Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Illinois Jacquet

Although he became especially well known for his fiery work with Jazz At The Philharmonic, where his playing reflected his breakthrough with Lionel Hampton in the early 1940s and his solo on Flying Home in particular, Illinois Jacquet was a thoroughly accomplished tenor saxophonist with a richly varied repertoire.
He was born in Boussard, Louisiana, on 31 October 1922, but was raised from the age of one in Texas and would thus later be welcomed by those who established what became known as the ‘tough Texa’ style of playing the tenor saxophone. Jacquet was born into a very musical family, his father, Gilbert, leading a band that included Illinois’s brothers Julius, Linton and Russell; he boys’ sister and their mother were also accomplished musicians. While still at school, he danced as a member of the Jacquet Brothers dance team and also played drums. Later, he switched instruments, taking up alto and soprano saxophones. As early as 1938, while still at school, Jacquet sat in with various visiting bands, including that led by Milt Larkins. After graduating from high school, he left Texas to look for musical work in California. There, he worked with Floyd Ray and chanced to meet Nat Cole and was introduced to Lionel Hampton who was in the process of forming a band. Hampton happened to want a tenor player and offered Jacquet a job on the condition that he switch to tenor. Jacquet set out to master the instrument and in 1941 became a key figure in Hampton’s entourage. The recording session that produced the legendary Flying Home was on 26 May 1942. Jacquet’s solo was outstanding and became so inextricably intertwined with Hampton’s composition that it was later integrated into the number and Jacquet’s successors were expected to use it as the basis for their own solos. Deceptively simple, the riff-based solo set a standard and helped establish Jacquet as a major figure in jazz.
In 1943, Jacquet joined Cab Calloway, staying for about a year before moving on to play with various small bands and also to lead his own group in which brother Russell appeared as did Charles Mingus. A brief but telling appearance in the 1944 Gjon Mili-Norman Granz film, Jammin’ The Blues, was followed by regular dates with Granz’s Jazz At The Philharmonic and he was also with Count Basie’s band. Much of his mid-1940s to mid-1950s work is presented on The Illinois Jacquet Story on Properbox Records. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Jacquet toured with his own small groups and with JATP, becoming in the process a welcome figure on the international jazz club and jazz festival circuits. In some ways, his time with JATP, while valuable and lucrative, was somewhat limiting to his enormous talent. On the JATP bandstand he acquired a reputation as a wild man of the tenor, performing honks and high-note squeals on up-tempo rafter-raising numbers and while these demonstrations of his remarkable technical ability cannot be denied, they were always balanced with exquisite ballad performances as can be heard on many live and studio recording sessions, several on Verve Records, not only in these years but ever afterwards.


Meanwhile, Jacquet continued to form his own groups for club dates, tours and recording sessions, along the way working with many leading jazz instrumentalists and singers. His recordings included the very popular Robbins Nest and Black Velvet. He made a brief instrumental departure by playing bassoon in a jazz context and also from time to time he returned to the alto saxophone on which he displayed his admiration for Charlie Parker. For several years through the late 1960s and into the following decade, Jacquet fronted a trio with Milt Buckner and Jo Jones and worked also with Slam Stewart and Buddy Rich. From time to time he would return to Hampton for concert appearances, and he also worked in several all-star ensembles. His European tours with a Texas Tenors band, along with Arnett Cobb and Buddy Tate, was very well received by audiences and critics alike.
After having been artist-in-residence at Harvard in the early 1980s, Jacquet formed a big band for occasional concerts and recording sessions, including Atlantic Records’ Jacquet’s Got It!. He continued to form occasional big bands through the 1990s, a time when he was also a regular visitor to European jazz festivals. A fine example of the Texas tenor style, indeed one of the prototypes of the genre, Jacquet should not be overlooked by those who seek to delineate the history of the tenor saxophone in jazz. He was an important transitional figure in the development of the instrument, retaining a lifelong affinity for the blues while keeping himself attuned to the changes taking place in the bop and post-bop periods of jazz. An admirer of Charlie Parker and Lester Young, he successfully became his own man and set standards for others to follow. Late in life, Jacquet was a dignified on-stage presence as an elder statesman of jazz, while his playing always impressively combined the earthy swing of his Texan upbringing with the melodic grace of an impassioned balladeer. In all that he played, Jacquet sought and found the emotional heart of the material, playing solos that are intense in their fire and rhapsodic in their elemental command. And throughout his career, at the warm heart of his playing there was always the blues.
In 1991 came the release of Arthur Elgort’s documentary film, Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story, which captures all that was good about this exceptional musician.
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet, died in New York City on 22 July 2004. Of his playing on that 1942 version of Flying Home, he would remark, ‘God bless my solo.’ To which his many fans might well chorus, ‘Yes indeed!’

The foregoing has been adapted from a piece written a few years ago for Jazz Journal.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Benny Carter - Part 2


Despite his deep involvement in writing for films and television, in the 1950s, and shrugging off a 1956 heart attack, Benny Carter still found time to play with Jazz At The Philharmonic and to form and lead bands for residencies, short tours, and recording sessions. Notable among these recording dates were Aspects, 1961’s influential Further Definitions album, on which he was joined by Coleman Hawkins, Phil Woods and Charlie Rouse, and 1966’s Additions To Further Definitions, with a band that included Mundell Lowe and Teddy Edwards. This music has can be found on a Decca Records release. The musicality and musicianship Carter possessed endeared him to singers and he wrote arrangements for a wide range of jazz and jazz-influenced pop singers, among them Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Ray Charles, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls, Mel Tormé and Sarah Vaughan.


