Requisites…

<

Anthropology~Don Byas | By Eddie Carter

I begin this morning’s discussion with an album by tenor saxophonist Don Byas, a swing and bebop musician who played in the orchestras of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Lionel Hampton. He also worked with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and Ethel Waters among others. Anthropology (Black Lion Records BLP 30126) is a 1963 album that was recorded live at the Jazzhus Montmartre (also known as Café Montmartre). The rhythm section is an outstanding trio of Danish descent, pianist Bent Axen, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer William Schiöpffe. My copy used in this report is the US Stereo reissue (Black Lion BL-160), the date of release is unknown.

The album opens with Anthropology, a bebop classic written in 1945 by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker that’s also known as Thriving From a Riff or Thriving on a Riff.  Schiöpffe introduces the tune, preceding the leader’s feisty delivery of the melody.  Byas takes the lead with a compelling lift to start the soloing, then Axen executes the second reading efficiently. Pedersen turns in a brief presentation closely shadowed by Byas and Schiöpffe ends the readings by exchanging a few splendid phrases with the leader.

Moonlight In Vermont was written in 1944 by John Blackburn and Karl A. Suessdorf.  This timeless evergreen provides a perfect backdrop for Byas’ gorgeous melody. The saxophonist continues with a very dreamy interpretation of the slow-paced, serene opening solo. Bent follows, displaying a graceful elegance on the next performance with discreet, perfectly tailored support by Niels-Henning and William. Byas’ closing chorus is lovingly rendered, completing the song with a tender finale that’s gorgeous.

Charlie Parker’s 1945 bebop anthem Billie’s Bounce ends the first side with a spirited rendition by the quartet. Pedersen and Schiöpffe open the song as a duet that becomes a lively theme treatment. Don raises the temperature on the lead solo with an effervescent beat that energizes the trio. Bent takes the spotlight last hitting a perfect groove on a swinging performance preceding the leader’s final remarks, theme’s reprise, and coda.

The gears shift upward for Dizzy Gillespie’s most famous recorded tune, Night In Tunisia was written in 1942 with Frank Paparelli. The rhythm section introduces the song at a speedy velocity proceeding to the aggressively energetic theme by Byas who also rips into the first solo voraciously. Bent takes the reins next zipping along like a whirlwind, then Don returns for a second exhilarating statement with bassist and drummer providing the fuel. NHØP takes over for an abbreviated scorcher, then Schiöpffe speaks last exhibiting mesmerizing brushwork into the invigorating climax.

The finale is the 1932 ballad, Don’t Blame Me, written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. This song made its first appearance on Broadway in the show, Clowns in Clover, and later in two films, The Bad and The Beautiful (1952) and Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). Byas begins with a delicate introduction and heart-warming melody ahead of a sultry first statement that’s exquisite. Axen expresses a gentle affection on the final solo preceding Byas who ends the song and LP with a tender sincerity.

In 1964, Byas was celebrating his third decade as a professional musician. In honor of that achievement, the LP was also released as The Big Sound – Don Byas’ 30^th Anniversary Album on Fontana in the Netherlands and Debut Records in Denmark.  Two songs on the original LP are omitted on Anthropology, There’ll Never Be Another You by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon and Walkin’ by Richard Carpenter. Don Byas was a masterful musician who was adept at a fast clip or on a romantic ballad.

He lived the last twenty-six years of his life in Europe, working extensively before passing away from lung cancer on August 24, 1972, at the age of fifty-nine. The dialogue between the quartet is fascinating and their music a treat for the Café Montmartre crowd. The album was produced by UK music executive Alan Bates who began Black Lion Records and also re-launched the Candid label in London. The sound quality is excellent, transporting the listener to the club amid the crowd. Though out of print for many years, Anthropology is a remarkable live album by Don Byas that I not only recommend but am sure will become a welcome addition in any library.

