JazzWax

Art Farmer: Perception

Art Farmer had a way of playing the trumpet and flugelhorn that sounded as if he was singing while dancing. Farmer was less about blasts and taut nuance and more about a light, pretty touch. His horn had a classical elegance and a jazz tone that delighted the ear without being commercial. On ballads, you can hear the blues in almost everything he plays. On uptempo numbers, he's light and juicy, tapping along with ringing empathy, sailing the melody rather than commanding it. [Photo above of Art Farmer, courtesy of Concord Records]

A leadership album rich with Farmer's sensitivity is Perception. Recorded in October 1961 for Argo, the album featured Farmer on flugelhorn backed by Harold Mabern (p), Tommy Williams (b) and Roy McCurdy (d). The songs are Farmer's Punsu, The Day After, Lullaby of the Leaves, Farmer's Kayin', Tonk, The Blue Room, Change Partners and Nobody's Heart.

The album has two things going for it. For one, Farmer's flugelhorn is warm and relaxed throughout. For another, Mabern's piano is lush and intricate, providing Farmer's singular tone with plenty of rhythm and fascinating chords. And on songs like Change Partners, we get to hear a marvelously sensitive solo by Roy McCurdy, who would play with Gap and Chuck Mangione's Jazz Brothers in the early '60s and was the anchor in the Cannonball Adderley Quintet mid-decade.

Fledgling flugelhornists might want to put on Nobody's Heart and transcribe Farmer's solo. It's an enveloping exhibition of regal playing and gentle jazz.

Art Farmer died in 1999; Harold Mabern died in 2019.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Art Farmer's Perception here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Punsu...

And here's Nobody's Heart...

Bobby Jaspar: Club St. Germain

For me, the only tenor saxophonist who rivals Stan Getz in tone, improvisational skill and phrasing is Bobby Jaspar. The Belgian saxophonist and flutist had a singularly cool approach and, like Getz, loved the high register of his instrument. On December 27 and 29 in 1955, Jaspar and his All Stars were recorded by Barclay Records at Club St. Germain, a basement venue at 13 rue Saint-Benoît on Paris's Left Bank.

Jaspar, on tenor sax and flute, was backed by Rene Urtreger (p) Sacha Distel (g) Benoit Quersin (b) and Jean-Louis Viale (d). The songs were Memory of Dick (in tribute to pianist Dick Twardzik, who had died two months earlier), Milestones, Minor Drops, Bags' Groove, I'll Remember April, You Stepped Out of a Dream, I Can't Get Started and A Night in Tunisia.

These were perfect recordings in every way. Each song is stunningly beautiful and smoothly executed. Jaspar is exceptional on his instruments, but it's his taste that stands out. Like Getz, he could swing effortlessly and re-invent melodies on the fly. They shared a breezy quality that was hypnotic and sensual. It's also a joy to hear Distel on jazz guitar here. In the 1960s, he'd go on to become one of France's most famous and charming singers and TV variety-show hosts. Rene Urtreger also is terrific.

Interestingly, Jaspar and Getz never managed to record together. Bobby Jaspar died in 1963; Stan Getz died in 1991.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Modern Jazz Au Club St. Germain: Bobby Jaspar All Stars here. 

JazzWax clips: Here's Memory of Dick...

Here's You Stepped Out of a Dream...

And here's I'll Remember April, one of the most beautiful instrumental versions of this song—and on flute...

Elizabeth, Sonny and Billy

This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actress Elizabeth Marvel for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). If the name doesn't ring a bell, her TV roles have included playing the president in Showtime's Homeland and Heather Dunbar on House of Cards. Her movies include True Grit, Lincoln and The Meyerowitz Stories. Growing up, Elizabeth was convinced she was from outer space and that if she blinked twice, she could send pictures back to aliens who sent her here. She's also a Deadhead and a self-described "happy hippie." [Photo above of Elizabeth Marvel in Homeland, courtesy of YouTube/Showtime]

Here's Elizabeth in Homeland...

Here's Elizabeth in House of Cards...

And here she is in her new series, Helstrom...

Sonny Rollins. Here's the tenor saxophonist in 1965 playing There Will Never Be Another You [Photo above of Sonny Rollins by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]...

Here's Sonny in Kongsberg, Norway, in 1974...

And here's Sonny in Umbria, Italy, in 1998...

Song roots. Curious where this song came from (the singer is pictured above)...?

The music began with Charles Dawes and another Tommy...

Color and fear. Many of us are already familiar with images and footage of workers constructing New York's Chrysler Building in 1930. As director Raymond De Felitta noted when he sent along the following YouTube clip, it's amazing how terrifying their work becomes when the original black-and-white film is in color. Note the older age of most of the workers and the "casual" construction garb. Amazing hats didn't blow away. Here's the footage...

Supersax was a group formed in the early 1970s with five reeds playing the transcribed solos of Charlie Parker. In 2015, Vincent Herring, Grant Stewart, Paquito D'Rivera, Harry Allen and Gary Smulyan were in Uruguay with a local rhythm section resurrecting Supersax on Just Friends. A special thanks to John Herr. Go here to watch the clip.

Frank Sinatra. It was 46 degrees at sunrise this morning (Saturday). What better song to usher in the brisk season in Manhattan than Frank Sinatra in 1941 singing Violets for Your Furs, arranged for Tommy Dorsey by Heinie Beau...

Here's Billy Eckstine signing I Apologize in 1951...

Here's Dinah Washington singing I Won't Cry Anymore in 1951...

And here's Frankie Laine in 1956 updating his 1946 hit That's My Desire. The updated arrangement is by Paul Weston. Dig how the reeds are arranged with strings on the opening and close, with a dash of trombones...