The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
I can only appeal to your sense of fair play that you quarantine, social distance and wear masks whenever you are out around people during this period of increased variants. It is a responsible person who takes the effort to protect others even when they do not have the desire to protect themselves.
This week I’m pulling from the stacks one of Tony Bennett’s highest selling albums of his career I Left My Heart In San Francisco. Released in 1962 on Columbia Records, it peaked at #5 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. Tony Bennett won two 1962 Grammy Awards for the title song: Record of the Year and Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male.
The album was produced by Ernie Altschuler and assembled around unused singles from earlier sessions. The previously released songs included the Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh songs The Best Is Yet to Come/Marry Young as well as Close Your Eyes/Rules of the Road, which were A&B sides respectively. Candy Kisses and Have I Told You Lately? were recorded in 1961. Tender Is the Night was later used in the 1962 film, while Charlie Chaplin’s Smile from Modern Times peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the only other single that charted with San Francisco.
Three additional tracks were taken from sessions spanning 1957 to 1960. Taking a Chance on Love from the musical Cabin in the Sky, Love for Sale from The New Yorkers, and I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from Oh, Look!. Bennett’s rescue of Once Upon a Time from All American gave him San Francisco instead, his signature song.
Tracks | 32:20
Side 1
- I Left My Heart In SanFrancisco (Douglass Cross, George Cory) ~ 2:52
- Once Upon A Time (Charles Strouse, Lee Adams) ~ 2:57
- Tender Is The NIght ( Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) ~ 2:38
- Smile (Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons, John Turner) ~ 2:49
- Love For Sale (Cole Porter) ~ 3:09
- Taking A Chance On Love (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) ~ 2:28
Side 2
- Candy Kisses (George Coleman) ~ 2:25
- Have I Told You Lately (Harold Rome) ~ 2:39
- Rules Of The Road (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) ~ 2:42
- Marry Young ((Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) ~ 2:20
- I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (Harry Carroll, Joseph McCarthy) ~ 2:40
- The Best Is Yet To Come ((Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) ~ 2:28
- Tony Bennett ~ vocals
- Ralph Sharon ~ piano; arrangements on Love for Sale
- Candido Camero, Sabu Martinez, Billy Exiner ~ percussion on Love for Sale
- The Count Basie Orchestra ~ instruments and arrangements on Taking A Chance on Love
- Marty Manning ~ arrangements on San Francisco, Once Upon A Time, Tender is the Night, Candy Kisses, Have I Told You Lately?
- Cy Coleman ~ arrangements on Marry Young, The Best Is Yet to Come
- Ralph Burns ~ arrangements on Smile, Rules of the Road
- Frank De Vol ~ arrangements on I’m Always Chasing Rainbows
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Life is full of choices and the choice not to protect yourself should only impact you. As another surge is underway it is your responsibility to protect others from your irresponsible choices. For those of us who remain vigilant I say well done. So with that in mind, I feel I am selecting the right choice to open up this 2022 year.
Out of the stacks comes the studio album The Natural Soul by alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson. It was recorded on May 9, 1962 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and released on Blue Note Records in March of 1963. The producer was Alfred Lion and the cover design was by Reid Miles of Capital Punishment. His use of lower case letters give this funky, greasy, soul jazz album suitably comfortable and informal.
Donaldson leaves his hard bop world to continue delving into the soul~jazz foray. He likes to groove and on this one he does just that. So sit back and enjoy the ride!
Tracks | Original LP ~ 41:54 w/CD Bonus Track ~ 49:07 All compositions by Lou Donaldson except where noted
- Funky Mama (Big John Patton) – 9:08
- Love Walked In (Gershwin, Gershwin) – 5:12
- Spaceman Twist – 5:38
- Sow Belly Blues – 10:13
- That’s All” (Alan Brandt, Bob Haymes) – 5:36
- Nice ‘n’ Greasy (John Adriano Acea) – 5:27
- People Will Say We’re in Love (Hammerstein II, Rodgers) – 7:53 (CD Bonus Track)
- Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone
- Tommy Turrentine – trumpet
- Grant Green – guitar
- Big John Patton – organ
- Ben Dixon – drums
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
History has proven that it took three plus years to eradicate the Spanish flu because people back in 1918 took the same stance of not wanting to abide by the wisdom of professionals to mask, social distance and quarantine. We are heading towards another tipping point as we see a rise in Delta and Omicron running rampant through the country. People are walking around unmasked like it’s 1999, and I remain vigilant in protecting myself. It’s a choice and a responsibility to self.
This week I’m reaching back to the Seventies for one of my favorites and pulling off the shelves the jazz~funk~fusion album Street Lady by trumpeter Donald Byrd. Recorded on June 13~15, 1973 at The Sound Factory in Hollywood, California, the album was released on the Blue Note label in July 1973. Once again Byrd steps away from his jazz purity and engages producer Larry Mizell on the heels of his successful production of its predecessor, Black Byrd.
The vocal arrangements were by Fonce Mizell, Fred Perren and Larry Mizell and George Butler executive produced this project.
