jeffcrom

Stan Getz - Focus (Verve minty mono)

Should have gotten Mary Halvorson. And I thought that was Gary Burton, but doubted myself enough that I didn't say it.

Well, I waited until the last minute again. I haven't looked at the thread, but I'm guessing almost everything has been identified. I didn't recognize much, but I enjoyed most of it. 1. I recognized Sun Ra’s early style (and John Gilmore’s great tenor) right away, but I couldn’t remember the name of this tune until I dug around my CDs a little. It’s “Urnack,” from Angels and Demons at Play. Besides Gilmore, we get some nice early Julian Priester and Art Hoyle. My CD says that Charles Davis is the bari soloist, but I think it’s Pat Patrick. Great track. 2. Nice groove and tenor playing. They got to the first bridge awfully soon, didn’t they? I’ve got a couple of guesses, but I don’t want to embarrass myself, and it has probably already been identified by now. 3. I’m not crazy about the tune or arrangement – it’s awfully show-biz-y, and not in a good way like the Sun Ra track. But I sure the like the alto player, whoever he is – really interesting playing. 4. Cool – skronky and cooking. With this kind of groove you lose the interaction between soloist and rhythm section, but there are compensations in excitement. This reminds me of our own Johnny E’s Reptet, but the instrumentation isn’t quite right, I don’t think. 5. Thought for a minute that this was going to be Bo Diddley doing “Dolphin Dance.” I like the idea, and the soloists are good (particularly the tenor player), but the groove got kind of old to me after a while. I listened to this track twice, and both times wanted it to be over before it was. 6. Very nice for what it is. I like that the strings are spare, rather than lush. I also wanted it to go somewhere more than it did. 7. Well, I think that we’re supposed to think this is Prez with a small Basie group, but it ain’t. Is it Paul Qunichette? The pianist’s touch doesn’t sound like Basie, either – Nat Pierce? I really like the muted trumpet solo. And lord, I hope I haven’t embarrassed myself with this one. 8. More nice Basie-ish swing. The trumpet soloist sure sounds like Roy Eldridge, but I don’t know who he’s trading licks with. This is a fun, exciting track. 9. Okay, this is cool. I’ve gotten more into music of the eastern Mediterranean the past few years, but I’m far from an expert, so I don’t know from what part of the Middle East or thereabouts the non-jazz elements of this piece come from. But I like it a lot – when it settles into the vamp and the tenor player starts blowing over it, it’s a beautiful thing. Thanks for this one. 10. This sounds like a piano roll, and it sounds like James P. Johnson to me, especially when it started getting more sophisticated in the second chorus. In any case, I don’t think it’s a “down home” blues player – it’s someone with lots of harmonic knowledge. Good stuff. 11. An interesting version of the Swedish folk song that we non-Swedes call “Dear Old Stockholm” because Stan Getz called it that. Nice piano. I wanted to hear the cello player improvise. Pretty cool rendition. 12. Sounds like B.B. with a bunch of jazz guys. Is that Scofield who follows him? Everybody plays with a lot of style – this is fun. 13. Now this sounds like a Basie aircheck from the mid 1940s. It’s a Dickie Wells tune called “Kansas City Stride” which Basie recorded for V-Disc. Comparing this track to the V-Disc recording makes me think that it’s the same clarinet soloist, Rudy Rutherford. Is that Buddy Tate on tenor? Not sure about the alto or trumpet. Anyway, this is an exciting track, crappy sound quality notwithstanding. 14. I wondered for a minute why you would include this one – “A Train” with Ellington’s standard piano introduction – then all was made clear. Well, not all. I don’t know who the piano guest is. It’s someone with a lot of chops – more chops than originality, maybe. 15. Quirky and interesting, even if it’s not spectacular. It sounds like the guitar player is the bandleader, although I like the alto soloist more. The guitar player’s wildness does appeal to me, though. These musicians have their own sound and style, and that’s a good thing in my book. 16. This is some very accomplished guitar playing that leaves me cold. Thanks for a good one, Hot Ptah!

Papa Jack Laine Della Street Alley Pat (If you grew up in Atlanta and were at least a little hip, you know who he is.)

The second of my 78 album finds from yesterday, Decca's Kansas City Jazz. It's a big album - six records: one each by Pete Johnson/Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Andy Kirk, Hot Lips Page, Count Basie, and Eddie Durham. It's a beautiful thing - great music, and it sounds way better than my battered LP version of the album. I didn't realize until I was researching it today that all the recordings except the two Basie sides were made specifically for this album, so that this was the first appearance of 10 out of 12 of these sides.

I used to see those Sessions Live LPs all the time, and never picked them up. I regret that now. They did come from some TV show, and there were several issued. Here's what the Lord discography says: Sessions, live: Buddy DeFranco (cl) Sonny Clark (p) Tal Farlow (g) Gene Wright (b) Bobby White (d) Los Angeles, April 7, 1957 Fascinating rhythm Calliope CAL3015 I loves you Porgy - Concerto for the heartbeat and machine age - Art Pepper Sessions, Live: Art Pepper (as,cl-1) Larry Bunker (p) Don Payne (b) Chuck Flores (d) "Stars of Jazz Show", Los Angeles, March 31, 1957 All the things you are Calliope CAL3015 Everythings happens to me - St. Louis blues (1) - Taboo (ap out) (unissued)

