The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
TUESDAYS IN CHINATOWN | ANDY BEYPolitics, business and society are taking another foreboding step towards the past normal by allowing people who have been vaccinated to move unmasked. Ther are, however, no checks and balances as no one is checking these people as they come into stores. Thinking this is too early, I remain safe and comfortable in my home.
On that note, this week I am listening to another favorite of mine, male baritone vocalist by the name of Andy Bey and I have chosen his 2001 Tuesdays In Chinatown release. The horns were arranged by Geri Allen, engineered and mixed by Dave Kowalski, mastered by Ron McMaster, and produced by Herb Jordan. The photography was taken by Frank Stewart.
Track Listing | 63:01- Tuesdays In Chinatown ~ 6:52
- Fragile (Sting) ~ 4:50
- Bridges (Milton Nascimento) ~ 4:58
- Saidas E. Bandeiras (Fernando Brant / Milton Nascimento) ~ 5:36
- In A Mist (Bix Beiderbecke) ~ 7:06
- I’ll Remeber April (Gene DePaul / Pat Johnston / Patricia Johnston / Don Raye) ~ 5:35
- Invitation (Bronislaw Kaper / Paul Francis Webster) ~ 7:01
- Little Girl Blue (Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers) ~ 6:17
- Just Friends (John Klenner / Sam M. Lewis) ~ 2:40
- Feelin’ Lowdown (Big Bill Broonzy) ~ 6:18
- Andy Bey ~ piano, vocal
- Peter Washington, Ron Carter ~ Bass
- Peter Sanders ~ Cello (2)
- Marty Ehrlich ~ Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Flute
- Victor Lewis ~ Drums
- Earl Gardner, John Sneider ~ Flugelhorn, Trumpet
- Paul Meyers ~ Guitar
- Mino Cinelu ~ Percussion
- Steve Turre ~ Trombone
- Barry Finclair ~ Viola
- Andy Stein ~ Violin, String Arrangements
- Laura Seaton ~ Violin
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Kitty Kallen, born Katie Kallen on May 25, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was one of seven children. As a child, she won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. Returning home with her prize camera, her father punished her for stealing it. Only when neighbors subsequently visited to congratulate her did her father realize she had actually won it.
As a young girl, she sang on The Children’s Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a preteen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia’s WCAU and sang with the big bands of Jan Savitt in 1936, Artie Shaw in 1938, and Jack Teagarden in 1939. At twenty she sang the vocals for Moonlight Becomes You with Bobby Sherwood and His Orchestra at the second ever session for what was then still called Liberty Records but would soon be renamed Capitol Records. It was her only session for the label.
She joined the Jimmy Dorsey band when she was twenty-one replacing Helen O’Connell. Her recording with Dorsey, They’re Either Too Young or Too Old, was a favorite of American servicemen. She followed this with Dorsey’s #1 hit Besame Mucho. Singing duets with Bob Eberly, when he left to go into the service in 1943, she joined Harry James’s band.
With James she went on to have many hits in the top twenty with two hitting #1. In 1954 she was voted the most popular female singer in Billboard and Variety polls. She followed up with the song, In the Chapel in the Moonlight, which was another million seller. Kittty performed live at numerous prominent venues, as well as popular television shows like the Tonight Show, American Banstand and The Big Beat.
Her final album was Quiet Nights, a bossa nova–flavored release for 20th Century Fox Records. Subsequently, she retired owing to a lung ailment. On February 8, 1960, Kallen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame A compilation of her hits on various labels remains available on the Sony CD set The Kitty Kallen Story. Vocalist Kitty Kallen passed away on January 7, 2016.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
But Beautiful | Jimmy Scott
Society is taking another step towards mingling as governors are relaxing the mask requirement and several major cities are following their lead and people are celebrating. Thinking it too early and comfortable in my home I remain vigilant with my social distancing and trust you are doing the same.
