JazzWax

Elgin, Raymond and Louis

In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed basketball legend Elgin Baylor for my "House Call" column in the paper's Mansion section (go here). Elgin talked about the harrowing racism he and his family endured in Washington D.C., in the 1940s and '50s, and the game that helped him develop his notorious hanging jump shot. Here's why Elgin is considered the greatest basketball player of all time and how he transformed the game in the early 1960s...

SiriusXM. Last Thursday, I was on Feedback with hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski to break down my latest "Anatomy of a Song" column for the WSJ on Joe Jackson's hit, Steppin' Out (1982). If you missed the hour-long live broadcast, here's a link to listen (go here).

Speaking of Anatomy of a Song, Katy Herman at BuzzFeed picked my book as one of 35 Cheap Things to Treat Your Dad to This Father's Day. Go here.

Ed Wood. Director Raymond De Felitta recently posted on Tim Burton's Ed Wood at his blog, Movies Til Dawn. Raymond calls it "the best film ever made about the life of an artist." I tend to agree. In his post, he includes a YouTube clip that places scenes from Ed Wood next to the actual scenes from Ed Wood's films. Go here.

The Connection. Following my post on Freddie Redd's music for the Living Theatre's production of The Connection, I received many emails from readers who saw the play between 1959 and '61 in New York. I received two I wanted to share with you.

The first is from Mike Oliver-Goodwin...

"I saw the original production three times. The music was stupendous and the play and production were knock-outs. I still remember how director Judith Malina and designer Julian Beck had the actors (including the musicians) wander around the "lobby" space during intermission panhandling handouts from the audience. I gave Jackie a five-spot. It was undoubtedly one of the greatest theater experiences I've ever seen. One of the high spots was Jackie and Freddie playing Confirmation. For some reason it was cut from the film. Maybe Clarke couldn't afford the rights." 

And from poet Billy Collins...

"Wee claim. I saw The Connection senior year of high school. I’d never seen anything like it, and it reassured me there was life beyond or below the suburbs. At the time, I had little to no grasp of the status of the musicians but there I was in my khakis."

Louis Armstrong radio. Starting on Tuesday night, July 3, at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) and then all day and night on July 4, WKCR-FM in New York will air its annual Louis Armstrong Birthday Broadcast. You can listen from anywhere in the world on your phone or computer by going here.

In Las Vegs on Sunday? Go dig the Jimmy Wilkins's New Life Orchestra, which will perform from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 1, at the German-American Club in Las Vegas. Jimmy, of course, is one of the last surviving members of Count Basie's original New Testament band and the brother of the late saxophonist and arranger Ernie Wilkins. For more information, go here.

Friday night, I caught dinner with producer Zev Feldman and then saw a pulsating performance by soul-funk guitarist Grant Green Jr. and group at the Jazz Standard. Then I headed up to Kitano to catch vocalist Georgia Mancio's second set. She was with the breathtakingly sensitive Alan Broadbent, bassist Don Falzone and drummer Dave Ohm. Alan was extraordinary, Don was on the money and Dave was miraculous on brushes. An all-around exceptional drummer. As for Georgia, she's one of my absolute favorite new female vocalists. She sang all of the wonderful new songs co-composed with Alan that appear on their new album, Songbook. They're all in Old Lyme, Ct. on Saturday, June 30, before heading back to London on Sunday. For more on Georgia's gigs here and in London, go here. [Photo above of Georgia Mancio and drummer Dave Ohm, Georgia's fiancee, by Marc Myers]

To read more about Georgia at JazzWax, go here and here.

Oddball album cover of the week.

One of the most self-deprecating album titles in vinyl history. On the other hand, the title kinda makes you wonder how bad he really sounds.

