JazzWax

Mike Davis and The New Wonders

Whatever you think of jazz from the 1920s and '30s, it's mighty difficult to play. Between the syncopation and the coming and going of instruments soloing, the Chicago style that came of age in speakeasies and migrated to New York was like a precious timepiece. The precision, gait and soul of the music had to be just right to win over listeners and move feet. [Photo above of Mike Davis by Jane Kratochvil]

Ensembles today that take on this music need the chops and the feel to get feet going. Few do it as convincingly as cornetist and vocalist Mike Davis and his group, the New Wonders. This remarkable band is devilishly convincing, and they skillfully nail song after song with authenticity and verve—from the wails of the cornet and clarinet to the bouncing trombone and walrus grunts of the bass saxophone. [Photo above of Mike Davis and the New Wonders by Kevin Fitzpatrick]

In this regard, their newly released album The New Wonders (Turtle Bay) is pure magic, from start to finish. There are no dull tracks, and the popular music from the jazz age and the Depression nearly 100 years ago is all energy and heart. After all, this jazz style in the 1920s was celebratory and ushered in America's first sexual revolution after World War I, and in the 1930s it had to raise spirits at a time of economic collapse.

The musicians are first rate: Mike Davis (cnt,vcl), Ricky Alexander (cl,as,vcl), Joe McDonough (tb), Jared Engel (banjo), Dalton Ridenhour (p), Jay Rattman (bass sax,vcl) and Jay Lepley (d,vcl). If some of these names seem familiar, I last highlighted many of them in my post on Terry Waldo in 2021 here.

The songs that the New Wonders take on are Flamin' Mamie; Reaching for Someone (and Not Finding Anyone There); I'm More Than Satisfied; Poor Papa; I'd Rather Cry Over You (Than Smile at Somebody Else); Persian Rug; I Need Lovin'; Clorinda; Smile, Darn Ya, Smile; Jungle Crawl; I'm Walking Between the Raindrops; She's Funny That Way and The Baltimore.

A few words here about Mike and the gang. They aren't satisfied to just play this music authentically. They rolled up their sleeves and looked for songs that have been lost to time. You won't know most of them. Personally, I love artists who go deep into their jazz genre with zeal and intelligence. In addition, Mike created arrangements based on the recordings, so what you hear is the real deal, minus the scratchy far-off sound of worn-out 78s.

I'm not a major fan of pre-war jazz, even though I do dig Armstrong, Teagarden, Ellington, Tatum, Bix, Condon, Bud Freeman, the Austin High School Gang and a bunch of others. Admittedly, I don't turn to records from that era on a daily basis. Listening to Mike Davis and the New Wonders on these numbers, I'm reminded how good this music is at the highest level.

Trust me. Put on the first track and let the album play through. The music hasn't motivated me to make bathtub gin or buy a straw hat, but I have a fresh appreciation for what made this music special when the jazz world was young, vibrant and fetching. [Photo above of the New Wonders]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Mike Davis's The New Wonders (Turtle Bay) here.

JazzWax note: The New Wonders perform often at clubs in New York. For information, go here.

JazzWax clips: Here are the New Wonders in 2016 playing and singing Smile, Darn Ya, Smile, to give you a taste of what this new album is all about...

Here's Flamin' Mamie from the new album...

Flamin' Mamie

Here's Poor Papa...

Poor Papa

And here's I'd Rather Cry Over You (Than Smile at Somebody Else)...

I'd Rather Cry Over You

Bob Leaper: 'Try This On for Size,' 1970

As JazzWax readers know, I'm a huge fan of slam-bang jazz instrumental interpretations of 1960s pop hits, especially albums by British bandleaders and arrangers. I love searching for them and finding absolute gems.

Yesterday I did just that and discovered Try This On for Size, a spectacular album that's super rare and delivers quite a punch. Arranged and conducted by Bob Leaper, the album was recorded in London in March 1970 and features a smashing British big band.

