Like many musicians who performed in Billy Eckstine's big band between 1944 and '46, tenor saxophonist Gene "Jug" Ammons went on to jazz fame in the independent record label era of the late 1940s. He also did well in the blues 78 market (he was the first artist to record for Chess in Chicago) and the LP era as well.
Other veterans of the Eckstine band who would become jazz giants include Dexter Gordon, Leo Parker, John Malachi, Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan, Budd Johnson, Tommy Potter, Fats Navarro, Sonny Stitt, Kenny Dorham and Frank Wess.
For Ammons's first recordings for Prestige, producer and founder Bob Weinstock teamed him with Sonny Stitt. Both straddled jazz and the blues neatly, and like tenor saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, Ammons and Stitt were daring and competitive, which came out in their recordings.
By 1956, Weinstock had Ammons record a series of albums with knockout sidemen. These records were positioned as Gene Ammons and His All Stars, which were largely jam sessions on original blues. Weinstock likely tore a page out of the playbook of producer Norman Granz, whose labels Clef, Norgran and, ultimately, Verve, invented jam-session recording for his Jazz at the Philharmonic touring groups.
Fresh Sound released the Ammons albums together on two double-CD sets some years back. Today, my focus is on The Gene Ammons' All Stars: Complete Recordings With Mal Waldron, Pepper Adams and Art Taylor. The three LPs featured on the two CDs are Groove Blues (recorded in January 1958), The Big Sound (January 1958) and Blue Gene (May 1958). The CD set includes one bonus track, from April 1956.
What makes these recordings special are their moody blues of various tempos and hues, the different textures of top sidemen on the dates, and Ammons's smoky and domineering tone.
To give you an idea of what I'm talking about regarding sidemen, The Real McCoy from The Big Sound featured Jerome Richardson (fl), John Coltrane (as), Gene Ammons and Paul Quinichette (ts), Pepper Adams (bar), Mal Waldron (p,arr), George Joyner (b) [aka Jamil Nasser] and Art Taylor (d).
On Ammon Joy from Groove Blues, Ammons was backed by the same ensemble.
And on Hip Tip from Blue Gene, the musicians were Idrees Sulieman (tp), Gene Ammons (ts), Pepper Adams (bar), Mal Waldron (p), Doug Watkins (b), Art Taylor (d) and Ray Barretto (cga).
Gene Ammons died in 1974 at age 49 of bone cancer and pneumonia.
JazzWax Tracks: You'll find The Gene Ammons All Stars: Complete Recordings With Mal Waldron, Pepper Adams and Art Taylor, (Fresh Sound) from 1958, here.
Its sister two-CD set, Gene Ammons' All Stars: Complete Recordings with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron (Fresh Sound), from 1956 and 1957, is here.
Don't forget to take your 8% discount at checkout using this code: JAZZWAX_DISCOUNT
Understated and humble, Bill Charlap has always been proof that jazz excellence doesn't need sunglasses or downtown outfits to draw a crowd. In fact, as far as looking the part goes, Bill's sartorial approach probably has more in common with your internist than one of jazz's finest pianists. What's more, he's a nice guy.
Rather than draw from the cool school, Bill is more in the key of Dick Hyman. Like the esteemed 97-year-old pianist, who has mastered every jazz style since ragtime, Bill prefers to let his fingers handle the hip end of things.
His fellow trio-members—bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington—follow suit with both their presentation and artistic distinction. Now, the Bill Charlap Trio is out with a new album: And Then Again (Blue Note), recorded live last year at New York's Village Vanguard. [Photo above, from left, Peter Washington, Bill Charlap and Kenny Washington at the bottom of the stairs leading from the street to the Village Vanguard; photo by Carol Friedman]
The album consists of jazz standards and songbook fare, which for me can be worn-thin territory. But in Bill's hands, there are so many inventive qualities to his renditions that I wasn't put off in the least at hearing songs like All the Things You Are and Sometimes I'm Happy. Bill breathes fresh life into tunes like Darn That Dream, 'Round Midnight and In Your Own Sweet Way. He takes them apart with aplomb, reassembles them differently and adds all sorts of delights along the way.
Sometimes he even slips in a few things to see if you're on your toes. Like his tag at the end of Gerry Mulligan's arrangement of Darn That Dream for the Birth of the Cool recordings. Or his suspenseful chord voicings on Dave Brubeck's In Your Own Sweet Way. And that figure Bill uses after the chorus to fill space? Bill tells me it's a hat-tip to pianist Tommy Flanagan's opening chords on Miles Davis's version of the song on his Collectors' Items album (Prestige).
Bill just keeps getting more elegant and playfully refined with each album. Like the gymnast who pulls off a triple double on the mats, Bill is constantly trying to add another spectacular turn and twist to his song performances. He always winds up on his feet, or in Bill's case, his fingers. Most of all, Bill has respect for space, giving the ear a chance to catch up, and is most delightful with notes in a song's corners and how he brings the song back around. I love those passages. [Photo above of Bill Charlap by Carol Friedman]
An album of familiar songs that delights the ear and engages the brain, as you marvel at how a song you thought you knew is transformed into something even more beautiful.
