Interracial Jazz Recording (#34). Jimmie Rodgers w. Louis and Lil Armstrong

Here's the Jimmie Rodgers-Louis Armstrong recording I promised some posts ago, with the bonus of Lil Armstrong on piano. The Armstrongs were not billed because Louis was signed with Okeh and this is a Victor recording. 

              

In 1970, Armstrong played the tune with Johnny Cash on his television show and said:  “I had been knowin’ Jimmie for a long time and following his music. After meeting one morning, Jimmie said, ‘Man, I feel like singing some blues.’ I said, ‘Okay, daddy, you sing some blues and I’m gonna blow behind you.’ And that’s how the record started.” 

It's a blues, but doesn't strictly adhere to the standard 12-bar chord sequence, except during Louis' solo. Despite the labels given to what each plays-country, blues, jazz- they share a foundational emotional approach and mesh perfectly. The group was never reunited as Rodgers died from tuberculosis in 1933.

Jimmie Rodgers (vcl,g) acc by Louis Armstrong (tp) Lil Armstrong (p) Hollywood, CA, July 16, 1930.

• Blue yodel no 9 [Standing on the corner]- Vic 23580, RCA LPM2112, Jazum 13, RCA (Eu)NL89823, (F)FXM1-7106, Franklin Mint GJR054, BBC (E)REB683, RCA Victor 68682-2 [CD], RCA 2115517-2 [CD]

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

Interracial Jazz Recording (#32): Seger Ellis, the Dorseys and Louis Armstrong

Seger Ellis

Seger Ellis had an interesting career. He was a piano player and good enough to be recorded as a soloist. He performed on radio and in vaudeville and was encouraged to sing. Although his tenor voice doesn't exactly swing, you can't say he was rhyhmically stiff or stilted. 

When he recorded for Okeh records, Ellis apparently got to choose the small studio groups he played with and looking at the lineup here, he obviously made good choices.                                                              

Satch

Nice clarinet intro by Jimmy Dorsey. The ensemble is active behind Ellis' vocal. Armstrong's solo is an actual improvisation, while Tommy Dorsey's take on the bridge is more of a paraphrase of the melody. Session man Harry Hoffman's ad libbing on violin is actually quite good.

At this point, there wasn't anyone who was called a "jazz singer," per se. Armstrong, Teagarden, Crosby, Ethel Waters and a passel of female blues/vaudeville singers were in the process of creating it. Ellis made his own small contribution to the process.

Seger Ellis (vcl) acc by Louis Armstrong (tp) Tommy Dorsey (tb) Jimmy Dorsey (cl) Harry Hoffman (vln) Justin Ring (p,celeste) Stan King (d) New York, June 4, 1929.

• S’posin’- OKeh 41255, Ariel 4459, Jazum 13, CBS 65251
• To be in love (espesh’lly with you)- Ariel 4460

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

The Worst Xmas Tunes

This is not to knock the idea of hearing songs befitting the season. There are some that retain their charm despite being in heavy rotation decade after decade-mostly the religious ones, not the secular ones, although "The Christmas Song" as sung by Nat King Cole and Judy Garland's version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are hard not to like.

The fact that the ones I list below are still disturbing the ether is beyond me. And why didn't "(Everyone's Waitin' For) the Man With the Bag" and "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" get more traction? Even the best efforts of the Institute cannot elucidate this phenomenon. 

 

So:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Brenda? Come on)

"Santa Claus is Comin' To Town" (intimidation for the kids)

"Jingle Bell Schlock-sorry-Rock"

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (Meredith Wilson. you've done a lot better)

"A Holly Jolly Christmas" (If Burl Ives can't make this work, who can?)

"Santa Baby" (Really, Eartha?)

"Feliz Navidad" (It would be nice to have one in Spanish. So much great music down there and we end up with this. )

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (no comment)

Special mention to "Let It Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow" for the most repetitious title and the most arcane harmonic modulations.

