JazzWax

Harlan Leonard: 1940

Kansas City big bands of the 1930s were distinct. A product of the city's dance and nightlife economy, the bands there embraced the blues with a jump feel that became known as swing. To compete, the bands were arranged in such a way that different sections of the orchestra riffed among themselves, as if caucusing in different corners of the room, joining together on a song's chorus. [Photo above of Harlan Leonard c. 1926 when he played in Bennie Moten's band] 

Among the bands that exemplified the Kansas City sound were orchestras led by Benny Moten, Walter Page, Andy Kirk, Jay McShann and Count Basie. Harlan Leonard was another. Born in Kansas City, Mo., he spent much of his early career in the reed section of the Benny Moten Orchestra performing and recording. In 1931, Leonard co-founded the Kansas City Skyrockets, which never recorded. Then he formed Harlan Leonard and His Rockets in 1939 and toured nationally. Charlie Parker played in the band for a few weeks before being fired. Drummer Johnny Otis also was in the band for a period.

In January 1940, Leonard began recording steadily for RCA and turned out 23 sides that year. After America entered World War II in 1941, the band broke up. Leonard left the music business soon after to work in banking and then for the IRS. He died in 1983.

In addition to being a visionary bandleader, Leonard was a spirited clarinetist and alto and baritone saxophonist, particularly as a soloist. He also had an ear for arrangers. His penmen included Tadd Dameron, Jesse Stone, Richard J. Smith, Eddie Durham, Buster Smith and Rozelle Claxton. [Photo above of Tadd Dameron by William P. Gottlieb]

While Leonard's band didn't have Basie's snap or intoxicating drive, it had tremendous lift and jump, setting the tone for R&B to come at the other end of the decade. Tadd Dameron's Rock and Ride, 400 Swing, Dameron Stomp and others recorded in mid-1940 were way ahead of their time.

For 11 months, from January to November 1940, Leonard's records set new standards for swing. With a bass-heavy rhythm section and syncopated brass built to get couples up and jitterbugging, Leonard pioneered catchy grooves, the basis of swing.

The Dameron arrangements in 1940 were Rock and Ride, 400 Swing, My Dream, A La Bridges, Dameron Stomp and Take 'Um.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Harlan Leonard's 1940 output on the French Chronological Classics label—Harlan Leonard and His Rockets 1940 here.  

You'll also find it at Spotify.

JazzWax clips: Here's I'm in a Weary Mood, with Darwin Jones on vocal...

Here's Keep Rockin'...

And here's Tadd Dameron's 400 Swing...

John Jenkins & Kenny Burrell

Alto saxophonist John Jenkins never recorded a bad album—as a leader or a sideman. When you hear him, the first person you think of is Jackie McLean. Both had an urgent, insistent edge, particularly on the saxophone's upper register. Remarkably, Jenkins recorded just 11 albums, only three of which were leadership dates. Given how special Jenkins was, his studio output was shockingly scant. [Photo above of John Jenkins by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

My favorite of the three leadership albums is John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell. Recorded for Blue Note in August 1957, the quintet was spectacular for its combined sound and talent: John Jenkins (as), Sonny Clark (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Paul Chambers (b) and Dannie Richmond (d). This is what I call an "Aladdin's lamp" album—meaning, it's a dream session and I wish I could rub the proverbial lamp for another 10 albums with the same group. Sadly, this is it.

According to Jordi Pujol's notes for a Fresh Sound two-fer, Jenkins was born in Chicago in 1931and gigged with Clifford Jordan in the early '50s. In 1955 and '56, he played with the Art Farmer Quintet when Gigi Gryce was unavailable. He also led his own quartet at Chicago's Bee-Hive. Jenkins moved to New York in 1957 and had a tremendous, compressed run. For some reason, Jenkins dropped out of jazz in 1962 to become a messenger in New York and then a jewelry designer and a sculptor. In 1983, he began playing again, but on street corners. He died in 1993.

Back to my initial point about Jenkins and the consistently high quality of his work. Just look at his extraordinary albums. His first was as a sideman on Teddy Charles's Coolin' for Prestige, a terrific recording, followed by Hank Mobley's Hank on Blue Note and Jackie McLean's Alto Madness on Prestige. Next was Clifford Jordan's Cliff Jordan with Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller in the front line. Up next were Sahib Shihab's The Jazz We Heard Last Summer with Jordan, and three leadership albums—Jenkins, Jordan & Timmons; John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell and Jazz Eyes. Then came Wilbur Ware's The Chicago Sound with Johnny Griffin.

