Room-With-Jazz or Jazz Room?

There's a very big difference between a room with jazz and a jazz room. 

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In a room with jazz, everyone is intent on their conversation and their food. If someone claps at the end of a tune, scattered people will join in as a guilty afterthought. 

In a jazz room, people are there to listen. Even if people are talking, most are using enough radar to ebb and flow with the music. Occasional bursts of "yea!" and "alright!" break through and individual solos are rewarded with applause. Rather than having to "work the crowd," the musicians can work WITH them.

Last night I was in a room-with-jazz. It kinda sucked.

The focus is on food and food has become a stable means of income for many places that before only sold drinks. I don't like it, but I get it.

As many tables as possible get squeezed into every possible space. Of course, that's always been the way. But now, rather than a few cocktail servers occasionally drifting by with drinks, you have a large waitstaff with menus, lots of plates, complicated cleanups and bill paying. Last night I was nearly run into or nearly ran into waiters four times. And, since the orientation of the tables is about maximizing the space, there are many seats that have no eye-line to the stage. If you go through the necessary gyrations to face the stage, I hope you have your chiropractor on speed dial. Alright, this is all very curmudgeonly. Full credit to the management of the place for having an actual bandstand and for hiring excellent musicians. The musicians are playing and are getting paid-that's good. I listened, as a few other people may listen, carefully. But, it remains intractably irritating to me that musicians who have devoted their lives to mastering this music are not being given the attention and respect they deserve. I don't think that performers as skilled in any other musical genre are treated this way.

"I eschew it."

A Big Sid Catlett Show

The Duplex of 10.19.17 featured the work of the great drummer Sid Catlett. As the playlist shows, he could play in any jazz style and make it work. He was also a master showman with the sticks. To see him in action, go here:  Enjoy the show.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

Benny Carter - "Swing It" Benny Carter, vocal, as, ‪Buster Bailey (cl as) Omer Simeon (as) Elmer Williams Chu Berry (ts cl) Horace Henderson (p) Bob Lessey (g) Israel Crosby(b) Sidney Catlett (d)‬, Columbia 1933

Fletcher Henderson - "Jangled Nerves" Dick Vance Joe Thomas Roy Eldridge (tp) Fernando Arbello Ed Cuffee (tb) Buster Bailey (cl as) OmerSimeon (as) Elmer Williams Chu Berry (ts cl) Horace Henderson (p) Bob Lessey (g) Israel Crosby(b) Sidney Catlett (d) Victor 1936

New Orleans Feetwarmers and Sidney Bechet "Shake it and Break It" S. Bechet (ss), S. de Paris (tp), S. Williams (tb), C. Jackson (p), B. Addis (g), W. Braud (b), S. Catlett (d) 1940 on VIctor

John Kirby Sextet "Jumping in the Pump Room" Charlie Shavers,cl:Buster Baily,as:Russel Procope,p:Billy Kyle, b:John Kirby,big sid catlett-d 1940 on Okeh, 1940

Benny Goodman "Pound Ridge"-Benny Goodman, cl, dir: Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams, Al Davis, t / Lou McGarity, Cutty Cutshall, tb / Skippy Martin, as, a / Clint Neagley, as / Vido Musso, George Berg, ts / Charles "Chuck" Gentry, bar / Mel Powell, p, a / Tom Morgan, g / John Simmons, sb / Sid Catlett, Chicago, 1941.

