JazzWax

Perfection: Count Basie - 'Corner Pocket'

Corner Pocket appeared on Count Basie's April in Paris album in 1956. The track was composed by Basie guitarist Freddie Green and arranged by Ernie Wilkins. The song and arrangement are perfect in every way. The melody is catchy and the arrangement builds, resolves and builds again. I don't know what it is about Corner Pocket, but each time I hear it I'm suddenly in a great mood.

Here's a fun fact: Corner Pocket was first recorded in February 1955 on All I Wanna Do Is Swing, by the Joe Newman Octet. It was arranged for eight players by Wilkins. Basie obviously heard the song, liked it and asked Wilkins to widen the arrangement for his band.

Here's Corner Pocket from Count Basie's album April in Paris, featuring Wendell Culley, Reunald Jones, Joe Newman and Thad Jones (tp); Henry Coker, Bill Hughes and Benny Powell (tb); Marshal Royal and Bill Graham (as); Frank Wess and Frank Foster (ts); Charlie Fowlkes (bar); Count Basie (p); Freddie Green (g); Eddie Jones (b) and Sonny Payne (d)...

Here's Count Basie's band performing the song in Stockholm in 1962, with solos by trumpeters Thad Jones and Al Aarons, and tenor saxophonist Frank Wess. Pay particular attention to drummer Sonny Payne. At 4:25, he had the daring to do a left-handed stick twirl. Don't blink or you'll miss it...

And here's the Joe Newman Octet recording the first version of Corner Pocket, featuring Joe Newman (tp), Frank Rehak (tb), Ernie Wilkins (as,arr), Al Cohn (ts) Nat Pierce (p), Freddie Green (g), Milt Hinton (b) and Shadow Wilson (d)...

Dinah Washington Centenary: 'Evil Gal Blues'

The women's movement began with Dinah Washington's voice. If Billie Holiday sang about mistreatment and the blues, Ella Fitzgerald sang youthful swing and Sarah Vaughan elegantly covered jazz-pop, Washington captured the sound of women demanding to be heard and treated well—or else. Her voice in the 1950s was sharp and powerful, like a trumpet or a sudden smack in the face. [Publicity still above of Dinah Washington]

While Washington sang blues, pop and just about everything else, it was her articulation and phrasing that reverberated with gritty strength and a warning that she wasn't to be messed with. That edge was baked into nearly every one of her songs. While Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Big Mama Thornton were plenty tough, they didn't cross over to enjoy the same kind of mainstream popularity as Washington

Today is the 100th anniversary of Washington's birth. The Queen of the Jukebox, as she was known, was born in Alabama in 1924 and grew up in Chicago. She died in Detroit in December 1963 of a fatal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital, prescriptions she took for insomnia and to keep her weight down. She was 39.

Over the course of her relatively short career, Washington was at a deficit, visually. She was short, wore wigs and was plump just as tall and lithe was in vogue in magazine and TV ads. When she sang, all of that pain and anxiety was channeled into a playfully wicked way of telling a song's story. The result was both aching, arch and upbeat. Ultimately, what you hear in Washington's voice is pure fearlessness. She influenced dozens of future female singers, whether they know it or not.

To set the stage for the documentary that I'm featuring, here's Bargain Day from The Swingin' Miss "D". Dig Washington's slow burn on this blues...

Here's Make Someone Happy. Dig how she swings this tune from the musical Do Re Mi and how she treats the lyrics—talk-singing in places as if delivering advice and giving it her all in others...

And here's her isolated vocal track on September in the Rain...

Today, in celebration of Dinah Washington's centenary, here's Evil Gal Blues, a terrific hour-long documentary...

Kenny Dorham's Centenary in 18 Tracks

August 30 will mark the 100th anniversary of Kenny Dorham's birth. The trumpeter and singer was born in Texas in 1924 and always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. Early on in the 1940s, he played in the bop band of Billy Eckstine and jump blues band of Lionel Hampton. [Photo above of Kenny Dorham by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

From 1948 to '50, Dorham was a member of the Charlie Parker Quintet that was often recorded live, including at the Royal Roost in New York. In 1951 he recorded with Thelonious Monk, followed by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers in 1953. 