The lineup features Leon Calvert, Tony Fisher, Kenny Wheeler, Greg Bowen and John Huckridge (tp); Eddie Blair and Bobby Haughey (flhrn); Cliff Hardie, Wally Smith and Johnny Marshall (tb); Jackie Armstrong (b-tb); Mo Miller, Barry Castle and Jim Buck, Jr. (fhr); Alfie Reece (tu); Bob Burns (as); Bob Efford, Ronnie Scott and Tony Coe (ts); Ronnie Ross (bar); Kenny Salmon (p); Ike Isaacs (g); Spike Heatley (b); Kenny Clare (d) and Leaper (arr,cond). [Photo above of Bob Leaper]

The album is a tribute to pop composer Tony Hatch and his wife at the time, pop star and singer Jackie Trent. The songs by Tony are The Other Man's Grass, Don't Sleep on the Subway, Joanna, Too Much Too Soon, Call Me, Downtown, If You Ever Leave Me, Beautiful in the Rain, Where Are You Now? (a huge hit for Trent) and Who Am I? [Photo above of Tony Hatch and his wife, Jackie Trent]

Here's what Tony had to say in the liner notes:

BOB LEAPER . . . arranger, conductor, composer, raconteur, boat-builder and London tavern authority. Bob and I have been good personal friends as well as musical contemporaries since the day some 10 years ago [1960] when I first joined the Band of the Coldstream Guards on a three-year engagement as a musician with Her Majesty's Forces.

Corporal Leaper was in charge of copying, altering and generally maintaining the scores for the band, and I was to assist him. He quickly showed me that the best part of the day could be spent in the nearest cafe. I quickly showed him that by crawling suitably, I would become band copyist and he would be demoted to musician and start marching with the band again.

It is typical of Bob that he never held this against me. How could he? By the time he left the Army, I was a recording manager at Pye Records and Bob quickly established himself as one of England's best recording arrangers, working with top international artistes. Since those early days, it is probable that we have worked together more than any other team of producer/arrangers, thereby establishing an important sympathetic understanding and relationship.

Jackie [Trent] and I were very honoured when Bob suggested making a big band album of some of the Trent/Hatch songs. A challenge, without a doubt, but Bob has cleverly scored the songs in a style that is reminiscent of the big band era, yet he achieves a modern feel that's perfect for the 1970s. They say that the big bands are coming back. Based on that conjecture, this band is going to be a great success. All we can say is "Thank you!"

(Leaper also arranged another terrific album—Big Band Beatle Songs for the Phase 4 label in 1964, but we'll save that for another day.)

I'm sure I'll hear from John Cameron and other British composer-arranger friends to fill me in on Bob Leaper's biography. When they do, I'll pass all of the information along to you.

JazzWax note: To read my 2013 WSJ piece on Tony Hatch and the writing of Downtown, go here.

JazzWax tracks: You're in luck! I found Bob Leaper's Try This On for Size (Pye) at the Internet Archive. Listen for free here.

JazzWax clips: Here's The Other Man's Grass...

The Other Man's Grass

Here's Downtown...

Downtown

Here's Call Me...

Call Me

And here's Who Am I?...

Who Am I?

Oscar Peterson Duo: 1950

Heading home to New York from Montreal in 1949, record producer Norman Granz settled into the back seat of a cab en route to the Montreal airport. The radio was on and picked up a pianist playing live at the Alberta Lounge, at the corner of De la Gauchetière and Peel streets, where the Chateau Champlain Hotel is located today.

Stunned by what he heard, Granz asked the driver to take him to the club, not the airport. There, he heard Oscar Peterson. Months later, on September 18, 1949, Granz teamed Peterson with bassist Ray Brown and introduced them to an audience at New York's Carnegie Hall. The reviews were spectacular.

In March 1950, the duo recorded their first session together for Granz's Clef label. The material marked the start of one of the great pairings of the 1950s. The songs recorded that night were Peterson's Debut, They Didn't Believe Me, Lover Come Back to Me, Where or When, Three O'clock in the Morning, All the Things You Are, Oscar's Blues and Tenderly. Some of the material would be released on Clef's Collates and Collates No. 2, but the albums received little attention since Peterson very quickly shifted to his more traditional trio and quartet formats.

Peterson at this point was using a great deal of block chords in the style of George Shearing, and his runs with his right hand were reminiscent of the mighty Art Tatum. In between was a pianist with soul and ambition, eager to establish his own taste and style.

The duo recordings by Peterson and Brown in 1950 and '51 are remarkable for their sheer beauty and bold modernism. There's no stride in Peterson's playing or pure bebop. It's something else entirely, an elegant and lush form being propelled by a swing-bop fusion and a passion for melody and harmony. Most fascinating is how Peterson made songbook standards his own. He was an original from the outset.