 

And, just so you don't leave in a bad mood, here's Louis Armstrong doing "Cool Yule.

Music and Political Agita

One thing both Biden and Trump voters seem to agree on is that there’s a lot at stake in this election. The degree of partisanship itself signals how much everyone is worried about the results. Of course, the more partisan you are, the more likely you are to believe that only your side has due cause for concern. The degree to which you accept the idea that someone on the other side has a right to be concerned is the degree to which you accept them as fully human. If you can take a breath and step back from this combative environment, you’ll see there’s kind of an ironic symmetry in this situation and that there are probably emotions that people on both sides are experiencing. 

There may not be a lot of overlap in the musical tastes of Biden and Trump adherents, but music does address at least some of the emotions at play. I’ve been experiencing a complex and wearisome welter of emotions and have tried to choose some tunes that reflect the way this is playing out in my gut. I hope some of it resonates with you and that after this near-civil war, music will offer a way for us to find some common ground.

Great Pre-1930 Jazz Tunes

I solicited the favorite pre-1930 songs of the Hot Jazz Records (1917-1931) Facebook group and this is what that knowledgeable group of folks came up with. It represents an enormous variety of music, ranging from "dance" to "blues" to "hot."

People will know some of the names in the list, but I'm sure many more individuals and bands will be unfamiliar. Do yourselves a favor and check out what these musicians have to offer. All of the songs on the list are available online. They are in no particular order.

1.     Oreste's Queensland Orchestra-When The Morning Glories Wake Up In The Morning

2.     Frenchie’s String Band-Red Hot Hottentot

3.     Fletcher Henderson-Whiteman Stomp

4.     Luis Russell: Jersey Lightning

5.     Duke Ellington: Jubilee Stomp (Victor)

6.     King Oliver: Canal St. Blues

7.     Louis Armstrong: Hotter Than That

8.     Irving Mills & His Modernists (w Jack Pettis) - At The Prom-

9.     Red Nichols: Feelin' No Pain (Brunswick)

10.  Nat Brusiloff and His Orchestra-Out of a Clear Blue Sky

11.  Powell's Jazz Monarchs -Chauffer's Shuffle

12.  Original Dixieland Jass Band: Margie

13.  New Orleans Rhythm Kings: Panama

14.  Jimmy Wade: Someday Sweetheart

15.  Red Allen: Swing Out

16.  Clarence Williams: Longshoreman's Blues

17.  Bix: In a Mist

18.  Frank Trumbauer: Ostrich Walk

19.  Walter Page: Squabblin'

20.  Cecil Scott: Springfield Stomp

21.  Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang: The Wild Dog

22.  Al Trent: The Nightmare

23.  Benny Moten: Goofy Dust (1924 Okeh)

24.  Jabbo Smith: Bandbox Stomp

25.  Charlie Johnson: Walk That Thing (take one or 2)

26.  Bessie Smith: Backwater Blues

27.  James P. Johnson: Snowy Morning Blues

28.  Fats: Ain't Misbehavin' (solo piano)

29.  Ted Lewis: Milenberg Joys

30.  Jelly Roll: Black Bottom Stomp 

31.  Jabbo Smith and his Rhythm Aces-Take Your Time

32.  Jack Purvis either Copy'n Louis or Mental Strain At Dawn

33.  Harlem River Quiver" Duke Ellington And His Orchestra

34.  The University Six -San

35.  Benny Goodman and his boys-Jungle Blues

36.  Miff Mole & His Little Molers-Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble

37.  Albert Wynn's Creole Jazz Band-Parkway Stomp

38. Fats Waller - Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad

39.  Junie C. Cobb & his Grains Of Corn - Shake That Jelly Roll

40.  Fletcher Henderson - Pensacola

41.  Henry Red Allen - Singing Pretty Songs

42.  Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orch. - Rumba Negro

43.  Johnny Dunn, "Sergeant Dunn's Bugle Call Blues" and "Buffalo Blues"

45.  Paul Howard-Quality Shout

46.  Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five-Struttin' With Some Barbecue

