The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager’s next selection from his library is the 1962 album release Lena Horne titled Lena On The Blue Side. This studio album, released by RCA Victor in stereo and monaural. The recording took place in New York City in the summer of 1961.
The album features mainly blues-inspired songs, a departure for Horne from her usual standards, and recordings from the Great American Songbook. The recordings were arranged and conducted by Marty Gold.
The album was received well by the music press and Billboard Music Week of February 1962 rated it with a four star. Charting in the Billboard 200 album chart at #102. The complete album has only been reissued on CD in Japan in 1991.
Track List | 33:39Paradise ~ 3:40; The Rules Of The Road ~ 3:36; Darn That Dream ~ 2:41; I Wanna Be Loved ~ 3:02; I Hadn’t Anyone Till You ~ 2:45; Someone To Watch Over Me ~ 3:41; It’s A Lonesome Old Town ~ 2:32; I’m Through With Love ~ 2:58; What’ll I Do ~ 1:57; It Might As Well Be Spring ~ 3:30; They Didn’t Believe Me ~ 2:15; and As You Desire Me ~ 3:02.
Personnel- Lena Horne – Vocals
- Andy Ackers – Piano
- George Duvivier – Bass
- Al Caiola – Guitar
- Osie Johnson – Drums
- Bernie Glow, Mel Davis – Trumpet
- Sy Berger, Tony Studd – Trombone
- Strings
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Requisites
Ahmad Jamal at The Top: Poinciana Revisited ~ Ahmad Jamal | By Eddie Carter
I first saw Ahmad Jamal live in 1995 at Spivey Hall on the campus of Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. I’d been a fan of his since the age of ten after hearing his 1958 album, Ahmad Jamal at The Pershing: But Not For Me. That night, the trio characterized their creative energy and gracious lyricism into a mesmerizing performance bringing the capacity crowd to its feet.
This morning’s choice from the library is a 1968 live album, Ahmad Jamal at The Top: Poinciana Revisited (Impulse!–ABC Records AS-9176). It’s one of my favorite LP’s by the renowned pianist and his bandmates are Jamil Sulieman on bass and Frank Gant on drums. My copy used in this report is the 1969 Stereo reissue and the set opens with Have You Met Miss Jones? This song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart is from the 1937 musical comedy, I’d Rather Be Right. The audience’s applause and a short solo introduction by Ahmad segue into a lively Latin-flavored theme. Jamal gives a vigorous interpretation that’s tremendously rewarding propelled by Jamil and Frank’s lively backing.
The jazz standard Poinciana by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier was written in 1936 and is based on a Cuban folk tune, La canción del árbol (The Song of The Tree). The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band made the first recording in 1943 and it was featured in two films, Dreamboat (1952) and The Bridges of Madison County (1995), performed by Ahmad Jamal. The trio gives an inspired interpretation showcasing the pianist on a lengthy reading running the gamut of his extraordinary range.
Lament, Jamal’s lone contribution begins with a cascading solo introduction by Ahmad that blossoms into a marvelous melody. As the song’s only soloist, the pianist ascends to a peak of pure pleasure, before descending gradually back for the rousing climax. Call Me by Tony Hatch starts Side Two and was written for Pop vocalist Petula Clark who featured it as the title tune for her 1965 album. The ensemble transforms the easy listening song into a torrid scorcher on the melody, and Jamal gives a passionately brisk solo of radiant intensity before the reprise and abrupt stop.
The pace slows down for a beautiful version of Theme From Valley of The Dolls, composed for the 1967 film by André Previn and his wife Dory. Ahmad and Jamil begin with a gentle dialogue that grows into a tender theme. The pianist infuses tender emotion, depth, and beauty into the song’s only solo with exceptional detail leading to a subtle coda. Frank’s Tune by Frank Strozier swings easily to a medium beat on the opening and closing chorus affording Ahmad, Jamil, and Frank each solo space. The 1961 Bossa Nova standard,
How Insensitive (known in Brazil as Insensatez) was written by Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Vinícius de Moraes who penned the Portuguese lyrics, and Norman Gimbel, the English lyrics. The ensemble begins the melody rapidly setting the mood for Ahmad who opens with an exhilarating reading. Jamil takes the next reading aggressively, and Frank closes with a swift, zealous statement preceding the group’s out-chorus and crowd’s show of appreciation. The sound quality of the album by engineer Carlos Olms captures the spirit of the trio’s performance exceptionally well for maximum enjoyment in your listening room.
