jeffcrom

Catfish Hunter Kilgore Trout Sharkey Bonano

Just finished spinning my latest find: Audiophile AP-1, a 12" microgroove(!), red vinyl(!) 78 by Harry Blons' Dixieland Band. The record was state-of-the-art audiophile for the early fifties, with three tunes on a side. Musically, it's solid, unspectaular dixieland by clarinetist Blons' midwestern band. The sleeve has the original price tag from Olson's (locations in Akron, Cleveland, and Chicago) - a whopping $5.95. I found a couple of pictures online at this interesting website about the Audiophile label.

Another mention of our strange little jazz/klezmer/Afropop band; kind of meaningless, but still welcome - we are #41 on Atlanta Magazine's list of 67 Things Every Atlantan Must Do. There's no free link (the digital edition costs 99 cents), but here's what they say: "41 - Catch the surprising sounds of the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra. The euphoric mishmash performed by this up-and-coming ensemble can begin with the brassy bounce of Eastern European klezmer, then segue into slinky jazz heavy on Fender Rhodes keyboards before dabbling in Fela Kuti-inspired Afro-pop. On East Atlanta Passover Stomp, 4WAKO's CD released in November, Jewish musicality anchors the sound, though on tracks such as "9th Ward Dirge," it startles to realize how fluidly such klezmer can meld with jazz idioms - in this case a New Orleans funeral lament." Personally, I think that hearing local blues legend Luther "Houserocker" Johnson at Blind Willie's is more of a must than catching the 4WAKO, but we'll take it. And it looks like I've done about half the things on the list, for what it's worth.

Since a lot of folks expressed interest in this concert, here's a brief report. The small hall was packed - we had to put out more chairs. Musically, we flubbed a few things slightly, but there were no "fatal" flaws. The most rewarding thing about the concert was the number of people who came up and said, "Thank you for introducing us to Alec Wilder," or some variation thereon.

Do I get any points for liking Irene Aëbi? And not minding Paul Chambers' arco solos? (I said Major Holley, but it's Slam Stewart. I'll keep working on it.) When I was about 15 and learning about jazz, my wonderful mom would bring home records from thrift stores if she thought I'd be interested in them. One day she come home with a 10" LP - a Just Jazz concert with Lionel Hampton playing "Stardust." Slam Stewart was the bass player, but when he played his solo, I had no idea what in the world that sound was. It was only after I went to the library and did some research that I figured out what was going on. And, yes you get points for liking Irene. I think her diction got really weird later - it sounds like she got dentures. But the limited-edition LP Sideways on the Roaratorio label was kind of a wake-up call in terms of appreciation for her singing, for me anyway. Irene sings a cappella for the first two minutes of "The Way." On the last note of this complex melody, she's joined by Lacy's soprano, and she is perfectly in tune - her pitch hasn't wavered at all for two minutes. Even if you don't like her sound, she's a musician.

Sorry to hear this. I spun my Capitol 45 of "Experiments With Mice," which is pretty funny, for a musician friend about two weeks ago.

This has previously(1970s)been released on a French LP titled "Roswell Rudd" (IIRC the label was called "America"). These are Dutch radio (studio) recordings from 1965. The group also played at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with the Ornette Coleman Trio doing the second part of the concert. I was there. The new CD doesn't appear to be the same as the America "Roswell Rudd Quartet" album. It has some of the same tunes, but the timings are different. And it has tunes which don't appear on the America album.

Don't know the answer to the first question, but as far as I know, Cuneiform has never appeared to be a pirate label. Here's their page on this release.

Anyone seen/heard this yet?

Often on the bandstand (or concert stage) with Eddie Condon.

Dudu Pukwana & Spear - In the Townships (Virgin). 1988 reissue of the 1973 album.

PM sent on Jones/Garrison.

Happy Big Four-Oh!

Earl Hines/Jake Byard - Duet! (Verve/MPS)

The Dixie Hummingbirds - Smooth Sailing (AIR - Atlanta International Records)

Alec Wilder is very much on my mind right now, for some reason.... Frank Sinatra - She Shot Me Down (Reprise). This has Sinatra singing Wilder's last two songs, "A Long Night" and "South to a Warmer Place." Morgana King - The Winter of My Discontent (Ascot). A 1964 album totally devoted to Wilder's songs. A little over-dramatic, but still beautiful.