Billy Ainsworth and the Bands

For a brief moment in the late 1940s, trombonist Tommy Dorsey led a hip bop-hued big band. The orchestra's personnel included Charlie Shavers, Chuck Peterson, Vernon Arslan and Jack Dougherty (tp); Nick DiMaio and Dick Noel (tb); Billy Ainsworth (cl,as); Sid Cooper (as); Boomie Richman and Babe Fresk (ts); Marty Berman (bar); Paul Smith (p); Sam Herman (g); Norman Seelig (b); and Louie Bellson (d), along with Tommy Dorsey (tb,ldr). [Photo of Billy Ainsworth, above, courtesy of Laura Ainsworth]

Here's how tight they were on Pussy Willow, arranged by Bill Finegan:

I recently heard from Laura Ainsworth, Billy Ainsworth's daughter, who sent along a batch of great family photos. Billy began his recording career in Ray McKinley's band in 1946 and then joined Dorsey's band in 1948. In 1950, he recorded with Tex Beneke (when the band featured Eydie Gorme). Then Billy recorded again with Dorsey in 1951. That's his last jazz recording entry in the Jazz Discography.

Writes Laura: "After the big-band hit-record era waned, my dad continued playing with a lot of bands live and recording on commercial and production music sessions. He was a part of Freddy Martin’s house band at the Coconut Grove, which was there well into the ‘60s."

The following are photos of the late Billy Ainsworth in the late 1940s and early '50s, courtesy of Laura Ainsworth from her family collection, providing us with insight into the post-World War II big band era...

Reeds and trumpets in the Tex Beneke band in 1950. Front row, from left, Johnny White (as) and Billy Ainsworth (cl); top row, from left, Ed Gerlach (ts), Teddy Lee (as), Bobby Nichols (tp) and Gene Cipriano (ts).

The reed section of the Ray McKinley band. From left, Deane Kincaide, Billy Ainsworth, Ray Beller and Peanuts Hucko, c. 1946.

Another shot of the same section, with Billy Ainsworth, Ray Beller and Peanuts Hucko. Nick Travis is likely in the trumpet section, Lou Stein was on piano and Mundell Lowe was on guitar.

Arranger Billy May leading an early 1950s Tex Beneke recording session, with Billy Ainsworth, second from left in the front row. Mel Lewis was likely the drummer on the session.

The Tex Beneke sax section at New York's Paramount Theatre in Times Square. Billy Ainsworth is fourth from the left.

The Tommy Dorsey reed section, c. early 1950s, with Billy Ainsworth in the middle.

The Tex Beneke band, with Eydie Gorme seated, front, and Billy Ainsworth on clarinet, second from the left and standing in the reed section.

The Ray McKinley sax section, c. 1947, with Billy Ainsworth, second from the left, and Sam Butera, far left. Butera would go on to play sax with Louis Prima in the 1950s.

Billy Ainsworth, just behind Doc Severinsen, c. 1970s.

Here's more from Laura about her father:

"Dad was always on the road. He was something of a gourmet and chef, and other musicians have told me he always knew where to find the best food—especially the best bread pudding—in every town. He played in showroom bands behind big name stars, including Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Tom Jones, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. and many others at Las Vegas's Desert Inn and in Dallas, usually at the Fairmont Hotel's Venetian Room. He had his pilot’s license and would rent small planes to fly to gigs. He also flew our family on vacations to Los Angeles and Palm Springs. Once, after an especially harrowing landing as a kid, I swore never to get on a small plane again.


"He also played live with the Ernie Felice Quartet. They were playing at the Tail O' the Cock restaurant in L.A. when a woman named Louanne Hall came in. It was her birthday and she was feeling depressed because she didn't have a date. She didn't want to go out, but her girlfriends dragged her to the restaurant. My dad spotted her from the stage, leaned over to one of his bandmates and said, 'Now, there's a face I could look at for the rest of my life.' During a break, he ginned up his courage (which must've taken a lot, because he was quite shy) and introduced himself to her. That woman became his wife and my mother." [Photo above of Louanne Ainsworth]

You'll find more about Laura Ainsworth, as well as her latest album, New Vintage, here.

Video: Sonny Stitt in 1982

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Stitt was always a soulful ballad player. To read my earlier post on Stitt's ballads between 1949 and '52 for Prestige, go here. In January 1982, just six months before his death, Stitt was on tour in Copenhagen. Among the songs he performed was I Can't Get Started. Absolutely gorgeous. He was backed by pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Mads Vinding and drummer Aage Taangaard. Here's 26 minutes of the great Sonny Stitt on tenor and alto saxophones, on ballads and burners, in a clip that went up a few months ago...

