Three Wishes
Zoot Sims was given the proposition of three wishes by Pannonica that if they could be fulfilled what would they be and he said this to her:
- “Peace of mind.”
- “Woman I could live with.”
- “Piece of ground.”
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Steve Marcus was born September 18, 1939 in The Bronx, New York, and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts between 1959 and 1961. He gained experience playing in the bands of Stan Kenton, Herbie Mann and Larry Coryell from 1963 to 1973.
His debut album as a leader included an arrangement of the Beatles’ song, Tomorrow Never Knows, which also was the album’s title. He worked with jazz drummer Buddy Rich for the last twelve years of the drummer’s life. After Rich died, Marcus led the band and renamed it Buddy’s Buddies.
Saxophonist Steve Marcus transitioned on September 25, 2005 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He was 66.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joseph Jarman was born on September 14, 1937 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. At DuSable High School, he studied drums with Walter Dyett, switching to saxophone and clarinet when he joined the United States Army after graduation. During his time there, he was part of the 11th Airborne Division Band for a year.
After his discharge in 1958, Jarman attended Wilson Junior College, where he met bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton. These men would often perform long jam sessions at the suggestion of their professor, Richard Wang. Mitchell introduced Jarman to pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, and Jarman, Mitchell, and Maghostut joined Abrams’ Experimental Band, a private, non-performing ensemble, when that group was founded in 1961. The same group of musicians along with Fred Anderson and Phil Cohran went on to found the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1965,.
His solo recording career began at this time, putting together a sextet, however, Jarman disbanded the group in 1969 after the passing of two members. He had joined Mitchell, Maghostut and Lester Bowie in the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble which would eventually become known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The group was known for being costumed on stage for different reasons.
The group moved to Paris in 1969, and lived there for many years in a commune that included Steve McCall, the drummer who went on to form the jazz trio Air. Moving back to Chicago in the 1970s, Joseph lived in a musicians’ building in Hyde Park, with Malachi Favors as his roommate. In 1983, he moved to Brooklyn, New York.
Jarman left the Ensemble until 1993 to focus on his spiritual practice, and didn’t return to music until 1996, releasing two albums and then joining a trio with Myra Melford in Chicago, which would eventually be called Equal Interest.
Along with the saxophone and clarinet, Jarman also played (and recorded on) nearly every member of the woodwind family, as well as a wide variety of percussion instruments. Aside from his work with relatively traditional jazz line-ups, he also composed for larger orchestras and created multimedia pieces for musicians and dancers.
Saxophonist, composer, and poet Joseph Jarman transitioned from respiratory failure at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey on January 9, 2019. He was 81.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank “Big Boy” Goudie was born on September 13, 1899 in Youngsville, Louisiana, 150 miles west of New Orleans, Louisiana in the area of the state known as Cajun country, where he lived until the age of eight. His family then moved to New Orleans, where he began playing cornet, and became proficient enough to find work with local bands such as Papa Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Band and the Magnolia Band, two of the top New Orleans bands at that time. He began studying clarinet and tenor saxophone, which would eventually become his primary instruments.
Arriving in New Orleans around 1907 meant Frank had a front-row seat to the blossoming of early jazz with King Oliver, Kid Ory, Johnny Dodds, Freddie Keppard, Jimmie Noone and a host of others, were in their prime and working at many venues throughout the city.
With the 1918 closure of Storyville and the early 1920s, New Orleans experienced a diaspora of musicians, one of whom was Goudie. In 1921 he joined a band accompanying a traveling minstrel show, and for the next four years he performed in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and California. He joined another traveling group, Frank Matthews and the Louisiana High Browns, ending up in Tampico, Mexico in 1925.
That same year he sailed to France, making Paris his home base for the next 14 years. Work was plentiful for expat Black musicians in Paris prior to World War II. He would go on to work with bands led by Benny Peyton, Louis Mitchell, Sam Wooding, Noble Sissle, Freddy Johnson, Bill Coleman, and Willie Lewis during the Thirties. He worked at “Bricktop’s,” owned and operated by Ada “Bricktop” Smith, who was a supporter of American jazz musicians. Frank played often and recorded with Django Reinhardt.
While living in Europe, Goudie carried a wicker suitcase full of upholstery tools with which to augment his income – a trade he learned as a young man in New Orleans. He left Paris in late 1939, moving to South America, where he worked in Brazil and Argentina with guitarist Oscar Aleman, and fronted his own groups.
In 1946, Frank moved back to Paris, playing there with Arthur Briggs, Harry Cooper, and Bill Coleman. In 1951, he moved to Berlin, led his own band and recorded there in 1952 and 1953 and in Yugoslavia in 1955.
