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Extracted from a Storyville release: "In the 1930´s radio was the mass medium for dissemination of music in the US. Although 78 rpm records and even player piano rolls were widely available, the proliferation of broadcast spurred the demand for new musical performances. Since this period coincided with the post-depression years, smaller stations in particular needed a cost effective way to air fresh material. The transcriptions companies met this need. Transcriptions were typically sixteen inch discs recorded at 33-1/3 rpm by the companies from original performances for which they contracted. They were not intended for consumer release and were offered to radio stations on a rental basis, often on an exclusive basis in their markets. In 1934-35 and the years following, transcription labels such us Standard, World, Thesaurus, Keystone, Sesac, MacGregor, Associated, Langworth and Miller made their first appearance. Keystone later acquired rights to and issued many Standard recordings. In February of 1935 radio station WNEW in NY presented Martin Block and his "Make Believe Ballroom" program, claimed to be the first of the disc jockey shows. As this type of broadcast began to proliferate, the demands for original material provided on transcription gradually diminished over the ensuing years and the business was no longer viable...." I´d like to hear some comments from our knowledgeable members on this type of releases, these trancription labels, the importance of this stuff in the development of jazz.... Thanks in advance! BTW: which are your favorite transcriptions reissues?

Regarding the definition and description of “stride piano” I find very interesting the liner notes for the above mentioned Storyville Donald Lambert release, written by stride pianist Dick Wellstood: “Since this is an album of stride piano classics by a noted stride pianist, Donald Lambert, it seems to me a good occasion to set down a description of some of the basic characteristics of stride. I would like to say, first, that I don´t like the term “stride” any more than I like the term “jazz”. When I was a kid the old-timers used to call stride piano “shout piano”, an agreeably expressive description, and when once I mentioned stride to Eubie Blake, he replied “My God, what won´t they call ragtime next?” Terms, terms. Terms make music into a bundle of objects – a box of stride, a pound of Baroque – Lambert played music, not “stride”, just as Bach wrote music, not “Baroque”. Musicians make music, which critics later label, as if to fit it into so many jelly jars. Bastards. Having demurred thus, may I say that stride is indeed a sort of ragtime, looser than Joplin´s “classic rag”, but sharing with it the marchlike structures and oom-pah bass. Conventional wisdom has it that striding is largely a matter of playing a heavy oom-pah in the left hand, but conventional wisdom is mistaken, as usual. Franz Liszt, Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Erroll Garner, and Pauline Alpert all monger a good many oom-pahs, and whatever their other many virtues, none of them play stride. To begin with, stride playing requires a certain characteristic rhythmic articulation, for the nature of which I can only refer you to recordings by such as Eubie Blake, Luckey Roberts, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Willie The Lion Smith and Donald Lambert. The feel of stride is a kind of soft-shoe 12/8 rather than the 8/8 of ragtime, and though the left hand plays oom-pahs, the total feeling is frequently an accented four-beat rather than the two-beat you might expect. For instance, the drummer Jo Jones once told me that when Basie played stride he would play a soft four on his brass drum, accenting however, the first and third beats. This would be perfect. A straight four is too confining; a simple two makes you seasick. At any rate, the characteristic rhythms of stride are provided by the right hand, not the left. It is possible to play an otherwise impeccable stride bass and ruin it by playing inappropriate right hand patterns. By pulling and tugging at the rhythms of the left, the right hand provides the swing. Now, if the right hand is to be able to do this, the left hand must be, not only quasimetronomic, but also totally in charge. The propulsion, what musicians nowadays call the “time” must always be in the left hand. This is what Eubie Blake means when he says, “The left hand is very important in ragtime”. To a non-performer, the lefthand dominance probably seems either unimportant or self-evident, but it is the crux of a successful stride performance. If, in the heat of battle, the time switches to the right hand (because perhaps of a series of heavily accented figures), leaving the left hand merely to wag, then the momentum goes out the window. The left hand must always be the boss and leave the right hand free to use whatever vocalized inflections the player desires. Stride bass is not just an old oom-pah, either. The bass note, the “oom”, should be in the register of the string bass a full two octaves or more below middle C – an octave or so lower than was used by Joplin or Morton. And the “pah” chord is usually voiced around middle C – one or two inversions higher than Joplin or Morton (here, as elsewhere, I´m referring strictly to Lambert-style fast stride and am also generalizing wildly, of course). Moreover, the bass note is ideally a single note, not an octave, except in certain emphatic passages. The use of an octave would shorten the stretch between bass note and chord, and it is this wide stretch that gives stride its full sound. The wide stretch means that the player can activate the overtones of the piano by pedalling techniques ususable by Joplin or Morton, the denser tenture of whose playing would have been unbearably muddied by the sophisticated pedalling of, say, Waller. Stride bass lines move in scalar patterns, too. Ragtime stuck largely to roots and fifths with most of the scalar motion in the tenor parts but stride pianists. Having more room in the bass, can walk up and down scales in a way that is very difficult in the shorter span of the earlier pianists. One can also use in the left hand what pianists called in my youth “back beats”, where one disrupts the rhythm temporally by playing oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-oom-pah, and so on. With luck it comes out even, without sounding like one of Leonard Bernstein´s early works. To stride is to have patience, not to be in a hurry to get things over with. Lambert could play pieces in which the melody would allow a harmonic change perhaps only every four bars, requiring his left hand to pump patiently away for what seems like hours. And the late Ben Webster was an ardent stride pianist, whose pet piece was a version of East Side, West Side in long meter with lots of left hand, to wit: (East!)-oom-pah, oom-pah, (Side!)-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, (West!)-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, (Side!)-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah, and so on, ad infinitum, ad wolgast Fantastic patience! If all this sounds rather difficult and complicated, you may be sure that it is. In a world full of pianists who can rattle off fast oom-pahs or Chick Corea solo transcriptions or the Elliot Carter Sonata, there are perhaps only a dozen who can play stride convincingly at any length and with the proper energy….”