 

The 1970’s saw Carter’s re-emergence as a concert and touring artist and he made numerous national and international tours, playing jazz clubs and concert halls, and making many albums. In 1987, he teamed up with John Lewis and the occasionally-assembled All-American Jazz Orchestra for concerts dedicated to performing works written especially for big bands. To this repertoire, Carter contributed a major long work, Central City Sketches, rehearsing, conducting and playing solo alto at its premiere. Also in 1987, Ken Mathieson commissioned Carter to compose a suite for a big band for the Glasgow Jazz Festival. In 1989, his 82nd birthday was honored by a concert at New York's Lincoln Center at which some of his songs were sung by Sylvia Syms and Ernestine Anderson. He celebrated his 85th birthday with a concert at Rutgers University, premiering two new suites written especially for the occasion: Tales Of The Rising Sun Suite and Harlem Renaissance Suite. In 1997, a special concert was held in honor of his 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl at which a new composition by John Clayton was played. Dedicated to Carter, the three-part suite was entitled, very appropriately, Maestro. The concert could not, though, be held on Carter’s actual birth day; instead, it was held two days earlier because on his birthday the indefatigable maestro had a gig in Norway. In May 2000, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra premiered two of Carter's new works, Time To Remember, memorializing President John F. Kennedy, and Again And Again, a ballad performed by alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton. The occasion was a concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, remembering the city’s Central Avenue jazz scene, at which Maestro was reprised.
As a soloist, Carter’s fluent playing on alto saxophone and the liquid sound he created made him kin to his near-contemporary, Johnny Hodges, and between them they effectively ruled the world on that instrument until the arrival of Charlie Parker. Although less well known, his clarinet playing was similarly rich and flowing. All these comments can be applied just as readily to his trumpet playing. Very few musicians double on reeds and brass; of those few that do, it is hard to think of any who achieve this with such apparent ease as Carter. Bill Berry recalled an appearance with Carter in Tokyo who was, as usual, playing alto that night. Someone in the audience requested that Carter play trumpet. Although he did not have his own trumpet, and as far as anyone knew had not picked one up in years, Carter borrowed Berry's cornet and played with the perfection of someone who was in daily practice. Carter’s playing skills never deserted him, as can be heard on many recordings from late in his life, among them a set at New York’s Iridium Club released by Nimbus.



Carter’s composing blended silky melodies with vibrant swing. Among his compositions are Blues In My Heart, which is one of the most recorded of his instrumentals, When Lights Are Low, also extensively recorded as an instrumental and as a vocal, with lyrics by Spencer Williams, Blue Star, Devil's Holiday, Dream Lullaby, Blue Interlude, Lonesome Nights, Doozy, which defies anyone not to swing when playing it, Symphony In Riffs, which was also the title of a 1995 video release, and he also wrote Kansas City Suite for Count Basie's band in the 1960s. As composer and arranger he ranks with Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Edgar Sampson, and a handful of others as an important architect of swing era big band concepts. His writing for the saxophone section was perhaps the most instantly recognizable element of his arranging talent. The gorgeous, flowing, seemingly simple yet decidedly complex sound he created was just one of the many joys that this remarkable man brought to jazz.
Fortunately, Carter attracted the biographer he merited and in 1982 Morroe Berger, brought out his two-volume biography, Benny Carter: A Life In American Music, written in collaboration with Ed Berger and James Patrick, which fully documents the life of this amazing musician. Except, of course, in 1982, Carter still had two decades of music making ahead of him.



The official Benny Carter web site, run by Ed and Laurence Berger, should not be missed by anyone interested in the life and career of this extraordinary man. Carter died on Saturday, 12 July 2003, leaving behind an incomparable musical legacy. We shall not see his like again.
In 2011, singer Deborah Pearl released, Souvenir Of You, an album of songs for which she wrote lyrics to compositions by Benny Carter. This very interesting CD is reviewed elsewhere on this Blog. Also in 2011, Ken Mathieson teamed up with Alan Barnes and Woodville Records to re-explore Carter’s Glasgow Suite, recording the work with Mathieson’s 8-piece Classic Jazz Orchestra, along with several other Carter compositions and arrangements. In so doing, they demonstrated not only their own musical skills but also the durability of the music of Benny Carter.

 

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Regina Carter

Jazz violin has a long and wonderful tradition. It also has a history of misunderstanding and over the years there has been much wrong-headed criticism from those who believe that a musical instrument carries an in-built repertoire outside of which it should not be allowed to stray. Even a cursory glance at the reality of the violin in jazz shows otherwise. In the earliest days of jazz, when it vied for popularity with other musical forms, the violin was a commonplace sight on the bandstand. Indeed, dance bands in turn-of-the-century New Orleans were frequently led by the violin and it was chiefly a matter of the volume at which instruments such as the trumpet could be played that edged the violin’s softer sound onto the sidelines. The skill and sheer musicality of the players of the violin in those far-off days cannot be seriously questioned. After all, New Orleans was a major centre for classical music in the USA and few if any other cities could claim to have three opera houses, which provided work for numerous classical players of whom the violinists were logically the majority.

Despite the technical limitations on the violin in those pre-electric days, some musicians persisted with the instrument and through the years there have been several fine exponents, some of whom, had they played a more ‘acceptable’ instrument, must surely have found greater support from audiences and especially from critics who really should have known better. Consider some of these names and reflect for a moment on the extraordinary music they have left us: Stuff Smith, Joe Venuti, Claude Williams, Eddie South, Emilio Caceres, Stéphane Grappelli and Svend Asmussen. The latter two enjoyed careers of many decades (Asmussen still playing as he approaches his 95th birthday in 2012) and hence found themselves playing alongside violinists such as Jean-Luc Ponty and Billy Bang.

Continuing the tradition of these artists is Regina Carter, a musician of extraordinary skill who is thoroughly steeped in the history of jazz violin yet is simultaneously aware of and responds to all of the many changes that jazz has undergone in the past hundred years. Consider just three of her records:-

I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey

On this Verve Records album, Carter delves into the rich repertoire of the 1920s-1940s, playing popular and show tunes, among them the two songs that make up the album title, as well as Little Brown Jug, You Took Advantage Of Me, There’s A Small Hotel and St. Louis Blues. In so doing, Carter pays loving tribute to her mother, Grace Carter, who was the first important influence on in her career. The songs are played with a lively contemporary take on the small group style of jazz of the period they reflect. Carter’s musical companions here are Xavier Davis, piano, Matthew Parrish, bass, Alvester Garnett, drums, with guest vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Carla Cook, alongside Paquito D'Rivera, clarinet, and Gil Goldstein, accordion.