Returning to the States in 1957 to run his uncle’s business in San Francisco, California, his presence became known to the close-knit Bay Area jazz community. It didn’t take long before he again was in demand and playing with trumpeter Marty Marsala, pianists Earl Hines, Bill Erickson and Burt Bales, trombonist Bob Mielke and other local groups.
Trumpeter, alto and tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Frank Goudie, who as a young man, his great height earned him the nickname “Tree,” and he became known as “Big Boy” during his years in Paris, transitioned from cancer at age 64, in San Francisco on January 9, 1964.
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Requisites
Introducing Johnny Griffin ~ Johnny Griffin | By Eddie Carter
Submitted for your approval this morning is the 1956 debut by tenor saxophonist, Johnny Griffin. Introducing Johnny Griffin aka Chicago Calling (Blue Note BLP 1533/BST 81533) is the first of three releases he made as a leader for Alfred Lion’s label. The other two are A Blowing Session (1957) and The Congregation (1958). Johnny was nicknamed The Little Giant for his small size, but he possessed a robust sound and dazzling technique that kept him recording and in demand as a leader and sideman for over sixty years. For his first album, Griff’s working with three of the best musicians in the business, Wynton Kelly on piano, Curly Russell on bass, and Max Roach on drums. My copy used in this report is the 2002 Classic Records Mono audiophile deep groove reissue sharing the original catalog number.
Side One opens briskly with Mil Dew, the first of three tunes by Johnny Griffin. Max begins the fireworks with a brief introduction. Johnny grips you right away from a fast-moving opening chorus and a wild ride on the first solo. Wynton stokes the fire with fierce heat next, then Max aggressively exchanges notes with Griff ahead of Curly’s vigorous comment during the closing chorus. Chicago Calling, also by the leader, is listed as the album’s title tune and the quintet begins the melody in a relaxed groove. Johnny eases into the opening statement leisurely, then takes the tempo up for the remainder of his reading. Wynton meets the challenge with a nimble solo that’s absolutely stunning; next Griff returns with a delightfully carefree interpretation leading to the climax.
These Foolish Things by Harry Link, Eric Maschwitz (using the pseudonym Holt Marvell), and Jack Strachey made its debut in the British musical comedy, Spread It Abroad (1936). Wynton introduces the song tenderly, segueing into a heart-warming opening chorus and lead solo by Griff. Kelly delivers a delicate interpretation that’s beautifully constructed to match Russell and Roach’s sultry support preceding Johnny’s beautiful finale. The Boy Next Door by Ralph Blaine and Hugh Martin begins with a light-hearted theme by the quartet. Griff opens the solos expressing great joy on the first interpretation. Wynton steps up next with a very satisfying performance. Griff swings soulfully for a few more verses before the foursome reassembles for the ending.
Side Two starts with the group inviting us to get comfortable and enjoy a breezy blues by Griffin that’s Nice and Easy. The saxophonist takes the listener to a notably relaxed atmosphere on the melody and opening statement. Wynton offers a carefree interpretation that’s just right, followed by Curly who gives a delightfully mellow performance into the ensemble’s finale. It’s All Right With Me by Cole Porter takes off at a blistering pace from the quartet’s opening chorus into Griffin’s ferociously speedy first flight that ascends to a peak of intensity. Kelly continues soaring into the stratosphere with equally explosive verses, then Griff comes back with a few final fiery choruses leading to the melody’s reprise and abrupt conclusion.
Lover Man by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and James Sherman opens with a sensitive introduction by Kelly that blossoms into Johnny’s hauntingly beautiful melody. Griff swings gently on the opening solo, then Wynton enhances the song’s intimacy with a lovely reading. Johnny adds a few tenderly expressed thoughts into the close.
Introducing Johnny Griffin was remastered by Bernie Grundman who knocks it out of the park with a breathtaking soundstage from Rudy Van Gelder’s original tapes. The highs sparkle, the midrange is clean and crisp, and the bass is deep. The album is pressed on 200 grams of Quiex SV-P Super Vinyl and is quiet until the music starts. If you’re a fan of tenor sax or are new to the music of Johnny Griffin, I highly recommend Introducing Johnny Griffin for a spot in your library. It’s a great album for anyone who loves jazz that gets better with repeated listening!
~ A Blowing Session (Blue Note BLP 1559), The Congregation (Blue Note BLP 1580) – Source: Discogs.com ~ These Foolish Things, Lover Man – Source: JazzStandards.com ~ The Boy Next Door – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2022 by Edward Thomas Carter
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