When music genres wind up with a name, it's usually because the style became so commercially popular that someone in the media decided to label it with a clever word or phrase. [Photo above of Amos Milburn]
To illustrate my point, let's look at three demarcation points in 20th century music, each 10 years apart: Swing existed years before Benny Goodman's Palomar Ballroom appearance in 1935, bebop was already in the works before Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made their first Guild records together in 1945, and the roots of rock 'n' roll were in place way before Chuck Berry's records for Chess and Elvis Presley's records for Sun in 1955.
Let's start with swing. Before Goodman began using the Edgar Sampson arrangements for Chick Webb's band in 1935, swing was already flourishing at New York's Savoy Ballroom, clubs in Kansas City and at dance venues in many black neighborhoods in America's cities where major bands toured. [Photo above of Chick Webb]
Here's Benny Carter playing and singing Swing It in 1933...
Here's the Chick Webb band playing Edgar Sampson's arrangement of Stompin' at the Savoy in 1934...
Here's the Webb band playing Edgar Sampson's arrangement of Don't Be That Way in 1934...
And here's Fletcher Henderson's arrangement of Wrappin' It Up for his band in 1934...
Before bebop wound up with a name, the music was already emerging at after-hours clubs and bars in Harlem. [Photo above of Charlie Christian]
Here's guitarist Charlie Christian jamming on Stompin' at the Savoy at Minton's Playhouse in 1941...
Here's Dizzy Gillespie at Monroe's Uptown House in 1941 playing Kerouac...
And here's Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Pettiford in Room 305 of the Savoy Hotel in Chicago riffing on chord changes to Sweet Georgia Brown in 1943...
Before disc jockey Alan Freed began calling R&B music aimed at teens "rock 'n' roll" in the mid-1950s, the beat, feel and even the term was already percolating in multiple forms as early as the late 1920s. [Photo above of Wynonie Harris]
Here's the evolution of rock 'n' roll before it became R&B in 1949 and tailored for a younger, teenage audience in 1955...
Mention the phrase "jam session" today and most people cringe. Words that come to mind are "too long," "boring" and "much ado about not much." But as late as the mid-1970s, a jam session in concert had great appeal. In the rock era, a jam session meant welcome, lengthy solos by guitarists and organists, not to mention a multi-minute drum solo. Seeing a rock band live that could jam was thrilling, as I recall.
Let's face it, Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album in 1968 would have been an instant bargain cut-out if not for Ron Bushy's 2.5 minute drum solo on the title track. It was the selling point. The Grateful Dead was perhaps the greatest of all rock jam bands, along with the Allman Brothers Band. Today, however, the appeal of the jam session is long gone if not dreaded.
Back in the late 1940s and '50s, the jam-session concert was the rage. For one, the format brought the after-hours jazz club format to white and under-21 audiences who either were unwilling or too young to gain admission to such establishments. For another, these concerts were emotional proving grounds for musicians to let loose and show their stamina and improvisational chops. There was no black and white at these concerts. Whoever could get up there and play for the duration with hot ideas was a crowd favorite.
The promoter who did the most to popularize the jam-session concert back then was Norman Granz. I must admit that when I saw the new box from Mosaic Records—Classic Jazz at the Philharmonic Jam Sessions (1950-1957)—I cringed. All of the words I already cited above came to mind, along with "who cares anymore?" and "long-winded." Equally daunting was the number of CDs—10 in all. I thought someone at Mosaic must be losing their mind. [Photo above of Norman Granz]
Over the long weekend, I bit down and put on the box, fully prepared to bail by the second track. Ten CDs later (twice), I was blown away. In fact, this may turn out to be one of Mosaic's finest boxes. There's so much musical freedom and excitement on the 10 CDs, from the artists and audiences on the verge of madness after performances.
The longest jam, Cool Blues, runs 22:37, and the rest last around 7 minutes or so on average. Granz upped the ante by featuring only jazz superstars who could deliver a fire hose of action. Listening to these tracks, I started to realize that a studio recording back then, by comparison, was like listening to jazz musicians parallel park compared to these Daytona 500 racetrack performances. Groups were up on stage to hit a groove to inspire and sustain soloists, who filled the time like perfectly installed wall-to-wall carpeting, with each musicians crafting fresh ideas, no matter how many choruses were taken.
Just as special are the scene-setting liner notes by Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice(University of California, 2011), and a track-by-track analysis by writer, jazz historian and educator John McDonough. Included in the 34-page, 12-inch-square glossy booklet are lots of rare, exciting concert photos.
Long-time Mosaic fans may remember The Complete Jazz at the Philharmonic on Verve 1944-1949, the label's 10-CD box from 1998. This new companion box is even better. By the 1950s, the musicians had been around the block a few times and were recording and touring more, so they were highly seasoned.
Best of all, there's no fat, wheel-spinning tracks or tired renditions here. All 90 songs are top-shelf foot-tappers or warm ballads. The headliners include Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, Lester Young, Buddy DeFranco, Stan Getz and Ella Fitzgerald, as well as all-star combos and crack rhythm sections. All knew their reps were on the line and all rock the house. [Photo above of Lester Young]
The additional musicians include Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, J.C. Heard, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, Willie Smith, Ben Webster, Louie Bellson, Jo Jones, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Connie Kay.
Once upon a time, before social media, smartphones, computers, the internet, and downloading, you had to visit a theater to experience the pure excitement of improvised jazz. Stars were household names, they knew they were special and everyone was fiercely competitive and wonderfully collegial. As with sports, audiences rooted for favorites but were happy to cheer on anyone who left it all on the table.
The box's 10 CDs include 90 tracks, with five unreleased tracks. All were by Granz for his Norgran, Clef and Verve labels from 1950 to 1957, when he hit the brakes on concerts and tours. Fortunately for us, Mosaic has corralled the best of the JATP performances at a period in time when the art of improvised jazz was at its peak. The box set sounds great and puts you in the audience with the yellers and the screamers as the world's coolest soloists tried to out-do their peers and hold onto their stellar reputations. As these recordings demonstrate, in the days before flamboyance, outrage and loud volume, jazz musicians ruled the world with enormous musical intellect.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Classic Jazz at the Philharmonic Jam Sessions (1950-1957) (Mosaic) here.
JazzWax clips: Here's One O'Clock Jump with the JATP All Stars at Carnegie Hall on September 19, 1953, featuring Roy Eldridge and Charlie Shavers (tp), Bill Harris (tb), Benny Carter and Willie Smith (as), Flip Phillips, Ben Webster and Lester Young (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b) and J.C. Heard (d)...
And here's a ballad medley at Chicago's Civic Opera House on September 29, 1957: Robbins' Nest (Illinois Jacquet), Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Lester Young) and Can't We Be Friends (Flip Phillips); the rhythm section featured Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b) and Jo Jones (d)...
In The Wall Street Journal this week,I interviewed English actress Bel Powley for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Bel currently stars in A Small Light, a fascinating new limited series from National Geographic on Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who helped hide Anne Frank from the Nazis until Frank was discovered and sent with her family to their deaths. Amazingly, Gies survived the war. [Photo above of Bel Powley as Miep Gies in A Small Light, by Dusan Martincek, courtesy of National Geographic for Disney]
You may know Bel best as Kelsey, Pete Davidson's girlfriend in The King of Staten Island (2020). She also is superb in Carrie Pilby (2016). My interview was done by Zoom in London, and I can tell you Bel is as precious as she seems—and just as funny.
Here'sBel talking about how she learned to speak Staten Islandese for the film...
Here's Bel in the trailer to Carrie Pilby (2016)...
And here's Bel in the trailer for A Small Light...
Also in the WSJ, my Tina Turner appreciation essay for the Arts in Review section (go here). Here's Turner singing the James Bond theme to GoldenEye (1995). Not much of a song by Bono and the Edge, but Tina does her best...
Happy Birthday, Gene DiNovi!Gene turned 95 on Friday. The photo above was taken at the Three Deuces on 52nd Street in the fall of 1948. It was sent to me by Carl Woideck. Pictured from the left is clarinetist Stan Hasselgard, bassist Clyde Lombardi, pianist Gene DiNovi, drummer Max Roach and guitarist Chuck Wayne. As you may recall, I interviewed Gene several months ago here. In tribute to Gene, here he is playing Speak Low...
Bill Mays video. The Bill Mays Trio just returned from a tour of the American Northwest and Northeast. Here's a video of Bill at Brooklyn's Soapbox Gallery, with Dean Johnson on bass and Ron Vincent on drums...
