JazzWax

Kreis, Randy and Eumir

This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interview Kreis Beall (pronounced Kris Bell) (go here). Kreis is the retired co-founder of Blackberry Farm, a luxury retreat and resort in Eastern Tennessee. Kreis talked about growing up in Knoxville and how she spent many of her childhood years steering clear of her father and her aunt, both of whom had a temper. She married Sandy Beall shortly after he started the restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday in 1972, but the pair divorced. Then their son, Sam, died in a ski accident in 2016. It has been a life up big ups and painful downs for Kreis. A tender story. [Photo above of Kreis Beall by Mike Belleme, courtesy of Kreis Beall]

McCoy Tyner. Following my post last week on McCoy Tyner, I received an email from Michael van Gee in Freiburg, German:

Dear Marc, this morning I read and enjoyed your article on McCoy Tyner and his wonderful album Inception. I have most of his albums as a leader and also as a sideman. Your readers may enjoy Tyner's discography at Jazz Disco by going here.

The 1970s. Last week, I got hooked on jazz-soul of the 1970s. Let me take you on a piece of the same journey:

Gato Barbieri. In the 1970s, tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri was huge. Every young professional saxophonist tried to emulate the crispy, biting sound of his horn, including those playing in movies and in bands on late-night television shows. Here's Barbieri on a rooftop in New York in the '70s...

George Benson. In 1977, you couldn't turn on the car FM radio without hearing George Benson playing Bobby Womack's Breezin'...

Gabor Szabo was first to record Breezin', before Benson. Here's his version in 1971...

The Crusaders were red hot in 1979 with Street Life, featuring Randy Crawford on vocal. A massive roller-disco album track...

Several years earlier, in 1976, the Crusaders had a lesser-known hit with Keep That Same Old Feeling, including Wilton Felder on tenor saxophone and Joe Sample on Fender Rhodes...

Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang was another big 1970s hit, in 1974. Here it is live in 2000...

And finally, here's Eumir Deodato playing his Carly & Carole, from his 1973 album Prelude, in concert...

The Seven-Ups. While we're back in the 1970s, here's The Seven-Ups, a film with a magnificent movie car chase through Manhattan's Upper West Side. That's stunt driver Bill Hickman behind the wheel of the black 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville sedan (the bad-guy car)...

Oddball album cover of the week.

The 1970s had a lot of cool stuff going on, but aerobics wasn't one of them. The group exercise craze had just taken off, but working out was still a pain, particularly if it was with your mom and dad. Most of the song titles listed on the cover are do-able, except, perhaps, Let Me Be Your Fantasy. After the workout, straight into group therapy.

8 Clips: Boss Tenors

Boss tenors take charge. I don't know how else to put it. When a boss tenor plays a ballad, a mid-tempo tune or a barn-burner, the saxophone's sound is assertive and commanding, with a deep, forceful push in the lower register and a bluesy wail up top. [Photo above of Gene Ammons by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Let me illustrate with eight clips:

Here's Ben Webster playing That's All in 1953, with pianist Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown bowing his bass and alto saxophonist Benny Carter chiming in toward the end...

Here's Jimmy Forrest playing By the River Saint Marie with Joe Zawinul (p), Tommy Potter (b) and Clarence Johnston (d) in 1961....

Here's Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis playing There's a Small Hotel in 1955 with Doc Bagby on organ and Charlie Rice on drums...

Here's Arnett Cobb's Sizzlin', in 1960 with Red Garland (p), George Tucker (b) and J.C. Heard (d)...

Here's Gene Ammons playing Canadian Sunset in 1960, with Tommy Flanagan (p) Doug Watkins (b) Art Taylor (d) and Ray Barretto (cga)...

Here's Buddy Tate with Milt Buckner on organ and Wallace Bishop on drums in 1967...

Here's Stanley Turrentine with organist Jimmy Smith and drummer Donald Bailey playing When I Grow Too Old to Dream in 1960...

And here's Gene Ammons with tenor saxophonist Sonny Stitt, organist Don Patterson, guitarist Paul Weeden and drummer Billy James playing Long Ago and Far Away in 1962...

