JazzWax

A Tribute to Paul Desmond and Jim Hall

Between 1959 and 1965, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall (both above) recorded six quartet albums together that are still among jazz's most elegant small-group recordings. These albums are First Place Again (recorded in 1959), Easy Living (1963-'65), Take Ten (1963), Glad to Be Unhappy (1964), Bossa Antigua (1964) and Desmond Blue (1962), which featured Desmond and Hall framed by a larger group. Their first album was on Warner Bros., produced by Bob Prince, and the rest were on RCA, produced by George Avakian.

When I interviewed Jim Hall in 2010, I asked him how he and Desmond managed to be so in sync, creatively. Jim said, "The closeness comes through on recordings because we liked and admired each other so much." It really is an inhale-exhale kind of marriage, with one feeling and feeding off the other's musical ideas. Desmond's melodic alto saxophone wanders purposefully on songs with Jim's jagged counterpoint creating tension and release.

Now, the Conversation Trio, with Bruce Abbott as a special guest on alto saxophone, has recorded For Paul & Jim, an album that pays tribute to the Desmond-Hall Quartet. The group—Abbott, Mitch Seidman on guitar, Jerry Wilfong on bass and Paul Mason on drums recorded eight tracks that contain the original spirit and sound of the group.

• Alone Together, Embarcadero and Take Ten are from Take Ten
• Wendy is from Desmond's famed Live album in Toronto in 1975, with Ed Bickert on guitar
• The Way You Look Tonight is from Desmond's Two of a Mind (1962), with Gerry Mulligan and no guitar
• Samba Cantina is from Bossa Antigua
• Tricotism wasn't covered by Desmond or Jim, together or apart
• Rude Old Man is from Easy Living

Bruce plays with Desmond's dry, high-register sound that's so infectious while Mitch plays with Hall's chord voicings and ringing tones. Jerry's bass pulsates beautifully and Paul's makes fine use of the snare on drums. My only quibble is that the group chose not to cover songs on all six of the Desmond-Hall albums and included three outliers. I wish they had at least covered Any Other Time or Stranger in Town from Glad to Be Unhappy and the title track from Bossa Antigua. These three are, in my opinion, the finest expressions by this group, and those two albums are absolutely perfect. [Photo above of Bruce Abbott by Steven Mason]

But this is a gripe of love, since the Conversation featuring Bruce Abbott is so in the groove and marvelous throughout. These seasoned Massachusetts musicians are superb. I only wish Jim was around to hear them. If so, I know he would have loved to have appeared on a song or two with Mitch. [Photo above of the Conversation Trio, from left, guitarist Mitch Seidman, drummer bassist Jerry Wilfong and drummer Paul Mason; photo by Steven Mason]

Paul Desmond died in 1977; Jim Hall died in 2013.

JazWax tracks: You'll find the Conversation's download-only album For Paul & Jim: Celebrating the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall Quartet here.

JazzWax tracks: Here's Alone Together...

And here's Embarcadero...

John Coltrane: 'Like Sonny'

John Coltrane first recorded his composition Like Sonny during his initial recording session for Giant Steps, his debut LP for Atlantic, on March 26, 1959. The personnel on the first attempt: John Coltrane (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Lex Humphries (d). But the song wasn't used on Giant Steps, which came out in February 1960. [Photo above of John Coltrane by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

Instead, Like Sonny was recorded again on December 2, 1959 with John Coltrane (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Jimmy Cobb (d) and used on Coltrane Jazz, Coltrane's second album, released in February 1961. [Photo above of Sonny Rollins by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

Here's Like Sonny...

But what did the title mean? Like Sonny, meaning similar to Sonny Rollins? Or like Sonny, meaning I admire Sonny. And what was Coltrane's influence for the Sonny-like melody line? As Aidan Levy notes in Saxophone Colossus, his new biography of Sonny Rollins, "The tune was more than just “like” Sonny; it was lifted directly from Sonny’s solo on My Old Flame on Kenny Dorham’s Jazz Contrasts." The Dorham album was recorded in May 1957 and released that October.

Here's My Old Flame. You'll find the passage at 3:22...