Grilling this weekend? I have five albums for you by organist Jimmy McGriff (above) that go great with sauce and smoke:
In 1964, Brazil's Equipe label released Impulso!, an album by a 20-year-old studio keyboardist and arranger named Eumir Deodato. Today, Deodato is probably best known for his 1973 album Prelude and his work for producer Creed Taylor and his CTI label in the 1970s.
Back in Brazil in the early 1960s, Deodato played organ in the style of many bossa nova players then, such as Walter Wanderley, but with more punch and build. Impulso!, along with Deodato's Inutil Pasisagem (Forma) and Ideias (Odeon) were similar in terms of his playing and dimensional covers of songs by bossa composers. He also arranged the brass and percussion on these albums, which are still terrific. [Photo above of Eumir Deodato]
In 2002, Irma Records in Rio de Janeiro culled songs by Marcos Valle from these albums and packaged the collection as Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle: Summer Samba. The album is luscious and peppery, and features Marcos's infectious melodies. Marcos, of course, is one of Brazil's greatest singer-songwriters and bossa melodists. [Photo above of Marcos Valle]
Here's the entire Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle: Summer Samba, which feels perfect for the long holiday weekend here in the U.S. or anywhere in the world where readers need gorgeous, uplifting music...
Tina Turner was a force of nature and determination. Driven, highly energetic, sophisticated and charismatic, Turner had three careers. As the frontwoman in the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, she was instrumental in the group's many crossover R&B hits, including River Deep-Mountain High and Proud Mary. In her hands, the latter became a voluptuous, steamy cover of John Fogerty's original roots-rocker for Creedence Clearwater Revival.
She also acted in films, as the Acid Queen in the rock-opera film Tommy and as Mel Gibson's co-star in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. And she had an astonishing solo career, releasing Private Dancer in 1984 with enormous chart and performance success. By then, she had established herself as a strong-willed, talented woman known for her laugh, legs and stagecraft, which Mick Jagger had studied to develop his own style in 1966.
But perhaps her biggest cultural contribution was tastefully breaking the female sexuality barrier on stage. When performing on TV and in concert, Turner was strong, fierce and seductive without being seedy or shocking. Unfortunately, many female performers who followed in her wake didn't quite see the art and nuance of what she was doing. You can read my Tina Turner appreciation for the arts section in the Wall Street Journalhere.
Here are 10 clips that define the legendary Tina Turner...
In 1973, the BBC aired a 50-minute documentary from director John Jeremy on the alumni of the great Count Basie Band of 1943. And then the documentary went out of print. Fortunately for us, the person behind Remembrance of Things at YouTube found an old VHS tape at the public library and uploaded it as a vital historical document.
The documentary includes interviews with Buck Clayton, Buddy Tate, Jo Jones, Dicky Wells and Earle Warren. You'll also hear from Gene Krupa, Joe Newman, John Hammond and others.
The blowing is great but the plight of some of these musicians in the autumn of their lives in the days before financial planning and retirement funds is heartbreaking.
Bonus: Let's listen to Count Basie in 1943, with the so-called Old Testament band:
Here'sOne O'Clock Jump, the band's theme, with tenor saxophone solos by Buddy Tate and Don Byas, a trombone solo by Dicky Wells, Buck Clayton on trumpet and Vernon Alley on bass...
Here'sRusty Dusty Blues, with Jimmy Rushing on the vocal...
In the 1970s, London had a second swinging decade. While most everyone is familiar with the music-fueled pop fashion scene of the first Swinging London of the 1960s, those outside of the U.K. are probably scratching their heads when I refer to Swinging London Part 2. Instead of a music takeover, this one was by the British film industry. Buoyed by the success of James Bond, the film industry in Britain went into overdrive turning out dozens of movies about suave special forces officers, dapper hit men and womanizing double-agents. [Photo above of Roy Budd]
For example, in the U.S., we know actor Michael Caine largely from his 1960s work in The Ipcress File, Alfie, Gambit and Funeral in Berlin. But in the 1970s, he sort of dropped off the radar here whereas in the U.K. he was as ubiquitous and dashing in films as Roger Moore was in the States. And with movies like Get Carter, Black Windmill, Kidnapped and The Marseille Contract, Caine often played a man of cunning and action.