Did I mention that all of the albums above were recorded in 1957? Absolutely astonishing. What a burst of jazz excellence. Then for some strange reason, Jenkins did not record again until 1990—Play What You Feel, led by Clifford Jordan. It would be Jenkins's last. [Photo above of Kenny Burrell and John Jenkins by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Another jazz mystery featuring someone with extraordinary talent who spent just a year proving his value before giving it up. I suspect he detested touring to support albums and decided he'd rather remain in New York as a messenger than spend nights playing three sets in smoke-thick clubs trying to be heard over people talking and glasses clinking.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell combined with Jenkins, Jordan and Timmons on the newly released John Jenkins: Young Jenkins, the 1957 Quintet Sessions (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's From This Moment On...

New Duke Ellington Videos

Yesterday, I was craving Duke. You know how it is. You find yourself in the mood for Ellington's earthy compositions, elegant arrangements, crisp horns, mournful trombones and mink-like reeds, and you have to hear it. So you listen to his Blanton-Webster band of the early 1940s and the Gonsalves-Terry band of the early '50s and beyond, and suddenly you feel alive in a different way. A day of Ellington inspired me to share five recently posted YouTube clips of the Ellington band in action. Plus I added a bonus clip that isn't as recent, but you should dig it just the same:

Here's a free-wheeling rehearsal in 1950...

Here's Hi-Fi Fo-Fum at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1958...

Here's Satin Doll, featuring bassist Jimmy Woode, in 1959...

Here's Ellington at the Antibes Jazz Festival in July 1966...

Here's Ellington at Palermo Pop in Italy, in 1970...

Bonus: And here's Ellington in the studio in the summer of 1967 recording Rondolet...

Frankie Randall: Swings & Sings

I'm not sure why Frankie Randall wasn't better known. He had a pure, natural baritone that was strong and swinging, akin to Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence and Bobby Darin. Randall recorded a few albums for Roulette and a bunch for RCA in the 1960s with all-star West Coast musicians. I suspect had he come up in the late 1950s, he might have been caught the pop current rather than fighting it in the folk-rock era. [Photo above of Frank Sinatra and Frankie Randall]

Randall's best albums arguably were Sings & Swings and At It Again!, recorded for RCA in August 1964 and February 1965, respectively. Marty Paich arranged and conducted the sessions in Hollywood, and Art Pepper soloed on alto saxophone on eight tracks.

Randall could deftly surf any tempo and mood thrown at him with polish and grace. The song choices were smart and plenty hip. Included here are Once in a Lifetime, I Believe in You, One Morning in May, On the Other Side of the Tracks, As Long As She Needs Me, More, A Wonderful Day Like Today, The Rules of the Road and Impossible. The latter is the Steve Allen song ("If they had ever told me how sweet a kiss could be, I would have said impossible, impossible for me...")

Frankie Randall was gifted, sang with great taste and had a beautiful, intelligent voice. Unfortunately, times had changed just as he hit his stride, but he did well in Sinatra's shadow by echoing his master's voice. He died in 2014.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the two Frankie Randall albums mentioned above on A Swingin' Touch (Fresh Sound) at the Blue Sounds site here. A few songs from At It Again! were dropped for space.

JazzWax clips: Here's I Believe in You...

I Believe in You

Here's On the Other Side of the Tracks...

On the Other Side of the Tracks

And here's The Only One...

The Only One

Bonus: Here's a single side Randall recorded of the Bewitched TV theme in 1964, with an obligato by Art Pepper...

Bewitched

A special thanks to Dennis Galloway.

Chick Corea at Scullers, 2018

In 2018, pianist Chick Corea was on tour with his Vigilette trio—with Carlitos Del Puerto on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. One of their stops was at Scullers in Boston. A special thanks to Dave Thompson for sending this clip along. It runs an hour and 15 minutes...

Jason, Jug and Roy

In The Wall Street Journal this week, my latest "Anatomy of a Song" column was on Redbone's Come and Get Your Love, a No. 5 Billboard pop hit in 1974 (go here). Redbone was among the first Native-American rock bands in the album era. I spoke at length with Pat Vegas, the band's co-founder and bassist.

Here they are performing their hit on TV's Midnight Special in 1974...

Here's a French telecom ad that used the song over Christmas 2019...

And here's a random wedding video I found that used Come and Get Your Love...

Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actor Jason Biggs for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). He's starring in a new sitcom called Outmatched. The American Pie star talked about growing up in New Jersey, the passion he and his dad had for sitting outside their home and identifying planes landing at Newark and Teterboro airports, and his favorite pie—sweet potato or pecan.

SiriusXM. Tune in to Feedback (channel 106) on Thursday at 9 a.m. (EST) when I'll be with co-hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski to talk about how Redbone's Come and Get Your Love came to be.

Anatomy of a Song. A special thanks to Dylan for snapping the photo above at New York's Union Square Barnes & Noble. Anatomy of a Song is now the #1 Amazon bestselling Kindle in the music history and criticism category. To buy, go here.

Art Pepper. Don Frese sent along this clip of West Coast jazz artists during a tour of Japan in 1983. Bud Shank is featured blowing a solo on Shorty Rogers's For the Love of Art, in requiem for Art Pepper, who died in June '82 [photo of Art Pepper above courtesy of Laurie Pepper]...

Gene Ammons. Tom Reney, who hosts Jazz à la Mode for New England Public Radio on WFCR in Springfield, Mass. (go here), sent along the following clip of Gene "Jug" Ammons, with King Kolax on trumpet, and George Freeman on guitar. Tom is on weekdays from 8 to 11 p.m. The tunes on the clip are Didn't We and The Jungle Strut. Here's the clip...

Young Girls of Rochefort. Following my post on this masterpiece film directed by Jacques Demy with music by Michel Legrand, I was asked by Elizabeth Waldman Frazier if I knew who did the singing for Catherine Deneuve and her older sister, Françoise Dorléac. I do...

Cast...

• Catherine Deneuve as Delphine Garnier
• George Chakiris as Etienne
• Françoise Dorléac as Solange Garnier
• Jacques Perrin as Maxence
• Michel Piccoli as Simon Dame
• Jacques Riberolles as Guillaume Lancien
• Grover Dale as Bill
• Geneviève Thénier as Josette
• Henri Crémieux as Dutrouz
• Pamela Hart as Judith
• Leslie North as Esther
• Patrick Jeantet as Booboo
• Gene Kelly as Andy Miller
• Danielle Darrieux as Yvonne

Singing voices...

• Anne Germain as Delphine
• Christiane Legrand as Judith
• Alice Gerald as Josette
• Romuald as Etienne
• Olivier Bonnet as Booboo
• Claude Parent as Solange
• Claudine Meunier as Esther
• José Bartel as Bill
• Donald Burke as Andy
• Georges Blaness as Simon
• Jacques Revaux as Maxence

Elizabeth pointed out that Anne Germain, Christiane Legrand and Claudine Meunier were in the original Swingle Singers.

Hank Mobley. Following my most recent post on tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, Doug Benson sent along the following...

Marc, You may have already seen this interview with Hank Mobley in Downbeat from 1973 in which he summarizes his life in jazz at that time.

In 1974 I had an opportunity to hear Mobley performing with Philly Joe Jones in a quartet called the "Philly Joe Jones Grand Prix" in St. Mary's Church basement in West Philadelphia, a venue that took the name "Geno's Empty Foxhole" from a title on an album by Ornette Coleman. On a break, Hank sat down nearby and I offered him a cigarette from a pack of Gauloises. Hank thanked me and asked if he could keep the pack, as it reminded him of Paris. I was happy to do so.

Roy Eldridge radio. WKCR will present its annual "Roy Eldridge Birthday Broadcast" on January 30, celebrating the music of the trumpet giant for 24 hours. The broadcast will start Wednesday night at 11:59 p.m. and last all day and night on Thursday. You can listen to the show from anywhere in the world by going here.

Dave Brubeck. Tom Fine alerted me that the Dave Brubeck Collection, formerly housed at University of the Pacific in California, has found its way to Wilton Library. The collection includes musical recordings, correspondence, legal and business documents, photographs, manuscripts, and memorabilia from Dave and Iola Brubeck. To read about the move, go here.

Stax Museum. Ever visit the Stax Museum in Memphis? I have, several times. It's wonderful. USA Today is holding a Readers' Choice vote on "Best Music Museum." If you want to vote for the Stax Museum, go here.

What the heck. Here's Chris Connor singing Circus, a hip little song by Lou Alter and Bob Russell from 1949...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Peace of mind? More like Music for Law & Order Victims.

The Young Rochefort Girls

One of my favorite movies is The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), written and directed by Jacques Demy with music by Michel Legrand. I love the film more than Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), which also was directed by Demy with music by Legrand. It's uplifting with sensational score and explosive color. France in the '60s was magical. The music in Rochefort is more glorious and spectacular than Umbrellas, the modern-dance choreography is marvelous and the pastel colors are so powerfully seductive, it's like opening a box of French marshmallows.

If you also have a thing for Rochefort or you've never seen the film before, do yourself a favor and buy the DVD or Blu-Ray release that came out in 2017. The extras include a French television interview from 1966 featuring Demy and Legrand discussing the music for the film; a conversation from 2014 between Demy biographer Jean-Pierre Berthomé and costume designer Jacqueline Moreau; the trailer; an illuminating Behind the Screen documentary about the making of the film; and a documentary from 1993 directed by Agnès Varda called The Young Girls Turn 25, a fascinating look back at the summer of '66 when time stood still in a town overrun by filmmakers, actors and dancers and painters who turned the buildings and streets into a colorful set. There's also an essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. [Photo above of Catherine Deneuve]

In summary, The Young Girls of Rochefort is about an entertainment troupe that arrives in the French coastal town of Rochefort in the summer of 1966 and the love stories that transpire. The film stars Catherine Deneuve and her older sister, Françoise Dorléac. They are an absolutely delight together. You can't take your eyes off of them. Also in the film are George Chakiris and Gene Kelly.

The film is made even more poignant given the tragic event that occurred soon after it came out. Three months following the film's release, Dorléac was racing to catch a plane in Nice when her Renault 10 hit a signpost and flipped over. The car burst into flames before she could escape or be saved. A terrible end to an emerging career and a painful loss to Deneuve.

But before the tragic accident, there was the overwhelming joy of Rochefort. Here are a bunch of clips:

Here's one of the film's early scenes, with Deneuve in the pink hat and Dorléac in yellow...

Here's part of the grueling rehearsal for the dance-studio scene weeks earlier in London...

And here's another wonderful scene with terrific music by Legrand...

Here's Legrand's Chanson de Maxence (which would become You Must Believe in Spring once Marilyn and Alan Bergman wrote English lyrics)...

Here's the French trailer...

Here's the opening credits to give you a feel of the dance sequences...

Here's Michel Legrand's unmistakable piano backed by an orchestra performing a medley of the film's songs. The sync is a little off, since Legrand begins conducting from the piano and the piano continues...

Only in Paris...

One more...

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Young Girls of Rochefort soundtrack here.

JazzWax video: You'll find the 2017 Young Girls of Rochefort remastering via stream, DVD and Blu-Ray here.

Bob Freedman: Jazz Themes

Bob Freedman was a wonderful arranger and ardent JazzWax reader. His finest arrangement was And We Listened for Maynard Ferguson's A Message From Newport (1958). He finest album was the little-known Jazz Themes From Anatomy of a Murder. The album was recorded at Boston's Ace Studios for the Coronet label in 1959—the same year Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder film opened and Duke Ellington's soundtrack recording was released.

Bob assembled a top-notch local band for the session: Herb Pomeroy, Lennie Johnson and Bill Berry (tp); Gene DiStasio (tb); Bob Freedman (as,cond,arr); Varty Harotunian and Joe Caruso (ts); Jimmy Mosher (bar); Ray Santisi (p); John Neves (b) and Jimmy Zitano (d).

Bob's interpretations of Ellington's compositions and score are superb. They're moody and relentlessly surprising, and the solos are top notch. Jimmy Mosher, for example, delivers a hair-raising baritone saxophone solo Midnight Indigo. Same goes for pianist Ray Santisi on Sunswept Sunday. And the solos by Bob and Herb Pomeroy throughout are exquisite. Best of all, the album's music is treated like a suite, meaning there are no breaks between compositions. One song leads seamlessly into the next. I found myself listening to the album six or seven times in a row.

Bob Freedman died in 2018.

The Anatomy album recently was released by Fresh Sound on its "Unsung Bandleaders" series, teamed with Keith Williams's Big Band Jazz Themes From TV & Motion Pictures. The crime-jazz album was recorded in 1959 and features themes from Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, Richard Diamond, The Thin Man, M-Squad and others.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Bob Freedman and Keith Williams two-fer at the Blue Sounds site here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Flirtibird from Bob Freedman's Jazz Themes from Anatomy of a Murder...

Flirtibird

And here's the Thin Man theme from Keith Williams's Big Band Jazz Themes From TV & Motion Pictures...