In 1962, Sonny returned the honor. Writes Levy: "Later, Sonny would write his own tribute to Coltrane, John S., 'private code,' Sonny said, for 'John and Sonny,' not New York Times jazz critic John S. Wilson, as some mistakenly thought." The song first appeared on Sonny's comeback album, The Bridge, recorded on February 13, 1962 and released that April.

Here's Sonny Rollins's John S....

Fresh off a two-year sabbatical practicing on New York's Williamsburg Bridge, Sonny offered a lurching paean to Coltrane, with Sonny briefly working in Coltrane's "sheets of sound" attack. As for Sonny's influence, I hear the roots of John S. in Art Davis's opening bass line for Africa, from Coltrane's Africa/Brass album, recorded in May and June of 1961 and released that September. Hear for yourself. Here's Africa, from Africa/Brass...

Eight New Stan Getz Video Clips

When Stan Getz plays his tenor saxophone, he awakens in you the same feeling of relaxation you get from a tropical breeze or a hot shower. His high, smooth tone instantly soothes your soul and clears your head. A stark and forever-puzzling contrast with Getz's erratic and sometimes cruel personality that left most musicians and singers shocked and disgusted. It's hard to understand how the two personalities could exist in one artist, but they did. [Photo above of Stan Getz, courtesy of IMDB]

At any rate, here are eight relatively new YouTube videos of Getz performances. One of them I discovered while watching a French film over the holidays, so I think of it as new:

Here's Stan Getz playing Desafinado with Mike Pyne (p), Ron Mathewson (b) and Spike Wells (d) in Denmark in 1970...

Here's Getz playing Wave in Copenhagen in 1970...

Here's Getz playing Lush Life with Chick Corea (p), Stanley Clarke (b) and Tony Williams (d) in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1972...

Here's Getz in London playing Desafinado and Chega De Saudade (No More Blues) with his quartet on The Shirley Bassey Show in the summer of 1976...

Here's Getz playing during the opening credits of the French film Mort d'Un Pourri (Death of Corrupt Man), in 1977, directed by Georges Lautner with music by Philippe Sarde...

Here's Getz with Chet Baker playing Line for Lyons in Stockholm in 1983...

Here's Getz playing But Beautiful, with pianist Kenny Barron (p), Yasuhito Mori (b) and Ben Riley (d) at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, in 1989...

And here's Getz playing Kenny Barron's composition Voyage, with Barron (p), Alex Blake (b) and Terri Lyne Carrington (d) in Vienne, France, in July 1990...

MLK Day: Eight for Freedom

Today in the U.S., it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday since 1986 to honor the slain civil rights leader and a holiday recognized by all 50 states since 1999. To remember Dr. King, I chose seven great jazz albums that express what King was fighting for. Let freedom ring:

Here's Sonny Rollins's Freedom Suite (1958), the album's first track...

Here's Max Roach's We Insist: Freedom Now Suite (1960)...

Here's Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers's Freedom Rider (1961)...

Here's Jackie McLean's Let Freedom Ring (1962)...

Here's Kenny Burrell's Freedom (1963)...

Here's Booker Ervin's The Freedom Book (1963)...

Here's Jaki Byard's Freedom Together (1966)...

And here's Nathan Davis's Rules of Freedom (1967), with Nathan Davis (ts,sop,fl), Hampton Hawes (p), Jimmy Garrison (b) and Art Taylor (d)...

Aldis, Louis and Milt

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actor Aldis Hodge for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Aldis played the district attorney in the series City on a Hill and now stars in the film Black Adam and the Leverage: Redemption series. Aldis's childhood was fascinating. His mother, a former Marine, home-schooled him and his brother and put them on a Hollywood track by having them work in advertising from a very early age and then TV, Broadway and film. [Photo above of Aldis Hodge as Hawkman in Black Adam by Frank Masi.]

WBGO's Doug Doyle (above) interviewed me last week on my new book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs. Doug is the station's news director, morning news anchor, co-host of WBGO Journal and host of the station's SportsJam. He also has a voice as warm as a bowed cello. After spending years listening to jazz on WBGO-FM and to Doug on the air, I was overjoyed to cross through the proverbial mirror and spend time with him. To view the interview, go here.

