Muslim Jazz Show

Abdal Karim-Billy Higgins

At this historical juncture in the U.S., it's not a bad thing to recognize the great music contributed by American members of the Muslim faith. Recorded from the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour program of 12.17.15.

LISTEN HERE

Kenny Dorham "The Prophet" from "Cafe Bohemia VOl 2" 1956 on Blue Note 

Thelonius Monk "In Walked Bud" from "In Walked Bud" 1947 on Jazz Forever 

Dakota Staton "The Late, Late Show" from "The Late, Late Show" 1957 on Capital 

Dexter Gordon "Broadway" from "Our Man in Paris" 1963 on Blue Note 

Ornette Coleman "Ramblin'" from "Change of the Century" 1960 on Atlantic 

Yusef Lateef "I'm just a lucky so and so" from "The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef" 1962 on Compulsion 

Abbey Lincoln "Throw it Away" from "A Turtle's Dream" 1995 on Verve 

Muhal Richard Abrams "Afrisong" from "Afrisong" 2009 on Candid 

Curtis Fuller & Hampton Hawes "A-Drift" from "With French Horns - EP" 957 on Prestige 

Charlie Parker "Little Willie Leaps" from "At Birdland Vol 1" 1950 on Ember


Please let me know if you have trouble accessing the file. The Cloud has its own logic and you may have to use an app to play it.

Remembering Chris Rich

Chris Rich was the guy who started this blog. His first post was on 7/18/09. His posts concentrated on musicians like Matthew Shipp, Bill Dixon and George Russell, whom he thought deserved wider recognition and on free jazz in general. His intelligence was palpable and his profane articulateness, his ability to find the right word and put it in arresting context, was startling. No surprise that his writing was insightful, powerful and pulled no punches. 

In 2010, he invited me to post and soon after asked me to take over the blog. I tried to get him to stay, but there was a lot of fucked up troll activity and I think he just got tired of it. When Chris left the blog, he took on this troll behind the scenes, in a long-term grudge match. He chased him around the globe, trying to flush him out and get him, if not arrested, then at least banned. I think he got partial satisfaction on that.

He was a squarish, solid guy, who apparently came from what has been referred to as "good stock;" at least, he referenced ancestors who settled in Yankee redoubts around Massachusetts. He walked ungodly distances and his robust physical presence made him seem like someone who'd be around for a hundred years, but his ingestion of various substances made you suspect that his time here might be shortened.

Chris was a kind of gatekeeper/factotum/contractor at Prof. Chalfen's 186. His digs there were spartan-a mattress, some shelves of cd's and books, ashtrays and tins with pot and tobacco and his computer. He relished the nocturnal accumulation and parsing of data, putting his face inches from the computer screen and extracting information that was invisible to me and probably to you.

He tried hard to help me get a gig when I sorely needed one and hooked me up with the people at AllAboutJazz.com. 

He was a complicated cat and I didn't quite "get" him. I had heard him turn on people and become an enemy you didn't want and I suspected that with a bit of miscommunication, this might happen with me, so I distanced myself. I missed hanging with him, but had enough drama in my life and wanted to avoid any more.

So, I only saw him occasionally in the last few years and what I know about him during that time is limited to what someone else told me. I retain a strong vision of this very vivid person, but mine is an impressionistic view of the man. I invite readers to contribute their own stories and help flesh out the story of the sui generis Christopher Rich, who died last week. 

AUTUMN AND BALLADS

It's fall. Linger in the splendors of maple, ash and birch. It may help you infuse winter's stark chiaroscuro with some warmth. For those who are not graced with a vista of changing foliage, I've interspersed a few samples.

Ella


Sinatra

Playboy Jazz Radio Show

Hef and Armstrong

This program, broadcast on 10.1.15, features music associated with Playboy, either recorded for their record label, or played at Playboy Jazz festivals. Founder Hugh Hefner made jazz an important part of the "playboy lifestyle" when he founded the magazine in 1954. Playboy started a Jazz Poll in 1957 and held their first Jazz festival in Chicago in 1959.

