The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager has been combing the stacks of music in his library for the right album and has selected For Swingers Only by vocalist Lorez Alexandria that was released by the Argo label in 1963.
A stylized, disciplined, soulful, and satisfying session, the recording of this album took place over two days on January 2 & 3, 1963 at Ter Mar Recording Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The session was produced by Esmond Edwards.
Tracks | 29:00- Baltimore Oriole (Hoagy Carmichael, Paul Francis Webster) ~ 3:11
- Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) ~ 3:34
- All or Nothing at All (Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence) ~ 4:55
- Traveling Down a Lonely Road (Nino Rota, Michele Galdieri, Don Raye) ~ 3:45
- Mother Earth (Peter Chatman) ~ 3:03
- Love Look Away (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) ~ 3:49
- The End of a Love Affair (Edward C. Redding) ~ 2:49
- That Old Devil Called Love (Alan Roberts, Doris Fisher) ~ 3:54
- Lorez Alexandria – vocals
- Ronald Wilson – tenor saxophone, flute
- John Young – piano, arranger
- George Eskridge – guitar
- Jimmy Garrison – bass
- Phil Thomas – drums
- Cover Design ~ Don Bronstein
- Cover Photography ~ Roger Marshutz
- Engineer ~ Eddie Rio
- Liner Notes ~ Leonard Feather
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
If you don’t know what to do by now to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy, there’s nothing else I can say to change your perspective. So, with that said, this week the Jazz Voyager is pulling from the stacks a 1965 hard bop studio album titled Spunky released by Monty Alexander. The session was produced by Richard Bock and recorded at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles, California and Plaza Sound Studios in New York the year of its release. It was offered on Pacific Jazz LP record ST-20094 in stereo and PJ-10094 in mono.
- Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
- Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
- Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
- Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
- Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
- Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
- Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)
- Cover design by Woody Woodward
- Cover Photography by Les McCann
- Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
- Liner Notes written by Paul Compton
- Spunky (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:39
- Naturally (Nat Adderley) ~ 3:35
- Jamaica Shake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:25
- Heart Strings (Milt Jackson) ~ 3:33
- Taggie’s Tune (Junior Mance) ~ 4:14
- Rattlesnake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:30
- Whisper Not ( Benny Golson) ~ 3:58
- I’m An Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:32
- Little Children Of Peru (Scott Turner) ~ 2:50
- Spirit Of Foo (Monty Alexander) ~ 4:45
- Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
- Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
- Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
- Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
- Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
- Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
- Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)
- Cover design by Woody Woodward
- Cover Photography by Les McCann
- Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
- Liner Notes written by Paul Compton
Tracks | 33:10
- Spunky (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:39
- Naturally (Nat Adderley) ~ 3:35
- Jamaica Shake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:25
- Heart Strings (Milt Jackson) ~ 3:33
- Taggie’s Tune (Junior Mance) ~ 4:14
- Rattlesnake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:30
- Whisper Not ( Benny Golson) ~ 3:58
- I’m An Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:32
- Little Children Of Peru (Scott Turner) ~ 2:50
- Spirit Of Foo (Monty Alexander) ~ 4:45
- Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
- Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
- Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
- Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
- Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
- Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
- Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)
- Cover design by Woody Woodward
- Cover Photography by Les McCann
- Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
- Liner Notes written by Paul Compton
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,restaurant,travel
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
A simple statement: You know what to do to remain safe and healthy. The fat lady hasn’t begun to warm up because it’s not over.
This week I am featuring an album by an understated vocalist who recorded some two dozen albums. I’ve selected from the library. I Just Dropped By To Say Hello is a studio album by jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman, released on Impulse! Records. It was his second and next-to-last album on the label, after his highly successful collaboration with John Coltrane which produced John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, recorded a few months earlier.
Tracks 1 & 6 were recorded on October 9, 1963 and the balance of the songs were recorded on October 17, 1963 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It was produced by Bob Thiele, The album was mastered at Longwear Plating and released in 1964. Tracks 1~6 were on the A side of the album and 7~11, the B side of the original album.