Bull Moose Jackson: Jazz Jump

A careful look at a jazz discography always yields an interesting historical story. Back in the late 1940s, many jazz artists had their start in R&B and jump blues bands. The groups were often smartly organized jazz-blues hybrids that played tightly arranged charts and regularly toured, ensuring they'd be well-oiled recording artists. Bull Moose Jackson led one of those bands. A veteran of the Lucky Millinder Orchestra in the mid 1940s, Jackson formed his own band in 1947. [Photo above of Bull Moose Jackson]

A glance at Jackson's discography shows that among the jazz artists who passed through his band in the late 1940s and early 1950s were Frank Wess, Benny Golson, Sam "the Man" Taylor, Bill Doggett, Tadd Dameron, Charlie Rouse, Jymie Merritt, Philly Joe Jones, Joe Wilder, Herb Geller, Red Prysock, Curtis Peagler, Red Callender and Earl Palmer, among others. [Photo above of Charlie Rouse by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Born Benjamin Jackson in Cleveland in 1919, Jackson started out on violin but soon gravitated to the saxophone. While in high school, he formed the Harlem Hotshots and was soon snapped up by Lucky Millinder. There, drummer Panama Francis gave him Jackson his nickname based on his size and facial features. Jackson also sang for Millinder, who convinced King Records to sign him as a solo R&B artist. That led to the formation of Jackson's band, the Buffalo Bearcats, which recorded in a range of styles, from bawdy novelty numbers to R&B ballads. [Photo above of Bull Moose Jackson]

But by 1955, jazz-flavored R&B began to run out of steam as rock 'n' roll surged and the electric guitar replaced the saxophone. Jackson's recording output slowed and he didn't resume his studio work until 1960. By 1962, he mostly performed at parties and then worked in Howard University's cafeteria. He came back in the 1980s and recorded his last show in 1988. [Photo above of Bull Moose Jackson]

Listening to Jackson today, his music holds up well. His bands had enormous energy, a sense of humor, superb musicianship and solid vocals by Jackson. His big hits included All My Love Belongs to You, I Can't Go On Without You, Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me and Big Ten Inch Record. If you listen carefully, you'll hear where many jazz musicians developed their performing stamina and playing style. [Photo above of Benny Golson]

Bull Moose Jackson died in 1989.

JazzWax tracks: Two excellent Bull Moose Jackson collections are 28 Big Ones (King) here and Ultimate Collection, with 46 tracks for $8.99 here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Keep Your Big Mouth Shut in 1946...

Here's I Never Loved Anyone But You, with Benny Golson on tenor saxophone, Tadd Dameron on piano and Jymie Merritt on bass in 1951...

Here's Nosey Joe, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Philly Joe Jones on drums in 1952...

Here's Meet Me With Your Black Dress On, with Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone in 1953...

And here's Hodge Podge from the same 1953 session with saxophonists Bull Moose Jackson and Charlie Rouse...

A special thanks to Bob Porter.

Lockjaw Meets the Hawk

To the best of my knowledge, tenor saxophonists Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Coleman Hawkins recorded together as a duo only once (Very Saxy was a group session with saxophonists Buddy Tate and Arnett Cobb). Davis—like Sonny Rollins, Don Byas, Lucky Thompson and others— was deeply influenced by Hawkins's gruff, boastful attack. So teaming up with his mentor put him on the spot, and Davis went all out for the session.

The album we're talking about is Night Hawk, recorded in December 1960 for Prestige's Swingville subsidiary. Like Moodsville, Swingville was a division reserved for compelling pairings of cooking jazz giants. Moodsville also featured pairings, but, as the name implies, the tone of the series tended to be more dinner and candlelight.

On Night Hawk, the two tough tenors were backed by a sterling rhythm section: pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Gus Johnson. Lockjaw and Hawk are totemic here. They are together on all tracks, with Hawk serving up his direct, bossy approach while Lockjaw was more serpentine and bluesy.

This album is one of the great, lesser-known cutting sessions. Both knew the stakes and that the listener's judgment wasn't going to come down to nuances but all-out, full-throttle solos. Hawk slides around purposefully on tracks, as if knocking tables and chairs out of the way to get where he's going. Lockjaw, by contrast, trucks and struts. Dig In a Mellow Tone, for example, when the two tenors trade fours toward the end. [Photo above of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis]

The results on this album are electrifying. There are plenty of fine tenor-battle albums featuring Hawk and Lockjaw facing off with other players. But matched in the ring here, it's pure Ali-Frazier stuff. And as you'll hear, they slug it out to a draw. I never can get enough of this album and always discover something new in the solos. [Photo above of Coleman Hawkins]

Coleman Hawkins died in 1969; Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis died in 1986.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis's Night Hawk here. 

JazzWax clips: Here's the full album...

