Requisites
Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 2 | By Eddie Carter
I’d reached the end of a very long day and was ready to relax and unwind with some piano jazz. I went to the library and came across Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 2 (Yarlung Records YAR71621-161V). The second LP from the trio’s live performance at The Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall with bandmates, Del Atkins on bass and Bobby Breton on drums. The concert honored the 25th Anniversary of The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, plus President and CEO, Bob Levi’s 70th Birthday. My copy used in this report is the 2018 45-rpm Stereo Audiophile release.
Yuko starts Side One with a trio of solo standards, All The Things You Are by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, Take The “A” Train by Billy Strayhorn, and Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, Strayhorn, and Johnny Mercer. She begins with a stunningly beautiful interpretation capturing the song’s romanticism. Yuko then takes a vivaciously playful ride on The “A” Train with zestful excitement. She wraps up the trilogy with an invigorating interpretation of Satin Doll receiving an ovation from the audience at the song’s end.
The ensemble begins a Japanese Medley trilogy next, Hazy Moon by Teiichi Okano, Cherry Blossom, the Japanese folk tune from the Edo period, and Look At The Sky by Hachidai Nakamura. Yuko opens with a gentle introduction developing into a subtle collective theme. The mood of this first melody is incredibly tender, and the soothing splendor of her solo is purely captivating. She also dominates on the second segment, bringing out the musical substance and expressive beauty in an attractive reading culminating with a regal coda. The finale picks up the pace with the trio fitting together like fingers in a glove on the lively theme. Her technique is assured and quite confident in a dazzling exhibition against the backdrop set up perfectly by Del and Bobby.
Side Two starts with Sona’s Song, the pianist’s very touching tribute to a beautiful young girl in her family. The threesome makes the most of this original with seamless pacing and execution. Yuko demonstrates a mature elegance and heartfelt love in every note of her reverently lush performance before a serene summation. The group takes the audience and listener to the Caribbean on Sonny Rollins’ signature song, St. Thomas with a festive holiday atmosphere right from the start. Yuko invites everyone to enjoy the ride on a jubilantly cheerful lead statement with Atkins and Breton sustaining the rhythm. The drummer adds some buoyant brushwork for a propulsive reading before Yuko puts the finishing touches on a memorable, jazz-filled celebration.
Like its companion, Yuko Mabuchi Trio, Volume 2 has an outstanding soundstage across the highs, midrange, and low end, making it a good choice to show off a high-end audio system. This album was engineered by Bob Attiyeh and Arian Jansen, and mastered by Attiyeh, and Steve Hoffman. The 45-rpm remastering is by Bernie Grundman. The trio’s musicianship is excellent throughout the album and they shift gears as smoothly as a sports car. I’ll leave you with what I think is an ideal ending for my report, it comes from an old 1960 LP by The Joyce Collins Trio: Girl Here Plays Mean Piano. Yuko Mabuchi does this very well and if you’re discovering her for the first time, you’re in for a treat!
~ All The Things You Are, Satin Doll, Girl Here Plays Mean Piano (Jazzland JLP 24), Take The “A” Train – Source: Discogs.com
~ St. Thomas – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2020 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Skip Hall was born Archie Hall on September 27, 1909 in Portsmouth, Virginia and studied piano under his father. He lived in New York from age eight and in the late twenties, he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio where he led his own band for most of the 1930s.
He worked as an arranger on contract, arranging for Jay McShann from 1940 to 1944. During World War II he played with Don Redman and in 1943 he entered military service and played in a band while stationed in England.
He would eventually work with Hot Lips Page around the year 1945 and then joined the Sy Oliver band, who was his brother-in-law. Following this he worked with Wynonie Harris, Thelma Houston, and Jimmy Rushing before joining Buddy Tate’s group in 1948. He worked with Tate for twenty years both as a performer and arranger.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he performed with Dicky Wells, Emmett Berry, and George James, as well as working solo and with his own small groups. Arranger, pianist, and organist Skip Hall passed away in November 1980, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
George Gershwin was born Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. When his parents bought his older brother Ira a piano, it was the younger George who spent most of his time playing it. He studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody.
He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. In 1919 he scored his first big national hit with his song Swanee, with words by Irving Caesar.
In the late 1910s, Gershwin met songwriter and music director William Daly and the two collaborated on the Broadway musicals Piccadilly to Broadway in 1920 and For Goodness’ Sake in 1922, and jointly composed the score for Our Nell the following year. This was the beginning of a long friendship and collaboration as Daly was a frequent arranger, orchestrator, and conductor of Gershwin’s music.
Moving to Paris, France intending to study with Nadia Boulanger. Refusing him, he subsequently composed An American in Paris, before returning to New York City and writing Porgy and Bess with Ira and DuBose Heyward. Unfortunately for them, it was initially a commercial failure, however, years later it came to be one of the most important American classic operas of the twentieth century.
After the commercial failure of Porgy and Bess, George moved to Hollywood, California. In 1936, with a commission from RKO Pictures, he wrote the music for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers film Shall We Dance. His extended score, which would marry ballet with jazz in a new way, runs over an hour in length. It took Gershwin several months to compose and orchestrate.
Gershwin had a ten-year affair with composer Kay Swift, whom he frequently consulted about his music. The two never married, but he titled his 1926 musical Oh, Kay for her. His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with several becoming jazz standards recorded and covered in many variations.
Composer and pianist George Gershwin, whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, passed away at 38 from a malignant brain tumor on July 11, 1937 in Los Angeles, California.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charlie Allen was born on September 25, 1908 in Jackson, Mississippi and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and in the early 1920s just out of high school began playing. In 1925 he was a member of the band led by Hugh Swift, then went on to play with Dave Peyton and Doc Cook in 1927, and Clifford King in 1928 and Johnny Long by the end of the decade.
Allen joined Earl Hines from 1931 to 1934, then did a short stint in Duke Ellington’s orchestra in 1935, though he never recorded any solos with the orchestra. He would play with Fletcher Butler in 1936 and then returned to play with Hines again in 1937.
Charlie played in various groups in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s and later in his life became a music educator, working in the Chicago Musicians’ Union. He also designed custom trumpet mouthpieces, used by Cat Anderson, among others. Trumpeter Charlie Allen passed away on November 19, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager continues to social distance and in doing so continues to listen to some of the greatest recordings of the 20th century. This week the spotlight is on Forest Flower: Charles Lloyd at Monterey. It was recorded on two separate dates: in~studio in New York City on September 8, 1966, tracks 3 & 4, and live on September 18, 1966 at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California. The album was produced by George Avakian and released on Atlantic Records on February 21, 1967.
Track Listing | 39:17- Forest Flower: Sunrise (Lloyd) ~ 7:18
- Forest Flower: Sunset (Lloyd) ~ 10:37
- Sorcery (Keith Jarrett) ~ 5:18
- Song of Her (Cecil McBee) ~ 5:24
- East of the Sun (Brooks Bowman) ~ 10:40
- Charles Lloyd – tenor saxophone, flute
- Keith Jarrett – piano
- Cecil McBee – bass
- Jack DeJohnette – drums
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