Daryl Sherman - Jane Stuart

Daryl Sherman Mississippi Belle (Audiophile ACD 342)

One of the most entertaining of musicians, Daryl Sherman has a fully deserved worldwide reputation as a fine jazz pianist and singer. On this, her latest CD (released late December 2011), she delves into a trove of music with which she is wonderfully familiar, the songs of Cole Porter. For many years, Daryl has played and sung regularly at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; what’s more, she has done so seated at the piano Cole Porter had in his suite when he stayed there, a Steinway given to him by the hotel. This CD is subtitled ‘Cole Porter in the Quarter’, that being, of course, the French Quarter of New Orleans, which is not only home to Audiophile Records but also where Daryl has often chosen to perform, particularly after Hurricane Katrina. Among the songs Daryl sings here are the familiar, which include Let’s Do It, Rosalie, Get Out Of Town, You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To and From This Moment On, and some that are less so, including Ours, Tale Of The Oyster, Use You Imagination and Looking At You. To her interpretations of all the songs, Daryl brings her unmistakable charm and wit, cloaking everything in her superb musicianship. Daryl’s instrumental collaborators here are clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Tom Fischer and bassist Jesse Boyd. The always admirable New Orleans-based singer, Banu Gibson, joins Daryl for By The Mississinewah. This is lovely stuff, a CD that will have very wide appeal.

Jane Stuart Don’t Look Back (Jane Stuart Music JSM 002)

Jane Stuart’s debut CD was 2007’s Beginning To See The Light, which won the Blue Chip Award for “Best Jazz Vocals” from the International Association of Jazz Educators. By now very much appreciated for her live performances, sometimes solo and sometimes as leader of her band, Airtight, in the New York and New Jersey area, Jane has built upon her very good start in the tough world of jazz singing and her new CD shows just how far she has come. This is a mature and confident performance, and her repertoire shows the breadth of her musical appreciation; among the songs here are Cole Porter’s Experiment, Dave Frishberg’s Wheelers And Dealers and You Are There (co-composed by Johnny Mandel), Lennon and McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby and I’ll Follow The Sun, Rodgers and Hart’s I Didn’t Know What Time It Was and an especially attractive version of the Gershwin classic, Summertime. Jane’s accompanists are pianist Rave Tesar, tenor saxophonist Frank Elmo, bassists Kermit Driscoll and Sue Williams share tracks and drummer Rick De Kovessey (who is her husband). Also on hand are percussionist Emedin Rivera and background vocalists Orlando Quinones and Paige Sandusky. There are also guests in the very welcome form of guitarist Dave Stryker and saxophonist Dick Oatts. This is a singer who deserves your attention.

Bill Berry

Hot ‘n’ Happy

One of the outstanding big bands of the 1970s, Bill Berry’s LA Band was rich in talented soloists, powerful in execution, and dedicated in its approach. Sadly, it was barely recorded although many off-air and private recordings exist and I count myself lucky in having several of these. Officially, only two albums were released, Hello Rev (Concord Jazz CJ CCD 4023) and the almost impossible to find vinyl, Hot 'n' Happy (Beez 1), the latter on Bill Berry’s own label. The CD incarnation of Hello Rev is therefore a ‘must have’ for all lovers of big band jazz at its fiery best. Soloists include Blue Mitchell, Cat Anderson, Jack Sheldon, Jimmy Cleveland, Tricky Lofton, Richie Kamuca, Marshal Royal and Dave Frishberg. This album almost matches the awesome experience of hearing the band live.

I heard the band live just once, at Carmelo’s, a Los Angeles jazz club. That night, the band included Sheldon, Cleveland, Kamuca and Frishberg, as well as Pete and Conte Candoli, Bob Efford, Jack Nimitz, Monty Budwig and Frank Capp among a truly star-studded personnel. If only more of my memories were made of evenings like this.
Bill Berry also led small groups and they have fared a little better in the CD age. Of these Shortcake (Concord Jazz CJ CCD 4075) also abounds in distinguished soloists, including Marshal Royal, Lew Tabackin, Bill Watrous and Dave Frishberg and additionally is marked by ingenious and witty charts. In the 1990s, Bill Berry and his wife Betty organized the Pacific Jazz Party, a richly rewarding trans-oceanic collaboration between musicians from America and Japan. The fine mainstream set, Jazz Party (Jazz Cook JCCD 1003) is one result of this meeting of musical minds. Cornetist Bill co-leads with his counterpart, clarinetist Eiji Kitamura, and they are joined by tenor saxophonist Sam Sadigursky and a pulsating rhythm section that draws from both countries: pianist Kotaro Tsukahara and the veteran bass and drums team of Ray Brown and Jake Hanna. Then there is Live at Capozzoli’s (Woofy WPCD 54), which was recorded during a late 1990s Las Vegas club date. The uncommon front line of Bill’s cornet and Jack Nimitz’s baritone saxophone lend interesting textures to a nice selection of numbers, most of which are standards.

Bill Berry's death, in November 2002, brought to an end a personal friendship that existed between us since the late 1970s. I miss Bill but count myself lucky to have known him and to have heard him play many times live, with various small bands and that never-to-be-forgotten occasion with his mighty big band. At least, we still have the records, all of which exemplify something Bill once observed: “You can be 100% serious about music, and still have fun.”