Bennie Green: The Swingin'est

Bennie Green had a distinctive trombone. He played in a powdery, insistent staccato style seasoned with the Chicago blues. A member of the challenging Earl "Fatha" Hines and Charlie Ventura bands in the 1940s, he also recorded in bop ensembles. In the 1950s, Green was a sideman on numerous sessions, including the Miles Davis Sextet with Sonny Rollins in 1951, the year he began recording as a leader.

One of his best jazz-blues albums is The Swingin'est, recorded for Vee-Jay in November 1958. The date featured tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons, who was signed to Prestige at the time. The pair zig-zagged boldly and were joined by an all-star band: Nat Adderley (cnt), Frank Foster (ts), Frank Wess (ts,fl), Tommy Flanagan (p), Eddie Jones (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d). With Wess and Foster aboard on horns as well as compositions and arrangements, the ensemble has a Count Basie air, since both were members of the band at the time. Adderley's tight cornet punctuates while the rhythm section led by Flanagan swings.

In particular, Frank Foster's Going South, a mid-tempo blues, stands out and so does Frank Wess's Little Ditty. They are not recognized enough for having it all—unique tenor sounds, terrific composing skills and wonderful arranging styles.

Bennie Green died in 1977; Gene Ammons died in 1974.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Bennie Green, featuring Gene Ammons, on The Swingin'est here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Going' South...

And here's Little Ditty...

McCoy Tyner: Inception

McCoy Tyner should receive as much attention as Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson and even Bill Evans. For some reason, he doesn't, and I have no idea why not. Tyner's recordings are as inventive, as rich and as stunning as the other three piano leaders. Of course, Peterson and Monk came up in the late 1940s, and Evans came up in the 1950s, so they had a jump on him. Tyner's trio leadership career didn't begin until the early 1960s, but I can't think of another pianist who best reflects the '60s than Tyner, with his modal turmoil, distinct chord voicings and bounce. Tyner can sound delicate but he also can unleash his fingers in a thundering stampede that's thrilling and cohesive. [Photo above of McCoy Tyner by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Best known as a member of the John Coltrane Quartet in the '60s, Tyner also recorded more than 70 leadership albums starting with Inception. Recorded in January 1962, Inception featured Tyner backed by bassist Art Davis and drummer Elvin Jones. Four of the six songs recorded were written by Tyner: Inception, Blues for Gwen, Sunset and Effendi. The remaining two are standards: There Is No Greater Love and Speak Low.

According to the album's liner notes, Blues for Gwen was named for Tyner's sister, while Sunset was a title suggested by Tyner's wife, Aisha, because the piece "brought to her mind an impression of nature, and because it's a reflective ballad. Sunset seemed the logical title."

The music on this album is extraordinary from start to finish. It's robust, beautiful, tender, assertive, lush, penetrating and determined. His technique of using modal chords and scales to get his point across is framed smartly by Jones on drums. On many of Tyner's albums, there's nothing mannered about him or cliched. His soul is always exposed and his sound is distinctly original. I have all of his solo albums and they are exquisite. I'll be posting about other favorites in the future, but for those unfamiliar, the best place to start with Tyner is at the beginning.

For a full list of Tyner's leadership albums, go here.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find McCoy Tyner's Inception here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the full album...

Autumn, Hal and Count

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed director Autumn de Wilde for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Autumn is the director of Emma, which opened on Friday. The 1815 Jane Austen novel was brought to life by Autumn in a remarkable film shot beautifully in rich pastels. Autumn talked with me about her bohemian parents, how John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful sang her to sleep when she was little, and why being normal was never an aspiration at home. [Photo above of Autumn de Wilde]

Here's the Emma trailer...

SiriusXM. If you missed me on Feedback last week talking about Huey Lewis and the News's The Power of Love with co-host Nik Carter (Lori Majewski had the day off), you can hear me on the show in its entirety for free here...

Hal McKusick. Last week, John Ludlow sent along an email about saxophonist Hal McKusick:

Hi Marc, I just came across this recording of Hal playing in Jimmy Giuffre’s group in 1948. He’s on the first two tracks, with solos on both. Very cool to hear. Thought you might enjoy...

Horn-o-rama. In researching Red Nichols last week, I stumbled upon two killer trumpet clips at YouTube:

 

Here's Red Nichols, Pete Candoli and Al Hirt (pictured above)...

And here's Al Hirt, Pete Candoli, Don Ellis and Dizzy Gillespie...