Electrifying Track: Music Forever

In July 1959, New York's Living Theatre premiered a play by Jack Gelber about the hopelessness and despair of heroin addicts. Performed by the theatre company at its space on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 14th Street, the radical and raw play included jazz musicians playing the roles of junkies caught up in the cycle of addiction. Original music by Freddie Redd was performed on stage by Redd, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, bassist Michael Mattos and drummer Larry Ritchie. All four musicians also performed in the play as actors.

The gripping production won several awards, and there was a revised cast in 1961 with other artists playing Redd's music. Then came a touring cast in 1961 and '62 with new music by Cecil Payne and Kenny Drew as well as a Los Angeles production starring Dexter Gordon, who wrote original music. Several of Gordon's Connection compositions can be found on his Blue Note album, Dexter Calling. Still more productions took to the stages around the world.

In February 1960, Blue Note brought Redd, McLean, Mattos and Ritchie into the studio and recorded songs performed in the play. The album, The Music From the Connection, was released later that year and it remains a must own. One of Redd's most powerful and soaring originals was Music Forever. The Living Theatre, which was founded in 1947, is still with us today (go here). [Photo of Freddie Redd above from YouTube]

Here's the electrifying Music Forever from The Music From the Connection...

At a side note, in 1961, director Shirley Clarke (above) made a feature film of the play that included the original cast of jazz musicians and their performances. It seems dated and at times silly by today's standards given what we're exposed to online and on TV. But this was 1959 and '60, when the world was a lot different. Compare it with The Man With a Golden Arm (1955).

Here's the trailer for Clarke's film...

If you want to watch or buy the film, go here.

Herbie Mann with Oliver Nelson

Herbie Mann was a fascinating jazz figure. The flutist and saxophonist was a dominant player in the 1950s, recording prolifically as a leader and sideman, and always bringing tremendous swing and lyricism to his work. Both of Mann's parents were dancers, so his keen sense of time makes perfect sense. Tall and lean, he became the prototype for beat-generation beboppers, coffee-house bongo players, the folk-jazz hipsters and Greenwich Village VW-driving daddy-o's.

Mann also had a eye and ear for the cutting edge. On his covers, he was first to have long sideburns, first to wear a shirt with thick red stripes, first to wear a Pendleton shirt, first to wear no shirt and he had a goatee before all the folkies. As for music, he was among the first (along with Paul Winter) to leverage the bossa nova at the dawn of the 1960s in Rio. From there, he was among the first flutists to connect jazz to Latin, African and World music. He even dipped a toe into early disco in 1975, covering Barrabás' Hi-Jack (as Hijack Your Love) and came up a winner. [Photo of Oliver Nelson above courtesy of Amazon]

In 1965, Mann recorded two superb albums with arranger Oliver Nelson. Together, they had a fresh and breezy contemporary sensibility on ballads, waltzes and Latin barn-burners. The two albums were Latin Mann: Afro to Bossa to Blues, recorded in June, and Herbie Mann Today!, recorded in November.

Latin Mann is a terrific, with superb arrangements by Nelson, who shifts with ease between jazz and complex Latin statements. On paper, the songs seem like poor choices for the venture. What I Say, Bijou and Let's Boom Chitty Boom all appear a little odd. But when the needle hits the wax, you realize these two artists could record Mairzy Doats and they'd sound phenomenal. The high point for me is Manteca (written by Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Gil Fuller), with Nelson going all out and Mann surfing along on top.

Herbie Mann Today! has a more groovy sound, with Nelson drawing back his big orchestral artillery to let Mann float around on flute. The album cover is an example of op-art influenced by the Museum of Modern Art's very "today" Responsive Eye exhibit, which ran from February 23 to April 25 1965 before moving on to St. Louis, Seattle, Pasadena, Ca., and Baltimore. The Beatles' Yesterday is a gorgeous cover, and the same goes for Mann and Nelson's cover of The Night Before, giving the Fab Four hit an intoxicating boogaloo feel. The high point for me is Edu Lobo's Arrastao. Overall, the album sounds like the 1960s I remember. It's naturally with-it, laid-back and ferocious when necessary.