Then he worked with Sonny Rollins, Lou Donaldson and Tadd Dameron among others. He also formed Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets, which was modeled after Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, of which he had been a founding member.

Like 1940s character actors such as Edward Everett and S.Z. Sakall who pop up in dozens of great movies, Dorham recorded as a prolific sideman on the East Coast throughout the 1950s. He also joined the Max Roach Quintet after Clifford Brown's sudden death in a car crash in 1956, and recorded as a leader.

In the 1960s, Dorham recorded several major albums with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson before working as a sideman for leaders recording for the Blue Note and Prestige labels. There also were solo albums. Kenny Dorham died in 1972 from kidney disease at age 48.

Dorham may not have had a standout personality or a pronounced trumpet style, but what he lacked in charisma and a singular sound he more than made up for in soulful playing on bebop, hard bop, Latin jazz and free jazz recordings. He was an extraordinary and essential ingredient on all of those recording sessions.

Dorham's contribution to jazz can be summarized in these 18 tracks:

Here's Bebop in Pastel (Bouncing With Bud), with the Sonny Stitt All-Stars in 1946, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Sonny Stitt (as), Bud Powell (p) Al Hall (b) and Wallace Bishop (d)...

Here's Visa by Charlie Parker and His Orchestra in 1949, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Tommy Turk (tb), Charlie Parker (as), Al Haig (p), Tommy Potter (b), Max Roach (d) and Carlos Vidal (cga)...

Here's Let's Cool One, by the Thelonious Monk Sextet in 1952, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Lou Donaldson (as), Lucky Thompson (ts), Thelonious Monk (p), Nelson Boyd (b) and Max Roach (d)...

Here's an Oscar for Oscar by the Kenny Dorham Quintet in 1953, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Jimmy Heath (ts), Walter Bishop, Jr. (p), Percy Heath (b) and Kenny Clarke (d)...

Here's Deciphering the Message by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1955, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Hank Mobley (ts), Horace Silver (p), Doug Watkins (b) and Art Blakey (d)...

Here's Autumn in New York from Dorham's 1956 album 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Bobby Timmons (p), Sam Jones (b) and Arthur Edgehill (d)...

Here's Sixpence from Gil Melle's album Gil's Guests in 1956, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Don Butterfield (tuba), Hal McKusick (as), Gil Melle (bar), Joe Cinderella (g), Vinnie Burke (b) and Ed Thigpen (d)...

Here's Kids Know, from Sonny Rollins's album Rollins Plays for Bird in 1956, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Sonny Rollins (ts), Wade Legge (p), George Morrow (b) and Max Roach (d)...

Here's Pretty for the People from A.K. Salim's album of the same name in 1957, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Buster Cooper (tb), Johnny Griffin (ts), Pepper Adams (bar), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), Max Roach (d) and A.K. Salim (cond,arr,comp)...

Here's Confirmation from Max Plays Charlie Parker in 1957, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Hank Mobley (ts), George Morrow (b) and Max Roach (d)...

Here's Jams and Jellies from Meet Oliver Nelson in 1959, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Oliver Nelson (ts), Ray Bryant (p), Wendell Marshall (b) and Art Taylor (d)...

Here's My Ideal from Dorham's Quiet Kenny in 1960, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Tommy Flanagan (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Art Taylor (d)...

Here's Windmill from Kenny Dorham's album Whistle Stop in 1961, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Hank Mobley (ts), Kenny Drew (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d)...

Here's the title track from Kenny Dorham's album Una Mas in 1963, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Joe Henderson (ts), Herbie Hancock (p), Butch Warren (b) and Tony Williams (d)...

Here's Dorham's composition, Blue Bossa, on Joe Henderson's Page One album in 1963, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Joe Henderson (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Butch Warren (b) and Pete La Roca (d)...

Here's Refuge from Andrew Hill's Point of Departure in 1964, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Eric Dolphy (as), Joe Henderson (ts), Andrew Hill (p), Richard Davis (b) and Tony Williams (d)...