As for Brown, he was a perfect partner. His playing was pronounced and solid, taking on the task of the bass and drums as he kept time and conversed instrumentally with Peterson's playing. For pure Peterson, in all his glory exposed before his signature centipede-like runs, the duo recordings are worth revisiting. Thank goodness for radios in Canadian taxi cabs.

Oscar Peterson died in 2007 at age 82; Ray Brown died in 2002 at age 75.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Debut: The Clef/Mercury Duo Recordings 1949-1951 here.

If you want to splurge for the Mosaic box and booklet, now out of print, go here.

JazzWax tracks: Here's Where or When...

Where or When

Here's Lover...

Lover, Come Back to Me

And here's Tenderly...

Tenderly

Donald Byrd at Le Chat qui Pêche,1958

Le Chat qui Pêche (The Cat Who Fishes) was a jazz club and restaurant in Paris that opened in the mid-1950s and lasted until 1970. The club was located in a cellar at 10 Rue de la Huchette in the Latin Quarter, on the left bank of the Seine. [Photo above of Donald Byrd in Paris]

It was just two blocks from Rue Chat qui Pêche (above), the narrowest street in Paris dating back to 1540. Its name comes from the sign of an old fish store that owned a black cat that could catch fish in the River Seine with a swipe of its clawed paw.

In October 1958, Donald Byrd, with his quartet, played the club during one of his extended tours in Paris. His group featured Byrd (tp), Walter Davis, Jr. (p), Doug Watkins (b) and Art Taylor (d). [Photo above of 10 Rue de la Huchette, the brown door on the left]

Now Fresh Sound has issued Donald Byrd Quartet Featuring Bobby Jaspar Au Chat qui Pêche, recorded on October 29, 1958. On this particular night, Bobby Jaspar sat in on three tracks playing flute and tenor saxophone.

The tracks are All the Things You Are; It Might as Well Be Spring; Parisian Thoroughfare; My Funny Valentine; Medley: Off Minor/Intro, Well You Needn't and Salt Peanuts; Down; All This Time; Sella by Starlight and 52nd Street Theme.

While the sound isn't perfect (the microphone seems to have been placed near Art's drums during the first few tracks), it's good enough and has been cleaned up with 24-bit remastering. You just need to turn up the volume. I love the album for three key reasons [photo above of Art Taylor by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]:

For one, the sound improves by the fourth track (My Funny Valentine), when they must have moved the mic. For another, the group is superb, especially Walter Davis Jr., who would have his first leadership date about two weeks later at another Paris club. And lastly, it's terrific to hear Art's drums up close, which you rarely get to experience unless you had the opportunity to hear him play at a club or during his fills on his sideman recording dates. [Photo above of Walter Davis Jr. by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

As noted, you just need to turn up the volume to hear the music clearly. It's worth the adjustment. For about an hour and 10 minutes, you're back in Paris in October 1958, digging Donald Byrd's trumpet and his fabulous quartet. It really feels like you're there, with the mild ambient club sound. Terrific group, and jazz in Paris in the 1950s. Unbeatable.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Donald Byrd Quartet Featuring Bobby Jaspar Au Chat qui Pêche (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Miles Davis's Down...

Down

And here's William Walton's All This Time...

All This Time

Cindy, Dave and Rufus

In The Wall Street Journal this past week, I interviewed former supermodel Cindy Crawford for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Cindy talked about the now-signature beauty mark over her lip, growing up in Illinois, working in local cornfields in high school, the worst day of her life and the afternoon a photographer approached her at a high school football game asking to shoot her for a local college weekly. The new Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models is terrific. An inside look that humanizes four top models who became friends and revolutionized fashion in the 1980s and '90s.

Here's the trailer...

Elis Regina. Last week, after my posts (here and here) on Elis Regina (above) and Antonio Carlos Jobim, I heard from pianist Harold Danko...

Hi Marc, thanks so much for alerting us to this important documentary. Below are links to my two favorite tracks by Elis:

Here's Waters of March...

Here's Folhas Secas...

Cal Tjader. Following my post on vibraphonist Cal Tjader (above), I heard from singer-songwriter Gary David...