JazzWax tracks:The Bill Charlap Trio's And Then Again (Blue Note) can be found here (on CD or vinyl), here (via digital download) or at major streaming platforms.
In The Wall Street Journal this past week, I interviewed Ashley Park for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Ashley plays Mindy on the HBO comedy series Emily in Paris. Season 4 has just begun, and the new series is terrific fun, especially the fashion. [Photo above of Ashley Park courtesy of HBO]
Babylon Berlin (2017-2024)—I'm winding down Season 4 of this stunning series that takes place in Germany between the wars and Nazism's rise. If you haven't seen, do. My top-ranked series of the year. (MHz via Prime Video)
What I've watched in advance of their launches this fall thus far and have loved: My Brilliant Friend (S4), Lost on a Mountain in Maine, Woman of the Hour, The Penguin, Tulsa King (S2), Emily in Paris (S4), His Three Daughters, Place of Bones and Poppa's House.
Previously watched and recommended...
TV series
TheAffair—(2014-2019/Hulu)
Alaska Daily—(2022/Prime)
The Americans—(2013-2018)/Prime)
Anatomy of a Scandal—(2022/Netflix)
Apples Never Fall—2024/Peacock)
Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix)
The Bay (2019-current/BritBox)
Belgravia—(2020/Prime Video)
Blue Lights—(2023/BritBox)
Bosch—(2014-2021/Prime)
Bosch: Legacy—(2022-current/Prime)
The Crown—(2016-2023/Netflix)
Cherif—(2013-2019/Prime)
Dark Winds—(2022/AMC)
The Diplomat—(2023/Netflix)
Downton Abbey—(2020-2015/Prime)
Feud (S1): Bette and Joan—(2017/Hulu)
Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans—(2024/FX, with streaming on Hulu)
Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
The Gentlemen—(2024/Netflix)
Godless—(2017/Netflix)
Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
The Gilded Age—(current/Max)
High Water—(2022/Netflix)
Homeland—(2011-2020/Showtime)
Jane Eyre—(2006/Britbox)
Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
Killing Eve—(2018-2022/Netflix)
Life & Beth—(Seasons 1& 2, 2022-present/Hulu)
Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
Loudermilk—(2017-2020/Netflix)
MI-5, the Series—(2002-2011/BritBox)
Monsieur Spade—(2024/AMC)
Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Parts 1 and 2—(2023/Lifetime)
My Brilliant Friend—(2018-current)
1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
Pieces of Her—(2022/Netflix)
Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
Ripley—(2024/Netflix)
Scott & Bailey (2011-2016/Prime)
Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
The Watcher—(2022/Netflix)
The Way Home—(2023-current/Peacock)
Who Is Erin Carter—(2023/Netflix)
The Woman in the Wall—(2024/Showtime)
The Veil—(2024/Hulu-FX)
Wilder—(2017-current)
WPC 56—(2013-2015/Britbox)
Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
Films
The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
American Gangster—(2007/Max)
Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
The Ballad of Lefty Brown—(2017/Netflix)
Blackout (2022/Netflix)
TheBricklayer—(2024/Netflix)
The Commuter (2018/Netflix)
The Dig—(2021/Netflix)
Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2024/Prime)
Fury—(2014/Netflix)
God's Country—(2022/Hulu)
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
Jack Reacher (the movie)—(2012/Paramount+)
Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
Knight and Day—(2010/Roku)
Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
The Little Things—(2021/Netflix)
Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
Manchester by the Sea—(2016/Prime Video)
MI-5—(2015/Max)
The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
The Night Agent—(2023/Netflix)
Nobody—(2021/Prime)
Ordinary Angels—(2024)
Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
Ruthless—(2023/Hulu)
The Secret: Dare to Dream—(2020/Netflix)
Self Reliance—(2023/Hulu)
Seraphim Falls—(2006/Netflix)
Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
Spy(les)—(2009/Prime)
The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)
Documentaries
Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
The Beach Boys—(2024/Disney)
Carole King: Live in Central Park—(2023/PBS)
The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
Cunk on Earth—(2022/Netflix)
Cyndi Lauper: Let the Canary Sing—(2023/Paramount+)
Facing Nolan—(2022/Netflix)
Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018/HBO)
Kate Hepburn: Call Me Kate—(2023/Netflix)
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here
Ernie Freeman.Last week, following my 2018 post on the late arranger Ernie Freeman, I heard from his daughter, Janis:
Hi Marc. Someone just sent me your 2018 article about my father, Ernie Freeman. Few people know about his career and genius. You captured his orchestration perfectly. My father would say that he had to arrange his music to both enhance and complement the singer. A cousin of mine, Agin Shaheed, wrote a paperback about my father in 2022, “Ernie Freeman: The Man & His Times.”
