COVID-19 Level 3: Day 11

I do wish Billie would have sung two choruses (or more) a little more often (we do have the alternate takes though). It’s an awfully minor complaint. There are some great bass and drum pairings across the set. Of course there’s the classic combo of Walter Page and Jo Jones, but I’ve also been enjoying John Kirby and Cozy Cole take care of business together. I have to throw some love in the direction of Buck Clayton too. In the history books he’s a little overshadowed by others. But how about that cup mute tone? And his melodic solos and blend with Prez is top notch. While we’re on the subject, Prez plays a little clarinet on Disc 4 (“The Very Thought of You”, “I Got a Date with a Dream”) - always a treat. If you’re after more clarinet from Prez, check out the Kansas City Sessions (with Buck and the Basie rhythm section) recorded about a week apart from this session with Billie in September, 1938.

Although some of these Dizzy discs are revisits, today’s outing was a new one for me. It’s nice hearing Dizzy revisiting pieces from the 40s and setting them next to slightly more contemporary pieces of the time (1963), hence Something Old, Something New. I can’t say I’ve ever been much of a fan of James Moody. He fits in well here, and the flute is a nice touch and today I preferred it over the sax playing, but he just doesn’t do it for me. I think horn blend and intonation was bugging me. It’s not always a factor, but today it was catching a nerve. I just seemed a bit inconsistent. But as a soloist Dizzy was pretty well on form throughout and that’s why these discs are getting a spin (although it’s always nice when someone else catches your ear).

The soothing sounds of Prez

The Kansas City Sessions (Commodore)

I could ramble on passionately about this recording till the cows come home. But in the meantime, I’ll just add that the 1938 session with Prez, Buck Clayton, Eddie Durham, Freddie Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones is some of my all-time favourite music. The ensemble passages, counterpoint, solos, accompaniment, balance, swing, sound, feeling... incredible music. There’s the added bonus of having two takes of each piece and Prez plays plenty of clarinet too. In addition to singing Prez' solos, I had a blast singing along with Freddie Green’s vocals on “Them There Eyes” - something I did back-to-back with versions by Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday’s during my lessons with Connie Crothers.

Stan Getz Blindfold Test

From May 10, 1973, Stan Getz takes Down Beat's "Blindfold Test." Dan Morgenstern tests Getz with tracks by Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, Miles Davis and even a track by Getz (from 25 years earlier). More vintage magazine articles are available here.

2014 Round Up

This is not a "best of" and it's far from a comprehensive overview of my listening over the past 12 months - just a taste of albums I enjoyed that were new to me during 2014 (I've not focussed on new releases). Aside from the 2014 releases being first, things are in no particular order.


Connie Crothers: Concert In Paris (New Artists)

Perhaps I biased, but you'll find Connie's albums on any favourite's list of mine. Recorded in October 2011 (not long after I returned to NZ following a period studying with her) and released in August during Connie's residency at The Stone - another highlight from 2014. I'm always left wondering, "how does she do it?"

Slowfox: The Wood (Jazzwerkstatt) Root 70 with Strings: Riomar (Nwog)

As with Crothers, I'm a big Hayden Chisholm fan. The Wood got plenty of spins this year and I hope this trio record more in the future. There are a few videos of concerts from them floating around YouTube too. I may be a little cheeky including the Root 70 album here as I got it in 2013 but listened to it more in 2014.

Lennie Tristano: Chicago, April 1951 (Uptown)

Two discs of previously unreleased live recordings, tells you this is essential for anyone interested in Tristano, Konitz and Marsh et al.. The sound quality is pretty descent and the music is excellent. Lets hope for more releases from the Tristano vaults. For whatever reason, this one didn't quite get the same media attention as the Guiffre release.

The Jimmy Giuffre 3 & 4: New York Concerts (Elemental Music)

Another important historical release of previously unissued concert recordings, filling a gap during the post-Free Fall years that went unrecorded. Giuffre (on tenor and clarinet) along with trio (b/d) and quartet (p/b/d), fascinating listening and excellent notes too.