Tracks | 42:12 All compositions by Larry Mizell/Byrd except as indicated
- Lansana’s Priestess ~ 7:39
- Miss Kane ~ 6:20
- Sister Love ~ 6:11
- Street Lady (Larry Mizell, Fonce Mizell) ~ 5:40
- Witch Hunt” – 9:42
- Woman of the World (Larry Gordon, Larry Mizell) ~ 6:51
- Donald Byrd – trumpet, flugelhorn, solo vocals
- Roger Glenn – flute
- Jerry Peters – piano, electric piano
- Fonce Mizell – clavinet, trumpet, vocals
- Fred Perren – synthesizer, vocals
- David T. Walker – guitar
- Chuck Rainey – electric bass
- Harvey Mason – drums
- King Errisson – congas and bongos
- Stephanie Spruill – percussion
- Larry Mizell – vocals, arranger, conductor
- Mike Salisbury ~ Art Direction, Cover
- Norman Seeff ~ Liner Photography
- Reggie Andrews ~ Electronic Consultant
- Chuck Davis ~ Technical Director
- Chuck Davis, John Arias ~ Engineer Assistant
- John Mills ~ Recording Engineer
- Chuck Davis, John Arias, John Mills ~ Remix Engineer
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,trumpet
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
Moods, also referred to as Moods Featuring Paul Quinichette is the 1954 debut album by saxophonist Paul Quinichette. It features compositions and arrangements by Quincy Jones and was released in 1955 on the EmArcy label. The tracks were recorded on two session dates, on November 4th (tracks 5–8) and 22nd (tracks 1–4) 1954 with two different line-ups at Fine Sound Studios in New York City.
The second session featured an Afro-Cuban combo with Herbie Mann on flute and also on tenor saxophone and Latin percussion instead of a drum set. The difference between the two sessions was preserved in splitting the album with the later recorded Latin jazz session on the LP’s A-side, the more straight ahead approach on the other.
Tracks | 40:40 All compositions by Quincy Jones except as indicated
- Tropical Intrigue ~ 3:04
- Grasshopper ~ 4:02
- Dilemma Diablo ~ 4:03
- I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me (Jimmy McHugh, Clarence Gaskill) ~ 6:44
- Plush Life ~ 7:48
- You’re Crying ~ 3:13
- Shorty Georgie (Harry Edison, Count Basie) ~ 6:33
- Pablo’s Roonie ~ 4:53
- Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone
- Herbie Mann – flute, tenor saxophone
- Jimmy Jones – piano
- Al Hall – bass
- Tommy Lopez – congas
- Manny Oquendo – bongos
- Willie Rodriguez – timbales
- Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone
- Sam Most – flute
- Sir Charles Thompson – piano
- Jerome Darr, Barry Galbraith – guitar
- Paul Chambers – bass
- Harold Wing – drums
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager requests that you remain vigilant in maintaining your health as exposure to the variants is on the rise again as society rushes to get to the 2019 party before Covid. Those who have it without masks can spread it, even those who have been vaccinated.
With that said, I am listening to a new young drummer on the rise who has taken the torch and remixed some of the classic jazz compositions by the legendary performers of the 20th century.
Deciphering The Message is the Chicago-based drummer, producer, and beat scientist Makaya McCraven puts a modern bounce on Blue Note classics by a host of artists who recorded on the label. Released on November 19, 2021 on vinyl, CD, and digital download, you can stream the playlist Deciphering The Message: The Originals.
With this project McCraven is an educator making available to his peer audience the opportunity to not only hear what he heard in his remixes but to experience the original compositions. He honors these jazz masters in their tradition while offering a good listen to vibe with.
Track Listing | 42:00
- A Slice Of The Top (aka Sliced Off The Top) ~ 3:13 [from A Slice Of The Top by Hank Mobley]
- Sunset (aka Son Set) ~ 3:49 [from Whistle Stop by Kenny Dorham]
- When Your Lover Has Gone (aka When You’ve Left Your Lover) ~ 2:12 [from A Night In Tunisia by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers]
- Ecaroh (aka Revlis) ~ 2:58 [from Horace Silver Trio by Horace Silver]
- Tranquillity (aka Corner Of The World) ~3:40 [from Components by Bobby Hutcherson]
- Wail Bait (aka Wait Bail) ~ 2:10 [from The Memorial Album by Clifford Brown]
- Coppin’ The Haven (aka At The Haven Coppin’) ~ 2:36 [from One Flight Up by Dexter Gordon]
- Frank’s Tune (aka De’Jeff’s Tune) ~ 3:38 [from Easterly Winds by Jack Wilson]
- Autumn In New York (aka Spring In Chicago) ~ 5:56 [from Blue Lights, Vol.1 by Kenny Burrell]
- Monaco (aka Monte Negro) ~ 2:25 [from ‘Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia by Kenny Dorham]
- Mr. Jin (aka Mr. Gin) ~ 2:58[from Indestructible by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers]
- C.F.D. (aka D.F.C.) ~ 3:18 [from Something Personal by Jack Wilson]
- Black Rhythm Happening ~ 3:35 [from Black Rhythm Happening by Eddie Gale]
- Makaya McCraven ~ Bass, Percussion, Drums
- Joel Ross ~ Vibraphone
- De’Sean Jones ~ Tenor Saxophone, Flute
- Jeff Parker ~ Guitar
- Matt Gold ~ Guitar
- Junius Paul ~ Bass, Percussion
- Marquis Hill ~ Trumpet
- Greg Ward ~ Alto Saxophone
More Posts: adventure,album,club,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel