Johnny Richards's big band arrangements always remind me of summers in Los Angeles at day's end. His albums are hot and humid affairs, but his French horns offer a balmy sea breeze while his trombones add calm and stir up images of an endless Pacific horizon. His piccolos are the caws of gulls.
I first came to Richards through his arrangements on Stan Kenton's Cuban Fire. Then I dug into Kenton's Back to Balboa and West Side Story. Before long, I came to realize that Richards had his own section in the record store leading his own orchestras. As I dug in, I discovered that each album was better than the last one I had purchased.
My first love was Something Else (1956), with Waltz Anyone?, Turn About and Long Ago and Far Away. Then I fell madly for Wide Range (1957), with Nina Never Knew, The Nearness of You and Young at Heart. All sterling arrangements.
Experiments in Sound (1958) and Walk Softly/Run Wild (1959) were next, and they, too, satisfied beyond my expectations, but for different reasons. Experiments explodes with energy while Walk Softly offers dreamy inhale-exhale pacing and harmony-rich horn voicings.
Now, though, my favorite Richards album is Aqui Se Habla Espanol (Spanish Spoken Here), his last before his death in 1968. Recorded for Roulette in December 1966, the album offers a pepper pot of Latin rhythms and meters. It also serves up extraordinary orchestral sensuality and grace. In Richards's hands, band sections intermix with a taut choreography and a colorful coolness, like banners snapping in the wind at the beach.
Born in Mexico, Richards migrated to the U.S. in 1919 with his mother, three musician brothers and a sister. Richards's father had already arrived in Texas. United, the family moved to Los Angeles and then to San Fernando. Richards began arranging at 14 and started working professionally in the late 1930s. His best-known composition is Young at Heart (1953). Though he moved to New York in the early 1950s, his music always retained its West Coast perfume. [Photo above of Johnny Richards in the late 1940s by William P. Gottlieb]
On Spanish Spoken Here, the band features Nat Pavone, Marvin Stamm, Ray Copeland, Burt Collins and Jerry Kail (tp); Bill Watrous, Garnett Brown and Wayne Andre (tb); or Mickey Gravine (tb); Ray Starling (mellophonium); Don Butterfield (tu); Arnie Lawrence (as); Clifford Jordan (ts); Joel Kaye (bar,pic); John Campo (bassax); Johnny Knapp (p); Chet Amsterdam (b); Ronnie Bedford (d); Steve Little and Chino Pozo (perc); and Johnny Richards (arr,cond).
Like all of Richards' albums, this one must be consumed from the first track through the last. Each song feels inextricably attached to the one after and before it. Listening to this album again yesterday, I still can feel the Malibu air, the sound of the slow rolling surf and the smell of Coppertone. Hopefully, today's crisis will pass and once again I'll be able to walk a beach in L.A. and listen to Johnny Richards on headphones, the perfect late-day summer soundtrack.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Aqui Se Habla Espanol (Spanish Spoken Here) on this three-CD Mosaic set here.
JazzWax note: Johnny Richards' Imprevu (Unexpected) was written for Liza Minnelli, who recorded it in 1965 with an arrangement by Peter Matz. Bob Crewe added lyrics. As saxophonist Bill Kirchner points out, the song was later used by Coty for its perfume of the same name.
Duncan Lamont, who died in July 2019 at age 87, was a Scottish saxophonist who came up through London's jazz scene of the 1950s. During this remarkably fertile period in the U.K., he sharpened his skills with Britain's best jazz musicians and performed often with touring American bands in need of players and behind jazz-pop singers. Lamont also toured in the U.S. with Vic Lewis, the leader of one of the U.K.'s leading big bands. Growing up, Lamont started out on trumpet but soon shifted to the tenor saxophone. [Photo above of Duncan Lamont]
Among the many sessions Lamont recorded on included two albums with a Stan Kenton connection. Both of these recordings were led by American arrangers but are little known in the U.S. [Photo above of Stan Kenton]
The first was Russo in London. For the U.K. date, Bill Russo brought over nine arrangements of his classic originals for Kenton in the early 1950s and conducted the London Jazz Orchestra at a studio in December 1962. Each album side was arranged in a suite of songs. The first side included Portrait of a Count, Egdon Heath, Frank Speaking, Thisbe and Sweets. The second side showcased Bill's Blues, Ennui, Dusk and 23 Degrees North, 82 Degrees West.