LISTEN HERE


PLAYLIST
Oscar Peterson "The Golden Striker" from "Playboy Jazz Allstars," 1959) on PB

Maynard Ferguson "Portuguese Love" from "Playboy Jazz Festival" 1982

Curtis Stigers "My Foolish Heart" from "Playboy Jazz After Dark Vol II" 2005) on PB

Dizzy Gilespie "Wheatleigh Hall" from "Playboy Jazz Allstars," 1959) on PB

The Great Quartet ‬ "‪Inner Glimpse‬" from "‪Playboy Jazz Festival, 1982‬"

Weather Report‬ "‪Volcano For Hire" from "Playboy Jazz Festival‬," 1982)

Milt Jackson "Bag's New Groove" from "Playboy Jazz Allstars," 1959) on PB

Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald "I Didn't Know About You" from "Playboy Jazz After Dark vol 2" 2005) on PB

Gerry Mulligan "Gee Baby - Ain't I Good to You" from "Playboy Jazz Allstars," 1959 on PB

Cy Coleman "Playboy's Theme" from "Playboy Jazz Allstars," 1959 on PB

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and Joe WIlliams, "Everyday I Have the Blues," 1960 on Playboy After Dark

Playboy Swings

I just read an advanced copy of Playboy Swings by Patty Farmer. There's a quality of flackdom about the book-lots of exclamation marks and boosting going on here by Ms. Farmer, but while it reads almost like an in-house publication, there is enough solid information in the book to make a person seriously evaluate the relationship between the Playboy empire and jazz between 1955-1975.

Hefner was a jazz fan, as were the other hipster-swinger-ad-men who shaped Playboy. This meant that they would use jazz-and not rock and roll or pop music-as sound track for the lifestyle mythology they were creating first in the magazine and later, on television, in the clubs and resorts. The first interviewer for the magazine was Alex Haley and his first subject was Miles Davis. The Playboy Jazz Poll started in 1957 and their first Jazz Festival was in 1959. They would soon team up with George Wein for future festivals. For many years, these festivals and venues provided nice gigs for the upper echelon of jazz musicians.

The book places a lot of emphasis on the matrix of clubs as a training ground for future stars, which it was-singers and comedians, primarily. What was interesting to me, though, was that the clubs and resorts were a tremendous source of employment for thousands of non-star musicians and comics who did not become household names, but were able to earn a good living; first doing the Playboy circuit, then playing larger rooms as a result of their experience on that circuit. Many of these guys (yes, the musicians and comedians were almost all guys) were playing in strip clubs and other assorted dives when they got the call from Playboy. That's where they would probably have remained had they not been hired for the clubs, where they enjoyed a significant upgrade in quality of venue and in pay. At its height, Playboy was the largest employer of talent in the country.

Hefner seemed to have a passion for details and the ability to surround himself with competent people, and his clubs, festivals, etc, were run with precision. Artists, at least those interviewed for this book, said that Playboy events ran smoothly and that they were well treated. 

Hefner's commitment to civil rights came as something of a surprise to me. He made sure his events and clubs were always integrated. When he made the mistake of treating some clubs in the South as franchises, thereby ceding control, some local owners began instituting segregated policies. Hefner bought back the franchises, taking steep financial losses in the process. He and Norman Grantz deserve much credit for making sure that black musicians were treated as first class citizens.

Hef with The Elf

Passing the Late Night Jazz TV Torch (?)

Jazz on TV is, of course, a non-starter. Programs like "The Sound of Jazz," "Frankly Jazz,""The Subject is Jazz" and events like Clifford Brown on the Soupy Sales show are to Millennials as Medicine Shows are to seniors.

The last redoubts for jazz were the "hip" talk shows and jazz hasn't had a good track record even there since Johnny Carson retired. The passing of trumpeter Clark Terry, a stalwart of the Tonight Show Orchestra was a symbolic marker of the end of a 60-year relationship between big band jazz and television.               

       

         Clark Terry

Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste will be the bandleader as Stephen Colbert takes over for David Letterman on the Late Show. This represents a return, of sorts, to late night bandleaders with a jazz background. What are his chances? Let's look at the history and the landscape:

Post-Carson, Jay Leno tried to keep one foot in the Tonight Show's jazz past, while bridging to the present with Branford Marsalis, leading to an often uneasy three years. Marsalis was followed by Kevin Eubanks, a better fit who had a fifteen-year tenure. Although Eubanks had jazz chops, he weighed in as a more natural rock guy and his personality jibed better with the format than Marsalis'.

