I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Rok, you have provided enough for me to state my point.
Irvin Mayfield is the pianist for Dee Dee's version of that song.
Nina Simon is her own pianist.
Ella Fitzgerald's pianist was John Lewis, one of the very best. Nina Simone's pianist was "Nina Simone". All the other "Diva's" had other pianists, while Nina Simone was her own pianist.
My point is, Eunice Waymon had no intention of becoming a singer; she was playing the piano at a lounge to earn money for piano lessons when they told her to sing.
Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education.Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School, as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. As her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy, and she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never re-applied to the institution. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
(Thank God her application was denied)
To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing the "Devil's Music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
All the other diva's had outside pianist, while Nina Simone was her own pianist, and according to my ears, she was one fantastic pianist; that's because before she sang that first song, all she ever did was "play piano"; all she ever wanted to be was a "Classical pianist".
*****After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School*****
And to think she survived this also. The fact that she had a successful career after, and in spite of, this set back, is testimony to her perseverance.
Recorded 1975. Nice booklet with pictures and history.
The notes point out that Mary Lou has lived through all the eras in the history of Jazz, and played the new music of each era. She has lived and played through 90% of the history of recorded Jazz.
She makes Miles, Trane, Monk etc... seem like fly by night flashes in the pan.
This is my favorite CD of the ones I have by Mary Lou.
Schubert, I'm glad that you share my love of Carmen. I have a number of pristine LP's by her that I enjoy immensely; that was when she was young and very beautiful, but as she aged, she gained weight and became less beautiful; what was she to do,drive a cab? (but I'm not as handsome as I once was) Never the less, we can still celebrate a young and beautiful Carmen McRae;
*****piano was her life, she didn’t just play piano.******
I get that, I just thought you were going to compare her performances to those of my favorite divas in some way.
You know me, I want to know who won?
I think it was Dee Dee and Ella in a blow out. But I do love Nina. She sings a lot of what I would call Folk music. And since she often sang about current events, some of her music can sound dated now.
Dee Dee wins; she has gospel plus "Nawlins" in her music, no way you can go wrong with that; sounded like she had a personal acquaintance with the house. (authenticity).
I've got a lot of Nina Simone, and I fell in love with her music the very first time I heard it. She's so individualistic, that I never compared her to any other vocalist. Here are some of my favorites;
Acman, thank you for those wonderful Carmen McRae posts. I hope they were to Schubert's satisfaction, I know I enjoyed each one of them; keep the fantastic posts coming.
Re Carmen McRae, Schubert’s observation about her young voice and related recent topics:
Clearly one of the great and true Jazz divas, McRae was more than just a great singer. While much is made, sometimes deservedly so, of the fact that some singers played piano, the fact is that many other great singers also played piano and sometimes chose to focus on singing; or, being performers after all, felt that they better presented themselves by not sitting behind the instrument. Carmen McRae got her start as a pianist and she was a good one.
As Schubert points out her young voice was truly beautiful and clear. I also liked the change in her voice as she (and her voice) matured; a change in timbre not unlike the one that Sarah Vaughn’s voice underwent. There truly was something special in the sound of a young Carmen. Adding to a man
She was also a composer. One of her admitted most important influences was Billie Holiday. While many singers, out of respect or ego, make a point of not singing songs made popular by other singers, Carmen made a point of singing at least one of Billie Holiday’s songs in each of her live sets. This is one of McRae’s compositions which, interestingly, Billie Holiday herself recorded. Obviously, there was a lot of mutual respect:
We recently looked at the Francy Boland/Kenny Clarke Big Band. Carmen McRae was married to Kenny Clarke for a few years and for a while worked as pianist with the name Carmen Clarke. She was featured as vocalist with that band:
Funny, I was going to edit my post to acknowledge acman3’s clips at the precise moment in time, apparently, that my post became ”uneditable”. Amazing; the digital gremlins at work, and they allowed only some of the data through.
Btw, the wonderful piano accompaniment on “My Funny Valentine” is by the great Ray Bryant.
Her early voice was even much better than on the clip Frogman gave us .At one time I had the first recording she ever made, if memoryserves me right(which it often does not) it was made right after WW II .I believe there is a CD of it.
Here you go, Schubert. Her first recording according to her official website. 1946, with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra. You are correct; beautiful clarity in her voice. Just beautiful. I suppose it’s not uncommon for all voices to lose some of that beautiful youthful timbral clarity as the body ages; while also gaining artistic clarity (Sometimes, and the goal for all true artists as you know; definitely in her case, imo). Interesting to me is that one of the most obvious differences is the absence of the nasality that one would hear more and more of as she aged. Not unlike a prominent quality in Billie Holiday’s voice...her admitted main influence.
Schubert, I have some of Carmen’s earliest LP’s, and regardless how young her voice was, it needed some polish; she had to learn a thing or two before she became the Carmen I adore.
"If memory serves me right(which it often does not)".
Carmen definitely had a learning curve, she wasn’t instant.
Rok, I checked on that "Curtis School of Music", and found that it's such a "hoity toity" place, that no one could "credibly" claim discrimination. That ends that for me.
I discovered a March 84 issue of "Stereo Review": check Rodrigues; picture this guy coming home with a box under his arm that says: "Digital Laser Beam Player", and his wife is at the door to greet him;
"...Now, don't tell me, Maurice, let me guess. With that quad thing, we sat in the middle of the room with speakers all over the place. Now, with this laser-beam gadget, we put on lead-lined aprons and listen to it while we hide behind the sofa...."
I had that "quad thing", and I thought it was hot stuff. These old magazines are fun; antiquated, but fun.