I love running these two albums together, one after the other. They both feature Mann's tasty flute and Nelson's powerful Latin undercurrent and sassy brass writing. In later years, Mann became overly taken with himself and relentlessly determined to seem "now," eventually becoming a punch line. But in the 1960s, he was still among the hippest fusion musicians around and one of the finest jazz flutists on the scene. It's really time to reconsider his catalog.

Herbie Mann died in 2003; Oliver Nelson died in 1975.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Latin Mann and Herbie Mann Today! here and here.

Both are available at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's Let's Boom Chitty Boom from Latin Mann...

And here's a spectacular cover of The Night Before from Herbie Mann Today!...

Willie Bobo: Bobo Motion

As a child, I spent summers at home in Manhattan's Washington Heights for most of the 1960s. Day camp was held at P.S. 187, my local public school and relief was under the sprinkler in the playground. I think that's why I'm always on the lookout for the hippest Latin music from the decade. Washington Heights was and remains an expansive neighborhood running almost 40 blocks north from 150th Street on the West Side. Back then, the area was shared by Latino, Irish and Jewish residents, depending on which block you were standing on. From the 150s to the high 160s, the area bordering both sides of Broadway was dominated by Dominican and Puerto Rican residents. I still remember hearing the music from those neighborhoods at red lights in my parents' blue Rambler, on buses and on exploratory walks with friends. [Photo above of Willie Bobo]

If you strayed below Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on 168th, you smelled chicken and pork cooking in the summer and saw the vibrant colors of the native flags of residents. What you heard coming from windows and stores was the coolest Latin music. In the 1960s, much of it was Dominican salsero, Puerto Rican salsa caliente and the Latin-soul fusion known as boogaloo.

Several recording artists were masters of giving pop an authentic Latin spin. Among them were vibist Cal Tjader and percussionists Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo. All three recorded  on each other's albums, and all three had enormous taste. Bobo moved fluidly between Latin and jazz, recording with jazz artists such as Herbie Mann, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Grant Green, among others.

When he began recording as a leader in 1962 for the Roulette label, Bobo often gave at least two radio hits a Latin touch. In 1965, he was signed by Creed Taylor at Verve as a leader and prolific sideman. Probably his biggest hit album was Spanish Grease in 1965. In 1967, he hit his peak with Bobo Motion for Verve. The album's liner notes touch on Bobo's "dream"—an album with the perfect blend of Latin, jazz, pop, rock and R&B. "It's getting closer and closer but I'm not there yet," Bobo said. As the notes continue, "This album proves the destination is reachable and Bobo will be there first."

The album's arrangements were by Bert Keyes (Up Up & Away, Midnight Sun, Cute, Tuxedo Junction, Show Me, Black Coffee and La Bamba) and Sonny Henry (Ain't That Right, I Don't Know, Evil Ways and Night Walk). Sadly, the rest of the personnel is unknown but as you'll hear, there are heavy-hitters on this session.

There isn't a bad track on the album, and it's a must own. Perfect for sitting on a car eating chicken and yellow rice with piquante, a plastic fork and knife, and an ice-cold bottle of Royal Crown Cola.

Willie Bobo died in 1983.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Willie Bobo's Bobo Motion (Verve) here.

It's also available at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's Up, Up & Away...

Up Up & Away

And here's Night Walk...

Night Walk

Meg, Hank and Georgia

In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed bestselling author Meg Wolitzer for my "House Call" column (go here) and reviewed John Coltrane's Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album album (go here). Meg's book The Wife has been made into a movie starring Glenn Close that opens Aug. 17. [Photo above courtesy of Meg Wolitzer]

Here's the trailer...

Catch me on SiriusXM's Feedback (Channel 106) with the show's co-hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski this Thursday, June 28, at 9 a.m. (EDT) when we'll be breaking down Joe Jackson's 1982 hit Steppin' Out.