47.  Bix Beiderbecke & His Gang -Sorry

48.  Original Memphis Five -Fireworks

49.  Jabbo Smith -Michigander Blues

50. Benny Goodman's Boys-Blue

51.  Roy Johnson's Happy Pals -Happy Pal Stomp

52.  Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals-Stock Yards Strut

53.  McKinney's Cotton Pickers -I'll Make Fun For You

54.  Brownlee's Orchestra Of New Orleans -Peculiar

55.  Fate Marable's Society Syncopators -Frankie And Johnny

56.  Golden Gate Orchestra -After You've Gone

57.  Original Dixieland Jass Band-I Lost My Heart In Dixieland

58.  New Orleans Rhythm Kings-Barataria

59.  Mississippi Maulers -My Angeline

60.  Red Nichols & His Five Pennies -Alice Blue Gown

61.  Jack Purvis -Copyin' Louis

62.  Maynard Baird & His Orchestra -Postage Stomp

63.  Jelly Roll Morton-Burnin' The Iceberg

64.  Tiny Parham -Washboard Wiggles

65.  Danny Altier -My Gal Sal

66.  Paul Tremaine And His Aristocrats -Four Four Rhythm

67.  Cliff Jackson-Torrid rhythm

68.  Duke Ellington - Immigration Blues

69.  Cliff Jackson-Ring Around the Moon

70.  Blue Steele Orch.- Sugar Babe, I'm Leavin

71.  Perdido St. Blues- Johnny Dodds

72.  Tennessee Ten-Long Lost Mama-augmented version of the Original Memphis Five

73.  Charles A. Matson & his Creole Serenaders-Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do

74.  Charleston Chasers -My Gal Sal

75.  Lou Weimer's Gold and Black Aces, "Merry Widow's Got a Sweety Now

76.  McKinney's Cotton Pickers - Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble

77.  Jelly Roll Morton - Hyena Stomp

78.  Jimmie Lunceford and his Chickasaw Syncopators-In Dat' Mornin'

79.  King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators-Wa Wa Wa

80.  Louis Dumaine's Jazzola Eight - Franklin Street Blues

Martin Torgoff on the DuPlex

I was joined on the DuPlex Mystery Jazz Hour of 12.28.17 by Martin Torgoff, author of Bop Apocalypse; Jazz, Race, The Beats and Drugs. It was an interesting, wide-ranging conversation that used music as a guideline, as per the playlist below.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

Louis Armstrong, Muggles. Fred Robinson, trombone; Jimmy Strong, clarinet; Earl Hines, piano; Mancy Carr banjo, and Zutty Singleton on drums.

Mezz Mezzrow, Revolutionary Blues. Tommy Ladnier, Sidney de Paris, t / Mezz Mezzrow, cl / James P. Johnson, p / Teddy Bunn, g / Elmer James, b / Zutty Singleton, d.

Rosetta Howard, If You’re A Viper. With The Harlem Hamfats 

Count Basie Orchestra, Every Tub. 

Billie Holiday, I Must Have That Man. Buck Clayton, t / Edmond Hall, cl / Lester Young, ts / James Sherman, p / Freddy Green, g / Walter Page, sb / Joe Jones, d

Charlie Parker, Ko Ko. Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie played piano, but trumpet here instead of Miles Davis

Charlie Parker, Moose the Mooch. Miles Davis-tp, Lucky Thompson-tenor and Dodo Marmarosa-piano, Vic Macmillan-bass, Arvin Garrison-drums

Charlie Parker, Lover Man. Charlie Parker (alto sax), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Jimmy Bunn (piano), Bob Kesterson (bass), Roy Porter (drums)

Wardell Gray, The Chase. Bass-Don Bagley , Drums –Chico Hamilton, piano-Bobby Tucker B