Hi Marc, hope you're doing well. In the early 60's I had a trio in San Francisco. Curry Tjader, Cal's brother, was the drummer, and he also played vibes. We remained good friends until his death in 2001. I met Cal through his brother. Both were first-rate comedians. Curry told me this story about Cal. As you wrote: Cal died in May 1982 at age 56 while on tour in Manila, the Philippines, after a heart attack.

Cal had been having heart trouble before that while on tour in Japan. When he returned to the States and went to a doctor, this scene took place:

Doc: Well Cal it looks like your going-on-the-road days are over.

Cal: Doc, what if I go on the road and don't take any solos?

Clare Fischer. Following last week's Backgrounder on Clare Fischer's (above) Só Danço Samba, I heard from singer-songwriter Tammy Burdett...

Hi Marc, Clare Fischer brings back my Discovery Records gig. Clare came into the office every now and then to chew the fat with owner Albert Marx. My desk was in the office area, and Clare would sit and talk to me when Albert was on the phone. Music was always playing quietly in the background. I tried to keep up with Clare’s complicated conversations about music. He was really smart. One day he held up his hand in the middle of a sentence and said, referring to the background music: "The third violin just hit an A-flat instead of A-natural" (or something to that effect). I looked at him said, "You could hear that?" "Of course," he said.

I was working there when Albert recorded Clare’s group: 2+2. The album was "Free Fall." One of the girls in the group could sing about three octaves above middle C. That's Minnie Riperton territory. The group sang really close and difficult harmonies arranged by Fischer and stayed in tune with or without accompaniment. Quite something to hear. Clare was somewhat of a genius. Thanks again for the memory.

David Letterman. I don't know why this clip transfixes me, but it does. Here's David Letterman and a very tense interview with Cher (above) in 1986 that shows off her natural coolness and Letterman's gift for turning anxiety into laugh-out-loud humor. He remains the best late-night host of all time [photo above of Cher in Moonstruck, courtesy of MGM]...

Pharoah Sanders. Here's Pharoah Sanders in March 2011 playing You've Got to Have Freedom...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Here's the Vibration Society singing Kirk's Bright Moments. I saw the Vibration Society at Barry Harris's Jazz Cultural Theater in New York in the mid-1980s with Bill Hardman on trumpet and Junior Cook on tenor saxophone. A great evening...

Sari Schorr, whom I interviewed for JazzWax in 2020 here, is knocking out European audiences with her band. The blues-rock singer is now in Warsaw, Poland, writing songs for her next album. Recently, Sari (above) teamed with guitarist Robin Trower, to record a few songs. Here she is with Robin on the newly released I'll Be Moving On, a single from the upcoming album Joyful Sky...

If you are in Europe, Sari's tour schedule is here.

Georgy Girl. Last week, I heard from Chris Fine on the movie Georgy Girl (1966)

Hi Marc. Hope all is well with you. As always, thanks for all the good work you do.

I happened to watch "Georgy Girl" for the first time last night. It had been on the DVR for a long time, and we finally got to it. I remembered your column about the movie, and re-read it.

First, with respect to "Georgy Girl" overall, I thought it was more serious than the “swinging London” type of coverage it usually gets (I’m not talking about your coverage). There’s a dark underside to the film, which is why, in my view, it’s a significant work. I think it has more in common with the “angry man” British films of the 190s and early '60s than it does with the Carnaby Street era. I think the theme song might have overwhelmed the more serious aspects of the film. It is a great theme song, though.

I’ll read your Charlotte Rampling interview in the Wall Street Journal to get more details on her perspective.

There’s a scene early in the movie in which Georgy leads her young students in a dance program. Some of the music is playing on a tape recorder. There is an intriguing electronic piece that plays for the “crazy dance” segment. The overall dance sequence music is credited to Brian Hunter, but the electronic selection appears to be "Vibration," by Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan. I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time. It took a bit of digging, but IMDb says that is the correct selection.

Here’s "Vibrations"...

For those who are interested, I found a clip of Dissevelt and Baltan at work in 1959. The narration is in Dutch but the video gives context to the music. This is similar technology to what was used by British pioneers like Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Here it is...

And here are the movie's opening credits, with the theme song sung by the Seekers...

Ron Miles. Tom Csatari tells me that the late Ron Miles's long out-of-print album Woman's Day can finally be heard on Spotify here. The trumpeter recorded the album in 1997. [Photo above of Ron Miles by C. Andrew Hovan]

To hear the title track, go here...

