Harry, in the case of this post's title, is Harry Arnold. Drawing a blank? Arnold was among the finest big-band arrangers and tenor saxophonists in Sweden during the 1950s and '60s. From 1956 to 1965, Arnold led the Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra that featured many of the country's leading Swedish jazz musicians. They recorded quite a few albums, including their first, This Is Harry and the Mystery Band. It's easily one of the finest big band recordings of 1957.
Arnold began recording in Sweden in 1945, and his major arranging influences during the 1950s were Benny Carter, Sy Oliver and Quincy Jones, who collaborated with Arnold on several recordings in Sweden in 1958 during his multi-year stay abroad in Paris. In 1957, before teaming with Jones, Arnold recorded Mystery Band, his radio orchestra's first album. If I were to give you a blindfold test, you'd never guess the arranger or the band. But you'd be blown away.
In fact, getting experts to guess the band is exactly what Down Beat did when the album came out in the fall of '58. American critics and arrangers were asked who's playing. None of them guessed right, including Ernie Wilkins, Elliot Lawrence, Sy Oliver and radio announcer Willis Conover. All picked leading American bands and arrangers. When the album was released in the States, critics raved and Conover devoted an hour-long show to him.
Recorded in February 1957, the band included Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden, Bengt-Arne Wallin (tp); Arnold Johansson (tp,v-tb); Ake Persson, Andreas Skjold, George Vernon, Goran Ohlsson (tb); Arne Domnerus, Rolf Lindell (as); Carl-Henrik Norin, Bjarne Nerem (ts); Lennart Jansson (bar); Bengt Hallberg (p); Bengt Hogberg (g); Simon Brehm (b) and Egil Johansen (d).
The music is deceptively great. Sweden had and still has its fair share of superb jazz artists, but no Swedish band ever could swing as American as this one when it came to a bright, slam-bang sound. Harry Arnold died in 1971 at age 50.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find the swinging This Is Harry and the Mystery Band combined with tracks from assorted Arnold dates and sessions led by Quincy Jones in '58 here.
In some ways, Arnold's orchestra was Quincy Jones's garage band, a test lab before he formed his own famous Birth of a Band orchestra in the States in 1959.
The pre-Jones tracks include Stand By, Blue Lou, Crazy Rhythm, Stand By, Six-ten, I've Found a New Baby, Jersey Bounce, Laura, Dedicated to George, Indian Summer and Annie Laurie.
On Oct. 28, 1966, pianist Bill Evans was in Oslo, Norway, to play a concert with his trio and to accompany jazz singer Monica Zetterlund. The Scandinavian tour must have been a short one, since he had been at New York's Village Vanguard a week earlier and was there again 13 days later. Joining Evans in Oslo was bassist Eddie Gomez, who had been with him since the spring, and Danish drummer Alex Riel, who was part of the house rhythm section at Copenhagen's Jazzhus Montmartre. Riel had played a concert with Evans and Gomez a few days earlier and with Evans and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen in '65 in Holbaek, Denmark. [Photo of Bill Evans above from YouTube]
In the afternoon prior to the concert, Evans, Gomez and Riel were at a Norwegian television studio being taped as they rehearsed for the concert. Interestingly, the show's producer seemed to favor the same approach used by Robert Herridge in 1957 when he produced The Sound of Jazz for CBS: Let multiple cameras move freely about to capture the most interesting angles and images, and then punch in the best camera shots on the board in the control room. [Photo above of Bill Evans from YouTube]
The resulting video is one of the most amazing Bill Evans documents on film that I've seen—a 45-minute documentary-performance complete with pre-rehearsal banter, Evans's instructions to the producer and musicians, and multiple retakes of Five, his theme. The clip went up on YouTube March 6 and apparently comes from Riel's personal archive. [Photo above from YouTube]
First I'll show you the clip (photo above from YouTube).Then I'll tell what I learned about Evans from watching it. And finally, I'll show you part of the Zetterlund rehearsal and video from the concert that evening. First, the rehearsal clip (the songs are Very Early, Who Can I Turn To, If You Could See Me Now, Autumn Leaves and Five)...
