Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cliff Smalls was born Clifton Arnold on March 3, 1918 and was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. His father, a carpenter, performed piano and organ for Charleston’s Central Baptist Church. He taught Smalls classical music at an early age. He left home with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and also recorded with them, for instance, Off and on Blues and “Deed I Do, which he arranged and featured Cat Anderson in 1937 when he was 19.
With his career coinciding with the early years of bebop, from 1942 to 1946 he was a trombonist, arranger and also backup piano-player for band-leader and pianist Earl Hines, alongside Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie Parker. While in the Hines band he performed often during broadcasts seven nights a week on open mikes coast-to-coast across America. Hines also used Teddy Wilson, Jess Stacy and Nat “King” Cole as backup piano-players but Smalls was his favorite. He also played in the Jimmie Lunceford and Erskine Hawkins bands.
After the inevitable post-World War II breakup of the Hines big-band, Cliff went on to play and record in smaller ensembles with his former Earl Hines band colleagues, singer and band-leader Billy Eckstine, trombonist Bennie Green, saxophonist Earl Bostic and singer Sarah Vaughan. In 1949 he recorded with JJ Johnson and Charlie Rouse. He was the pianist on Earl Bostic’s 1950 hit Flamingo along with John Coltrane but had a serious automobile accident, with Earl Bostic, in 1951 and laid in bed all of 1952, till March of 1953.
Recovering, Smalls shifted his musical career to serve as music director/arranger for singers Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Jr., Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Clyde McPhatter, Roy Hamilton and Brook Benton. He recorded Bennie Green with Art Farmer in 1956 and was, for many years, a regular with Sy Oliver’s nine-piece Little Big-Band from 1974-1984, a regular stint in New York’s Rainbow Room.
In the 1970s he returned to jazz-recording, including four solo tracks for The Complete Master Jazz Piano Series in 1970, with Sy Oliver in 1973, Texas Twister with Buddy Tate in 1975, Swing and Things in 1976 and Caravan in France in 1978. In 1980 Smalls was featured playing piano in The Cotton Club, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Trombonist, pianist, conductor and arranger Cliff Smalls, who worked in the jazz, soul and rhythm & blues genres, passed away in 2008.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Buell Neidlinger was born in New York City on March 2, 1936 and raised in Westport, Connecticut, where his father ran a cargo shipping business. He played cello in his youth and began studying double bass after a music teacher recommended it to strengthen his hands. He took lessons from jazz bassist Walter Page. In his teens, suffering from a nervous breakdown, which he attributed to the pressure of being perceived as a child prodigy on cello, while institutionalized, he met jazz pianist Joe Sullivan who was in treatment for alcoholism.
Dropping out of Yale University after one year, where he had been studying orchestral music, he moved to New York City and began playing in various jazz settings. He joined Cecil Taylor’s group in 1955 and recorded extensively with Taylor’s groups with Steve Lacy and with Archie Shepp among others until 1961. He played with Herbie Nichols and was also involved with new directions in classical music.
By 1971, Buell moved to California and became the principal bassist for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and was also principal bassist in the Warner Bros. studio orchestra for 30 years. He worked extensively as an orchestral and as a session bassist before becoming a music educator at the New England Conservatory and CalArts. Together with Marty Krystall, he founded K2B2 Records. The sessions he performed on as a strings player included Tony Bennett’s I Left My Heart In San Francisco and the Eagles’ Hotel California.
In 1983, he performed on the Antilles Records release Swingrass ’83. In 1997, and moved to Whidbey Island, Washington State. There, he played in a band called Buellgrass, which included fiddler Richard Greene and featured their version of bluegrass music. Neidlinger’s fourth wife, Margaret Storer, was also a bass player. They played baroque music with friends where he played cello, while she played the violin.
His final recording was The Happenings, accompanied by Howard Alden on guitar and Marty Krystall on bass clarinet and flute, released in December 2017. Bassist and cellist Buell Neidlinger, who worked prominently with iconoclastic pianist Cecil Taylor in the 1950s and ’60s, passed away on March 16, 2018.
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Requisites
House Party is the fourteenth album by jazz organist Jimmy Smith featuring performances recorded in 1957 and 1958 and released on the Blue Note label. Rudy Van Gelder chose the Manhattan Towers Hotel Ballroom in New York City for the recording sessions in 1957-1958, while he was still using his parents’ Hackensack, New Jersey home studio to record artists for Blue Note.