Conan O'Brien's band-Max Weinberg and company-was a hybrid, with a fair amount of swing. Was too much jazz one of the elements that pushed Conan off network TV and onto cable?

David Letterman was a pop/rock/country guy and never cared much for jazz (Knowing Carson was a pretty staunch jazz fan, if Dave really wanted that gig, he shoulda feigned interest). Letterman's band, led by Paul Shaffer, went the funk-jazz route that began to dominate late night TV. Actually it was the Saturday Night Live band that led the way-Howard Shore, with Lenny Pickett's Tower of Power sound on tenor sax. Shaffer was a member of that SNL band, as was Seth Meyers current bandleader Fred Armisen. Cleto Escobeto, Kimmel's bandleader is also out of that tradition. 

Jimmy Fallon's band The Roots, is much more in the contemporary black music vein. While it's true that Jon Batiste and The Roots both bring a black sensibility, it's pretty different. The Roots are Philadelphia and Batiste is New Orleans. The Roots busked on the street, but with bucket drums and rapping. Jon Batiste has an advanced music degree and his family has a long N.O. jazz pedigree. 

Batiste is solid for the Second Line and loves to move into the crowd and stir things up. As far as late night talk show audience participation goes, social media is now where that is supposed to happen (R.I.P. 'Stump The Band'). It's hard to think that the Second Line idea will mix easily in this high-price, high-stakes, timed-to-the-second context. Going into the audience knowing you have exactly 4'33" to get people dancing in the aisle, back onstage and back in their seats might tend to undermine spontaneity. After all, this is valuable time we're talking about.

Well, as we jazz types find ourselves saying more and more often: "maybe a little exposure will help." Can't hurt, right?

[ADDENDUM: I didn't see the whole show, but I did see this clip of "Everyday People," which they performed with a number of guest musicians. Very, very nice job. A few musicians went briefly into the audience, while most stayed onstage; a compromise, but the energy was great and the whole thing didn't drag on, as these multi-star performances usually do.]

Donna Lee Sing-Along

In honor of Charlie Parker's birthday, here's the tune Donna Lee, with my lyrics below. You're all invited to think of me as the bebop Mitch MIller and sing along.

DONNA LEE

Donna Lee has a melody that teaches us that

Learning the trade of music takes a lifetime,

But the joy that comes from knowing that this

Rocky road you choose can let you

Open up your soul,

To the mysteries around you,

Means the path has found you.

Sing a tune by Charlie Parker or a ballad by Sinatra,

Anything that can train your ears to listen

To the subtlest things.

Honeysuckle Rose can sing but

She gets bored with singing in just one key.

Learning the trade of music you must

Set a goal like learning to sing Miss

Donna Lee in twelve keys,

Only time can make it happen,

You had no idea time could possibly go so slow…

When you have heard the half steps and the

Minot thirds you think you’re almost home only

Now you see that you’ve got four bars left to sing without a breath

But now you’re flying you know Donna Lee won’t get the best of you.

Tunes From Swing Street

Playing pre-war music from some of the denizens of 52nd St. on the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour WZBC with Steve Provizer 08/27/2015.

LISTEN HERE.

 Eddie Condon and His Orchestra "The Eel" 1933 on Brunswick 

 Eddie Condon and His Orchestra "Home Cooking"  1933) on Brunswick 

 Eddie Condon and His Orchestra "Tennessee Twilight" 1933 on Columbia 

 Eddie Condon and His Orchestra "Madame Dynamite" 1933) on Columbia 

 Frank Froeba & His Swing Band "The music goes round and round" 1935 on Columbia 

 Louis Prima & His New Orleans Gang "Let's Have a Jubilee" 1934)on Brunswick 

 Louis Prima & His New Orleans Gang "House Rent Party Day" 1934 on Brunswick 

 Stuff Smith And His Onyx Club Boys "Old joe's hittin' the jug" 1936 on Vocalion 

 Stuff Smith And His Onyx Club Boys "Your'e a Viper"  1936 on Vocalion 

 Red McKenzie and his Rhythm Kings "What's the reason I'm Not Pleasin You" 1935 on Vocalion 

 Red McKenzie and his Rhythm Kings "You've Been Taking Lessons in Love" 1935 on Vocalion 