Here what we learn about Bill Evans:
Evans wasn't a good geography student. This is what Evans says as he enters the studio, seemingly trying to paper over some sort of faux pas.
Evans wasn't a fan of the music shelf. He asks to have it removed from the piano, obviously so he can better hear the instrument.
Evans was forgetful. He brought along a large envelope, ostensibly filled with music and notes. But after looking inside for what he wanted, Evans does a 360 in confusion, as if he forgot something important behind at the hotel. Most likely it was the list of songs he had intended the trio to play.
The drums were still a bit player. Prior to 1968, Evans viewed the drums largely as ambient rhythm and not nearly as essential to the musical conversation as the bass. He asks to have visual contact with Eddie Gomez but is fine having the drums behind him, out of his line of sight.
Feel trumped rhythmic rigidity. Rather than flip out over forgetting his song list, Evans is quite calm while solving the problem. He comes up with four songs plus his theme and outlines how he plans to play them. At several points, he urges drummer Riel to relax and just feel the music rather than think about what he had to do with the brushes.
Evans was mellow in a crisis. After sitting down at the piano, Evans notices that the damper pedal's rod was displaced, keeping the pedal that sustains notes from working. Rather than curse the piano, he calmly asked to have it fixed.
Evans loved his own playing. Once he begins to play, Evans appears to fall into a trance at the mere sound of his own beautiful phrasing.
Norwegian assistants had good judgment. When someone shows up with a glass of water for Evans, he waits momentarily until it dawns on him that both of Evans' hands are occupied. He turns and leaves promptly with the glass.
Evans wanted to stay in the moment. Before they began, Riel seems to want a break after each song, in case of a goof he'd have a chance at a redo. Evans preferred to go straight through, with just a pause in between songs. Evans clearly abhorred overthinking jazz or anything that compromised emotion and feeling. Once they agree on Evans's approach, Gomez ribbed Riel by saying, "If you goof up, you'll get fired, that's all, not a problem." [Photo above of Bill Evans from YouTube]
Gomez had a heart. Before they start, Riel doesn't quite grasp how to handle Very Early. Gomez, who moments earlier shot Riel a zinger, offers to show him the music, so he can read it. Evans, eager to get going, eyes Riel like a hawk, trying to determine if he's on board. When Gomez and Riel return from their huddle, Evans once again emphasizes that the feel is more important than thinking about the time. [Photo above of Bill Evans and Eddie Gomez from YouTube]
Gomez was an extraordinary partner. His solos throughout the rehearsal are extraordinary, especially on Who Can I Turn To and Autumn Leaves. Interestingly, by Autumn Leaves, Riel was feeling the music rather than thinking about it.
Evans let a bad note slide. At the end of Autumn Leaves, instead of ending on the final note of the upper-register run, the bass note rings last, seemingly via the damper pedal. In fact, you can see him for a brief second wonder what caused the note to stick and he even looks down at the pedals. In the recording studio, that final sour note would have resulted in a retake. Here, Evans lets it pass.
Evans took responsibility. On Five, Riel struggles on the odd theme to figure out where the brushes should fit in. At the end of the first take, Evans blames himself, noting he "sprung" the song on Riel. Evans tries to simplify what he wants by explaining that it should have a straightforward I Got Rhythm two-beat feel. [Photo above, from left, Alex Riel, Eddie Gomez, Bill Evans and Monica Zetterlund in Oslo by Jan Persson]
Evans was a teacher. Sensitive that Riel is still having trouble with the song after the next take, Evans stops and urges Riel to just play straight time and not to listen to him, because what he is playing is "so over the thing"—a priceless self-evaluation.
Evans solved problems. On the third take, Riel is still not playing behind Evans correctly, so Evans asks Gomez to play straight two-beat feel on the bridge, providing Riel with a guard rail of sorts.
Evans had a sense of humor. At the end, Evans stands, looks around and says, "That was easy," likely referring to the relative ease of the rehearsal taping.
Here's the Monica Zetterlund portion of the rehearsal, or at least one of several songs she rehearsed at the TV studio. It's Waltz for Debby, or Monica's Vals...
And here's the Bill Evans Trio with Riel on drums in Copenhagen prior to the Oslo rehearsal...