~ Alan Bates, The Big Sound – Don Byas’ 30^th Anniversary Album (Debut Records DEB-142, Fontana 688 605 ZL) – Source: Discogs.com

~ Moonlight In Vermont, Night In Tunisia – JazzStandards.com

~ Don’t Blame Me – Source: Wikipedia.org

© 2020 by Edward Thomas Carter

More Posts: choice,classic,collectible,collector,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Fred Hopkins was born on October 11, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in a musical family, listening to a wide variety of music from an early age. Attending DuSable High School, he studied music under Walter Dyett, who became well-known for mentoring and training musicians. Originally inspired to learn the cello, without one at the school Dyett steered him to the bass. After graduating from high school, while working at a grocery store he was encouraged to pursue music more seriously.

Hopkins soon began playing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where he was the first recipient of the Charles Clark Memorial Scholarship, and studying with Joseph Gustafeste, principal bassist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the time, as well as picking up piano duo gigs. He also began playing with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, with whom he made his debut recording in 1970 Forces and Feelings. At that point he started becoming more serious about improvisation, playing with Muhal Richard Abrams’s Experimental Band and other related groups.

The early 1970s saw him forming a trio called Reflection with saxophonist Henry Threadgill and drummer Steve McCall. In 1975, he left Chicago, moved to New York City, regrouped with Threadgill and McCall, renamed their trio Air, and went on to tour and record extensively. He also joined the AACM, immersed himself in New York’s loft scene. Over the following decades, he increasingly gained recognition, gigging with Roy Haynes.

He performed and recorded with Muhal Richard Abrams, Hamiet Bluiett, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, David Murray, Diedre Murray, and Don Pullen, as well as with various groups led by Threadgill. Moving back to Chicago in 1997, he continued to perform, tour, and record with a wide variety of musicians. Double bassist Fred Hopkins passed away on January 7, 1999 at age 51 of heart disease at the University of Chicago Hospital.

More Posts: bandleader,bass,history,instrumental,jazz,music

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Francisco Aguabella was born on October 10, 1925 in Matanzas, Cuba. Demonstrating a special aptitude for drumming at an early age, he was initiated into several Afro-Cuban drumming traditions, including batá, iyesá, arará, olokún, and abakuá. Aguabella also grew up with rumba.

He is one of a handful of Cuban percussionists who came to the United States in the 1940s and 50s. In the 1950s, he left Cuba to perform with Katherine Dunham in the Shelley Winters film Mambo filmed in Italy. He immigrated to the United States in 1953, performing and touring with Peggy Lee for the next seven years. 

During his long career, he performed in Europe, Australia, South America, and throughout the United States, including the White House. Aguabella enjoyed extensive music performing and recording careers, delighted many audiences with his masterful and powerful rhythms.

Francisco performed with many great jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Eddie Palmieri, Cachao, Lalo Schifrin, Cal Tjader, Nancy Wilson, Poncho Sanchez, Bebo Valdes, Carlos Santana, and numerous others. He is featured in two documentaries, Sworn to the Drum and Aguabella. He has also appeared with his ensemble on television programs.

During the Seventies, he was a member of the Jorge Santana Latin rock band Malo. Francisco was a widely recognized master conguero and bata artist, a caring and knowledgeable instructor. Aguabella was a faculty member at the annual Explorations in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum workshop hosted by the Humboldt State University Office of Extended Education in Arcata, California. While living in Los Angeles, California, he taught Afro-Cuban drumming to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, Los Angeles.

A prolific session musician and recorded seven albums as a leader, throughout his career, he played congas, bata, quinto, coro, shekere, drums, claves, bongos, timbales, cajon, and other assorted percussion instruments. Percussionist Francisco Aguabella, who received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, passed away in Los Angeles on May 7, 2010 of a cancer-related illness.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,percussion

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Elmer Chester Snowden was born on October 9, 1900 in Baltimore, Maryland and by 1917, a month before his 17th birthday, his listed occupation was a musician.  While still living at home with his mother in 1920, the census had him employed as a musician in a dance hall.