Hank O'Neal, the author, photographer, and record and music festival producer, has written a marvelous new book, Preserving Lives: An American Family's Scrapbook, 1920-1950 (TCU Press). The book is part biography of his mother's and father's life together and part scrapbook of his parents' photos, letters and other mementos gathered through their marriage. A fascinating slice of history. Go here.

Carvin' the Rock. Video clips like this one give me hope that jazz will survive shifting tastes and a tightening marketplace. The musicians are Eric Borczuk on clarinet; Sam Glick on guitar; Ben Caine on piano; Greg Momjian on bass; and Cam Johnson on drums...

In New York this week? Go see vocalist Georgia Mancio backed by pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist Don Falzone and drummer Dave Ohm at Kitano Jazz. They'll be there one night only, on Friday, June 29. Georgia and Alan will be featuring selections from Songbook, their album of original compositions. I posted about their album here, and my interview with Georgia is here. For more information about Kitano Jazz, go here.

Don Stratton. Following my post last week on Dixieland Goes Progressive, Dick Vacca, author of The Boston Jazz Chronicles, sent along the following email...

"Hello Marc. Greetings from Boston. Thank you for your post. It is great to see Don Stratton's name in JazzWax. Don was enormously helpful to me in writing The Boston Jazz Chronicles, and over time he became a friend. I wrote a blog post on Don when he died. I thought you and JazzWax readers might enjoy it." To read Dick's post, go here.

More Dixieland. Following my Dixieland post, Arthur Carr in Australia send along the following:

"Hi Marc. I enjoyed your post on Dixieland Goes Progressive. But pianist Art Hodes, who visited Australia in the late 1970s or early '80s, really makes me tap my shoes. I did not get to see or hear him, as he was playing in Melbourne then, as you can see from the following clip. All of the musicians were on their game." Here's the video...

Jon Hiseman radio. Jon Hiseman, an English drummer who died June 12 at 73, played with the Graham Bond Organisation, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and the jazz rock/progressive rock band Colosseum. Today (Saturday), Chris Cowles will pay tribute to Hiseman with a four-hour broadcast from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. (EDT). If you're reading this on Sunday, you can access the show's audio via a link. You can listen from anywhere in the world on your phone or computer on Saturday or Sunday by going here. 

Arlene Corwin, who was married to pianist Bob Corwin, is herself a singer and pianist. Here she is in Sweden singing a clutch of jazz standards...

CD you should know about.

E.J. Decker's Bluer Than Velvet. If you dig vocalist Arthur Prysock, E.J. Decker applies his deep baritone voice to the famed singer's pop-jazz catalog. Many Prysock classics are here, from Blue Velvet and Since I Fell for You to I Could Write a Book and September in the Rain. Smart accompaniment by Claire Daly (bs), Chris Bergson (g), Elizabeth Frascola (tb), Les Kurtz (p), Saadi Zain (b) and Tom Melito (d). Go here.

What the heck. I'm sure many of you have seen this video. But if not, you're in for a treat...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Maybe it's me, but I'm not getting the party part. Between the guy on the phone with the office or liquor store and the loaded spouse on the floor, this cover doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun, even in suburbia. Judging by the song titles, perhaps that's the point.

John Coltrane: Both Directions

On March 6, 1963, saxophonist John Coltrane was at Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. Between 1 and 6 p.m., Coltrane's "classic quartet" recorded 14 songs, including two untitled Coltrane originals that were recorded just once. As I write in my Wall Street Journal review of the album this week (go here), the newly discovered music is astonishing and hugely important.

The recording session was held on the afternoon of March 6 so the quartet could make their gig that evening at New York's Birdland. While Impulse refers to this release as a "lost album," I don't believe these tapes represented an unrealized LP. It was more likely a recorded run-through of new material Coltrane wanted to get down on tape for future performance and recording. Producer Bob Thiele probably booked the studio on March 6 as a rehearsal for the "John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman" album the next day. Thiele wouldn't have scheduled two different album projects back-to-back.