Freefall

On this album, also a Verve Records date, Regina Carter plays in a duo with pianist Kenny Barron and from the first phrases it is vividly apparent that this is a true meeting of minds attuned to all that is good in jazz. Carter observed of this date that she and Barron approached the music as though they were having conversations; in this case. The dialogue just happened to be played not spoken. The music here is drawn largely from the jazz palette, with pieces by Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter and Johnny Hodges as well as compositions by the duettists themselves. The result is music that is interesting, ingenious, and always beautifully played




Reverse Thread

For her 2010 album with E1 Records, Regina Carter turns to folk music from Africa, applying to tried and tested melodic themes a thoroughly contemporary jazz feel. With her inspired touch, Carter is able to blend the violin’s clear voice with some traditional instrumental sounds of Africa. In this she is aided in particular by Yacouba Sissoko, kora; also on hand are Will Holshouser and Gary Versace, accordion, Adam Rogers, guitar, Chris Lightcap and Mamadou Ba, bass, and Alvester Garnett, percussion. The music, while it might often be unusual to non-African ears, has about it an atmosphere that will be recognized by most of those who hear it. Among the titles are Hiwumbe Awumba, Juju Nani, Mwana Talitambula and Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina. This is a delightful record, filled with moments that prompt reflection and admiration and always underline Regina Carter’s astonishing musical skill.


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Benny Carter - Part 1


Part 1

Benny Carter's long life started out inauspiciously. Born on 8 August 1907, in a neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, known as San Juan Hill, almost from birth Bennett Lester Carter was faced with tough choices. In those days, San Juan Hill was home to many who made careers in crime; it was also a district where young men could, if they chose, make music. Benny Carter was one of several who chose to take a talent for music into the world of jazz. Among his cousins were Theodore ‘Cuban’ Bennett, a widely respected (although unrecorded) trumpeter, and Chicago-born clarinetist Darnell Howard. A near-neighbor was another trumpeter, James ‘Bubber’ Miley, who gained fame with Duke Ellington’s orchestra. Other neighbors were saxophonists Rudy Powell and Russell Procope and trumpeter Bobby Stark. When Carter was aged 13, he acquired a trumpet from a pawnshop, but unable to master the instrument in the couple of days he allowed for the endeavor, he went back and exchanged the trumpet for a C-Melody saxophone. This time he achieved quicker command and with the assistance of tuition from Harold Proctor and Lt. Eugene Mickell Sr., within two years he was sufficiently proficient to be made welcome when he sat in with bands in Harlem, which is where he moved with his family in 1923. With trumpeter June Clark's band, he made the switch to alto saxophone, and he then played with various bands, including those led by Billy Fowler, Lois Deppe, Earl Hines (where he played baritone saxophone), Horace Henderson, James P. Johnson, with Duke Ellington as a substitute, Fletcher Henderson, then joined Charlie Johnson's band at Smalls Paradise. He made his recording debut with Johnson, in 1928, and it is pertinent that on the date the band played two of Carter's arrangements.

A year later, Carter was leading his own band. He had rejoined Horace Henderson’s band in 1928, and when the leader quit and despite Carter’s youth the musicians chose him as leader. The following decade saw him alternating between leading a band and working as sideman and arranger the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Chick Webb, and he was musical director of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Although often overlooked, during the 1930s, Carter’s band was very highly regarded among musicians who considered it to be an unparalleled academy of musical learning. These ‘students’ in the early 1930s included pianist Teddy Wilson, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, trombonists Dicky Wells and J. C. Higginbotham and drummer Sid Catlett. Among the bands for which he wrote charts were Chick Webb (his arrangement of Liza is especially notable), Teddy Hill, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, Count Basie, Charlie Barnet, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Carter had meanwhile mastered the trumpet and his instrumental arsenal included alto, C-Melody, tenor and baritone saxophones, clarinet, trombone and piano.

Carter traveled to Europe in 1935, joining Willie Lewis in Paris and then spent the next three years over there, playing also in Denmark and the Netherlands. In this same period, he commuted frequently to London where he worked as an arranger for the BBC dance orchestra led by Henry Hall. During these years, he made a number of very good recordings with multi-national bands that included musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Django Reinhardt.

In 1938, he returned to the USA, a country now in the grip of swing fever, and formed another band with which he held a two-year residency at the Savoy Ballroom. Inevitable perhaps, but the musicality of Carter’s band, allied as it was to the unassuming dignity of his personal bearing, proved detrimental to popularity. During the big band era he had only one hit, Cow-Cow Boogie, a novelty trifle sung by Ella Mae Morse. His small group work during this period included spells with the Chocolate Dandies and the Varsity Seven. Much of Carter’s music from the 1930s through into the 1950s can be heard on a release by Proper Records. Popular acclaim aside, Carter was about to launch himself into a distinguished career in the motion picture industry.



From early in the 1940s, Carter worked in Los Angeles as an arranger, composer and orchestrator in film studios, undertaking and very effectively completing tasks for which he was often not credited. Hollywood was not yet comfortable with granting on screen credit to black musicians, however accomplished they might be. By the late 1940s, Carter’s film studio work consumed most of his time and energies, and as the next two and more decades passed he also worked extensively in television. His film work, off-screen and on, began with Stormy Weather in 1943 and continued through Edge Of Doom (1950), 1951’s An American In Paris, A View From Pompey’s Head (1955),The Sun Also Rises (1957), Too Late Blues, Town Without Pity (both 1961), State Fair (1962), A Man Called Adam (1966), Buck And The Preacher (1972), and 1975’s TVM, Louis Armstrong-Chicago Style among a very long list. On television, he worked on several popular series, including scoring many episodes of M Squad, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Banyon, and Name Of The Game.


