Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lembit Saarsalu was born July 8, 1948 in Roosna-Alliku, Estonia. He started playing jazz at an early age. He debuted at the Tallinn International Jazz Festival at the age of 16. He worked for many years in the State Philharmonic of the Estonian SSR , where as a paid musician he gave numerous concerts both at home and abroad. In the 1980s, Saarsalu devoted himself completely to jazz.
For decades, he has led local and international ensembles. He worked in a duo with Leonid Vintskevich, started a new international jazz festival Rainbow Jazz with music producer Merle Kollom and a competition for young musicians in Tartu.
As an educator Saarsalu introduced jazz in schools and has performed together with Olav Ehala and other well-known Estonian musicians for more than 40,000 students. Since the fall of 2016, he has been working as a saxophone and ensemble teacher in the rhythm music department of the Tartu Music School.
In the 1980s Eesti Televisioon made two films about Lembit, he has performed on Finnish and Spanish television and has made numerous recordings, numbering 200 recordings for Estonian Radio. His style ranges from blues and swing to free forms of jazz.
He has been repeatedly chosen as the best tenor saxophonist, awarded the annual prize of the Sound Art Endowment Fund of the Estonian Cultural Capital.
Saxophonist , bandleader and composer Lembit Saarsalu, who has been called the saxophone king and the calling card of Estonian jazz, continues to perform, compose and teach.
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Requisites
Pianism ~ The Michel Petrucciani Trio | By Eddie Carter
This morning’s record from the library is an overlooked gem by French pianist Michel Petrucciani. Pianism (Blue Note BT-85124) is his twelfth release as a leader, and it marks his debut with the prestigious label. Recorded just days before his twenty-third birthday, the album captures the trio’s energy they exhibited during a six-week, thirty-two concert tour from Munich to Martinique. Michel Petrucciani, on the Steinway grand piano, is joined by bandmates Palle Danielsson on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums. Petrucciani composed four of the album’s tunes, and my copy is the 1986 U.S. Stereo release.
Side One of Pianism opens with The Prayer, a poignant tune that chronicles Michel’s and his sweetheart Eugenia’s transition from a lively house with friends to a single home owned by Eliot Zigmund that they lovingly maintained. The track commences with a mesmerizing solo introduction that seamlessly evolves into the trio’s comforting theme. Michel crafts a tapestry of hauntingly sensitive and lyrical notes. Palle follows with a delicately tender interpretation before they reunite to conclude the song softly. Our Tune, a composition that holds a special place in Michel’s heart, picks up the tempo for the threesome’s upbeat melody. He reveals his love and affection for Eugenia in the first solo. Palle takes over for an assertive interpretation. Eliot shares the finale with the pianist until the agile reprise dissolves.
Face’s Face is dedicated to the couple’s pure-blooded Afghan hound. The pianist’s introduction is playful, leading to the trio’s aggressive theme. Michel sets the tone with a brisk performance. Palle fuels the second reading with a dazzling display; then, Michel and Eliot exchange riffs preceding the theme’s restatement and close. The first of two standards, Night and Day by Cole Porter, gets Side Two underway with a breathtaking introduction by Michel that grows into the ensemble’s lively melody. Michel takes off like a rocket shooting skyward on the opening statement. Palle keeps things moving in the second presentation. Eliot gives his drums a vigorous workout before the spotlight returns to Michel for the climax.
Here’s That Rainy Day by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke opens with a gorgeous introduction by Michel. Palle and Eliot join him for a relaxed, easy-going theme. Michel starts the proceedings with a beautifully tender interpretation. Palle comes in next for a very pretty performance while Eliot cushions the gentle groove for Michel’s return to take the song out softly. The album’s final track is a catchy tune titled Regina. It’s named for the Brazilian singer, Elis Regina and the trio’s introduction sets the scene for an infectious, danceable melody. Michel opens the solos with a sincerely beautiful performance. Palle feeds off his energy with a compelling reading that flows to the pianist’s return for a few last thoughts preceding the theme’s restatement and fade out.
Mike Berniker produced Pianism, and Mike Moran was the recording engineer of this digital release. The album’s sound quality is outstanding, with a stunning soundstage that really shines on a quality audio system with excellent fidelity. The record is also quiet until the music begins. Despite suffering from a genetic spinal disease that caused brittle bones and resulted in his inability to grow tall, Michel Petrucciani was one of the most accomplished pianists in jazz. He performed live over one hundred times twice in two years despite being in constant pain, a testament to his passion and dedication to his craft. In addition to recording twenty-five albums as a leader, Petrucciani also recorded with Steve Grossman, Charles Lloyd, Joe Lovano, and The Manhattan Project.
