The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The pandemic rages on as I continue to keep myself well by wearing my mask and social distancing. In my own space I pull down from the shelves my copy of Kenny Drew Trio. The album was recorded on September 20 & 26, 1956 at the Reeves Sound Studios in New York City. It was produced by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer and was released the same year on the Riverside Records label.

The album features Drew’s tribute to jazz patron Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter Blues for Nica. It is the only song he contributed to the album. This band was also the rhythm section the following year on sessions for John Coltrane that yielded Blue Train.

1. Caravan (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol) ~ 4:56
2. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) ~ 6:08
3. Ruby, My Dear (Thelonious Monk) ~ 5:46
4. Weird~O (Hank Mobley) ~ 4:04

1. Taking A Chance On Love (Vernon Duke, John Latouche, Ted Fetter) ~ 4:42
2. When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline, Ned Washington) ~ 5:19
3. Blues For Nica (Kenny Drew) ~ 5:31
4. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Harold Arlen, E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, Billy Rose) ~ 6:25

• Kenny Drew ~ piano
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Philly Joe Jones – drums

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

The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As I go about my city travels I notice how lax people are with masking and social distancing, having their self-centered need to rush to the lives they knew before the pandemic hit. This week I am selecting  an album that has been a classic and one of my favorites since the day I first put on the turntable. It’s the 1965 studio recording Angel Eyes by saxophonist Gene Ammons released on the Prestige label.

The album was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Two separate sessions compiled the album, tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5 were recorded on June 17, 1960 and tracks 3 & 6 on September 5, 1962. The September session was one of Ammons’ final ones before serving a long drug-related prison sentence.

Track List | 36:25

1. Gettin’ Around (Gene Ammons) ~ 6:46
2. Blue Room (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) ~ 5:34
3. You Go to My Head (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) ~ 5:55
4. Angel Eyes (Earl Brent, Matt Dennis) ~ 8:45
5. Water Jug (Frank Wess) ~ 5:10
6. It’s the Talk of the Town (Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes) ~ 4:15

• Gene Ammons ~ tenor saxophone
• Frank Wess ~ flute (tracks 1, 2 and 4), tenor saxophone (track 5)
• Johnny “Hammond” Smith ~ organ (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5)
• Mal Waldron (tracks 3 & 6) ~ piano
• Doug Watkins (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5), Wendell Marshall (tracks 3 & 6) ~ bass
• Art Taylor (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5), Ed Thigpen (tracks 3 & 6) ~ drums

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

Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tord Gustavsen was born on October 5, 1970 in Oslo, Norway and raised in rural Hurdal, Akershus where he grew up playing church music. He attended the University of Oslo with a degree in psychology before going to the Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium studying jazz for three years. Graduate school saw him with a degree in musicology at the University of Oslo, where he was a guest teacher of jazz piano and theory.

Signed to ECM Records, between 2003 and 2007 the Tord Gustavsen Trio released three albums and in 2005 won the Nattjazz prize. A later ensemble released the album Restored, Returned was recorded in 2009, which was awarded with Spellemannsprisen, the Norwegian Grammy. The quartet went on to release The Well,  Extended Circle and play the Montreal Jazz Festival in several different configurations.

He has recorded as a session musician, and guested on friends’ albums, as well as collaborative projects. Pianist Tord Gustavsen continues to be highly interested in psychology and has written a lengthy thesis on the paradoxes of improvisation. He continues to express his music through performance and recordings.

More Posts: bandleader,educator,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano

The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

For those of us who are still practicing our social distancing and wearing our masks, this week’s selection of the shelves is A Bluish Bag. It is an album by saxophonist Stanley Turrentine consisting of two sessions recorded for the Blue Note label in 1967. and arranged by Duke Pearson, the first featuring Donald Byrd and the second McCoy Tyner, among others.

The album recording consisting of two sessions, the first February 17th, (#1-7) and June 9th, (#8-12). It was produced by Alfred Lion, arranged by Duke Pearson and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Though recorded in 1967, it was not released until June 5, 2007, forty years later.

Tracks | 62:41

1. Blues For Del (Stanley Turrentine) ~ 4:14
2. She’s A Carioca ( Vinicius de Moraes, Ray Gilbert, Antônio Carlos Jobim) ~ 6:31
3. Manhã de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá, Antônio Maria) ~ 5:53
4. Here’s That Rainy Day (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) ~ 5:32
5. What Now My Love (Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delanoë, Carl Sigman) ~ 4:38
6. Samba do Avião (Antônio Carlos Jobim) ~ 5:12
7. Night Song (Lee Adams, Charles Strouse) ~ 6:33
8. Days of Wine and Roses (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) ~ 6:05
9. Come Back to Me (Burton Lane, Alan Jay Lerner) ~ 5:55
10. Silver Tears (Henry Mancini) ~ 5:07
11. A Bluish Bag (Henry Mancini) ~ 7:17
12. With This Ring (Luther Dixon, Anthony Hester, Richard “Popcorn” Wylie) ~ 5:49

Players
Tracks 1-7

• Stanley Turrentine ~ tenor saxophone
• Donald Byrd ~ trumpet
• Julian Priester ~ trombone
• Jerry Dodgion – alto saxophone, flute, alto flute
• Joe Farrell – tenor saxophone, flute
• Pepper Adams – baritone saxophone, clarinet
• Kenny Barron – piano
• Bucky Pizzarelli – guitar
• Ron Carter – bass
• Mickey Roker – drums

Tracks 8-12

• Stanley Turrentine ~ tenor saxophone
• Blue Mitchell, Tommy Turrentine ~ trumpet
• Julian Priester ~ trombone
• Jerry Dodgion ~ alto saxophone, flute
• Al Gibbons ~ bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
• Pepper Adams ~ baritone saxophone, clarinet
• McCoy Tyner ~ piano
• Walter Booker ~ bass
• Mickey Roker ~ drums