Track Listing | 42:46- Au Privave (Charlie Parker) – 15:09
- Lover Man (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, James Sherman) – 7:00
- Just Friends (John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis) – 15:15
- Blues After All (Kenny Burrell) – 6:06
- Jimmy Smith – organ
- Lee Morgan – trumpet (tracks 1, 3, 4 & 5)
- Curtis Fuller – trombone (tracks 3 & 4)
- George Coleman – alto saxophone, (tracks 3 & 4)
- Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone, (tracks 1, 2 & 5)
- Tina Brooks – tenor saxophone (tracks 1 & 5)
- Kenny Burrell – guitar, (tracks 1, 4 & 5)
- Eddie McFadden – guitar, (track 2 & 3)
- Donald Bailey – drums, (tracks 2, 3 & 4)
- Art Blakey – drums, (tracks 1 & 5)
- Alfred Lion – producer
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
- Reid Miles – design
- Francis Wolff – photography
- Robert Levin – liner notes
Psychologists call it déjà vu, the distinct impression of having had the same experience before, that’s what it was alright, believe me. I was eight years old when I first discovered Jimmy Smith after hearing him on The Sermon (BLP 4011/BST 84011). His contributions to the development of modern jazz on the Hammond organ as a solo instrument helped to popularize it for others who would follow. Smith would ultimately lead me to discover the music of Charles Earland, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Don Patterson, John Patton, Freddie Roach, Shirley Scott and Dr. Lonnie Smith who made the organ their primary instrument. Houseparty
(Blue Note BLP 4002) hit the stores in 1958 and was the second album I would hear by the man who jazz critics, fans and fellow musicians called “incredible”.
It was recorded at the same session which produced The Sermon and is Smith’s fourteenth album for Blue Note since his debut, A New Sound, A New Star, Volumes 1 & 2 (BLP 1512/BST 81512 – BLP 1514/BST 81514) in 1956. The supporting cast joining the organist are Lee Morgan on trumpet; Curtis Fuller on trombone; Lou Donaldson and George Coleman on alto sax; Tina Brooks on tenor sax; Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden on guitar; Art Blakey and Donald Bailey on drums. I became a huge fan of his playing and purchased as many of his albums as my meager allowance would allow. My copy used for this report is the 1959 US Mono reissue (Blue Note Records, Inc. – 47 West 63rd NYC on the Side 1 label and the Deep Groove only on Side 2 with the label showing Blue Note Records, Inc. – NewYork USA), the 2nd US pressing.
The album opens with a vigorous uptempo workout of the 1951 jazz standard, Au Privave by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker who recorded it for Mercury Records on a 78-rpm single (11087), released the same year. It would reappear on Charlie Parker’s 1958 posthumous Verve Records LP, Swedish Schnapps (MG V-8010). Jimmy opens with a brief introduction, afterward, Lee provides a solo chorus of the melody first, followed by the ensemble who add their own excitement to the uptempo theme. Smith is first in the solo spotlight on the attack with a wailing performance, possessing amazing fluency on each chorus. Morgan adds some bite to the second statement with an intense groove that maintains the cooking intensity from beginning to end.
Donaldson steps in next for a torrid performance which gives off intensive heat. Tina Brooks comes in next, riding hard on the next robust reading, providing scorching verses of infinite effervescence delivered with an aggressive impact. At its conclusion, I wished he could have been featured elsewhere on the LP. Burrell takes over, adding a vigorous reading of his own with skillful authority preceding Jimmy’s returns for a short solo spot ahead of the ensemble’s strong finale.
Of all the songs in The Great American Songbook, Lover Man, in my opinion, is the pinnacle standard of jazz, pop, and soul. It was written by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and Jimmy Sherman for Billie Holiday who made it a hit on the pop and R&B charts in 1945. This rendition of the timeless classic highlights Lou Donaldson as the featured soloist with Jimmy’s trio of guitarist Eddie McFadden and drummer Donald Bailey. A hauntingly beautiful bass line by Smith makes the introduction, prior to the saxophonist’s warm, affectionate theme statement. Lou’s alto sax moves up to a sprightly tempo for two lively verses of stimulating solo work before returning to a softer mood for his final chorus.
