JazzWax

Gus Mancuso: Baritone Horn

If a tuba married a trombone, their kids would be baritone horns. As former high-school band members may recall, the baritone looks like a tuba that was left in the drier too long, and its sound is most akin to the valve trombone. Not many musicians played the instrument in jazz ensembles, since other horns can do the job more easily. Trumpeter Doug Mettome played it on Urbie Green's Urbie Green Septet in 1953. [Photo above of Gus Mancuso]

Others who played the baritone horn on jazz recording sessions were Dick Lieb on Kai Winding's Trombone Sound in 1956, Bob Enevoldsen on Kenneth Patchen's Poetry & Jazz in 1958, James Haughton on Art Farmer's Brass Shout in 1959, Dave Wells on Jimmy Hamilton's Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet in 1960, Charles Greenlee on Slide Hampton's Somethin' Sanctified in 1960 and Al Grey on Al Grey-Billy Mitchell Sextet in 1961. And there were others.

One of the only jazz musicians to lead a recording session on the instrument was Gus Mancuso. Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Mancuso began playing drums at age 11before switching to trombone. He had five brothers who also were musicians, and he began playing the baritone horn in the Army band. After his discharge, Mancuso caught the ear of vibist Cal Tjader, who brought him to the attention of Fantasy Records in San Francisco.

Tjader (above) arranged Mancuso's first album in 1956, Introducing Gus Mancuso. Mancuso recorded only one other leadership album, Music for New Faces, also for Fantasy, in 1958. Mancuso doubled on piano, bass, trumpet, trombone and vibes, and he recorded intermittently as a pianist and bassist with Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones and Carl Fontana.

Like most albums of the period, these two for Fantasy swing like crazy, are together and are quite tasty. For Introducing Gus Mancuso, there were three sessions and three different exceptional groups. On I'm Glad There Is You, The Ruble and the Yen and Goody Goody, the quartet featured Mancuso (bar-hrn), Gerald Wiggins (p), Eugene Wright (b) and Bill Douglass (d).

On Ev'ry Time, By the Way, How Do You Like Your Eggs in the Morning and Every Time We Say Goodbye, the quartet included Mancuso (bar-hrn), Eddie Duran (g), Eugene Wright (b) and Cal Tjader (d).

Finally, on Brother Aintz, You and Me and Baby Makes Three and A Hatful of Dandruff, the band featured Richie Kamuca (ts), Gus Mancuso (bar-hrn), Vince Guaraldi (p), Eugene Wright (b) and Cal Tjader (d).

The followup album, Music From New Faces, featured Joe Romano (ts), Gus Mancuso (bar-hrn), Pete Jolly (p), Red Mitchell (b) and Buddy Greve (d).

Given how good these two albums are, it's hard to understand why Mancuso wasn't more widely recorded as a leader. It's also odd there's so little about Mancuso online. In all likelihood, Mancuso dropped the baritone horn, picked up the bass and moved the family to warmer Las Vegas, where there were plenty of gig opportunities.

According to Peter Levin, Mancuso is still active in Las Vegas on piano: "He's a regular performer at the Bootlegger and is on the board of the Las Vegas Jazz Society, and appears to be a much-loved figure in the Las Vegas jazz world. There are YouTube videos of his quartet Jazzology, as well as a few of him solo." 

The good news is we have two albums by this unheralded multi-instrumentalist who at this point in the 1950s was playing the baritone horn with enormous polish and spirit.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find both albums mentioned above on a single Fantasy release called Gus Mancuso & Special Friends here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Vince Guaraldi's Hatful of Dandruff from Introducing Gus Mancuso...

A Hatful Of Dandruff

And here's Guess Who I Saw Today, from Music for New Faces, with Pete Jolly laying down some fine Red Garland-flavored piano...

Guess Who I Saw Today

Jimmie, Coleman and Elvis

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Jimmie Johnson for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Jimmie is is a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and two-time winner of the Daytona 500. He also is the winningest active NASCAR driver and sixth among all-time winners. We talked about growing up in Southern California, where he raced motorcycles at age 5. His grandparents ran a motorcycle shop and his parents rode bikes as well. Eventually, he switched over to stock cars.

