johnlitweiler

'Taxi War Dance,' 'Easy Does It,' 'Lester Leaps In,' 'Dickie's Dream,' all the Smith-Jones Inc. tracks (especially the quintet 'Lady Be Good,' Young's perfect solo) and probably some others I'm forgetting are utterly crucial, and they are all 1939-40 Columbia Basie-Prez works. More than the Deccas, these Young solos were a turning point for the jazz saxophone. Endlessly subtle and graceful. Chuck, I'm surprised - what makes you think the Deccas are more important? First, I apologize for my rude outburst. Sorry. Now on to the Deccas which have a "loosie-goosie" feel that fits Lester to a tee. The charted discipline of the Columbias suited him for a while but ultimately led to his feeling "hemmed in" and his exit. This is not necessarily fact, just my interpretation of what I hear. The Smith-Jones titles (including 'Lady, Be Good') pre-date the Deccas and amplify my point. 'Taxi War Dance" comes from the first Columbia session (six weeks after the last Decca) and 'Dickie's Dream' and 'Lester Leaps In' were small group recordings (not the 'band'). I love the Columbias but the Decca recordings were something else. It's great to hear the band evolve on the Deccas and to hear Hershel Evans play. To me something of the band spirit began to vanish when he died, in 1938 already. They were playing charts by Henderson and Redman at the beginning and by Durham and Clayton eventually - 'charted discipline' or a decline in quality? (The great head arrangements like 'Jumping @ the Woodside' and my favorite 'Panassie Stomp' [incredibly hot] were a minority.) 'Charted discipline' isn't the issue, I think. The ensemble spirit of the best Basie Deccas is a rare and precious (in the good sense of the word) quality that no jazz group has been able to sustain for long. Think of Oliver 1923, JRM 1926, Parker-Gillespie when they met in 1945-6, Ornette 1959-60, Mitchell-Bowie-Favors 1966-mid-'67. That spirit results from a rare combination of personalities and characters and talents and times; people naturally change, grow apart, then. Like a drummer once told me, it's like having a good wife. For me the Deccas have too many pop songs and novelties like 'Stop Beatin' 'Round the Mulberry Bush.' The fault of the times? Because there are some junk songs on some Basie broadcasts from the period. Or Jack Kapp's fault? I blame him for the trashy songs Louis Armstrong recorded (Louis does not play those on his radio broadcasts) and for the awful singer that destroys what began as a great Johnny Dodds session w/Charlie Shavers, among other crimes. (On the other hand, bless him for recording Lunceford, Webb, Kirk, Johnson.)

Next Monday, March 16, Fred Anderson will be the guest on Zoundz!, 6:30 to 9 pm on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago and www.whpk.org Fred Anderson, the very original, lyrical, creative, and generous tenor saxophonist -- "the lone prophet of the prairie," wrote a perceptive admirer -- celebrates his 80th birthday this week. He's also been a spiritual father to four generations of adventurous young Chicago jazz artists, as host of his own nightclub, the Velvet Lounge, and other venues. Next week jazz artists from Chicago and from around the world will perform at the world-famous Velvet Lounge, 67 East Cermak Road, to celebrate Fred Anderson's lifetime of artistic devotion. On Zoundz! we'll hear him talk about his career and hear recordings by himself, by artists he admires, and by friends, including some music recorded at the Velvet Lounge. We hope you'll join us. Zoundz!, with Michael Rock and John Litweiler, brings you jazz from many galaxies every Monday on Chicago's leading jazz station, WHPK-FM.

'Taxi War Dance,' 'Easy Does It,' 'Lester Leaps In,' 'Dickie's Dream,' all the Smith-Jones Inc. tracks (especially the quintet 'Lady Be Good,' Young's perfect solo) and probably some others I'm forgetting are utterly crucial, and they are all 1939-40 Columbia Basie-Prez works. More than the Deccas, these Young solos were a turning point for the jazz saxophone. Endlessly subtle and graceful. Chuck, I'm surprised - what makes you think the Deccas are more important?

A correction, again from Dave: The Walter collection will officially be released a week later, on March 17, and now it truly will include everything. Dave also sez, notice how much of Walter's playing is interplay with Fred Below's drums. This is true of the tracks with the Aces and also of the Muddy Waters band ca. 1954-55 (w/Walter and Below). Seems Walter liked to use his drummer the way players like Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan used their drummers.

Ever notice, on those old Cecil Taylor albums, how Neidlinger's aggressive beat makes Dennis Charles and even Billy Higgins sound like they're lagging behind? Happy birthday and keep playing.

Not a credit card story, but a dear friend was in Turkey one summer when her bank account, back home in Eugene, OR, got cleaned out by some hackers in Denmark.

Thanks for describing the concert, guys. I'm drooling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/arts/mus...n.html?ref=arts is the new article. It's mostly about Hall Overton rehearsing with Monk and is timed to a forthcoming reproduction of Monk's Town Hall concerts, with Jason Moran playing piano. Too bad somebody didn't record Monk and Rollins together too.

Includes alternate takes, which ought to be great news, but Dave Waldman of WHPK says that some important alternates from Walter's mid- and late-'50s prime are missing. Bob Koester took me to hear Jr. Wells 2-3 times in 1965-6 when Walter sat in. Walter was sober each time and he played glorious music.

