Jazz is not a single dish, it's a banquet, and I'm going to give you a sampling of some other treats in this same time frame, and genre. Although everyone knows "Stan Getz", not everyone knows all the facets of Mr. Getz. "Focus" is his most unique album in my opinion. It just flows from one cut to the next. That continuity gives the complete album a certain "unity" as opposed to an album consisting of separate cuts. This is my favorite album by Mr. Getz, and I give you "I'm late, I'm late" from "Focus" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAyrdlUcZIwWhile Mr. Yusef Lateef could play "stereotypical" jazz on the tenor sax as well as any man alive, his personal musical tastes were not at all "stereotypical"; he always gave jazz a different twist. Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he also plays oboe and bassoon, both rare in jazz, and also uses a number of world music instruments, notably the bamboo flute, shanai, shofar, Xun, arghul, sarewa, and koto. He is known for his innovative blending of jazz with "Eastern" music. This is from one of my favorite albums by Yusef Lateef, "The Blue Yusef Lateef". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McZsu4riOm8Next is "Ahmad Jamal", he influenced Miles; I don't think you can get a recommendation higher than that. Miles liked his use of space, he was never in a hurry. I liked the way he did standards, regardless how many times you heard one of these tunes, it always sounded new and fresh when Ahmad Jamal did it. First I give you "Moonlight in Vermont" followed by "Ahmads Blues". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Y0mUGp-bM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7RIDZulyHAI hope you've enjoyed my presentations, and I'm looking forward to yours. Enjoy the music. |
Jazz At The Philharmonic: Best Of The 1940's Concerts
well, lets see, we have: Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Charlie Parker, Willie Smith, Roy Eldridge, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat 'King' Cole, Les Paul, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones, Billie Holiday, and company.
Why can one possibly say? The sound quality was very good, all things considered. It being live and the 40's.
Most of the soloing was great, and I felt like an 'Ellington/Gonsalves at Newport' moment would break out at any minute.
Ella was awesome and never sang one word of English or any other language. She is like another instrument in the band.
Billie was as good as any singer not named Ella ccould be.
The liner notes of this CD are very interesting. There seems to have been a little controversy surrounding the entire JATP thingy. Two excerpts from the liner notes:
"great storytelling is a matter of mastering structure and pacing, not divine intervention. In bringing the Jam Session to a mass audience, Granz robbed it of it's mystery, and some critics never forgave him for it."
"If people liked it, it wasn't Jazz. Jazz has a cult mentality and Cannot deal with mass acceptance without feeling like a whore."
I must do some research into the whole JATP thing.
Comments on the two quotes are welcomed.
Cheers |
Thumbs up on Barney Wilen.Rare,but now downloadable,is "Barney" from 1959 on French RCA with Duke Jordan and Kenny Dorham...great session.A little off the beaten track,and a record that has bounced around to a few labels under different names is "Movie themes from france" from 1989.This is a quartet with Mal Waldron,Stafford James and Eddie Moore.You can pretty much guess the tunes and they are played in an almost calmly seductive manner.He was one of the poster boys of the French new wave cinema Jazz soundtracks.Of course,as mentioned,The Miles soundtrack is a masterpiece.I bought the dvd of the film with the bonus footage of Miles playing to the soundtrack and have to confess i have yet to watch it.I will do that this week and report back.First saw that film on the late,late show as a teenager when it played in the U.S. under the name "Frantic",which may have been the name of the novel it was based on.Hats off to Barney who slipped away in '96. |
More on Warren Vache.The best Vache/ John Allred recording is "top self" Arbors ARCD 19399 This a a well thought out session with Tardo Hammer on piano(check out his own recordings,especially the Tadd Dameron collection) and leans to a tighly arranged program of some good lesser known tunes by Blue Mitchell and Clifford Brown and some more well known works by Cannonball,Golson,and Bud Powell mixed with some standards.This is a hot band leaning towards a definite Bop slant.The Vache/Allred "Live in Bern" Arbors ARCD 19369 is almost all standards and is a great blowing session,again with Hammer, and this time they work in two Horace Silver pieces into the program.Straight ahead blowing you could hang your laundry on,pardon me if i'm swinging!