The band's personnel featured Ron Simmonds, Leon Calvert, Gordon Rose and Tony Mabett (tp); Johnny Edwards, Keith Christie, Bobby Lamb and Don Lusher (tb); Jack Thirwell and Ray Premru (b-tb); Johnny Scott and Al Newman (as); Art Ellefson and Duncan Lamont (ts); Ronnie Ross (bar); Richard Morgan (oboe); Ray Dempsey (g); Arthur Watts (b); Kenny Clare (d) Raymond Clark, Jack Holmes, Hilary Robinson and Derek Simpson (cello) and Bill Russo (cond).
The results were spectacular, especially if you're a Kenton fan like me and love these pieces. It's so gratifying to hear these songs recorded with a slightly updated approach by a completely different orchestra and soloists.
Portrait of a Count, Frank Speaking, Dusk and 23 Degrees North, 82 Degrees West are from Kenton's New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm (1952). Egdon Heath, Thisbe and Sweets are from Russo's Kenton Showcase: The Music of Bill Russo, a 10-inch album released in 1954.
Ennui is from Stan Kenton and His Innovations Orchestra in 1951. And Bill's Blues was recorded in 1952 and wound up on The Kenton Era, a compilation set released in 1955.
The second rare album on which Lamont plays is Marty Paich's Neophonic Impressions Orchestra. It was recorded during the Anugraha Festival at Englefield Green in Windsor Great Park in Windsor, England, on August 20, 1988 and broadcast on the BBC Radio on January 15 1989. The band featured Eddie Blair, Bert Ezzard, Ken Jones, Ronnie Hughes and Kenny Wheeler (tp,flghrn); Cliff Hardie, Mark Nightingale, Maurice Pratt and Jim Wilson (tb); John Pinege, Tony Randall, Nick Hill, Jim Buck Jr. and Jim Rook (Fr. horn); Stephen Wick (tuba); Ronnie Chamberlain and Peter King (as); Duncan Lamont and Vic Ash (ts); Ronnie Ross (bs); Brian Dee (p); Chris Laurence (b); Terry Jenkins (d); Paul Turner (perc, tympanis); and Marty Paich (arr,cond).
The tracks are The Big Chase, My Old Flame, Just Friends, Body And Soul, Violets for Your Furs, Moanin', I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, Let There Be Love and Neophonic Impressions. The first two are Paich's arrangements for Kenton's Back to Balboa album in 1958.
Hi Marc, I hope you’re doing well through all of this. I saw the Russo/Paich post and just wanted to let you know that there was a U.S. release of the U.K.'s Russo in London album. It was called Sterophony and came out on the FM label. The main musical concept behind Russo's new arrangements on the London session is the addition of a cello section.
Russo (above) came up with that particular concept and was able to put it to work with the London recording. When we did the original Back to Balboa reunion in 1991, we actually added the cellos to Russo’s segment because he still preferred that sound. I believe he used the cellos on his Seven Deadly Sins (1960) and School of Rebellion (1960) albums, so he simply continued the cello concept when he went to London for Russo in London.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Bill Russo's Russo in London paired with Kenny Baker's Blowing Up a Stormhere.
Marty Paich's Neophonic Impressions Orchestra was recorded off the radio and was never released commercially.
JazzWax clips: Here's Portrait of a Count from Russo in London...
JazzWax note: Jeffrey Sultanof provided the following:
Great article. I should point out that Russo's orchestra with cellos was first discussed among his students in 1957 in Chicago. The first rehearsals were two years later. Not only did he add cellos, but he divided the orchestra into two groups seated opposite each other with rhythm in the middle - one group had two saxes, two trumpets and two trombones, the other had three saxes, 2 and 2. This explains FM's change in title, although in mono, the effect is totally lost.
The seating chart for the band is in Russo's 1968 book on Composing and Orchestration, a daunting volume that has many fascinating and important points to make. The two Roulette albums have this instrumentation. At the time, Russo was teaching at Manhattan School of Music, and when I was in college, a student showed me her husband's notes from one of his classes, which were fascinating. Russo was a truly eclectic composer, and wrote far more than people realize.