Jerry Lewis was always quick to show his disdain for rock 'n' roll. Here's Lewis in action in Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958)...

Rufus Thomas radio. Recently Chris Cowles at RTC-FM in Hartford devoted his three-hour "Greasy Tracks" show to the very funky Rufus Thomas. To enjoy from anywhere in the world, go here and here. [Photo above of Rufus Thomas]

And finally, here's DJ Disco Cat's Purrfection revamp of Crown Heights Affair's Dreaming a Dream in 1975, the year disco kicked into high gear and before Saturday Night Fever mainstreamed and marginalized the music...

Backgrounder: Reggie Johnson - 'First Edition'

Bassist Reggie Johnson recorded as a sideman on many terrific albums. These LPs include Art Blakey's Buttercorn Lady (1966); Booker Ervin's Booker 'n' Brass (1967); Bobby Hutcherson's Total Eclipse (1968), Spiral (1968); Blow Up (1969) and Medina (1969); Walter Bishop Jr.'s Coral Keys (1971); Kenny Burrell's 'Round Midnight (1972); Al Haig's Blue Manhattan (1980); Horace Parlan's Pannonica (1981); Frank Wess's Two at the Top (1983); and Phil Woods's Bird With Strings...and More! (2005).

Despite Johnson's prolific recording career, he recorded just one leadership album—First Edition. Recorded in September 1984 for Jeremiah Robinson Co., the album featured Danny Hayes (tp,flhrn), Bill Kirchner (as,sop,fl,cl,ts), Marc Cohen (Copland) (p), Reggie Johnson (b,ldr), Terri Lyne Carrington (d), Ronnie Wells (vcl) and Don Sickler (arr). In fact, Bill Kirchner is the one who turned me on to this album. I was unfamiliar with the record but fell in love with it. [Photo above of Reggie Johnson]

The songs are Everything I Love, Summer Song, Laverne Walk, Close Enough for Love, Flashback, Who Cares?, Passos and Balloons. Don Sickler's arrangements are gorgeous, Bill's solos are marvelously first rate on five different instruments, Marc Copland's piano is wonderful and Ronnie Wells's vocal tracks are sublimely earthy. As for Reggie Johnson, he is rock solid, peppery and a superb soloist. [Photo above of Marc Copland]

As Bill notes:

Bassist Reggie Johnson is one of the unsung heroes of the jazz bass. He literally played with everyone, from Albert Ayler to Sol Yaged, and he enhanced every situation in which he played. This was his only album as a leader—it was made with the help of a financial backer—and it contained an interesting cast, including two other unsung heroes, trumpeter Danny Hayes and Washington, D.C., vocalist Ms. Ronnie Wells. Also featured is a debuting 19-year-old Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, pianist Marc Copland and myself. The album's feel is indicative of Don's arranging style and Reggie’s generosity of spirit, in addition to being a great player. He felt all of us were deserving of wider recognition.

Danny Hayes was a superb, vastly underrated jazz trumpeter—a veteran of the early 1970s Buddy Rich Big Band. This is one of his very few small-group records. He died of cancer in 2004 at age 58, as did Ronnie Wells in 2007 at age 64.

So today, I want to share with you an album that is relatively new to me, one that I think you'll find rewarding on so many levels. Reggie Johnson died in 2020 in Bern, Switzerland, at age 79. Thanks, Bill! [Photo above of Bill Kirchner]

Here's Reggie Johnson's First Edition, without ad interruptions...

