more important one, an excellent one. The almosphere which the recordings were made the present album is the first of a series which will eventually be released since the music was of an anusvaly high quality that night, and there was more usable maternal than is customary in such circumstances) was a cross between a regular evening at a club and private party. Friends and advocates of members of the group
were invited to come down and participate. Nat Hentoff, who in his own sometime capacity as A&R man had recorded both Eric and Booker, was there, as were tra Gitier and Ted White. A painter who is as impressed with Eric's striking face and beard os he is with his music was there to see it Eric would pose. Prestige art director Don Schlitten, whose photograph adorns this album cover, risked death from those he blinded with his Bashbulbs while attempting to get the shot, But not all the applause and shouts of approval you will hear rome from them. The room was filled with people who came because of the raputation of the group's players, without any inowledge of a recording And, I should imagine, several were there because the Five Spot is still the most congenial atmosphere in Naw York in which to listen to jazz. Various continue in that tradition, to its outmost aspects of the "new thing" have started there, as far as New York is concerned, with the appearances of such groups co those lec led by Cecil Taylor. Ornette Coleman, and George Russell, and so it is filling that this recording should have been made there.Excellence on this IP are too many to enumerate, and are even more stortling
considering the in-person circumatonces under which they were recorded, allowing no chance to do anything
over. But that, of course, is what jazz at its best be is supposed to be. It can reaches, as long as there are musicions like this to play it
It is also fiting, since this was a cooperative group, that each of the major soloists contributed one of the three compositions heard. "Fire Woltz." by Mal Waldron (Dolphy is on altoj. reflects the growing concern of young
players with rhythms other than the basic 4/4. Booker Little's "Bee Vamp" (Dalphy plays bass clarinet is, as its title implies, concerned with another aspect of the newest jozz, chordal suspension. The entire second side of the 1? is taken up by a composition of Dolphy's the plays alto), "The Prophet." It is close to the ballad farm, and is named for a friend of Eric's, the pointer Richard Jennings, called Frophet, who painted the covers for Eric's first two Prestige New Jazz LP: (Outward Bound, 8236, and Out Thene, 8252) The individual moments af
-JOE GOLDBERG
2 months ago | [YT] | 51
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diegodobini2
Coleman Hawkins – At Ease With Coleman Hawkins (1960)
https://youtu.be/RnoKaMMrXN4
Original Liner Notes:
Some few years ago, along with the popular acceptance of the long playing high fidelity record a new vogue was created in the form of "mood music." It was found that there definite market for this type of listening and it was not long before there were scores of albums to be sean displayed on racord counters with siles beginning "Music to "Whatever the individual wanted to do, there was album of music to do it by So mood music today is part of our lives, we push a buton and tum a knob and we are automatically sacthed by lush orchestrations of favorite ballads. Somewhere along the way it seems to us the feeling behind the fine original compositions of America's lyricists and composers has become a litte obscured.
We think the Prestige/ Moodsville series will be a welcome departure from "mood" music. This sarias will feature top jazz arshs interpreting choice ballads and standards, and original compositions that will fit into the Moodsville series
This idea is certainly not now, Standards ore frequently used as foundations or vahicles by the jazz musicion but in most cases the melody line is stated very briefly and then used as a basis for improvisation and exploration, in other instances, a jazz artist is subject to compromise with commercialism, as for instance when a fine single jazz arlist is surrounded by a string ensemble. We at Prastige feel that ther there is
room for honest jazz perfonnances of hollads wherein the musical integrity of the artist is maintained and at the same time the anginal beauty and feeling of the ballad is not lost. lozz is not only "that loud, frantic music. It con be loud, frantic, and uninhibited (and that is certainly no grounds for indictmenil, but it can also be beautibul, poetic, and thoughtful. Some of jazz's moments of purest musical truths ore achieved when good jazz musicians oxddress theserselves to the playing of tunes ar slow and medium tempos. It is perhaps no accident that Coleman Hawkin's most fomous recording is his "Body and Soul, no accident that Miles Davis rose to the great popularity he now enjoys firough his lyrical performances of ballads.