Or, he more likely scheduled March 6 and 7 for the Johnny Hartman session, but Hartman couldn't make the 6th. Or Coltrane and Hartman didn't think the 6th was necessary. So Thiele kept it anyway to record Coltrane playing whatever he wanted as a limber-up session. Thank goodness he did. The music is bold, soulful, hair-raising and deep. I've listened to the music about 20 times, and I love it more each time. The recording is thrilling, like flying along a series of wilderness zip-lines and watching the scenery change.

Admittedly, Coltrane's free-form playing in the 1960s is sophisticated music that requires your attention and your heart. You have to let yourself go and drift with the exotic, percussive winds stirred up by Coltrane's expressive tenor and soprano saxophones, and the quartet as a whole.

The material on this two-CD set was recorded at an interesting time for Coltrane. Newly signed to Impulse in 1961 by Creed Taylor, Coltrane was handed off to Thiele when Taylor joined Verve and Thiele took over at Impulse. Despite Coltrane's saxophone prowess, he wasn't winning vital magazine polls in 1963, and critics were blasting his approach as "anti-jazz." So Impulse wanted Coltrane to record easy-going albums that would change critics' and listeners' minds by featuring music that wasn't so demanding. 

Thiele (above) was under pressure from Impulse parent ABC-Paramount to deliver. Interestingly, Coltrane was fine with the corporate mandate. He happily recorded Ballads and relaxed albums with Duke Ellington and singer Johnny Hartman. In between, however, Thiele recorded Coltrane in the studio playing the type of jazz he performed on tour and at clubs such as the Village Vanguard and that Impulse recorded and released. To avoid heat from ABC-Paramount's executives, many of whom questioned why Thiele was recording way more Coltrane than the label could ever hope to release, Thiele came up with a work-around.

He stopped telling his bosses what he was going to do and just did it. He'd come in and say he had recorded Coltrane at the studio the night before. Fortunately for us, Thiele understood the urgent importance of documenting Coltrane's new form of "black jazz" that yearned for a return to his African roots. Thiele viewed these sessions as a calling. He sensed that if he didn't tape Coltrane in the studio, the music would be lost forever.

Coltrane appreciated Thiele's devotion and dedication, which is probably why Coltrane was happy to record the more relaxed albums. By A Love Supreme in 1965, however, Coltrane no longer had to record songbook albums. The acclaimed album made him a poll winner and a jazz star in his own right. As national tensions heightened by the mid-1960s, the hymn-like and thrashing quality of his music made more sense.

On this album, we have two untitled originals that were simply designated with numbers, since they were never named. One features multiple takes. There are four takes of Impressions, each more exciting than the next; Nature Boy and two takes of Vilia are lyrical standards; and two takes of One Up, One Down.

So where was this tape hiding all these years? After the quartet departed that day for Birdland, the master tape reels sat on the shelf at Van Gelder’s studio [above] until Coltrane died in July 1967, when Impulse executives arrived to retrieve them. After ABC Records relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, the tape went into storage. Soon, cost-cutting measures led ABC to discard reels of warehoused tapes that hadn’t been released as albums. Coltrane’s March 6 recording was part of the purge.

Fortunately, Thiele had run a separate tape reel in the studio that day in 1963, a common practice that allowed Coltrane to take the music home for evaluation. When Coltrane and his first wife, Naima, divorced in 1966, he left the reel with her. Years later, the family found the reel, and it became the source for the newly released Both Directions. The sound is fantastic.

As readers know, I love all great jazz—from New Orleans to the abstraction of Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra and beyond. If my heart skips a beat as I listen, I love it. Pretty simple. The new Coltrane album, due June 29, is exciting and among the most hypnotic and revelatory legacy recordings I've heard in some time. Tyner (above) is at his turbulent peak, Garrison tears into the bass, and Jones sounds like three drummers at once.

As you listen to this music, remember that John F. Kennedy was in the White House, the Beatles weren't here yet and wouldn't arrive for 10 months, civil-rights protests were just heating up and only a handful of Americans could find Vietnam on a map. Coltrane was that far ahead of his time. The music anticipated everything that would follow and influenced the hard rock of Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Led Zeppelin and so many other artists.

As I note at the close of my WSJ review, "It’s impossible not to hear the feeling of Both Directions in Coltrane’s solos on his Johnny Hartman album. The two are now forever linked." 