 Wingy Manone & His Orchestra "Isle of Capri" 1935 on Vocalion 

 Wingy Manone & His Orchestra "Nickel in the Slot" 1935 on Okeh 

 Henry Allen And His Orchestra "Every Minute of the Hour" 1936 on Vocalion 

 Henry Allen And His Orchestra "Lost" 1936 on Vocalion 

 Frank Newton & His Uptown Serenaders "You showed me the way 1937 on Variety 

 Frank Newton & His Uptown Serenaders "The Onyx Hop" 1937 on Variety 

 The Three Peppers "Swing Out, Uncle Wilson" 1937 on Variety 

 The Three Peppers "The Duck's Yas Yas Yas" 1937 on Variety 

 Joe Marsala & His Chicagoans "Jazz Me Blues" 1937)on Variety 

 Fats Waller and his Hot Piano "I'm Crazy About My Baby"1931 on Columbia 

 Art Tatum "Tea for Two" 1933 on Brunswick 

 Art Tatum "Sophisticated Lady" 933 on Brunswick 

 Teddy Wilson "Rosetta" 1935 on Brunswick 

 Teddy Wilson Between the devil and the deep blue sea" 1937 on Brunswick 

 Clarence Profit Trio "Don't Leave Me" 1939) on Previously Unissued 

 Maxine Sullivan and Her Orchestra "loch lomond" 1937 on Vocalion 

 Bunny Berigan and His Boys "A Little Bit Later On" 1936 on Vocalion 

 John Kirby and His Orchestra "Can't We Be Friends ?" 1940 on Columbia 

 John Kirby and His Orchestra "Coquette"1940)on Columbia 

 Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra "I Hear Music" 1940 on Okeh 

 Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra "Overheard in a Cocktail Lounge" 1937 on Variety 

 Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra "Practice Makes Perfect" 1940 on Okeh 

 Mildred Bailey and Her Orchestra "More Than You Know" 1936 on Vocalion 

Fletcher Henderson, Part II

The second of two Duplex Mystery Jazz Hours devoted to Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, broadcast 8.21.15 on WZBC.ORG.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Come on Baby" (Jazz, 1928) on Columbia

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Freeze N Melt"  1929) on Columbia

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Raisin the Roof"  1929) on Romeo

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blazin'" (Jazz, 1929) on Columbia  

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Wang Wang Blues"  1929) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Chinatown" (Jazz, 1930) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Somebody Loves Me" 1930) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Keep a Song in Your Soul" 1930 Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sweet and Hot" (Jazz, 1931) Columbia  

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "My Gal Sal" (Jazz, 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sugarfoot Stomp" 1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Clarinet Marmalade" 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Hot and Anxious"  1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Comin' and Goin'"  1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Singin' the Blues" 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sugar" from "" 1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blue Moments"  1932) on Unissued Master

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "New King Porter Stomp" 1932) Okeh

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Underneath the Harlem Moon" 1932 Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Honeysuckle Rose" 1932) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Yeah Man" (Jazz, 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Queer Notions" (Jazz, 1933) Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Can You Take It?" 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "King Porter’ Stomp" 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Christopher Columbus" 1936) Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Stealin' Apples"  1936) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blue Lou" 1936) on Vocalion 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Rhythm Of the Tambourine" 1937) Vocalion 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Back in Your Own Backyard" 1937 Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Chris and His Gang" 1937) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sing You Sinners" 1937) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Moten Swing" (Jazz, 1938) on Vocalion 

10 Ballads to Slow Down Summer

I'm still cold from last winter, so the idea of rounding the corner into autumn is not thrilling. I invite you to luxuriate in these beautiful ballads. Let them keep the thought of neck-high snow at bay while they temper the burn of August heat.

Clifford Brown-I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance


Lawrence Brown, Ben Webster-All Too Soon

Fletcher Henderson, Pt. 1

The first of two Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour programs on the large ensembles of Fletcher Henderson who, along with arranger Don Redman, is largely responsible for what became "swing" music. Broadcast 8.14.15 on WZBC.

Listen HERE.

PLAYLIST

 Fletcher Henderson "The Dicty Blues" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Teapot Dome Blues" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Go Long Mule"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Shanghai Shuffle"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Copenhagen"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "How Come You Do Like Me Like You Do?"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Everybody Loves My Baby" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Sugarfoot Stomp" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "What-cha-call-em Blues" f(1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "T.N.T."  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "The Stampede" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Jackass Blues"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Henderson Stomp"  (1926) on Columbia 

NOTE: The second CD I recorded from the show was corrupted, so the following part of the playlist is not on this recording.

