JazzWax

Tobias, Hank and Jack

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed author Tobias Wolff for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Tobias talked about his difficult childhood and the inspiration for his memoir, This Boy's Life, which was made into a 1993 movie. In short, Tobias traveled around the country with his mother, who left a cheating husband in Connecticut, only to wind up with a boyfriend in Florida who abused her, escaping the boyfriend on a cross-country trip to Oregon but winding up marrying a man who abused her and running away from him back across the country to Washington, D.C. [Photo of Tobias Wolff at his home in Stanford, Calif., by Winni Wintermeyer for The Wall Street Journal]

Here's the movie trailer...

And here's Tobias...

Hank Mobley. Following my post on Hank Mobley last week, I received the following from Doug Benson [Photo above of Hank Mobley by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]...

Marc, Third Street Jazz in Philadelphia was a record store and meeting place for fans and musicians in the 1970s & '80's. Each Friday afternoon, I'd stop by and check out the latest batch of cut-outs and promotional copies, usually on sale for $1.99 or $2.99 per copy. Once, while flipping through the alphabetical regular priced items, I looked to my right and noticed Hank Mobley flipping through the section on the tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec.

I said: "Hank Mobley..." Hank responded with "Ike taught me so much about the saxophone and the business of jazz." I asked Hank which was his favorite Blue Note album. He replied: Reach Out!, which was already out of print. I told him I could send him a cassette copy if he would provide his mailing address, which he did.

As we were leaving the store together, I offered to buy him a drink at the nearest bar. He said OK and off we went walking west on Market Street toward the In & Out bar south of Market & 8th Streets. In the bar, Hank had two drinks and was very conversational with everyone around him. I paid the tab and headed home with a promise to send him a cassette copy of Reach Out!

Maxine Sullivan and the Bard. Following my post on the 1971 album, Sullivan, Shakespeare, Hyman, I received the following from Joe Lang...

Marc, I also love this album. The first time I saw Maxine in person was at one of Jack Tafoya’s Friday noon concerts in New York at La Martinique on 57th Street. After, I got a chance to speak with her, telling her how much I dug her Close As Pages in a Book album. She smiled and told me that I would also like her next one—an album of songs with a Shakespearean twist. I bought it the day it was released and loved it immediately.

The Monmouth-Evergreen label was a special one that fortunately was purchased by George Buck’s Jazzology group of labels. Bill Borden did a wonderful job of making available much music that had long been unavailable, like the Lee Wiley Songbook albums and a lot of the Al Bowlly/Ray Noble sides, as well as much new material by the likes of Eddie Hazel, Bucky Pizzarelli and Ronny Whyte. There is a complete list of them on the Discogs.com site.

Jack Sheldon farewell. Following my post on the late Jack Sheldon, I received the following from JoAnn Kenton, Stan Kenton's wife in the late 1960s...

Hi Marc, the tribute to Jack Sheldon was a sold-out evening. I don’t know the capacity at Catalina’s in Los Angeles, but I would guess at least 200 people were there. The event was emceed by radio personality and columnist Doug McIntyre and ran about three hours. It opened with Dave Tull singing Yo Mama, accompanied by Tom Kubis and his big band. The next names are in order of their appearance:

• Trumpeter Chuck Findley
• Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron
• Singer Calabria Foti
• Trombonist Bob McChesney
• Trumpeter Ron Stout
• Gordon Goodwin, leader of the Big Phat Band
• Singer Tierney Sutton (my favorite vocalist)
• Singer Patrick Tuzzolino
• Bassist Chuck Berghofer
• Trombonist Dick Nash
• Songwriter Alan Bergman, who sang Nice and Easy and Where Do You Start? (Marilyn was not there.)
• Melissa Manchester
• Bassist Trey Henry
• Drummer Ray Brinker
• Keyboardist Mitch Forman
• Pianist Christian Jacob

And Bill Holman sat quietly at the bar so was only announced. Tierney Sutton closed the show with songs from My Fair Lady and, finally, I’ll Be Seeing You. A magnificent farewell to a man who was genuinely loved. Love your work!

Linda Ronstadt. Last week, Mike Cobb, sent along the following...

Hello Marc, I read your interesting article on Linda Ronstadt in The Wall Street Journal last year and thought you might enjoy reading a recent article in her hometown newspaper, The Arizona Daily Star, by columnist David Leighton about Linda's grandparents being honored with two street names on the former ranch property where Linda grew up in Tucson, Arizona. This came out about a week after the CNN documentary. Go here.

What the heck. From the West Coast list above, let's dig a pair of aces. Here's Texting and Driving by Dave Tull with the Ron Jones Influence Orchestra...