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Duke Ellington


Somewhere to start?

Fortunately for us all, very nearly everything recorded by Duke Ellington has been reissued over and over again. So much is available that newcomers to the magical musical world of this remarkable man are bound to be daunted. Cutting down the list of available albums to just three is a crazy task, doomed to failure and one that is bound to raise dissenting voices. But ... here goes. Actually, I’m cheating a little because none is a decades-wide compilation, rather they show the Ellington band in three important and somewhat different lights and thus offer intriguingly varied glimpses of one of the finest bands ever to grace jazz.

The first of these CDs is The Blanton-Webster Band (Bluebird 5659), which comes from a short but highly productive and creative period in Ellington's life. He was of course always productive and creative, but this period, 1940-42, was astonishing even by his own high standards. Several of the band's members had already spent long periods as Ellingtonians: Harry Carney, Johnny Hodges, Sonny Greer; others were relative newcomers, notably Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster, whose contributions were of such importance that their names were ever afterwards appended as identifiers for this brief era. Nothing is weak or wasted, even the alternative versions included here add to our knowledge and understanding of and delight in the band. But is it the real Duke Ellington?



The second album, Duke Ellington At Newport 1956 (Columbia Legacy C2K 64932), marks the turning point in public awareness of the band; that evening designed by an alchemist when everything went right. Its centrepiece is, of course, the roaring Paul Gonsalves solo that bridges the two parts of Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue, even if this had the unfortunate effect of tying the saxophonist to a roof-raising role despite his being one of the most rhapsodic of Ellington's players (Webster and Hodges notwithstanding). Yet, in a way, what this album gives us, while an immensely enjoyable and true view of the band (this reissue gives us everything, including studio remakes), might also be something other than the real Duke Ellington.



If that sounds a little negative, it should perhaps be mentioned that it was Johnny Hodges who raised the question I have left hanging over the foregoing pair of truly marvelous sets of music and cast doubts upon the continued assertion from most critics and fans that these two albums are archetypal Ellington. What Hodges said was: ‘If you never heard Ellington play for dancing, then you never heard Ellington.’ It was a casual remark made to a friend but is worth thinking about, if only because Hodges was notoriously reticent and therefore anything he said is likely to have at least some truth in it. Of course, if he was accurate in what he said, then almost no one living today really heard Ellington; that’s because pretty nearly everyone around today has heard Ellington only on record or in the concert hall. And that is what the two foregoing albums are. In the case of The Blanton Webster Band we hear Ellington in the recording studio, bound by the three-minute side and, despite the glories that abound, affected as were almost all jazz musicians by the relative coldness of the setting. While Ellington At Newport was not really a concert hall, it did have that same general ambiance, albeit considerably livelier than most.

This is why the third album, The Duke At Fargo 1940 (Storyville 8361), is so special. This is a dance date, recorded with commendable foresight, by Jack Towers and Dick Burris, and with remarkably good sound considering the time and circumstances. Despite some minor technical shortcomings, this set captures that free floating spirit of an organization that was not only a great jazz band but was also a great dance band. The band's personnel is pretty much the same core of musicians as for The Blanton-Webster Band and many of the solos taken are on par with, or sometimes superior to, those on the studio dates. Over everything, though, hangs that indefinable ‘something’, an atmosphere that makes it possible to detect a glimmer of what it was that prompted Hodges to make his remark.



Having cut down the list of available Ellingtonia from hundreds to just three, I will not go further and try to choose between them and recommend just one album. Each of these is important, valuable, and in its own way a superb example of the extraordinary alchemy that was the Duke Ellington band. Bearing in mind that many might argue persuasively, with or without fanaticism, that it was the greatest band of them all, then even the impecunious newcomer would be justified in buying all of them.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Gene Krupa

Drumming Man



Today, we see pop music people everywhere, all the time. They have become instant celebrities and anything they say or do, even if it happens to be infantile (and it often is) makes the newspapers and television chat shows, even television news programmes. It wasn’t always like this. Back in the 1930s and 40s, pop music people were outside the mainstream of news. But there was at least one exception. The most popular of pop music back then was jazz ... more accurately, one particular style of jazz. This was swing music, which was for a while a powerful force in popular culture. One swing era musician who transcended the musical press and became headline news was Gene Krupa. He made non-musical headlines not only nationwide but even internationally - no mean feat in those pre-Internet, pre-television days. With his handsome presence both on-stage and on-screen (movie screens, that is), he provided a lasting visual image of the swing era. Unfortunately, and unfairly, this was not always for the best of reasons.

Gene Krupa might not have been an inspired innovator who changed the sound of jazz; put another way, neither his fans nor he himself would ever have claimed him to be a musical genius like Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker. But he did change the image of jazz and especially he changed the role of the drummer in jazz bands of all kinds. His performing persona was wild, perhaps the gesticulations were overwrought; and when allied to a sensationalized phony drugs-bust in California in the 1940s a lasting impression was forged of the jazz drummer as spaced-out crazy. It was a false impression. Not only was it false when the image was formed, it clung on through the rest of his life and even today, among the ill-informed, it clings on. This is very sad, not only because this image was wholly inaccurate and highly inappropriate when it was formed, but also because it obscures the fact that Gene Krupa was a dedicated, hard-working musician, whose love for jazz was deep and sincere. As for that overwrought gesticulator - that wasn’t a part of a stage act. He was like that in the recording studio, even in the rehearsal room. It was a genuine outward reflection of the sheer enthusiasm with which he played his music. 