The scores to a good number of these action films were assigned to a gentleman named Roy Budd. Born in London, Budd was a keyboard prodigy. At age 6, he was determined by experts to have perfect pitch. Then he made his public concert debut at the London Coliseum and, at age 8, he could play the Wurlitzer organ and made it his life mission to write a score for the silent movie The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney, a film that had scared him silly. Four years later, he was on TV live from the London Palladium. Jazz combos followed.
In 1971, in his early 20s, Budd wrote the score for the film Get Carter, which became a huge hit and today is considered a soundtrack masterpiece. To create a score with the small budget allotted, Budd contracted just three musicians while he played electric piano and harpsichord at the same time. Budd went on to orchestrate more than 30 films between 1970 and 1987. Then he returned to his first love, leading a jazz trio and composing his Phantom score. Just before he was to conduct it at the London Coliseum, Roy Budd died of a brain hemorrhage in August 1993, at age 46.
What's wonderful about Budd's sweeping film scores are their Bondian sense of suspense and Brit cool. While many of his film works have a Michel Legrand jazz edge, his instrumental texture was influenced by John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith. His scores creep up on you and work their thematic charms until you're hooked on them. Believe me, I collect them.
Here are a bunch of my favorites:
Here's Roy Budd himself playing his Get Carter theme on BBC-TV in 1971...
Fans of pianist Bill Evans know that one of his favorite composers and dearest friends was Earl Zindars. Among the Zindars' songs Evans recorded are Elsa, How My Heart Sings, Mother of Earl, Lullaby for Helene, Quiet Light and Sareen Jurer. Today, one of the most exquisite interpreters of Zindars' music is Italian pianist Luciano Troja (above).
Luciano recorded his first Zindars tribute album—At Home With Zindars—in 2010, which I mentioned in a 2018 post (here). Now he has issued his second volume, To New Life (Almendra). The album's 14 tracks are solo works and are exceptional, beautifully capturing Zindars' sophisticated lyrical quality and depth.
Recently, I interviewed Luciano in Italy by email on his own background and passion for Zindars:
JazzWax: Where did you grow up in Italy and how were you introduced to the piano? Luciano Troja: I was born on July 6, 1963 and grew up in Messina, Sicily (above). I started to play keyboards when I was 8. Before that, I used to play drums along to records my family owned. These records were by artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Bert Kaempfert.
JW: You also wrote as a child, yes? LT: Yes, short stories. One night, after dinner, I gave a 10-page story to my dad. After reading, he said: "I love it very much. You deserve a gift. What would you like?" I said, "A keyboard." He bought me a three-octave toy keyboard made by Antonelli. The keyboard was monophonic, meaning the sound of each note wasn’t sustained. It was my first real training. In the lower octave, I could run a bass line with my left hand and in the other two octaves I could work the melodies with my right.
JW: What did you think? LT: From the moment the piano arrived, I practiced and worked on my improvisation every day. I still have the notebook in which I wrote the story that impressed my father. I keep it in my night table by my bed.
JW: Were your parents musical? LT: My parents didn’t play an instrument. My father was a lawyer, and my mom, who also graduated with a law degree, was a homemaker. They had such beautiful records. The records of my big sister, Pinella, also influenced me. I remember listening to Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson’s My Favorite Instrument, and The Best of Nat King Cole on Capitol. I loved the song Stardust; Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s songs, especially This Guy’s in Love with You, played by Herb Alpert; and Eumir Deodato’s orchestral arrangement for Moonlight Serenade and Rhapsody in Blue on CTI. I listened to all of that until I was 11. They had a huge impact on me.
JW: Tell me about your hometown. LT: Messina is the gateway to Sicily, It sits on the Strait of Messina, which separates the boot of Italy from Sicily and connects two seas—the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian. The city is a marvelous place, with all the shades of blue imaginable and where myths and history meet. Growing up there was serene, especially in the summer, when we enjoyed the sea. I studied law and graduated with a degree from Messina Faculty Law. As for jazz, there was the Messina Jazz Meeting, an important late-summer jazz festival and one of the best in Italy. This event was very inspiring.
JW: How was your music education in school growing up? LT: We didn’t have much music instruction during middle and high school, but the music played in the community was terrific. In Messina, there were three major music societies that nurtured students, each with a beautiful concert season. For 10 years, until 2022, I was the artistic director of one of them—the Filarmonica Laudamo, which was founded 102 years ago. While there, I formed a creative 35-piece ensemble with musicians from both sides of the Strait. Over the years, the ensemble played under the direction of Karl Berger, Dave Burrell, Rocco J. Iacovone, Blaise Siwula, Salvatore Bonafede, Marco Cappelli and others. In Messina there are many excellent players, and the music scene is good. I was initially self-taught but later took private lessons for many years with Salvatore Bonafede, one of my favorite piano players. I also took lessons in New York with Richie Beirach. I graduated from the Messina "Corelli" Conservatory after majoring in jazz composition.