The original leader of the Washingtonians, he brought the group to New York City in 1923. However, unable to get a booking, he sent for Duke Ellington, who was with the group when it recorded three test sides for Victor and who eventually took over leadership, and that band became his famous orchestra.

Making numerous appearances as a session musician, sideman, or accompanist on almost every New York City label from 1923 on, Elmer was often in trios with Bob Fuller on clarinet and Lou Hooper on piano. They rarely received credit for their work during those days but did show up on two Bessie Smith sides and six sides for the Sepia Serenaders.

Snowden was also a renowned bandleader who employed at one time or another Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Bubber Miley, “Tricky Sam” Nanton, Frankie Newton, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart, Roy Eldridge, and Chick Webb in his various bands.

So active in the 1920s he was an agent and musician, and at one time had five bands playing under his name in New York, one of which was led by pianist Cliff Jackson. Most of his bands were not recorded, but a Snowden band that included Eldridge, Al Sears, Dicky Wells, and Sid Catlett appeared in a 1932 film, Smash Your Baggage.

By the mid-1930s his career was one of relative obscurity in New York, however, he continued to play throughout the 30s, 40s and 50s far from the limelight. A dispute with the New York Musicians Union, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he taught music. Counted among his pupils were pianist Ray Bryant, his brother, bassist Tommy Bryant, and saxophonist Sahib Shihab.

Working as a parking lot attendant in 1959 disc jockey Chris Albertson, ran across him and the following year brought Snowden and singer-guitarist Lonnie Johnson together for two Prestige albums. He assembled a quartet that included Cliff Jackson for a Riverside session, Harlem Banjo, and, in 1961 he put together a sextet session with Roy Eldridge, Bud Freeman, Jo Jones, and Ray and Tommy Bryant that was released on the Fontana and Black Lion labels.

Appearing at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival gave his career a boost, then he moved to California to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and played with Turk Murphy as well as taking private students for lessons in guitar and banjo. He toured Europe in 1967 with the Newport Guitar Workshop. In 1969, banjoist Elmer Snowden, who also played guitar and all the reed instruments,  and is responsible for launching the careers of many top musicians, moved back to Philadelphia, where he passed away on May 14, 1973.

More Posts: bandleader,banjo,history,instrumental,jazz,music

The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As the nation navigates the re-opening of the country, I am maintaining my social distancing with only minimal outings to the grocers, this Quarantined Jazz Voyager has chosen the perfect album to listen to in autumn. Pulling from the stacks is the 1996 recording by David Newman titled Under A Woodstock Moon.

The album was recorded on June 15~17, 1996 at the Quad Recording Studios in New York City. It was produced by the saxophonist and released on Herbie Mann’s Kokopelli label. David Newman contributed three compositions ~ 2, 9, & 12.

1. Nature Boy (Eden Ahbez) ~ 4:36
2. Amandla ~ 5:15
3. Up Jumped Spring (Freddie Hubbard) ~ 4:24
4. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most (Tommy Wolf, Fran Landesman) ~ 5:11
5. Autumn in New York (Vernon Duke) ~ 4:38
6. Sky Blues (David Leonhardt) ~ 2:56
7. Another Kentucky Sunset (Leonhardt) ~ 4:58
8. Summertime (George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin) ~ 4:56
9. Sunrise (Leonhardt, Newman) ~ 5:35
10. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Manning Sherwin, Eric Maschwitz) ~ 6:14
11. Skylark (Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer) ~ 4:49
12. Under a Woodstock Moon ~ 5:32

• David Newman ~ tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
• David Leonhardt ~ piano, arranger
• Bryan Carrott ~ vibraphone
• Steve Novosel ~ bass
• Winard Harper ~ drums
• Strings ~ Charles Libove, Eugene Moye, Matthew Raimondi, Ronald Carbone
• String section conducted by Torrie Zito
• Bob Freedman ~ arranger

As you listen and enjoy this wonderful addition to the jazz catalog, continue to social distance and stay healthy. During this sabbatical from flying and investigating jazz around the globe, enjoy the listen and know that the world and I will be back.

More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel,voyager