jeffcrom

Coleman Hawkins - The Jazz Version of No Strings (Moodsville mono). Ignorant me - not only I was totally unaware of this album until coming across a copy today, I was completely unfamiliar with the Richard Rodgers musical No Strings. I've always liked "The Sweetest Sounds" as a jazz vehicle, but I didn't know it came from this show. This green-label, Van Gelder-stamped copy is slightly battered, but it sounds pretty good with a mono cartridge. I'm tickled with this find.

They are a continuation of the February 21, 1958 session with Bobby Jaspar, Bill Evans, George Russell, Oscar Pettiford, and Jo Jones. The matrix numbers, if you want them, are 16825 for "Nearness" and 16826 for "Imagine."

Thanks, Phillip. Edit: I thought you had paid too much, but I forgot about shipping. Your disc will go out tomorrow.

Thanks for posting this link, GA. I generally download music only if it's not available any other way. Tonight I went all New Orleans, and applied my credit toward download-only tracks by Bonerama, John Boutte with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and an EP by the Soul Rebels Brass Band.

Bob Brookmeyer Select, disc one: The Bob Brookmeyer Quartet and The Street Swingers.

:tup Now listening: World Saxophone Quartet - Live in Zurich (Black Saint)

A track by our little jazz/klezmer/Afropop band was chosen by writer/producer Marc Weidenbaum for inclusion on Anander Mol, Anander Veig, a Hannukah dance/electronica remix project. You can hear the destruction/reconstruction of our "Ose Shalom" here. I think I heard a note I played somewhere in there. But I like it. "Ose Shalom" is the fourth track; you can listen to the tracks individually or download the entire album for free.

Spun a bunch of 78s today, starting with some 20's/30's jazz: Red Nichols and His Five Pennies - Dinah/Indiana (Brunswick, 1929) A larger "Five Pennies" lineup, with three trombones, which arranger Glenn Miller takes good advantage of. Good solos by Miller, Jack Teagarden (I think), Benny Goodman, and Babe Russin. The Captivators - Building a Nest for Mary (Brunswick, 1929) The Captivators was the name Red Nichols used for his more pop-oriented records. This one has decent Nichols and Glenn Miller solos. The other side is by the Meyer Davis orchestra - not jazz at all. The Captivators - What Good Am I Without You/We're Friends Again (Melotone, 1930) More good Benny Goodman and an early Eddie Miller solo. Kentucky Grasshoppers - Makin' Friends/Fred Rich and His Orchestra - I Get the Blues When It Rains (Banner (1929) Side one is primo jazz, with Teagarden and Jimmy McPartland. Side two doesn't claim to be jazz, but it has solos by both Dorseys. One of the things I like most about collecting 78s is finding excellent jazz solos on routine dance band records from the 1920's and 30's. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Wingy Manone - Tar Paper Stomp/Tin Roof Blues (Champion/Decca, 1930) Wingy with a bunch of now-forgotten musicians. Clarinetist George Walters had been listening to Teschemacher. "Tar Paper" is the first appearance of the "In the Mood" riff. Mine is not the original issue, it's a reissue put out by Decca. Don Redman and His Orchestra (as Earl Harlan and His Orchestra) - Tired of It All/Keep on Doin' What You're Doin' (Melotone, 1933) Lousy songs, but solos by Red Allen and Benny Morton. Don Redman and His Orchestra - Moonrise on the Lowlands/Lazy Weather (Perfect, 1936) Solos are by Sidney DeParis (I think) and Redman on soprano this time. After that jazzfest, I spun some Jewish/Yiddish 78s, dating from 1914 to 1927. I won't list them all, but the standouts were by Cantors Berele Chagy and Josef Rosenblatt, Dave Tarras, and Abe Schwartz's great klezmer band (listed on the labels as "Jewish Orchestra" or "Yiddisher Orchester"). I just love 78s.

Peter the Great John Holmes Charlie Holmes (I apologize for this post.)

Couldn't sleep, so up early(-ish), and I was thinking about this Ellington-a-thon loose end. I had no idea what "Band Call" was when this was first posted, but since my sweet wife got me the Mosaic Ellington Capitol set for my birthday, I know now that this is the tune Ellington used to get the band back on the stand after breaks. He recorded a two-and-a-half minute version for Capitol. It's just a couple of riffs over an eight-bar form - easily expandable to any length. After a minute or so of piano and rhythm section, the saxes come in with a riff, then a trumpet player (Willie Cook, I think) solos a little over it. That's it - no brass except for the trumpet solo. The thing that surprised me most was Ellington's choice of the saxophones to join the rhythm section. Does that mean that the saxes were the first guys back on the stand? Really? In this band? That seems unlikely to me. I would have guessed that the trombones were the straightest arrows in the Ellington band. I mean, one of the trombonists during this period (John Sanders) left music to become a priest. Well, I guess the choice of using saxes on "Band Call" was feasible if one of the other saxophonists was assigned to get Gonsalves back on the stand.

Ellington Capitol, disc four. Now that I've listened to the whole set, I'll usually be skipping some of the lesser tracks. I still can't get over "Bunny Hop Mambo."

The great bassist Ben Tucker ("Comin' Home, Baby,") has lived in Savannah, Georgia for years. I knew that he had a Christmas album out, so I just looked for it on Amazon, and found that it was available from various vendors at prices ranging from 24 cents to 68 dollars! I've never heard it, so I just ordered one of the 24 cent copies. Anyway, it's here.