We hove sought to compile and recard performances done in the spirit of good, vold jazz. It is our intention to make available the enjoyable listening that is to be had when important names in jozz con just relax and play the tunes they like These vessioms her, will not be right stucio productions. The emphasis will be on relaxed, thoughiful, and expressive jazz, afterhours music, if Moodsvile series wil if you will. The hope, provide you the listener with a concept in listening that you will find refreshing. You will notice that these olbums are presented as volumes and that is what they are. Each one will be part of a continued series wherein the
artists will select their favorites and play there under informal and relaxed conditions. Different artists will appear in each volume and we shall bring togather jazz artists who do not usually have the opportunity to record together. Where possible we shall include commens by the musicians en the songs chosen and anything they might have to say about the sessice Here then, is a blending of line standard American songs and trechnents by some of the leading names in jazz.
Having tole you the basic idea bebind the Moodaville series we shall now introduce the attist and the tones they have selected.
Through the pages of history there has always been one individual in paricular field of endecvor who sets the poze, the one who led and vanquished al challengers. In art there was Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Rembrandt tercin Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain. In sports-Bobe Ruth, Jee Louis, Jessie Owens. in the world of jazz one name that would have to be included in this category is that of Colimen Hawkins. The ageless "Howk" has responded to the sudden and dramatic changes in jazz through the years with consummate ease. The chalengers have been mat along o rood measuring over thirty years in time up to the present day.
It is not the intention here to attempt to write a full historical background on
Coleman Hawkins, for this we would refer you to the excellor notes written by Frank Driggs for the album Coleman Hawkins All Stors (Prestige/Swingville 2005).
During the lear two years there has been sudden reawakening on the part of record companies to the fact that the Hawkins tonor has as much to say now os did in the Thirties, Forties, and early Fifties. Today there is plenty of recently racoecind evidence on several labels hot the "Bear" can match any of the modern sounds while still retaining all the gutsy srength and vigor of the Swing ero. Not orly Hawkins, bur many of his associates of this period of jazz are being recorded again. Prestige is proud to be taking part in this activity with its Swingville series) Many of us are beginning to moliza the Importance of this sort of renaissance. If we assume the average age ol jazz lovers today runs between 24 and 28 (the majority) then this group can have very little krowledge of what was being played in the Thirties, other than the ander students and collectors. Hearing people like Coleman Howkins within the crea of the modern idiom can only moka us reflect on the depth of jazz. He is the source from which many tenor stylee evolved and he has listened and absorbed everything that has been
happening over the years. This album presents a relaxed session of bellads, The rhyfius section consists of three
men who have recorded with the "Bean" in the past. Each mon possesses a character of playing that does not belong to any one school of jazz.
Tommy Flanagan, originally fram Detroit, come to New York in 1956. He has played with many different groups including Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. His piano can be heard on many albums and his versatility shows up in that he has recorded on our Prestige, New Jazz, and Swingville labels lommy has a flowing style that rolls along. He coss not pound or abuse, in fact he does none of the things that we of the "hard rell variety He has developed into a much sought ofter jazz pianist.
Wendell Marshal horn in t Louis, MO. He was bossist with Duke Ellington for five years. Since 1955 he has freelanced in New York and now is one of the most frequently used bassists in recording. Wendell has appeared many Prestige Us
Que Joneson is both drummer and arranger. Many of his original compositions have been reco recorded by jazz musicians, including Benny Green and Frank Wess Born in Woahingkon, DC, he has worked with Earl Hines, Tony Scort, Ilincia Jacquet, mid Dorothy Donegan. He appeared on the
very socomialul Sound of jazz show on CBS TV with Coleman Hawkins and other jazz greats in December 1957. He is on two
Coleman Hawkins albans on Prestige and on several of the Swingville sarias. His forceful driving power sporks any album on which he appears.