Track List | 33:09- Charade (from Charade) (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:38
- In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Bob Hilliard, David Mann) ~ 2:49
- A Sleepin’ Bee (Harold Arlen, Truman Capote) ~ 2:15
- Don’t You Know I Care (Or Don’t You Care To Know) (Mack David, Duke Ellington) ~ 4:14
- Kiss & Run (Rene Denoncin, William Engvick, Jack Ledru) ~ 3:35
- If I’m Lucky (Eddie DeLange, Josef Myrow) ~ 2:52
- I Just Dropped by to Say Hello (Sid Feller, Rick Ward) ~ 4:10
- Stairway to the Stars (Matty Malneck, Mitchell Parish, Frank Signorelli) ~ 3:09
- Our Time (Stanley Glick, Johnny Hartman) ~ 3:00
- Don’t Call It Love (Ronnell Bright) ~ 2:07
- How Sweet It Is to Be in Love (George Cardini, Danny DiMinno) ~ 2:20
- Johnny Hartman ~ vocals
- Illinois Jacquet ~ tenor saxophone
- Kenny Burrell ~ guitar (tracks 2-5, 7-11)
- Jim Hall ~ guitar (tracks 1, 6)
- Hank Jones ~ piano
- Milt Hinton ~ double bass
- Elvin Jones ~ drums
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is still practicing social distancing and masking at unknown vac gatherings because the airlines have extended my eCredit another year. The news is talking about another variant and this voyager is vigilant in remaining safe.
This week I am pulling from the library Phineas Newborn Jr. Plays Harold Arlen’s Music from Jamaica. It is an album by the pianist, produced by A. K. Salim, and recorded on September 7, 8 & 9, 1957 in New York City and released on the RCA Victor label. The album features his interpretations of compositions from the Broadway musical Jamaica.
Track List | 38:00 All compositions by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg
- Savannah ~ 4:10
- Little Biscuit ~ 3:03
- Cocoanut Sweet ~ 4:23
- Push De Button ~ 4:23
- Napoleon ~ 4:20
- Hooray For De Yankee Dollar ~ 3:31
- For Every Fish ~ 3:47
- Take It Slow, Joe ~ 4:20
- Pity the Sunset ~ 4:07
- Pretty to Walk With ~ 2:52
- Phineas Newborn Jr. ~ piano
- Ernie Royal (tracks 2, 4 & 6-9), Nick Ferrante (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 10) ~ trumpet
- Jimmy Cleveland ~ trombone
- Jerome Richardson ~ tenor saxophone, flute
- Sahib Shihab ~ baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
- Les Spann ~ guitar
- George Duvivier ~ bass
- Osie Johnson ~ drums
- Francisco Pozo, Willie Rodriguez ~ congas, bongos, timbale
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,piano,preserving,restaurant,travel
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
As we begin to explore more outings, the Jazz Voyager is still practicing social distancing and mask wearing at gatherings. That said, this week as we continue to see and gather information as to which venues have survived the pandemic, I am pulling from the library the 1981 recording of The Jamfs Are Coming by tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin.
Recorded at a pair of sessions at a small nightclub in Wihelmshaven, Germany, The Blue Note in Pumpwerk provided the settings for these live performances. His explosive original blues, The Jamfs Are Coming, JAMF being an acronym for a well-known but unprintable expression, is a powerful opener recorded in October 1977.
Following an unaccompanied coda, Griffin rapidly shifts gears into a brief up-tempo rendition of Wee Dot, which unfortunately was faded out. The one-minute chorus of the December 1975 Wee is a complete performance that evidently closed a 1975 set. The LP wraps with an inspired December 1977 take of All the Things You Are, in which Griffin dodges the head initially then squeezes in a lick or two from Happy Birthday and a series of other humorous quotes throughout this frenzied 20-minute workout.
The artwork was by Don Diesveld, photography by AnkoWieringa and Hanz Harzheim and was produced by Wim Wigt Productions.
Track List | 38:15- The Jamfs Are Coming (Johnny Griffin) ~ 17:15
- Wee (Denzil Best) ~ 1:00
- All The Things You Are (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) ~ 20:00
- Johnny Griffin ~ Tenor Saxophone
- Rein de Graaff ~ Piano
- Koos Serierse, Henk Haverhoek ~ Bass
- Art Taylor ~ Drums
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel