The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
With rising cases of the Delta variant continuing to fill hospital beds to capacity with the unvaccinated causing other procedures to be postponed and medical staff walking out, I remain even more vigilant in protecting myself from those whose sole purpose is to put themselves and others in harm’s way. Remaining masked, socially distanced and secluded.
This week I’m pulling out the classic 1997 album Big Band by saxophonist Joe Henderson, the fourth of the five albums he recorded for Verve Records during the end of his career. The album was recorded at the Power Station ~ Berklee, New York City over a four year period between March 16, 1992 ~ June 26, 1996 and was released in 1997.
The sessions were produced, written and arranged by Joe Henderson, along with executive producer Richard Seidel, and producers Bob Belden (2,3,4,6,7,9), and Don Sickler (1,5,8). The production coordinator was Patricia Lie. The recording was mastered by Allan Tucker, mixed by Jim Anderson, photography by Jim Katz, and the iIllustration was created by Edwin Fotheringham.
Track List | 60:05 All tracks are composed by Joe Henderson, except where noted.- Without a Song (Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu) ~ 5:24
- Isotope ~ 5:20
- Inner Urge ~ 9:01
- Black Narcissus ~ 6:53
- A Shade Of Jade ~ 8:22
- Step Lightly ~ 7:19
- Serenity ~ 5:52
- Chelsea Bridge (Billy Strayhorn) ~ 4:30
- Recordame (Recuerdame) ~ 7:25
- Joe Henderson ~ tenor saxophone, arranger (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8)
- Slide Hampton ~ conductor, arranger (tracks 3, 7))
- Dick Oatts ~ soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
- Pete Yellin, Steve Wilson, Bobby Porcelli, John O’Gallagher ~ alto saxophone
- Craig Handy, Rich Perry, Tim Ries, Charles Pillow ~ tenor saxophone
- Joe Temperley, Gary Smulyan ~ baritone saxophone
- Freddie Hubbard, Raymond Vega, Idrees Sulieman, Jimmy Owens, Jon Faddis, Lew Soloff, Marcus Belgrave, Nicholas Payton, Tony Kadleck, Michael Mossman, Virgil Jones, Earl Gardner, Byron Stripling ~ trumpet
- Conrad Herwig, Jimmy Knepper, Robin Eubanks, Keith O’Quinn, Larry Farrell, Kiane Zawadi ~ trombone
- David Taylor, Douglas Purviance ~ bass trombone
- Chick Corea, Helio Alves, Ronnie Mathews ~ piano
- Christian McBride ~ bass
- Joe Chambers, Al Foster, Lewis Nash, Paulinho Braga ~ drums
- Michael Mossman ~ arranger (track 9)
- Bob Belden ~ arranger (tracks: 4, 6)
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Cæcilie Norby was born on September 9, 1964 in Frederiksberg, Denmark, into a musical family, her father a classical composer and her mother an opera singer. She was a founding member of the band Street Beat in 1982 then for two years, she was a member of the jazz-rock band Frontline. From 1985 to 1993, she worked with singer Nina Forsberg in the rock band One~Two. During the 1990s, she turned to jazz and released her first solo album for Blue Note.
Her self~titled debut recording co~produced by Niels Lan Doky featured Scott Robinson, Randy Brecker and Michael Brecker each played on one track. Doky produced her following album My Corner Of The Sky in 1996, which prominently featured pianists David Kikoski, Joey Calderazzo and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums. The repertoire for both recordings included only a few jazz standards like Summertime or Just One of Those Things, instead she and Lan Doky arranged classic popular songs for a jazz line-up, like Wild Is the Wind, By the Time I Get to Phoenix and a track by Curtis Mayfield on the first album. The Look of Love, Life on Mars, Spinning Wheel and Set Them Free by Sting she recorded on the second.
For both albums Norby wrote lyrics to compositions by Randy Brecker, Chick Corea, Don Grolnick and Wayne Shorter. Both albums gained wide attention and five-digit sales, especially in Denmark and also in Japan.
Her third album Queen of Bad Excuses, released in 1999, was a collaboration with bassist Lars Danielsson, who already played bass on her sophomore release. This time she brought into the studio pianists Ben Besiakov and Lars Jansson, drummers Anders Kjellberg, Per Lindvall, Billy Hart, guitarist John Scofield, saxophonist Hans Ulrik and percussionist Xavier Desandre Navarre. Vocalist Cæcilie Norby continues to advance the music.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
David Walter Bowman was born September 8, 1914 in Buffalo, New York but was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he learned to play piano as a four year old.
He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and played there for a time, then went to London, England working with Jack Hylton in the mid-1930s. After returning to the States he settled in New York and played with Bobby Hackett, Sharkey Bonano, Sidney Bechet, and Bud Freeman late in the decade.
In the early 1940s, he worked with Jack Teagarden, Joe Marsala, Muggsy Spanier, Lee Wiley, and Eddie Condon. He took positions with ABC and NBC in the late 1940s including Perry Como and worked as a studio musician on recordings.
In the 1950s, he once again worked with Bud Freeman and with Phil Napoleon shortly before his own death. Pianist Dave Bowman passed away from an automobile accident on December 28, 1964 in Miami, Florida.
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Three Wishes
When asked what his three wishes would be Claude Purvis responded to Nica with:
- “The first, I would try to be in a position to expose my talent to everyone, to make my music known to all.”
- “A comfortable place to live.”
- “An opportunity to help jazz. I think about myself first.”
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alvin Elmore Alcorn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 7, 1912. Learning music theory from his brother, in the early 1930s he was a member of the Sunny South Syncopators led by Armand J. Piron.
He worked in Texas as a member of Don Albert’s swing band, but he spent most of his career in New Orleans in the dixieland bands of Paul Barbarin, Sidney Desvigne, Oscar Celestin, and Octave Crosby.
During the 1950s, he moved to Los Angeles, California and joined Kid Ory’s band, then a couple years later returned home to New Orleans. After going on tour in Europe with Chris Barber in the late 1970s, he continued to perform into the 1980s.
Trumpeter Alvin Alcorn passed away on July 10, 2003.
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