David C. Gross and Tom Semioli (above), hosts of the terrific, fast-paced podcast Notes From an Artist, had me on to talk about my new book. It's in two parts:

Here's Part 1...

And here's Part 2...

For more on David and Tom, go here.

Brian Torff. The great jazz bassist, best known for his years with pianist George Shearing, has a new book out: Seize the Beat: The Evolution of American Music (McFarland). His book is part memoir, part observational social history and part guide for musicians looking for a path to greater emotional depth. You'll find his new book here.

Louis Stewart (1944-2016) would have been 79 on January 5. The late Irish jazz guitarist had a beautiful touch, and Oliver Dowling in Dublin and a compatriot of Stewart, tells me Stewart was a big JazzWax fan. Oliver also mentioned that Stewart's 1977 solo album, Out on His Own, will be reissued on the reactivated Livia Records on February 24.

Here's a trailer...

Nancy Wilson (above), Mose Allison and Ella Fitzgerald radio. Kim Paris of FM Radio Archive emailed to let me know that the subjects of recent JazzWax posts have rare live broadcasts:

Nancy Wilson—four episodes of Jazz Profiles hosted by Nancy Wilson. Go here.

Mose Allison—Mark Rabin shared a great 1984 broadcast recording of Mose from Pepe's Upstairs in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The show was broadcast by CBC-FM in Canada, on its show The Ocean Limited. Go here.

Ella Fitzgerald—The singer's 1981 Chicago Jazz Festival performance originally aired on NPR's Jazz Alive program. Mark Rabin recorded it from Chicago's WBEZ-FM. She was backed by Jimmy Rowles on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Bobby Durham on drums. Go here.

Jim Stewart radio. Chris Cowles, host of Greasy Tracks on WRTC-FM in Hartford, Ct., recently broadcast Part 2 of his tribute to Stax co-founder Jim Stewart. The first three hours were killer (here). This second three-hour set is just as strong. Go here.

Milt Jackson radio. On Sunday, WKCR-FM New York's Sid Gribetz will host a five-hour retrospective from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET) celebrating the music of vibraphonist Milt Jackson (above). Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.

And finally, here's Alton Ellis, king of Jamaican rocksteady, performing at SunSplash 93 in St. Catherine, Jamaica...

Sonny Rollins: Bret Primack and Aidan Levy

In December, Aidan Levy published Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins (Hachette), a 784-page biography of the tenor saxophonist. Recently, Bret Primack, who interviewed Sonny on camera at length over the years, interviewed Levy on a range of Sonny-related topics:

Here's Bret and Aidan on Coleman Hawkins...

Here's Bret and Aidan on Don Byas's influence on Sonny...

Here's Bret and Aidan on the relationship between Sonny and Thelonious Monk...

And here's the rest of the interview...

Bonus: Here's the complete Sonny Rollins Vol. 1 (Blue Note), recorded in December 1956, with Sonny on tenor saxophone, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and Max Roach on drums. The tracks are Decision (0:00), Bluesnote (8:00), How Are Things In Glocca Morra (14:59), Plain Jane (24:35) and Sonnysphere (30:52). Sonny wrote Decision, Bluesnote, Plain Jane and Sonnysphere...

Video: Ella Fitzgerald at the BBC, 1965

On May 8, 1965, the BBC broadcast a taped TV concert that Ella Fitzgerald had recorded earlier that year in front of a studio audience. She was joined on songs by her trio—Tommy Flanagan on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. There were no musician solos, other than during the intro and outro. It's all Ella. She also sang songs backed by the Johnnie Spence Orchestra, a roaring British big band.

The arrangements? They were by Buddy Bregman, Max Harris, Oliver Nelson, Marty Paich, Nelson Riddle and Alan Roper.

Here's over an hour of Ella Fitzgerald in her prime at the BBC in 1965...

Backgrounder: Dodo Marmarosa — 'Dodo's Back!'

Yesterday, I posted about pianist Craig Davis's new trio tribute to Dodo Marmarosa. I also promised you a fabulous Backgrounder album this week by Marmarosa. Well, why not today, since you probably still have Dodo on your in mind.