Vache's most recent work is on the English Woodville label (WYCD 132)with a small group of Brits led by label ownwer Alan Barnes."The London session" is a terrific outing of mainly standards played expertly.Barnes is almost totally unknown in the states and is a wonderful multi-reed player with the alto and clarinet being his babies.I like his alto playing,a touch of Benny Carter and a bit of Art Pepper(he recorded a tribute album to Pepper a few years ago)he is a world class player waiting to be heard.The Woodville label has some great recordings but has no distribution in the U.S. so they have to be purchased directly from Alan,who will likely send you an email"Off to the post,enjoy the music!" you gotta love that.Vache is on fire on this session,these are good,but unknown players...unless you live in the U.K.
"Ballads and other cautionary tales" (Arbors ARCD 19430) is from 2011 and finds Warren again with Tardo Hammer and this time the much under rated Richard Wyands on piano.Houston Person is a guest on tenor on three tracks(a great rapport) and John Allred guests on a track.This is cornet playing of great emotional depth.Sentimental,ironic,a little wistful,passionate and full of the technical whoha to pull in off.Have not heard this kind of playing since the Miles/Red Garland sessions.
Warren Vache stays in his big boy pants for all these recordings,they are devine. |
Jazzcourier,
Thanks for introducing me to Warren Vache, I'll get some of his recordings. Frogman thanks for the audio clip, Bill Charlap I'm familiar with and have seen him live twice in my town.
A really good Kenny Barron recording is "Live at Bradley's" there are two different CDs covering various sets . He's joined by Ben Riley and Ray Drumond.Exceptional playing and well recorded.
A lesser known but fine pianist is Tardo Hammer, he beautifully pays tribute to the wonderful music of Tadd Dameron.The CD is "look, stop and Listen" this is well played and very well recorded.
Regards, |
O-10. Again thanks for the cool, serene, happy music. I know it is called jazz but there is some peaceful soul in there. Thanks again for your sharing really sublime music. |
Jazzcourier,
I second the appreciation mention of Warren Vache. I am always looking for overlooked jazz players and I plan to take a listen. There are just a lot of good players that are overlooked. I got turned on to French sax player Barney Wilen about a year ago, who recorded a couple of albums with Miles in the late '50s in Europe, including the Elevator to the Gallows soundtrack, and also with Art Blakey. He has some excellent recordings on the Venus label as a leader. |
Rok, together we have answered a consistent question of Foster_9's. Why can't he ever find a CD or LP of the live performances? Everything we want is before CD's, and LP's had very constrictive time restraints, consequently, those live performances that went as long as 20 minutes on one song, could not be comfortably accommodated.
Switzerland or Germany, I'm glad I got to see that extended performance of "Jive Samba", and Joe Zawinul, does an incredible solo on "Angel Eyes". This was a very fortuitous mistake.
Enjoy the music, and keep em comin. |
Rok, to further confuse things, the CD you have doesn't have all the tunes I heard on the concert, but believe me "Switzerland and Germany" are the same in regard to the music, year, and musicians. It's just like they picked up the band and moved next door, they even had on the same type of clothes, no more confusion.
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Rok, It's my fault that you're confused. When I said the man on that horn was not "Yusef Lateef", I meant it was him, playing music that was prescribed, and not his music; but that all cleared up later on when the "real" Yusef Lateef (according to my musical conception) appeared when he played the flute on "Angel Eyes".
In regard to "Switzerland or Germany" there was no difference in personnel. I looked at both on You tube, and you couldn't even tell the difference. I hope that clears everything up.
Enjoy the music. |
Orpheus10:
You have me confused now. You seem to be sayiong that Yusef was not in the group. Julian announced him by name on the Cd. He is listed in the notes. The youtube you sent was a concert in Germany. The one I 'reviewed' took place in Switzerland. You may have the two different performances confused. I realize groups often 'pickup' guys while touring overseas. Esp in Europe which at one time had a lot of American expatriates.
Jazzcourier:
Thanks for your input. I just love to read details like the ones you related. It adds so much to the music, when you know the history. Thanks.