He was interviewed regularly and appeared on television quite a few times. Michel died from a pulmonary infection on January 6, 1999, shortly after his thirty-sixth birthday. But his music continues to inspire and captivate jazz fans and is an absolute joy to listen to. If you’re in the mood for a musical journey, I wholeheartedly recommend exploring Pianism by The Michel Petrucciani Trio on your next record shopping trip. It’s not just a terrific addition to your jazz library but also a perfect gateway to his discography that can be enjoyed endlessly!
~ Here’s That Rainy Day, Night and Day – Source: JazzStandards.com
© 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michael Earl Henderson was born on July 7, 1951 in Yazoo City, Mississippi. He moved to Detroit, Michigan with his parents when he was young, his mother, Rose Williams sang in church. During his childhood, he played cello and then switched to bass guitar, teaching himself to play. When he was 10 or 11, he saved enough money to take a bus to see a bill of Motown artists at the Fox Theater. Precociously talented, he was performing with local bands before his 12th birthday.
Beginning his career early around the age of 14, he was on tour with the Detroit Emeralds when he met Stevie Wonder at a Chicago theater. In the dressing room was a piano, Stevie was playing and he sat down next to him with his bass and the meeting was fortuitous. Stevie hired Michael and they toured together for five years while working as a Motown session musician.
In 1970 at the Copacabana in Manhattan, Miles Davis heard him playing with Wonder. At that time Davis was entering his electric and rock rhythms and hired Henderson away. Over the next few years from 1970 to 1977 he recorded a string of albums with Davis, including Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, On the Corner, In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall, Get Up with It, Agharta, Pangaea, and Dark Magus.
With Norman Connors he invited him to write and record Valentine Love with Jean Carne, We Both Need Each Other with Phyllis Hyman and You Are My Starship. As a solo artist he recorded Take Me I’m Yours, Wide Receiver, and Can’t We Fall in Love Again, again with Hyman.
In 2002 Henderson returned to the music of Miles Davis and with several other Davis alumni, saxophonist Sonny Fortune and drummer Ndugu Chancler, formed the group Children on the Corner. A year later, they released the album Rebirth, which reinterpreted and recreated Davis’s electric music from the 1970s. He remained in the music industry until his death.
Bass guitarist and vocalist Michael Henderson died of cancer on July 19, 2022 at his home in Dallas, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. He was 71.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris White was born Christopher Wesley White on July 6, 1936 in Harlem, New York and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 1956 he graduated from City College of New York, and in 1968 from the Manhattan School of Music. Continuing his education six years later he earned his Master of Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1994, he did postgraduate Advanced Computer Study at Berklee College of Music.
An occasional member of Cecil Taylor’s band in the 1950s, he was credited on the 1959 Love for Sale album. From 1960 to 1961 he accompanied Nina Simone and subsequently he was a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s ensemble until 1966.
He founded the band The Jazz Survivors and was a member of the band Prism. Throughout his career he collaborated with Billy Taylor, Eubie Blake, Earl Hines, Chick Corea, Teddy Wilson, Kenny Barron, Mary Lou Williams, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae and Billy Cobham.
Bassist, arranger, producer and educator Chris White, who was on the creative arts and technology faculty at Bloomfield College in New Jersey, died on November 2, 2014.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richard Simon was born in Kansas City, Kansas on July 5, 1949 and left a comfortable position as a college English professor to take up the upright bass at age 30. He apprenticed with the elder elite of the Los Angeles, California jazz scene, including Red Callender and John Clayton, and soon began working with Buddy Collette, Teddy Edwards, Plas Johnson and Art Hillery, as well as LA Philharmonic’s Abe Luboff.
Richard has played traditional jazz with Pete Fountain, swing with Ken Peplowski, and be-bop with Richie Cole. He has recorded with Al Viola, Houston Person, Rebecca Kilgore, Gerald Wiggins and Chico Hamilton, toured Japan three times and performed twice with the King of Thailand. He worked frequently with vocalists Sue Raney, Maria Muldaur, Maxine Weldon, as well as the late vocalists Ernie Andrews, Lorez Alexandria and Keely Smith, and Rosemary Clooney.
Deeply involved in jazz education, Simonhe is the program director for JazzAmerica, a non-profit organization that provides tuition-free jazz instruction after school and in summer WorkChops.
Bassist Richard Simon continues to perform, record and educate.
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