Here's Jimmie in action...

Paul Wood, an exceptional architect and long-time friend who lives in France, sent along this lovely clip by Sarah McKenzie playing piano and singing Paris in the Rain, from her album of the same name...

Coleman Hawkins radio. WKCR-FM in New York presents its annual "Coleman Hawkins Birthday Broadcast" celebrating the career of the tenor saxophonist. The station will play Hawk's music around the clock for 24 hours (EST) on his birthday anniversary next Wednesday, November 21. You can listen to the broadcast from anywhere in the world on your computer or phone by going here.

Music I enjoyed that you might dig, too...

Elvis Costello—Look Now (Concord). This album should be getting much more play in the media than it has thus far. It's brilliant and among Elvis Costello's best. For the first time since 2008, Elvis has reunited with his band the Imposters. The arch neo-pop songs are smartly crafted, sophisticated and arranged with a Brit-Memphis feel. Many of the songs are reminiscent of Painted From Memory, Costello's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach. Most of the songs on Look Now were written solely by Elvis. The exceptions are Don't Look Now and Photographs Can Lie, which were co-written with Burt, who plays piano with the Imposters on the two songs. Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter was co-written by Elvis and Carole King. An album that is as hip as it is addictive. On Spotify—or go here.

If you think Elvis's music is New Wave synth stuff from the early 1980s that you won't dig, you're so wrong. Trust me. Here's Stripping Paper...

Richie Cole—Cannonball (RCP). Alto saxophonist Richie Cole is a throwback to a time when swing mattered. On Cannonball, a tribute to Cannonball Adderley, Cole has assembled a gorgeous group—Reggie Watkins (tb), Eric Susoeff (g), Kevin Moore (p), Mark Perna (b) and Vince Talieri (d). The songs all have the perfume and eager edge of Adderley but the sound is unmistakably Cole, who also wrote the arrangements. This album is perfect and a must own. Go here.

Here's a promo video for the album...

Iris Ornig—Storyteller (IOM). I love Iris Ornig's music and have been raving about her since 2008. If you're unfamiliar with the bassist and composer, you simply must check her out. Iris is one talented artist. Once again, she has produced the album and has written all the songs. Usually that's a recipe for disaster with many artists. But with Iris, she knows exactly what she's doing. Her band on Storyteller features Jonathan Powell (tp,flghn), Jeremy Powell (ts), Addison Frei (p), Iris (b) and Allan Mednard (d). Iris arrived in New York from Germany in 2013 and has played with everyone. Here's more on Iris. For her new album, go here. 

Kika Sprangers—Leaves of Lily (Zennes). Dutch saxophonist Kika Sprangers composed all the songs on her new album except for Gridlock, which she co-wrote with Eric Brugmans. Recorded live at Tivoli Cloud Nine, a club within the The TivoliVredenburg music complex in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Sprangers's album has a floating, spiritual feel with cinematic sensibility. She's backed by Manuel Wouthuysen (p), Eric Brugmans (g), Danny van Ruitenburg (b) and Benjamin Torbijn (d), plus three vocalists, a flutist, a trumpeter, a French hornist and a bass clarinetist. Beautiful music. Go here.

Pat Bianchi—In the Moment (Savant). Organist Pat Bianchi has recorded a swinging new groove-maker. His tightly wound Larry Young-like attack on the Hammond and fast-flying fingers will knock you out. He's backed on most tracks by Paul Bollenback (g) and Byron Landham (d), with special guests Peter Bernstein (g), Carmen Intorre Jr. (d), Joe Locke (vib), Kevin Mahogany (vocal) and Pat Martino (g). A nifty ensemble. Songs range from Chick Corea's Humpty Dumpty and Stevie Wonder's Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing to Billy Eckstine's I Want to Talk About You and Thelonious Monk's Four in One. A group that's on fire and an album that percolates with jazz-soul. Go here.