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.
• Dodo Marmarosa: Dodo's Back, go here.
• Freddie Redd: The Music From the Connection, go here.
• Nicola Stilo & Toninho Horta: Duets, go here.
• Urbie Green: Persuasive Trombone, go here.
• Johnny Richards: Something Else, go here.
• Wayne Shorter: JuJu, go here.
• Hampton Hawes: All Night Session!, go here.
• Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers, go here.
• Chet Baker: Pretty/Groovy, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt, go here.
• Gil Mellé: New Faces, New Sounds, go here.
• Herbie Mann and Charlie Rouse: Just Wailin', go here.
• Bobby Hackett: Memorable & Mellow, go here.
• Tina Brooks: Back to the Tracks, go here.
• Sonny Rollins Plays for Bird, go here.
• Red Garland: A Garland of Red, go here.
• Grant Green: Gooden's Corner, go here.
• Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle, go here.
• Horace Parlan; Movin' & Groovin', go here.
• Russ Garcia: Four Horns and a Lush Life, go here.
• Vic Lewis: Plays Bossa Nova at Home and Away, go here.
• Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds, go here.
• Dizzy Gillespie: Gillespiana, go here.
• Nelson Riddle: Communication, go here.
• Nelson Riddle: Changing Colors, go here.
• Elmo Hope: Complete Trios, 1953-1966, go here.
• Buddy Collette: Man of Many Parts, go here.
• The Herbie Mann-Sam Most Quintet, go here.
• Shorty Rogers: Cool and Crazy, go here.
• The Return of Art Pepper, go here.
• Benny Golson and the Philadelphians, go here.
• Moacir Santos: Coisas, go here.
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: Lock, the Fox, go here.
• Tony Bennett: The Movie Song Album, go here.
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis: Consummation, go here.
• James Moody: Return From Overbrook, go here.
• Barry Galbraith: Guitar and the Wind, go here.
• Count Basie: With Quincy Jones and Neal Hefti, go here.
• Johnny Richards: Walk Softly, Run Wild!, go here.
• Dave Pike: Bossa Nova Carnival, go here.
• Clare Fischer: Só Danço Samba, go here.

Cal Tjader: Huracán, 1978

On March 22 and 23, 1978, vibraphonist Cal Tjader (pronounced JAY-der) recorded Huracán for Crystal Clear Records, a San Francisco company founded in 1976 by Ed Wodenjak and Michael Robert Phillips. The label's focus was producing direct-to-disc audiophile LPs. Most albums at the time were recorded to magnetic tape, which could accommodate overdubs and splicing out mistakes and replacing with better results. Multiple tracks could be recorded along with effects, solos and anything else you could imagine, provided you didn't use up all of the recorder's tracks. Then a master was mixed to produce the desired order and sound of the finished LP. [Photo above of Cal Tjader]

To make a direct-to-disc recording, musicians played one live set of songs lasting 15 to 20 minutes per LP side. The recording was made without a multitrack recorder and without the ability to overdub or splice. During the per-side performance, the audio was recorded directly onto a master LP. The musicians had to be top notch, since errors or a flawed take meant discarding the master LP that was recording the music and starting over again, a costly enterprise. [Photo above of Cal Tjader]

In effect, the direct-to-disc LP was a live recording, but instead of the musicians being on stage performing, they were in the studio. Direct-to-disc albums were cut largely for audiophiles, since their high-end stereo systems could display a majority of the vivid detail captured on the direct recording while lower end systems could not.

Now, Liberation Hall, a label in Kingston, Mass., has reissued Huracán. The sound is stunning. It's a tight Latin-jazz work that's both hot and cool. The heat comes from the musicians and the cool comes from Cal Tjader's vibes and Clare Fischer's Fender Rhodes and arrangements. The band featured Alex Rodriguez and Ron King (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb), Gary Foster (as,fl), Kurt McGettrick (bar), Cal Tjader (vib), Rick Zunigar (el-g), Clare Fischer (el-p), Robb Fisher (b), Willie Bobo (timb), Victor Pantoja (bgo,cowbell) and Poncho Sanchez (cga).

In many respects, this is a concept album, both for how it was recorded and for the material, which explores a range of Latin rhythms. Each song was related to the next, and the feel is one extensive festive and sophisticated expression. Tjader, of course, was a pioneer of Latin-jazz and South American music. His earliest Latin album was Ritmo Caliente in 1954, and over the years he frequently recorded tracks and albums that featured mambo, rumba, cha-cha-cha and other rhythms.

Huracán was and remains a little-known Latin masterpiece. Its power and potency along with its sensuality and sharp twists and turns make it infectious. The music picks up where salsa left off in the 1970s, adding a distinctly jazz feel. We're lucky Liberation Hall decided to reissue the seminal recording. Other than the Tijuana Brass, Tjader was probably the most successful non-Latin Latin musician, and this album was one of his many high points. [Photo above of Cal Tjader in the 1970s]

Cal Tjader died in May 1982 at age 56 while on tour in Manila, the Philippines, after a heart attack.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Cal Tjader's Huracán (Liberation Hall) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Desposado, a cha-cha-cha...