Don Redman today is a forgotten giant of the swing era. A saxophonist and percussionist who played with Fletcher Henderson's band and McKinney's Cotton Pickers in the 1920s, Redman's true genius rested in his sophisticated big-band arrangements, starting in the late 1920s. By the early 1930s, he was writing complex dance charts years before the music press began calling the music "swing." Listening to his arrangements from that period today, it's easy to hear how muscular, complex bands of the 1940s led by Stan Kenton and Boyd Raeburn must have been influenced by Redman's writing. For example, here's Redman's arrangement of his original Chant of the Weed, with sections sliding in and out—not with call-and-response motifs but intricate, self-contained architecture...
In the early 1940s, Redman broke up his band to devote more of his time to the more lucrative enterprise of arranging for African-American and white dance bands. In 1945, he wrote this nifty chart of Just an Old Manuscript for Count Basie...
In 1946, Redman formed a band that included tenor saxophonist Don Byas, trombonist Tyree Glenn and pianist Billy Taylor and went off to Europe on tour, becoming one of the first bands to visit Europe following World War II. Here's the band playing How High the Moon in Switzerland in '46 with a solo by Byas...
Several key members of the band left while the orchestra was in Europe, and when Redman returned to the States, he broke up what was left of it to focus again on arranging, including albums for singer Pearl Bailey. In 1952, he wrote this knockout arrangement for Basie just after Basie formed his so-called New Testament band. It's Jack and Jill, with Marshal Royal on clarinet in the reed section and a hip solo by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Dig the stop-time measures and crazy run-down at the end...
In July 1957, Redman assembled a dynamite band and recorded a transcription album for Sesac in New York called Don Redman All-Stars. For those not in the know, a transcription recording was typically an oversized disc recorded exclusively for radio airplay. In this case, the transcription featured songs licensed by the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (Sesac), a performing-rights organization akin to ASCAP and BMI. All of the Redman songs here would have been licensed by Sesac, and the transcription was offered to radio stations for broadcast. Sesac would then earn airplay royalties on the songs.
Redman's transcription was the first in a series that Sesac produced between 1957 and 1963 that included Duke Ellington, Elliot Lawrence, Don Elliott, Will Bradley, Bobby Hackett, Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie, Billy Taylor and Kai Winding. (A label today might want to feature them all in a set called The Complete Sesac Sessions.)
So who was in this '57 Redman transcription band? Take a deep breath: Charlie Shavers, Joe Wilder, Al Mattaliano (tp); James Cleveland, Sonny Russo, Bobby Byrne (tb); George Dorsey, Milt Yaner (as); Coleman Hawkins, Al Cohn, Seldon Powell (ts); Danny Bank (bar); Hank Jones (p); George Barnes (g); Al Hall (b); Osie Johnson (d) and Don Redman (percussion, vibes, whistling, arranger/conductor).
Redman's originals here swing, and his arrangements are dazzling and relentlessly interesting. The solos are all tasteful, particularly the ones by Coleman Hawkins. Don Redman died in 1964.
JazzWax tracks: You're in luck. I found the Don Redman All-Stars transcription broken into two parts—volumes 1 and 2. You'll find the albums here and here as downloads. For more music in the same vein, dig Redman's Park Ave. Patter, from April 1957. You'll find it on Don Redman and His Orchestra: At the Swing Cats Ball (Fresh Sound). The CD include tracks from Vol. 1 of the previous session (go here).
JazzWax clips: Here's Chevy's Chase with solos by Hank Jones, George Barnes, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Shavers. There also are flutes on the track, which are likely by Powell and Bank...
Doug Raney (1956-2016), a son of guitar legend Jimmy Raney and a brilliant lyrical guitarist in his own right who lived in Denmark for much of his career, died of heart failure in Copenhagen on May 1, according to his brother Jon. He was 59.
Many jazz fans in the States are unfamiliar with Raney, since he toured here infrequently and gave few interviews. Those who do know his music have been exposed to it largely through his albums, many of which were recorded in Copenhagen for the SteepleChase label. Raney's first album was Strings Attached, recorded in 1975 in New York with his father Jimmy and pianist Al Haig. By 1977, Raney had moved to Denmark.