In 2017, I donated 13 boxes of my father’s gold records, photos, articles, hand written recording session sheet music, master tapes and much more, to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum has yet to install any exhibit about him. With 120-plus gold records, 20-plus gold albums, two Grammys, and serving as musical director for Reprise Records from 1960 to 1969, it was encouraging to read your post.
My cousin Agin and I have been trying to have my father recognized for his musical contributions and how he opened doors for other Black arrangers, conductors, musicians, and artists.
Thank you again for your wonderful article.
Here's Freeman's arrangement of Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day) for Frank Sinatra in 1965; I'm guessing that's Hal Blaine on drums...
Here's Freeman's dramatic and iconic arrangement of Strangers in the Night for Sinatra in 1966...
And here's Janis's recent presentation about her father at the Lewes Public Library in Lewes, Delaware...
Gino Paoli. Following my post on the Italian singer-songwriter and composer of Senza Fine, I heard from Ezio Chiarelli in Milan, Italy [photo above of Gino Paoli]:
Hello Marc. I could not resist your latest post on Gino Paoli's "Senza Fine." The lyrics play with the double sense of eternal love and unlimited space. Another famous early 1960s song by Paoli is "Sapore di Sale" ("Taste of Salt") arranged by Ennio Morricone. It includes a sax solo by Gato Barbieri, before he became famous. I'm pretty sure you are aware of it. In case you're not, here it is (Gato enters at 1:58)...
Gena Rowlands (1930-2024). While reading Anita Gates's lovely New York Times obit (here) of the famed actress, this paragraph stood out [photo still above of Gena Rowlands in Tony Rome (1967)]...
As for regrets about having sacrificed her life to her art, Ms. Rowlands, in the same interview, disagreed strongly with the whole idea. “It’s the people who aren’t artists who sacrifice,” she said. “Artists somehow stumble onto the best life in the world, and I have no complaints.”
Jazz in Helsinki. On vacation in Helsinki, Finland, Alan Matheson sent along word about a super record store in the city loaded with jazz rarities. Pekka Eronen is the store's owner (photo above by Alan Matheson). More from Alan:
Hi Marc. The name of the store is Eronen Records and it’s run by a wonderful music enthusiast, Pekka Eronen. He’s got an amazing stock of CDs and LPs (both new and used) covering the best in jazz, soul, reggae, gospel, rhythm and blues and beyond. I’ve found some real treasures here, and Pekka offers excellent online service. I just picked up a great “direct to disc” LP by Earl Hines.
Once I Loved. Last week, Bill Kirchner sent along an audio clip of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Once I Loved, brilliantly arranged for the USAF Airmen of Note by Mike Crotty (pictured above). Here's Bill's note:
Marc, in 1979, Mike Crotty (b.1950) wrote an arrangement of Jobim’s “Once I Loved” for his Washington, D.C.-based rehearsal big band (of which I was a member). The band had a Monday-night gig in a Rockville, Md., nightclub, and we frequently brought in guest soloists from D.C. and New York. One of these was guitarist Nathen Page (1937-2003). The chart was written to feature him.
Years later, Crotty gave the chart to his full-time employer, the USAF Airmen of Note, and they recorded it with their own guitarist, Rick Whitehead, as the featured soloist. Pay close attention from 0:40 to 1:20. This section features four alto flutes, plus four trumpets and four trombones in bucket mutes. It’s a sound that 45 years later still gives me chills.
Crotty graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1972. From 1972 to 1998, he was the staff arranger for the USAF Band, principally the Airmen of Note. He also wrote for Dizzy Gillespie and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. He retired from the Air Force in 1998 and now lives in Arizona.
Free live music. Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive generously sent along a batch of links to jazz concerts broadcast on the radio by artists I've posted about recently:
Dexter Gordon (pictured above)—is featured in two concerts on FMRA: the first at Keystone Korner on New Year's Eve 1980, and with the 'Round Midnight Band in Montreux in 1987. Go here.
Miles Davis—is featured on four recordings: with the Miles Davis Quintet in France in 1967, with Chick Corea in 1984 in Austria, a 1990 Chicago Jazz Festival set, and a five-hour KJAZ Black Masters series hosted by Bob Parlocha. Go here.
Pat Metheny—has three broadcasts on FMRA with the Pat Metheny Group, recorded from 1978 to 1982. Go here.
Kenny Burrell—is featured in two concerts: an NPR Jazz Alive broadcast from 1979, and with Jimmy Smith on Jazz a Vienne in France in 1993. Go here.
Wes Montgomery—has two recordings on FMRA: a 1966 KING-FM broadcast from Seattle, and a set of three broadcasts from his 1965 spring tour in Europe. Go here.
And finally, Dave Thompson sent along this Bill Evans clip that went up at YouTube three months ago. Go here...