Frank De Felitta. Last week, I shared with you the documentary Stately Ghosts of England, which was produced, directed and written for NBC in the mid-1960s by the late Frank De Felitta. This week, director Raymond De Felitta sent along links to his father's NBC documentary on World War II's Battle of the Bulge. You can learn more about the film at Raymond's blog, Movies Til Dawn.

Here's Part 1...

Here's Part 2...

What the heck. Here's one of my favorite groups from soul-disco's peak in 1976—Double Exposure singing My Love Is Free...

Oddball album cover of the week.

For some reason, when I saw this cover, I imagined the squirrel in the photo singing the following to the seated model...

Sonny Rollins: Norway, 1971

Between 1969 and 1971, Sonny Rollins took a sabbatical, traveling first to Jamaica and then to India where he studied yoga, meditation and Eastern philosophy. When he returned to playing publicly, one of his first gigs in June 1971 was a performance in Kongsberg, Norway. Backing him that evening were Bobo Stenson (p), Arild Andersen (b) and Jon Christensen (drums). Here's Sonny performancing Sonnymoon for Two and In a Sentimental Mood...

Hot Track: Venus De Milo

In 1949, Gerry Mulligan arranged a song he wrote called Venus de Milo for the Miles Davis Nonet, better known now as the Birth of the Cool Band. The group recorded the song in April of that year. Eight years later, the song was recorded again in December of 1957 by an octet. The album was The Gerry Mulligan Songbook Vol. 1 and featured a killer lineup of players: Lee Konitz (as); Allen Eager (ts); Zoot Sims (as,ts); Al Cohn (bar,ts); Gerry Mulligan (bar); Freddie Green (g); Henry Grimes (b) and Dave Bailey (d). Bill Holman wrote the arrangements.

Who came up with the idea to record some of the top section reed players playing Mulligan songs (it could have been World Pacific's Dick Bock), who decided to call Bill Holman to write the octet arrangements (it might have been Mulligan or Bock) and why the album was recorded in New York rather than Los Angeles remains a mystery. What we do know is that Bill wrote sensational arrangements and the blowing is stellar, particularly on Venus de Milo. [Photo above, from left, of Lee Konitz, Allen Eager, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn in the studio]

In 2008, I asked Bill about the session:

JazzWax: In late 1957, you wrote all of the arrangements for The Gerry Mulligan Songbook Vol. 1. Those are breathtaking by any measure.
Bill Holman: Originally that album was supposed to be recorded in 1956, with the usual West Coast guys—probably Bob Cooper, Bob Gordon, me, Herb Geller and Art Pepper—but we never got that far. Something happened with Gerry's scheduling and he couldn't make it out to California. So he put the session aside for a year. Which turned out great, considering the players he got to record with him in New York—Lee Konitz, Allen Eager, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. [Photo above of Gerry Mulligan]

JW: Did you enjoy writing those arrangements?
BH: Very much so. I always felt a kinship with Gerry and felt that I would be giving him a tribute if I did the tunes my way.

JW: Were you at the session?
BH: No. Since they recorded it in New York. I was never in the studio.

JW: Were you happy with the result?
BH: Oh, sure. My only complaint was that they added Freddie Green on guitar. I love Freddie, but the feeling I wanted when I wrote the arrangements was not a guitar thing. A guitar playing a steady four-four rhythm nails down the rhythm section a little too tightly. The sound worked well for [Count] Basie for years, but I had a different feel in my writing. It's really a sax soli album, and the guitar makes the trio behind the saxes sound too rigid instead of the looser feel I wanted. [Photo above, from left, Dave Bailey, Freddie Green and Henry Grimes]

Why the album had "Vol. 1" in its title can only mean a "Vol. 2" was planned. One can also assume that Bill and the saxophonists on the date didn't have the time for another. [Photo of Bill Holman courtesy of Bill Holman]

Here's Bill Holman's arrangement of Gerry Mulligan's Venus de Milo, with solos, in order, by Mulligan, Konitz, Cohn and Grimes. Dig Mulligan's huge anchor on the bottom with Lee loud on top...