Kazzrie Jaxen Quartet: Callicoon Sessions (New Artists) A Million Shimmering Fish (New Artists)

Kazzire's lush piano shines across both of these quite different releases.  The latter features Kazzrie's piano and the poetry of Mark Weber - mostly piano responding to the spoken word (as opposed to the piano accompanying the spoken words). The Quartet has just released a new album which I am yet to hear.

Lester Young: Lady Be Good (unreleased alternate take)

From the collection of George Avakian comes an alternate take from the 1936 "Jones-Smith Inc." session. I hope someone dives in to the collection and discovers more gems such as this. The find of the year?

Paul Bley: Homage To Carla (Owl)

I do enjoy hearing Bley play Bley and this solo disc was on heavy rotation for a while (along with a few other Paul Bley albums). I'll be keeping an eye out for his trio disc on Steeplechase that tackles Carla's songs. In general, I still feel Paul Bley is under appreciated by the jazz community.

Various: West Coast Soundings (EWR)

I got this from Frank Gratkowski after his gig at Constellation (which was excellent). This is two discs of compositions that I guess fall into the the "new music" category. There's a lot of minimalism and drones. My interest was sparked when Frank mentioned there were times during the recording that he felt every note he played was too loud - I think he did pretty well. This was a nice accompaniment as I worked on school stuff.

Steve Lacy: Spirit of Mingus (Freelance) Steve Lacy & Evan Parker: Chirps (FMP)

As usual I listened to my fair share of Lacy this year. It was great hearing the master play a full set of Mingus tunes and how could I resist the Lacy/Parker duo (Parkers debt to Lacy is evident).

Paul Plimley & Lislie Ellis: Kaleidoscopes (HatArt)

This was a surprise disc that I picked up purely because this duo (who I was unfamiliar with) was playing the music of Ornette Coleman. I thoroughly enjoyed this album and recommend it to anyone interested in Coleman's music.

Lol Coxhill: Ear of Beholder (Esoteric) Milwaukee 2002 (Emanem) Alone and Together (Emanem)

There has been a steady stream of Coxhill on throughout the year. His personal approach to the soprano has drawn me in - there's a vulnerability and a rambling quality that appeals to be - a very distinctive player. The opening (included here) and closing tracks on Behearer hit my funny bone.

Ran Blake: Plays Solo Piano (ESP) Free Standards (Fresh Sound)

The fidelity of the solo disc is far from ideal but that didn't stop me from enjoying the music. On the duo disc I found that the original compositions written by the producer didn't grab my attention the way the standard tunes (solo & duo) did.

Ornette Coleman: In All Languages (Harmolodic/Verve)

Around the middle of the year I revisited some album's of Ornette's I hadn't listened to for some time. Along the way I picked up this one which I hadn't heard. The disc splits Prime Time and a reunion of the original quartet and it's worthwhile checking out the two groups takes on the same songs.

Art Tatum: Exactly Like You

This comes from a mid-1940s live recording (sorry but I've misplaced the full info!). Lewis Porter played this to us in class early last year. Check out striking chorus of single note lines.

John Surman: Fragments (ECM) Thimar (ECM) A Biography Of The Rev. Absalom Dawe (ECM)
Stranger Than Fiction (EMC)

I haven't listened to much John Surman over the years. For me, he's a player that has slipped through the cracks so this year I made bit of an effort to listen to some of his work. I focused on his soprano work but he is strong on baritone sax and bass clarinet too. It was enough for me to want some more.

Norman Winstone: Somewhere Called Home (ECM)

I went to the Jazz Record Mart on New Year's eve hoping to find Jay Clayton's Sound Songs. They didn't have it and I was in the mood for some vocals so on a whim I picked this up - a nice mellow way to take out 2014.