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

Requisites

Sassy Swings The Tivoli ~ Sarah Vaughan | By Eddie Carter 

On the stage stands a beautiful woman who’s about to give a memorable performance before a capacity crowd in The Tivoli Theatre. The concert will be praised by the Danish press as one of the highlights of her career. Behind her sit three elegantly dressed gentlemen who’ll match her improvisational techniques, incredible range, and sophisticated style with their musical artistry. Together, they are a perfectly melded ensemble who are up to the task of enchanting the audience. Her name is Sarah Vaughan, and the gentlemen are Kirk Stuart on piano, Charles Williams on bass, and George Hughes on drums who collectively make up The Kirk Stuart Trio. This morning’s choice from the library is Sassy Swings The Tivoli (Mercury Records MG-20831/SR-60831). Quincy Jones was the musical director during the group’s four-day engagement at the Copenhagen hall. He supervised each recording and worked with Sarah on the song selections. My copy used in this report is the 1963 Mono deep groove album.

Side One starts with Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey? It was written by Hughie Cannon and originally titled Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? Cannon wrote the song after his friend Willard “Bill” Bailey discussed his marriage to his wife Sarah during an evening out together. Sassy serves up two exhilarating vocals that swing on the opening and closing melodies. Kirk comes in next for an energetic interpretation illustrating the trio’s remarkable interplay. The quartet slows the pace to a ballad tempo for Misty by Erroll Garner who wrote it with Johnny Burke adding the lyrics a year later. Sarah opens with a seductively stunning showpiece that spills out her emotions with sincere feeling. Stuart shares the spotlight adding a humorous note when he takes over on the bridge with a light touch during his vocal statement. Sarah, Kirk, Charles, and George have a little fun on the finale and these musical pranksters will bring a smile to your face and may even make you laugh a little by the song’s end.

Sassy and the trio offer an uptempo version of the Cole Porter classic, What Is This Thing Called Love? It was first heard in the musical, Wake Up and Dream (1929).  Here she makes the lyrics come alive with a jubilant performance including a short, scintillating scat that’s mesmerizing.  Amidst a thunderous ovation from the audience, Stuart begins a brief solo introduction developing into an elegantly beautiful rendition of Lover Man by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and Jimmy Sherman. The dreamlike softness that Sarah brings to this standard is incredibly tender, soft, and delicately supplemented by the trio’s soothing support.  Sometimes I’m Happy by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar is a perfect song for jazz vocal improvisation.  Sassy and the trio grandly illustrate this at a rapidly brisk tempo. The quartet invites the audience to sit back and enjoy an uptempo free-wheeling scat performance of aggressive rhythmic heat with an agile ending.

Side Two starts with I Feel Pretty by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.  This song premiered in the Broadway musical, West Side Story (1957) and was later reprised in the 1961 film.  The melody receives a delightfully spring-like interpretation by Sassy who sings the first chorus at midtempo, then picks up the pace for the second verse with a rocking groove and the rhythm section providing the sprightly support behind her.  She returns to the original tempo taking the trio through the reprise into a sudden stop followed by the audience’s ovation.  Up next is the jazz standard Tenderly by Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence.  This ageless classic is presented at a slow tempo with Sassy displaying a deep and strong romantic affection for the lyrics through her voluptuously gorgeous vocals.  She even interjects her sense of humor on the word “breeze”.  Her three bandmates return the favor by matching the simplicity and exquisite softness with an intimate finesse preceding a lush climax.

Sassy’s Blues is a midtempo original by Sarah and Quincy Jones that the quartet has some fun with beginning with a cheerful introduction that’ll have the listener tapping their feet along to the contagious beat. She takes over for the opening chorus and song’s only statement utilizing her skills to maximum effect with a series of scat verses including maintaining a single note for twenty seconds. She ultimately achieves an easy-going, happy sound on both that’s performed impressively before the ensemble wraps it up.  Polka Dots and Moonbeams by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke is one of jazz’s most recorded standards. Sassy first recorded this tune on her album Swingin’ Easy (1957).  The quartet begins at a very slow tempo, but her delivery is strikingly beautiful with each verse a remarkable commentary of warmth, intimacy, and elegance sustained by the delicate understructure of the rhythm section’s foundation.

The quartet closes with a speedy version of I Cried For You by Gus Arnheim, Abe Lyman, and Arthur Freed. This standard has been a favorite for jazz vocalists for years and is perfect for Sarah to sing one final outstanding number. Sassy lets loose every bit of her energy with a rendition I’m sure brought down the house judging by the audience’s reaction at the song’s finale. The Danish recording engineer and producer, Birger Svan was behind the dials with Quincy supervising the recording of each show. The sound quality of my copy is excellent revealing a smooth soundstage with sparkling highs, crisp midrange, and deep, tight bass. Sassy Swings The Tivoli is a marvelous live album showing Sarah in her prime with The Kirk Stuart Trio backing her beautifully. If you’re a fan of jazz vocals, I happily submit for your consideration, Sassy Swings The Tivoli by Sarah Vaughan. It’s a classic that’ll always be in style, and a must have for your library!

~ Birger Svan, Swingin’ Easy (EmArcy Jazz–Mercury MG-36109) – Source: Discogs.com ~ I Cried For You, Lover Man, Misty, Polka Dots, and Moonbeams, Sometimes I’m Happy, Tenderly, What Is This Thing Called Love? – Source: JazzStandards.com ~ I Feel Pretty, Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey? – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2021 by Edward Thomas Carter

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