Eddie and Jimmy each deliver one chorus of intensely persuasive passion, then Lou returns to lead the quartet into a thoughtfully, modest climax. Just Friends, the 1931 popular song by John Klenner and Sam M. Lewis kicks off Side Two at medium-tempo with McFadden leading Smith and Bailey through the bluesy melody. Eddie takes the lead solo, offering the first two of four choruses that are infectiously propulsive with a flowing beat. Jimmy takes the next turn, toning down his searing attack to presenting four choruses of low-keyed swing with a down-home flavor as scrumptious as a good meal. Lee is up next, delivering the next reading with a bright tone,
exemplary poise, and accuracy which is executed beautifully. George Coleman enters the spotlight next, establishing long flowing, graceful lines from his alto sax for a lightly swinging performance of carefree verses. Curtis Fuller conjures up some mellow phrases on the final interpretation preceding the final two choruses by McFadden with Smith and Bailey providing the foundation into the close.
Blues After All is from the pen of Kenny Burrell and our final stop on Houseparty. This slow-tempo blues is of the soul food variety and serves up a solo order of Coleman, Morgan, Fuller, Smith, Burrell. Jimmy brings the song to life with one of the smoothest introductions you’ll ever hear. He also provides the bass line with his left foot while playing chords with his left hand, harmonic and rhythmic lines with his right hand. Kenny’s sensitive approach to the melody is shown to fine advantage as he provides the initial theme. The three horns join the trio when the theme is repeated during the opening and closing chorus. The lead solo by George is a tasteful delight to tempt you for what’s to come, followed by Lee who produces a savory broth of the blues that is slowly simmered to perfection. Curtis comes to the table with a plate of appetizing notes that gives the song a wonderful flavor. Jimmy adds the red beans and rice to our dish on the next performance and Burrell delivers the final ingredient to make the meal complete and end the album on a scrumptious note.
Houseparty was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder who used the Manhattan Towers Hotel Ballroom in New York City for recording sessions with larger groups of musicians that would not fit in his parent’s living room. Both, Houseparty and The Sermon were recorded there and are among the outstanding releases in Smith’s discography. The sound is well done and each of the instruments a delight to hear with a wonderful soundstage. Jimmy exhibits a style of playing that is completely comfortable in the Hard-Bop or Soul-Jazz genres. He recorded a total of six studio albums for Blue Note featuring his trio, plus special guests. The other five LP’s are A Date With Jimmy Smith, Volume 1 & 2 (BLP1547/BST 81547 – BLP 1548/BST 81548) in 1957, The Sermon in 1959, Open House (BST 84269) and Plain Talk (84296) in 1968. If you’re a fan of the jazz organ, I offer for your evaluation, Houseparty. It’s an amazing album by Jimmy Smith that though out of print on LP in the US since the 1985 Stereo Cadre Rouge DMM Audiophile Edition (BST 84002), won’t break the bank when seeking a Mono or Stereo copy for your library. It’s also an LP you can enjoy alone, in the company of friends or guests at your next Houseparty! The Blue Note RVG Edition CD-album (7243 524542 8) released in 2000 adds an additional song, Confirmation by Charlie Parker.
Lover Man – Source: JazzStandards.com Au Privave, Just Friends, The Manhattan Towers Ballroom – Source: Wikipedia.org
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Hardaway was born on March 1, 1928 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to a dad who earned the nickname of J.B. “Bugs” Hardaway by inventing the characters of Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker. Moving to Hollywood got him his early coaching from film composer Darrell Caulkner. As an instrumentalist, he learned many fundamentals in his Air Force band, which inspired him to write music for a touring show, Air Force Frolics, which he also conducted. After military service he returned to college in Los Angeles, California then began a career as a big-band section player in reliable outfits such as Ray McKinley. It was Billy May who came through with the first recorded solo opportunity for him on a Capitol album promising an instrumental Bacchanalia.
Hardaway’s presence as a soloist was furthermore boosted on a mid-’50s series of Decca sides by bandleader Jerry Gray, among the features being the reliable “Thou Swell,” the gentle “Baby’s Lullaby,” and a pounding “Kettle Drum.” He had the first saxophone chair in the Woody Herman band in 1956 and also performed and recorded with big-band maestros Stan Kenton, Les Elgart, Benny Goodman, Alvino Rey, and Med Flory, among others. He would record on sessions with Lulu, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, Roger Neumann’s Rather Large Band, Harry Nilsson and Doris Day.
Jazz discographies alone pile up nearly 75 recording sessions involving Hardaway between 1949 and 1995. In addition, there were vocalists and vocal groups too numerous to name outside of that genre with which he recorded, usually in the company of A-list session players such as bassist Carol Kaye. At 91, multi-instrumental reedist Bob Hardaway has been retired since the Nineties.
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