New Music by the New Phil Woods Quartet (Testament) - digitizing as I listen.

What a great idea!

Hey, from Dizzy Gillespie on, you nailed a lot of the musicians. Thanks for your comments. Thanks so much.

The most common "Honeysuckle Rose" bop tune, I suppose, is "Scrapple From the Apple," although it uses the bridge of "I Got Rhythm."

The bonus tracks: 12. How High the Moon – Metronome All Stars; recorded July 9, 1953 for MGM. Billy Eckstine – vocal; Roy Eldridge – trumpet; Kai Winding – trombone; John LaPorta –clarinet; Warne Marsh, Lester Young – tenor sax; Teddy Wilson – piano; Terry Gibbs – vibes; Billy Bauer – guitar; Eddie Safranski – bass; Max Roach - drums I thought this was a pretty obscure recording, but Paul knew it right away. As he said, the pairing of Young and Marsh is pretty interesting, and Marsh’s short solo is an absolute masterpiece. Some of you couldn’t get past Mr. B’s singing, but that’s Prez behind him! Of course, the All Star recording participants never included all of Metronome’s poll winners due to schedule conflicts, etc. I wonder how far down the list Warne Marsh was in the poll. My source was a Moon CD called Lester Young Rarities; I couldn't find a picture online. 13. My Ship - George Freeman, from Birth Sign; recorded March 1969 for Delmark Von Freeman – tenor sax; Sonny Burke – organ; George Freeman – guitar; Billy Mitchell - drums I had to include some organ on an Organissimo forum BFT. And there’s been so much talk of Von here lately that I thought I would include something by him. And his 16-bar solo is the highlight of this track. A couple of you recognized him, and that soul jazz/R & B/gospel/African music authority, The Magnificent Goldberg, knew all the details. 14. The Song is You – Charlie Persip and the Jazz Statesmen; recorded April 2, 1960 for Bethlehem Freddie Hubbard – trumpet; Roland Alexander – tenor sax; Ronnie Mathews – piano; Ron Carter – bass; Charlie Persip – drums A fabulous hard bop session which doesn’t seem to be well known. Hubbard had already quit the band by the time this was recorded; one track on the album features his replacement, Marcus Belgrave. Several of you did pretty well to know this. Thanks again for your participation and comments. I enjoyed it, and hope you did, too.

Here are the rest of the "decade" tracks: 7. You Know How We Do (composed by Robin Kenyatta) – Robin Kenyatta, from Until; recorded Feb. 4, 1967 for Vortex. Mike Lawrence – trumpet; Roswell Rudd – trombone; Robin Kenyatta – alto sax; Lewis Worrell – bass; Horace Arnold – drums; Archie Lee - percussion I wanted something representing free jazz for my sixties selection, with some fairly major players, yet fairly obscure. This fit the bill, although Clifford Thornton recognized it right away, and several folks identified Rudd. This might be a little self-indulgent and sprawling, but hey, it was the sixties. There's a Wounded Bird reissue, but mine is on a minty LP. 8. La Raza (composed by Luis Gasca) – Luis Gasca from Luis Gasca; recorded August, 1971 for Blue Thumb. Luis Gasca – trumpet; Joe Henderson – tenor sax; George Cables, Mark Levine – pianos; Stanley Clarke – bass; Lenny White –drums I wanted something kind of fusion-y for the 70s selection, and I’ve always loved this obscure track, which contains one of my favorite Joe Henderson solos. I don’t think this album was ever released on CD, except for one track which made it to a Blue Thumb anthology. Nothing else on this album is nearly this good, in my opinion. The other three tracks are more like Latin rock jams, and feature members of Santana (Greg Rolie, Neil Schon, a bunch of percussionists, and Carlos himself). Hadley Caliman plays flute on some of the album, and Henderson has a few more short solos, but nothing else this good. The exact personnel for "La Raza" isn't given; this is my educated guess from the collective personnel. 9. Wadmalaw Island (composed by Melvin Gibbs) - Power Tools, from Stange Meeting; recorded January, 1987 for Antilles. Bill Frisell – guitar, loops; Melvin Gibbs – electric bass; Ronald Shannon Jackson - drums Wasn’t quite sure which way to go for my 80s selection. When I think of this decade in jazz, I think of the neo-conservative Wynton M. bunch, the rise of David Murray, and fusions of funk and free jazz. But Frisell was one of the voices of the time that really excited me (although I’m not sure he ever really fulfilled his potential), and I found Jackson’s take on funk fusion pretty interesting at the time. Most of you didn’t care for this one, and it probably does sound more dated than many of the selections. 10. Breath (composed by Julian Priester) - Reggie Workman, from Summit Conference; recorded December, 1993 for Postcards. Julian Priester – trombone; Sam Rivers – tenor sax; Andrew Hill – piano; Reggie Workman – bass; Pheeroan ak Laff - drums Is anyone kicking themselves? I figured some of you have this album, which I thought was one of the highlights of the 1990s. When it came out, some of these guys had been kind of under the radar for awhile, at least as far as recordings went. To those of us who were buying CDs in 1994, this lineup was the stuff of dreams. Priester wrote the tune and seems to take the improvisational lead, as several of you noted. I didn’t want to use one of Rivers’ compositions from this album, as I thought he might be too easily identified. 11. Guarana (composed by John Hollenbeck) – John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, from Eternal Interlude; recorded March, 2009 for Sunnyside. Includes Theo Bleckmann – voice; John Hollenbeck – drums; I don’t know who the trombone soloist is – the trombones are Rob Hudson, Mike Christianson, and Alan Ferber. John Hollenbeck’s work is some of the most interesting of this decade, in my opinion. I wanted to included something from his Claudia Quintet, but thought that stuff may be too readily identifiable. Some of you didn’t like the use of the voice in the ensemble, but I think it fits well. Hollenbeck builds his pieces from simple elements, and I’m impressed at how they build.