JW: Who did you listen to on the radio and on records in your teens? LT: Pop music was always an influence and an important part of my training. I love soul music accompanied by a lush, orchestral sound. More specifically, I love what was known in the 1970s as the Philly Sound. I also liked the Ennio Morricone's orchestral scores for director Sergio Leone’s Westerns with Clint Eastwood. Of course, I listened also to Italian pop stars like Gino Paoli, Mina, Gianni Morandi and Patty Pravo. I was stunned when I heard the first few bars of Aja by Steely Dan on local radio. Steely Dan and Donald Fagen on his solo albums were constant inspirations. In those same years, I began taking an active interest in jazz.
JW: When did you first hear the music of Earl Zindars? LT: In July 1980, I had the opportunity to see the Bill Evans Trio at Ronnie’s Scott's Jazz Club in London. From that night forward, I lived with his music, as is the case with many musicians and passionate fans. As you know, Evans’s repertoire included originals, jazz tunes and songbook standards, but they also included Broadway songs and movie and TV themes. Through his hands and mind, these simple songs became complex and unique. The more I listened to Evans and read the liner notes on his albums, the more I noticed that a considerable number of the songs he recorded were composed by Earl Zindars (above).
JW: What did you think? LT: That Evans and Zindars were two very connected artists. They both seemed to be in search of authentic beauty and transcended trends. Before the Internet, I knew nothing about this mysterious composer, except the friendship and musical empathy he shared with Evans. Then in 2005, I discovered the existence of a songbook you could purchase from the website of the composer. Unfortunately, Zindars had passed away a few months earlier. During a stay in New York for some gigs in April 2006, I recorded some Zindars tunes in the studio. Then I sent them to his wife, vocalist Anne Bohigian, who gave me her blessing.
JW: Then what happened? LT: The following year, with my wife Valentina, I went to his home in San Francisco at Anne’s invitation. As soon as we arrived, Anne opened the cover of Earl’s grand piano, which had remained closed since his passing in 2005. She said, “Please, play it!” We remained there for a couple of days at Anne’s insistence. Our stay included a gracious Easter dinner. Anne and her family were very loving.
JW: What’s the difference in the feeling and mood of your first and second albums dedicated to Zindars’ music? LT: The two albums are different but are directly related. The first album, At Home With Zindars (2010), was self-produced and recorded in a New York studio over several years. It comes with a 40-page booklet paying tribute to Zindars and his family—his wife, Anne, who in addition to singing is a composer and pianist, and their daughters Helene, a well-known soprano, and Karen, with her son Evan. This album is the result of my wonder for the beauty and love I received at Anne’s home.
JW: And the new album, To New Life? LT: It represents the closing of the circle and is divided into two parts. The first was recorded live in concert at the Maybeck Recital Hall in the Berkeley Hills, near San Francisco. Among the 50 audience members present in this beautiful, intimate studio space were his family and several of their friends as well as musicians who played with Earl and were inspired by him. The Zindars family once again showed their love by inviting people very close to him during his life.
JW: And the second part? LT: The second part of the CD was recorded in my native Sicily. Shortly after the Maybeck concert, I received three gifts from Helene: her father’s tambourine—a precious Syrian riq—the sheet music of an unpublished Zindars song entitled Wissahickon Walk and a poem called To New Life, which I used for the album’s title. Then I completed the work by adding a four-part suite inspired by the poem. It was recorded at the Zeit Studio in Palermo, Sicily. This completed the album in beautiful synergy with the Almendra Music’s staff.
JW: What were the big revelations for you about Earl Zindars and his music? LT: From a strictly musical point of view, I discovered an interesting new sense of form and writing that is complex but at the same time lyrical. I also discovered a way to compose classical music that can be inserted into jazz in a natural way. In other words, a bit like Bill Evans’s approach, but from the point of view of composing. Also, Zindars was one of the first jazz composers to incorporate the use of different rhythmic metrics into the same piece.