So this week we take a trip down memory lane with Jimmy Scott and his 2002 recording titled But Beautiful. It was recorded at The Studio in New York City on August 16~19, 2001.released on the German label Milestone and was arranged by Freddy Cole (Track 7), Joe Beck (Track 8), Renee Rosnes (Track 1,4,6,7,9) and Robert Sadin (Track 5,10). The album was mixed by Dave Luke at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. It was produced by Todd Barkan and recorded by Katherine Miller. Track Listing | 54:05
- You Don’t Know What Love Is (Gene DePaul/Don Raye) ~ 4:59
- Darn ThatDream (Edddie DeLange/James Van Heusen) ~ 6:35
- It Had To Be You (Isham Jones/Gus Kahn) ~ 4:17
- This Bitter Earth (Clyde Otis) ~ 5:21
- Please Send Me Someone To Love (Percy Mayfield) ~ 5:31
- But Beautiful (Johnny Burke/James Van Heusen) ~ 5:50
- When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline/Ned Washington) ~ 5:18
- Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson) ~ 5:18
- I’ll Be Seeing You (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal) ~ 6:01
- Take My Hand, Precious Lord (Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey) ~ 4:37
- Jimmy Scott ~ vocal
- Freddy Cole ~ vocal (track 7)
- Renee Rosnes ~ piano
- George Mraz ~ bass
- Lewis Nash ~ drums
- Joe Beck ~ guitar (track 1,3,5,6, & 8)
- Wynton Marsalis ~trumpet (track 2)
- Lew Soloff ~ trumpet (track 8)
- Eric Alexander ~ tenor saxophone (track 3, 5 & 6)
- Bob Kindred ~ tenor saxophone (track 4 & 9)
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Pee Wee Hunt was born Walter Gerhardt Hunt on May 10, 1907 in Mount Healthy, Ohio. He developed a musical interest at an early age, as his mother played the banjo and his father played violin. As a teenager he was a banjoist with a local band while he was attending college at Ohio State University where he majored in electrical engineering. During his college years he switched from banjo to trombone, and graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He joined Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra in 1928.
Hunt was the co-founder and featured trombonist with the Casa Loma Orchestra, but he left the group in 1943 to work as a Hollywood radio disc jockey before joining the Merchant Marine near the end of World War II. Returning to the West Coast music scene in 1946, his Twelfth Street Rag was a three million-selling, number one hit in 1948. His second million-selling disc was Oh! in 1953. He was satirized as Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band in Tex Avery’s animated MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy in 1954.
Trombonist, vocalist and bandleader Pee Wee Hunt passed away on June 22, 1979 at age 72 after a long illness in Plymouth, Massachusetts
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Requisites
Julie Is Her Name ~ Julie London | By Eddie Carter
This morning’s choice from the library is the debut album by Julie London. She was a talented actress who starred in several forties and fifties Hollywood films, a sexy pinup model and nightclub singer with a stunning figure to match her luxurious voice. Julie Is Her Name (Liberty LRP 3006/LST 7027), is a half-hour journey of intimate music that’s perfect to enjoy while unwinding after a long day or to help spark a romantic evening ahead. Accompanying Julie on vocals are Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Leatherwood on bass. My copy used in this report is the 1955 US Mono reissue made at Capitol Records Pressing Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The second pressing turquoise labels are distinguished from the Deep Groove original by a small circle around the center hole on each side.
Side One starts with her biggest hit, Cry Me A River by Arthur Hamilton, a high school classmate. Julie sings the lyrics with elegance and warmth as she turns the tables on a lover who hurt her and now finds himself the recipient of a broken heart. Barney and Ray complement her with their subtle supplement into a gentle fadeout. I Should Care by Sammy Cahn, Alex Stordahl, and Paul Weston was written in 1944, appearing in Thrill of a Romance, a year later. The trio approaches the romantic theme efficiently. Julie caresses the lyrics softly and tenderly, and Kessel has a lush interlude in between that’s seductively silky. Barney and Ray lead the way into I’m In The Mood For Love by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy Hugh. Julie reflects the song’s tenderness with deep sensitivity ahead of a gorgeous ending.
