Three Wishes

Baroness Pannonica approached Teddy Edwards and as the conversation ensued she asked him if he was given three what would he wish for. His answered:

1. 1. “I wish peace.”
   2. “Love.”
   3. “And health.”

*Excerpt from Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats ~ Compiled and Photographed by Pannonica de Koenigswarter

More Posts: baroness,history,instrumental,jazz,music,pannonica,saxophone,three,wishes

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Louis Metcalf was born on February 28, 1905 in Webster Groves, Missouri. As a youth he first trained on the drums but switched over to cornet permanently. As a teenager in St. Louis, Missouri he played with Charlie Creath.

Moving to New York City in 1923 he participated in the fertile jazz scene there, playing with Willie The Lion Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, Benny Carter and King Oliver. In 1926, Duke Ellington hired Metcalf to play in his seminal orchestra, where his mellow tone contrasted with that of Bubber Miley. In the 1930s, he led his own bands and also joined Fletcher Henderson’s band.

1946 saw Louis moving to Montreal, Canada where he formed the International Band, the first to play the nascent bebop style in Canada. Under his leadership the Café Saint-Michel was the hub of the jazz scene in Montreal for a few years, with local musicians such as the young Oscar Peterson and visiting Americans Art Pepper, Fats Navarro and Sonny Rollins among others sitting in with the band.

A drug bust prompted Metcalf to return to New York City in 1951. He released an album titled I’ve Got The Peace Brother Blues in 1966, where he demonstrated that his style had indeed evolved since his days with Ellington.

Becoming less active after falling ill in 1968, trumpeter Louis Metcalf transitioned on October 27, 1981.

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

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joyce Breach was born in Alameda, California on February 27, 1944 and was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up listening to and admiring Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Sarah Vaughan, Abbey Lincoln, and Frank Sinatra. She gleaned from their phrasing and inflections to develop her own indelible style.

After attending West Virginia University she settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she made a name for herself in the ’80s and enjoyed a loyal following in Steel Town. Relocating to New York City, where she has made even bigger strides wowing audiences and reviewers at some of Manhattan’s top clubs.

She recorded her debut album Confessions in 1990 on Audiophile Records, and has gone on to record Lovers After All, Songbird, Nothing But Blue Skies, This Moment, Reel Songs, and Love Is the Thing. She has been featured on Loonis McGlohon & Friends’ A Christmas Memory.

As a songwriter Joyce often collaborates with pianist/arranger Keith Ingham and he usually accompanies her live appearances in the New York area, and has performed across the country. She continues to write, performa nd record.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,songwriter,vocal

Requisites

Overseas ~ Tommy Flanagan Trio | By Eddie Carter 

Tommy Flanagan steps into the spotlight of this morning’s discussion with Overseas (Prestige PRLP 7134/PRST 7632), recorded during his 1957 tour with J.J. Johnson and released the following year. The pianist works with Wilbur Little on bass and Elvin Jones on drums on this album. My copy is the 2012 Analogue Productions US Mono audiophile reissue sharing the original catalog number. The album starts quickly with Relaxing at Camarillo by Charlie Parker. It was named for Bird’s six-month stay at Camarillo State Hospital, where he recuperated from drug addiction. Tommy takes off on the opening solo briskly. Wilbur’s bass walks lively on the next reading, then Elvin caps off the closing presentation, exchanging exquisite brushwork with Tommy ahead of the theme reprise and climax.

Chelsea Bridge by Billy Strayhorn is one of his best-loved compositions. Flanagan is the single soloist, and the pianist gives a gorgeous interpretation emphasizing his light touch. Eclypso, Flanagan’s first of six originals, has a Caribbean-flavored rhythm on the melody and closing chorus. Tommy offers a cheerfully bright mood in the opening solo, and Elvin shares an exuberant exchange with Flanagan before the song fades gracefully. Tommy’s tune Beat’s Up featuring him and Jones in two spirited interpretations with short interludes by Little that spices things up nicely. Skål Brothers is a concise midtempo blues by Flanagan, who cruises leisurely on the opening chorus and ending theme anchored by the relaxing foundation Wilbur and Elvin provide.

Little Rock opens Side Two with a delightful statement by Little. Flanagan and Jones join him; the pianist serves up some down-home cooking on a delicious performance. Wilbur delivers a tasty reading which walks firmly into the finale by Elvin, who adds a scrumptious dessert on the drums. Flanagan’s Verdandi brings the trio back to uptempo with an electrifying opening solo by Tommy and a fiery showcase for Elvin, who gives a virtuoso demonstration before the trio’s finale. Delarna is dedicated to the province in central Sweden, known for its breathtaking landscape. The trio opens with a beautiful melody that starts at a slow tempo but moves upward for Flanagan’s execution of a solo of extraordinary beauty into a gentle climax.

Willow Weep For Me comes from the pen of Ann Ronell, who also composed the lyrics. The jazz standard opens with a quiet demeanor collectively followed by a passionate performance by Tommy, and Wilbur takes us toward the album’s climax with a profoundly affecting presentation. Overseas began his forty-five-year career as one of the most respected and revered jazz musicians. The recording engineer was Gösta Wilholm, and Kevin Gray remastered the album. The sound quality of this Mono reissue is demonstration class with a superb soundstage that places the trio in your listening room with stunning definition. For anyone who’s a fan of this remarkable pianist, I invite you to treat yourself to Overseas by The Tommy Flanagan Trio on your next vinyl search. It’s a forty-minute trip that requires no luggage, passports, or plane tickets, just a turntable, stereo system, and your favorite drink to enjoy while you listen!

~ Chelsea Bridge, Relaxing At Camarillo, Willow Weep For Me – Source: JazzStandards.com ~ Tommy Flanagan – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2023 by Edward Thomas Carter

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

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Steve Grover was born February 26, 1956 in Lewiston, Maine and studied with jazz drummer and teacher Dick Demers. He studied at Berklee School of Music and the University of Maine, and landed a gig with guitarist Lenny Breau, working with him on and off for the next few years, learning the subtleties of small group interplay with a master musician.

In 1979, Grover attended a program at The Creative Music Studio, the music school run by Karl Berger, which had such visiting artists as Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, Lee Konitz, Bob Moses, and other musicians. At CMS, he was exposed to the concepts of artists from the world of jazz, new music, and world music.

The 1980s saw Steve team up with clarinetist Brad Terry, saxophonist Charlie Jennison and bassist John Hunter to form a group called The Friends of Jazz. The group played host to visiting artists like Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Tate, Gray Sargent and others while occasionally reconstituting itself with pianist Chris Neville, trombonist Tim Sessions, bassists John Lockwood and Tom Bucci, guitarist Tony Gaboury, and others.

In 1985, Grover composed his Blackbird Suite, a song cycle setting for the Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird. Further explorations of this piece continued into 1994, when Blackbird Suite won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz/BMI Jazz Composers Competition. For the first time the music involved the vocalist Christine Correa and the pianist Frank Carlberg, who performed the piece at the Kennedy Center in 1994, as part of the Monk Institute’s competition. When a CD of the music was finally released in 1997, the reviews were excellent. Drummer and composer Steve Grover continues to compose, perform and record.

More Posts: bandleader,composer,drums,history,instrumental,jazz,music