A special thanks to Rodney, and to Frank Griffith for reminding me of Duncan Lamont.
This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Bill Camp for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Bill has appeared in many films, most recently HBO's The Night Of series and Joker. In both cases, he was a detective. Bill talked about growing up on the campus of the Groton School in Massachusetts (where his father was a teacher and assistant headmaster). But Bill's life changed when he went for a drive with his mother. [Photo above of Bill Camp by Brad Trent, courtesy of Brad Trent]
Here's Bill in a masterful scene in The Night Of...
Stressed? Yeah, just a little. Do yourself a favor. Go to the Facebook page of Mike Greensill. Pianist Dave Thompson hipped me to him. Mike is a West Coast jazz pianist with enormous taste and an elegant style. He's giving free concerts each day at 3 p.m. (PCT) and taking requests. Yesterday's performance remains up. You'll thank me. Go here.
Chuck Israels, the eminent bassist, sent along an email following my post on Dexter Gordon videos:
Hi Marc, in your post of Dexter's Lady Bird, watch drummer Daniel Humair switch hands during Guy Pedersen’s bass solo. He plays time on a cymbal with his left hand. I often worked with him around this time in Paris (mostly with Martial Solal) and found this ability (and his musicianship) remarkable. He’s the most ambidextrous person I know and changes from one hand to another whenever it’s advantageous. A few years later, Daniel turned this manual dexterity to another use and quickly became a successful abstract painter.
Ireland. Oliver in Dublin had words for JazzWax during a trying week:
Hi Marc, Another great JazzWax post to help keep the spirits high in these challenging times. I've joined a small group of Army veterans, and we are delivering free food to the old and vulnerable in the area. Today is Mother's Day here, and I will visit my own mother, but I'll only be able to speak to her through the kitchen window. Stay safe.
René Urtreger. Pianist Franck Amsallem in France sent along an email about René Urtreger, the French bop pianist:
Marc, little known fact: René Urtreger went through World War II in hiding, and was able to reach a safe haven in Morocco with his father. His mother was deported and killed in Auschwitz. He sometimes talks about it and links many of his subsequent drug problems to that little known fact. He opened up recently and told stories about the war in his biography:Le Roi René: René Urtreger par Agnès Desarthe(French Edition).
Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Following my post on Roland Kirk videos, Drew Duncan sent along the following:
Hi Marc. Thanks for the post, with many of my favorites. Here's another gem—Supershow—which has an unbelievable cast of musicians. It features Kirk playing his scorching version of Say A Little Prayer. The original Supershow DVD features a killer recording of Led Zeppelin doing Dazed and Confused, but it has been cut from this version. Nonetheless, so many great musicians:
Art Farmer. Following my post on flugelhornist Art Farmer last week, I received an email from arranger Larry Dunlap:
Marc, great to hear all the Art Farmer music. I recorded with him one time, on Mark Murphy’s September Ballads recording. I wrote the arrangements. I wrote some parts out for Art, thinking he played trumpet and flugelhorn. When he saw the parts, he said, “I don’t play trumpet”. Some parts were written for muted trumpet. Luckily he had a mute for the flugelhorn. What a wonderful player and a seemingly very mellow person.
Saxophonist Bill Kirchner added a note, "After Farmer chose to play flugelhorn exclusively, he found a trombone Harmon mute that he could use in the flugelhorn so that he could have a muted sound when he wanted one."
Here's Larry's arrangement of When She Is Mine, with Mark Murphy singing and Art Farmer playing...
Lord Buckley. Chris Laughbon sent along the following email:
H Marc. Apropos your Shakespeare swings posts, do you remember Lord Buckleys’ hip version of Mark Anthony’s eulogy from Julius Caesar? Not exactly jazz, but still in the orbit for sure.
RoundAgain.PianistDave Thompson sent along a video of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade performing Right Back Round Again, from their upcoming album RoundAgain, due July 10...
New York, 1911.Here's remastered footage of New York City in 1911. For more information on the "upscaling" process, go here...
Count Basie.Here's the Basie band in 1962 playing Freddie Green's Corner Pocket, with tremendous technique by drummer Sonny Payne...