Dodo's Back! is one of my favorites. It's elegant and pushy, with touches of George Shearing in places. Recorded in Chicago in May 1961, the album was released in 1962. Marmarosa was backed by Richard Evans on bass and Marshall Thompson on drums.

What was Marmarosa coming back from? Mental illness that was likely set in motion years earlier following a beating on a subway platform that Buddy DeFranco addressed in my interview with the clarinetist (go here). In the late 1950s, Marmarosa stopped recording and began acting erratic, disappearing for weeks and giving gig money away. In 1960, he decided to move to California, departing from Pittsburgh by car. Vehicle problems caused him to stop in Chicago. Argo Records arranged to record him there, but Marmarosa left town suddenly. The recording session was delayed until 1961.

Despite Dodo's Back! being a masterpiece, the release failed to re-launch Marmarosa's career. He recorded one more studio album and then gigged until 1968, when he gave up playing entirely. For the balance of his life, Marmarosa lived with his sister and then in a Veterans hospital. He died in 2002.

Here's Dodo Marmarosa's Dodo's Back!...

Other ad-free Backgrounders in my series:

• Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova, go here.
• Lee Morgan: Lee-Way, go here.
• Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, go here.
• Leon Spencer: Louisiana Slim, go here.
• Bossa Nova Modern Quartet: Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, go here.
• Bill Evans & Luiz Eça: Piano Four Hands, go here.
• Ray Brown Trio: Don't Get Sassy, go here.
• Os Tatuis: Os Tatuis, go here.
• Waltel Branco: Mancini Tambem É Samba, go here.
• Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini, go here.
• Conjunto Copacabana Bossa: Bossa, go here.
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Swings Lightly, go here.
• Charles Earland: Charles Earland, go here.
• Kenny Burrell: Crash! w/ Jack McDuff, go here.
• Jack McDuff: The Heatin' System, go here.
• Horace Silver: Horace-Scope, go here.
• Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: Sonny Stitt Plays, go here.
• Sonny Stitt with Bennie Green: My Main Man, go here.
• Johnny Hodges and Earl Hines: Stride Right, go here.
• Lionel Hampton: Bossa Nova Jazz, go here.
• Johnny Hodges & Ben Webster: Cellar Session, go here.
• Bill Evans: Solo Sessions Vol. 1, go here.
• Frank Wess: Trombones & Flute, go here.
• Presenting the Buddy DeFranco & Tommy Gumina Quartet, go here.
• Ernest Ranglin: Wranglin', go here.
• Dave Pell Octet: Plays Rodgers & Hart, go here.
• Milt Buckner: Block Chords Parade, go here.
• Roberto Menescal: A Nova Bossa, go here.
• Count Basie: Have a Nice Day, go here.
• Freddie Green: Mr. Rhythm, go here.
• Leny Andrade: Leny Andrade, go here.
• Johnny Alf: Ele é Johnny Alf, go here.

Craig Davis: 'Music of Dodo Marmarosa'

Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa was a fascinating jazz pianist. Among the first pianists to master bebop in the mid-1940s, he had an accomplished, plush touch. As I wrote back in 2008, "Dodo was less aggressive than Bud Powell and more expressive and complex than Al Haig. He preferred a punctuating, full keyboard approach, developing ideas in the middle and widening out to express them."

Marmarosa (above) also was much in demand early on. He was skilled enough to play piano for many of the biggest bands of the 1940s—including Charlie Barnett, Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, Boyd Raeburn and George Handy—while also recording with Lester Young on Aladdin Records and Charlie Parker on Dial Records. The reason he is so little known now is that few pianists today would dare take on his music.

