The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

Fourteen months and the end of social distancing and mask wearing is not in sight, and remains the fare for the times as does my continual joy of listening to music. So going into my music room I’ve selected for this week’s enjoyment from the shelves the album Good Gracious!. The studio album was recorded on January 24, 1963 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersy and released on the Blue Note label by saxophonist Lou Donaldson. The album was produced by Alfred Lion and released in the early part of June 1964.

If you’re a fan of Donaldson’s you will notice that his tone is richer and fuller than it is on many of his early-’60s records. He connects with the laid-back R&B grooves and soul-jazz vamps and it remains one of his best soul-jazz sessions.

Track List | 41:59

1. Bad John ~ 8:18
2. The Holy Ghost ~ 8:38
3. Cherry (Don Redman) ~ 5:17
4. Caracas ~ 7:19
5. Good Gracious ~ 6:52
6. Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) ~ 5:35

• Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone
• Grant Green – guitar
• Big John Patton – organ
• Ben Dixon – drums

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As the new year of the pandemic and moving forward remaining steadfast in our social distancing, I pulled an album out of the stacks that was recorded by British saxophonist  Courtney Pine. The album was recorded on July 21-23, 1986 and was released later that year on Verve Records. It was his debut titled Journey to the Urge Within that heralded the arrival of Courtney Pine at the head of a new generation of British jazz musicians.

A pied piper who led British jazz out of the doldrums after its brilliant flowering in the 1960s. Courtney Pine, who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), led a new breed of accomplished young jazz lions in Britain. His music was powerful, intense and in the tradition of the great tenor saxophonists such as Coltrane and Rollins. Figuring in the Top 40, an unprecedented achievement for a British jazz album, it went silver, helping to trigger the 1980s jazz boom.

1.  Miss Interpret ~ 4:15
2.  Believe ~ 4:36
3.  Peace (Horace Silver) ~ 5:20
4.  Dolores (Wayne Shorter) ~ 3:29
5.  As We Would Say ~ 3:19
6.  Children of the Ghetto (Chris Amoo, Eddie Amoo) ~ 7:02
7.  When, Where, How and Why ~ 5:20
8.  C.G.C. ~ 3:31
9.  Seen ~ 4:28
10.  Sunday Song ~ 1:27
11.  E.F.P. ~ 3:45
12.  Big Nick (John Coltrane) ~ 4:35

Personnel

• Courtney Pine – tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
• Ray Carless – baritone saxophone
• Kevin Robinson – trumpet
• Julian Joseph – piano
• Roy Carter – keyboards
• Orphy Robinson – vibraphone
• Martin Taylor – guitar
• Gary Crosby – bass guitar
• Mark Mondesir – drums
• Susaye Greene – vocals
• Cleveland Watkiss – vocals

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

As life moves forward and I remain steadfast in social distancing, I was reminded of an album produced by hard bop, soul~jazz organist Shirley Scott. This was a very personal album  for the artist as it is filled with the music she always wanted to create but the demands of her vibrant career always overshadowed. With her friend and executive producer Maxine Gordon, they produced and recorded the session that became the album titled One For Me. This album was made to please no one but the artist herself.

Given two monikers, The Queen Of The Organ and Little Miss Half-Steps, the latter given to her by saxophonist George Coleman, this Philadelphian raised the funds to make the record, she had complete control over her masters and with her dream band, recorded in November 1974 at Blue Rock Studios in New York City. The album was released on the Strata~East label in Januray 1975. It has been re-released in 2020 on Arc Records.

1. What Makes Harold Sing? ~ 8:53
2. Keep on Movin’ On (Harold Vick) ~ 9:52
3. Big George ~ 5:22
4. Don’t Look Back (Vick) ~ 8:56
5. Do You Know a Good Thing When You See One? ~ 8:51

• Shirley Scott – organ, mellotron
• Harold Vick – tenor saxophone
• Billy Higgins – drums
• Jimmy Hopps – cowbell, triangle (track 2)

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

Reveling in my space during this time of temporary seclusion, I am with my music and having lit a few candles, a couple of sticks of incense burning I prepare myself for the talented alto saxophonist and composer Benny Carter. As I drop the needle on his  self-produced Aspects album, I kick back, stretch out and enjoy. Recorded in late summer of 1958 in Los Angeles, California it was released the following year on United Artists.

Except where noted, all compositions by Benny Carter 

1. June in January (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) ~ 3:12
2. February Fiesta (Hal Schaefer) ~ 1:54
3. March Wind ~ 3:16
4. I’ll Remember April (Gene de Paul, Patricia Johnston, Don Raye) ~ 3:21
5. One Morning in May (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) ~ 2:49
6. June Is Bustin’ Out All Over (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 2:59
7. Sleigh Ride in July (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) ~ 2:50
8. August Moon ~ 3:39
9. September Song (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) ~ 2:39
10. Something for October ~ 2:52
11. Swingin’ in November ~ 3:02
12. Roses in December (Ben Oakland, Herb Magidson, George Jessel) ~ 2:36

• Benny Carter – alto saxophone, arranger

• Pete Candoli, Conrad Gozzo, Uan Rasey, Shorty Sherock – trumpet
• Herbie Harper, Tommy Pederson, George Roberts – trombone
• Buddy Collette, Chuck Gentry, Justin Gordon, Bill Green – saxophone
• Arnold Ross – piano
• Larry Bunker – vibraphone
• Bobby Gibbons – guitar
• Joe Comfort – bass
• Shelly Manne – drums

• Joe Gordon, Al Porcino, Ray Triscari, Stu Williamson – trumpet
• Russ Brown, Tommy Pederson, Frank Rosolino – trombone
• Buddy Collette, Jewell Grant, Bill Green, Plas Johnson – saxophone
• Gerald Wiggins – piano
• Barney Kessel – guitar
• Joe Comfort – bass
• Shelly Manne – drums

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

It’s All Over But The Swingin’ is a studio album by Sammy Davis, Jr. that was recorded on July1~2 and 9~10, 1957 and released the same year on the Decca Record label. The music was arranged by Jack Pleis and Morty Stevens and the session was produced by Lee Gillette.

1. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) ~ 4:43
2. But Not for Me (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) ~ 3:24
3. Where’s That Rainbow? (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) ~ 3:27
4. I Cover the Waterfront (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) ~ 3:19
5. Don’t Blame Me (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) ~ 2:52
6. Better Luck Next Time (Irving Berlin) ~ 2:43
7. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Gal (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) ~ 4:53
8. It Never Entered My Mind (Hart, Rodgers) ~ 4:05
9. Someone to Watch over Me (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) ~ 3:23
10. I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) ~ 2:47
11.      Spring Is Here” (Hart, Rodgers) ~ 4:03
12. I Can’t Get Started” (Vernon Duke, I. Gershwin) ~ 3:29

• Sammy Davis, Jr. – vocal
• Dan Lube, M. Sosson – violin
• Al Dinkin, Paul Robyn – viola
• Eleanor Slatkin – cello
• Harry Klee – flute
• Harry Edison, Conrad Gozzo, Virgil Evans, Mannie Klein – trumpet
• Milt Bernhart, Frank Howard, George Roberts – trombone
• Harry Klein, Ronnie Lang – alto saxophone
• Babe Russin, Don Raffell – tenor saxophone
• Bob Lawson – baritone saxophone
• Roger Renner – piano
• Tony Rizzi, Bob Bain – guitar
• Mort Cobb, Joe Comfort – double bass
• Irving Cottler, Alvin Stoller – drums

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