Interracial Tune #15. Jack Purvis w. Higgie and Hawk

Jack Purvis was sine qua non; one of the most larger-than-life personalities in a music with its fair share of unique characters. He was a fine trumpet player, in the mold of Louis Armstrong (Purvis wrote and recorded a song called "Copyin' Louis"). He was also a pilot, smuggler, burglar, con artist and may have either faked his own death or committed suicide.

Jack Purvis

Purvis loved played with black musicians, including sitting in whenever possible with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra-even "blacking up" to do so.

Poor Richard is a "burial" song. Purvis, Higgy and Hawkins all sound great.

Jack Purvis And His Orchestra: Jack Purvis (tp,vcl) J.C. Higginbotham (tb,vcl) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Adrian Rollini (bassax) Frank Froeba (p) Will Johnson (g,vcl) Charles Kegley (d) New York, April 4, 1930  

• Dismal Dan- Okeh 8808, Hist HLP6, Od (G)SMS11, Electrola (G)IC054-06317; 
• Poor Richard (1)- Okeh 8782, Od (G)SMS8; 
• Down Georgia way- (G)SMS3, Electrola (G)IC054-06309

All entries are from my book “As Long as They Can Blow. Interracial Jazz Recording and Other Jive Before 1935.”

An Interracial Tune a Day (#6)-Goodman and Hawkins

On February 2, 1934, Benny Goodman recorded with Coleman Hawkins. Not much need be said about these two Jazz giants. Before Coleman went to Europe, they played in a session put together by Columbia A&R John Hammond, who was a force for integrated recording sessions and who pushed to get Goodman to use black musicians. In 1935, Goodman played with (black) pianist Teddy Wilson in a trio, then brought in Lionel Hampton. 

We'll hear Georgia Jubilee in a nice arrangement by George Bassman.                          

Benny Goodman: Manny Klein, Charlie Margulis (tp) Sonny Lee (tb) Benny Goodman (cl) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Arthur Schutt (p,arr) Dick McDonough (g) Artie Bernstein(b) Gene Krupa (d) Mildred Bailey (vcl) George Bassman (arr) New York, February 2, 1934.

•  Georgia Jubilee– aAS- Cdl 2907-D, CB-759, Jay 10, JCl 528;

•  Junk Man– vMB- Col 2892-D;

•  Junk Man– vMB- Col 2892-D, CB-730, Tpl / Sentry 4003;

•  Ol’ Pappy- vMB / aGB- Col 2892-D, CB-730;

•  Emaline– vMB- Col 2907-D, CB-759, RZ G-22040, Jay 10, JCl 528

Miles is to Picasso as Who is to Whom

In a well-known interview with Sonny Rollins and Gary Bartz, Miles Davis is likened to Picasso. Like Miles, Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane went through cycles of intense artistic change; less so, other of the musicians in this post: Bix, Red Allen, Hampton and Shepp. And, like Picasso, the artists here sometimes had a dominant style and sometimes went through significant changes (not to mention working in different media). But, since this is pure subjectivity, not scholarly research, I'm using a single well-known work by the musicians and artists to present a simple case for their aesthetic linkage. Look and listen.

Bix and Joan Miro.                            

***************

Coleman Hawkins and John Marin
                     

Unaccompanied solos, Live and Recorded

Happy to have baritone sax player Zach Mayer on the 4/9/15 ‪Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour on WZBC.
Also, happy to jam with him (at about the half-hour mark). The live playing is interspersed with the recordings.

Check out the playlist. There will be some things you know and probably some you don't.


LISTEN HERE.

