Jazz for aficionados

That Johnny Mathis "Sleigh Ride", and video hit it out of the park; I especially liked the video, it reminds me of "Art Hill" in Forest Park where this happens every year; as for the rest...............

Enjoy the music.

Rok, comparing Sheila Jordan and Trane was apples and oranges; the tune originated with the play "The Sound of Music", this is the original "My Favorite Things".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33o32C0ogVM

While Trane's version was killer jazz, it's a long way from the original, and that's why Sheila tops Trane; her version convey's the "essence" of the tune.

In the case of Oscar Brown Jr., you were referring to "Dat Dere", when your post read for "My Favorite Thing". Since he wrote the Lyrics to "Dat Dere" I would hope that he captured the essence of that tune better than anyone else.

Here's Herby Hancock "Maiden Voyage", done by Herby;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmRQ0PBtXU

Again, here's "Lenny Andrede";

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2WicKm0dc

I spent a lot of time cruising in the "Duece", while at the same time going on Herby Hancock's "Maiden Voyage"; Lenny Andrede takes me back to that time; what Tony Bennet said is irrelevant.

Enjoy the music.

meant to send this instead of Houston twice. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNeLKCqsPJM

Cheers

That time of year once again. If you like the POP stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFc7STuQF0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svo17Dgs3PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svo17Dgs3PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBFXAEhWsio

For Jazz, I recommend Oscar Peterson, and Wynton Marsalis.

The REAL stuff, tomorrow.

Cheers

O-10:

Shelia Jordan was good, but no match for Trane, and / or, Oscar Brown Jr. They own those tunes.

Cheers

Learsfool:

I found both of your recommendations on Amazon. Thanks. Not too much into hearing EVERYTHING on a CD. I have a Anne Sophie-Mutter CD I can hardly listen to, due to her breathing. I realize folks gotta breath, but someone in the control booth should have corrected this. I guess they don't call them SACDs for nothing.

Cheers

O-10:

Tony Bennett says she is the Ella, AND Sarah of Brazil. Damn!! I think she is the LENY of Brazil, and that's Damn good. Wiki recommends this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d6bZavW7is

Cheers

Rok, there are quite a lot of recordings of the piece out there. One of the relatively recent ones that is great is with conductor John Eliot Gardiner's period instrument group.

A slightly older one from the 80s, on DG, with the Chicago Symphony section is also really famous among those audiophiles who love to listen for extraneous noises on recordings. The principal cellist, Frank Miller, grunts very audibly in the second movement. I think Barenboim conducted that recording, but don't remember and don't have my file in front of me.

My best friends brother played piano, they had a baby grand, and he went to Juilliard. The next door neighbor would come over and listen to him play and practice. After watching for a few minutes, the neighbor could play anything he played. While he grew up to teach music and never record, the neighbor became an entertainer who could jam, he could set the house on fire; I watched him do it many a night.

I don't have a clue as to what it takes to be a "jazz musician". While I had a friend who was a professional "jazz musician" live with me for an entire summer, who never practiced, (since I didn't have an organ or piano, he couldn't even if he wanted to). We never talked music (if Einstein was your friend, I doubt you would be discussing his "Theory of Relativity", especially if you didn't know squat about it) The mesmerized look on my face every time I watched him play, certainly told him what I thought about his music; there was certainly no need to discuss that. We talked about his life as a professional jazz musician, he never got tired of talking about it, and I never got tired of listening to him talk about it.

Although I have every record he ever made, the music he played that summer was far advanced from those records; that pains me because he died before any of that music was recorded; now it's just a memory I can't prove. These thoughts came to me after looking and listening to the "Lennie Tristano" interview; that's a very important in depth interview about being a "jazz musician". Lennie said, "You could make your fingers reproduce your deepest feelings", and he added "All you do is hear music in your head and reproduce it". [11-07-14]
Some got it, and some no got it.

Shiela Jordan studied with Lennie, and she's a great jazz musician, here she is;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZHteISQ-bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r8XF9YkyeM

Enjoy the music.