David Boykin is a good guy and I've sometimes heard him play some impressive tenor sax. But beware if his Expanse proves to be a trio, not the advertised quintet. Last month at the Velvet he played amateur drums for an hour while Jim Baker made occasional synthesizer burps and Josh Abrams played comparatively coherent bass. Awful mess. Fortunately the act that followed was Fred Anderson, Han Bennink, and Brian Smith. Han was determined to do his old schtick, but Fred was wonderful, with those long, flowing lines, and he actually made Han play with him. Turned out to be quite a together duet. Smith looked on.

'Loveless Love,' on the Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy album, has an especially lovely verse as a 12-bar blues (the familiar chorus is 116 bars). Armstrong plays it twice. Did Handy compose this -- seems unlikely, since nobody else apparently recorded that verse -- or did Armstrong, or Dick Cary or someone else? Anybody know where that verse came from? I once asked George Avakian by e-mail and didn't get a reply.

First time I heard Newman fronting a quartet, what grabbed me was his NYC-like lyricism -- kin to Cohn and Sims, it seemed, more than anything else. Sophisticated yet thoroughly honest. No forced funk/soul, and IIRC he played all standard changes, no blues that night. Years later after another enjoyable quartet evening one of his sidemen, a Chicagoan, complained that Newman played the same solos on every song night after night. Well, what's wrong with that? And of course he replayed his old 1-chorus recorded solos every show I heard with Ray's bands and reunion bands.

In one of the worst dreams a few years ago, I was walking down a very dark alley. A guy in front of me looked more menacing the closer I got to him. And then he turned around and faced me -- he was Richard Nixon, his face looked typically vicious, and he fired his gun at me. (I awakened before the bullet hit.)

Trouble is, those 2 Alamo Markham discs are 78s. I'd dearly love to find those on LP or/and CD somehow, somewhere.

How about "How Long Blues" by Alamo Markham-Oliver Meshaux orch.? Heard that 50 years ago, and recall it was strong stuff. A Blue Note recording, 1 of 4 sides from 1940-something. Also, very revealing about Mr. Markham.

You might notice this while driving distances with your radio on: The omnipresence of Parlocha's syndicated radio program on FM stations across America is one of the disappointments of this century. It sounds like public radio stations saved money by dismissing their jazz d.j.s, who often (and I suspect more often than not) played more varied and interesting music than Parlocha does. I'm afraid Organissimo's music is just too red-blooded, vital for Parlocha to program.

A special occasion -- Larry Kart, a favorite critic and true no-b.s. music lover, will join John Litweiler for tomorrow's program of Zoundz! Mr. Kart is the veteran Chicago Tribune jazz critic, Down Beat editor, and author of Jazz In Search of Itself. His insights have opened the ears of four generations of audiences to brand-new jazz, to forgotten sounds from jazz's heritage, and even to surprising qualities of familiar jazz music. The place: WHPK Chicago, 88.5 FM -- AND www.whpk.org for the live stream on the web. The time: Monday, tomorrow, January 5, from 6:30 to 9 pm Central time. The subjects will include rare, obscure recordings by Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Albert Ayler, Berman & Jackson, and the new Chicago jazz generation, among other delights. (Remember, Zoundz! is the most dangerous jazz show in Chicago.)

Yes, I recommend it highly. Bernard Wolfe was a hell of a writer and Mezz sure had good stories to tell him. But he may not really have hated modernism as much as he claimed. Around 1948 or 1949, when there was a jazz festival in France, Mezz was at Paris airport greeting Miles and other Americans with gifts of marijuana.

Joseph Jarman played it -- around 40 years ago, IIRC, at an Art Ensemble concert. Pretty wild.

Jim, you and your family have my sympathy this week. John

Many thanks to Tushar. I check his calendar regularly and wouldn't know what I'd do without it. In a city where the scene is as yeasty as Chicago's is, what he's doing is essential to the overall health and liveliness of things. I agree thoroughly. Bless Tushar.

He wrote some of my favorite hillbilly songs like "Put Another Log on the Fire" and "Pour Me Another Tequila, Sheila / and take off your red satin dress." There's a book about Charles Bukowski w/a photo of him and Buk. drinking and laughing togetgher. Significant?

John Young's obituary is at http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/musi...g042208.article and in tomorrow's Chicago Sun-Times.

Jim, thanks for finding this article. In the '60s Hank got on a plane for Chicago, to play w/Kenny Dorham at a Joe Segal concert. After they got up in the air he demanded that the pilot return to NY because he'd forgotten his saxophone - so the plane returned! He never did get to Chicago that time. In the 10 months or so that Hank lived in Chicago (about 2 blocks from me) he had quite a quintet, with Muhal, Wilbur Campbell, Frank Gordon, and I believe Rufus Reid. But they didn't play often. For one thing Joe Segal booked them to play every Tuesday or Wednesday at the Jazz Showcase, but Hank didn't show up and Joe had to fire him. Hank also sd he was going to write arrangements for Muhal's big AACM band. Too bad he didn't. I liked the little-big-band pieces Hank said he composed (while in prison) for Thinking Of Home (Duke Pearson got sole arranger credit, as I recall). Yes, Hank was a very nice, smart guy. No doubt some of his lady friends mothered him. Jim, about the simplification of his phrasing that you mention in Dippin' and his last LP - I think that was probably just the result of his being drunk at the sessions. That's because I've heard him, live, play very well and fluently while high one time and play w/difficulty while more drunk another time. I like some of his solos on Miles' Blackhawk CDs and esp. on the Carnegie Hall concert. Give him a medal for putting up with Miles for 2 years. That Down Beat article was published a month or so after Arlene broke up with Hank because of his drinking. She's a good, big-spirited person and I've long been sorry that I wrote that stuff about their being engaged.