• Tenor Saxophone –Dexter Gordon, Wardell Grey 

• 
  

Miles Davis, Round Midnight. Miles Davis – trumpet, Paul Chambers-bass, John Coltrane – tenor-Red Garland – piano, Philly Joe Jones – drums

John Coltrane, My Favorite Things. McCoy Tyner piano, Steve Davis bass, Elvin Jones drums 

Chet Baker Vocals: A New Emotional Space

There were a lot of transitions and innovations in pop and jazz singing during the 1950's. Some of these were triggered by technology-tape recording/editing, hi fi, stereo, new microphones and the long playing record (LP). Other transitions reflected innovations in arranging and instrumentation and the movement of "race music" into the mainstream via rock and roll. Leaving aside innovators in blues, R&B and rock and roll, there were two musicians who effected changes in vocal jazz and pop: Frank Sinatra and yes, Chet Baker.

Frank Sinatra and his arrangers Billy May and Nelson Riddle in "In the Wee Small Hours" (1955) and "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!" (1956) bridged a popular music gap and showed that songs could swing and still deliver an intimate romantic message. 

Chet Baker's style of singing on "Chet Baker Sings" (1954) finished off what Bing Crosby started. Crosby had initiated the movement from "hot" to "cool," as he taught singers how to use the microphone. But, even though Bing's style was relatively laid back, he still used "hot" techniques like vibrato, slurs and small ornamentations to "sell" the tune. This continued to be the standard, but Baker took it a step further, either eliminating or dramatically taking down the heat of these techniques. Also, in the range and timbre of his voice, he did not sound as a man singing was supposed to. Given the negative response by fellow musicians, friends and critics, it took some guts for Baker to continue to sing.

Louis Prima

Baker was one in a long line of trumpet players who sang. Louis Armstrong, Jabbo Smith, Roy Eldridge, Bunny Berigan, Louis Prima, Hot Lips Page and Dizzy Gillespie all sang well. They thought of themselves as entertainers, liked to sing and were happy to give their chops a break. Berigan's style was lighter, but even after he had a hit with "I Can't Get Started," he almost always deferred to a band singer and just played. The rest of those guys sang with a ballsier approach, sometimes ironic or sly, often bluesy. Armstrong always sang romantic tunes, but I hear an artfulness that separates the singer from the object of his affection and the song itself becomes the object. He did sing with great tenderness in the last phase of his career. Baker's singing was the first in this lineage that said out loud: "This is what it means to be vulnerable." 

Baker's trumpet playing was not unique. It was distinguishable from but similar to the playing of others active at that time, like Jack Sheldon, Don Fagerquist, Don Joseph, Tony Fruscella and John Eardley. Of these, only Jack Sheldon also sang. His voice was better than Baker's, but his singing style ranged from cooing drollness to belting. To Sheldon, romantic meant sexy, while Chet was never so indiscreet, or overt. His sexiness was hidden below layers of romanticism and self-protection. 

Jimmy Scott

Rhythmically and in note choice, Baker's singing paralleled his playing. But the fragility, tremulousness and high tenor range of his voice amplified the vulnerable quality of the music. The only voice like it belonged to (Little) Jimmy Scott, who had a hit in 1950 with Lionel Hampton's "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and who showed up in the same year with Charlie Parker, singing "Embraceable You," but Scott sang with all of the heat that Baker eschewed.

Reading about Baker's foray into singing is like wading into a critical abattoir. Almost no one liked it-musicians, friends or critics. 

There are conflicting stories about how Baker's vocals got recorded. Some say he demanded it and that owner of the Pacific jazz label Dick Bock balked. Others say that Bock wanted it and Baker resisted. Either way, it seems to be true that Baker's inexperience(or ineptitude) made for innumerable retakes, marathon sessions and a lot of audio cutting and pasting. 

