COVID-19 Level 3: Day 9

More Billie Holiday on Columbia was on the menu this morning. The box set contains so many songs that you never hear these days and that in itself is refreshing. And of course there are plenty of old favourites - “Pennies from Heaven” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (also check out Pops’ version from the early 30s too - amazing phrasing). “This Year’s Kisses” was on a disc I had pretty early on as I was getting into jazz. Still a favourite. Irving Fazola’s clarinet tone on the session from September 1936 (“A Fine Romance” etc) popped out at me this morning. What was it with New Orleans and clarinetists? Is it the whole opera and the blues thing? Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Edmond Hall, Barney Bigard, George Lewis.... not a bad run

Yesterday I mentioned how the Billie Holiday sessions don’t feel like all-star outings. Well a bunch of the Dizzy Gillespie albums I have are along the lines of “Dizzy meets” type albums. And those jam-type sessions can fall into the trap of spectacle rather than music making (like heaps of those videos of all-star jams at festivals during the 70s). Duets is blowin’ session Diz with his rhythm section (Ray and Tommy Bryant and Charlie Persip) along with Sonny Rollins for two blues and two Sonny Stitt for two afro-cuban numbers. I think I would have preferred it the other way around. Or perhaps that’s just me favouring Rollins over Stitt. The upside with Sonny Side Up.... you get to hear both on all the tunes. And I’ll get to that one soon enough.

The Return of Sonny Rollins

In the January 4, 1962 issue of Down Beat, Bill Coss announced the return of Sonny Rollins from a two year hiatus. Click on the image to view PDF of the full article (sorry, it's a bit on the dark side). More vintage magazine articles are available here.

Sonny Rollins in Melody Maker 1961

Listening to a bit of Rollins lately made me dive into my files to see what articles on him I had collected. This article from the December 23, 1961 issue of Melody Maker gives a little detail on his 1959-61 sabbatical. I can't recall hearing that he studied classical piano during his time away form the scene and I like that after some experimentation he realized that "essentially conventional fingering and blowing might be best after all." More vintage magazine articles can be found here.

Lambic Jazz Vol. 4

On the cards tonight is the 3 disc set - Sonny Rollins Trio: Live in Europe 1959
Sonny Rollins (ts) Henry Grimes (b) Pete LaRoca, Joe Harris, Kenny Clarke (d)

I have fond memories of this recording. I hadn't been keeping an eye out for it and was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon it last week. A little background.....During my mid teens, if I was in town for a saxophone lesson or just hanging out in the city, often I would head to the Wellington City Library to listen to albums in the jazz collection. Not long after picking up a copy of Saxophone Colossus, one of these library visits led me to a vinyl copy of St. Thomas: The Sonny Rollins Trio Live in Stockholm 1959. It grabbed me, and on subsequent visits it was, more often than not, on the playlist.

The first seven tracks of disc 1 (my focus tonight) were on St Thomas but the rest of the set is new to me. I really can't remember the last time I heard these recordings. I was shocked at how much I remembered from those library listening sessions many moons ago. I remember copying the way Sonny plays the melody on "How High the Moon" and lifting his semi-tone shift on "There Will Never Be Another You" and using it a few years later in a big band arrangement I wrote for an arranging class. Back then my attention was firmly on Rollins but this time around my ears gravitated towards the bass playing of Henry Grimes. Although Sonny is out front (the star of the show), Grimes still gets plenty room to move. Plus his walking lines and hook up with Pete LaRoca make a great contribution to the music here. I will say that something I have noticed about my more recent listening vs when I was younger - these days I pay more attention to each of the individuals and the ensemble as a whole rather than exclusively focussing on the saxophone player.

I'm looking forward to the second and third disc. And based off the first disc, this set is a must-have for fans of the saxophone trio and Rollins in particular.

As it turns out, Wellington City Library has started stocking vinyl again (more info Here and Here). I have fond memories of grabbing a stack of recordings, donning the headphones and delving into something new.