Charlie Parker's Earliest Recording 1940 ~ Honeysuckle Rose/Body and Soul‬-4:00

Coleman Hawkins "Picasso" from "Picasso" (1948) on Verve 3:15

‪Artie Shaw- These Foolish Things‬--Decca 1953 3:12"

Chet Baker- "Spring is Here" from "Chet With Strings" 1954) on Columbia 1:15

Mike Brecker- "‪Funky Sea, Funky Dew ‬part 2" from "‪Funky Sea, Funky Dew ‬part 2" 1980 on youtube-7:50 0

Eric Dolphy- "God Bless the Child (1961) [Live]" from "The Illinois Concert" (1963) on Blue Note 8'50"

Tom Harrell- "Joy Spring" from Helen Merrill's "Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown" (1995) Verve-4'

‪McCoy Tyner- "In A Sentimental Mood‬" from "In A Sentimental Mood" (1974) 6:30

Bob Mintzer- ‪Bass Clarinet Solo.mp4‬-"Improvization" youtube-3:20

Thomas Kneeland- "Confirmation" (Jazz) on youtube--2'50"

John Coltrane- "I Want to Talk ABout You" from "Live at Birdland" (Jazz, 1964) on Impulse! 8:15

‪Anthony Braxton "#5" from "Alto Saxophone Improvisations‬" (1979) on Arista #5-4'30"

Carol Sloan- "Never Never Land" from "live" (Jazz, 1985) on youtube- 2'

‪Jimmy Giuffre‬- "The Sheepherder" from "‪The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet 1956‬" (1956) on Capital 5'30"

‪Wynton Marsalis- "Stardust‬" from "Stardust" on youtube- 2'

‪Robin Eubanks- "Intro to Blues for Jimi‬" from "Intro to Blues for Jimi" on youtube- 3'30"

Joe Pass -"‪Joe's Blues‬" from "‪Joe's Blues‬" (Jazz) on youtube-5'30"

Bobby McFerrin- "Drive" from "Live" 1987 on youtube-faded out

Listening to Commodore Records

Commodore Records, which grew out of the Commodore Record Shop in Manhattan, was the brainchild of Milt Gabler. Gabler was the first to re-issue old jazz records, the first to list all personnel on records and the first to do mail order for jazz records. As you can see by the playlist, Gabler used a stable of great players in the mainstream/traditional/swing vein. The label recorded Billie Holliday singing "Strange Fruit" when her producer at Columbia Records, John Hammond, would not. 

This edition of the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour with Steve Provizer ran on WZBC.ORG on 06/12/2014. Audio is available at http://wzbc.org/#archive; Thursday, 5-7 PM.

Playlist:

Eddie Condon "Carnegie Jump" (Jazz, 1938) 

Eddie Condon "Jada" (Jazz, 1938) 

Chu Berry "Sittin' In" (Jazz, 1938) 

Chu Berry "Forty Six West Fifty Two"  (Jazz, 1938) 

Wild Bill Davison "That's a Plenty" (Jazz, 1943) 

George Brunis "Tin Roof Blues"  (Jazz, 1943)

Jelly-Roll Morton "Panama" (Jazz, 1940) 

Eddie Edwards & His Original Dixieland Jazz Band "Tiger Rag" (Jazz, 1946)

Billie Holliday "Strange Fuit"  (Jazz, 1939)  

Johnny Wiggs & His New Orleans "Zulu's Parade" (Jazz, 1950) 

Muggsy Spanier And His Ragtimers (Jazz, 1944)

Coleman Hawkins "Boff Boff (Mop Mop)" (Jazz, 1943) 

Wild Bill Davison "At the Jazz Band Ball"  (Jazz, 1943)

Sidney Bechet and His Feetwamers "Jelly Roll Blues" (Jazz, 1950) 

Max Kaminsky & His Jazz Band "Eccentric" (Jazz, 1944) 

Eddie Edwards & His Original Dixieland Jazz Band "Shake It And Break It" (Jazz, 1946)

Eddie Condon "Ballin the Jack" (Jazz, 1939) 

Eddie Condon "Basin Sreet Blues" (Jazz, 1943) 

Eddie Edwards & His Band "Skeleton Jangle" (jazz, 1944)

Bobby Hackett and His Orchestra "At Sundown" (Jazz, 1944) 

Eddie Edwards & His Original Dixieland Jazz Band "Lazy Daddy" (Jazz, 1946) 

Wild Bill Davidson "I'm Coming Virginia" (Jazz, 1946) 

DeParis Brothers Orchestra "I've Found a New Baby" (Jazz, 1944) 

Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band "Rosetta" (Jazz, 1944) 

Eddie Condon and His Windy City Seven "Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland" (Jazz, 1938) 

Wild Bill Davison And His Commodores "Baby, Won't You Please come Home" (Jazz, 1943)

Eddie Condon And His Band "Georgia Grind" (Jazz, 1940)

Jack Teagarden and his Swingin Gates "Chinatown. My Chinatown" (Jazz, 1944) 

Wild Bill Davison And His Commodores "Riverboat Shuffle" (Jazz, 1943) 

George Wettling & His Rhythm Kings "How Come You Do Me Like You Do Me" (Jazz, 1944)

Practical Tips From Jazz Masters

After I was shown the Charles Mingus Cat Training Toilet Training web page (guaranteed real), I gave an earful to my flunkies at the Institute. If one is not at the cutting edge of such surreal conjunctions, where is one?

To grease the machinery, I upped the number of nembutal breaks for Institute staff and threatened to shut off their twinkies ration. Productivity skyrocketed and here we are, all smiles. The results will be available in convenient .pdfs when Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane. Until then, here are your ten teasers:

• Harry Carney on Proper Pipette Cleaning
• Coleman Hawkins' Philately for Dummies
• Mal Waldron's 5 Steps to a Cleaner Colon 
• J.C.Higginbotham's Esperanto Recipe Book
• Buddy Rich Solves Your Septic Problems
• Warne Marsh on Mulch
• Charlie Shavers: Lepidopterist On The Move
• Johnny Griffin Grills For you!
• Zoot Sims' Duck Tape Omnibus
• Gato Barbieri's 10 Secrets For A Successful Luau

Watch your local google-owned website for the arrival of these valuable tracts.

"Coleman Hawkins: Sonic Gravitas and Bop" by Steve Provizer

A nice comment on my last post cited Coleman Hawkins as prime example of a musician who throughout his life sought new musical input. But, unlike the dramatic musical changes made by Coltrane, Byrd and Miles, Hawkins' playing changed less than the musical context did. He challenged himself by putting himself in situations more "modern" than the one in which he first reached musical maturity, but what he played changed only subtly.

And, while Miles, Trane and Byrd drastically changed their sound, either through mutes, electronics or overblowing, the particular quality of Hawkins' sound-its weight, timbre and vibratto-continued to project classic swing-era Hawkins, making it that much harder for us to hear the way he assimilated new influences into his playing. Our ears are so much drawn to that sound. The effect Hawkins' tone had of drawing the listener into the past became more and more pronounced as Lester Young's lighter tone began to dominate, then Rollins' and Coltrane's-closer to Hawkins, but with much less vibratto.

We'll listen to a few representative Hawkins recordings and try to gain some insight into how the process unfolded.

As a basis for comparison, we won't start with the earliest stuff from the 1920's, but from this recording, made in Paris in 1935, which shows us the basic, mature Hawkins. He's still a few years away from his 1939 Body and Soul triumph, which I won't post here, as it's so well known, but which you can easily find.

"Boston Celtics Jazz Lineup" By Steve Provizer

"

Last year at the beginning of the playoffs, I posted my take on the C's as jazz musicians. The only change in this year's lineup is Shaq.


Rajon Rondo=Miles Davis
Paul Pierce=Coleman Hawkins
Kevin Garnett=Booker Little 
Shaquille O'Neal-Walter Page
Ray Allen=Big Sid Catlett




(Not to be used for illegal gambling purposes...If only)