Leny Andrade nails Herby Hancock's "Maiden Voyage"; I know this takes me on a voyage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2WicKm0dc

I also like Sarah K., "If I Could Sing Your Blues".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROssxp6cErY

Enjoy the music

.
Chaz...I've been a Randy Brecker fan for 40 years myself. The first time I heard him was on the Idris Muhammad album
'Power Of Soul', his trumpet solo on "Loran's Dance" made me a fan of his for life. That's why when I first heard the tune yesterday, the horn player sounded familiar.
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Learsfool:

Thanks for a very detailed, informative, and eye-opening reply. I will order a CD of the Schumann Horn piece. For some reason, there does not seem to be that many CDs available.:)

Cheers

"Randy's work is what got my attention...", "I'm going to create a channel for HER...".????? I've been a Randy Brecker fan for over 40 years. I've seen him and his brother Michael (RIP) many, many times. His body of work is prodigious and eclectic. Between his work and all the recordings he's been on his discography is enormous. He's got to be one of the most recorded trumpet players of all time! Maybe you should also create a channel for Randy! Just sayin'!;)

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Rok, I work at home, and Pandora is always on in the background. Randy's work on the cut was what got my attention to get up and see who the heck it was that was jammin' so tuff. I'm going to create a channel for her in my Pandora lineup so that I can get more exposure of her work. She's a keeper.
.

Hi Rok - I am in an extremely busy stretch at work right now, so sorry for the slow response. The short answer to your question is that my orchestra has never programmed that piece, nor have I yet had the opportunity to participate in a professional performance of it.

However, I am of course very familiar with the work, and I did play it once in grad school with the student orchestra. I have worked on it again very recently, too - our principal horn was hired as a guest soloist for a much smaller orchestra to play the first part on it, and in his preparation for that, I read it in practice sessions with he and two other local players. In both cases, I was playing the lowest, fourth part, which is what I do normally professionally.

This piece is another great example of how pieces are often revised/edited, as we were talking about a few months ago here. Almost never is it done anymore the way Schumann wrote the solo parts. There are several different versions out there where the solo parts have been re-written (by horn players) so that first horn part is not so murderous to play. Some of the really high parts are given to the second and third horns, so the workload is spread around a little more. In all these different versions, the orchestral parts are unchanged, I am merely referring to the four solo horn parts. In fact, I am not sure I have ever heard a performance with the solo parts exactly as Schumann originally wrote them - that is a very murderous first horn part, indeed. Schumann didn't really understand that when he wrote it - he was not the best orchestrator (the term refers to deciding which instrument actually plays what once the writing of the composition is finished - another term used is scoring). The piece is a real oddity, but it is a good piece, and is always popular when performed. It is very fun to play, and really shows off what a quartet of horns can do.

Mitch4t:

I thought 'carry on' was too much Brecker and not enough Lynne. I thought Iko Iko (my post) was a much better showcase of her talents. I notice she plays a lot of the old classic tunes. Good for her.

I have always felt that a lot of the classic stuff can be done better. After all, the hard work has already been done. And maybe modern recording techniques, better instrumentmentation, and fresh insight, can actually improve a lot of the old recordings, if not the creation.

Now, if she would only dress a little less revealing, so we can concentrate of the music!

Thanks for introducing her.

Cheers

Randy Brecker has been on some good records lately. Maybe he can play a little.

O-10, I am a big fan of Mrs. Allyson. Great Call! Try Stacy Kent.

There are a lot of really good current players playing Jazz.

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Amazing arrangement! I have to chuckle because the only version of that song I've ever heard is the one by The Dixie Cups back in '65.
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Will wonders ever cease? A current day 'Jazz' player that actually plays Jazz. How refreshing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkBjsL_M5s

Cheers

.
Listening to Pandora today while working. A smokin' jam comes on, I walked over to the Roku to see who it was. The artist was Lynn Arriale, the album 'Nuance' and the cut was "Carry On" featuring Randy Brecker on trumpet.

I'd never heard of Lynne Arriale before. I'll look for more examples of her work. Randy Brecker was outstanding on this cut.
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******I don't think I want to know what that "Super fox" I met over 40 years ago, looks like today.******

Maybe a lot better than you might think. I found that out at my last high school reunion. A Fox is a Fox! Sometimes they get better with age. Esp when you consider there is no longer all that teenage nonsense.

CURRO -- I think it's a Spanish word meaning 'work', or showy, flashy or cocky. The truck says work. I have just two by Donald Byrd. One "The Cat Walk" has him with Pepper Adams. They were co-leaders of the group.

Byrd was a very interesting, outspoken and highly educated player. One writer said he was Jazz's ultimate loose canon, once Miles passed away. He must have had the habit of telling the truth. :)

Nice tune. What method do you use to find all these tunes and artists?