On February 27, 1978, Thad Jones as guest conductor rehearsed the Danish Radio Big Band in preparation for an evening performance with Dexter Gordon as guest soloist. Gordon had already moved back to the U.S. in 1976 after a long residency in Europe and signed with Columbia. His famed live Homecoming album for Columbia recorded at the Village Vanguard in December '76 had already been released in '77 to much acclaim.
But in February '78, he returned to Copenhagen to visit and to play with Jones and the orchestra. Werner Dahnz in Germany tells me the rehearsal took place there and that the concert in question was held at Danmarks Radio House in Copenhagen on Gordon's 55th birthday.
Last year, a home video surfaced of Jones leading that rehearsal on several songs. I threw it to saxophonist Bill Kirchner, who played with the band at the Vanguard. He had this to say about the pieces:
Marc, I don’t know the first piece. The second is Thank You, composed and arranged by Jerry Dodgion for the Jones/Lewis band on their New Life album. The third is Thad’s Fingers, from the Consummation album.
Likely personnel for the Danish Radio Big Band, which recorded on March 5, 1978, on By Jones, I Think We've Got It : The Danish Radio Big Band and Thad Jones: Thad Jones (cnt,cond) Palle Bolvig, Benny Rosenfeld, Idrees Sulieman, Allan Botschinsky, Perry Knudsen (tp,flhrn) Vincent Nilsson, Erling Kroner, Richard Boone, Ole Kurt Jensen (tb) Axel Windfeld (b-tb,tu) Jesper Thilo (sop,as,cl,fl) Per Carsten (as,fl,sop) Bent Jaedig (ts,fl) Uffe Karskov (ts,as,fl,cl) Flemming Madsen (bar,b-cl,cl) Ole Kock Hansen (p,el-p) Bo Sylven (g) Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (b,el-b) Bjarne Rostvold (d) Ethan Weisgard (perc,cga) and Ray Pitts (arr).
Here's the Thad Jones rehearsal and a surprise appearance at the end. Wait for it...
If we're evaluating jazz musicians on tone alone, Art Farmer was perhaps the prettiest trumpeter and flugelhornist to emerge in the 1950s. Distinguished by a warm, orchestral sound on his horn, Farmer was equally lyrical and spry as a composer and sideman. Virtually everything he played was elegantly seductive and serious, and touches your heart. If all he recorded was Work of Art in 1953, Wisteria and Soft Shoe in '54 and Farmer's Market in '56 (his second recording of the song), he'd be remarkable.
Here are five video clips of Art Farmer in action on the flugelhorn in the 1960s:
Here's Art Farmer in 1964 with guitarist Jim Hall...
Here's Farmer and Jim in 1964 on Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual...
Here's Farmer soloing in the Netherlands in 1966 along with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, trombonist Ake Persson and a group assembled by Oliver Nelson...
Yesterday I found myself listening to quite a bit of Dexter Gordon's Blue Note recordings from the 1960s. The cutting edge of his tenor saxophone and mournful quality of his blues sounded just right for the housebound. [Photo above of Dexter Gordon by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
Here are four videos plus a bonus:
Here's Dexter Gordon playing Tadd Dameron's Lady Bird in Belgium in 1964, with pianist George Gruntz, bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair...
Here's Oscar Peterson and Gordon playing You Stepped Out of a Dream in 1969...
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was one of the purest and most fascinating jazz artists and composers of the post-war period. Blinded as a toddler by a nurse, he was a soulful and experimental musician and a romantic multi-instrumentalist who energetically defied his own physical limitations to become the very essence of jazz in all its free but gifted glory. He looked like chaos, with all of his reed and woodwind instruments around his neck. In truth, Kirk was beautifully lyrical and artfully original.
Here are five clips of Kirk in action...
Here's Kirk playing Stevie Wonder's My Cherie Amour in Paris in 1972...
Here'sMaking Love After Hours in 1967, with pianist Ron Burton, bassist Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen and drummer Alex Riel in Norway...
Here'sSound?, a 1967 documentary of Kirk with avant-garde composer John Cage...
Here's Roland Kirk in Montreux in 1975 performing his song Bright Moments...
Bonus: Here's Vibration Society, a 1980s group founded by his widow, Dorthaan, and dedicated to Kirk's music. I remember seeing them perform at Barry Harris's Jazz Cultural Theater in 1986 just after this album came out. On this track, Bright Moments, singers Suzanne Klewan and Timmy Shepherd were joined by trumpeter Bill Hardman, saxophonist Junior Cook, trombonist Steve Turre, pianist Hilton Ruiz, bassist Paul Brown and drummer Leroy Williams...