Bill Holman: Octets, 1950s

One of my favorite West Coast jazz arrangers is saxophonist Bill Holman. His work for ensembles of all sizes, from quintets to big bands, is gorgeous. While listening to Richie Kamuca's albums yesterday from 1956 and '57, I was thunderstruck by an octet session Bill played on and arranged. Which made me think about how superb all of Bill's many octet sessions are from the 1950s—whether he's playing in one, arranging or both. [Photo above of Bill Holman in the 1950s]

So I dipped into Tom Lord's online Jazz Discography to count off Bill's octet dates during that decade:

• Kenton Presents Jazz: The Bill Holman Octet (1954)
• Duane Tatro's Jazz for Moderns (1954)
• Lennie Niehaus, Vol. 3: The Octet #2 (1955)
• The Compositions of Bobby Scott, Vol. 2 (1955)
• Shorty Rogers's Clickin' With Clax (1956)
• Shorty Rogers and the Giants (1957)
• Richie Kamuca's Jazz Erotica (1957)
• Art Pepper's Mucho Calor (1957)
• Gerry Mulligan Song Book Vol. 1 (1957)
• Mark Murphy's This Could Be the Start of Something (1958)

The one I wasn't familiar with were the octet tracks on Kamuca's Jazz Erotica (Hi-Fi Jazz) recorded in May 1957. The musicians were Ed Leddy and Conte Candoli (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb), Richie Kamuca (ts), Bill Holman (bar,arr), Vince Guaraldi (p), Monty Budwig (b) and Stan Levey (d). The octet songs are 'Way Down Under, Angel Eyes, Star Eyes, I Hadn't Anyone Till You, The Things We Did Last Summer and Indiana. [Photo above of Richie Kamuca]

Bill's arrangements for 1950s octets miniaturized his swinging and sunny, harmony-rich sound for Stan Kenton mid-decade. The arrangements on these Kamuca-led tracks are spectacular, particularly 'Way Down Under, Angel Eyes, Star Eyes and The Things We Did Last Summer. What's more, Kamuca's solos are earthy, swinging and right on the money. A shame an entire octet album wasn't recorded. Or two.

Richie Kamuca died in 1977.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Jazz Erotica paired with Richie Kamuca Quartet on Tenor Ahead (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Angel Eyes...

Here's 'Way Down Under...

Here's Star Eyes...

And here's The Things We Did Last Summer...

Dexter Gordon: Live, '63 + '77

In 1962, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon moved his base of operations to Copenhagen, Denmark, and moved back in 1976. Shortly after his move abroad, Gordon was recorded live at the Modern Jazz Club Persepolis in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on January 20, 1963. And shortly after his move back to the States in 1976, he was recorded at Espace Cardin, in Paris, on September 25, 1977. Both recordings have just been released and both are superb, capturing Gordon at the start of two new chapters. [Photo of Dexter Gordon above in Copenhagen in 1964 courtesy of Jan Persson/CTSImages.com]

Gordon's appearance at Persepolis was his first live recording after moving to Europe. The recording was initiated by Dutch jazz promoter Jaap van de Klomp, who at 22 was a Persepolis board member. He wrote to Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, where Gordon had a regular gig. Jaap followed up with a phone call, promising Gordon the very best sidemen: Rob Madna (p), Ruud Jacobs (b) and Cees See (d). Gordon agreed to come to Utrecht and perform two nights at Persepolis. Jaap called colleagues at Holland's VARA Radio, who recorded the second concert for a show. The original tapes were preserved and are now out as Dexter Gordon: In the Cave on the Nederlands Jazz Archief label.

As you might imagine with radio tape, the sound is clean and dynamic. The songs are Stanley the Steamer, Yesterdays, Benny Green's I Wanna Blow Now, Body and Soul (dig Madna's glorious piano solo and how Gordon backs into Nancy With the Laughing Face after the piano solo—genius!), Dexter's Deck and In the Cave. Hats off to Jaap!