Cheers

*****Rok, this should be an interesting CD, "Pepper Adams, Playing Charles Mingus"*****

Just attempting this shows the boy has balls, if nothing else. I never thought of anyone "playing Mingus'!! Some folks you just don't 'play'!! Ellington and Goodman, you 'play'.

Good effort.

Cheers

O-10:

Enjoyed both tunes sung by Karrin Allyson. She is really good. A Stone Fox also!

My problem with a lot of the current artists is not whether they are as good or better than the greats of the past, it's that they tend to discard and ignore the past in it's entirety. By singing the tunes 'Moanin', and 'All Things Must Change', she shows she does not do this.

When I heard her sing 'Moanin', I just knew I had heard it sung many times before, but could not remember the performer. Thanks to Google, I remembered it was Lambert Hendricks & Ross. I like Allyson's version better.

To refresh our memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynZDm50EgBY

Thanks for the clips.

Cheers

Rok, while we always compare new vocalists to past greats, I prefer not to focus on those differences, and just appreciate what present vocalists have to offer.

Karrin Allyson is a vocalists who sings the classics the way they're supposed to be sung; she always projects the essence of the tune. While that sounds simple and easy, it's not. First, the artist must know what that "essence" is in order to project it. One of the greatest of the greats was asked to sing a song without knowing the "essence" behind it. Things didn't go right, and she, being an honest person, admitted it.

When you hear Bobby Timmons, the pianist who wrote "Moanin", play it, the essence of that tune smacks you upside the head. Karyn Allyson prejects that essence as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK5UYkENgDU

"Everything Must Change" touches upon one of the sad facts of life; I don't think I want to know what that "Super fox" I met over 40 years ago, looks like today. Karrin Allyson projects the essence of "Everything Must Change".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-q6TiiyTZI

Enjoy the music.

Rok, this should be an interesting CD, "Pepper Adams, Playing Charles Mingus"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIu87qCZnJ4

Enjoy the music.

Donald Byrd was a man of many phases. While I liked them all, here are two tunes from this phase of his development that have stuck with me over the years. How many LP's you've worn out of one particular album or another speaks volumes in regard to the high esteem you held that particular LP. For me, this one ranks up there with KOB, and "Somethin Else"; the title is "Out of This World", it introduced Herby Hancock, and now Herby needs no introduction. This tune is clean "Out of this world".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmW_iRcs3D0

This next tune is titled "Curro's"; although I have no idea of where the title came from, I picture myself in a real hip club like "Gino's", which is where I saw Trane, and company live about the time of "My Favorite Things". This tune is so hip, that "Curro's" is even hipper than "Gino's". (I have no idea what that truck represents, but you can't have everything)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzwgbtT2x98

Enjoy the music.

Learsfool:

Have you and your group ever performed Schumann's Konzertstuck, Concerto for Four Horns?

I understand it is murder for Horn players. Talk about it.

Cheers

******And the winner is "Nina Simone".******

The correct order of finish:

1. Ella
2. Billie
3. Etta
4. Dee Dee
5. Nina

Billie and Ella was a "pick'em". The backing groups on both were awesome. Billie better phrasing, Ella better voice?? After all, it is Billie's song.

Etta, just regular great talent.

Dee Dee was fun, but I am not sure what she was singing, after the opening. But loved her, and the guys on Sax.

Nina just did not do it for me. But I cannot bring myself to criticize Miss Simone. She may have went over my head.

Cheers

O-10:

You should heed the "Warning Labels" on these sound wave CDs. One of these days you'll wake up, and still be in the dream! That'll Learn Ya!

"Celestial Soda Pop" has been on the playlist of my local PBS station for years. Never knew who played it. I love it. Does not really need pictures. Although the pics were great. The P-51 just has to be the most beautiful airplane ever made.

I guess I owe Mr Lynch an apology.:(

Cheers

And the winner is "Nina Simone".

Different strokes for different folks.

Ella
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9yxokrJJ6Q

Billie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhdYoWhBKhM

Nina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjOU511yBMg

Dee Dee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3C9L6VzOdY

Etta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP97iBFNdiY

And the winner is___________???

Cheers

"Cold Duck"; in case you don't remember was a very popular wine at that time. It don't git no better than that, lots of good memories.

I had the weirdest dream after listening to the complete CD "Deep Breakfast". I was standing in line near the ticket window of a movie theater, when a guy walked up to me and say's "You buy the tickets, and I'll buy the refreshments". Since refreshments cost more than a ticket, I said "OK". He didn't tell me he had nine kids.