During the 1950s, tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons recorded mostly jam session albums for Prestige. In June 1960, the label's founder and producer, Bob Weinstock, decided to let Ammons record a more mellow LP with just a rhythm section behind him. The result was one of Ammons's finest albums—Boss Tenor.
The LP featured Gene Ammons (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Doug Watkins (b), Art Taylor (d) and Ray Barretto (congas).
Canadian Sunset would become a jukebox jazz hit. Hittin' the Jug and Blue Ammons were Ammons originals.
The beauty of Gene "Jug" Ammons was his bossy sound on ballads, blues and uptempo tunes. His tone completely fills the space and he confidently zig-zags around a song, offering a clipped bark on the saxophone or laying down long fluid lines of improvisation.
The tracks:
Hittin' the Jug
Close Your Eyes
My Romance
Canadian Sunset
Blue Ammons
Confirmation
Stompin' at the Savoy
Here's the complete Boss Tenor without ad interruptions...
In her memoir, Sophisticated Giant, Maxine Gordon writes this about her late husband, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon:
“Dexter Gordon was known as 'Society Red.' He got this name when he was with the Lionel Hampton band as a 17-year-old in 1940—just about the same time Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) was being called Detroit Red. Dexter wrote a tune with that title and, decades later, when he began working on his autobiography, he decided to name it The Saga of Society Red. The irony of that nickname has many levels and it became an inside jazz nod to an earlier time when young Black men conked their hair and wore zoot suits.”
Gordon had an artful politesse and cool confidence that defined his personality and music. He could be as elegant as royalty but also could drive a stake through his bandstand competition. Whether recording or performing, Gordon meant business.
Society Red first appeared on Gordon's Doin' Allright, recorded for Blue Note in May 1961 with Freddie Hubbard (tp), Dexter Gordon (ts), Horace Parlan (p), George Tucker (b) and Al Harewood (d).
The song is a majestic blues that displays both a swinging hipness and martial rigidity. Three brief notes: Gordon is at his peak on this album, with fluid ideas and a brash, rich tone. Hubbard has a particularly piercing sound accenting Gordon's self-portrait blues. And Parlan's piano solo is exceptional. Taken together, the track is perfection from start to finish.
Italian pop between the late 1950s and much of the '60s was unbeatable. Aimed at romantic adults, many of the new love songs were composed with passion, sung with vulnerability and backed by large orchestration. One can only assume that Chet Baker's voice played a role in inspiring the wave of pale, aching voices and lyrical music. [Photo above of Ornella Vanoni and Gino Paoli in 1961, courtesy of eBay]
With the rise of this movement, there were numerous Italian singers who did well on the Italian charts and became superstars on Italian TV variety shows. The list includes Mina, Jimmy Fontana, Fabrizio Fabretti, Ornella Vanoni, Gino Paoli, Gianni Morandi, Jenny Luna and so many others. Their voices were pure and they were deeply into what they were singing.
a One of the finest pop songs of this movement was Gino Paoli's Senza Fine, which loosely translated means Eternal or Forever. It was a round, meaning the song, like Row, Row, Row Your Boat, could go on forever since the end reconnects with the beginning. Senza Fine was so beautiful that more than 40 recordings of the song were recorded by jazz artists, including Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass, and singers Georgia Mancio and Monica Mancini.
Today, 10 video clips of the song from the early 1960s:
Here's Gino Paoli singing his song on an Italian variety show. If you don't want to listen to the Italian small talk, move the space bar to 2:40, where Paoli begins a medley of his hits. The second one is Senza Fine, which meets with strong audience applause...
If you want to hear what surely must have been one of the inspirations for We Are the World,here are a group of Italy's top pop singers of the day singing the song. A shame the entire clip isn't here (be sure to immediately unclick the muted volume button; each singer is identified)...
And finally, here's one of the best American pop versions, by Dean Martin...
More?The song was used as the love theme in the 1965 film The Flight of the Phoenix. Here's the vocal by Connie Francis, arranged by Frank de Vol...
And here's Wes Montgomery swinging it, as only he could. The arranger was Johnny Pate...
Meredith d’Ambrosio is one of the finest and most distinctive jazz singer-songwriters around today. And she’s a terrific pianist and a superb traditionalist painter. Her artwork is on the covers of all but one of her 17 albums. [Photo above of Meredith d'Ambrosio in 1981]
Most of all, Meredith’s playing and singing style are all her own and deeply intimate. She never mirrored anyone, choosing instead to create a completely new approach to songwriting and singing that emanates from her heart. I first heard her on It’s Your Dance, an album I bought in Boston in 1985 on a trip back to the city following college graduation a few years earlier. Giant Steps knocked me out.
In the years following my 2012 interview with her, we became close friends, often exchanging emails or talking by phone. During one of our chats recently following my post on Horace Silver, we shared our mutual love for the pianist and his compositions. As we spoke, Meredith mentioned that she had known him personally and that he was of great comfort to her at a difficult period in her life. I asked Meredith if she would send along her recollections for JazzWax readers.