The tunes for this set were carefully chosen by Hawkins for this and he should bave you reminiscing with each selection. No record dote is ever hurried with this man and he will not be pushed. The relaxed, unhurried atmosphere of this session is well coptred
During 1959, he and Roy Eldridge had a quintet of the Metropole in New York, about the only room in New York where one could hear the uncomplicated sounds of the Swing era. So far in this year of 1960 he has made a European tour and bas continued to freelance around New York. Sometimes he can be heard in little known clubs Jersey or playing "litto" concerts in New York State. He is currently oppearing concert series of a theater on 74th Street in New York with such members of the ultramodern school Charlie Mingus and Alion Eoger. He will play when and where the fancy arises, in whatever idiom he chooses. There are a hew in jazz today who have this privilege
-RON EYRE
2 months ago | [YT] | 38
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diegodobini2
Andy And The Bey Sisters – 'Round Midnight (1965)
https://youtu.be/JGRn9sbFb2I
Original Liner Notes:
'Round Midnight is the second album on Prestige by Andy and the Bey Sisters. It follows upon the success of their previous album Now! Hear! (Prestige 7346) and both records present a complete reversal in style and form from their earliest efforts (the word has two meanings) on a label addicted to putting as many rocks as possible in the roll of music. Now in the role of jazz artists the group has found its real niche and the comfort of being associated with tasty tunes and subtle swing. Andy and the Bey Sisters (in case you don't already know they are brother and sisters) are now ensconced in a world where taste and talent are not equated with bellowing baritones and back. beat-bedlam. The point is obviously that this group has arrived as important new voices in
the language of jazz. Hence the question might arise, "Where did they come from?" Andy and his sisters Salome and Geraldine are originally from Newark, NJ, and they have been singing professionally together for a decade. They sang before that, too, whenever there was a moment
or an occasion which demanded a song. Originally each member of the group took his or her turn to sing alone. Each had an individual approach, but it was particularly when they were entertaining service men in hospital wards that they began to unite in three-part harmony. The harmony has been there ever since and the melody is ever sweet. Yet within the three dimensions of the group there are three individuals, and I'd like you to meet them.
On the distaff side there is Geraldine. She's married now and her choice in music is toward the musical comedy songs of Cole Porter and Noel Coward. Her initiation into the joy of jazz came primarily from Andy, and now whatever Geraldine sings has the throb of the blues. The throb of the blues came earlier to Salome. She's been the jazzy one of the two and perhaps that's why she hasn't succumbed to the wonders of marital bliss. She has what may be described as a feminine muscularity and she follows in a tradition paved by Bessie Smith and traveled by Dinah Washington and many others. Brother Andy
was the first of the three to be propelled by and toward jazz. He is a self-taught pianist, and in light of his performance here it is amazing that it was only recently that he began to study his instrument formally. Apparently he has been doing just what come naturally, but now he is studying formally with the intention of extending his talents to composing and arranging. Incidentally Andy is quite a veteran in the show business world. He was a featured member of a program starring Connie Francis in the early 1950s. and stayed on the show for five years until his voice began to change. Connie's loss is our gain.
In their professional career the team has appeared at The Blue Angel, Versailles, The Velvet Room, and The Living Room, pom, among others in New York. ork. The week after this album was recorded they were on their way to Storyville in Boston for their third return engagement. Certainly the scope of their music on this album indicates why they are becoming more familiar faces in the better clubs across the jazz world, and in actuality it is from these personal
appearances that the choice of material was made for this album. From their extensive repertoire they have incorporated the following tunes as representative of a single set at a club. So sit back, sip your Johnny Walker Red, and dig.