After he buys the refreshments, we leave the refreshment stand and go into the theater. Once we leave the stand, I discover the theater has no roof. (music from "Deep Breakfast" is playing throughout the dream)

After getting seated, the movie begins with these short squat Hobbit looking dudes on the screen, I don't know what they're doing, but they're moving to the music of "Celestial Soda Pop".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPojjUgZy7I

Maybe this music exudes it's own snake dust?

Enjoy the music.

Mo' better Eddie Harris.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCOfFqnPwlU

Cheers

1143

O-10:

Just listened to Ray Lynch and Eddie Harris. I think I'll have Miles' Aunt, make a house call to your place. Sprinkle some Snake Dust all over your floor.

Cheers

Eddie Harris really came up with some unusual sounds; here he is with "Silver Cycles", which is different from anything I can think of, it's just not long enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wLSlaP8MOQ

I'm in the mood for something different today, can't get much different than this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-2mXN7OQR0

Enjoy the music.

O-10:

Glad you enjoyed the girl band.

Today's listen:

Billie Holiday -- LADY IN AUTUMN:THE BEST OF THE VERVE YEARS

I listened to this when I was alone, and the house was quiet. WOW! She is sooo good. She don't need no stinking perfect voice. The feeling she puts into her singing is just amazing. Much better than the 'Quintessentiasl vol 5'.
Very good recorded sound. Even the strings on the last few tracks of CD#2 could not mar her performance.

From the liner notes:

"like the aging fast-ball pitcher who has lost his stuff, she was depending more and more on craft and guile to put across her songs." --- John S Wilson, Jazz Critic.

And then, there was this, from a Jazz Musician, shortly before her death.:

"I'd rather hear her now. She's become much more mature. Sometimes you can sing words every night for five years, and all of a sudden it dawns on you what the song means. I played 'My Funny Valentine' for a long time-and didn't like it-and all of a sudden it meant something. So with Billie, you know she's not thinking now what she was in 1937, and she's probably learned more about different things. And she has control, probably more control now than then. No I don't think she's in a decline." -- Miles Davis, Jazz Musician.

"But, even in her youth, Holiday's voice was not, in itself, remarkable. Compared to Ella and Sarah, she possessed a limited instrument--relatively narrow in range, tone and color. The way Holiday used her voice--her resourceful alterations of melody; her dramatic, often ironic, approach to lyrics; her peerless sense of swing -- is what made her the greatest singer in Jazz history."----Joel E. Siegel, writer of the liner notes.

I tend to agree with Siegel, up to a point. No sure about that 'greatest in history' stuff. After all, Miss Fitzgerald was in history! :) But all are interesting.

Next up, tomorrow, The Complete DECCA recordings.

Cheers

Rok, I didn't know there were so many foxes in the whole state of Mississippi, plus a female Lester Young.

After reading their history, and listening to the music, I don't see how they overcame so many obstacles, while still looking good and playing fantastic music. There must have been something special in the Piney Woods drinking water.

I thought their music sounded very good, outstanding even, and that's without the qualifier "For a girls band". Their music took me back to that time when it was happening during the WW II years. So many good things would have happened for them "If", and I'm not about to go into the "If's".

Enjoy the music.

O-10:

I have the Lady in Satin CD. The wiki entry was sort of contradictory. I guess they all heard different things. I agree it's painful to listen to her, but still compelling.

I was surprised to read that it made the Grammy Hall of Fame. Not that I put much stock in the Grammy Awards.

Today I will listen to her CD, Lady in Autumn: the best of the verve years. Will get back on it.

Cheers

Today's Listen:

THE INTERNATIONAL SWEETHEARTS of RHYTHM

I was looking thru some old family photos from way back in the day. Came across a photo of this group. Signed to my Aunt. I think she knew several of the band members, and they did play in Greenville while on tour. They started at the Piney Woods school in Mississippi. Foxes Galore!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Sweethearts_of_Rhythm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piney_Woods_Country_Life_School

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczP3PyHt20

Enjoy

Cheers

Rok, your answers were even more interesting than my questions.

Abbey Lincoln hit the tune "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise" out of the park; however, Lorez's understated version came in a close second, the operative word is "Softly". The MJQ did it for both of us.