Audio could use more people like him. Loved his cartoons. I think I have boxes of Stereo Review and Audio in the garage. I used them to keep me grounded when I was buying stereo gear. Along with Peter Aczel.
For anyone interested in facts about Curtis Academy instead of.... well, I’ll let others decide for themselves what to call it.
I work regularly with members of the faculty at Curtis who are players in the Philadelphia Orchestra and who are friends. I know the culture and history of Curtis very well and I can tell you that is is decidedly not a “hoity toity” institution. Very open minded and diverse; befitting an open minded and diverse town like Philadelphia.
Not a fact, but an opinion based on what I know about the institution, its history and what I hear in Nina Simone’s piano playing: As I have said previously, she was a great artist with a certain style. Why was she not admitted to Curtis? I put my money on the simple fact that she couldn’t compete at the extraordinarily high level of the other Classical music pianists seeking admission at the time. It is an incredibly high bar. The below may help put things in perspective:
From collegefactual.com, an organization that ranks colleges according to various criteria:
***** Overall Diversity is Great
We combine elements of ethnic, geographic, gender and age diversity to create a total diversity ranking for every school.
Curtis Institute of Music is thought to be very diverse across all factors ****
———————————————-
From Curtis’ mission statement:
**** ADMISSIONS
The Curtis Institute of Music highly values a diverse international student body. Since 1924, Curtis has welcomed all applicants regardless of race, geographic origin, religious background, socio-economic level, gender, or sexual orientation.
Admissions are based on artistic promise alone. Enrollment is limited to the number of musicians needed for a symphony orchestra, opera department, and select programs in piano, composition, conducting, organ, and guitar, as well as community artist fellows and a string quartet in residence. Curtis provides full-tuition scholarships to all of its students. ****
*****The Curtis Institute of Music highly values a diverse international student body. Since 1924, Curtis has welcomed all applicants regardless of race, geographic origin, religious background, socio-economic level, gender, or sexual orientation******
As pertains to 1924, this is a blatant lie! This statement would not be true OF ANY institution in this country in 1924.
When she applied for that school, it was in the 50's when discrimination was the law of the land in The United States of America; where were you?
I said it was such a "hoity toity" place that they could have found a dozen other reasons not to approve of her beside her color; that's what I meant in regard to a credible allegation of race discrimination.
In 2003, just days before her death, the Curtis Institute of Music bestowed on her an honorary degree.
No, I don’t think so. As usual you guys are seeing what you want to see because you are so eager to find fault in what I write and so reluctant to see the inaccuracy in what you write on certain topics. You don’t want to be called out for making inaccurate comments about things you know very little about; and I don’t refer to the issue of racism. I made no claim to know any facts concerning Simone’s rejection at Curtis and made that perfectly clear. I made no comment about nor claimed to know “what barriers she faced”. My comment was a response to the negative, inaccurate and unfair judgmental comments about that great institution. The only comments I made about Simone’s rejection at Curtis were opinion. I made that very clear and spelled out the reasons why I hold that opinion.
You often make comments about the music world that are not rooted in any kind of reality. It is unfortunate that you are so unwilling to expand your horizons and learn something new. Instead, you prefer to continue to live in a make believe world of pseudo facts. Perfect example:
**** The credibility of what you hear in Nina Simone’s piano playing is "0". ****
This, coming from someone who not only knows nothing about Classical music, but is quick to point out how much he hates it. Yet, feels qualified to judge how a musician (Simone) would have fared as a Classical pianist in a Classical music conservatory based on opinions formed by listening to her “jazz” recordings. Helloo!!!
Btw, no, you did not say Curtis WAS a “hoity toity” institution. You said Curtis IS a hoity toity institution. That was the basis for my response. See what you want to see; twist the facts to fit the agenda.
As always, I would welcome some reasonable and adult discussion.
Frogman, Eunice Kathleen Waymon was a "Classical Pianist". Do they have book stores, or one of those places where you check books out near you? Her application read "Eunice Kathleen Waymon"; not Nina Simone, when she applied to that school.
Go to a book store, or one of those places near you that loan books, and read about Eunice Waymon.
Indeed. Philly has one of the richest traditions in music of any city in the country. Granoff and Curtis are big parts of that tradition. Great town with a great vibe and charm, not to mention history; love it!
PjwAfter listening to my Soft Machine live discs here is my recommendation for one as requested: Soft Machine Live in Paris May 2 1972. Lineup is same as SM 5 from half of that recording: Ratledge,Hopper,Dean& Jo hn Marshall on drums. 2 disc cd set, most of 5's songs included and best songs from SM six. Also included are long versions of 3 songs from SM 3. Sound quality is excellent with good soundstage.Hope you are enjoying your other SM discs.
Interesting recording featuring great rhythm section playing. Two of the cuts are live performances and feature the recently discussed Larry Willis and Monk’s tenor player Charlie Rouse. Clifford Jordan and Eric Gunnison replace them on the studio cuts. Al Foster on drums and one of my very favorite bass players, George Mraz play on all cuts. Mraz is an amazing bass player who besides having a great feel has one of the most beautiful bass tones with amazing intonation and clarity (for a bass player). Each note of his bass lines is heard with unusual clarity and definition.
Carmen McRae had by then lost the beatiful youthful quality that Schubert refers to, but she shows a tremendous amount of character and soulfulness. Not many singers can handle Monk’s unusual melodies with their angular and obtuse shapes; a real challenge for singers.
A couple of additional factoids. McRae was 66 when this album was recorded; six years before she would pass away. This record was nominated for a Grammy (Best Jazz Vocal Performance).
0-10, I truly do hope we can figure out a way to not continue to have unnecessary conflicts over a subject that should be the source of nothing but positive feelings; differences of opinion and all. I wish you well.
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