My memory might be bad, but I think that Turney was functioning as the third trombonist? On 70th Birthday Concert, there's only two trombonists on the band instead of the usual three. Turney once told me that when he was sitting with the trombones (playing alto) he sometimes transposed the second trombone part and sometimes made up his own part. I can't recall if he said anything more specific about exactly what he meant by "making up his own part." I've always assumed that he played with the trombones unless he was needed to sub for Gonsalves, in which case he could move to the sax section. In any case, thanks for that post, Mark; I'd love to read more. Thanks, Jeff. I have this album and this is very helpful. I was hoping someone might find it helpful. I did notice that I accidentally left some vocalists in the personnel lists. There are no vocals on the album, although other tunes from the same sessions might have had vocals. The vocalists have been removed from my earlier post, so copy and paste away.

I just picked up a nice vinyl copy of The Unknown Session (1960, released in 1979); I was surprised to find a bit of "Creole Rhapsody" included. The last track on side one, "Creole Blues," is the same melody as the third theme of the Victor version of "Creole Rhapsody" - the one played by Artie Whetsol (and not a blues). Here it's played by Lawrence Brown - just once through, played straight. I suppose that Ellington thought it was too good a melody to let die, and I agree. Another latter-day "Creole Rhapsody" sighting: "Neo-Creole," recorded in 1969 and issued on Up in Duke's Workshop, is a boogaloo adaptation of the first theme of the Rhapsody.

HB, BF!

"Blem" is another of Ellington's string-of-solos blues, which it means that it's better than 98% of any other jazz composer's output. After the slightly off-center piano introduction, Harold Ashby blows over a pedal tone for awhile; the piece ends the same way. In between there are some simple, but catchy melodies and solos by Norris Turney on alto, Cootie Williams, Tyree Glenn, Paul Gonsalves, and Harold Minerve on piccolo. A word about Turney and Minerve - it took two alto players to replace Johnny Hodges after Rabbit died. Seriously, Ellington often used six saxophones during the 1970's instead of the usual five. I think this was in part due to Paul Gonsalves' increasing unreliability. I've seen video footage from the period which shows Turney sitting with the trombones and playing mostly tenor, so I think hiring him was Ellington's way of ensuring that there would always be at least five saxes on the stand. But having Turney and Minerve in the band led Duke to explore the flute (and its cousin, the piccolo), since both of these men played that instrument. It must have been something of a revelation to have that new color to work with after all those years of composing. "Blem" was issued on the Pablo album Up in Duke's Workshop. On my vinyl copy, the recording dates and credits are all screwed up. Stanley Dance attributes the trumpet solo in "Blem" to Money Johnson, but it seems clearly to be Cootie to me. I don't know if the CD issue corrected the recording info, but as a public service, I'm going to post the correct information for the album below. Duke Ellington - Up in Duke’s Workshop Pablo Blem Cootie Williams, Harold "Money" Johnson, Mercer Ellington, John Coles (tp) Chuck Connors, Vince Prudente, Tyree Glenn (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Harold "Geezil" Minerve (as,fl,pic) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, June 12, 1972 Goof Cootie Williams, Richard Williams, Harold "Money" Johnson, Mercer Ellington (tp) Booty Wood, Malcolm Taylor, Chuck Connors (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Buddy Pearson (as) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wild Bill Davis (org) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, June 28 & 29, 1971 Dick Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington, Harold "Money" Johnson, Eddie Preston (tp) Booty Wood, Malcolm Taylor, Chuck Connors (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wild Bill Davis (org,p) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, February 3, 1971 Love is just around the corner Cootie Williams, Harold "Money" Johnson, Mercer Ellington, Eddie Preston (tp) Chuck Connors, Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wild Bill Davis (org) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, February 1, 1971 Bateau Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Harold "Money" Johnson, Al Rubin (tp) Chuck Connors, Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wild Bill Davis (org) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, December 9, 1970 Wanderlust Cootie Williams, Willie Cook (tp) Bennie Green, Benny Powell (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p,keyboard) Paul Kondziela (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, April 25, 1969 Neo-Creole Black Butterfly Cootie Williams, Willie Cook (tp) Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors (tb) Johnny Hodges (as) Russell Procope (as,cl) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Harry Carney (bar) Duke Ellington (p) Victor Gaskin, Paul Kondziela (b) Rufus Jones (d) Mercer Ellington (tp) Harold "Money" Johnson (tp) Bennie Green (tb) New York, June 20, 1969 Mendoza Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington, Fred Stone, Cat Anderson (tp) Booty Wood, Julian Priester, Chuck Connors (tb) Russell Procope (as,cl) Norris Turney (as,ts,cl,fl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wild Bill Davis (org) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) New York, June 15, 1970

Before we got too far away from episode 11, I wanted to say something about "Rude Interlude." The title comes from Ellington's 1933 tour of England, during which a female fan told him how much she enjoyed "Rude Interlude," which was her hearing of "Mood Indigo." The piece is simple and brilliant, based on just a couple of melodic ideas. It starts with dark muted brass and a low trombone countermelody, and one way to hear the piece is as a continuous "brightening" from that dark opening. The opening "organ chord" melody continues through most of the piece, usually with a countermelody on top of it. During one chorus, Louis Bacon scats a countermelody - this was recorded during the short period in 1933-34 when Bacon joined the band and made the trumpet section a four-piece one. A great piece, put together brilliantly from simple materials.

I'll take a download.

Weather Report - 8:30 (Columbia) Not a huge Weather Report fan, but I was in the mood for this tonight.

Hope you played some Mulligan!

Happy Birthday!

All the stores were closed in your honor!

Duke Ellington - Up in Duke's Workshop (Pablo)

Charles Earland - Black Talk! (Prestige blue/silver stereo)

I would put three or four of Monk's Columbia albums above this one, but don't get the wrong idea - I think It's Monk's Time is a great album; I just think others are even better. It has a couple of less-often-played Monk tunes ("Brake's Sake," "Shuffle Boil") and a great version of "Lulu's Back in Town." If you find a reasonably-priced copy, it's definitely worth picking up.