JW: And Zindars’ deep soulfulness? LT: Yes. I found a great spirituality behind his music and Zindars himself, which I discovered through his family and their stories. This discovery was possible only because I was able to come into contact with his family and visit where he lived and worked. It was at that point that I tried to translate the music simply through myself and my playing.
JW: After all of this exposure to Zindars, what are your favorite artist interpretations of Zindars songs? LT: In addition to Bill Evans’s magnificent interpretations, a few others come to mind:
Bill Cunliffe’s album How My Heart Sings, which is entirely devoted to Zindars' compositions.
Zindars’ own albums—The Return and And Then Some, with piano greats Don Haas and Larry Dunlap.
My Father’s Garden (2007) by his daughter Helene, which includes wonderful interpretations of his songs, such as The Eve of Ascension Day, Under a Telephone Pole, Fog and I Sang.
JW: And your favorite Zindars songs? LT: There are a bunch:
I love very much How My Heart Sings, recorded by Jarmo Savolainen on his album First Sight (Timeless, 1992).
Elsa by Cannonball Adderley on the album Know What I Mean (Riverside, 1962).
Overall, How My Heart Sings, Elsa and Lullaby for Helene are my favorites. They introduced me to Zindars through Bill Evans’s versions. Sareen Jurer and My Love Is an April Song are mystical, profound and innovative pieces. Roses for Annig, written a few weeks before Zindars' death, is perhaps the most moving piece, a tender goodbye to his wife, the woman who accompanied him with love throughout his life. I played this composition on both of my tribute albums.
JW: Where do you live today? LT: I live in Messina, with my wife, Valentina. I love Messina more than ever because I’m no longer young. Messina is people-friendly, so I can live a simple life and focus on music and projects. Some of my major music projects came to life here, especially the duos with guitarist Giancarlo Mazzù and with the bassoonist Antonino Cicero, and the Pannonica Workshop ensemble. Messina is where my family, two cats and my heart live.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Luciano Troja's To New Life (Almendra) here.
You'll find his 2010 tribute At Home With Zindarshere.
Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actress Amanda Peet for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Amanda co-starred in the successful series Jack and Jill and in The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis. She's now the cheated-upon wife in the Paramount+ miniseries Fatal Attraction. She's very funny and was a blast to interview. [Photo above of Amanda Peet courtesy of Paramount+]
And here's Amanda holding her own with Craig Ferguson...
Also in the WSJ, I wrote my monthly 50th anniversary album essay on Tower of Power's eponymous third LP, which deeply influenced bands that followed, particularly the Saturday Night Live band, which became the gold standard for the late-night TV talk-show sound (go here).
Here's Tower of Power on Soul Train in 1973 performing This Time It's Real....
And here are the Tower of Power horns on David Letterman in 1987...
Benny Green. Following my review of Benny Green's new album, Solo (Sunnyside), I heard from Jeffrey Abrahams:
Marc, You've had a great series of blog posts for quite a while but I've refrained from sending you a congratulatory note because I know you are generally swamped. I’m amazed you manage to accomplish all that you do.
However, I thought I would pass along a short, short story about Benny Green. When I moved to the Bay Area in 1980, my jazz musician friends (all college buds who moved to the Bay Area from Ohio) told me about a jam session in Berkeley I simply had to attend. The sessions were held weekly at the office of a Berkeley pediatrician named Dr. David Kittams. I think he had a piano in his waiting room. At these sessions was a teenage pianist, still in high school, named Benny Green.
He was phenomenal. And a thrill to listen to live and up close. The other musicians gave him a lot of room and respect. Later, he got hired by vocalist Betty Carter and toured with her as her pianist. Then he got booked to play Yoshi’s in Oakland for the first time as a headliner. I lived across the street from Yoshi’s for many years.
One night, I went to the club alone and sat at a table with an older couple. They turned out to be Benny’s parents. We had a fascinating chat about Benny's childhood and the blossoming of his talent. When I mentioned the jam sessions at Dr Kiddams’s office, they expressed their ire that he would sneak out to join those sessions on a school night when he had homework to do.
Oh how I wish I could have recorded that conversation. And photographed their pride and joy watching Benny perform at such a storied venue as Yoshi’s. Thanks for doing what you do so brilliantly.