Cheers |
Jazzcourier, Thanks for mentioning Warren Vache. I have been wanting to pick some of his music for a while. What is your opinion regarding his music with John Allred? I have heard good things about both men. |
Jazzcourier, thank you for the wonderful account. I could not agree more concerning Warren Vache; a wonderful player who does not receive the attention nor recognition he deserves. You do a great job of describing his attributes as a player. While necessarily built-into your excellent description, I would only add that he is one of those players that has such a strong sense of swing and musical pulse that allows the rhythm section to do much more than keep time; or could play with NO rhythm section. The horn becomes the rhythmic anchor and provider of the forward impetus in the music; reminescent of players like Clark Terry and Sonny Rollins in that regard. Here is a good example of this; with one of my favorite piano players: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nmDhnymBwnc |
Rok, I didn't give that total performance a listen the first time. Although they started off with "stereotypical jazz", after that, they went into some really fine music. Since what they played in the beginning was to warm up the audience, even that was understandable. I saw and heard "Yusef Lateef" perform "Angel Eyes", that was magical. "Jive Samba" is one of my favorite tunes, and Nat Adderley was superb, he played his heart out. That extended version was fantastic, all of the musicians played beautifully; every last one of them was at the top of his game when this was performed. That was a marvelous contribution, and here it is for others to enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Fo_2Jz9EM |
All due respect to Dick Hyman and his little repertory group at the 92nd st. Y.I have this session fresh in my mind as i just found the lp at as swap meet for a buck and have owned the cd for many years.This music is representative of what was known as the "Jazz Party" circuit which enjoyed an audience in the 70's and 80's and struggled into the 90's and sputtered out as the new century came in.This idea was fostered by Dick Gibson who started his Colorado Jazz party in the late 60's.These were private Jazz festivals that usually hosted around 25 likeminded musicians and the audience was made up of older fans who could travel to these events and spend the weekend with some great players in intimate and casual settings.The players ranged from Swing era vets,seasoned traditional oriented players and much in between.The Eddie Condon school always had a place with some free swinging,hard driving,vein bursting playing.Pretty much a celebration of pre- Bop music.I heard many greats at some of these events,and got to hang out with the players in casual settings afterhours when many the bottom of a bottle was visible as the sun came up.Joe Venuti,Bud Freeman,lots of great players.We got to spend the afternoon with drummmer Gus Johnson and took him to the San Diego Zoo,that is a great memory as Gus stopped playing not too long after that and passed.We talked a lot about Charlie Parker, as he was the drummer with Jay McShann's Orchestra when Bird made those records for Decca and they traveled together.I was about the same age as the "younger" players who were invited.
One of those was the brilliant Warren Vache who performs on the Hyman recording.Warren was just hitting his late 30's and playing some remarkable trumpet and cornet,as he does on that recording,as a matter of fact he outplays everybody on that date,his solos are simply incandescent.Warm and intense like Bobby Hackett.With the wit and charm of Ruby Braff.He is such a gifted player who gets little recognition nowadays,this is a pity as his last few cd's are about as good brass playing as you can hear today.This is just meat and potatoes Jazz improvisation.People always lament that this kind of honest music has died out,well it is still alive in Warren Vache and you would do yourself a solid to seek out his most recent works.They are a thing of beauty. |
on second thought I think you meant the thingy at the Y. I didn't like it very much either. BTW, Check out Kenny Barron!
Cheers |
O-10:
"No Rok, I didn't like it"
you didn't like the Cannonball CD? I can't believe it!
Cheers |
Kenny Barron was on several albums with Stan Getz-Anniversary, Serenity, People Time, and Bossas and Ballads. They had a real connection musically. Kenny is on a lot of stuff as a sideman and has done a lot of stuff as a leader. |
No Rok, I didn't like it. While I'm a big fan of each individual musician that was in that group, I didn't like the music. That band sounded like "Bird" was leading it, are you sure he wasn't there. The man blowing that horn was not "Yusef lateef", but a musician who was getting paid to blow a certain type of music, that I call "stereotypical" jazz.