Here's her email:
My mom, Sarah Esther Kleiman, was born in Boston in 1916. In 1934, she became a well-known singer, accompanying herself on the piano in a swing vein, though not completely jazz. Throughout her playing career, she favored standards from the late 30's and 40's, but never pop. She was more sophisticated than that.
Some might have thought of her as one of the last red-hot mamas given the risque songs she chose to sing. Mostly, though, she stuck to Gershwin, Porter, Kern and Berlin, to name a few—songs that Dick Haymes, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee sang. She had a wonderful voice that had a haunting quality.
My mom began her professional career at 17, performing at Boston's Fife & Drum Room at the Hotel Vendome. The Boston hotel would burn down twice before she finally found other venues. Her stage name was Sherry Linden. I was not aware of any reviews or interviews with her, but there was something about her style of singing that never failed to make fans weep.
Her voice was close to Mildred Bailey's, but not intentionally. Her timbre was similar, but she had an original sound and great taste in songs. She knew thousands of standards. I learned a a large number of them thanks to her collection of sheet music kept in two thick three-leaf booklets, and from her collection of 78s.
I also learned sensitivity from my mom, and her singing had an influence on my singing style. My father taught her some secrets about the voice. He had trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and was a bass-baritone singer with a dreamy voice that would make anyone swoon. So strong and deep, with an unusual tone. And haunting, like my mother's.
But I digress...
As I recall, when I was 3, my parents ceased talking to each other. I later learned that she had discovered that my father had been unfaithful. Despite all of that, Mom took care of all house matters, despite the fact that she performed nightly and that arriving at work on time was a difficult task.
I guess my parents somehow worked out their differences and managed to concentrate on my upbringing. They made sure I was educated with classical piano lessons, art lessons and dance lessons. They made sure I had a well-rounded education from age five.
I look back on this time and realize how grateful I am. In those days I think they were troubled by my wild side and tomboy-hood. I must have been a worry for them, so they tried to keep me as occupied as possible to distract me from climbing trees and doing every unladylike thing. My mom and dad were great parents in that way. I was fortunate to have their attention.
They must have realized that they should be responsible for the obvious talents within me from an early age. This task placed pressure on them, but they co-existed. She was a superb cook and homemaker, and my father was never angry with her since they mostly were silent. I think he was more angry with himself for being unfaithful.
I was their first-born. My brother was born three years after me. Ten years later, another brother was born and two years after that, my sister arrived. My mother must have believed that having children would save their marriage, fearing my father would try to leave. None of it worked.
In the mid-1960s, my mother learned that my dad wanted to leave the marriage to marry someone else. One year later, in 1967, my father divorced her. Then she took her own life. My father was her knight in shining armor, despite her disappointments with him. At the time, I was 27 and out of the house. My 12-year-old sister, Elaine, discovered my mother in her car in the garage behind the house with the engine running all night.
I lived in an apartment one town over. My father came by to let me know that Mom was gone. She left a note in the car, but no explanation why she did what she did. [Photo above of Meredith d'Ambrosio, courtesy of Meredith d'Ambrosio]
In the years that followed, I sobbed daily. My sister is still deeply affected by my mom's suicide. Yes, she was the youngest. After my mother's death, she and our brother, Stanley, went to live with our father and his new wife. The rest is too complicated to explain.
In 1972, I was singing and playing at the Inner Circle, located upstairs from Paul's Mall and the Jazz Workshop in Boston’s Copley Square. My photo was in the window next to Horace Silver's and appeared again before you went down the staircase to the Jazz Workshop and Paul's Mall. Horace was appearing at the Jazz Workshop that week. [Photo above of Meredith d'Ambrosio, courtesy of Meredith d'Ambrosio]
One night, Horace Silver walked into the Inner Circle on his break. He sat right in front of me, facing the back of the short upright piano disguised to look like a baby grand. After I sang and played a couple of tunes, he asked if I knew Some Other Spring. I said I did but felt very intimidated.
I explained I wasn't a great pianist and was more of a singer. It must have been a favorite of his. He was my very favorite jazz pianist. For many years before this meeting, I had collected and knew by heart every LP he had recorded. [Photo above of Meredith d'Ambrosio, courtesy of Meredith d'Ambrosio]
I dove into Some Other Spring, and when I finished he seemed impressed. We talked on my break as if we'd known each other forever. He learned that evening that my mother had committed suicide five years earlier and that I had not missed one day of sobbing since. He took an immediate interest in my problem and told me about a woman he believed would be helpful.
That woman was a spiritual leader named Reverend Brown who lived near Horace in Harlem. Horace insisted I travel there as soon as I was able. When I finally came to meet her, she helped me understand that my sobbing was not allowing my mother to continue her journey to another spiritual plane. She said I needed to release her from the pressure of not letting her go.
