Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Theodore Salvatore Fiorito, known professionally as Ted Fio Rito, was born December 20, 1900 in Newark, New Jersey into an Italian immigrant couple. His mother had sung light opera in Italy. He attended Barringer High School in Newark.

He was still in his teens when he landed a job in 1919 as a pianist at Columbia’s New York City recording studio, working with the Harry Yerkes bands: the Yerkes Novelty Five, Yerkes’ Jazarimba Orchestra and The Happy Six.

His earliest compositions were recorded by the Yerkes groups and Art Highman’s band. Fio Rito had numerous hit recordings, notably his two number one hits, My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii and I’ll String Along with You. Over the course of his life he composed more than 100 songs, collaborating with such lyricists as Ernie Erdman, Gus Kahn, Sam Lewis, Cecil Mack, Albert Von Tilzer, and Joe Young.

Moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1921 he joined the Dan Russo band and the following year became the co-leader of Russo and Fio Rito’s Oriole Orchestra and opened at Detroit, Michigan’s Oriole Terrace, with a rebranding as the Oriole Terrace Orchestra. Returning to Chicago they did their first radio remote broadcast in 1924. Throughout the 1920s the orchestra played Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati and San Francisco.

The Fio Rito Orchestra’s vocalists included Jimmy Baxter, Candy Candido, the Debutantes, Betty Grable, June Haver, the Mahoney Sisters, Muzzy Marcellino, Joy Lane, Billy Murray, Maureen O’Connor, Patti Palmer, Kay and Ward Swingle.

During the 1940s, the band’s popularity diminished, but Fio Rito continued to perform in Chicago and Arizona. He played in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s. In his last years, he led a small combo at venues throughout California and Nevada until his death.

Composer, orchestra leader, and keyboardist Ted Fio Rito, who was popular on national radio broadcasts in the 1920s and 1930s, died from a heart attack on July 22, 1971 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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MEL BROWN’S B3 ORGAN GROUP

In fact, this true all-star band (all four members are Oregon Music Hall Of Fame inductees) has been a sensation going back to 1997, when they began a 20-year run on Thursday evenings at Portland’s legendary “Jimmy Mak’s” (The Oregonian dubbed them “Jimmy Mak’s signature group”).  They’ve continued their Thursday night tradition at the Jack London Revue for the past 6 years. With a collective resume that reads like a “Who’s Who” of NW jazz, blues, and soul, this group has the talent and confidence to be completely spontaneous–from their blistering solos to their improvised arrangements and segues.  No wonder they’ve thrilled audiences wherever they’ve played.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Gene Ludwig was born on September 4, 1937 in Twin Rocks, Cambria County, Pennsylvania and raised in the boroughs of Wilkinsburg and Swissvale, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began studying the piano at age 6 and became interested in rhythm and blues after hearing Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner and organists Bill Doggett and Wild Bill Davis.

Graduating from Swissvale High School in 1955, he studied physics and mathematics at Edinboro State Teachers College. He left due to his father going on strike at Westinghouse Electric, and returned to Pittsburgh to work in construction.

Ludwig began performing in local vocal groups before hearing organist Jimmy Smith perform at the Hurricane nightclub in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. That initial encounter inspired him to take up the Hammond organ. He bought several organs before settling on the B-3 after sharing a bill with Jimmy Smith in 1964 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Traveling along the East Coast and to Ohio, he performed jazz and rhythm and blues, and released numerous singles and albums as a leader and a sideman. Gene released a 45-rpm single of the Ray Charles song Sticks & Stones in 1963, then in 1967 he released Mother Blues on Johnny Nash’s Jocida record label. He went on to  replace Don Patterson in saxophonist Sonny Stitt’s band in 1969, appearing on Stitt’s album, Night Letter.

Ludwig toured with bass-baritone vocalist Arthur Prysock and guitarist Pat Martino. He released the album, Now’s the Time, in 1980 on Muse Records, and continued to travel and work through the ’80s and ’90s, regularly performing at Pittsburgh’s Crawford Grill and James Street Tavern. He signed with Loose Leaf/Blues Leaf Records in 1997 and released the albums Back on the Track, Soul Serenade, The Groove ORGANization, Hands On, and Live in Las Vegas, for the label.

Hammond B-3 organist Gene Ludwig, who was a prominent figure on the Pittsburgh jazz scene, died in Monroeville, Pennsylvania on July 14, 2010. A posthumous album, Love Notes of Cole Porter, was released in 2011 by Jim Alfredson’s Big O Records.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ronnie Foster was born May 12, 1950 in Buffalo, New York and was attracted to music at the age of four. Attending Public School 8, then Woodlawn Jr. High for a year, he took music more seriously from his early teens while at McKinley Vocational High School for two years, and having his first professional gig aged fifteen, playing in a strip club. He spent his final year at Lafayette High School. The only formal musical instruction he received was a month of accordion lessons.