Here's The Fox from Dorham's album Trompeta Toccata in 1964, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp), Joe Henderson (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Richard Davis (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...

And here's the title track from Barry Harris's album Bull's Eye in 1968, featuring Kenny Dorham (tp) Charles McPherson (as,ts) Pepper Adams (bar) Barry Harris (p) Paul Chambers (b) Billy Higgins (d)...

Russell Malone (1963-2024)

Russell Malone, a jazz guitarist and composer who could play with a brash attack and lightning-fast fingers as a soloist and with a powdery, gentle feel and sturdy rhythm as a sideman, died of a heart attack on August 23 while on tour in Tokyo with bassist Ron Carter and pianist Donald Vega. He was 60. [Photo above of Russell Malone]

What made Russell exceptional was his sensitivity. He had enormous respect for a song, whether it was one made famous by Benny Golson or the Carpenters. He also had a special relationship with melody—the catchier, the better—since it would let him turn the song inside out with grace.

Words can't compete with Russell's captivating music, so here are 10 of my favorite tracks in tribute to the late guitarist:

Here's Wes Montgomery's Jingles from Russell's Black Butterfly, recorded in 1993 and '94, with Gary Motley (p), Russell Malone (g), Paul Keller (b) and Pete Siers (d)...

Here's Russell playing Jimmy Smith's Off the Top, from his Wholly Cats album in 1995, with Russell Malone (g), Larry Willis (p), Rodney Whitaker (b) and Yoron Israel (d)...

Here's Russell with Mose Allison on Mose's Cruise Control, from the pianist's Gimcracks & Gewgaws in 1997, with Mark Shim (ts), Mose Allison (p,vcl), Russell Malone (g), Ratzo Harris (b) and Paul Motian (d)...

Here's Russell with Diana Krall on Jerome Kern's Pick Yourself Up, from her massively popular When I Look in Your Eyes (1998), with Diana Krall (p,vcl) with an orchestra and strings arranged by Johnny Mandel...

Here's Russell on his composition To Benny Golson, from Russell's Sweet Georgia Peach album in 1998, with Kenny Barron (p), Russell Malone (g), Ron Carter (b) and Lewis Nash (d)...

Here's Russell playing Neal Hefti's The Odd Couple theme from his album Look Who's Here in 1999, with Anthony Wonsey (p), Russell Malone (g, Richie Goods (b) and Byron Landham (d)...

Here's Russell playing solo on Carole King's You've Got a Friend, from his Playground album in 2003... 

Here's Russell with pianist Benny Green on Eugene McDaniels' Feel Like Makin' Love, from their Bluebird duet album in 2003...

And here's Russell playing his composition Pecan Pie, from his Triple Play album in 2010, with Russell Malone (g) David Wong (b) and Montez Coleman (d)...

Diego Figueiredo: 'I Love Samba,' 2024

Diego Figueiredo (pronounced fig-a-ray-doe) is a 44-year-old Brazilian jazz guitarist who has released 27 CDs and three DVDs. He's a rhythmic, emotional player who captures the heart and passion of his country's lyrical Carnival music, led by the drive of the bass drum, as well as many other Brazilian and jazz styles.

For his new album, I Love Samba (Arbors), Diego (pictured above) recorded 13 original compositions backed by bassist Nilson Matta, drummer Duduka da Fonseca and flutist Itai Kriss. As Diego says in the album's liner notes about his early teacher, Haroldo Garcia:

"He taught me the Brazilian right-hand technique, elements of jazz chord structures, as well as playing beautifully, with the clean, pure touch of the classical guitarists. Haroldo gave me that whole conception when I was 13, and I knew this is how I wanted to play." [Photo above of Duduka Da Fonseca]

What's fascinating about the album is that Diego's music never bogs down in bossa nova but hopscotches through a range of genres, always mixing in jazz improvisation. The result is both seductive and delightfully jagged. There are touches of Earl Klugh, Lenny Breau and Gabor Szabo as well as earlier Brazilian guitar masters Baden Powell and Bola Sete. The perfect listen as summer bids farewell. [Photo above of Nilson Matta; photo below of Itai Kriss]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Diego Figueiredo's I Love Samba (Arbors) here or on major streaming platforms.