Director Raymond De Felitta sent along the following:

This month I posted a mini-tribute to the late character actor Kevin Conway on my Movies Til Dawn podcast. Kevin passed away earlier this month, and I had the pleasure and honor of working with him twice—once on my movie Two Family House and more recently in a reading that we did (and recorded) of Murdering Michael Malloy, a movie that we’re planning to make in the near future. I’ve included short audio clips from both.

The reason for the recording of the reading is that my writing/producing partner, David Zellerford, and I are planning on releasing it as a podcast, in the hopes of both entertaining an audience with what amounts to an old-time radio show version of a movie (albeit a yet-to-be-made one) as well as gaining some traction for the production funds for the movie once people hear how wildly entertaining it is. We’ll start airing the podcast of Murdering Michael Malloy this spring. I hope you’ll look for it.

2011 Japan earthquake. Jimi Mentis sent along a link to footage of the 9.1 magnitude earthquake that took place at 2:46 p.m. local time 231 miles northeast of Tokyo in March 2011. The earthquake caused a tsunami with 30-foot waves that damaged several nuclear reactors in the area. It is the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan. The six-minute quake and subsequent tsunami resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing. Absolutely terrifying. Go here...

What the heck: Here's the Count Basie Band on the road in 1962 playing Freddie Green's Corner Pocket...

Oddball album cover of the week.

 

Looks like a promotional album for Swissair. Not only are the Batman outfits all wrong (should have been gray tops), they're all wearing Robin's masks. Special thanks to music publicist Michael Bloom.

René Thomas in 7 Clips

For some strange reason yesterday, I had a craving for guitarist René Thomas. I love the way he swings unevenly and the hip quality of his picking and sound of his guitar. Born in Belgium in 1927, Thomas moved to Paris and was deeply influenced by guitarist Jimmy Raney. In the 1960s, he often was featured as part of a trio with organist Eddy Louiss and Kenny Clarke. René Thomas died in 1975.

Here are seven Thomas video and audio clips:

Here's a 1963 recording of Thomas's Meeting...

Here's Meeting live with Thomas, Eddie Louiss on organ and Kenny Clarke on drums in 1970...

Here's Thomas with Louiss on organ, Bernard Lubat on drums and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz in 1971 playing Dum! Dum!...

Here's Thomas with Louiss on organ and Jean Louis Viale on drums in 1969 playing Thomas's Time for Manuel...

Here's Thomas with pianist Maurice Vander,
bassist J.F. Jenny-Clarke on bass and Daniel Humair on drums playing Django Reinhardt's Manoir de mes Rêves in 1971...

Here's Thomas with saxophonist J.R. Monterose, pianist Hod O'Brien, bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath playing Milestones in 1960...

And here's Thomas, Luiss and Clarke playing Nardis in 1968...

Miff Mole: Miffology

The jazz trumpet dates back to Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. The saxophone can be traced to Sidney Bechet and Frankie Trumbauer. And the piano dates back to Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. As for the jazz trombone, it starts with Miff Mole. [Photo above of Miff Mole]

Mole is arguably the pioneer of the solo jazz trombone style. Born in New York in 1898, Mole began on the piano and switched to trombone at age 15. A member of the Original Memphis Five (founded in 1917 by pianist Phil Napoleon), Mole went on to form Miff Mole and His Little Molers with cornetist Red Nichols. A bunch of bands followed, but perhaps Mole's most famous collaboration was with Red Nichols and His Five Pennies. [Photo above of Red Nichols]

The Nichols-led ensemble, with a parade of excellent musicians joining and leaving its ranks, recorded more than 100 sides for the Brunswick label. New Orleans in style, the Five Pennies were extraordinarily prolific, which was possible back then only if you were studio-savvy and flawless on your instrument.

Among those who played with the Five Pennies over the years were clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, violinist Joe Venuti, bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini, tuba and bass player Joe Tarto, trombonist Glenn Miller, and trumpeters Leo McConville and Charlie Teagarden, whose brother Jack veered from Mole's staccato attack on the trombone to a more legato, blues style. In the '30s, Mole adapted to Teagarden's more modern, moaning approach. [Photo above of Miff Mole]

There are two ways to explore Mole. The fast way is through Miffology (Asv Living Era), a 24-song album of essential Mole in various ensembles from 1927 to 1945. The longer and more intense way is through the magnificent nine-volume Red Nichols set, The Complete Brunswick Recordings (Jazz Oracle).