At ninety-years young, Ahmad Jamal shows no signs of slowing down. His most recent release is a 2019 French album titled Ballades. If you’re a fan of piano jazz, or in the mood for a live album possessing an elegant and infectious groove, I submit for your consideration Ahmad Jamal at The Top: Poinciana Revisited. It’s a great introduction to his music for newcomers and an impressive showcase for seasoned fans that handsomely repays the effort to seek it out for your library!
~ Ahmad Jamal at The Pershing: But Not For Me (Argo LP-628); Ballades (Jazz Village–Jazzbook Records JV3357015758); Call Me (Pye Records NEP 24237); – Source: Discogs.com
~ Have You Met Miss Jones? – Source: JazzStandards.com
~Call Me, How Insensitive, Poinciana, Theme From The Valley of The Dolls – Source: Wikipedia.org
~© 2020 by Edward Thomas Carter
Synopsis
Ahmad Jamal at the Top: Poinciana Revisited is a live album by pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded at The Village Gate in 1968 and released on the Impulse! label.
Track List | 42:04
- Have You Met Miss Jones (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:47
- Poinciana (Buddy Bernier, Nat Simon) – 9:19
- Lament – 8:05
- Call Me (Tony Hatch) – 4:51
- (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls (André Previn, Dory Previn) – 4:23
- Frank’s Tune (Frank Strozier) – 5:50
- How Insensitive (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes) – 5:52
Personnel
- Ahmad Jamal – piano
- Jamil Sulieman – bass
- Frank Gant – drums
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kiwzo Fumero was born on July 12, 1972 in Marianao, Havana, Cuba. A trumpeter from his youth, he began his professional career in 1991 with the creation of the first youth mariachi band in Cuba, of which he was its creator and director, and who is currently El Mariachi Real Jalisco De La Habana.
In 2000 Kiwzo settled in Miami, Florida. where he has participated with several orchestras and has accompanied Gilberto Sta Rosa, Huey Dumbar, Thalia, Tito Nieves, Rey Ruiz, Jose Jose, and many more. He has performed with the Willy Chirino Orchestra, La Sonora Carruseles, the tour “Embrace Me Very Strong”, Tropicana All-Stars, Celia Cruz, and Cachao.
As an educator Fumero has also had the honor of sharing a lectern with world-class musicians such as Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, John Fadis, Israel López Cachao, Jimmy Bosch, Andy García, Chocolate Armenteros, Patato Valdez among many others.
Winner of 2 Grammy Awards with 6 nominations, he has performed for President Bush in 2007, and has recorded nine albums. Kiwzo Fumero, one of the most recognized and influential Cuban trumpeters of his generation, continues to perform, record and tour.
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending. The song was nominated for an Academy Award For Best Original Song but lost out to Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.
Alan Bergman would recall that after Michel Legrand had written eight melodies that were somehow not viable for the film, Marilyn Bergman suggested the opening line “What are you doing the rest of your life?”, and Legrand then completed the song’s melody based on that phrase.
Marilyn Bergman would later comment on the double meaning of the phrase “What are you doing the rest of your life?” within its parent film: as the romantic theme song’s title the question overtly references the marriage proposal Mary Spencer (played by Jean Simmons) received and accepted sixteen years earlier but, as Mary’s present-day angst becomes apparent, “What are you doing the rest of your life?” is recast as a question Mary must ask herself.
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? was sung in The Happy Ending by Michael Dees whose version was included on the film’s soundtrack album.
The Story
1953: Through the course of a Colorado autumn and winter, Mary Spencer (Simmons) and Fred Wilson (Forsythe) lead an idyllic existence. Mary drops out of college (with 6 months to go) to marry Fred. Their perfect wedding mirrors the happy endings of the films Mary loves. However, there are no fairytale happy endings and sixteen years later Mary is off to find her happiness, leaving behind her husband and daughter, which she eventually does despite her mother and her husband’s pleas.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Dorian Ford was born on July 5, 1967 in London, England and started playing jazz in his early teens when he began attending weekly workshops led by trumpeter, composer, broadcaster, and music writer Ian Carr. Playing alongside many musicians who went on to form the backbone of the London jazz renaissance of the 1980s, he won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, receiving the prestigious Chick Corea Jazz Masters Award. Piano studies were with Donald Brown, a regular in Art Blakey’s band at the time.
Dorian’s performance and recording list are a who’s who of players including but not limited to Julian Joseph, Courtney Pine, Dill Katz, Birelli Lagrene, Jeff Beck, Ingrid Laubrook, Julia Biel, Carol Grimes, Barbara Thompson, Igor Butman, Ian Carr, Colin Lazzarini, Gareth Locraine, Sebastian Rochford, Annie Whitehead, Donny McCaslin, and the list goes on.
Pianist Dorian Ford performs privately as well as publicly as he continues to compose and record.