Desposado

And here's the mambo Ritmo Caliente...

Ritmo Caliente

Documentary: Elis & Tom, Part 2

On Monday, I posted about a new documentary rolling into theaters this week called Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You. The film features jaw-dropping footage and details about the recording of the historic Elis & Tom album in Los Angeles in 1974. In my post, I included the film's trailer. Based on my subsequent emails, interest in the film is strong.

While I can't post the documentary in full, I can offer you an hour-long Brazilian TV show on the documentary. It features Theo Bial of the Music Journal Brazil in conversation about the film with Beth Jobim, the daughter of Tom Jobim; João Marcelo Boscoli, the son of Ronaldo Bôscoli and Elis Regina; and Roberto de Oliveira, Regina's former manager and the film's director. It looks like the TV conversation was posted to YouTube just days ago. [Photo above of Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim, known informally as Tom]

Before I provide you with the link, let me tell you how to adjust your YouTube settings so that you can produce subtitles in English:

When you arrive at the YouTube clip, look along the bottom of the YouTube screen for an icon that looks like a TV set displaying the letters "CC." Click on the icon once so that a red line appears underneath it (see above Then click once on the icon to the right of the TV-set that looks like a gear (also, see above). This icon is for your subtitle settings.

In the box that pops up, slide your cursor up to "Subtitles." Click on it. In the new box that appears, click on "Auto-translate." Scroll to the language you desire and click on it. Now you're ready to start the YouTube clip.

The translation won't be perfect, but it will feature enough that you'll understand what is being said. If you close YouTube, you'll have to go though the above steps again to produce the translated subtitles. You'll also have to go through the steps again for the second part of the documentary.

Here's the first part of Conversation with Bial: Let's talk about the Film "Elis & Tom"...

And here's the second part...

Bonus: Here's a clip of aborted takes by Regina and Jobim during their recording of Waters of March...

For my 2021 post on Elis Regina, go here.

Miles Davis: 'In Concert at the Olympia, Paris 1957'

On November 30, 1957, four days before trumpeter Miles Davis would begin recording the soundtrack to the French movie Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud, he performed at L'Olympia theater in Paris. He was backed by the René Urtreger Quartet, featuring Barney Wilen (ts), René Urtreger (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Kenny Clarke (d)—the same musicians who would accompany him on the soundtrack. [Album cover above featuring Miles Davis and Jeanne Moreau in 1957]

Now, for the first time, we have the entire performance at L'Olympia in sterling, 24-bit remastered audio, thanks to Jordi Pujol and his Fresh Sound label. While parts of the concert were previously released on gritty bootlegs and a private recording by Urtreger, this release marks the first high-quality commercial issuing of the music.

The sound and the playing are spectacular. For one, the quintet is remarkable for its exceptional individual players. Wilen was a superb modern tenor saxophonist, Michelot was a solid bassist and Clarke was a superstar expatriate and a founding father of bebop. For another, the quartet behind Davis didn't try to emulate the sound of of Davis's working group of John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, though Wilen and Coltrane did share a similar dry tone. [Photo above of Barney Wilen]

In addition, Davis sounds completely at ease and playing as beautifully as he would on the movie soundtrack days later. In part, I'd attribute this to Paris and his long-running love affair with the city and French audiences' love affair with him.

But Davis's passion for Paris ran a little deeper. Nearly all of his trips there included a romantic affair. In 1949, he was with actress-singer Juliette Gréco. In 1956, he formed a romantic attachment with Urtreger's sister, Jeanne De Mirbeck. And a year later, around the time of this recording, he had begun an affair with Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud's leading actress, Jeanne Moreau (above).

During this trip, he also continued his affair with Urtréger's sister. “He was obsessed by sex, not by women,” she has said. “But when he was with me, he was with me.” During the tour, Davis wore her scarves on stage as keepsakes. For Davis, Paris was intoxicating. [Photo above of Juliette Gréco with Miles Davis in 1949]

The songs performed on the new album are Solar, Four, What's New?, No Moe, Lady Bird, Tune Up, I'll Remember April, Bags' Groove, Round Midnight, Now's the Time, Walkin' and The Theme.