In 1977, Gordon performed at Espace Cardin in the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris arts complex. The concert was recorded, and it was just released on Dexter Gordon Quartet, Espace Cardin 1977 (Elemental Music). Backing Gordon were Al Haig (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Kenny Clarke (d), whose drums for some reason were mixed bombastically loud. On the other hand, it's pretty nifty to hear Clarke in action, not just keeping time.

The songs are Gordon's Sticky Wicket and A La Modal, Body and Soul, Gordon's Antabus, Sonny Rollins's Oleo and Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight, which features just Haig and the trio. On A La Modal, Gordon plays the soprano saxophone and works in tags from My Favorite Things, A Stranger in Paradise and Dearly Beloved while Haig appears to be playing chords from Miles Davis's So What.

It's interesting to listen to these two albums, one after the other. We get to hear how Gordon matured as an artist in the 14 years between them. We also hear him with two excellent trios. Especially interesting are the differences between Body and Soul, which appears on both albums. Gordon, of course, was extraordinary no matter where or when he was blowing.

Dexter Gordon died in 1990.

JazzWax note: Maxine Gordon's Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon (University of California Press), a memoir-biography, was just published. You'll find it here. 

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Dexter Gordon: In the Cave (Nederlands Jazz Archief) here.

Dexter Gordon: Espace Cardin 1977 (Elemental Music) here.

You'll also find Dexter Gordon: In the Cave 1977 at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's Stanley the Steamer in 1963...

And here's Sticky Wicket in 1977...

Art Pepper: Toronto, 1977

At the end of July 1977, Art Pepper went into New York's Village Vanguard. Recordings of nine sets over three days at the club would be released years later as a nine-CD boxed set called the Complete Village Vanguard Sessions. It has been heralded as some of Pepper's finest late-career playing, and rightly so. But a month before his Vanguard run, Pepper was in Toronto at Bourbon Street with a different pickup trio—Bernie Senensky (p) Gene Perla and Dave Piltch (b), and Terry Clarke (d).

Long available in bits only on bootlegs like the one directly above and below, the Toronto gig has just been officially issued as Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto. The new three-CD set has been issued with previously unreleased tracks and produced with brilliant sound by Laurie Pepper, the late saxophonist's wife, on her Widow's Taste Records. As Laurie writes in the set's notes about 1977, "The talent, nerve and luck that propelled [Art that year] were stronger than the self-destructive impulses that stymied him."

In essence, in Toronto, Pepper planted his feet in two decades at once—the frothy West Coast jazz of the 1950s that he helped create and the more wandering abstraction popular in the 1970s. But to be honest, this boxed set seems more like a Pepper visit 20 years back in time to 1957. Maybe his journey back was motivated by nostalgia or perhaps it's because he was straight that night, as Laurie points out in her notes. Or perhaps he just felt like taking his young trio on that trip.

The boxed set is dominated by familiar standards—Long Ago and Far Away, Here's That Rainy Day, What Is This Thing Called Love, All the Things You Are, The Summer Knows, I'll Remember April and Star Eyes . All have that late-'50s West Coast optimism, with an avant-garde touch here and there.

The balance of the set consists of trumpeter Joe Gordon's A Song for Richard, an original blues by Pepper called Blues for Heard (named for bassist John Heard); and Samba Mom-Mom, which Pepper wrote for Laurie ("Mom-Mom"), her "nom de honey-pie," as Laurie wonderfully put it in her notes. But this last song also is reminiscent of some of the Latin-flavored songs on Pepper's Mucho Calor album in 1957. There's also a worthy 33-minute interview with Hal Hill, a Toronto jazz radio show host, a local record store owner and promoter of Canadian jazz concerts. [Photo of Laurie and Art Pepper above courtesy of Laurie Pepper]

To quote Laurie: "In a month, Art would conquer the world at the Vanguard. Then he'd go home, and from boredom (or from inertia—he'd been at such a fever pitch), he would nearly kill himself with drugs. He'd wind up in the hospital. He'd even go to jail. But after that, he'd tour the world with his own bands, record dozens of albums, write a hundred tunes, perform a hundred concerts, all of which were great, some of which were just magnificent."