Two things were not subject to criticism. One was his phrasing, which rhythmically paralleled his playing. The second was his scatting note choice, which reflected the melodic gift he shows in his trumpet solos.

There was a lot of criticism about his singing out of tune. I'm pretty sensitive to people staying in tune and I don't hear the problem very much, except on some held notes-the hardest to sing in tune and beyond his vocal support system.

Critics blasted his lack of affect, saying his singing lacked emotional weight. Much was made about the girlish, non-masculine quality of his voice. Often this critique was accompanied by an analysis of Baker's life choices-drug use and callousness toward women. People want the artist's life to reflect directly the qualities they find in the art and positive and negative projections about Baker were off the charts. He was worshipped and reviled. Some thought he sang (and looked) like an angel. Others saw him nod out or act like a cad and heard that in the music. 

What I think made critics most uncomfortable is that Baker didn't sing like a man. I've heard people ask, when they heard Baker sing, whether that was a man or a woman. One can only imagine how many such comments were passed in the day. For most of its history, jazz has been a macho culture. Sexual ambiguity or gay-ness were subjects of derision. Chet was heterosexual, but for him to sing the way he did was almost to "come out." Of course, Baker wasn't consciously making a political-sexual point. When he responded to interviewers who challenged his masculinity, he made certain to reaffirm that he liked girls, not "fellers."

Moving from being just a trumpet player to becoming a jazz vocalist/leading man, seeing the response it got from critics and especially from fellow musicians, cannot have been easy. Baker may or may not have been using heavy drugs before "Chet Baker Sings," but there's no doubt that he became more deeply enmeshed in heroin and speed during this period. It's not a big stretch to think that drugs and the incredibly strong response by women to his singing helped Baker weather the brickbats and continue to sing. 

It's appropriate that his most famous vocal tune is "My Funny Valentine." In this Rodgers and Hart tune, we have a psychic match between performer and song. This is a song that spells out the imperfections of the lover ("is your figure less than greek, is your mouth a little weak, when you open it to speak are you smart"). Look at the title itself-my "funny" valentine; not that the lover is funny/humorous, but funny as in-how did this happen-how did I end up with someone like you. This is love as mystery, song as mystery, sung by a musician whose life was lived publicly, but who was a mystery. Yes, we know the biographical facts of Baker's life, but the inner life was shrouded in layers of romanticism and self-protection.

It's difficult to show the influence Baker had, as he didn't overtly inspire a generation of male singers. Most tenor-range jazz vocalists remained more beholden to older approaches. Jimmy Scott, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Mose Allison, Oscar Brown, Jr., Mark Murphy, Jackie Paris and Sammy Davis, Jr. were all much "hotter" singers. 

But I contend that Chet Baker changed the "field" and in so doing influenced these singers. He brought the ethos of cool to a kind of climax by moving into territory that had once belonged only to female vocalists and opened up the emotional space to show vulnerability; a space that male singers had previously shied away from and which they were now more likely to inhabit. 

Ironic that Chet Baker, who created such distance between himself from others was able to transmute this distance into a kind of intimacy that had rarely, if ever, been expressed in the pop-jazz male voice.

Review of "Bop Apocalypse," by Martin Torgoff

The vilification and suppression of marijuana and narcotics in the U.S. was fueled in the 20th century by a campaign that whipped up fear of "the other"- Mexicans, Caribbean islanders, South Americans and African-Americans.  Bop Apocalypse limns the history of this campaign and uses it to frame the story of how our own American "others"- (black and white) jazz musicians and the (white) Beat movement-interacted with each other and with law enforcement.

Most of the key cast of musical characters in Bop Apocalypse will be familiar-Louis Armstrong, Mezz Mezzrow, Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. So too, will the cast of Beats-Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassidy and William Burroughs. Others playing smaller parts are Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jackie Maclean and writers Antonin Artaud, John Clellan Holmes, Michael McClure, Herbert Huncke and a few others.