Not long ago, I posted about jazz's dalliances with Shakespeare. Recently, I wrote about Maxine Sullivan's twirl with the Bard here. Over the weekend, Michel Weber in Switzerland hipped me to Bob Crosby's own Elizabethan foray. Back in April 1939, Crosby and his Bob Cats recorded four songs that were issued as Shakespeare in Swing, a Decca album featuring four sides on two 78s.
Bob, of course, was Bing's brother. Though his accomplishments as a vocalist and bandleader were overshadowed by his superstar sibling, he ran a top-notch Dixieland-swing band. But what hit me about these four sides wasn't the Crosby band, which was superb. Nor the Shakespearean tie-in, even though I'm a sucker for the genre's clever use of Old English lyrics (Dearest Darest I, Thou Swell, Were Thine That Special Face,To Keep My Love Alive, etc.). [Photo above of Bob Crosby]
What hooked me was Crosby's singer, Marion Mann. I was never a big Bob Crosby collector, so I wasn't fully familiar with Mann. So I began listening to her many sides with the band. Like her peers in the swing era, Mann had a strong, commanding voice. Her vocals for Crosby were fluid and lilting, effortlessly climbing into the upper register or dropping down, all while retaining its warmth. Who was Mann (above)? I did a little digging:
Mann was born Marion Bateson in Ohio, and as a teen sang in a girl's trio on a local radio station. She first sang professionally with Emerson Gill's regional band in the early and mid-1930s. Then she was hired away by Crosby and recorded with the band from 1938 to 1940. [Photo above of Marion Mann]
But Mann's singing career nearly ended before it began nationally. According to my newspaper research, Mann was seriously injured at age 19 in a car crash near Progress, Pa., in December 1933. At the time, she was Emerson Gill's top-billed vocalist. The car's driver, Milan Hartz, 24, also was in the band and was injured in the crash.
A half hour before the band was to appear on stage, Hartz's car skidded off an icy Jonestown Road and into a telephone pole. According to newspapers of the era, Mann suffered a serious scalp wound, fractured collar bone, fractured pelvis and dislocated left hip. The band was heading to Zembo Mosque of the Shrine (above) in Harrisburg, Pa., to perform for the Potentate's Ball, a holiday season affair.
The icy weather had delayed the band's trip, resulting in haste. Other members of the band whose cars were delayed reportedly drove past the accident site, unaware it held their star singer and two bandmates. In addition to Hartz, James Harry was in the car but was uninjured. According to Billboard, Hartz wound up becoming a Broadway pit musician and American Broadcasting Co. composer and conductor in the early 1950s. [Photo above of the Zembo Mosque's dance floor]
How long it took Mann to recover and rejoin Gill's band is unclear, but she remained with Gill for several additional years. She probably did not make the band's Boston opening the following week. Nevertheless, she must have remained on the payroll, which certainly says something about Gill.
When she joined Bob Crosby in '38, newspapers reported that she had been offered seven jobs with seven leading bandleaders but chose Crosby because "she likes the way the Dixieland band swings." [Photo above of Bob Crosby and Marion Mann in an ad for Sears Silvertone Lowboy radio.]
Crosby's band backing Mann during the Shakespeare in Swing session in 1939 included Billy Butterfield (tp), Warren Smith (tb), Irving Fazola (cl), Eddie Miller (ts), Floyd Bean (p), Nappy Lamare (g), Bob Haggart (b), Ray Bauduc (d) Marion Mann (vcl) and Bob Crosby (ldr). [Photo above of Billy Butterfield in 1947]
The four songs were Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind; It Was a Lover and His Lass; Oh Mistress Mine; and Sigh No More Ladies. According to From the Vaults, when Mann left Crosby, she joined radio's Breakfast Club on WMAQ for NBC from 1942 to 1947. In between, in 1945, she recorded Musicraft sides with Jose Bethancourt and his Orchestra, a Latin-flavored pop orchestra. [Photo above of Marion Mann]
Marion Mann died in 1966 and Bob Crosby died in 1993.