Just how magnificent is debatable, depending on one's favorite Pepper period. What I do know is that in Toronto, Pepper sounded a lot like he did decades earlier—frisky and soulful, surfing the cresting tops of songs with melodic freedom. All of this will be welcome news to Art Pepper fans who treasure his 1950s recordings and music imbued with the open sky. [Photo of Art Pepper above in 1957 courtesy of Laurie Pepper]

Art Pepper died in 1982.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto here (CD) and here (download).

JazzWax clip: Here's Long Ago and Far Away from the new set...

Long Ago and Far Away

Chris, Milan and Frank

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Blondie's Chris Stein for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). We talked about growing up an only child in Brooklyn, his tough time in school and how he became interested in photography. Chris is a fantastic photographer who documented the 1970s and '80s in New York in all of its dangerous, broken-down and freakish glory. The guitarist's latest book of photographs from the period, Point of View: Me, New York City, and the Punk Scene (Rizzoli), is a must. It knocked me out.

Also in the WSJ, I wrote about the new Charles Mingus boxed set Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery/46 Selden (BBE), which also is a must if you love Mingus (go here). You'll hear saxophonist John Stubblefield, trumpeter Joe Gardner and pianist Don Pullen along with drummer Roy Brooks and bassist Mingus. The music on the box set the stage for Mingus masterpieces Changes One and Changes Two for Atlantic a year later.

SiriusXM. If you missed my hour-long appearance last week on SiriusXM's Feedback (Channel 106), hosted by the great Lori Majewski and Nik Carter, we talked about Barry White and played some of his early music and his hits. I went into his biography, why his music was important, and how he altered the music scene in the 1970s and redefined masculine sensitivity. To listen, go here. 

Birdland, in three volumes! Fascinated by the old Birdland club on Broadway and 52nd Street? Love old photos of jazz musicians playing at the club? Looking for a unique gift for yourself or a loved one? Wow, are you in luck.

Producer Milan Simich has assembled the definitive Birldland photo collection. The images wouldn't all fit in one book. So A Night at Birdland and Other Places: The Golden Age of Modern Jazz in New York 1949-1959 is a three volume set. Each volume is 8" by 8 3/4." The first two run more than 500 pages and the third is more than 300 pages. No long-winded text. Just page after page of crisply reproduced images, many of which I've never seen before, with informative captions. It's gotta be Prez, Bird, Shearing or the Basie—and way more. Chapters are divided simply by year. There also are up-close photos of pamphlets about the club, newspaper clippings and more. One look through and I found myself listening to music of artists from the images. Love the one of Doug Watkins, Horace Silver and Hank Mobley with their jackets off in '54 lounging on a sofa between sets.

The three volumes aren't cheap. Only 200 editions were printed and they're going fast. All three volumes sell as a set for $300 plus $30 for shipping. For questions or to order, send an email to Milan here: [email protected]. A great way to spend the winter while listening to the music. Think of it as three meals out.

Booker Ervin. Barrie Walker in Paris sent along a link to a clip of saxophonist Booker Ervin playing Eerie Dearie from Ervin's The Blues Book (1964) as a backdrop to a video of a French-Italian film. Fabulous combination. Go here... 

Dizzy Gillespie radio. This Sunday (November 11), "Symphony Sid" Gribetz will present a five-hour radio program celebrating early Dizzy Gillespie on his “Jazz Profiles” from 2 to 7 p.m. (EST) on WKCR-FM in New York. You can tune in from anywhere in the world on your computer or phone by going here.

Money radio. WRTC in Hartford, Ct., is into its annual fundraising season. So Chris "King" Cowles put together a two-hour Greasy Tracks show recently with R&B songs with the word "money" in its title. You can listen to the taped show by going here. The themed playlist is posted at the landing page. 