If that had been "Bird" and one of his groups, I would have appreciated that very same music, but it wasn't; it was an imitation of his music long after "Bird" has gone to that big band in the sky.
As you know, I'm also a big fan of "Horace Silver", but his live performances overseas can also produce what the audience expects as opposed to some creative music. Musicians had to make a living, and that's exactly what those musicians were doing.
Enjoy the music.
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Pnmeyer:
You mentioned Kenny Barron in a previous post, so I thought I would give him a listen. Had not in a few years.
Kenny Barron -- Other Places
This CD passed my most difficult test. When you have a few thousand CDs of all genres, you tend to not suffer mediocrity very long. A track or two of saying nothing, and back on the rack it goes.
This CD was capitivating. I heard it all the way thru, and listened to the title track twice. This is just great music, well played. Wanna put your feet on the ottoman close your eyes with your favorite drink? This is the one!
Bobby Hutcherson is on board, but the entire group is great. I will have to seek out more of Mr Barron. Thanks for the tip.
Cheers |
Today's Gem:
Cannonball Adderley Sextet -- Lugano 1963
Nat adderley, yusef lateef, joe zawinul, sam jones, louis hayes
Cannoball's best group playing at their best, well recorded, before a live European audience! It don't get no better than this.
I have never heard a cannonball group play this, in your face, before. This is sort of like cannonball's magical moment that mingus had at antibes.
O-10 thinks 'something else' is cannonball's best and one of the best Jazz recordings ever. hmmmmmmmmmm. better check this one out.
Great soloing throughout the entire program. Good live ambience.
Just before they launch into 'trouble in mind', julian talks about the lack of the blues in 'modern' jazz. (Which is what really seperates the men from the boys!)
yusef and jones then proceed to tear the house down on 'trouble in mind'. yusef on oboe. he played flute, tenor sax and oboe during the set.
yusef (flute) and nat are also awesome on 'jive samba'
'Dizzy's business' and 'work song' also appear.
as julian is so fond of saying, "check it out"
Cheers
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Correction: "Flight" is orchestrated by Michel Legrand, not Eddie Sauter, who orchestrated another of Getz's great records with orchestra; "Focus". |
Now for something really special. Not available on record, but what a document this is! Two masters representing the epitome of the two very different styles that we have been discussing; playing side by side. Different, and equally brilliant; IMO. Rok, you can come back now :-) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aCdeJwGs818 |
Enjoyed the Chico Hamilton cuts, thanks. One of my favorite Stan Getz recordings, this is surely one of, if not THE, most interesting of Stan Getz's records; and described by him as his favorite. I don't know how anyone can doubt Getz's genius after listening to this. Eddie Sauter wrote the orchestrations and left Getz only to improvise over the spaces in the pre-composed score. He is on fire. Roy Haynes on drums is equally brilliant. Rok, I think you should leave the room for a few minutes :-) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LD67xZgco |
With a title like:
'The Kingdom Of Swing & The Republic of OOP BOP SH'BAM'
I was expecting something on the order of Sun Ra meets Gleen Miller! Turned out to be a very nice straight ahead session from the 92nd street Y in NYC. Another production by Dick Hyman.
Live recording. The audience seemed to be into it. Nice solos on several of the tracks. Good bass playing by Milt Hinton on 'Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho' Joe Wilder is on board on trumpet. One of my favorites.
An alternate title might have been 'Professionals at Work'. Another day at the office. Very good, but nothing spectacular. But then again this is essentially a pickup band. They don't play together as a rule. Sort of like the USA Basketball team.
Cheers |
Chico Hamilton! Talk about a blast out of the past. Have a few of him on LP. Nothing on CD. That means he did not make a great impression on me. I listened to 'Mysterious Maiden'. Good mood music. New Age?? Did not grab my attention. To be the leader, he sure seems to disappear on some of his tracks.