Everything she told me made sense. The assignment she gave me to help move things along included lighting a candle and telling my mom to continue on her journey. Reverend Brown also told me it was OK not to keep Mom with me on this earth-plane anymore. It made sense and must have worked. From that point on, my daily sobbing ceased.
Through this experience, I learned not only that Horace was a very kind and spiritual man but also one with great wisdom. Somehow, he knew the solution to my trouble, and I trusted him. I wasn't overly surprised, because it made sense. I felt this given the astounding way he played and wrote music and presented his magic to the world.
After I visited with Horace and Reverend Brown, I immediately returned to Boston by train. l had a six-month contract with the Inner Circle and a young daughter at home to take care of. During that time, I learned that Horace had been suffering from painful arthritis. He was eating healthy foods, but I feared his painful hands would keep him from playing.
When I first discovered Horace's LPs, I wanted to understand the way he played his chords. I tried to emulate them on the piano to figure out his funky rhythms and sounds that came from using fifths as his method to produce his hip chords.
I realized that simplicity was the key. It didn't take a lot of notes to realize that his chord voicings were deliberate and uncomplicated. I also eventually realized that the balance he captured in his phrasing had a similar feeling to the balance of design in my paintings. His knowledge of balance in artistic rhythm and spatial relationships came from a spiritual understanding of the universe.
I also believe he was instinctively aware of balance given the way he composed and arranged his music. The relationship between his notes and timing showed his understanding. This made me think he understood something I learned at art college—that proper balance in true art could be thought of as “dynamic symmetry,” a term that leads to understanding what makes a masterpiece.
Horace probably never heard the term, but he must have had an inner-understanding of it. Every arrangement of Horace's music shows that awareness. I believed that we were connected in that way.
I now recall that when I was preparing to record an album in 1990, entitled Love Is Not a Game, I wanted to include Horace's song Peace. I was hoping to write the lyrics, so I called him to ask his permission. He told me he had already written lyrics. I also learned he had written words to other songs he composed. But Peace was a special one for me. He gave me permission to record it.
When Horace died on June 18, 2014, his passing was a great shock. I'd lost a special friend. [Photo above of Meredith d'Ambrosio, courtesy of Meredith d'Ambrosio]
Meredith's favorite Horace Silver tracks...
My favorite album is the first LP I heard by Horace entitled Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet. These tunes on that album are favorites...
The Outlaw
Pyramid
Moon Rays
Safari
Other songs that I love:
Ecaroh
Safari
Opus De Funk
Message From Kenya
Nica's Dream
Room 608
Doodlin'
Cookin' At The Continental
Horoscope
Cool Eyes
Peace
Home Cookin'
The Baghdad Blues
Metamorphis
Strollin'
JazzWax note: To read my multi-part interview from 2012 with Meredith, start here (the link to subsequent parts will appear at the top of each post, above the red date).
JazzWax clips:Here's the track that first introduced me to Meredith. It's John Coltrane's Giant Steps, from her first Sunnyside album, It's Your Dance (1985). Meredith is singing, with Harold Danko on piano and Kevin Eubanks on guitar...
Here'sLove Is a Simple Thing, from Another Time (1981), with Meredith on piano and singing...
Here'sYou've Changed/You've Altered Your Attitude (the latter with an original lyric based on You've Changed) from her Shadowland (1993) album, with husband Eddie Higgins on piano...
Here's Horace Silver's Peace, from Meredith's Love Is Not a Game (1991), with Eddie Higgins on piano...
And here's one of my favorite Meredith originals, with Meredith singing and playing. Her chords get me every time...
Bonus:Here's a documentary on Meredith from 1988...
A special thanks to François Zalacain, founder of Sunnyside Records, who heard Meredith's qualities early on and recorded a majority of her albums.
Back in 2022, I reviewed Nora, a beautiful album by Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti backed by strings lushly arranged by Alan Broadbent (go here). Now, Franco and Alan have released a second album, Sweet Caress (Enja), recorded at the end of 2023. It features the same seductive sound and sterling set of musicians: Franco Ambrosetti (flhrn), Alan Broadbent (p,arr,cond), John Scofield (g), Scott Colley (b), Peter Erskine (d) and Sara Caswell (violin, concertmaster).
The self-taught Franco began his recording career in Milan in 1965 on A Jazz Portrait of Franco Ambrosetti. On his new album, the music's gentle quality reminds me of Chet Baker's movie tracks recorded in Italy in the early 1960s for Ennio Morricone. The album also is on par with Chet Baker & Strings (1953-'54) if not better. [Photo above of Franco Ambrosetti by John Abbott]
Franco's playing is pensive, precious and deeply romantic, and his tone is cinematically glamorous, especially with Alan's sensitive orchestrations. In places, Sco's graceful guitar emerges with lines that mirror the album's reflective feel. [Photo above of Franco Ambrosetti and Alan Broadbent]
The recording is saturated in wonderful Italian melancholy, the kind you feel there in early autumn when the sunlight is toasted and more ocher than summer's bright lemon.