The Thin Man

Bonus: Here's Bob Freedman's arrangement of his composition And We Listened...

10 Jazz Piano Tracks

Midweek, deep into January. Too little sunlight, chilly, colorless and only February and its blizzard roulette to look forward to. What better way to warm up and recharge than 10 clips of jazz piano greats—some you know and others maybe not [photo above of Paul Smith]:

Here's Erroll Garner...

Here's Paul Smith...

Here's John Bunch...

Here's Phineas Newborn Jr....

Here's Cedar Walton...

Here's Bill Evans...

Here's Pete Jolly...

Here's John Lewis...

Here's Marian McPartland...

And here's Roland Hanna...

Jimmy Heath in 10 Tracks

The late Jimmy Heath had a crisp and deliberate sound on his tenor saxophone. His solos and double-and triple timing were fluid, seemingly effortless and never short on ideas. His soprano saxophone was insistent and his flute was divine. His compositions were melodic and sophisticated, and his arrangements were engaging, always taking the listener's short attention span into consideration. Though his name isn't generally thought of in the same breath as Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley and Stan Getz, Jimmy would likely have been a bigger deal had he been recording since 1954. He was exceptional. Though he had led bands and made records since the late 1940s, Jimmy's first 12-inch album wasn't recorded until 1959.

Here are 10 tracks that provide a gateway to Jimmy's enormous instrumental power and imagination as a composer (all of the following songs are originals). [Photo above of Jimmy Heath directing his big band in New York, during a New Year's Eve broadcast for WBGO Radio in 1997 by Alan Nahigian, courtesy of Temple University Press]:

Here's Jimmy's For Minors Only, with Nat Adderley (cnt), Curtis Fuller (tb), Jimmy Heath (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d) from The Thumper (1959), his first album after his release from prison...

Here's Jimmy's A Picture of Heath, from Really Big! (1960), with Nat Adderley (cnt), Clark Terry (tp,flhrn), Tom McIntosh (tb), Dick Berg (fhr), Cannonball Adderley (as), Jimmy Heath (ts), Pat Patrick (bar), Cedar Walton (p), Percy Heath (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...

Here's Jimmy's The Quota, from the 1961 album of the same name, with Freddie Hubbard (tp), Julius Watkins (fhr), Jimmy Heath (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Percy Heath (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...

Here's Jimmy's Wall to Wall, from Swamp Seed (1963), with Donald Byrd (tp); Julius Watkins and Jimmy Buffington (fhr); Jimmy Heath (ts); Don Butterfield (tu); Herbie Hancock (p); Percy Heath (b) and Connie Kay (d)...

Here's Jimmy's Gingerbread Boy, from On the Trail (1964), with Jimmy Heath (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Paul Chambers (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...

Here's Jimmy's Angel Man, from The Gap Sealer (1973), with Jimmy on flute and Kenny Barron (p,el-p), Bob Cranshaw (el-b), Albert "Tootie" Heath (d,tamb) and Mtume (cga,perc)...

Here's Jimmy's Heads Up! Feet Down!, from Love and Understanding (1973), with Curtis Fuller (tb), Jimmy Heath (ts), Stanley Cowell (el-p), Bernard Fennell (cello), Bob Cranshaw (el-b) and Billy Higgins (d,tamb)...

Here's Jimmy's C.T.A., from Picture of Heath (1975), from the album of the same name, backed by Barry Harris (p), Sam Jones (b) and Billy Higgins (d). C.T.A. stood for Connie Theresa Ang, Heath’s girlfriend at the time and was recorded first by Miles Davis in 1953...

Here's Jimmy's Basic Birks, from You've Changed (1992), recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Jimmy Heath (ts), Tony Purrone (g), Ben Brown (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...

And here's Jimmy's Like a Son, from Turn Up the Heath (2004), with Frank Greene, Nick Marchione, Michael Philip Mossman and Terell Stafford (tp); John Mosca, Benny Powell and Slide Hampton (tb); Douglas Purviance (b-tb); Mark Gross (as,fl); Antonio Hart (as,sop,fl); Bobby LaVell and Charles Davis (ts); Jay Branford (bar); Jeb Patton (p); Peter Washington (b); Lewis Nash (d) and Jimmy Heath (arr)...

Bonus: Here's Jimmy on his first recording session, in 1947, playing baritone saxophone on Short Life, with Howard McGhee (tp), Jimmy Heath (bar), Milt Jackson (vib), Will Davis (p), Percy Heath (b) and Joe Harris (d)...