Two albums with his father—Stolen Moments and Duets—were recorded in New York in 1979. Raney wouldn't record in the States again until 1996, when he made Back in New York and Two Funky People. He also recorded Jam Session, Vol. 10 in New York in 1998. Most of the balance of his albums were recorded in Scandinavia.
Raney's style combined the easy swing of Wes Montgomery with the tasty emotionalism of Jim Hall. Like these artists, Raney was as comfortable on an uptempo tune as he was with a ballad, always striving to sound beautiful. He often was teamed with pianist Horace Parlan, who was in perfect sync with Raney's embracing approach and was a Denmark-based expatriate. Raney's last known album was as a sideman on Jesper Lundgaard's 2013 release for the Danish Storyville label called Love & Peace: The Music of Horace Parlan.
There are no bad Doug Raney albums. Virtually everything he played was executed with enormous taste and technical discipline. He was a carefully listener of his own playing and knew exactly which notes sounded best to make a gorgeous statement. His juicy swing could be deceptive, since the careful listener also could hear deep sensitivity and sadness in Raney's notes. It's unclear why Raney chose Denmark as a safe emotional haven or why he preferred to remain there. One assumes that whatever demons Raney had, he could better manage them there in the company of those he trusted and loved in Copenhagen. Ultimately, he was his own man in Denmark and wasn't living in the long shadow of his famous dad. His guitar will be sorely missed.
Last week, I caught up with Jon, Doug's brother, shortly after Doug's passing:
"I'm in Copenhagen sorting out the details of Doug's memorial and final resting place. There is a memorial here Monday, May 9, that a Danish guitarist and I are organizing. I'm collecting my thoughts today as to what to say. The things I feel are pretty well expressed in the blog I wrote about him a few days ago titled Goodbye My Brother at my site. [Photo above of Jon Raney]
"Doug was in very poor health recently, with his smoker's lungs sometimes requiring oxygen. He had other things wrong with his legs. His health had been deteriorating over the years with a few bounce-backs here and there. He died in his sleep in a chair. The attendants didn't wish to disturb him and came back later and found he had passed. The official death was likely heart failure. There wasn't an official autopsy as we felt that was unnecessary under the circumstances.
"Doug was struggling with prior drug addiction and was on the program for a long time. But it was really his addiction to alcohol, in excess, that did him in. He was a different type of drunk than my father, who became more of a Mr. Hyde when he drank. Doug lived much of his life as a functioning alcoholic, so it was sort of a wide spectrum in terms of behavior. But in later years, his personality under the influence had moved closer to my Dad's, where he suddenly was more frequently not capable of fulfilling his musical commitments.
"A non-traditional memorial and service is being held in Copenhagen in the famous Jazzhus Montmartre club on Monday, May 9, at 4 p.m. We are treating it like a church. There will be musicians coming up and playing in his honor. This is sort of full circle for Doug, as it is likely the first major club he played in when arriving in Europe in '77. I am working on the program and details now. There will be more details as I can voice them. All the while struggling with my own grief, as I'm sure you understand."
JazzWax clips:Here's Doug Raney playing If You Could See Me Now in 1978 from his Cuttin' Loose album with Bernt Rosengren (fl) Horace Parlan (p) Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (b) and Billy Hart (d)...
Here'sUp in Quincy's Room from one of my favorite Raney albums, Doug Raney Sextet: Meeting the Tenors from 1983, with Bernt Rosengren (ts,fl) Ferdinand Povel (ts) Horace Parlan (p) Jesper Lundgaard (b) and Ole Jacob Hansen (d)...
Here's Raney in 1996 playing Giant Steps, from Raney '96 with Ben Besiakov (p), Lennart Ginman (b) and Herlin Riley (d)...
Here's Raney with the Chet Baker Trio, featuring Baker, Raney and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, from Baker's The Touch of Your Lips from 1979 in Copenhagen...
Here'sLazy Bird with Bernt Rosengren (ts) Ben Besiakov (p) Jesper Lundgaard (b) and Ole Jacob Hansen (d) from Raney's 1984 album of the same name...
And here's Speaking My Piece, from another favorite Raney album—Love & Peace: Music of Horace Parlan recorded in 2013...
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.