Sweet Caress is a soundtrack for the wistful, the broken-hearted and those with fleeting regrets. Best of all, Alan's arrangements inhale and exhale with consistent ease, winning over your heart.
For me, Franco is among the finest flugelhornists around today, and Alan is easily one of our most treasured arrangers. The album is deeply moving and one you won't take off once you put it on. A must-own on all levels and one that deserves Grammy consideration.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Franco Ambrosetti's Sweet Caress (Enja) here and on most streaming platforms.
Bonus:Here's Franco Ambrosetti and Ronnie Cuber playing Ronnie's Airplay in 1993, backed by Antonio Farao (p), Michael Formanek (b) and Adam Nussbaum (d)...
Now that JazzWax's 17th birthday celebration is over, I have some catching up to do.
Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Luke Wilson for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Luke currently co-stars in Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1. [Photo at top of Luke Wilson]
The week before, I interviewed Casey Affleck for the same column (go here). He stars in The Instigators.
What I'm watching
Top 10 favorite series, ranked...
Babylon Berlin
My Brilliant Friend
Killing Eve
The Crown
The Americans
Band of Brothers
Downton Abbey
The Gentlemen
Turn: Washington's Spies
Unbelievable
Viewing now...
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2024)—Super documentary on the film actress. (Max)
Babylon Berlin (2017-2024)—I'm halfway into Season 4 of this stunning series that takes place in Germany between the wars and Nazism's rise. If you haven't seen, do. My top-ranked series of the year. (MHz via Prime Video)
Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans—(2024/FX, with streaming on Hulu)
Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
The Gentlemen—(2024/Netflix)
Godless—(2017/Netflix)
Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
The Gilded Age—(current/Max)
High Water—(2022/Netflix)
Homeland—(2011-2020/Showtime)
Jane Eyre—(2006/Britbox)
Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
Killing Eve—(2018-2022/Netflix)
Life & Beth—(Seasons 1& 2, 2022-present/Hulu)
Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
Loudermilk—(2017-2020/Netflix)
MI-5, the Series—(2002-2011/BritBox)
Monsieur Spade—(2024/AMC)
Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Parts 1 and 2—(2023/Lifetime)
My Brilliant Friend—(2018-current)
1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
Pieces of Her—(2022/Netflix)
Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
Ripley—(2024/Netflix)
Scott & Bailey (2011-2016/Prime)
Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
The Watcher—(2022/Netflix)
The Way Home—(2023-current/Peacock)
Who Is Erin Carter—(2023/Netflix)
The Woman in the Wall—(2024/Showtime)
The Veil—(2024/Hulu-FX)
Wilder—(2017-current)
WPC 56—(2013-2015/Britbox)
Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
Films
The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
American Gangster—(2007/Max)
Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
The Ballad of Lefty Brown—(2017/Netflix)
Blackout (2022/Netflix)
TheBricklayer—(2024/Netflix)
The Commuter (2018/Netflix)
The Dig—(2021/Netflix)
Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2024/Prime)
Fury—(2014/Netflix)
God's Country—(2022/Hulu)
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
Jack Reacher (the movie)—(2012/Paramount+)
Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
Knight and Day—(2010/Roku)
Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
The Little Things—(2021/Netflix)
Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
Manchester by the Sea—(2016/Prime Video)
MI-5—(2015/Max)
The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
The Night Agent—(2023/Netflix)
Nobody—(2021/Prime)
Ordinary Angels—(2024)
Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
Ruthless—(2023/Hulu)
The Secret: Dare to Dream—(2020/Netflix)
Self Reliance—(2023/Hulu)
Seraphim Falls—(2006/Netflix)
Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
Spy(les)—(2009/Prime)
The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)
Documentaries
Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
The Beach Boys—(2024/Disney)
Carole King: Live in Central Park—(2023/PBS)
The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
Cunk on Earth—(2022/Netflix)
Cyndi Lauper: Let the Canary Sing—(2023/Paramount+)
Facing Nolan—(2022/Netflix)
Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
Kate Hepburn: Call Me Kate—(2023/Netflix)
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here
Barbara and Emily. A YouTube clip recently went up of German jazz organist Barbara Dennerlein with guitarist Emily Remler in 1986. Here's the clip...
Ross Tompkins. Last week, following my post on pianist Ross Tompkins, I heard from pianist and composer-arranger Alan Broadbent:
Hi Marc. A little inside info: Ross was known as “the Phantom,” apparently due to his showing up at a sideman gig just before the count-off to the first tune and disappearing after the last. I witnessed it a few times at Donte’s in North Hollywood.
Gene Krupa.Here's Gene Krupa and his all-star big band in 1957 playing Margie, with a killer arrangement by Gerry Mulligan...