Now Craig Davis has done just that on his new album, Tone Paintings: The Music of Dodo Marmarosa. Like Marmarosa, Craig is from Pittsburgh. Backed by John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums, Craig is exceptional in both feel and technique. You don't record a tribute album to Marmarosa unless you can bring it and swing it. And Craig can do both, with a tender feel for Marmarosa's songwriting and fluid skill. [Photo above, from left, John Clayton, Craig Davis and Jeff Hamilton]

Marmarosa's nickname wasn't a result of his pronounced nose and large head. His family insisted the moniker came after he said "do do" instead of "da da" as a baby. Formal piano lessons began at age 9, followed by round-the-clock training for five years while in high school. Influenced by Erroll Garner, Marmarosa said he also was smitten with Johnny Gaurnieri's left hand. I suspect he also was captivated by pianist Milt Buckner's block chords. [Photo above of Johnny Gaurnieri]

As for Craig, he attended Berklee College of Music's summer program in Boston, which led to a full scholarship to the school. After a year, he transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington. Following his graduation in 2000, Craig headed back to Pittsburgh, where he began gigging and recording. Awarded a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music, Craig graduated with a Masters in music. He joined the Artie Shaw band during its last years of touring before Shaw's death in 2004 and reveled in playing the original Shaw piano parts that had Marmarosa's name written on top. Today, Craig is a celebrated mainstay of the Pittsburgh jazz scene and an educator.

The new album's songs feature 10 of Marmarosa's compositions and one original by Craig—A Ditty for Dodo. The other songs are Mellow Mood, Dodo's Bounce, Dodo's Blues, Escape, Opus No. 5, Compadoo, Dary Departs, Tone Paintings, Battle of the Balcony Jive and Dodo's Lament. Craig is terrific throughout and did jazz a great service by re-surfacing Marmarosa's piano compositions. [Photo above of Dodo Marmarosa]

I'll have a terrific Dodo Marmarosa album for you later this week as a Backgrounder. For now, I'll leave you with Buddy DeFranco's 2009 recollections of Marmarosa that emerged during one of our many phone conversations (go here).

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Craig Davis's Tone Paintings: The Music of Dodo Marmarosa (Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Mellow Mood...

And here's Dodo's Bounce...

Mose Allison: Live 1978

There are plenty of post-war jazz songwriter-pianists who work overtime to be with-it. Some come off as Beat poets and cool daddy-o's while others strain to be clever phrase-turners and honky-tonk players. For me, there are only two truly hip originals—Thelonious Monk and Mose Allison. Monk and Mose each had a distinct sound that was both jagged and playful and both were humble and almost meek off the bandstand, a true mark of cool. The difference between them is that Monk was focused solely on the music (grunts aside) and Mose sang while he played. [Photo above of Mose Allison courtesy of Bandcamp]

Between 1976 and 1987, Mose recorded just two studio albums—Your Mind Is on Vacation (1976) for Atlantic and Ever Since the World Ended (1987) for Blue Note. In between, Mose gigged tirelessly, but only five live recordings from his club dates have surfaced.

Now there are six. Recently, Liberation Hall Records released Mose Allison: Live 1978, featuring Mose's vocals and piano backed by Tom Rutley on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums. The album was recorded at the Showboat Lounge in Silver Spring, Md., on March 26, 1978, by Dick Drevo, and the sound is clean and very good.

Mose sings and plays eight originals and five covers. Here are the songs....

1. Lost Mind (Percy Mayfield)
2. Wildman on the Loose (Mose Allison)
3. Your Molecular Structure (Mose Allison)
4. It Feels So Good (Mose Allison)
5. Swingin' Machine (Mose Allison)
6. You Can Count on Me to Do My Part (Mose Allison)
7. I Live the Life I Love (Willie Dixon)
8. If You're Goin' Up to the City (Mose Allison)
9. Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams)
10. Meet Me at No Special Place (Arthur Terker, Harry Pyle and Russell Robinson)
11. Seventh Son (Willie Dixon)
12. Wildman (Mose Allison)
13. Your Mind Is on Vacation (Mose Allison)

Mose's song lyrics are clever without trying hard, his sense of humor is sophisticated without being cute and his piano is as earthy as can be and often sounds as if two or three people are playing at the same time. This album is true cool and pure joy.

Mose Allison died in 2016. I miss talking to him and absorbing his rural-meets-urban wisdom sense of humor. He had plenty of both.

You can read my multipart JazzWax interview with Mose here.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Mose Allison: Live 1978 (Liberation Hall) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's If You're Goin' Up to the City...

And here's Wildman. Dig Mose's piano...