Mole is so exceptional that if you listen to Miffology, you're going to want the Brunswicks. The music is sensational music in every way and important listening to understand what came next. The Nichols group was dynamic, energetic, sophisticated and cocky with slam-bang syncopation. As saxophonist Bill Kirchner recently reminded me, it was Gerry Mulligan who alerted him to the genius of Nichols. The Mulligan-Nichols connection makes perfect sense, since the inspiration for Mulligan's various contrapuntal ensembles in the 1950s had to have been Red Nichols and His Five Pennies.

Which is what makes jazz so great. There are so many jazz neighborhoods that you may have overlooked over the course of your love for the music. When you finally do get a chance to linger and explore ones from other eras, the joy is almost overwhelming. For years I foolishly skipped Nichols and Mole, automatically assuming the music was too dated and static to bother. Wow, was I wrong.

Red Nichols died in 1965; Miff Mole died in 1961.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Miff Mole's Miffology here. Or there's Miff Mole (Doxy) here.

And you'll find Red Nichols's Complete Brunswick Sessions, Vol. 1-3 here; Vol. 4-6 here; and Vol. 7-9 here.

There are plenty of other Mole and Nichols collections on Spotify as well.

JazzWax clips: Here's Miff Mole playing New Twister in 1927...

Here's Slippin' Around in 1927 with a Mole solo...

Here's Here's Mole with Water Roesner and the Capitolians in 1928...

Here's Nichols and His Five Pennies playing A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody in 1928, with Manny Klein (tp), Miff Mole (tb), Dudley Fosdick (mel). Fud Livingston (cl,ts), Jimmy Dorsey (as), Arthur Schutt (p), Carl Kress (g), prob. Joe Tarto (tu) or Neyland Olds (tu) and Vic Berton (d)...

Bonus: Here's film of Red Nichols' Five Pennies in 1929 playing Ida, Whispering, Nobody's Sweetheart, Who Cares and China Boy. The musicians are Red Nichols (cnt), Tommy Thune and John Egan (tp), Herb Taylor (tb), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Irving Brodsky (p), Eddie Condon (banjo and vega lute) and George Beebe (drums). And there are vocals by Eddie Condon!...

And here's Red Nichols in 1956, with
Joe Rushton (bsx), Bill Wood (c), Al Stevenson (p), Rollie Culver (d) and King Jackson (tbn)...

A special thanks to Dennis Galloway and Bill Kirchner.

Ivie Anderson: Early Jazz Voice

Like Mildred Bailey, Ivie Anderson was an early female vocalist who pioneered the jazz idiom in dance bands. She joined Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1931and for the next 12 years she toured and recorded with the band. Anderson's voice was more pointed and huskier than Bailey's and featured a mild tremolo. She also had a slinkier quality, especially on mid-tempo numbers such as I'm Satisfied and Did Anyone Ever Tell You. One can hear a quite a bit of Anderson in later singers like Marlene Dietrich.

Anderson was born in 1904 and grew up in Gilroy, Calif. She studied music and singing in school and began performing in Los Angeles in 1921. In 1930, Anderson worked in Earl "Fatha" Hines's band in Chicago before joining Ellington. In the band, she often imitated instruments through scat. Her hits included It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Solitude, Mood Indigo and Stormy Weather.

Asthma sidelined Anderson in 1942. Coping with the smoke from cigars and cigarettes at performance venues and on the band bus certainly didn't help. Her last recordings were in 1945 with Johnny Otis and on her own in 1946 accompanied by a band that included alto saxophonist Willie Smith and bassist Charles Mingus. Anderson retired in Los Angeles, married, opened a chicken restaurant, divorced and married again. [Photo above of Ivie Anderson and Duke Ellington]

What's most exceptional about Anderson's voice was her musical approach. She had to deliver a sophisticated sound given the Ellington band's intricate arrangements and sterling soloists. There also were no female band singers on which to model one's style (Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith were two standouts with recording careers in the 1920s). Hence, it had to be invented.

Listening to her now is like watching someone with beautiful penmanship write in script. There are turns, sweeps and a thickness and thinness to the "ink" in her voice. Songs like Kissin' My Baby Goodnight illustrate her graceful and deft delivery.

Anderson died in 1949 at age 45.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find 50 tracks of Ivie Anderson on The Ivie Anderson Collection 1932-46, with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (Acrobat) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the entire album, starting with It Don't Mean a Thing...

Bonus: Here's Ivie Anderson singing Stormy Weather in a 1933 film called A Bundle of Blues featuring Duke Ellington...