As for how these tapes surfaced, I'll let Jordi pick up the story:

The original tapes...were produced and owned by the late jazz promoter Marcel Romano. After being stored for over 60 years, Laurent Guenoun, Romano's nephew and heir, discovered and sold them to Fresh Sound Records. With the goal of achieving the best possible sound quality, these recordings have undergone meticulous restoration and mastering, ensuring the greatest enjoyment for jazz fans around the world.

Another spectacular historical release of previously unissued material that's first rate on every level. Kudos to Jordi and Fresh Sound.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Miles Davis: In Concert at the Olympia, Paris 1957 (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Tadd Dameron's Lady Bird...

Lady Bird

And here's Milt Jackson's Bags' Groove...

Bags' Groove

Documentary: 'Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You'

The album Elis & Tom is widely considered to be a masterpiece today. Recorded by Brazilian vocalist Elis Regina and Brazilian singer-songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim for the Philips label in Los Angeles in 1974, the record is perhaps most famously known for the YouTube footage of Regina and Jobim in a vocal booth facing each other as they sing Jobim's Waters of March...

I've long wondered where that footage came from, since it clearly was just a segment from much more film shot during the recording session. It turns out the footage was captured by a team of filmmakers led by director Roberto de Oliveira, who arranged for the duo to unite for the project at MGM studios. For some reason, the original film reels sat on a shelf for 45 years until they were restored and remastered in 2018. 

Now the film has been edited along with contemporary interviews to create what is easily the finest jazz documentary of the year detailing the making of the album. The documentary—Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You (Outsider Pictures)—has just been released in theaters throughout the U.S. and Canada. I had the opportunity to stream it in full over the weekend. 

What makes this documentary special is its soul. Too many documentaries today follow the same tired model—live concert footage mixed with biographical material that may be illustrated or even staged by actor, and talking heads all saying virtually the same thing or nothing of consequence.

For me, a documentary works perfectly only when it becomes sheer poetry. There needs to be an engaging narrative and a point of view, and I need to feel the film. Great documentaries bring tears to my eyes or provide an enormous education. Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You accomplishes both.

The story behind the album is a complex one. By 1974, Elis Regina (pronounced Eh-LIZ REG-eena) had become a national phenomenon in Brazil, despite resisting pressure and threats from the military regime there to stop criticizing their rule and support the government.

Brought to L.A. to record an album on which Jobim would accompany her, Regina had high hopes. But despite her charm and talent, Jobim, who had become a star in the U.S. by then thanks to his popular jazz-bossa recordings for producer Creed Taylor at Verve and CTI, began to take over. Regina was surrounded by the younger musicians in her band, which caused Jobim's ego to come off the rails. He was gruff and dismissive of the album's young arranger and instrumentalists, almost causing Regina to walk out on the record.

Jobim was largely an acoustic artist and bristled at the inclusion of an electric guitar, Fender Rhodes electric piano and electric bass. But to his credit, at some point during playbacks of song tracks in the booth, he suddenly saw the light and realized the enormous new talent in the studio and how the record was becoming something very special.

The documentary remarkably and intimately details the heart and soul of Regina—her mood swings, her ups and downs, her tears, her infectious spirit and smile and uncanny ability to slip deeply into the music and become transported to a private place. We also see Jobim's genius at work, along with arranger César Camargo Mariano, who would have a romantic relationship with Regina that produced two children.

Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You is far from perfect. The history is off in places (Creed Taylor's name is never mentioned during the section on the bossa nova's rise in the U.S. nor are the seminal albums Jazz Samba and Getz/Gilberto). What's more, the translation for captions needs an English editor, we aren't told the exact moment when Jobim had his in-studio epiphany about the session, nor are we given the details of Regina's death (in 1982, she died from a combination of alcohol and cocaine at the age of 36) or whether she suffered from some form of bi-polar disorder or deparession that went untreated.

Nevertheless, the film is a must. The long-awaited footage that dominates the documentary is gripping and provides a candid view of how creative work unfolds under pressure and how leading artists must count to 10 or find ways to cope with other brilliant artists who may be more temperamental. We also find Jobim at a creative crossroads and see him accept the new modern electrified sound, despite his original misgivings.

For the film rollout in theaters, go here.

Here is the trailer...

Bonus: Here's Regina with Sacha Distel in Paris in 1970...

Here's Regina with Toots Thielemans in Sweden in 1969...

Here's Thielemans's Bluesette...

Here's Regina singing "Dois Pra Lá, Dois Pra Cá"...