On "The End Of a Love Affair", "Lady In Satin" was the Billie CD I sold; I wanted to hear her sing, but instead I heard her pain. If you have ever personally known one Billie (someone who was going through what she was going through at that time) you've known one too many, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_in_Satin

I couldn't find the instrumental version of that tune I wanted. Lorez's version was perfect for me. We're talking about someone who's trying to escape the emotions of "The End Of A Love Affair"; they drink too much, smoke too much, and talk too loud; they even play loud music to drown out the pain in their heart. Such a person would be going from club to club, and their external appearance would be loud and boisterous in order to conceal their internal pain.

Although we didn't agree on Billie, we certainly agreed about her pain.

Enjoy the music.

Very interesting question. I think the instrument players will win out in most cases. Ella being a possible exception.

Of the two tunes you posted, I preferred the instrumental versions in both cases. I didn't think Lorez brought the required amount of passion to her performances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softly,_as_in_a_Morning_Sunrise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqPzi99xOCM

I also think Billie did a much better job on Love Affair. She captured the feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxSldEPISwo

The Wes clip was good, but I found it a little too long. They could have stopped long before they did. Didn't keep my attention.

The MJQ clip was, MJQ!! Have they ever been less than great??

Interesting comparison. Thanks.

Cheers

"West Coast" jazz is a sub genre of "Cool Jazz", and so far has not been clearly defined. Although this is unimportant in the big scheme of things, it's important to me, because I was a fan of this genre. Since the records in my collection are "gone with the wind", I certainly can't find anything there.

I recall Chico Hamilton as being my favorite artist who consistently played west coast jazz at that time. I believe his "Blue Sands" is a good example of that genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW9ZvqdLlUE

Enjoy the music.

Every thing good in USA started either in New York or Minnesota.

Rok, besides the divas we know very well, here's somebody I like a lot, "Lorez Alexandria"; I can feel that she has lived the songs she sings. For example "The End of a Love Affair"; I've got a version she sang juxtaposed against a version by the Wes Montgomery Trio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdd2Byfr8gk

Now here's Wes Montgomery's instrumental;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF78KBsilXg

Does the vocal help you understand the instrumental, or does the instrumental go deeper into the emotions of the the vocal?

My favorite by Lorez is "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise";

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR17dx1GYC0

This is the MJQ doing the same tune;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crCxefHCLJA

When you juxtapose the vocal against the instrumental, you plumb the full meaning and emotional depth of the tune.

Enjoy the music.

Excellent observation re big bands and absolutely true. It's hard to imagine the sound of the Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis big band originating in LA; or that of the Terry Gibbs big band in NY.

I've always believed in the East/West coast sound/style difference. Of course this doesn't mean ALL the music can be automatically categorized as such but yeah, it exists. Not only in Jazz. I believe it's also applicable to Rock, Latin, and Rap. I think Big Bands are particularly revealing of their geographic's. It occurs to me that when I think east coast/west coast, in truth I'm thinking NY vs. LA.

Frogman, Brew Moore has a very nice tone, but I like the trumpet sound of Tony Fruscella as well, in fact he was the reason I searched for that album. Like so many others, he never made it, his personal problems were probably too overwhelming. By the way, I am reading old posts here, and yours are really educative.

****In the case of East Coast, West Coast, don't get locked down to geographical area; while Lennie Tristano's studio was in New York, the music was strictly "West Coast".****

Precisely why I prefer to (and did) refer to the style as "cool school" not West Coast; really interchangeable.

Alexatpos, Brew Moore. Nice! Very soulful player out of the Lester Young school. Love his tone.

First time that I have heard this pianist play was on this album of C.Haden, together with C.Baker. His name is Enrico Pieranunzi, and here is the title song from their album 'Silence'

http://youtu.be/fXZR4zxMDeA

For ones who think that he might be worth further exploring, here is his album from 2012, together with the new rythm section of Gary Burton

http://youtu.be/FY2MwD9S_JM

Since posting is slow here on Audiogon, I will use the opportunity and post one more clip, with similar atmosphere. It is great music, but not jazz, please forgive me in advance.

http://youtu.be/IUAF3abGY2M

http://youtu.be/QXFgHYk5NMc

Speaking of 'cool' sound, hidden sessions, great music and sad stories, this album has it all. Tony Fruscella and Brew Moore Quintet 'Unissued Atlantic Session'

http://youtu.be/-hqFJjQNpQE?list=PLiducaShgtxlmEuy4warTNK6ekP_VzyRK

http://youtu.be/bPRDzlEENy0?list=PLiducaShgtxlmEuy4warTNK6ekP_VzyRK