Gene Krupa’s playing style, his music, his personality, his behaviour on-stage and off-stage, were all shaped by the times in which he first became a jazz musician and almost from the outset he made a mark on jazz, one that was to be lasting and which remains recognizable through to the present day. In some ways, this persistence is remarkable because at almost any point in his career it is possible to cite other drummers in jazz who were in one way or another better at what they did. Consider some of these names: alongside him in his early Chicago-style days was Dave Tough; in the early years of the swing era there were Chick Webb and Jo Jones; later in that same era was Tough again, and Buddy Rich. But Krupa’s work with Benny Goodman helped make the swing era an unequalled highpoint of the era - especially when playing in Goodman’s Trio and Quartet. His own big bands were never less than good and in the case of that of the early 1940s, which included Roy Eldridge and Anita O’Day, it was second to none. When bop came in, although Krupa was quickly overtaken by Kenny Clarke and Max Roach and all those who came along in their wake, he encouraged his sidemen and arrangers, notably Gerry Mulligan, and in the late 1940s he fronted a fine and very successful boppish big band. Krupa remained a headline attraction through the following decades, whether leading his own small group, playing in reunions of the Benny Goodman Quartet, duelling with Buddy Rich on the Jazz At The Philharmonic circuit, or leading specially-formed studio big bands to recapture past glories.


Much of the energy and excitement of his performances can be heard on record thanks to the regular reissue of some of his work. Among these CDs are:

Benny Goodman: The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (RCA Victor 68764), a 3-CD re-mastered compilation of the music that helped define the swing era; Benny Goodman: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert (Avid Entertainment AMBX 151), not only a swing era highpoint, but much more besides, including soundtrack music from the 1955 movie, The Benny Goodman Story;

The Gene Krupa Story (Properbox 1), a 4-CD set that ranges through his big band work from the mid-1930s until 1947; The Complete Capitol Recordings Of Gene Krupa & Harry James (Mosaic MD7-192), a 7-CD set, which includes his 1946-7 recordings; Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (American Jazz Classics 99020), late 1940s and a 1958 revisit;



Jazz At The Philharmonic - The Beginning (Charly Le Jazz CD 41) and The Drum Battle (Verve 559 810-2); 

Drummin’ Man (Retrospective RTR 4174), a double album that ranges from early years through to JATP tours; Gene Krupa In Concert (DBK Jazz 70015), where he sits in with a Chicago traditional band in 1971; Live At The New School (Chiaroscuro CD[D] 110), recorded on 3 April 1972 with old pals Eddie Condon and Wild Bill Davison, along with Kenny Davern and Dick Wellstood; Live At The New School (Chiaroscuro CD[D] 297), recorded on 17 April 1973 with his then current small band, just a short while before his death on 16 October 1973.


Some, maybe most, of the foregoing CDs might be hard to find, but they are well worth searching for - maybe on-line second-hand sources will be your best bet.

Good places to visit for more information on Gene Krupa are Joe Pagano’s Gene Krupa Reference Page and that of my near-soundalike-namesake, Bruce H. Klauber, whose site is also the place to go for Krupa rarities on Bruce K’s own DBK label. You should also look there for videos, including Gene Krupa: Jazz Legend. If some of the videos are in US format it worth noting a UK-format source, Hudson Music Europe.

Despite the star status he enjoyed during his lifetime, there have been few books on Gene Krupa. The two that are most comprehensive are: Gene Krupa: His Life And Times by Bruce Crowther (yes, that’s me) and The World Of Gene Krupa by Bruce H. Klauber (that’s the other Bruce).

Here again, second-hand sources are perhaps your best bet. 

 
  
  

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

New World Jazz Composers Octet


New World Jazz Composers Octet Breaking News (Big and Phat Jazz BPJ 1022)
Led by Boston-based saxophonist Daniel Ian Smith, this group has established itself over the past few years and two previous CDs as a leading voice in composing and playing contemporary jazz to a very high standard. Among the musicians in the band are trumpeters Ken Cervenka and Walter Platt, saxophonist Felipe Salles, pianist Tim Ray, bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa, drummer Mark Walker and percussionist Ernesto Diaz. On this CD are compositions by Matthew Nicholl, Jeff Friedman and Richard Lowell as well as Walter Platt. Everything hereon is written and played with considerable intelligence and flair, from the thoroughly engaging solos to the tight and powerful ensembles, all of which come together to exhilarating effect. Especially appealing is the three-movement suite, Trilogy, composed by Ted Pease and paying tribute to pastmasters of jazz composition, Thad Jones, Billy Strayhorn and Bill Holman. The three movements are entitled, respectively, Thad’s Pad, Strays and Willis. The composer’s skill is evident from the manner in which he evokes the musical style of the dedicatees, finding punchy mainstream power in the first movement, romantically melodic charm in the second, and updated west coast bounce in the closer. This exceptionally attractive CD should appeal to all those who appreciate a contemporary twist on the important qualities of the past, qualities that the musicians Daniel Ian Smith has assembled clearly admire and respect.
 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Chuck Berghofer-Jan Lundgren-Joe La Barbera

Chuck Berghofer Trio Together Again ... At The Jazz Bakery (Fresh Sound FSR 5050 CD)

Playing for a very appreciative audience at one of the leading venues in Los Angeles, Chuck Berghofer, Jan Lundgren and Joe La Barbera prove that the huge success of their previous release, 2008’s Thanks For The Memory (Fresh Sound FSR 5048 CD), was no flash in the pan. Once again, the trio concentrate on standards, exploring the delights of Have You Met Miss Jones?, Love For Sale, Tenderly, Yesterdays, Everything Happens to Me and I’ve Never Been In Love Before. There are also jazz standards, Oscar Pettiford’s Blues In The Closet and Thelonious Monk’s Rhythm-a-ning. There is not a weak moment in this wonderfully performed session; all three men play superb solos, filled with invention and vividly demonstrating their skills. As a group, throughout they show how in tune they are with one another as they lift the music to quite remarkable heights.