Solo Mix Tape

With the wintery blast taking hold of Chicago (and the rest of the U.S) I decided to use some of the time I had indoors to put together a mix tape/playlist of solos (at both regular and half speed) that I want to spent time with this year. Here's what has made the list so far, with more still to be added.

Apparently it is "Sitting In."

Roy Eldridge
"Body and Soul"
"Stardust"
"Sittin' In" (I also included Chu Berry's solo)
These three tracks come from a session in 1938 for Commodore released under Chu Berry's name with Clyde Hart (p) Danny Barker (g) Artie Shapiro (b) Sid Catlett (d).

Warne Marsh
"Remember" (Live at Birdland 1949)
One of my favourite solos from Marsh. Based on "I'll Remember April."

Charlie Parker
"All of Me"
"I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me"
These two tracks were recorded with Lennie Tristano and Kenny Clarke in 1951.

Lennie Tristano
"Line Up" 
One of Tristano's best known solos. There was a time when I was listening to this solo everyday. I'm looking forward to sharing some time with it again.

Lester Young
"Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" (two takes of Tenor and Clarinet solos)
I plan to add the remaining tracks from 1938 on the Kansas City Sessions (Commodore) when I get the chance.

There are still a few others I would like to add… some more by Tristano and Lee Konitz to start.

recent listing: october contrafacts

Lately I've been listening to a few contrafacts (tunes written on the chords of other tunes).  For the most part I have been looking for pre-bop contrafacts. Drop me a line if you know any good ones.

First up was checking out some tunes based on changes from "Tiger Rag" (which shares plenty in common with "Won't you come home Bill Bailey") - Duke Ellington was a fan - "Daybreak Express," "Hot & Bothered," "Braggin' In Brass" & "The Slippery Horn" come out of "Tiger Rag."
A couple of others "Tiger Rag" based tunes I've come across include Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than Hot" and Sidney Bechet playing "I'll Take That New Orleans Music" (Wilbur DeParis).

There are plenty based on "I Got Rhythm".... "The Jeep Is Jumpin" (Hodges/Ellington) "Apple Honey" (Woody Herman) "Seven Come Eleven" (Charlie Christian) "Shag" (Sidney Bechet) "Chant Of The Groove" (Coleman Hawkins).

Coleman Hawkins wrote a few contrafacts - "Bean Soup" (Tea For Two) "Bay-U-Bah" (Sweet Georgia Brown) "Bean At The Met" (How High The Moon) and I listened to his takes of a couple by Thelonious Monk too - "Rifftide" (aka Hackensack (Lady Be Good) & "Stuffy" (aka Stuffy Turkey (Stompin' At The Savoy).

Another based on Stompin' is "Byas A Drink" by Don Byas. He'ss a player I haven't listened to that much. I remember giving his famous duo with Slam Steward on I Got Rhythm quite a few listens, but that was some time ago.

A few different versions of "Moten Swing" (You're Driving Me Crazy) have been on, including Jay McShann (featuring Bird), Gene Ammons, Eddie Durham and Sonny Stitt.

The Count Basie band on "Dickies Dream" (I Found A New Baby - which seems to share a bit in common with "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music" though I haven't sat down and tried working it out.)

Charles Minugs' band playing "Take The A Train" and "Exactly Like You" at the same time. This is from the album "Mingus Revisited" (aka Pre-Bird - Mingus wrote the pieces before he had heard bop) I hadn't heard this album in ages - I'll have to find time to have a listen to the rest of the album.

I didn't really listen to many of the bop melodies. One I did check out was Charlie Parker's "She Rote." For this the melody is over of pedal tone and the blowing in on the changes from "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" - I've been listening to Nat Cole's version with Stuff Smith and another by Roy Eldridge.

Aside from contrafacts I have also been listening to artists improvising on standard forms without stating the melody (and renaming the tune in the process). Again, I've pretty much been sticking to pre-bop stuff. If you know of any others - from any era - please let me know (I have the Tristano work pretty well covered).