Appropriately the set begins with a musical introduction to the three single voices which make up the overall sound It is Salome who leads off with "Love Is Just Around the Corner, and her penchant for the blues was never more obvious as she builds and belhs. Geraldine follows with Love You," a more subtle expression of amour, and the demand is for some more. When Andy steps into the spotlight with "Love You Madly" (actually the spotlight slides to him at the piano) he evidences that jazz feeling which I noted above and which motivates him above and beyond and inside every sound he makes. When the three converge at the end we all can share the good groove, "a down-home yeah sound." "God Bless the Child is dedicated to the late Billie Holiday. It is a dedication not a duplication, and something of the
pathos of Billie's performance rubs off on the grooves. Fats Waller's "Squeeze Me" allows a return to a medium tempo, and here, too, something of the pixie-ish quality of Fars surrounds the group's interpretation. I can picture Fats and grin as he would listen to the rhythmic joy here. "Tammy has Geraldine in an opening statement and then she blends with the others to further the mood. Somehow Andy and Sisters wash the maudlin Debbie Reynolds ill taste which I usually get from this lune out of my mind. Oh well, back to swing, and what swings more than a Ray Charles tune? Again "Hallelujah, I Love Her 50" finds the group romping in its real world, as if it were taking a chorus after Ray has left the spotlight. It's quite a tribute to think of these three sharing that spotlight, and
they deserve it, too. Side B begins in the same groove with "Everybody loves My Baby, in an effort that comes the closest to "scat" singing in the entire album though Geraldine says "Scat? Nol"). "Round Midnight has Andy up front for a time, and the time is right for a
classic rendition of Thelonious Monk's great tune. The marriage of music, words, sound here is haunting, and the aura of midnight is caught in the group's interpretation. In a similar mood Andy and Salome and Geraldine pay their respects to Duke Ellington with "Solitude" and the emotion expressed captures the poetry of Duke's music. "Feeling Good," from the hit play The Road of the Greasepaint, assumes almost a religious fervor. Again the word is poetry and there is more pathos added. Finally, in an investigation of Cole Porter's greatness, the three sound together, capturing much of the emotion and most of the irony of "Everytime We Say Goodbye."
Thus there are ten sides of love expressed by a relatively new sound on the jazz merry-go-round Andy and the Bay Sisters will be with us for a long time to come; actually they have already grabbed the gold ring, and this album offers the proof.
-CHRISTOPHER PETERS
2 months ago | [YT] | 14
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diegodobini2
Jack McDuff – The Honeydripper (1961)
https://youtu.be/pYQGQJCv3A0
Original Liner Notes: Jack McDuff has come pretty far pretty quickly. Not so long ago, he was a member of the Willis Jackson Quintet. He recorded with that group for Prestige on three separate occasions Please Mr. Jackson, 7162; Cool Gator, 7172; Blue Gator, 71831, and as sometimes happens, he was offered his own album. That was Brother Jack, 7174; and was followed by Tough Duff, 7185. Those two albums, plus the ones he made with Willis Jackson, were enough to establish him as one of the most popular jazz organists in the business.
Now, on this album, he, in turn, presents someone who will probo bly be unknown to you. He is guitarist Grant Green, and this was his first record session. Grant was discovered by altoist Lou Donaldson in St. Louis, and Lou brought him to town.
But this is by no means a "Jack McDuff Presents" kind of album; the inclusion of a new name is mentioned only to give some indication of how far along Jack has come, and how quickly. The set closely approximates what you would hear Jack play in a club, and that, for the moment, is prima rily the blues.
Recently, as everyone knows by now, the organ has become a highly favored and potent jazz instrument, and its main function has been in the area of funky, or soulful, blues. Considering the
enormous impact that Ray Charles has had on jazz taste, it is safe to say that the fact that he has recorded an organ LP will make the instrument even more widely and highly regarded than it is now. When people who have looked at the organ with certain suspicion open their ears more ob jectively to the instrument, one of the players who is certain to bene fit is Jack McDuff.
He is not, however, a band wagon climber in his choice of mood or music; I would not want to imply that. As a matter of fact, when he first heard this album played for him, he was somewhat worried that perhaps he had included too much blues, that the album had too much of a same ness. But as he heard track after track, he became more and more satisfied, until finally, at the end of the LP, he admitted that he had, after all, made a pretty good record.
And so he has. All but one of the tracks are either blues or blues based. The three outright blues are by Jack himself, and it is fating that the most appealing of these is the one, "Dink's Blues," that he dedicated to his wife.