Johnny Dankworth.Following my post on British saxophonist Johnny Dankworth, I heard from singer Tammy Burdett:
Hi Marc. Thanks to Ray Brown, I attended the recording session of Cleo Laine and Dudley Moore’s album "Smilin’ Through" (1982). Ray produced the album. It was fun seeing Cleo and Dudley joking back and forth, although Cleo’s husband, Mr. Dankworth, was more about getting the job done. They soon realized they were a song short. I grabbed Ray’s arm and said “How about 'Soft Shoe',” which Ray and I co-wrote. Ray agreed and mentioned it.
"Where’s the music?," they asked. I told Ray I'd call home and get my son to bring it. I lived only a mile or so away. He did. They ran it down, and Cleo recorded it. When Ray was managing Ernestine Anderson, he asked me to arrange a few of the songs for her album, “Hello Like Before” (1976). Included was "Soft Shoe."
Ernestine was a bit reluctant to sing a song she wasn’t familiar with, but Ray was a difficult person to say “no” to. I haven’t heard either of these arrangements since they were done. My favorite arrangement of "Soft Shoe" was the instrumental Quincy Jones did for his album "I Heard That" (1976). I loved the intro.
Here's Quincy Jones with Toots Thielemans on harmonica...
Chet Baker. Last week, Gezinus Wolters sent along a link to a YouTube clip of Chet Baker in Belgium in 1964 playing Miles Davis's So What on flugelhorn. He was backed by Jacques Pelzer on saxophone, Rene Urtreger on piano, Luigi Trussardi on bass and Franco Manzecchi on drums. Here's the clip...
Bernt Rosengren, RIP. Last week, I heard from Jan Olsson in Sweden about the passing of the great tenor saxophonist Bernt Rosengren. He was 85.
Here's Bernt, on the right with Nisse Sandström (ts), Göran Strandberg (p), Sture Nordin (b) and Bengt Stark (d) playing Moon Lake in 1992...
Bill Evans. Last week, Dave Thompson, who loves pianist Bill Evans as much as I do and can play piano in Evans's style, sent along the image above and the following email:
Hi Marc. I was having coffee this morning when Myles, our standard poodle, came in and started watching Bill. The video was from YouTube and featured Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, taped at the Molde Jazz Festival in August 1980. Myles, who isn't named for Miles Davis, watched for about 20 mins and was particularly fond of Bill's "Days of Wine and Roses." Here's the video...
Fania Records. As Tom Fine noted this week, Craft Recordings, a subsidiary of Concord, has been issuing salsa albums that appeared originally on the Fania label. Tom sent along a YouTube link to the great salsa documentary Our Latin Thing (1972), featuring the Fania All Stars. Here's the documentary:
More Latin. Since I am a huge mambo, cha-cha-cha, boogaloo and salsa fan, let me add two more clips. Here's Tito Rodriguez's El Guapeton (late 1950s)...
And here's Andy Durán leading his orchestra, with Juan José "El Indio" Hernández on lead vocal, on Cuando Cuando...
And here's Hector Lavoe and Ceilia Cruz performing Escharcha...
And finally, here's the great Teddy Pendergrass with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes on Soul Train singing The Love I Lost in 1973...
If you're new to Grant Green and want to really get a sense of why the guitarist was so special, this week's Backgrounder is for you. Recorded in December 1961, Gooden's Corner was among a bunch of Blue Note albums by Green that weren't released right after they were recorded. In this album's case, the album didn't come out until 1980. I'm guessing the move to hold the release had to do with the overdose death of Sonny Clark in January 1963, at age 31, though the reason could also have been too many albums in the Blue Note pipeline on which Green appeared.
On Gooden's Corner, Green was paired with pianist Clark, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes. What makes the album special, along with all of Green's quartet recordings with Clark, is how the two musicians complemented each other. Both had a typewriter-like attack on their instruments and could work themselves into tasty grooves. [Photo above of Grant Green by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]
The tracks are On Green Dolphin Street, Shadrack, What Is This Thing Called Love?, Moon River, Gooden's Corner and Two for One. [Photo above of Sonny Clark by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]
JazzWax note: Curious about the Gooden's Corner song and album title, I reached out to Mosaic producer and former Blue Note producer Michael Cuscuna last night: "Gooden's Corner was a club in St. Louis where Green played regularly. The owner was Leo Gooden, who managed Green when he was a local artist." For more on Leo Gooden, go here.
Here's Grant Green's Gooden's Corner without ad interruptions...
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.