Fixed.

Thanks to all for participating in my Blindfold Test and for posting such interesting comments. Here's the first half of what you were listening to: 1. St. Louis Tickle (composed by Theron C. Bennett) - Ossman-Dudley Trio; recorded Jan. 24, 1906 for Victor. Vess Ossman - banjo; Audley Dudley - mandolin; Roy Butin or George Dudley - harp guitar Ragtime was the thing in 1906, and this is just a great example of string-band ragtime. It flows - almost swings. One of the reasons I picked this one was for the second strain, which is the "Funky Butt"/"Buddy Bolden's Blues" tune. Several of you guessed Ossman, and Harold Z caught the "Buddy Bolden's Blues" bit. I'm glad that most of you enjoyed this selection. My source for this and the next tune is a very interesting Archeophone CD called Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot. If you check it out, be warned - several selections have the kind of racist lyrics that were too common in the early 20th century. 2. Castle House Rag (composed by James Reese Europe) - Europe's Society Orchestra; recorded Feb. 10, 1914 for Victor. James Reese Europe - conductor; Buddy Gilmore - drums This is Reese's nervous, exciting New York take on ragtime. It's easy to imagine how this manic music attracted the attention of New Yorkers. Reese's 1919 recordings are somewhat more jazz-oriented, but his groundbreaking 1913-1914 Victors are hard to find. I've tracked down all but two waltzes. This one is also on Stomp and Swerve. 3. I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle (composed by Perry Bradford) - Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools; recorded Nov. 2, 1925 for Vocalion. Perry Bradford - vocal; Louis Armstrong - trumpet; Charlie Green - trombone; Buster Bailey - clarinet; Don Redman - alto sax; James P. Johnson - piano; Charlie Dixon - banjo; Kaiser Marshall - drums. The genius who changed jazz forever arrived in the 1920s. This Louis Armstrong solo has remained fairly obscure in relation to how great it is. Gunther Schuller transcribed it in Early Jazz - I thought some of you might know it from that. This hot little band was mostly derived from Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. Buster Bailey is fabulous here, too. My source is an Affinity 6-CD set, Louis Armstrong and the Blues Singers 1924-1930. I've found this set to be invaluable - it brings together all of Pops' vocal accompaniments from the 1920s. 4. Merry-Go-Round (composed by Duke Ellington) - Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra; recorded Feb. 15, 1933 for British Columbia. soloists: Cootie Williams - trumpet; Barney Bigard - clarinet; Lawrence Brown - trombone; Johnny Hodges - alto sax; Freddie Jenkins - trumpet; Harry Carney - baritone sax This has long been one of my favorite Ellington recordings from this era. Someone pointed out the sectional nature of the piece, but what's remarkable to me is how well the sections flow together, and the soloists and ensemble flow together, to create a unified composition. My favorite brilliant little touch comes at the end of the seventh and eighth blues choruses. The seventh features the saxophones, but the trombones cut them off by entering two measures too early. But Ellington adds two measures to the end of the trombone chorus to balance things out. I just love that. My source was the double CD Ridin' in Rhythm on DRG/Disques Swing - it collects mostly tracks released first in Europe. 5. My Melancholy Baby - Joe Marsala Sextet; recorded Jan. 12, 1945 for Black & White. Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet; Joe Marsala - clarinet; Cliff Jackson - piano; Chuck Wayne - guitar; Irv Lang - bass; Buddy Christian - drums Bebop was the new thing in the forties, but I didn't want to include a straight bop track. Like Spontooneous, I love this period when swing guys, New Orleans guys, and modernists would all play together. Several folks commented on how great stride pianist Cliff Jackson sounds. Dizzy Gillespie is young and brash - I love it. My source CD was mentioned in the forums just a few days ago - Greenwich Village Sound from the Pickwick series of Black & White reissues. 6. Springsville (composed by John Carisi) - John Carisi Jazz Workshop; recorded June 11, 1956 for RCA. John Carisi - trumpet; Urbie Green - trombone; Ray Beckenstein - alto sax; Eddie Wasserman - tenor sax; Sol Schlinger - baritone sax; Barry Galbraith - guitar; Milt Hinton - bass; Osie Johnson - drums There were several major trends going on in the 1950s - hard bop, West Coast cool. But to me the unsung story of the 50s is the rise of the jazz composer - Gil Evans, George Russell, Bill Russo, Jimmy Giuffre, etc. John Carisi recorded very little under his own name, and a 1988 RCA/Bluebird CD called The Arrangers, credited to the RCA Victor Jazz Workshop, contains the first issue of seven tracks he made in 1956. As several folks noted, "Springsville" was the first track from Miles Ahead, but this recording came first, although it wasn't released until 32 years later. I figure Carisi must have played the tapes for Miles and Gil, though. I think his writing here (and elsewhere) is brilliant. That's enough for now. I'll reveal the rest this evening.