Pre-class reading was the article on Spontaneous Music Ensemble from the latest issue of Wire and tonight's listening was accompanied by De Troch Winter Gueuze.

Previous weeks: Vol.1 -- Vol.2 -- Vol.3

Sonny Rollins Blindfold Tests 1962

I haven't posted a Blindfold Test for a while and as today is Sonny Rollins' birthday (September 7, 1930) these articles, from August 2 and 16, 1962, seem like the appropriate choice. My introduction to Sonny came by the way of his classic recordings from the 50s, starting with Saxophone Colossus, then Way Out West... Newk's Time, Freedom Suite, Monk's Brilliant Corners, Dizzy's Sonny Side Up, and one that got a lot of airtime - A Night at the Village Vanguard. These days I find myself checking out his work from the 60s,  The Bridge and Sonny Meets Hawk were introduced to me back when I was at music school, but until more recently I never really gave this era a decent listen. There's plenty up on YouTube - today I spent some time watching a few videos from the late 60s with Alan Dawson and NHOP, and a couple of earlier clips featuring groups with Jim Hall and Don Cherry. Whereas Coltrane used composition to develop his music, Rollins developed his by delving deeper into the standard repertoire. Eventually I will get around to listening to more of the live recordings from this era - they're well worth a listen!
Open the images in a new window to view the full size articles. More vintage magazine articles can be found here.

Sonny Rollins: Down Beat Magazine July 1958

Here's a feature article on Sonny Rollins from the July 10, 1958 issue of Down Beat magazine. Rollins talks of the struggle of juggling the facets of his career - performances, composing, organising bands etc and still finding time to practice regularly (2 hours per day). He mentions that he is writing a concerto for tenor saxophone (whatever happened to that!) and his desire to take a break from the scene (which would eventuate the following year) as well as working with strings and/or a big band (mentioning Gil Evans specially) and ultimately performing unaccompanied saxophone concerts.
Here's a list of links to previous vintage articles.

More Bedside Listening

John Carter & Bobby Bradford Quartet: Flight for Four (Flying Dutchman) This album has been sitting on my "to listen to" pile and I finally got around to it. Mark Weber put me onto this quartet and I'm glad he did (Mark recently posted on John Carter here).

Sal Mosca: The Talk of the Town - Live at the Bimhaus (Sunnyside) This 2CD set of live solo piano from 1992 released earlier this year is an absolute gem. Wonderfully recorded, the album has a very intimate feel - it's almost as if you are a fly-on-the-wall in Sal's studio. Be on the lookout for more Mosca - I understand a box set is due out towards the end of the year. Hopefully these releases will bring more attention to a very underrated pianist.

Dizzy Gillespie: Perceptions (Verve) Earlier in the year I was checking out recordings associated with the Third Stream and I came across Perceptions. The music was written by J.J Johnson and Gunther Schuller conducts a brass ensemble, harps and rhythm section as they back Gillespie. The suite showcases the lyrical side of Dizzy's playing that many don't associate with him (myself included). I finally found a copy in August (at the Jazz Record Mart) and over the past month it has been getting some airtime.

Sonny Rollins: Rollins Meets Hawk! (RCA) I hadn't listened to this album for years and I have to say I've really enjoyed getting back into it. I first heard this album back in '99 when Norman Meehan played it to our jazz history class, not really for Sonny & Hawk, but for Paul Bley (check out Norm's book with Bley - Time Will Tell). Bley is outstanding and although I know people who don't really dig Rollins' here, I'm enjoying it. A bunch of live Rollins quartet recordings with Don Cherry are now available and I'm looking forward to checking them out (eventually!).

Thelonious Monk: Brillant Corners (Riverside) I have been learning a few of Monk's melodies and this was one of the recordings I listened to while working on "Pannonica." This may well be my favourite Monk album. Another album I hadn't listened to for ages and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Ernie Henry's contribution on alto.