JazzWax tracks: You'll find John Coltrane's Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Deluxe Version) here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Untitled Original #11383...

And here's the same group backing singer Johnny Hartman one day later...

Paul Moer Plays Elmo Hope

Paul Moer was a West Coast jazz pianist who in the 1950s and early '60s turned up on all the right albums led by superb musicians. Moer began his career with baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon on Meet Mr. Gordon (Pacific Jazz). He then played on albums by Jack Montrose, Billy Usselton, Maynard Ferguson, John Graas, Paul Chambers, Dave Pell, Jimmy Witherspoon and Paul Horn among others. That takes us to 1962. Then Moer dropped off the recording scene. 

For the next 28 years, Moer worked up and down the West Coast, arranging, conducting, accompanying singers and leading trios. According to my brief search of West Coast newspapers, Moer was conducting Al Pelligrini's band behind singer Shani Wallis at the Westside Room in L.A.'s Century Plaza in 1969; in July 1974, Moer was leading a trio with bassist Jim Crutcher and drummer Jerry McKenzie in L.A.; in 1986, he was Barbara Eden's musical director in Reno; in 1989 he was at L.A.'s Verdi's.

In April 1991, Moer was coaxed into the recording studio by Fresh Sound's Jordi Pujol and saxophonist Dave Pell to record The Music of Elmo Hope for the Fresh Sound label. It was recorded at Sage & Sound Studio in L.A. Moer was joined by bassist John Heard and drummer Larance Marable (d). The album is exquisite. [Photo above of the late Dave Pell, left, and Jordi Pujol in the 1990s]

Let's zoom in on Elmo Hope. A close friend and admirer of bop pianist Bud Powell, Hope began his recording career in the late 1940s and early '50s as an R&B pianist. In 1953, he was recruited by Blue Note producer Alfred Lion to play on what was one of the earliest hard-bop recordings—the Lou Donaldson/Clifford Brown Quintet featuring Brown (tp), Donaldson (as), Hope (p), Percy Heath (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). Hope's intoxicating originals De-Dah and Bellarosa and Carvin' the Rock, both co-composed with Sonny Rollins, were on the '53 album.

Throughout the 1950s, Hope recorded superb albums as a leader and sideman. Sadly, he  struggled with heroin addiction, losing his New York cabaret license after a conviction, forcing him to move to LA. Upon his return to New York in 1961, drug and health problems limited his opportunities. After being hospitalized for pneumonia in 1967, Hope died several weeks later of heart failure.

Moer takes on Hope's music with enormous elan and sensitivity. Carvin' the Rock, One Second Please, So Nice and Happy Hour are especially beautiful. What makes this album so special is Moer's approach to Hope's music. Instead of employing a strict Bud Powell-like approach to Hope's music, Moer slows down the songs and lets you savor them, giving the music grace and poise. Moer had terrific taste, and we hear that here in his prancing solo lines and meaty chord voicings. This album is for anyone who loves pianists who can turn the compositions of grand artists into musical haute-couture collections sailing gracefully down runway. 

Paul Moer died in 2010.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Paul Moer Plays the Music of Elmo Hope (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Elmo Hope playing his composition Happy Hour...

Happy Hour

And here's the Paul Moer Trio's interpretation of the same song...

Happy Hour

Here's Hope playing his own Minor Bertha...

Minor Bertha

And here's Moer's rendition...

Minor Bertha

Electrifying Track: The Eely One

In January 1959, tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb was teamed with fellow tenor player Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, organist Wild Bill Davis, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Arthur Edgehill on a Prestige album called Blow Arnett, Blow. On The Eely One, a walking blues by Cobb, the tough tenors take turns snaking through solos. Cobb takes the first, with smokey, slippery lines. Jaws takes the second with a brash, slinky delivery. Both blues masters were backed by Wild Bill Davis's big organ, its drawbars seemingly set to full skating rink. Hard to keep still listening to this groovemaker.

Here's The Eely One...

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Blow Arnett, Blow here in the Black Velvet compilation.

It's also available at Spotify under the Black Velvet title.