 Fletcher Henderson "The Chant"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Snag It" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Rocky Mountain Blues"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Tozo" f (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "St Louis Shuffle"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Whiteman Stomp"  ( 1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "I'm Coming Viginia" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Variety Stomp"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "St. Louis Blues"  (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Goose Pimples" (1926) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Hop Off" (1927) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "King Porter Stomp"(1928) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "D Natural Blues" (1928) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson "Oh Baby" (1928) on Harmony 

 Fletcher Henderson "Feeling Good"  (1928) on Harmony 

 Fletcher Henderson "I'm Feeling Devilish"  (1928) on Harmony 

 Fletcher Henderson "Old Black Joe Blues" (1928) on Romeo 

Holographic Necrophilia

Very glad to see that the holographic techs and entrepreneurs have expanded the resurrection of dead musicians into more than just an audio experience. Now it's time to take it a step further and bring back those who've been paired in recordings to an audience hungry for the 3 (and soon to be 4)-D concert experience. 

These pairings, already put together for stage and records, are a no-brainer for on-stage holograms: Natalie with Nat., Celine Dion and Sinatra, Ol Blue Eyes and Hayley Reinhart, Lauren Hill and Bob Marley, Lisa-Marie and Elvis and, of course, Rod Stewart and Ella Fitzgerald, 

The real test for these holographic pioneers will be whether, instead of the usual bathetic, analog, two-dimensional pictures, they are ready to trot out Bob Marley, Lisa Marie and the rest not only as adults, but as cutie pie multi-dimensional three-year-olds and mischievous, precocious teens.

Yes, pairing Rod and Ella is like sinking a leaf blower engine into a Ferrari; like putting Twinkie creme filling into a Godiva chocolate; like putting Donald Trump's hair on Sophia Loren's head. It shouldn't even be conceived of.  It shouldn't be done. But it has been, and it will. 

                     

And remember, you holographic entrepreneurs: it was our idea to do this. Pay up, or the Institute will sic its phalanx of attorneys on you.

The Rahsaan Program

An hour and a half of music celebrating the great spirit Rahsaan Roland Kirk on the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour, WZBC, 8/6/15.

Listen HERE. If clocking that doesn't work, try this: https://goo.gl/wqDAiu

PLAYLIST

Triple Threat, Triple Threat-King, 1956  

Our Love Is Here To Stay, Introducing Roland Kirk, Argo, 1960

Kirk's Work Roland Kirk & Jack McDuff, Prestige, 1961 

We Free Kings, Mercury, 1961

I Talk With The Spirits, Limelight, 1964

Peggy's Blue Skylight, Tonight at Noon, Atlantic 1965 

Inflated Tear The Black and Crazy Blues, A Laugh for Rory, Many Blessings, Atlantic ,1967

Volunteered Slavery, Atlantic, 1969

Runnin' From the Trash, Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata-Atlantic, 1971

Bright Moments- Atlantic, recorded at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, June 1973 

Ain't No Sunshine From Blacknuss, Atlantic,1972

Pedal Up, Down Beat 1975 poll-winners' show

Anysha, Other Folks' Music, Atlantic, 1976

Watergate blues, Boogie-Woogie String Along For Real,Warner Bros, 1977

Theme for the Eulipions, The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man, Warner Bros., 1976

I Eye eye Montreux Jazz Festival video, 1972

New Orleans Trumpets and the Lowly Hankie

I know what you're saying: finally, a post that combines jazz and handkerchiefs...

Truth is, the lowly handkerchief has a venerable presence in New Orleans jazz trumpet. Maybe it's the humidity. One of the first great New Orleans trumpeters, Freddie Keppard, played with a handkerchief covering his valves-at least when he thought other trumpet players were close enough to cop his fingerings, although Sidney Bechet disputes that. Freddie seems to have been paranoid enough about other players copping his licks that he apparently ceded the chance to make the first "jazz" recording to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

Tommy Ladnier, another user of the handkerchief. 

Benny Golson Show

The Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour of 7.23.15 on WZBC.ORG, 90.3 featured Benny Golson, one of the most singular talents in jazz: tenor sax master, arranger and composer of some of the great jazz tunes: Stablemates, Whisper Not, I Remember Clifford...