Eddie Condon w. Lee Wiley "Down With Love" from The Town Hall Concerts Forty-Four and Forty-Five-Eugene Schroeder-p· Sid Weiss-b· Sid Catlett-d· Lee Wileyv· Billy Butterfield-tp Eddie Condon -guitar, Monmouth Evergreen1944

Teddy WIlson Sextet "Don't be that way" The Onyx Club Original Live Recordings 1944, Teddy Wilson (piano), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Emmett Berry (trumpet), Benny Morton (trombone), Slam Stewart (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums) 1944 on Columbia

Esquire All Stars jazz concert "Rose Room," Art Tatum - piano, Big Sid Catlett-drums, Oscar Pettiford - bass, Barney Bigard - clarinet,  Christy Records 1945

Big Sid Catlett's Band, "Love For Scale" -Joe Guy (tp), Bull Moose Jackson (as), Bumps Myers and Illinois Jacquet (ts), Horace Henderson (p), Al Casey (g) and John Simmons (b). Capital 1945 

Big Sid Catlett and His AllStars "Humoresque Boogie"- Catlett, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts), Bill Gooden (org,celeste,vcl), Pete Johnson (p), Jimmy Shirley (g) and Gene Ramey (b). Manor 1946 

Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker, "Salt Peanuts," Sidney 'Big Sid' Catlett, Al Haig, and Curly Russell. 1945 Guild

John Kirby Sextet Musicomania-Charlie Shavers - trumpet, Buster Bailey - clarinet, Charlie Holmes - alto saxophone Billy Kyle - piano, John Kirby - bass, film-Sepia Cinderella, 1947

JATP "Sid Flips His Lid," Sid Catlett, d., Charlie Shavers, tpt, Hank jones, P, Verve 1947

New Ears and the New Jazz of the 1950's

One of the fascinating aspects of the "new" jazz music of the mid-late 1950's. was the background of its creators. Three spent formative years in rhythm and Blues bands: Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and Billy Higgins. Charlie Haden came from a folk-country background. Cecil Taylor was immersed in contemporary classical music. Steve Lacy and Roswell Rudd were "Dixieland" players. Henry Grimes studied classical and played R&B gigs. Dennis Charles came from traditional Caribbean music.

The Bebop language had so taken hold that subsequent 1950's jazz styles were deeply in its debt[all these names could have quotation marks around them]: Cool, West Coast, the Tristano school, Hard Bop, Chamber jazz, Soul Jazz. 

Questions present themselves: Was it easier for these players to make the dramatic musical leap they did because they were less in thrall to bop? If so, why? One thing strikes me-the language of bop is so rich and deep that it can simply be addictive. Once you're inside it, it's easy to become obsessed with exploring it.

An Hour with Smiling Billy Higgins

On the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour of 10.12.17, I played music of drummer Billy Higgins. He was a joy to watch, as he really seemed to love every minute of it. He was not a bombastic drummer, simply an inspirational one.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

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

Cal Tjader & Stan Getz Sextet "Crow's Nest" from "Cal Tjader & Stan Getz Sextet"1958 on Fantasy

Billy Higgins with the Teddy Edwards Quartet "Me and My Lover" from "Sunset Eyes" 1960 on Pacific Jazz

John Coltrane "Simple Like"[later called Like Sonny] from "Simple Like" 1962 on Roulette

Thelonious Monk "Let's Call This" from "Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk" 1960 on Riverside

Steve Lacy with Don Cherry "Evidence" from "Evidence" 1962 on New Jazz

Lee Morgan "You Go To My Head" from "The Gigolo" 1965 on Blue Note

Bobby Hutcherson "Blues Mind Matter" from "Stick-Up!" 1966 on Blue Note

Andrew Hill "Black Sabbath" from "Dance With Death" 1968 on Blue Note

1970's Boston Jazz

On the 10.5.17 edition of the Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour, WZBC, we sample an eclectic mix of 70's Boston Jazz, courtesy of my guest Dick Vacca, author of the Boston Jazz Chronicles. 