JazzWax clips: Here's the title track...

Here's Echoes of Manhattan...

And here's Ipanema Dream...

Jeanie, Django and McCoy

This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Jeanie Buss for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Jeannie is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and co-owner of WOW—Women Of Wrestling. She was portrayed by Hadley Robinson in the terrific HBO series, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Even if you have zero interest in sports, it's a must-see for the acting, casting and script. [Photo above of Jeanie Buss courtesy of Jeanie Buss/Instagram]

Here's the trailer...

John Cassavetes. Last week, director Raymond De Felitta featured clips of the independent director at his blog. Go here for the listing and click on the three entries. [Photo still above of John Cassavetes and Angie Dickinson]

Edith and Django. Last week, photographer Gilles D'Elia in Paris sent along an email:

Hi Marc, How are you my friend? Above is a photo that I just discovered by chance, which allows me to send you a little virtual postcard from Paris. It's our national singer Édith Piaf, who is pictured reading the hand lines of Django Reinhardt! Beautiful pic, isn't it?

Jazz performances. Mark Rabin, the dean of live jazz recordings, sent along the following last week:

Hi Marc. An item of interest for JazzWax readers is the SF Jazz Historical Archive on the Internet Archive. It has a wealth of recorded performances from 1984 to 2012. There are multiple performances by Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Joao Gilberto, McCoy Tyner and many others. There are tribute programs hosted by Orrin Keepnews for musicians including Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Jelly Roll Morton.

It is an impressive collection with hundreds of hours of live jazz available to stream for free. The Internet Archive is funded by donations, so I encourage everyone to donate here to help support their mission. The music can be found here.

Summer's end. It's a short post this week, so I thought I'd end with five seasonal songs [photo above courtesy of Summit Kids Academy]:

Here are The Happenings singing See You in September (1966)...

Here are the Beach Boys singing Girls on the Beach (1964)...

Here are Chad & Jeremy singing A Summer Song (1964)...

Here are the Isley Brothers singing Seals & Croft's Summer Breeze (1974)...

Here are the Beach Boys singing The Warmth of the Sun (1964)...

And here are the Beach Boys singing Surf's Up (1971), originally written for Smile, an album project that wound up shelved by Capitol...

Backgrounder: 'The Strolling Mr. Eldridge,' 1953

In December 1953, trumpeter Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge recorded The Strolling Mr. Eldridge for Norman Granz's Clef label. Eldridge was a member of Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic showcase of tour and recording all-stars.

The album was released during the "speed wars," when Columbia's 33 1/3 and RCA's 45 rpm formats were in fierce competition. Many labels issued albums on both speeds to cover their bases. Both formats would survive the battle—the 33 1/3 for LPs and 45s for singles. The Strolling Mr. Eldridge was released on both.

On this album, Eldridge was backed by a top-notch rhythm section: Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b) and Alvin Stoller (d).

Eldridge was a swing-era player distinguished by the sizzle he'd often add on his horn on uptempo numbers and his lyrical, warm quality on ballads.

The tracks (the times below refer to where you can find individual songs):

• Willow Weep For Me
• When Your Lover Has Gone 03:20
• Echoes Of Harlem 06:29
• When It's Sleepy Time Down South 10:15
• Somebody Loves Me 13:21
• Feeling A Draft 16:54
• I Can't Get Started 20:27
• Don't Blame Me 23:51