Just in case you missed Thanks For The Memory, this CD pays tribute to Hollywood composer Ralph Rainger. Among the songs are Easy Living, Please, If I Should Lose You, June In January and I Wished On The Moon. All of these songs are lovingly interpreted by the three instrumentalists and the true value of the melodic gift of the composer is apparent throughout. Most of Rainger's songs were written in collaboration with lyricist Leo Robin and a measure of his contribution to their partnership can be heard when the wonderful Sue Raney steps up to sing two of their songs, If I Should Lose You and Thanks For The Memory. There is a ten-minute track that presents two radio clips from the era when the songs were written on one of which Rainger talks about his work and then plays Love In Bloom, while on the other Rainger and Robin sing the same song at an ASCAP show. These two CDs, both of which are produced by Dick Bank, are essential for jazz fans for the performances, while the earlier CD will be especially attractive to those who love the music of the era covered by those Hollywood songwriters. 
At the start of 2009, that earlier CD was a winner in the annual Critics' Poll in Jazz Journal and it came as no surprise when the new release also found favour, topping the 2011 poll as best new release.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

FAB Trio (Joe Fonda - Barry Altschul - Billy Bang)


FAB Trio History Of Jazz In Reverse (TUM Records CD 028)
This remarkable trio presents an exhilarating set of original music that is filled with references to music of the past while never being anything other than thoroughly contemporary. This act of musical magic is possible in part because all three members of the trio, bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul, violinist Billy Bang. Throughout, the skill and virtuosity of these three musicians is outstanding. Individually, they perform brilliant solos, yet the fluid interplay of the ensemble passages is eloquent testimony to their long association and the depth of their mutual understanding. All the music on this album is composed by the trio, much of it improvised freely in session; at times they create a thunderous ensemble sound that suggests far more than just three men. The group, which takes its name from the initial letters of its members' names, had recently completed a highly successful international tour just before this December 2005 recording session and the effect this had upon them is evident from their togetherness. This CD is one of the last recordings by Billy Bang, who died on 11 April 2011, while the CD was still in post-production. Thanks to music like this, his name continues to resonate in the world of jazz.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Stéphane Grappelli - Connie Evingson

Stéphane Grappelli Improvisations (Essential Jazz Classics EJC55493)
This CD comes from a time when the violinist was between his two key periods; the first was, of course, when he was alongside Django Reihardt in the Quintette Du Hot Club De France, the second came from the 1970s onwards when he became a notable figure on the world stage. The mid-1950s sets that are heard on this CD are particularly rewarding, in part because here Grappelli is no longer a distant second to Reinhardt but is an increasingly confident leader. Perhaps deliberately, he largely avoids comparisons by working without a guitar on many tracks. In one band, he is with nominal leader pianist Jack Dieval, bassist Benoít Quersin and drummer Jean-Louis Viale; in another he is with pianist Maurice Vander, bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Baptiste ‘Mac Kac’ Reilles, He does, though, return to his roots for a set with guitarist Henri Crolla, bassist Emmanuel Soudieux and Reilles on which he performs a couple of Reinhardt pieces, Manoir De Mes Reves and Djangology  Throughout, Grappelli displays invention and swing, is always thoroughly melodic and consistently demonstrates how jazz can be simultaneously light-hearted and emotionally fulfilling.




The lasting impact of the QHCDF can be seen from the number of bands that have followed their example through the years. For example, there are ... 

New Quintette Du Hot Club De France (Frémeaux FA542)
This group was led by Django’s son, Babik Reinhardt, who is joined by fellow guitarists Romane and Philippe ‘Doudou’ Cuillerier, violinist Florin Niculescu and bassist Gilles Naturel. This 1998 recording demonstrates the respect these musicians had for the originals. Fortunately, Babik was clearly aware that his father was inimitable and he and his colleagues seek not to copy but to breathe the master’s spirit.

The same can be said of Hot Club de Norvege on ...

Swing de Paris (Hot Club HCRCD 34)  *  Django Music (Hot Club HCRCD 219)
This band was formed in 1979 by guitarists Jon Larsen and Per Frydenlund and bassist Svein Aarbostad who soon added violinist Ivar Brodahl. The band had made a number of well-received albums and appeared at prestigious engagements, including 1984’s Paris concert honouring the 50th anniversary of Reinhardt and Grappelli’s original Hot Club de France. The first of these CDs was recorded in 1985-6. Midway through the 1980s Brodahl retired and was replaced by Finn Hauge and the group continued to play through to the present; the second CD was recorded in 2007. The band has continued to play the music of the QHCDF alongside which they agreeably play music, traditional and contemporary, that echoes other regions of Europe.

The USA is not left out and acknowledgement to Reinhardt and Grappelli can be heard on ...


Connie Evingson Gypsy In My Soul (Minnehaha MM 2006)
Recorded in 2004, this CD finds Connie Evingson in musical territory inspired by Reinhardt as she teams up with three different Django-style bands: the Clearwater Hot Club, the Parisota Hot Club and Pearl Django. The music is vibrant and colourful and singer and instrumentalists revel in the free, open swing that admirably reflects the gypsy legend. Mostly the songs are standards, along with a couple of Reinhardt's own compositions, Nuages and Anouman, the latter having a new lyric by Evingson herself.

This very accomplished jazz singer can also be heard on ...