Foster initially performed with other local musicians before moving to New York City with his own band, and acquired a publishing company. He has performed as a sideman with a wide range of musicians, frequently working with guitarist George Benson and playing on the guitarist’s album Breezin’.

He has played organ with Grant Green, Grover Washington, Jr., Stanley Turrentine, Roberta Flack, Earl Klugh, Harvey Mason, Jimmy Smith, and Stevie Wonder. His music Mystic Brew has been sampled by A Tribe Called Quest and J. Cole.

Organist Ronnie Foster, who is also a record producer, continues to perform, record.

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Requisites

Home Cookin’ ~ Jimmy Smith | By Eddie Carter

I’d had a really long week and wanted to hear some organ jazz when I came across a title I always enjoyed but hadn’t listened to in a while. Jimmy Smith provides the recipe for seven courses of hard bop and soul-jazz with a side of the blues in Home Cookin’ (Blue Note BLP 4050/BST 84050). It’s a delicious quartet meal of pure organ bliss taken from three different sessions that hit the stores in 1961. Jimmy is joined by Percy France (tracks: A1, A4, B1, B2) on tenor sax, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Donald Bailey on drums. My copy is the 1992 Toshiba EMI Japanese Stereo reissue sharing the original catalog number.

Side One opens with See See Rider by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Lena Arant. Jimmy and the trio introduce the theme at a slow tempo. Kenny has the first spot and swings lightly to the leader’s fat bass lines and Donald’s subtle brushwork. Percy follows with a down-home reading, and then Jimmy is equally elegant in a short solo ahead of the song’s finale. Sugar Hill by Kenny Burrell is dedicated to an area of Harlem and picks up the pace significantly as the composer leads Smith and Bailey through the melody. Kenny gets things going with a lively lead solo, and then Jimmy comes in for a spirited statement that moves along nicely. Burrell adds a few more comments preceding the reprise and slow fadeout.

I Got A Woman by Ray Charles would become a big hit for Jimmy McGriff a year later. Smith and company offer a change of pace from that swinger with a medium groove featuring Jimmy in the solo spotlight. The organist’s soulful presentation is a danceable treat until the threesome reprises the ending theme into a slow dissolve. Messin’ Around by Jimmy Smith brings back France to the foursome for the medium melody. Burrell is up first again with a sparkling statement. France puts a lot of heart and emotion into the following reading, then Smith’s short solo leads back to the quartet’s theme restatement and fade out.

Side Two begins with an introduction to a lovely lady named Gracie by Jimmy Smith. The quartet’s leisurely theme sets the tone for Percy’s contagious opening statement. Kenny skillfully constructs the second solo, and then Jimmy delivers one of his smoothest readings preceding the out-chorus. Come On Baby by Kenny Burrell is a solid blues that grabs the listener from the start of Smith’s melody and informal, easy opening interpretation. France steps up next with an excellent example of his superb tone quality. Burrell enters the picture next for a brief presentation before Jimmy adds a few last thoughts until the slow fade into nothingness.

Jimmy’s Motoring Along is the album’s closing number and the final trio track. The beat shifts upward for the melody. Kenny gets his message across in the lead solo, and Jimmy is a joy to listen to in the closer. Donald keeps the excitement in the beat going until the theme’s closing chorus and the trio’s slow exit. Alfred Lion produced Home Cookin’, and Rudy Van Gelder was the man behind the dials. The sound quality is good but not great, and the reason is the same issue I had with Hootin’ ‘n Tootin’ and Open House. The microphone placement for Jimmy’s organ has a level of distortion that is particularly noticeable on every track but not as bad on Come On Baby.

The front and rear covers are both laminated, and the record is incredibly quiet until the music starts. That aside, the good news is I enjoyed the music, particularly Percy France who I was unaware of, but pleasantly surprised with his playing because he reminded me of Stanley Turrentine. Burrell and Bailey are as solid a rhythm section as anyone could have, and they’ve collaborated with Jimmy on four other albums: Back At The Chicken Shack, Houseparty, Midnight Special, and The Sermon. If you’re a fan of hard bop, soul-jazz, or Jimmy Smith, I hope you will check out Home Cookin’ on your next record shop visit. It’s a tasty musical meal I’m sure you won’t regret adding to your library!

~ Back At The Chicken Shack (Blue Note BLP 4117/BST 84117), Hootin’ ‘n Tootin’ (Blue Note BLP 4094/BST 84094), Houseparty (Blue Note BLP 4002/BST 84002), Midnight Special (Blue Note BLP 4078/BST 84078), Open House (Blue Note BLP 4269/BST 84269), The Sermon (Blue Note BLP 4011/BST 84011) – Source: Discogs.com

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