Better get in my guesses at the last minute! Unsurprisingly, I liked tracks 1 through 4 and wasn't smitten with anything else. Gimme the old stuff. I'm weird, I guess - I like Johnny Dodds and Albert Ayler. 1: Reminds me of Cantrell & Williams and Vess L. Ossman, but I don't have much of this late ragtime early jazz stuff, so everything sounds like the two or three things I have. I'm picturing Joe Bussard mugging to this in his basement. It's Ossman - well done. 2: Arthur Pryor, maybe? Could be Europe, but I think Pryor is more likely. It's James Reese Europe. I actually kind of like Arthur Pryor's ragtime recordings, but they were usually more sedate than this. 3: "I'm gonna play no second fiddle", Perry Bradfoord's Jazz Phools. Awesome record! Ranks up there with Bessie's recording, in my book. Yep - this is a great one. 4: Ellington, maybe? It's really driving, but it's not Webb, Lunceford, or Basie. Could be some sound-a-like. Charlie Barnet, maybe? Sounds like it's a little earlier, though. Oh, there's a bari sax! I think it's Ellington with Carney taking that solo. Don't recognize the track, but he recorded so much... Love it. I think you were the only person who recognized Ellington without already knowing the specific piece. Good ear! 5: No idea. The drummer is a little too high-hat happy for my mind, and the trumpet player is a little too harmonically out there (yeah, I know...), but I really like the piano player. The ensemble at the end makes my ears bleed. Yeah, it's kind of a mess, but it's a glorious one, to my ears. I'll embarrass myself by guessing at *some* of the newer stuff, at least: 8: Chet Baker? Nope, more obscure - you'll see. 12: This sounds like Tennessee Ernie Ford a bit. I'd be mighty surprised if it were him, though. Is this from the 50s? It is from the 50s. Check out the Reveal. Anyway: thanks! Had fun with it. Glad you enjoyed the early stuff.