"The Honeydripper, which gives this album its title, goes fairly far back in the rhythm and blues tradition. It was composed by Joe Liggins in 1942 and his record of it was a big hit. McDuff, Forrest, and Green stretch out in this
version and produce an admirable revival of the tune.
1 Want a Litle Girl goes back even further. Jimmy Rushing used to feature the number with the Basie band, and for a long time it was identified with him. It has also had an important place in the co reers of two other great blues singers: Joe Turner's so-called "comeback" album included a powerful version; and when one night at Camegie Hall, in the middle of one one of the package shows that is always coming through, Ray Charles sang it, several previously unaware peo ple awoke to his talent.
The number which occupies a somewhat unusual position in this set is "Mr. Lucky." It is, of course, the theme for the television show of that name, and was composed by the fabulously successful Henry Mancini, who had previously been responsible for the Peter Gunn music. The single record which Mancini made of "Mr. Lucky" was one of the biggest hits in the coun try about a year ago. It should come as no surprise to anyone that a Mancini record would be a hit, but this one was unusual because of its instrumentation. In the middle of a big band brasses, reeds,
strings, and all-Mancini featured, as the solo instrument, an organ. It is one of the few times that the instrument had ever been success fully used in that context. Perhaps this goes a little far afield from the main subject of these remarks, but one wonders just what effect that had on the organ's popularity, Previously it had been associated with church, or skating rinks, or "dirty" jazz, and here was the instrument used to symbolize an extremely suave, sophisticated, Cary Grant-type character. The human mind works in strange ways, and perhaps that piece convinced some people that it was all right to like the organ, after all. The There is, by the way, little to suggest Mr. Grant in Jack McDuff's version, which is the first jazz organ recording of it that I know of separate the men from the boys. In Forrest's case, it is a unique and exact sense of time. As one person said when listening to these tracks, "He's got a metronome in his head." Incidentally, he appeared once before with Jack McDuff, on the previously mentioned Tough Duff album, and has recorded as a leader on the appropriately titled Forrest Fire (Prestige/New Jazz 8250)
As is often the case with musicians who became well known for one particular thing, McDuff is beginning to be worried about stagnation. In this instance, the thing he has become known for, obviously, is the blues. He is, to borrow a phrase, happy with the blues, but wants to do more. It is not the case of the clown wanting to play Hamlet he does not propose sessions with banks of strings and acres of vocalists; he just wants to expand a little on the basis he has built.
None of these remarks, how ever, take into consideration one of the most important factors in the success of this album. I am speak ing of the tenorman Jimmy Forrest, who is, I feel, among the most powerfully emotional voices around. He is primarily a blues player the blues are always present whether they are explicitly stated or not but his abilities are not limited to that. His is a no-nonsense approach; he says what he has to say, and then stops. Having written that, I real ize that all those phrases could be annotator's evasions, to be used when discussing a near-rock 'n' roll musician. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The line that separates blues playing from rock 'n' roll is sometimes a thin one, but there is always something to
Accordingly, he has a new album planned. This one would feature four horns he has them in mind, but due to the always uncer tain availability of musicians, it would be best not to mention them, even though that might increase the anticipation and his own arrangements. Also, his own compositions, because he has recently been working on that area, and feels he is about ready to display his wares in styles other than the blues. Also, he feels that
he might play piano on a track or two, for variety, and for different blending with the horns. He played piano even before he played organ the changed, he once said, because there were so many piano players that it was hard to get a job, and has kept it up, mostly in private, ever since. At this writing, he has a title for only one of the pieces he plans for the record, a piece which has met with so much success at his personal appearances that he has been forced to play it every set. The title, interestingly enough, is "Sanctified Woltz."
Those plans, though, are in the future, and for the present, there is a good deal of pleasure to be gotten from the blending of Jack McDuff, Jimmy Forrest, Grant Green, and Ben Dixon on The Honeydripper.
-JOE GOLDBERG
2 months ago | [YT] | 34
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