BTW, when I saw the IMPULSE label, I thought, COLTRANE! :)
Cheers |
O-10 Thanks for the great music posts. I gotta get some. I would tell Frogman thanks but I can't connect to his. And Frogman, Rok2id and Pnmeyer I was born in '56 and never exposed to a lot of jazz so some of these is new to me but checking it out is some great stuff. Thanks. |
Pnmeyer:
Got the Koln Concert on LP while in Germany, about a zillion years ago. Have since got it on CD. It exposed me to something different. One of my favorites now. I think the last Jarrett I purchased was him with Charlie Haden. 'JASMINE' I am not sure he will ever surpass KOLN.
Cheers |
"Paul Desmond, who Bird considered one of his favorite alto players (now, THAT'S food for thought!) "
More like Heresy or indigestion!!
Cheers |
Rok,
Really like Elian. Your mention of Jarret spurred me to mention his Koln Concert album, which I have loved since college. It was the perfect album to put on the turntable at 4:00 a.m. after coming home from a party. |
Chico Hamilton, who was a West Coast drummer, evolved into one of my favorite musicians. I never thought of him as a drummer, for the same reason I never thought of Mingus as a bassist. They were just very creative musicians. After the West Coast thing, Chico captured my attention with "Conquistadores". I played it over and over; each time it sounded better than the time before. Here it is for your enjoyment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXdMnwERjG0 Now, I probably have more Chico Hamilton LP's and CD's than any other single artist; he comes out of so many different bags, that you never know what he's going to do next. I'll just give you whatever I can find that's on you tube which is also in my collection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWB9ZN1lFLU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbKEILdeKkEnjoy the music. |
Next up, after the gym
Jazz in July
Live at the 92nd ST. Y
The Kingdom Of Swing & The Republic of OOP BOP SH'BAM
has to be the greatest album name in Jazz history
Cheers |
I was referring to the Pepper +11; for the record. |
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Elian Elias -- Solos and Duets w/ Herbie Hancock
11 tracks of which six are duets with Hancock. Great playing all around, but I think they pushed each other a little on the duets. I liked them best.
This is an all piano disc but more in the style of Jarrett. You won't be stupefied! A good disc to show off those 'uber alles' stereo systems.
Not casual music. Most of the track titles are familiar, but you have to pay attention.
When they play together you have to ask yourself, how do they do that? Not a misstep and all improvised. This is the type disc that shows just how much talent it takes to be a musician.
BTW, my sub low fi Polks reproduced the pianos just fine!
Cheers |
No Rok, you wont hear that in a coffee shop. |
Today's Reviews (stop all that groaning!)
Art Pepper -- Art Pepper + Eleven (SACD)
I put this in the player and got my note pad to make notes. After the third track I gave up. What Can One Say? (amadeus)
This is 10 stars!! No Filler. No wasted notes. All tracks are great, even the alternate takes.
This group is very, very tight. Very well rehearsed. Great arrangements. I love playing like this. Up-tempo and very together. All solos were short and to the point. No blowing just to be blowing. I can't say which were best, the reeds or the brass. They were both playing out of their heads. And although they did not solo, gotta give the bass player and the drummer a lot of love also
I don't know what coast these guys are from, but on this date, they played Jazz!! Nuff said.
I have 'pepper meets the rhythm section' and this one. I must research his output and get more.
You will not hear this in a coffee shop. :)
As usual I will leave the technical analysis to Frogman.
Cheers |
Frogman:
If you don't feel that your 'faith' is the only correct one, then you don't have much 'faith. Sounds awful in this political correct world, but it's the truth.
Cheers |
****Keep the faith****
Ah, but I wish we could all agree that many of the world's problems are rooted in the fact that many of the faithful feel that their faith is THE ONLY ONE.