LISTEN HERE

Baird Hersey’s Year of the Ear "Lookin’ for That Groove" from "Lookin’ for That Groove" 1977 on Arista Novus
 
The Fringe "The Message" from "The Fringe" 1978 on Ap-Go-Ga
 
Gary Burton Quartet "Coral" from "Times Square" 1978 on ECM 
 
Buddy Rich Big Band "Nutville" from "The Roar of '74" 1973 on Groove Merchant
 
Joe Maneri "Zeibekiko" from "Art-I-Facts" 1973 on NEC


Mae Arnette w/ Phil Wilson Sextet "All in Love is Fair" from "Getting It All Together" 1976 on Outrageous Records

Getting It All Together "Space-A-Nova II" from "Brighter Days" 1977 on Outrageous Records

Arnie Cheatham "Road Through the Wall, Part 4" from "Thing" 1972 on Porter Records
 
Dave McKenna "If Dreams Come True" from "Giant Strides" 1979 on Concord
 

What's the Right Tempo For That Tune?

There aren't that many categories for song tempos in jazz: up/fast, medium-up, medium, medium-slow and ballad/slow, but the permutations are endless. Is there a "right" tempo for a tune? 

Some songs seem to invite a wide latitude of tempo without losing their internal musical-emotional logic. I'd suggest as examples Autumn Leaves, But Not For Me, Come Rain or Come Shine, Our Love is Here to Stay...On the other hand, there are a lot of tunes that really call out for a narrow range of tempos-Good Morning Heartache, St. Thomas, After You've Gone, Donna Lee, Liza...

I find there are certain musicians who seem to always call tunes at the tempo I would choose, like Bobby Hackett, Roy Eldridge and Benny Golson. There are some who stretch tempi a little bit and make them work-Miles Davis (usually slower) and Art Pepper (usually faster) come to mind.

There are musicians like Charles Mingus and Steven Bernstein who sometimes re-work tunes so that they become almost indistinguishable from the standard versions. In this new aesthetic territory, the tempo becomes highly frangible. 

Then, there are tempo choices that just seem wrong-headed; where either the sentiment of the song or the contour of the melody clashes with the speed at which it's played. It's easier to see this in sung versions where you can hear the words, but in instrumental versions, it can also be irksome.

Let's start by comparing an original conception with a jazz re-working and listen to Kurt Weill play his composition "Speak Low," at 116 beats per minute, followed by Sonny Clark's version of the tune at 170 beats per minute:



In the Clark version, there is a shift between "Latin" and swing in the rhythm section, harmonized background horn parts, virtuosic bop playing. This version does not "Speak Low," but it does build on what the tune offers and essentially creates a convincing new tune on the bones of the old.

In this version of  "Dancing in the Dark," the tempo is a little bit faster than when first introduced in the film "The Bandwagon." The quality of Astaire's delivery does give the sense of this tempo, or something close to it,  being the "right" one.


The very slow tempo Cannonball Adderley chose for the same tune, his melodic ornamentations, interpolations and alterations were extreme enough that for several spins, I wasn't sure if I was hearing the standard or an original ballad by Adderly. See if you can buy into this approach.


Here are two versions of "Young and Foolish." The first is typical of the tempo usually chosen for the tune; perhaps even a bit slower. 

  
In the above, Mark Murphy takes the same tune way up. He uses "stop-times," key changes and horn obligatti for variety and creates a completely different approach. He renders an viable alternate vision, but to me, the lyrics don't really work at this tempo. There's a ruefulness to them that gets steamrolled. 

Here's a Clark Terry revamp of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." 

The melody actually fits well in this tempo and the performance is terrific. The original emotional impact of the song is swept away here, but its intent is so far away from the original that this version can be taken on its own virtuosic, up tempo terms.

Many jazz people take "My Shining Hour" at an up tempo. I happen to think that the song deserves to be heard at a slower tempo, which is how I do it when I play it. Here are two contrasting versions. 


Degustibus non disputatum est, of course, but I think it's fair to say that when choosing how fast to play an instrumental, there can be a lot of latitude-melodies can often sustain themselves in a wide range of tempos. But, in choosing to alter the usual tempo of a tune with known lyrics, musicians need to reckon with the emotional weight and meaning of the lyrics.