JazzWax tracks: Here are all four Shakespeare in Swing sides with Marion Mann on vocals:
In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed artist Katharina Grosse for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Katharina uses a spray gun to develop abstract works on a massive scale. Her love of color and large-form works began when she was little, growing up in Germany. [Photo above of a fan in front of Katharina Grosse's Mural at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts]
Here's a video of Katharina painting her Rockaway piece in New York in 2016...
London. As the world continues to lock down, actor John Guerrasio in London early last week sent along an email and a photo (above):
Marc, this was London's Carnaby Street at noon yesterday. I was in Soho doing a few voiceover jobs. Shops and restaurants were open but empty. Some tube stations are now closed and all public venues will shut this weekend.
Later today, I’ll be making a TV commercial for the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The producer claims the event will happen in late June or perhaps a bit later. Of course, this could change. I think this will be my last gig for 5 or 6 weeks.
Meanwhile, I’m woodshedding on guitar much to my neighbor’s chagrin. I’m determined to learn Chitlins Con Carne and Midnight Blue note-for-note. Thanks for raising my spirits daily.
Sonny Rollins. Following my post last week on Sonny Rollins, saxophonist Bill Kirchner sent along the following email and clip:
Marc, here's Sonny at his most wildly inventive. And at times, very funny. Bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Kenny Clarke keep up with his every move. I've never heard Clarke sound better...
JazzWax note: Did you catch the tag of what sounds like Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah(Here I am at, Camp Granada) at 10:00 and at 11:16? That was Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours from his 1876 opera La Gioconda. It was the inspiration for Alan Sherman's hit four years after Sonny's recording. Special thanks to John Kettlewell and Michael Rose.
Brew Moore. Following my post on tenor saxophonist Brew Moore, I received the following from John Burks...
Marc: Big thank you for the Brew Moore post. Major player. I thought him the equal of Cohn, Sims, Eager, et al, and absolutely the most Pres-ish of them all, though never a copycat. I played four to five gigs with him during his San Francisco stopover—I was the drummer in a San Francisco State College kids jazz trio. What a thrill.
He used us (kiddies) when he had a low-paying engagement, like a reception or house party; I'd come home with $6.25 (at most) in my pocket. I would have played with Brew for free. Several times, fans approached Brew to say, "Y'know, you play a lot like Lester Young." He'd reply, "Anybody who doesn't is wrong."
Gato Barbieri. Following my post on videos of 1970s jazz hits, I received the following from Jaime Clay:
Hi Marc: Re your recent posting about Gato and the subsequent update you included concerning his time in Rome. I lived in Rome from 1965 to about 1973, when my father was working there for FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization).
In my later teen years, I discovered jazz and tried to glean as much as I could in the record shops and from live performances. We were allowed into nightclubs and other venues, so my best buddy, Eric, and I saw some pretty incredible music.
One in particular was Gato Barbieri. I was pretty excited to see him because, at the time, he had Lonnie Liston Smith on piano. He played a lot at many venues and it was easy to see him on stage and wandering the streets. Then the movie Last Tango in Paris came out, and Gato suddenly became a star.
Two things I remember. The first was the initial time I saw him perform at the small Folkstudio club in Trastevere, in the old part of Rome. Being kids, Eric and I arrived early so we could sit right up front, which we did. It was so early, none of the musicians had arrived, much less the rest of the audience.
At Folkstudio, there were always instruments piled in the back, to the left of the stage: basses, bits of drum kits, music stands, etc. On this night, Eric and I decided to "monkey around" on the instruments. We must’ve been at it for quite some time and in a zen state. As I played an upright bass (I was a sax and guitar player), a voice behind me said “Nice, nice!”
I knew it wasn’t Eric’s voice. I turned around and there was Gato, with his hat and soul patch. I almost dropped the bass right then and there. I thanked him and gingerly laid the bass to rest and slinked to my seat, passing all the other band members, who were grinning at me. A wonderful encounter for this 16 year old!
Second, I recorded one of his performances. Back in those days, it was cassette tape, of which I owned the first Phillips iteration. Alas, I no longer have that tape. I had made a copy for another friend. Several years ago, I asked if he still had it. Of course, he, too, had lost his copy.
Thanks for letting me revisit my youth and memories. And as always, love your blog!