Listen HERE.

PLAYLIST

Benny Golson Nonet "Whisper Not" from "Benny Golson's New York Scene" (Jazz, 1957) on Contemporary Records 

Benny Golson Quintet  "Something In B Flat" from "Benny Golson's New York Scene" (Jazz, 1957) on Contemporary Records 

Benny Golson Sextet "Step Lightly" from "The Modern Touch" (Jazz, 1957) on Riverside 

Benny Golson Sextet "Hymn To the Orient" from "The Modern Touch" (Jazz, 1957) on Riverside 

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers "Blues For Marcel" from "Des_Femmes_Disparaissent_(Soundtrack)" (Jazz, 1958) 

Benny Golson And The Philadelphians "Stablemates" from "Benny Golson And The Philadelphians" (Jazz, 1958) on United Artists 

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers "Along Came Betty" from "Moanin'" (Jazz, 1958) on Blue Note 

Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet "Along came Betty" from "Another Git Together" (Jazz, 1962) on Mercury 

Benny Golson Quintet "A Bit of Heaven" from "Gone With Golson" (Jazz, 1959) on Prestige 

Benny Golson (solo) "You're My Thrill" from "Take A Number From 1 To 10" (Jazz, 1960) on ARGO 

Benny Golson (duo) "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" from "Take A Number From 1 To 10" (Jazz, 1960) on ARGO 

Benny Golson Quintet "Little Karin" from "Take A Number From 1 To 10" (Jazz, 1960) on ARGO 

The Jazztet "Farmer's Market" from "Jazztet at Birdhouse" (Jazz, 1961) on ARGO 

Annie Ross "Farmer's Market" from "Farmer" (1952) on Prestige 

The Jazztet and John Lewis "Milano" from "The Jazztet and John Lewis" (Jazz, 1961) on ARGO 

Benny Golson's Orchestra "You're Driving Me Crazy / Moten Swing" from "Pop+Jazz=Swing" (Jazz, 1962) on Audio Fidelity 

Benny Golson's Orchestra "Ornithology / How High The Moon" from "Pop+Jazz=Swing" (Jazz, 1962) on Audio Fidelity 

Art Farmer - Benny Golson Sextet "Killer Joe" from "Meet the Jazztet" (Jazz, 1960) on ARGO 

Manhattan Transfer "Killer Joe" from "Vocalese" (Jazz, 1985) on Atlantic 

Benny Golson Quartet "Mad About the Boy" from "Free" (Jazz, 1963) on ARGO 

Benny Golson And The International Jazz Orchestra "Stockholm Sojourn" from "Stockholm Sojourn" (Jazz, 1964) on Prestige 

Benny Golson Sextet "If I should Lose You" from "Just Jazz" (Jazz, 1962) on Audio Fidelity 

Jazz Bass Technique Evolution-Pt. 2

The question inspiring these bass posts is: Has the playing on this instrument progressed farther technically than on any other jazz instrument?

In Part One, we listened to foundational tuba and bass players from the 20's and 30's. We'll pick up now starting with Jimmy Blanton who, if not the first "modern" player, has as good a claim to that title as anyone.

Jimmy Blanton

Blanton's strong regional reputation led him to Duke Ellington's band in 1939, where he played until he died in 1942, at age 23, from TB.

Slam Stewart had the technique of the walking bass line down, but was also unique in his ability to bow solos and sing/hum along with them (see my previous post on arco-bowed-bass playing.

Jazz Bass Technique Evolution

Watching Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten led me to ask whether the technique used to play any instrument in jazz has evolved farther from its beginnings than the bass:
                                     

 

The role of the bass in early jazz was to keep time and harmony, a more limiting role than that taken by horn players, who were free to create and embellish melodies and counter-lines. So, you had Bechet, Armstrong, Morton, Hawkins, Dodds, etc., able to take all the technique they'd acquired and put it in service to the music. It's also relevant that until the early 1930's, in order to make a living, players had to learn to play both string bass and tuba, instruments requiring very different techniques.

Early bass and tuba players in jazz occasionally stepped out beyond their usual role, but going too far, too often, in a polyphonic and/or horn-dominated environment would have meant straying too far from the anchoring role the bass was expected to play. One does get a whiff of an untapped reservoir of technique from the occasional startling solo and the overall assurance of the playing.