Champian Fulton—The Stylings of Champian. This is the pianist-singer's 10th album and it's loaded with coy treatments of jazz standards. Champian sings and plays piano and is backed by bassist Hide Tanaka, drummer Fukushi Tainaka and flugelhornist Stephen Fulton. There's a lot of experience in her voice, which is flecked with Blossom Dearie's casual sophistication and hip intimacy. A bit of Billie Holiday and Betty Carter note-bending as well. Curious, I asked Champian how her name is pronounced: "It's pronounced the same as Champion and it's my given name. My parents thought of it, thinking they would have a boy. Their little 'Champ.' Then I was a little girl, but they were already in love with the name, so they just changed the "o" to "a." I don't have a nickname; nobody ever calls me "champ" or anything—just Champian." Well, Champian it is. And she's quite a jazz pianist, as you'll hear. You'll find the album here.

Here's Champtian's treatment of Lollipops and Roses off the new album...

Lollipops and Roses

And here's Champian live in France four years ago on Day In, Day Out...

For more on Champian, go here.

Teri Roiger, a superb jazz singer, will be In New York on Thursday, November 29, at Kitano singing selections from the Billy Strayhorn songbook on the 103rd anniversary of Strayhorn's birth. Teri will be backed by pianist James Weidman, bassist John Menegon and drummer Steve Williams. There are two sets—at 8 and 10 p.m. For more information, go here or call (212) 885-7119.

Stately Ghosts of England. In 1965, NBC aired a documentary on English ghosts produced, directed and written by Frank De Felitta (above). His son and director Raymond De Felitta ('Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris, City Island, Madoff) sent along links to the color broadcast. .Mind you, I'm not a ghost guy. But when I started watching part 1, the writing and direction were so good, I couldn't stop. Seriously. Frank De Felitta was amazing as NBC's leading documentarian back when TV was intelligent.

Here's Part 1...

And here's Part 2...

What the heck: Here's the late, great Teddy Pendergrass singing The Whole Town's Laughing at Me in 1982...

Oddball album cover of the week.

At first glance, it looks as if this 1963 cover was appealing to smart, discriminating women with sophisticated taste in music. Until, of course, you look carefully and realize that the idiot art director made the woman in the photo one of the chess pieces (note the chess-piece base at the bottom of her photo).

Doc: The Nocturnal Julie London

Recently over a weekend, I posted a few video clips of Julie London singing and appearing on the TV game show What's My Line? After viewing them, many of you previously unfamiliar with London wrote to me fully understanding why I would write that she's my favorite female vocalist of the 1950s and '60s. As I noted, London's voice is the hippest, the coolest and the most detached and nocturnal. Forget her cinema looks. More important was her artistic integrity, her humility and her rejection of the conformist mainstream. She had her own scene and didn't care a bit if she never fit in. Even now, when London sings, it's 2 a.m. the entire time her recordings are on. That's what I love most about her voice. It's far off in the night, intimate and resigned.

Last week, Joe Lang sent along a link to a BBC documentary on the singer. While it struggles at times to stay on point—her talent—and dwells too often on her looks, the film's flaws can be excused given all the footage and smart commentary packed into an hour. For those new to London, this documentary sheds light on the artist and her art.

Here's The Lady's Not a Vamp...

Hot Track: A Kick Out of You

In March 1954, a year before his death, Charlie Parker recorded a Cole Porter songbook album for Norman Granz's new 12-inch Verve label. Charlie Parker Plays Cole Porter would be Bird's final release.

On March 31, 1954, Parker recorded I Get a Kick Out of You. There were two complete takes, one with Jerome Darr on guitar and the other with Darr sitting out. The take Granz used as the master was the one without Darr, probably because Darr's solo was so halting and unsure. But the Darr track was included as "Take 2" on the original Verve release.

I've always loved the Darr version best, precisely because his solo was halting and unsure. Sometimes imperfections are more interesting than flawlessness. The group on this session included Charlie Parker (as), Walter Bishop, Jr. (p), Jerome Darr (g), Teddy Kotick (b) and Roy Haynes (d).

Here's Take 2 of I Get a Kick Out of You with Darr's guitar solo...

And here's the master with Darr sitting out...