Cheers to you too. |
The subject of stylistic influence in jazz is a fascinating one. As Orpheus10 points out, sometimes a player comes along that has such a profound influence that in spite of most jazz players' commitment to individuality and aversion to copy-catying, the influence is just too strong to avoid entirely. But, if we dig a little deeper we find there is more to the process than meets the eye. There are many parallels between jazz evolution and evolution in nature. What is it that causes a "Bird" to come along? Or a Coltrane? Players that cause an entire art form to shift and move in a different direction. Is it a slow process of adaption and change according to the subtle influences that a pool of many musicians, individually, have on the overall style that creates a departure from an established style (swing) and causes it to gradually evolve into a drastically different new style (bebop)? A kind of survival of the fittest. Or is it that a player suddenly comes along with something entirely new and different? A mutation of sorts. Pnmeyer mentions Sonny Stitt; one of my favorites, and a player that was so hell-bent (like Pepper) on not being type-cast as a Bird copy-cat that he started to play tenor and not just alto. His story (as told by Stitt himself), as it relates to the subject of stylistic influence, is a fascinating one. Around the time that Bird was gaining prominence, musicians that would pass through Stitt's home town would comment on how much his playing sounded like this new guy from Kansas City (Parker). Stitt had never even heard Parker play. The rest is history; but interesting food for thought, IMO. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2i4_K6E6-nQ |
When this "West Coast" jazz was current, I thought it was slow and "lame", now,some of it sounds quite "hip", possibly because I can appreciate "cerebral" music more. This much West Coast certainly wasn't available at my "mid west" record store when it was new, and what was available disappeared. I believe that's what's going to happen all over again. I suggest everyone thoroughly browse these CD's. Here's Gerry Mulligan doing "I Want To Live". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ne0Ig9lDUEnjoy the music. |
Pnmeyer:
Not from KC. Texas. But since we started this magical mystery tour in New Orleans, where we decided who started Jazz, and then went on to Cuba, where we defined Cuban Jazz and trashed the BVSC, and then they tried to go to Baghdad (I drew the line at that!).
Then it was on to NYC. Where the Frogman lectured us on the finer points of Jazz playing. When they decided to go to southern cal coffee houses, wearing leotards and 'BAN THE BEBOP" T-shirts, I just decided to wait for them in KC, since that would appear to be the next logical Jazz stop. Basie, Parker et al.. and right down the road from Miles' home. Also maybe the second most important city in all of Jazzdom!
But they could fake me out and continue on to that Mecca of 'COOL' improvisation, Bosie Idaho!. If they do that, I'm going home.
Keep the Faith!
Cheers |
"This one's for you, Rock"
A sad spectacle. I would not have believed it, if I could not see the clip.
Sort of makes my points.
Cheers |
Rok, the picture of a big burly man struttin around in leotards, put me in stitches, I couldn't stop laughing; and at a time when I needed a good joke.
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Charles1dad,
Clifford Brown was amazing; died way too young. Although I am usually not a big fan of the "with strings" types of albums, Clifford's is great. Dexter Gordon was great too. Very smooth and silky. I have heard of Sonny Stitt numerous times, but for whatever reason, never listened to him. Because of your post, I plan to change that. Also plan to listen to Victor Feldman. One piano player I really like is Kenny Barron. He had a real musical connection with Stan Getz. |
Pnmyer,
I feel as you do, you can enjoy musicians equally while acknowledging they may occupy different levels of technical ability and overall influence.I know that Chet isn't the masterful trumpeter that Clifford Brown was yet I can listen to both and really connect. Both could express much emotion through their horns.Victor Feldman didn't attain the stature of Oscar Peterson but you know what, I love his piano and vibraphone playing.Dexter Gordon, a fabulous tenor player but many don't know who he is.Paul Desmond gets much deserved recognition but I prefer Sonny Stitt (Sonny who?).This is why jazz is great, so many wonderful musicians, all with their own special voice.We get the chance to hear them all if we so choose.
Regards, |
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Rok,
You from Kansas City? No wonder you are standing up for Bird. (He was definitely a great one!) So, do you like Count Basie too (another Kansas City likes to claim as its own)? I saw the Count twice, once at Fulton College in Missouri in '74 (I went to Mizzou) after he was coming back from receiving the keys of the city from Kansas City. He had alot of his former stars playing that night-Harry "Sweets" Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Al Grey to name a few--and the band was in great form. A few years later, I saw Count Basie at the Willowbrook Ballroom near Chicago. Different band and experience, but during a break, the Count was standing on the side of the stage and I walked up to him and said hello. I was fresh out of college at the time. He was very gracious and we talked for a couple of minutes. Great memories. |