Here's Bill Johnson, slapping and bowing. Interesting that it's in the "primitive" musical context of jug and comb-kazoo:


Here's Steve Brown, making sure he's audible by bowing his way through the tune and playing a tricky bowed-plucked solo:

Bob Dylan and the Jazz Avant-Garde

Bob Dylan performed at the 80th Sinatra birthday tribute in 1995. In 2004, he joined forces with Wynton Marsalis at a benefit concert for Jazz at Lincoln Center and his 2015 release, Shadows in the Night was, let's say, jazz-informed, but early on in his career, Dylan had truck with edgier jazz folk.

While not on the level of finding the lost Buddy Bolden cylinder, it would be interesting to hear a recording of Bob Dylan and Cecil Taylor when they jammed on The Water is Wide in the early 1960's. Dylan mentions this session in his Chronicles, Vol 1 and adds: "Cecil could play regular piano if he wanted to." Note that Tom Wilson, Dylan's producer at this time, produced Cecil Taylor's first LP, Jazz Advance. 

Cecil Taylor

Bob and Tom Wilson

Here's the tune in a 1975 incarnation, with Dylan and Joan Baez.

Dylan says he also jammed with Ornette Coleman associates drummer Billy Higgins and trumpeter Don Cherry. No specific tunes are mentioned.

                                          
Listen to the group and imagine what you will.

These musical intersections happened, says Dylan: "...at a creepy...little coffeehouse on Bleeker Street near Thompson run by a character called the Dutchman." I'm surmising it was the Cafe Rafio, at 165 Bleecker. 

Dylan also says that he crashed a Thelonius Monk rehearsal where he told Monk that he played folk music. Monk's reply: "We all play folk music."

Thanks to Elijah Wald for passing on much of the info in this post. Be on the lookout for Elijah's book on the 50th anniversary of Dylan going electric at Newport. It's due out in a couple of weeks. Go here for info.

 

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
                     

More Live Music on the Duplex

Acting under a strict injunction by the FCC to get live jazz on the airwaves, the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour on WZBC.ORG this week featured in-studio playing by tenor saxophonist Rich Halley and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, members of the Rich Halley 4, which played at the outpost186 on 5.22.15. I also played a few recordings by the band. Other members of the group are Clyde Reed on bass and Carson Halley on drums.

Listen to this one hour show HERE.

Charlie Kohlhase on the Duplex

Charlie K., one of the main folks on the Boston jazz scene, guested on the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour on WZBC, 5.14.15. I played some tracks featuring Charlie and he was also kind enough to allow me to put him on the spot with some blindfold tests, which are scattered throughout the program.

You can hear it HERE.

Playlist

Charlie Kohlhase Quintet "Tout De Moi" from "Plays Roswell Rudd" (Jazz, 2000) on NADA 

Charlie Kohlhase Quintet "Emanation" from "Plays Roswell Rudd" (Jazz, 2000) on NADA 

Red Rodney "Dig This" from "Quintets 1955-59" (Jazz, 1955) on Fresh Sound 

Kenny Dorham "Sunrise in Mexico" from "Whistle Stop" (Jazz, 1961) on Blue Note 

Charlie Kolhase "Decide for Yourself" from "Adventures" (Jazz, 2009) on Boxholder 

Bob Dorough "Right On My Way Home" from "Right on My Way Home" (Jazz, 1997) on Blue Note 

Serge Chaloff "Keen and Peachy" from "Keen and Peachy" (Jazz, 1950) on Uptown 

Charlie Kolhase Quintet "Eventuality`" from "Eventuality" (Jazz, 2000) on NADA 

Fud Livingston "Humpty - Dumpty" from "The Story of F.L." (Jazz, 2009) on Jazz Oracle 

Charlie Kolhase "Mergens Merganser" from "You Start" (Jazz, 2000) on Boxholder 

Ron Miles "Erase Yourself" from "My Cruel Heart" (Jazz, 1996) on Gramavision 

Mario Pavane Sextet "Day of the Dark Bright Light" from "Deez to Blues" (Jazz, 2006) on Playscape 

Cab Calloway & Chu Berry "Special Delivery" from "Penguin Swing" (Jazz, 1938) on Archives of Jazz