Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bardu Ali was born September 23, 1906 in Mississippi. His mother, Ella, moved to the Bronx, New York, with her children and her sister Fanny. He moved into New York City in the 1920s and became leader of the Napoleon Zyas band. He was master of ceremonies for this band and for the bands of Leroy Tibbs and Chick Webb. He is credited with persuading Webb to hire singer Ella Fitzgerald.
Ali got involved with black cinema in the late 1920s and 1930s. He went on tour in England with Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds revue. Returning to the States, he replaced Webb as bandleader after Webb died.
1940 saw him move to California, where he became the business partner of Johnny Otis, performed as a singer in Otis’s band, and opened The Barrelhouse club with him in 1947. He played an important role in the early career of Charles Brown and was Redd Foxx’s business manager.
Guitarist, singer and promoter Bardu Ali, who performed in both jazz and R&B genres, passed away on October 29, 1981.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
William Overton Smith was born on September 22, 1926 in Sacramento, California. He grew up in Oakland, California where he began playing clarinet at the age of ten. At 13 he put together a jazz group to play for dances and at the age of 15 he joined the Oakland Symphony. After high school, a brief cross-country tour with a dance band led to his giving two weeks notice for the best education he could, and he headed to New York City.
Studying at the Juilliard School of Music by day, he played in the city’s jazz clubs at night. The Juilliard faculty doing nothing for him, Bill returned home and attended Mills College in Oakland where he met pianist Dave Brubeck. He went on to study composition with Roger Sessions at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.
A win of the Prix de Paris gave Bill two years of study at the Paris Conservatory, and in 1957, he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome and spent six years in that city. After teaching at the University of Southern California, he then spent thirty years teaching at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle, Washington, and co-led the Contemporary Group.
Smith investigated and cataloged a wide range of extended techniques on the clarinet, including the use of two clarinets simultaneously by a single performer, and compiled the first comprehensive catalogue of fingerings for clarinet multiphonics. He was among the early composers interested in electronic music, and as a performer he continued to experiment with amplified clarinet and electronic delays.
He remained active nationally, internationally, and on the local Seattle music scene until well into his 90s. Clarinetist and composer Bill Smith, who played in various Brubeck groups and who composed, recorded and premiered his jazz opera Space in the Heart, passed away at age 93 in his home from complications of prostate cancer on February 29, 2020.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Herbert Frederick Hunt was born September 21, 1923 in London, England to musician parents. A self taught pianist, he started playing at the age of 13 and played local gigs before joining the Royal Air Force.
After demobilization, he began his musical career playing semi-professionally with Mike Daniels and the Cy Laurie Four in 1951. He then became professional and went on to join the Alex Welsh Band from 1954 to 1962 and again from 1964 to 1974.
As Welsh’s primary pianist and a featured soloist, he became one of Britain’s leading trad jazz musicians. He recorded with Eddie Davis, Bud Freeman, Eddie Miller, and Ben Webster in 1967. His work with Alex Welsh did not stop him from accompanying visiting Americans, including recording with the four-tenor group, Tenor Of Jazz, featuring Ben Webster and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, which toured in the late 60s.
After leaving Welsh in 1974, he played in Copenhagen, Denmark and South Africa, then after 1976 split his time between Britain, Denmark and Germany. He led a trio featuring drummer Lennie Hastings from 1978 although Hastings died that year. In 1979 the German label Erus Records released a live recording titled Yesterdays, featuring the Fred Hunt Trio, with Hunt on piano, bassit Brian Mursell and drummer Roger Nobes.
In the late Seventies Hunt toured with Wild Bill Davison and played with Welsh once more in the early 1980s. He retired due to failing health after being incapacitated and confined to wheelchair, though he worked frequently at London’s PizzaExpress Jazz Club until his death. Pianist Fred Hunt, who played in both modern and trad jazz musical settings, passed away in Weybridge, Surrey, England at the age of 62 on April 25, 1986.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Francis Williams was born September 20, 1910 in McConnell’s Mill, Pennsylvania. His first gigs were with Frank Terry’s Chicago Nightingales in the 1930s.
In 1940 he moved to New York City, and in the first half of the decade played in the bands of Fats Waller, Claude Hopkins, Edgar Hayes, Ella Fitzgerald, Sabby Lewis, and Machito. From 1945 to 1949, and again in 1951, he played and recorded extensively as a member of Duke Ellington’s orchestra.
Williams worked primarily with Latin jazz ensembles and New York theater bands in the 1950s and 1960s, and played with Clyde Bernhardt and the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band. In addition to working with his own quartet, near the end of his life he worked with Panama Francis.
Trumpeter Francis Williams, who was a single father of two, had one son, actor Greg Morris, passed away on October 2, 1983 in Houston, Texas.
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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
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