Requisites

Happy Frame of Mind ~ Horace Parlan | By Eddie Carter

Horace Parlan has always been one of my favorite pianists, and this morning’s record from the library is a 1963 recording session that remained shelved until 1976. Happy Frame of Mind (Blue Note BST 84134) is a sextet date that was initially released as a two-record set by Booker Ervin. It finally hit the stores a decade later with its original cover and catalog number. The supporting cast is a stellar one: Johnny Coles on trumpet, Booker Ervin on tenor sax, Grant Green on guitar, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. My copy is the 1991 Toshiba EMI Japanese Stereo reissue sharing the original catalog number.

Side One opens with Home Is Africa by Ronnie Boykins. Butch and Billy get things started ahead of the ensemble’s haunting melody. Johnny is up first with a relaxing reading; then Booker gives a gorgeous solo. Grant makes an effective contribution next. Horace gives the song’s most inventive improvisation before the sextet’s closing chorus ends as it begins. A Tune For Richard by Booker Ervin gets busy with Billy’s lively introduction to the ensemble’s brisk melody. Johnny leads the charge, then Booker takes flight next. Grant delivers the third message effectively, and Horace ends with a spirited interpretation preceding the theme’s restatement and close.

Back From The Gig by Horace Parlan is the pianist’s reference to returning home from a particularly difficult gig, and the sextet begins with an easygoing melody. Horace’s opening solo flows with feeling, then Grant builds a perfect melodic line in the following reading. Booker follows with a statement that’s warm and heartfelt, and Butch takes over for a tender finale leading back to the climax. Dexi by Johnny Coles begins Side Two at a brisk clip with a quick melody into Johnny’s opening solo that sets the table. Booker is given considerable space for an impressive statement next. Horace follows with a soulful interpretation, and Grant takes a quick turn, preceding the quick reprise and fadeout.

Kucheza Blues by Randy Weston maintains an upbeat pace with the trio’s introduction to the front line’s jaunty theme. Horace leads the way with a refreshing solo. Booker follows, fueling the second statement with enthusiastic choruses. Johnny sinks his teeth into the third reading, and Butch walks swiftly toward the closing chorus and fade out. Horace’s Happy Frame of Mind is a happy rocker that the sextet has fun in the melody. Grant takes the lead and beautifully executes the first solo. Horace follows with a thoroughly enjoyable reading. Booker improvises freely in the third spot; then Johnny shares the finale with Billy before the sextet returns to take it out.

Alfred Lion produced the initial session, and Rudy Van Gelder was the recording engineer. The reissue’s sound quality is superb, with a vivid soundstage that brings the musicians to your listening room with excellent fidelity. Happy Frame of Mind is an overlooked jewel in Horace Parlan’s discography. If you’re a fan of Horace Parlan and don’t own the two-record set, Back From The Gig, I invite you to seek out Happy Frame of Mind on your next record shopping trip. It’s a wonderful album with a stellar supporting cast that I hope more jazz fans will discover!

~ Back From The Gig (The Blue Note Reissue Series BN-LA488-H2) – Source: Discogs.com

© 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter



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NOEL FRIEDLINE & MARIA HOWELL

NOEL FREIDLINE (Bandleader/Piano)
Pianist, vocalist, writer, arranger and educator, doesn’t come close to all things Noel Freidline! As a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of North Florida, with a BA in Music, Noel has been the bandleader of The Noel Freidline Quintet for over 26 years. He has numerous recordings to his credit, and has performed at jazz festivals from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival (FL)…to the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland)…not to mention, a 3-year stint at the world famous Bellagio in Las Vegas, as the house band, leading his NFQ, where he performed for actress Julia Robert’s surprise 35th birthday party.

Noel was named Best Jazz Musician by Charlotte Magazine in 2006 and in 2009 and was named “Best Musical Director”, by the Metrolina Theatre Association of the Carolinas. In 2011 Freidline was chosen for the Blumenthal Performing Arts Association – Center Stage Award (Charlotte, NC), in recognition of his excellence in service to the arts. And in May, 2015, Noel Freidline was inducted into the Jacksonville Jazz Hall of Fame. 

MARIA HOWELL (Vocals)
For over 35 years, this petite NC native, who splits her time between both the east coast and the west coast, has developed her career as a singer, actor, and voiceover artist. Her debut acting role was the choir soloist in the Oscar Nominated film, “The Color Purple”. She has gone on to appear in hit TV shows as Lifetime’s “Army Wives”, NBC’s “Revolution”, and CBS’s “Criminal Minds”. Feature films…“The Blind Side”, “Hidden Figures”, and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”. As a song stylist, Maria has shared the musical stage with legendary artists as, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Ray Charles, Earl Klugh, brothers Ronnie and Hubert Laws, and veteran actor/singer, Keith David.

Join Noel & Maria and special guest Adrian Crutchfield as they celebrate what the world needs now: Love, Sweet Love.  The best of the love songs, from classics to contemporary.

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The Jazz Voyager

From Northern California to Charm City sitting on the Chesapeake Bay for a night of music and then a short hop down to the Eastern Shore for the best crab cakes on the East Coast. The spot this Jazz Voyager will be in, the Keystone Korner Baltimore, is the second iteration of the famous club of the same name that held jazz down in SAn Francisco during the upheaval of music leading to the rise of rock and R&B.

This week the band taking the stage is The Heavy Hitters, a band composed of leader Mike LeDonne on piano, Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, trumpeter Sean Jones, Alexander Claffy on bass with drummer Kenny Washington. This voyager will be in the audience to savor the ambience and the jazz .

The venue is located at 1350 Lancaster Street, Baltimore, MD 21231. For more information you are invited to visit keystonekornerbaltimore.com.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Patrick Godfrey was born in Toronto, Canada on June 25, 1948 and began playing piano for church dances at age 12. HIs early influences were Fats Domino, Henry Mancini, Leonard Bernstein and Bach. He played and sang in a number of Toronto rock bands, which led to session work with many well known Canadian musicians Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLaughlan, Raffi, Marc Jordan, Shirley Eikhard, Ben Mink, and Mendelson Joe among others.

Around 1970 he worked with singer Len Udow in Winnipeg, Canada and met Richard Condie and wrote the music for Richard’s first animation. The subsequent friendship resulted in him scoring all of his animations. Godfrey has worked with many other animators, including David Fine and Alison Snowden for whom he scored the Oscar winner Bob’s Birthday and all 52 episodes of the TV series Bob and Margaret.

In demand as a producer, Patrick has produced albums featuring artists such as Holly Cole, The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, The Lafayette String Quartet, and Michael Jones. His personal recording career includes eighteen albums.

Pianist Patrick Godfrey continues to perform in concert and teaches improvisation, composition and songwriting at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Victoria BC.

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THE HOSCHAR-PALMIERI QUINTET

Akron based drummer Drew Hoschar returns home from NYC. The Hoschar-Palmieri Quintet is a 5-piece jazz combo of the young rising stars of the Ohio jazz scenes pursuing jazz degrees at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Cincinatti’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Both originally from northeast Ohio, drummer Drew Hoschar co-band leads with saxophonist Colin Palmieri for a night of fresh, original music, tasteful modern arrangements, and timeless classics with a band of young, heavy-hitting Cincinnati natives featuring Evan Taylor on guitar, Alex Nicodemus on piano, and Jack Early on bass.

Drew Hoschar – drums and cymbals

Colin Palmeri – alto saxophone

Evan Taylor – guitar

Alex Nicodemus – piano

Jack Early – bass

 

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