As chief antagonist, we have Harry Anslinger, for 30 years the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Anslinger was a master propagandist, willing to manufacture evidence in order to convince the public and Congress that, well, we know the litany: gateway drug, leads to violent crimes, corrupts youth. All the "facts" about marijuana that have dominated public opinion until recently were shaped by Anslinger. And yes, in some quarters, they continue to dominate.

For most readers, the story of the interaction between Anslinger, Congress, the law and the perps will be new. Details of Lester and Billie's stories will make for interesting reading, while the stories of Armstrong, Mezzrow and Bird as told here may serve to fill in parts of stories we already knew.

A few other aspects of the book stand out. First of all, I'm used to thinking of the Beats-Kerouac, Ginsburg, et al, as planets in eccentric orbits, interacting intensively but haphazardly. Torgoff shows there was a discernible flow of ideas and influences that bound the group together and shaped white beat/bohemianism in mid-century America. He shows there were clear literary and cultural through-lines: Club Des Hashichins, Gautier, Hugo, Balzac, Spengler, Rimbaud, Blake and that smoking pot, although useful sexually, was part of a shared ethic of drug use as spiritual exploration.

The author describes interplay between the Beats and jazz musicians that gives a sense of their relationship; for example, Lester Young turning Kerouac on to pot. Influence between these two groups seemed to flow pretty much in one direction-from jazz to beats.  One infers that jazz culture was not particularly interested in "new literature," although eventually collaborations arose between poetry and jazz.

The difference between the white and black experiences of being "outsiders" is noted. Historically, as I said, the campaign against drugs was a campaign against outsiders and jazz musicians were some of the first and most overt outsiders. The jazz world was a backdrop for the intermingling of races and the cultural center of pushback against the Yankee and Puritan ethics. The beats, too, were easy to peg as cultural outsiders, but they didn't have the added layer of racism to contend with.

Torgoff engages the question of whether Kerouac's romanticizing of jazz was another example of white de-dimentionalizing of the black experience. He seems to take it as it comes-a marker of Kerouac's genuine affection and empathy for the black jazz world. I've always had my doubts, in fact saw a cartoon-ish quality to some of Kerouac's writing on jazz and this book didn't change my mind, but Torgoff's presentation gives the reader a fair view of competing perspectives.

Torgoff tries to come to terms with why such a large number of jazz musicians became heroin addicts in the 40's and 50's, Of course, there was Charlie Parker's out-sized influence and Torgoff explores this and some other ideas. Ultimately, though, his approach is to tell a number of individual stories of addiction; to personalize it rather than trying to over-theorize about it. Even though part of me wishes to find more closure on this vexing question, I think Torgoff's approach is viable and useful.

Are there things in Bop Apocalyse that I don't like? Yes. The long exploration of Burroughs' life is fairly interesting, but I see it as an extensive footnote or an Appendix, not something that should be in the body of the book. So too, the story of the junkie-prostitute Ruby, who had crossed paths with Billie and Bird at a shooting gallery. I don't think there's enough there to spend as much time on the story as Torgoff does and see it as another Appendix. Speaking of structural aspects-the Notes and Bibliography are extensive, but the lack of an Index for a book of this scope and size is disappointing.*

Don't get me wrong. I think Torgoff does many things right and those who've read about this subject in a scattershot way will find in this well-written book a coherent exegesis of several important 20th century cultural currents. There is a great deal to ponder in Bop Apocalypse and what I read here will usefully inform my thoughts about how we are now dealing, or not dealing, with drugs, literature and jazz.

*I was contacted by Mr. Torgoff, who tells me that the review copy which I read didn't have an index, but that the released book does."

Holiday Head-Spinner

Have a jazz/R&B/funk/soul/gospel trip through the holidays on the 

Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour, WZBC.ORG, 12.22.2016.

LISTEN HERE
 
PLAYLIST

Paul Bley "Santa Clause Is Comin' to Town" (1953), on Debut
 
Dave McKenna "Jingle Bells" from "Christmas Party-Holiday Piano Spiked With Swing" (1997), on Concord
 
Ray Charles "Winter Wonderland" from "Spirit of Christmas" (1956) on MGM
 
Charlie Parker "White Christmas" from "Live at Royal Roost" (1948) on Savoy
 
Charles Brown "Christmas in Heaven" from "Christmas in Heaven" (1965) on Jewel Records
 
Eyal Vilner Big Band "Sevivon" from "Hanukkah - EP" (2016) on Eyal Vilner Big Band

Joe Pass "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" from "Joe Pass - Six String Santa" (1992) on LaserLight Digital ‎

Louis Armstrong "Twas the Night before Christmas" (1971) on Continental

Amos Milburn "Let's Make Christmas Merry, Baby"(1948) on Aladdin
 
Frank Sinatra "Let It Snow" from "Christmas Songs" (1948), on Columbia
 
Joseph Spence "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" from "Living On The Hallelujah Side" (1980) on Rounder
 
The Soul Saints Orchestra "Santa's Got A Bag Of Soul" (1994) on Hot Pie and Candy records
 
Charles Brown "Merry Christmas Baby" from "Cool Christmas Blues" (1984), on Bullseye Blues

Fats Domino "Jingle Bells" from "Christmas is a Special Day" (2006), on Cap
 
Otis Redding "White Christmas" (1967) on Atco
 
The Blind Boys Of Alabama "Last Month Of The Year" from "Go Tell it on the Mountain" (2008), on Real World
 
Clarence Carter "Back Door Santa"  (1968) on Atlantic

Vince Guaraldi "Christmas Time Is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) on Fantasy

Funk Machine "Soul Santa" (1973) on Creative Funk

Ella Fitzgerald "The Christmas Song" from "A Swinging Christmas" (1960) on Verve
 
John Coltrane Quartet "Greensleeves" from "Africa Brass" (1961) on Impulse
 
Chet Baker "Joy To The World" from "A Christmas Jazz Album" (1997) on Dinemec Jazz
 
Duke Pearson "Wassail Song" from "Merry Old Soul" (1965) on Blue Note
 
Wynton Marsalis "We Three Kings" from "Crescent City Christmas Card" (1989) on Columbia  

Louis Armstrong "Cool Yule" from "Louis Armstrong With The Commanders" (1953), on Decca
 
Fats Waller "Swingin' Them Jingle Bells" (1936) on Victor
 
Dianne Reeves "Christmas Waltz" from "Christmas Time is Here" (2004) on Blue Note
 
Ray Charles "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (2009), on Concord

Jazz Re-Shaping Standards

Without jazz, would "standards" be standards? Fact is, jazz musicians took-and continue to take-a body of music rooted in late 19th and early 20th century musical conventions and re-conceive, rejuvenate and adapt them to changing aesthetics. 

I originally took this up in this post, showing how jazz made All The Things You Are a standard. I ran across an interesting website, www.jazzstandards.com, and I'm going to use the vast amount of data they've compiled about jazz standards to expand the concept.

According to that site, these are the top ten most recorded tunes in the jazz canon, along with the year of their composition. [Notice these are all 30's and 40's tunes. In fact, in the top 300, there are only a handful that were written after 1950-but that's another story]. To keep the length of the post down, I'll take the first five of these tunes and post the earliest recordings I can find in the original context and compare them with the earliest versions I can find in the jazz context. 

1. 1930 Body and Soul
2. 1939 All the Things You Are
3. 1935 Summertime
4. 1944 Round Midnight
5. 1935 I Can't Get Started

6. 1937 My FunnyValentine
7. 1942 Lover Man
8. 1930 What Is This Thing Called Love
9. 1933 Yesterdays
10.1946 Stella By Starlight


Body and Soul, written by Johnny Green for Gertrude Lawrence, was recorded by Helen Morgan in the same year it was written. The vocal has a rubato, recitatif quality to it, with plenty of vibrato. It fits comfortably in the stylistic parameters of the era; post-parlor music, with a bit of art song harmony and the heightened emotion of European cabaret. Morgan does the verse (the first section of the song before the chorus), which most jazz versions don't include; unfortunate, from my perspective. 