Yes, listening to samples - sounds good - available as a download. No solos at all on the samples - is this true of the whole album? No, there are plenty of solos - good ones, too - mostly by Maynard (who is remarkably well-behaved), and tenor saxists Carmen Leggio and Willie Maiden. No Slide Hampton solos, alas. Have now bought it as a download. Yes, a roarin' MF band, despite the unfamiliar repertoire. Perhaps parallel to the two Kenton standards albums I have from the same era - aimed at a different audience, but done by the bands' usual arrangers and carrying the unmistakable stamp of the two orchestras. Since you probably didn't get liner notes with the download, here are a couple of interesting things. The baritone horn solo on "It's a Pity to Say Goodnight" is by Maynard. Slide Hampton doubles on tuba on several selections. Willie Maiden liked the sonority of MF on baritone horn, Slide on tuba, and Don Sebesky on bass trombone, so you'll hear that combination on "It's a Pity" and "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad." It's because of that baritone solo that I became aware of this album. I have a friend who is a very talented euphonium player, and his college band director had told him about this album on which Maynard soloed on baritone. So I tracked down a copy and burned him a CDr. But I've enjoyed the record since.

Okay - I'm there. I love Lytell's work with the Original Memphis 5. I didn't realize he had recorded that much under his own name.

Today I picked up three 78 albums which I had been looking for. Tonight I'm spinning the RCA Victor New 52nd Street Jazz album, which alternates records by Dizzy Gillespie and Coleman Hawkins. I'm not sure why I was so keen to find this album - I have all the material on CD and LP. But I had the Hawkins tracks scattered over a couple of CDs and an LP - it's nice to have them together. And it's a general rule that, no matter what period of record manufacture we're talking about, Victor 78s were the best-sounding records on the market. These records certainly sound great - very "present." And the album book has a couple of pictures from the recording sessions that I don't remember seeing before. I'll post about the other albums as I clean and play them.

John Wright - Nice 'n' Tasty (Status mono, although with a Prestige front, as shown)

Frank Wess - Poor You, Little Me. My mono copy of this fine album is one of those weird Prestige hybrids - the record has the yellow and black fireworks labels, the back cover is Status, and the front cover is apparently Prestige with a Status sticker pasted over the Prestige logo.

You Continental types are so smart! I'm the first to admit that being a native English speaker tends to make one lazy about learning other languages, since it seems as if everyone else in the world will adapt to you.

Yes, listening to samples - sounds good - available as a download. No solos at all on the samples - is this true of the whole album? No, there are plenty of solos - good ones, too - mostly by Maynard (who is remarkably well-behaved), and tenor saxists Carmen Leggio and Willie Maiden. No Slide Hampton solos, alas.

Some gospel 45s before bed: Willie Morganfield - What Is This/He Works That Way (Jewel) Rev. Johnny L. Jones (The Hurricane) - Let It Shine/Prayer #2 (Jewel) Rev. Johnny L. Jones (The Hurricane) - I Came to Preach a Sermon/Prayer For the Elderly (Jewel) The Blind Boys of Alabama - Our Revival Time/Our God Can Do No Wrong (Gospel) The Blind Boys of Alabama - Hop - Skip and Jump/Something Got Hold of Me (Gospel) Bro. Sammie Cheatam - Candidate for Heaven/Troubles of The World (Gospel Souvineer)

Maynard Ferguson - Swingin' My Way Through College (Roulette mono). This 1958 album is supposed to represent the kind of set MF's band would play for a dance. In spite of the concept, and the regrettable album title, it's a pretty damn good album, with interesting arrangements by Bill Holman, Slide Hampton, Willie Maiden, and Don Sebesky.

Bea Arthur Butterfly McQueen Lady Bird Johnson

Thanks for the report. I've got both the JSP box and the "deluxe" Columbia set that came out a few years ago - the JSP is my standard go-to when I want to hear the Hot Fives and Sevens. I'll just be happy to get all the Okeh big bands in one place, finally.

Thank you - I was wondering about that. The Lord discography lists three takes, but every other source just lists two, so I thought maybe Lord was wrong. And thanks to all for your suggestions. After sleeping on it, I think that I'm going to go ahead and get the new box set, just to have all the Okeh big band sides in one place - and it's got both takes of "Wrap Your Troubles." And when I want to listen to the Hot Fives, I'll have a choice of three box sets to choose from! (How ridiculous is that?)

Happy Birthday (and Thanksgiving)!

Kinky Friedman Milton Friedman John Milton

I'm pretty much a Louis Armstrong completist when it comes to his pre-war recordings. But I have an annoying gap in my collection, and need some advice about how to fill it. The gap is "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," recorded in three takes on November 4, 1931. After reissuing the Hot Fives and Sevens, Columbia started issuing the Okeh big band sides in their "complete" Armstrong series. But they seem to have stopped in 1993 with Volume 7: You're Driving Me Crazy, which ends with "Chinatown, My Chinatown," recorded on November 3. Back in the day, I picked up the CBS/Portrait CD Stardust, which includes "Chinatown," but then skips straight to "Stardust" - no "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams." It goes on to finish out the Okeh big band sides. I'm relunctant to shell out for the new Complete Columbia/Okeh & RCA box set because I've got everything else on it, and the sound seems to be no great shakes. So - is there an easy, one-disc solution for me to get "Wrap Your Troubles" (preferably all released takes) or should I go ahead, bite the bullet, and get the box set?

Red Norvo - Vibe-Rations (Liberty). As discussed in another thread, the ill-fated guitarist Bill Dillard sounds really good here.

Anthony Braxton with Muhal Richard Abrams - Duets 1976 (Arista)

Marian McPartland - Solo Concert at Haverford (Halcyon)

Kenny Barron - 1 + 1 + 1 (Blackhawk)