jeffcrom

Not "grim" at all! What's not to like about traditional music from New Orleans?!?!?! Oh, everybody here knows that I love New Orleans music. I just meant that the title is pretty off-putting, and the abitrary credit to Pete Fountain, who is only a sideman on one side, is misleading and annoying.

Earlier today: Dixieland Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (GHB). Okay, this looks grim, but the music is great. It was originally a 10" album by New Orleans trombonist Jack Delaney on the Southland label. By the time it got reissued on GHB (Jazzology's "New Orleans" label before they aquired American Music), it was given a new cover with Pete Fountain's name and picture. And while the GHB is a 12" LP, it still only has the original four tracks on each side - about 24 minutes of music total. But like I said, the music is really good. Side one has a 1955 session with Alvin Alcorn on trumpet and Pete Fountain at his Irving Fazola-inspired best. Side two is a 1953 session with Raymond Burke on clarinet and the great Lee Collins on trumpet - his last recording, I believe. I sound this at the late, lamented Magic Bus on Conti Street in the French Quarter back in the 1990s when I was trying to get as complete a Lee Collins collection as possible.

More and more of these sets are appearing on the shelves of my favorite Atlanta CD store. I hate seeing them, but I keep my mouth shut, because every time I go in I'm kind of amazed that the place is still in business. I guess the proprietor has to do whatever he can to stay afloat.

I have seen members of online music boards provide strong opinions about music they admit they've never heard, but this is a first, to guess music you have not heard. Well, for awhile it seemed to be a requirement that Sun Ra be included in every BFT. Send me a download - once again I have good intentions of listening and commenting early.

Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (BN NYC stereo)

Billie & De De Pierce and thier Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Live at Stanford (Preservation Hall). A nice one that has never been reiussued.

Larry Young - Lawrence of Newark (Perception)

Dan, I want you to know that I listened to the entire BFT, but got busy toward the end of the month and never found the time to put my thoughts together and make comments. I have that Phil Upchurch 45, but didn't know that it was Bubba Brooks on tenor. But I did recognize the track. The other track I "recognized' I was totally wrong about. So really, the Upchurch was the only thing I knew, and I can't claim credit, since I didn't post. There is a school of thought that says James Booker is on that record, by the way, but I'm not sure. But thanks for the music. I enjoyed it.. Oh, and I did think that it might be Junior Cook and Ronnie Cuber on the first track. But I had no idea what it was, and again, I can't claim any credit.

Wow. My first trip to New Orleans was too late for any of those guys - in the case of Louis Nelson, just barely too late. He was supposed to be the trombonist in Kid Sheik's band on my first visit, but he had been struck by a hit-and-run driver a week earlier. He never got out of the hospital, and died during my week in the city, although I didn't know it at the time. I think Paul Crawford was his replacement. They never caught the driver.

The final set tonight.

Okay, this is my 10,000th post here. So I wanted to post about something that means something to me, and which hasn't been discussed here in detail previously, as far as I can tell. So.... Preservation Hall is a shabby little room on St. Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It was Larry Borenstein's art studio/gallery in the 1950s when he began holding jam sessions in the space. In the early 1960s it was converted to a music venue, and Allan Jaffe took over the ownership and management. He conceived it as place for the remaining first- and second-generation jazzmen of New Orleans to play, as long as there were some left who wanted to play. But as those musicians died off, there has been an interesting shift in the makeup of the bands there. Now the older musicians are mostly guys who formerly made their livings playing R & B, and they're joined by younger trad and brass band musicians. And these days both the older and younger musicians play an eclectic (rather than a "pure") version of the traditional New Orleans style, with plenty of licks imported from modern jazz and R & B. According to my notes, I've visited the Hall 33 times since my first visit in 1990. It's weird - many folks think of Preservation Hall as a tacky tourist trap, while it's holy ground to others. My feelings about the place fall somewhere in between, but they're closer to the latter. Every time I walk in, I feel wonder, history, and possibility. While the chances of hearing really excellent music have decreased in recent years, I have had some amazing moments there. On my first visit, in the spring of 1990, the bandleader was Kid Sheik Cola (or Colar), and the band included pianist Jeannette Kimball, who recorded with Oscar Celestin back in the 1920s. But the guy who amazed me was the short, elderly, and very assured bassist who played facing the back wall, presumably so that the sound from his f-holes would bounce off the wall. His tone and time were sure and powerful, and I knew that I had heard a great musician of whom I had never before heard. I later learned that Chester Zardis was born in 1900, and was in the the legendary Buddy Petit's band by 1915. And he was the bassist on George Lewis's 1943 Zenith recordings. I was lucky to have heard him - Zardis died four months later. I heard Willie and Percy Humphrey three times each in the Hall - but only once together. Willie was born in 1900 and Percy in 1905; hearing them (and Zardis) was a link to the earliest stage of jazz to which I will ever have a direct connection. I always loved Percy's pre-Armstrong trumpet style, but Willie was something else - one of the most interesting improvisers I've ever heard. He was gigging by 1915, and while he played more or less within the traditional New Orleans style, the variety and flexibility of his phrasing reminded of Charlie Parker more than of any other New Orleans reedman. The last time I heard the Humphrey brothers was the night before Easter, 1994. A few weeks later Willie had a heart attack; three months later he died. Other great musicians, now gone, that I heard in the Hall: Phamous Lambert, Narvin Kimball, James Prevost, Paul Crawford, Manny Crusto, Harold Dejan, Frog Joseph, David Grillier, Nowell Glass, John Brunious, Jr., Jacques Gauthier, Reginald Koeller, Les Muscutt, Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen, Walter Payton, Walter Lewis. Among my Preseration Hall favorites among the (thankfully) still-living are Wendell Brunious, Gregg Stafford, Joe Lastie, Ernie Elly, Michael White, Leroy Jones, Evan Christopher, Shannon Powell, Lars Edegran, Darryl Adams, Johnny Vidacovich, and Carl LeBlanc. Two Shannon Powell stories.... The first time I heard that great drummer at Preservation Hall, he was late - he walked in seconds before the bandleader counted off the first tune. The drums were already set up, but he still had his cymbal bag under his arm. The first tune was "Over In the Gloryland," and Powell played the first two choruses with just his feet - bass drum and hi-hat - while he set up his cymbals. It swung like hell. And years later, I was in line outside the Hall, talking to a couple of French jazz fans, when a large SUV came roaring up St. Peter Street and did the most amazing job of parallel parking I have ever seen. The driver quickly squeezed into a tiny space - barely bigger than the vehicle - directly across from the Hall. Everyone watching was sure that this maneuver would end in disaster, but the driver whipped the car into that impossible space as if he did that every day. When he got out, we saw that it was Shannon Powell. He got a standing ovation from everyone in line before playing a note. The band I heard at the Hall in April, 2009 was surprisingly modern; it included Irvin Mayfield, Evan Christopher, and pianist David Torkanowsky, who was obviously the leader. At one point, Torkanowsky called "I'm Confessin'," but toward the end of the first chorus, Christopher shook his head and said, "That's not how it goes." This was clearly audible to the audience. He then stood up, and through the force of his playing, slowed the tempo down. The next chorus was his lesson to Torkanowsky - he played the melody forcefully, and played arpeggios between phrases to teach the boss the correct chords. The chorus after that, he played a soaring, inspired solo. I'm glad I was there for that. More stories later, perhaps. And I'll talk about the various incarnations of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. This can be a confusing subject, since that's more of a brand name than a band name. But there are some great PHJB recordings, which I'll attempt to put into perspective.

t Hot jazz and dance music from the mid-1920s tonight. First, an Atlanta band: Warner's 7 Aces - Hangin' Around/Who'd Be Blue (Columbia) The Seven Aces - There's Everything Nice About You/I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me (Columbia) The first disc, from 1926, is excellent instrumental jazz. The second, from a year later, is much more pop-ish, with vocals on both songs. Then Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders on Victor. A couple of these had uninteresting bands on the flip sides, which I didn't play: Angry/Oh Say! Can I See You Tonight Black Bottom What'll You Do. All were good. "Angry" and "Black Bottom" are instrumental (except for a little scatting on the latter). There's a great trombone solo by one William Benedict on "What'll You Do" - I keep trying to find more solos by him, with no luck so far.