I’m Glad There Is You by Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Madiera is tailor-made for Julie’s provocative delivery of the lyrics. Kessel and Leatherwood are splendidly entertaining in support before the trio’s lush climax. Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man was first heard in the 1927 musical, Show Boat as Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man. It’s one of Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s most famous songs. The ensemble presents an exquisite example and Julie shows respect to the lyrics with a bluesy vocal interpretation that flows smoothly. Cole Porter’s I Love You was introduced in the 1944 musical, Mexican Hayride. The trio begins deceptively at a slow tempo before the pace moves upward and Julie turns loose a little gaiety on a swinging statement.
The second side gets underway with Say It Isn’t So by Irving Berlin from 1932. Julie’s indelible opening chorus characterizes a sincere plea to the man she loves to reassure her that the rumor he no longer loves her and is planning to leave isn’t true. Her haunting words are delicately expressed with Barney and Ray providing the gentle groundwork preceding a calm climax. Up next is It Never Entered My Mind, a show tune that premiered in the 1940 musical, Higher and Higher. This well-recorded standard from the pen of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart speaks of loneliness, regret, and remorse. Julie and Kessel make it an intimately personal duet that’s deeply poignant with an emotional emphasis on love and sorrow anyone can identify with.
Julie and her bandmates take a slow tempo trip to Easy Street next. This jazz standard was written by Alan Rankin Jones in 1940 and transports us to a place where life is good, and people are comfortable, content, and happy. Her lyrics are equally carefree and dreamy. Barney and Ray augment the vocalist with a soft supplement and Barney gets a brief solo ahead of the close. George & Ira Gershwin introduced S’ Wonderful in the 1927 musical, Funny Face. It later became a popular jazz standard with many notable recordings. Kessel starts the song vigorously with an enthusiastic introduction segueing into a dazzlingly agile melody by Julie who then slows down to wrap up the song reinforced by Kessel and Leatherwood’s backing.
No Moon At All by David Mann and Redd Evans is a jazz standard that was composed in 1947. It’s a romantic tune, and Julie beckons her lover like a siren with seductively sultry lyrics on the melody. Barney and Ray accompany her as she plans a night of romance beginning with one kiss. Laura by David Raskin and Johnny Mercer needs no introduction. It’s a timeless 1944 standard that became a hit after the Film-Noir drama of the same name. Julie sings the first chorus of the haunting melody without any accompaniment. Kessel and Leatherwood add their serene support as her voluptuous vocals are profoundly moving into a gentle coda. The finale, Gone With The Wind by Allie Wrubel and Herb Magidson is a passionately tender showcase by Julie and the duo who back her delicately into a graceful fadeout.
The Mono copy of Julie Is Her Name was produced by Bobby Troup (who would become her second husband) and engineered by John Neal. John Kraus who also engineered albums on Atlantic, Capitol, Contemporary, Dot, Jazz West, and London worked on the Stereo reissue. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality for a record nearly sixty-six years old, it’s quite good. Julie’s vocals are seductive, and Barney Kessel and Ray Leatherwood respond with sheer beauty behind her. The Capitol Records reissues have a misprint, the tracks are reversed on both sides. The Side Two songs are on the Side One label and the Side One songs, on Side Two. How this error was overlooked, I’ll never know, especially since Capitol uses the original Liberty pressing back cover, but that seems to be the only issue with my copy.
Torch singing became Julie’s specialty over her fourteen-year recording career, and she made thirty-one albums at Liberty, earning her the nickname, The Liberty Girl. She also found success on television, becoming most famous for her portrayal of Dixie McCall on the series, Emergency for six years. A chain smoker since she was sixteen, Julie suffered a stroke in 1995 and developed lung cancer a few years later. She passed away from cardiac arrest at age seventy-four on October 18, 2000. If you’re seeking some easy-listening, jazz vocals for your library, make a note to pick up Julie Is Her Name by Julie London on your next vinyl hunt. It marks the beginning of a terrific jazz vocalist and is a lovely way to spend the evening with that special someone!
~Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man, Gone With The Wind, I Love You, I Should Care, I’m Glad There Is You, I’m In The Mood For Love, It Never Entered My Mind, Laura, ‘S Wonderful, Say It Isn’t So – Source: JazzStandards.com ~Cry Me A River, Easy Street, No Moon at All – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2021 by Edward Thomas CarterMore Posts: choice,classic,collectible,collector,history,instrumental,jazz,music,vocal