Horace Silver. After my post on Horace Silver last week, I heard from Aurin Premack, whose father, Morris, was co-owner of Birdland in New York with Irving and Morris Levy:
Hi Marc. I enjoyed your post on Horace Silver. I first heard him when I was 12 or 13 years old (in 1952 or '53) at Birdland. His music and physical appearance made a lasting impression on me. Even my untutored eyes and ears knew he was a special talent. He hunched over the piano such that his suit jacket hung almost to the floor looking more like an over-worked junior accountant than a jazz musician. My dad told me that he had gotten into a beef with the club's MC, PeeWee Marquette. Apparently, Silver wouldn't throw PeeWee a few bucks for introducing him. As a result, PeeWee introduced him as “Whore-ass Silbert” until Silver relented.
Frank De Felitta. It turns out JazzWax's birthday was also the birthday of the late author, producer and director Frank De Felitta (1921-2016). Raymond, his son and director, wrote a touching post on his dad at his blog here.
Phil Schaap was a radio host on WKCR-FM in New York known best for his daily Bird Flight show that highlighted Charlie Parker's (above) career and music. Phil died in 2021 and is sorely missed. Dan Gould has some news:
Hi Marc. I'm writing to alert you to the Phil Schaap Jazz Collection that was bequeathed to Vanderbilt University School of Music. The site is truly wondrous, and I suspect your readers would be interested. Phil created a scene for swing and bop musicians who had been largely forgotten. Now available for streaming are gig sets from the West End jazz club in New York that Phil taped for broadcast. There are nearly 300 recordings (out of about 800!) currently uploaded. To see what is currently uploaded, go here.
Geoffrey Dean Quartet—Foundations (AMP Music). Pianist Geoffrey Dean is a major talent. His playing is warm and confident, and his quartet features heavy hitters as well: Justin Copeland (tp), Harish Raghaven (b) and Eric Binder (d). Their collective touch is beautiful in so many ways. Jazz that fits your ear like a glove. You'll find the album here and at major streaming platforms.
Here's the quartet playing Peter Bernstein's Jet Stream...
Ed Johnson—For Every Living Thing. Guitarist Ed Johnson and his Nova Tempo ensemble play a mix of soft jazz, samba and bossa nova rhythms, and Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66-like vocal harmonies. His new album is breezy and jazzy-joyous, featuring mostly originals and a singular sound. You'll find the album here and on major streaming platforms. For the YouTube tracks, go here.
Zan Stewart. I recently came across two terrific albums by this tenor saxophonist: Two-Tone Poetry and Jazz (2012) and The Street Is Making Music (2014). The first is a throwback to the Greenwich Village coffee houses of the late 1950s and early '60s that featured jazz and poetry. Joining Zan on the album are poets Julie Rogers and David Meltzer reading original pieces while Zan blows. The second features Zan with Keith Saunders (p), Adam Gay (b) and Ron Marbuto (d). The quartet covers hip jazz tracks such as Webb City and Charlie Parker's Diverse, plus a few originals by Zan. Cool school for mods. The first album seems to be out of print and the second is here.
And here's Zan's The Street Is Making Music with a calypso edge...
Chuck Israels, the legendary bassist best known for his work in the second Bill Evans Trio, replacing Scott LaFaro after his fatal auto accident, will be at Dizzy's in New York on Sunday (August 11) at 5 and 7:30 p.m. He'll be celebrating his 88th birthday this weekend reading from his memoir, Bass Notes, and leading a sextet featuring Catherine Russell (voc), Charlie Porter (tp), Abdias Armenteros (ts), Steve Ash (p) and Kenny Washington (d). For more information and tickets, go here. [Photo above of Chuck Israels courtesy of Chuck Israels]
Jo Harrop. I hear rumblings that vocalist Jo Harrop will be appearing in the U.S. next year. More to come. For now, if you're in the U.K., her gig dates are on her site here and include the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead, Newcastle, on September 27 and at London's fabled Pizza Express on October 1. And catch Jo's new album, The Path of a Tear. Her finest work to date. [Photo above of Jo Harrop]
And finally, here are two guys 15 years ago on the street playing the chorus before the solos of This Could Be the Start of Something Big, from the album The Great Kai & J.J., recorded for Impulse in 1961...
There are trombone albums—and then there are trombone albums. This is the latter, a positively beautiful recording by Bill Watrous, who had a beautiful ballad tone, rivaled only by Urbie Green and a few others.
Recorded in New York in 1968 and backed by the Richard Behrke Strings, Bill Watrous's In Love Again: William Russell Watrous was a date album of the highest order. His playing on the ballads was mellifluous, and he had a gorgeous tone and technique.
Born in Middletown, Ct., in 1939, Watrous's father turned him onto the trombone. He recorded extensively on Kai Winding's many albums with multiple trombones. He also appeared on albums with complex scores, including those by Johnny Richards, Wes Montgomery (California Dreaming), Paul Desmond (Summertime), Pat Williams and Deodato (Prelude). As a leader, Watrous recorded more than 20 albums.
Bill Watrous died in 2018. He was 79.
Here's Bill Watrous's In Love Again in two parts, 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.