A couple of favourites to start of with - Roy Eldridge & Chu Berry on "Sittin' In" (Tiger Rag) and "Forty-six West-52" (Sweet Georgia Brown)

Not as well known as his 1939 version Coleman Hawkins' "Rainbow Mist" (Body & Soul) from 1944 is worth checking out. Another one from Hawkins in the mid-40s is "Hawk Variations." I'm not totally sure on this one yet - it sounds as if Monk's "Round Midnight" makes and appearance in the 2nd half but I'm not sure of the 1st half yet..... suggestions? This is an excellent (and surprisingly not very well known) solo saxophone performance. Apparently this was recorded as a promo for Selmer saxophones.

Couldn't pass up a couple from Lester Young too - "Lester Swings" (Exactly Like You) and "Lester Blows Again" (Honeysuckle Rose).

listening june

It has been refreshing to listen to a number of alternate takes from the Billie Holiday Columbia box set. This led me to give back to back listens of Lester Young's solo on the two takes of "Back In Your Own Backyard." Lester's solo on "Easy Does It" with the Basie Orchestra had a few spins too.

Steve Lacy is still getting plenty of airtime. The Holy La (Free Lance) - a solid trio outing from the late 90's with Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass & kalimba) John Betsch (d) There's plenty of variety throughout the album (old and new tunes plus one from Monk). The addition of Irene Aebi's vocals the group expands to a quartet for two of the nine tracks. On 'Cliches', Avenel puts down the bass to play kalimba (thumb piano). Lacy had very solid rhythm sections over the years - Buell Neidlinger/Dennis Charles, Kent Carter/Oliver Johnson or Avenel/Betsch - they may not have got the acclaim of other bass & drum pairings but they were vital in bringing Lacy's music to life.

It had been some time since I listened to Weal & Woe (Emanem). I skipped the first half of the disc (it's part of the "Avignon and After" reissue that I've listened to a bit lately) and jumped straight to the four pieces that make up "The Woe" by Lacy (ss) Steve Potts (as) Irene Aebi (cello/voice) Kent Carter (b) Oliver Johnson (d) from 1973.  I believe the last time I heard it was when my friend John lent me the album - six or seven years ago. I had forgotten about the recordings of gun fire and explosions. Full on.

I've been looking back to my jazz soprano roots and that means Sidney Bechet has shared some of my time this week. While I can't say I'm into the vibrato, his tone is so bold and distinctive. I don't have that much of his work, just one disc on which he plays soprano as well as clarinet. I would like to get some more where his focus is purely on the soprano. Any suggestions?

A few different recordings of Bela Bartok's String Quartet #1 have been on throughout the week. A nice way to break up the jazz.

Impact Records: Billie Holiday & Lester Young

Slight change from the regular edition: Instead of focusing on a particular album I'm looking back at a couple of artists. Earlier entries can be found here: Kings Of Swing - Kind Of Blue - Charlie Parker
During my teens I picked up a number of 'Best Of' cds. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, and Charlie Parker were among the featured artists in a series called "Jazz Greats." The three discs that grabbed me were those by Count Basie, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday - with Billie & Pres quickly becoming my favorites.
There is something in this music. What was it that left a teenager from New Zealand captivated?

The discs contained tracks from Lester Young such as: 'Taxi War Dance', 'Shoe Shine Boy', 'Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie', 'Tickle Toe', 'Lester Leaps In' ('Lady Be Good' came along a few years later)
And Billie Holiday: 'Pennies From Heaven' 'What A Little Moonlight Can Do', 'These Foolish Things', 'Miss Brown to You', 'God Bless The Child'
And Billie & Pres together: 'Me, Myself & I', 'This Years Kisses', 'When You're Smiling', 'Foolin' Myself', 'All of Me'
Gems, all of them!

The ensembles contained some of the greatest artists in jazz - Teddy Wilson, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Walter Page, Freddie Green, Jo Jones, Cozy Cole, and Kenny Clarke.

Everyone contributes. There's no star on show, just great music.