And here's the marvelous Calabria Foti singing Man With a Horn...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Don't be too shocked. Given that the label is incorrectly spelled on top (Capital v. Capitol), clearly this is a jape. The strange thing is it wouldn't be too far-fetched back then or now, with vaping.

Billy Collins on Hank Mobley

My favorite poet digs Hank Mobley. Billy Collins, the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and author of 16 books, was so moved by the tenor saxophonist's sound late last year that he wrote a poem about him. Billy has been a jazz fan since childhood (go here), and I've featured his poems on Sonny Rollins here and Roland Kirk here. [Photo above of Billy Collins by Bill Hayes, courtesy of Penguin Random House]

But first, if you're unfamiliar with Billy, here's a video of him delivering a talk last year in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. I must warn you, poets aren't supposed to be this funny...

And now, here's Billy's Hank Mobley poem that he kindly sent along on Wednesday after my Mobley post...

Listening to Hank Mobley around 11 O’Clock
After a Long Fun Boozy Dinner, the Four of Us,
at Captain Pig’s, Our Favorite Restaurant in Town

I’m lying down now, solo on a couch,
imagining along with the music
that if I were, say, 15 or 16 tonight
and in possession of a fresh can
of pink or orange spray paint,
I would climb the 4th Street overpass
and write in big letters
HANK MOBLEY SWINGS
for all to see on their morning drive to work.

But having sailed some time ago
into the quiet cardigan harbor of my life
out of earshot of the siren songs
that lure men onto reefs of foolishness
not to mention the bridges of bravado,
it’s enough to let the soap bubble
of that Hank Mobley thought drift
slowly across the living room and burst
with no warning, much to the amazement of the cat.

—(c) Billy Collins, 2019

Hoagy Sings Carmichael

Hoagy Sings Carmichael has been called many things. I used to refer to the album as a recording by an aging songwriter singing his own songs in the shower. Others have likened Carmichael's voice to something on a fence you throw shoes at to get it to stop. Or a saloon-song album sung by swinging doors that need oiling. All funny and unfair. Carmichael's voice on the album may sound rusty and off-kilter, but he's still the guy who wrote all the music and, in many cases, the words.

Songs like Georgia on My Mind, Skylark and Baltimore Oriole remain bucolic snapshots of America between the wars, when coveralls, dirt and integrity were part of the landscape, before the place was handed off to advertisers and developers who fabricated the American Dream and suburbia. Carmichael's voice and songbook today is a journey back in time, like the sound of horse hoofs or the squeak of a wooden floor.

Hoagy Sings Carmichael was the brainchild of Dick Bock, who produced the music for his Pacific Jazz Records label. Recorded over three sessions in September 1956, the music was arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel, who wisely colored Carmichael's vocals with just enough jazz to give it a contemporary feel without disturbing the nostalgia or mood. [Photo above of Johnny Mandel in 1953]

The band on the first session on September 10 featured Carmichael (vcl); Harry "Sweets" Edison and Conrad Gozzo (tp); Jimmy Zito (b-tp); Harry Klee and Art Pepper (as); Mort Friedman (ts); Marty Berman (bar); Jimmy Rowles (p); Al Hendrickson (g); Joe Mondragon (b) and Irv Cottler (d). The songs on this session were Baltimore Oriole, New Orleans and Georgia on My Mind. [Photo above of Jimmy Rowles]

The next day, bassist Ralph Pena replaced Joe Mondragon, and Carmichael plus ensemble recorded Memphis in June, Two Sleepy People and Lazy River.

On September 13, Don Fagerquist and Ray Linn (tp), Joe Mondragon (b) and Nick Fatool (d) were in and Harry "Sweets" Edison, Conrad Gozzo, Ralph Pena, Irv Cottler and Marvin Ash were out. The songs recorded were Winter Moon, Skylark, Rockin' Chair and Ballad in Blue. [Photo above of Don Fagerquist]

Most exceptional on this album is Art Pepper soloing throughout on alto saxophone. His yearning, aching sound is a perfect match for Carmichael's rye-soaked rocking-chair voice. Jimmy Rowles's piano bleeding through the arrangements also is perfect. Credit is due Johnny Mandel, whose sensitivity and good taste appear on every track. After all these years, the album's music and Hoagy's voice is still what late night sounds like just as you're heading home. [Photo above of Art Pepper courtesy of Laurie Pepper]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Hoagy Sings Carmichael here.

The album also can be found at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's Winter Moon, with Art Pepper on alto saxophone solo...

And here's Skylark. Dig Rowles's piano tinkling in the background like a light rain...

A special thanks to Dennis Galloway.