Oliver Nelson/Eric Dolphy. Following my post on Oliver Nelson's two small-group albums with Eric Dolphy, William Lieske sent along the following [photo above of Oliver Nelson]:
Hey man, thank you for your excellent piece on Nelson and Dolphy. Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth album changed my life. My dad, a traveling salesman and a musician, was a member of a couple of mail-order record clubs. The albums would show up, and he had a month to send them back or pay the bill. The Blues and the Abstract Truth showed up when he was out of town. I opened it, and lights came on!
When he returned, my dad was pissed at me for opening the album because he didn’t like the music and wanted to return it. He came around later! By then, I had practically worn out the record. Another album that hit me hard like this was Miles Davis's Milestones. Keep up the good work!
Don Burrows. Following my post on the passing of Australian reed and woodwind player Don Burrows, I received the following from Les Johnston in Australia:
Nice one on Don Burrows, Marc! Good to see your worldwide readers finding out that we have some great jazzmen down here. Still with us is multi-instrumentalist James Morrison.Here he is...
Also the great Aussie guitar player Tommy Emmanuelhere...
Randal Kleiser. This week at his podcast, Movies 'Til Dawn, director Raymond De Felitta interviews Randal Klesser, who directed Grease, The Blue Lagoon, White Fang, Honey I Blew Up the Kids and others. You can find the podcast here or at Apple Podcasts, Stictcher, YouTube, Tune In and SoundCloud. [Photo above of Randal Kleiser courtesy of IMDB]
Gap Mangione sent along a link and email that simply said, "Here's something Italian." It's Chuck Mangione and brother Gap (above) in 1982 playing Tarantella, with Steve Allen on the other piano...
What the heck.Here's Rosemary Clooney and Diana Krall singing The Boy From Ipanema in 2000...
Concert in Miniature. Pianist Dave Thompson last week wrote to tell me he has been playing quite a bit at home, revisiting Bill Evans's approach on Denny Zeitlin's Quiet Now...
And here's Dave playing Body and Soul, followed by a pair of Bill Evans medleys..
What I love most about vocalist Meredith d'Ambrosio is her ability to exude innocence and sophistication at the same time. Her first album, Lost in His Arms, was recorded in 1978 and from then on, Meredith has amazed me with her talent and artistry. She's a composer, an arranger, a painter (her paintings grace virtually all of her album covers), a mosaicist and a pianist. She's also a wonderful, warm friend. Happy birthday, Meredith!
Here are 10 favorite tracks by Meredith d'Ambrosio:
Here'sI Got Lost in His Arms from the album of the same name, recorded in 1978 with Meredith accompanying herself on piano...
Here'sLove Is a Simple Thing from Another Time recorded in 1981 with Meredith on piano...
Here'sHow Is Your Wife? from Little Jazz Bird in 1982 with Meredith on piano...
Here'sGiant Steps in 1985, from It's Your Dance, with Harold Danko on piano and Kevin Eubanks on guitar...
Here'sHow Deep Is the Ocean from The Cove in 1987 backed by Lee Konitz (as), Fred Hersch (p), Michael Formanek (b) and Keith Copeland (d)...
Here'sYou Better Go Now from South to a Warmer Place, with her late husband and pianist Eddie Higgins on piano and Don Coffman on bass in 1989...
Here's a medley of You've Changed and You've Altered Your Attitude from Shadowland in 1992, backed by Blair Tindall (Eng. hrn, oboe), Ron Kozak (b-cl,fl), Eddie Higgins (p), Johnny Frigo (vln), Erik Friedlander (cello), Jay Leonhart (b) and Ben Riley (d)...
Here'sStoppin' the Clock from Out of Nowhere in 1998, backed by Lee Musiker (p), Jay Leonhart (b) and Terry Clarke (d)...
Here'sBlame It All on Spring from Love Is for the Birds in 2001 backed by Lee Musiker (p), Jay Leonhart (b) and Joe Ascione (d)...
And here'sLove Is Not a Game from the album of the same name in 1990, with Meredith accompanying herself on piano...
Bonus: Part 1 of my five-part 2009 JazzWax interview with Meredith is here. Additional parts can be found at the top of each post, above the red date.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Meredith's Sunnyside albums at online retailers. Visit her site for the liner notes here.
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.