More than any other this is the music I return to. At the top of my listening list are the Columbia Recordings of Billie Holiday and the 1930's - early 40's Lester Young. As cliched as it is to like the early stuff, to me, this is their best work. Great Jazz Music. If you are interested learning jazz improvisation, check out these two artists - they unlocked so many secrets!

And remember, this was the pop music of the day.... It happened once it can happen again! (as Connie would say).

Listening: Early May

Evan Parker - Chicago Solo

Evan Parker: Chicago Solo (Okka Disc 1995)
Parker's first solo disc devoted to the tenor saxophone (20 years after his first album of soprano solos). Glad I picked this disc up. 14 solos ranging from less than two - eight minutes in length. I gave this a couple of listens last week - Initial thoughts... quite different from his solo soprano tracks (even if only in the shortness of tracks). Some of it quite intimate sounding. Plenty of similarities too.... 'illusions of polyphony' a plenty. I have kept it out for more listening.

Kaum Quartet: At St. Audeon's Church (Plush 2008)
Fantastic alto saxophone quartet with Sean Mac Erlaine, Hayden Chisholm, Frank Gratkowski & Christian Weidner. I have been enjoying a few alto only groups of late - a post is in its infancy..stay tuned (or should that be detuned?).

Various Billie Holiday (Columbia box set) & Lester Young (30's-early 40's).
All Of Me, A Sailboat In The Moonlight, Sun Showers, You Go To My Head, Shoe Shine Boy, Pound Cake, Laughing At Life, Me Myself & I, Texas Shuffle, etc etc.

Billie & Pres could pretty much be a default entry for the listening lists!  In the not so distant future they will be the subject for an 'Impact Records' entry.

John Coltrane was revisited. A few select tracks ... "One Down, One Up", "Brazilia" and some others plus these albums:
Live At The Village Vanguard (1961) I listened to this quite a bit when I started getting into Eric Dolphy during my music school days.
Expressions (1967)
Ascension (1965) I first heard this shortly after hearing Ornette's "Free Jazz" and thinking... 'damm' - I had no idea what to expect.
Interstellar Space (1967....released 1974)
One of the things I am enjoying about the 'Friends of Jazz Free Jazz Project' is that I am revisiting a lot of music I haven't listened to in quite a while - as was the case with the 4 discs above..... I hadn't listened to them in years.

The next email will be #5 - subjects so far have included Lennie Tristano, Cecil Taylor, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman. Coltrane is up next.

Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity (ESP 1965) also got a revisit as part of the project. I also re-watched the Swedish film "My Name is Albert Ayler." Recommended. Though I wouldn't mind hearing what the Swedes were saying.....I watched it online without subtitles.

Djivan Gasparyan: Heavenly Duduk (Network 1999)
An excellent release from all the free jazz :-)

Lennie's Listening Lessons with Connie Crothers

Starting next week (April 2nd) Connie Crothers is back at Jazz at Lincoln Center's "Swing University" - It just so happens to be I'm in town for the opening night - Billie Holiday.
Here's the info from the website:

Lennie's Listening Lessons with Connie Crothers
Register Now!
$200.00
Eight Tuesday Nights: April 2 (Billie Holiday), 9 (Lester Young), 16 (Roy Eldridge), 23 (Charlie Christian), 30 (Charlie Parker), May 7 (Bud Powell), 14 (Fats Navarro) , 21 (Lennie Tristano)
6:30–8:30pm
Irene Diamond Education Center (IDEC)

Lennie Tristano, a virtuoso jazz pianist and a primary performer in the Bebop and Cool years of the 1940s and 1950s, was also a pioneer in jazz education. Tristano had his students listen to Lester Young's work from 1936–1941, Billie Holiday (primarily in The Swing Era), Roy Eldridge, Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, and Bud Powell's 1944–1953 output. Pianist Connie Crothers has been the central teacher of Lennie's Listening Lessons since Tristano's death in 1978, and carries on his credo: if you listen to these artists, then you will know jazz.