Little Did I Dream (Minnehaha MM 2008)
Recorded in 2004, this CD album brings together Connie Evingson and pianist-composer-singer Dave Frishberg and the resulting mixture is magical. Although Dave sings only once here, his presence is everywhere. He composed the music for all 14 songs and wrote lyrics for 8 of them. He also plays piano throughout, alongside bassist Gordy Johnson, drummer Phil Hey and saxophonists Dave Karr and Mark Henderson. A lively and immensely entertaining singer, Evingson sings and swings a wide range of music, all performed with a vibrant sense of enjoyment.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Andrea Wolper - Deborah Pearl

Andrea Wolper The Small Hours (VarisOne Jazz 402 4569 3101 2)  *  Parallel Lives (Jazzed Media JM 1054)
Andrea Wolper has a fluid voice, which she uses in an attractive low-key style, drawing subtle nuances from lyrics, and shaping vocal lines into jazz performances. For some years she worked regularly with guitarist Ron Affif and bassist Ken Filiano and the interplay of the three on the first of these CDs makes clear that this is neither singer with band, nor band with singer but a co-operative trio of which every member is an equal part. The extent of Andrea's musicianship is apparent from the fact that she is also responsible for the arrangements and these are exemplary.
The latest of these CDs, released in September 2011, has Wolper and Filiano in collaboration with guitarist Michael Howell, pianist Kris Davis and electronic percussionist Michael TA Thompson. The group explores new possibilities in some standards, including a gorgeous Skylark, touches upon songs from more recent times, among them Joni Mitchell’s Song To A Seagull, and also provides three eloquent examples confirming that in addition to her singing talent, Wolper is an accomplished songwriter. Clearly, this gifted artist has much to offer those who delight in contemporary jazz singing.

For the past quarter-century, my reviews and articles have appeared in Jazz Journal, which can be visited on-line. From there it is possible to subscribe for this exceptional monthly magazine that offers insightful thoughts on jazz today and jazz from long ago.

Deborah Pearl Souvenir Of You (Evening Star ES115)
For many years, Deborah Pearl was a friend of Benny Carter and with his encouragement developed her talent as both singer and songwriter. All these elements come together on this very good 2011 CD, which is subtitled New Lyrics to Benny Carter Classics. Although this is a debut release, it is immediately clear that Pearl is highly accomplished as both singer and lyricist. The words she has written for several of the master jazzman’s compositions bring attractive concepts, reflecting both period and latterday elements. Some of the compositions are instantly familiar, others perhaps less so but these no less admirable for their melodic charm.
On two tracks, Happy Feet (At The Savoy) and Anniversary Dance, the backing to Pearl’s vocal lines has been taken from a concert at Rutger’s by a big band fronted by Carter and featuring his inimitable alto saxophone. On these and all of Carter’s other compositions, which include Doozy, Johnny True, An Elegy In Blue and Souvenir Of You, Pearl helps demonstrate how timeless is Carter’s music and how his admiration for others, such as Johnny Hodges, illuminated his work. With skilful accompaniment from pianist-arranger Lou Forestieri, bassists Chris Colangelo and Kenny Wild, and drummers Dave Karasony and Jimmy Branly, Pearl makes an impressive mark that should appeal to many.  

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Zutty Singleton

Drum Face 

Zutty Singleton was a master of his art and after Baby Dodds was the finest of the New Orleans drummers. He played with a springy, joyous beat that ultimately gave him more flexibility than his more stately contemporary.
He was born Arthur James Singleton in Bunkie, Louisiana, on 14 May 1898. His nickname was bestowed upon him while he was still a babe-in-arms: the name indicating the happy countenance that he was to retain for the rest of his life. Playing drums from a very early age, he worked professionally for the first time when he was 17 years old. After serving in the army during World War 1, he worked with numerous bands in New Orleans, including those led by Oscar 'Papa' Celestin, 'Big Eye' Louis Nelson and Luis Russell, before joining the educational hothouse that was Fate Marable's riverboat band. Through the riverboat experience his reputation spread to St. Louis where he played in Charlie Creath's band and married Charlie's sister, the pianist Marge Creath. After a spell back in New Orleans, Zutty's next port of call was Chicago where he was hired by headlining leaders such as Doc Cooke, Dave Peyton and Jimmie Noone before teaming up with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines. He also played in a trio with Jelly Roll Morton and Barney Bigard. New York beckoned and there he played with another top flight band, that led by Carroll Dickerson. He freelanced extensively in New York throughout the 1930s, playing on numerous recording sessions, including dates with Sidney Bechet, Roy Eldridge and Lionel Hampton.

In the early 1940s, Zutty continued his varied recording career, frequently leading his own band, and also playing behind frontline artists, among whom were such disparate figures as T-Bone Walker and Charlie Parker. He worked in films and on radio; appearing on-screen in Stormy Weather (1943) and New Orleans (1946), and on Orson Welles's radio show. Reportedly, he was deeply distressed when he was not invited to join the all-star band formed to back Armstrong in the mid-40s, but he remained highly active, working with Eddie Condon, Joe Marsala and Wingy Manone, among many. Early in the 1950s, Zutty spent some time in Europe in bands led by Mezz Mezzrow, Bill Coleman, Hot Lips Page and Lillian Armstrong. Once again, several fine recording sessions resulted. During the rest of the 50s and on through the 60s, Zutty worked mostly in New York, which is where he had made his home. During the latter part of this period he made several records on which he was the featured performer, mostly for Fat Cat's Jazz. Towards the end of the 60s, Zutty appeared in the remarkable French documentary film, L'Aventure Du Jazz (1969), playing unaccompanied drum solos (the soundtrack of this film was released on LP).
For all practical purposes, Zutty's career ended following a stroke in 1970. He lived out his life in New York with Marge and was widely admired and regarded as a father figure to the city's jazz community. He died there on 14 July 1975.

The buoyancy Zutty brought to his playing ensured that the session on which he played always swung. His late 20s recordings with Louis Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom small band are among the most important recordings ever made and they remain in print to this day. An early champion of wire brushes and a distinctive user of the sock cymbal, together with other ear-catching effects placed him well ahead of his time as a jazz drummer. The appearance with Charlie Parker was atypical; he happened to be a member of Slim Gaillard's group which backed Bird for what was virtually a one-off appearance. Nevertheless, his flexibility meant that he was able to acquit himself without unsettling either the performance or his reputation.