Lots and lots of 78s of all types lately - rediscovering some of the amazing records in my collection. Last night was world music night - a 1910 Columbia of "liberty horn" (taragato) solos by one A. Selzer, a 1916 Victor of Turkish songs sung by Karekin Proodian and Kemany Minas Eff, Greek clarinet by the great Kostas "Gus" Gadinis on Victor and Mere, klezmer clarinet on Columbia by Philip Greenberg and Sam Finkel (the last is a rare one). But perhaps the most interesting was from the 1950s, I think - a record I've had for a couple of years, but never fully researched, because that seemed kind of daunting. It's a record of Korean pansori music on a tiny Los Angeles label (Unasia) with labels printed in Chinese. That's quite a few obstacles in the way of finding information about this one. But I figured out the genre back when I got it. (I found it with another Korean record, so that was a clue, in spite of the Chinese characters on the label.) The performances are in a strange and haunting style - stylized vocals accompanied only by a single percussionist. I soon figured out that it was pansori - a kind of storytelling genre akin to opera. A lot of Googling last night led me a document in Korean which contained what was apparently a list of Unasia releases, including the Chinese label copy. I copied and pasted the label information into Google Translate, and learned at least something. I'm still not sure about the titles, but the vocalist is one of the greatest of all pansori singers, Kim So-Hee. Anyway, it's fascinating music, and I'm glad to know who the performer is.

Yes, mine's DMM. It sounds good. Now playing: Ernest Poree - New Orleans Saxophone (Rampart). This 1975 album is the only recording led by this minor, but talented Crescent City saxophonist.

Marion Williams - Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go (Atlantic). A kind of amazing 1971 gospel album. Most of the tracks are then-recent songs by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, etc. But the mighty Marion makes what might have come off as dated sound absolutely timeless. And the backing musicians include Gerry Jemmott, Bernard Purdie, The Dixie Hummingbirds, and four pianists: Hank Jones, Joe Zawinul, Ray Bryant, and Keith Jarrett (!). This version of Wonder's "Heaven Help Us All," with Jarrett at his gospel-ly best, gets all over me.

I think the three-minute standard for a pop recording was set by the time that 45s took over, because a 45 is capable of holding more than three minutes of music per side. I don't know know exactly what the maximum time is, but it's at least six minutes. The three-minute 45 pop single was a choice, not the result of technogical limitations.

Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands (BN Teldec)

Gil Evans - Parabola (Horo)

Cecil Taylor - Indent (Arista Freedom)

Tony Scott - 52nd St. Scene (Coral stereo). A beautiful thing, this album.

Sunny Murray - Big Chief (Eremite) Art Blakey/JM - The Witch Doctor (BN UA)

California Ramblers subgroups today: Varsity Eight on Cameo University Six on Harmony and Velvet Tone Five Birmingham Babies on Perfect The Goofus Five on Okeh Jazz with a small "j' rather than a capital, but I enjoyed it. The winner was "Copenhagen" by Five Birmingham Babies, with some great Adrian Rollini bass sax.

I'm behind the times; I don't know 2nd & Charles. I've gotten great stuff from the Athens Wuxtry over the years, but I was pretty disappointed on my last visit. I'm a regular visitor to the Atlanta store; I live maybe two miles away.

Musicology ain't physics or geometry. It's more like baking cookies, with room for individual interpretations/variations of established recipes. And since no two people's taste buds are the same, those cookies will taste different to different folks. I went on with this analogy for a while longer, until it got ridiculous and I deleted a bunch of stuff about chocolate chips and raisins. But I actually do think this issue is more like picking your favorite cookie than about some perceived musicological "correctness." And while I ain't saying that the Victoria and Palestrina pieces posted above aren't melodic, to my ears they gain much (most?) of their impact through texture and harmony. (And yeah, I know that neither of those composers were thinking harmonically as such in the way that later composers thought. Because musicology.)

Slim Gaillard and Dave Brubeck. No idea what compelled me to go from one to the other on the same evening. And Frank Sinatra's 1947 Columbia recording of Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?" This was one of my mom's favorite songs, and I never got it. Well, today I got it. This is a gorgeous rendition. And I wonder if this is the version my mom heard back in the day - she would have been 16 when this came out.