Here's The Strolling Mr. Eldridge 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.
• Reggie Johnson: First Edition, go here.
• John Graas: French Horn Jazz, go here.
• Eddie Lockjaw Davis & Johnny Griffin: Tough Tenor Favorites, go here.
• Bill Perkins: Bossa Nova With Strings Attached, go here.
• Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, go here.
• Pepper Adams Quintet, go here.
• Sonny Rollins Plus 4, go here.
• Coleman Hawkins: Desafinado, go here.
• Sammy Davis Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays, go here.
• Paul Quinichette: Moods, go here.
• Jimmy Forrest: Forrest Fire!, go here.
• Brazilian Jazz Quartet: Coffee and Jazz, go here.
• Art Blakey!!! Jazz Messengers!!!, go here.
• Sidney Bechet/Martial Solal, go here.
• John Carisi: The New Jazz Sound Of "Show Boat," go here.
• The Marty Paich Quartet, Featuring Art Pepper, go here.
• João Gilberto, 1998, go here.
• Bobby Timmons: Soul Time, go here.
• Gerry Mulligan: Jeru, go here.
• Ray Bryant: Alone With the Blues, go here.
• Leon Spencer Jr.: Bad Walking Woman, go here.
• Jimmy McGriff: Step 1, go here.
• Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Breakout, go here.
• Oliver Nelson: Taking Care of Business, go here.
• Quincy Jones: Americans in Paris, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: Tune-Up!, go here.
• Herbie Mann: Yardbird Suite, go here.
• Quincy Jones: Twilight Time, go here.
• Lou Levy Quartet: Jazz in Four Colors, go here.
• Johnny Alf: Rapaz de Bem, go here.
• Hank Mobley: Poppin', go here.
• Barney Kessel: Kessel's Kit, go here.
• Larry Young: Into Somethin', go here.
• Henry Mancini: The Jazz Sound From Peter Gunn, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: Night Crawler, go here.
• Maynard Ferguson: Around the Horn, go here.
• Frank Rosolino: Franky Speaking!, go here.
• Ben Webster: King of the Tenors, go here.
• Kenny Dorham: Una Mas, go here.
• Gigi Gryce: Nica's Tempo, go here.
• Charlie Parker With Strings: The Master Takes, go here.
• The Great Jazz Piano of Phineas Newborn Jr., go here.
• The Complete Chet Baker Sings, go here.
• Shorty Rogers Courts the Count, go here.
• Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19, go here.
• Kenny Burrell, Jazzmen - Detroit, go here.
• Bill Watrous, In Love Again, go here.
• Gene Ammons, Boss Tenor, go here.

Perfection: Barney Kessel - 'You Go to My Head'

Soaring is one of Barney Kessel's finest albums of the 1970s. Recorded in August 1976 for Concord, the album featured the guitarist backed by Monty Budwig on bass and Jake Hanna on drums. The entire record is perfect in every way.

What I like most is how Kessel is isolated, allowing us to hear how gifted he was as a player and swinger, and how fascinating his chord voicings were. You can hear the full album at Spotify and most major streaming platforms.

For now, here's You Go to My Head, a chord-fest if ever there was one...

Other Perfection tracks in this ongoing series...

• Paul Desmond and Jim Hall: Any Other Time, go here.
• John Coltrane: You Say You Care, go here.
• Quincy Jones: Funk Junction, go here.
• Art Farmer's Work of Art, go here.
• Miles Davis: A Gal in Calico, go here.
• Gene Krupa: Mulligan Stew, go here.
• Dave Brubeck: The Duke, go here.
• Horace Silver: The Back Beat, go here.
• Horace Parlan: Up & Down, go here.
• Dexter Gordon: Society Red, go here.

Coleman Hawkins: 'Body and Soul,' 1963

Coleman Hawkins's first recording of Body and Soul on October 11, 1939 was a landmark moment for jazz. The tenor saxophonist played the standard but, from the start, he re-interpreted it using the song's chords but playing around the melody.

What sounded like improvisation was actually worked out in advance by Hawkins, but the fact that he had turned a familiar pop song into something new on the tenor saxophone was remarkable at the time.

Of course, plenty of saxophonists had taken improvised solos prior, but these "solos" were only a few measures long or written out for them. What Hawkins did is pave the way for extended saxophone improvisation.

In February 1963, Hawkins was on tour in Europe when he appeared at the Metropol jazz club in Oslo, Norway. There, he was captured on camera performing Body and Soul with his singular, long streams of ideas.

Here's the video clip of Hawkins playing a 10-plus minute Body and Soul solo backed by Einar Iversen (p), Jarle Krogstad, (b) and Ole Jacob Hansen (d)...

Gene Ammons: 'The All-Star Sessions'

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

JazzWax clips: Here's The Real McCoy...

Here's Ammon Joy...

And here's Hip Tip...