A gifted soloist, Zutty would sometimes follow the penchant of New Orleans drummers for starting a solo by playing the melodic line of the number before creating rhythmic variations. It is one of several rare skills his generation of drummers possessed, a skill that has sadly fallen into decline. Other solo excursions, such as a memorable unaccompanied ‘Drum Face’ on a Mezzrow date in Paris in 1951, and the Fat Cat's Jazz sessions, including the outstanding album, Zutty And The Clarinet Kings (apparently none of these is as yet on CD) show him to be witty, inventive and always swinging. Like several other drummers of the past, such as Big Sid Catlett and Jo Jones, Zutty offered much to be admired and emulated by later generations of jazz drummers. Unlike them, he seems not to have his champions, which is an unwarranted shame.

Recommended recordings (probably not on CD): Mezz Mezzrow And His Orchestra (Jazz Legacy JL 65); Zutty And The Clarinet Kings (Fat Cat's Jazz FCJ 100)



Saturday, October 22, 2011

Ran Blake & Dominique Eade

Ran Blake & Dominique Eade Whirlpool (Jazz Project JP 3002)
Throughout his long career, pianist Ran Blake has always pushed the boundaries, especially as a soloist. Indeed, some of his earlier record dates resulted in material that doubtless caused bewilderment among listeners with less-adventurous minds than his. Through his teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he has been since the late 1960s, Blake has gradually awakened many to his way of thinking about contemporary music. Alongside all of this, Blake has enjoyed highly successful working relationships with singers. Among these, is Dominique Eade, whose presence at NRC was partly prompted by her eagerness to work with Blake. Although Eade’s career is much shorter than the pianist’s, she has gained a comparable reputation for her advanced approach to jazz. She has an engaging ability to prompt listeners to question established approaches to standards and thus to discover, often to the listener's surprise, thoroughly rewarding and hugely enjoyable variations on familiar themes. Here, Blake and Eade demonstrate their love for good music as they explore previously unexplored byways that are often barely hinted at in songs such as My Foolish Heart, Where Are You, The Thrill Is Gone and Dearly Beloved. Even a song from the end of the nineteenth century, After The Ball Is Over, is beautifully recreated; indeed, the duo succeed in turning it into a contemporary jazz classic. This late-2011 release is very well worth hearing.





A reputed broadcaster, bandleader and composer, John Robert Brown was for many years an educator at the Leeds College of Music. Currently, he is Chairman of the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain. In addition to articles on jazz artists, John's site includes links to musicians, musical instrument manufacturers, music educators, magazines, authors and administrators.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Shirley Crabbe - Claire Dickson - DIVA

Shirley Crabbe Home (MaiSong Music unnumbered)
Although this is a debut release, Shirley Crabbe is a mature singer, performing a well-selected repertoire in displaying considerable talent. Shirley's late arrival as a recording artists resulted from vocal problems eventually solved through surgery and it is a delight to hear her voice, which is full and rich and used with subtle flair and very good taste. Shirley's accompanists here are pianists Donald Vega and Jim West, bassist John Burr and drummer Alvester Garrett, who make up the core trio. They are joined by guest soloists Brandon Lee, Dave Glasser, Matt Haviland and Houston Person, all of whom contribute significantly to the proceedings. That said, this CD is a showcase for an exceptionally gifted artist who must surely appeal to all who love good jazz singing and can now hear her for the first time.

Claire Dickson Scattin' Doll (Naftule's Dream NDR 102)
This remarkable young singer was the recent winner of Down Beat's award as Best Jazz Vocalist, Junior High School Level, and on this, her first CD, it is clear to see why. Some tracks were recorded when Claire Dickson was aged 12, some at 13, and she is without question a singer to look out for, not just now but for the next several decades. Here, she takes her repertoire from the books of Parker, Ellington and Hampton, a few of the classic pop song composers, and performs everything with enormous confidence. Surely no one coming to this singer blindfolded would think she is so young - okay, so here and there are a few tiny touches that suggest her voice is not yet as strong as it will become, but throughout Claire displays startling maturity of purpose and understanding. Claire's accompanying trio, Michael McLaughlin, Greg Loughman and Eric Rosenthal, support her ably as do guest horns Gary Bohan, Dan Fox and Glenn Dickson on three tracks, but this is a showcase for the singer and one that should have wide appeal as will anything she might do in the future. Surely, this is the birth of a major jazz singing talent.


Definitely the place to go if, like me, you have a thing about singers, is this Jazz Singers' Site where you will find links to dozens of singers; featuring biographies, discographies, venues, comments, thoughts, contact addresses, and more. This is an absolute must for fans of singers.


DIVA TNT - A Tommy Newsome Tribute (Diva Jazz Lightyear 54698-2)
This strikingly good big band has been around now for a dozen years and good as it was to start with, and it was very good indeed, it is even better now. The leader of DIVA is drummer Sherrie Maricle who has been there from the start and although the personnel has undergone some changes over the years it has always been first class. On this outing there are no weak links and very nearly everyone gets a chance to solo. Although it might be invidious to select just a few for special mention, because all are so good, especially notable is the playing of Barbara Loronga, trumpet, Karolina Strassmeyer, alto saxophone, Lisa Parrott, baritone saxophone, Chihiro Yamanaka, piano, and Anat Cohen on both tenor saxophone and clarinet. Special mention must be made of the arrangements; as the album title suggests these are by Tommy Newsome and they are ideal for this band, which in its ensemble playing shifts from fiery to mellow with fluid ease. This is top class big band music played with panache and style and is very warmly recommended.
Five Play What The World Needs Now (Arbors ARCD 19381)
The DIVA Jazz Trio Never Never Land (Arbors ARCD 19393)
Two outstanding small groups drawn from the remarkable musicians gathered together as DIVA under Sherrie Maricle are presented on the second pair of CDs. Five Play is a quintet with Jami Dauber on trumpet, cornet and flügelhorn, Janelle Reichman on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Tomoko Ohno on piano and Noriko Ueda on bass, while just the latter pair join Sherrie on the CD by the trio. The music on both of these CDs is exceptional: sparkling solos, delightful ensemble playing, and throughout there is terrific swing, plain delight in performance and altogether some of the best jazz around today. These are musicians of the highest calibre and any or all of these albums should be high on anyone's shopping list.