Louis Armstrong also recorded Body and Soul in 1930. Right away we have the parallel universe of jazz made manifest. The Armstrong version is clearly a dance record, with a steady swing rhythm section. He approaches the tune with some measure of emotional commitment, but he completely displaces the melody rhythmically and his rendition, both vocally and on his horn, opens onto a different world than that represented by Morgan's version.

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

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. 

Jazz on Film: Caveat Emptor

There are good documentaries about jazz. A person can see the films listed on this site and walk away without reaching for the gas pipe. But, as the furor around the film Whiplash (well, to jazz people it was furor) reminds us, it's wise to keep the bar low.

When Hollywood does jazz, it should stick to hagiography and cheesy romance: The Benny Goodman story, the Fabulous Dorseys, the Glenn Miller story; these are really just the Lindbergh, Curie and Young Abe Lincoln stories with clarinets and bobby socks. Henry Fonda coulda played Miller and Jimmy Stewart coulda been Lincoln. Fred Astaire and Burgess Meredith as trumpet players in Second Chorus, competing for Paulette Goddard? No problem. These movies are a nice, comfortable roll in the lowest common denominator hay. And, of course, any time Louis Armstrong is on, he lights up the screen. Ditto, Hoagy Carmichael.

But, when the egomaniacs in L.A. go all arty and pseudo-egghead on us and decide they have to "explain" jazz and jazz musicians, it's a formula for disaster.

Remember your initial excitement when you heard about "Round Midnight," and about "Bird"? Remember your disappointment after you saw them? Why didn't they let Dexter play anything up tempo! Why did they make Bird a man-child! Why did they strip the original rhythm section off the sound track! Bird didn't look like that when he played! Is every black man a tragic figure and every white man a dolt?

Possibly the most exasperating example of the genre is "Jung Man With a..." Sorry: "Young Man With a Horn." The insane ilk of psycho-babble that oozes through this movie like celluloid arteriosclerosis makes me think Professor Irwin Corey had a hand in the screenplay. Kirk Douglas/Bix Beiderbecke has "one wing" then falls for the broken pseudo-shrink Bacall who has a pet macaw? She smashes your 78's? I hate to see that; even if they're just Caruso on Victor. You're right, Kirk/Bix, she is "dirty and twisted inside," while you-were-born-to-play-the-trumpet-and-can-only-communicate-through-that-damn-horn. Why, oh why do they try and foist off that juvenile premise: "I want to play the note that no one else has ever played?" Bejasus.

Don't ask me if the same 4th-class Freudianisms befoul the Dorothy Baker novel it was based on. I can only deal with psychic effluvia in one genre at a time. "Based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke"-my moldy toenail. Harry James is the film's music adviser and dubs the trumpet parts. James is a great player, but his style bears as much resemblance to Bix's as, well-you finish the analogy. Kirk Douglas pushes the trumpet valves convincingly and has the appropriate unyielding embouchure and convincing lunatic gleam in his eye.  

Happily, the movie is quite informative for all you trumpet players out there, as there are at least 4 mentions of the loathsome "roll" in this movie. You know, where the mouthpiece gets too low on your lower lip? You better correct it pronto, or I will strap you in this comfy chair and force you to listen to cinematic dialogue about trumpet rolls until your chops fall off.

I suppose it's not really the aspiring filmmaker's fault. They're not gonna raise a lot of money to make a movie-insightful or not-about jazz, unless it's about Miles Davis, who is now the only jazz musician that Americans can name. We'll see how Mr. Cheadle makes out with Miles, but when you walk into the multiplex, my advice is: caveat jazz emptor.