Just picked over 20 of this Blue Note Time Life CDs for 5,5 € at a local store!

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, COUW!!!!! We happen to be the same age (32). Oh, that 1971 vintage!

Just picked the Storyville Donald Lambert release Chris mentioned above. Amazing playing! Here you have some data from the Storyville website: DONALD LAMBERT Recorded 1959-1961 LABEL: Storyville Records CATALOG NUMBER: 101 8376 GENRE: Jazz BARCODE: 717101837625 Donald Lambert (Piano) Anitra’s Dance / Tea For Two / Liza / I’ve Got A Feeling That I’m Falling/Don’t Let It Bother You / Harlem Strut / Beautiful Love/Sweet Lorraine / People Will Say We’re In Love / Hold Your Temper / Moonlight Sonata / Save Your Sorrow / I Know That You Know / As Time Goes By / Sextet From Lucia Di Lammermoor / Hallelujah / The Trolley Song / Daintiness Rag / When Your Lover Has Gone / Keep Off The Grass / Carolina Shout / I’m Just Wild About Harry / You Can’t Do What My Last Man Did / If Dreams Come True / How Can You Face Me / Russian Lullaby This 69-minute CD (24 tunes), featuring Donald Lambert playing solo piano exclusively, was recorded live in 1959-61; the music has never been released before. The music was recorded in a relaxed, intimate club setting and features standards, show tunes, and many numbers by stride-piano masters such as James P. Johnson and Eubie Blake. Donald Lambert was a stride pianist, where a strong rhythm is always patiently kept by the left hand, without much improvising. Lambert had a fierce left hand – in the tradition of James P. Johnson, Fats Waller and Willie ”The Lion” Smith - while his right hand was often delicate, lyrical and his phrasing exquisite. This CD is full of brilliant stride piano classics, such as ”Hallelujah”, ”Trolley Song” and the powerful ”Keep Off the Grass” - plus Beethoven’s ”Moonlight Sonata”(!).

After a few spins, all I can say is WONDERFUL!!! (in any case, as expected ) - 5 solos performance from 1934 (radio broadcasts), less than a year after the release of his first four solo recordings on Brunswick. Tatum began to perform on the radio when he was nineteen years old in Toledo, but none of the earliest broadcasts are known to have survived. Great playing. My favorite is his cover of Carmichael´s "Star Dust" -2 solos from 1938 and one solo from 1939: more restrained Tatum (less fireworks), but every note is worth!!! -6 tracks by the Art Tatum trio, with Tiny Grimes (g) and Slam Stewart ( b ) (5 from 1943 for the AFRS Jubilee series, almost one year before the first commercial recording date of this trio -Jan 5, 1944- and one from 1944). Great music, though the sound of the piano is somehow overshadowed by the guitar. -4 tracks by Tatum plus the Les Paul Trio -Les Paul and Calvin Goodin (g) and Clinton Nordquist ( b ) and 2 solo performances ("Humoresque" and "It had to be you") recorded on Los Angeles c.1944 -A private recording from Frenchie´s Pink Pig by Michael J. Cudahy, april 1944 of the Art Tatum trio playing "Exactly like you" The sound, except for the first five tracks, is OK to these ears, taking into account the original sources (private tapes, acetates, transcriptions) and the era of these recordings!

¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, JIM!

Recording data for this one: Spiritualizing the Senses (Silveto SPR 102) Bobby Shew (tp) Eddie Harris, Ralph Moore (ts) Horace Silver (p) Bob Maize ( b ) Carl Burnett (d) vocals NYC, January 19, 1983 Smelling Our Attitude Seeing with Perception The Sensitive Touch Exercising Taste and Good Judgement Hearing and Understanding Moving Forward with Confidence Which song would it be?

Disc 2 I dedicated less time to this second disc. But here are some thoughts/guesses: 1.- No idea of what that kind of experimentation could be. Glad to hear something new, anyway. 3/5 2.- I don´t like the percussion. Sounds a bit tedious to me. No idea who could be. 3/5 3.- Marvin Gaye, no doubt! Which is this song? I did some research based on the lyrics, but couldn´t find anything! Beautiful. 4/5 4.- Interesting bass guitarist! Don´t know who he is, however. The piano is a bit minimalist, skeletal. Interesting, but not my cup of tea. 2,5/5 5.- This is a New Orleans revival disc (I´d say late 40´s, but because of the sound I would place it in the 50´s). Many players could fit this description: Bud Freeman (ts), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Kid Ory or Jack Teagarden on trombone (well, I don´t think they´re on this track). I like the trumpetist´s work. Could he be Billy Butterfield? Or Jimmy McPartland? The track title? Obviously “At the jazz band ball” (Edwards / LaRocca / Ragas / Sbarbaro / Shields this means the ODJB) I love this song. My favorite all time cover of this song is, of course, that one with the great Bix Beiderbecke!!! Definitely, THIS IS MY CUP OF TEA!!! 4,5/5 6.- Alto saxophonist with big band. No clue about them. The sound/arrangements of the orchestra are not familiar to me. Good, very good! 4/5 7.- Wonderful amalgam of horns playing together uptempo! But I have noooooooo idea of who could be! 4/5 8.- The swingingest band ever. Ladies and gentleman, salute the Count. Yeah, this is the Old Testament band. I must check my Basie collection to identify the song: first stage, eliminating small ensembles and big band with vocals (sorry old Rush…). Caviar, caviar… Maybe we´ll have to wait for my good friend mmilovan to post for identifying every piece of this song. I´m sure he will give us all we need (even the name of the third trumpeter´s grandmother or the beers the second trombonist had taken before this recording session) 5/5 9.- If this is not a pianoless trio date by Sonny Rollins, it´s near it and very influenced by Sonny. If it´s Sonny, I´d say this is from the 60´s better than from the 50´s. Good bass solo!!! 4,5/5 10.- Not my cup of tea (I´m and old-fashioned bastard, but hey, that´s me). 2/5 11.- Another unknown region for me. Couldn´t bring a guess at all! 3/5

MEAT In my first post, I included a link to a AMG review of a JB disc where this song is included: AMG review

He´s in my top five jazz pianists list for sure! His playing is deep, intimist, lyrical. Not many pyrotechnics, only those you need to express your feelings. It´s difficult to pick one album or one era. I love every recording by him that I have (many, many, too many I guess). If I had to choose I´d pick his Riverside recordings, EVERY RIVERSIDE DISC IS WORTH: New jazz conceptions, Everybody digs BE, Portrait in jazz, Explorations, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for Debbie, How my heart sings!, Moonbeams, Interplay. I love his trio dates! (yes, Interplay is not a trio date, I know -Jim Hall and Freddie Hubbard are included- ). From his late recordings, I enjoy especially his solo dates.

First of all, thanks to Jim for bringing this music to us: varied, wide-opened music. I received the 2CD package yesterday (thanks, Tom) and I´ve only listened to disc 1 twice (repeating a few tracks)... it sounds great!!! I´ll try to bring some thoughts/guesses about Disc 1 without reading the previous posts: 1.- It´s a Monk tune I should recognize... or at least is a very monk-ish tune. First I thought it was "Ask me now" and then "Ruby my dear" but after checking previous versions... I think it´s not one of these two. I like the piano introduction -in fact, I thought this was a piano solo and then, after a few minutes.... the group comes and it sounds really good-. The tenor sax sounds familiar to me, but I can´t give any name. That tone (sharp, penetrating)... maybe some Texan tenor??? No idea about the trumpet player!!! 4,5/5 2.- No idea. Terrible fuzzing on that vinyl. But the music is good (really almost good ) 3/5 3.- Wonderful track. The rhythm section really cooks!!! Looks like a trumpeter date (no idea who this trumpeter may be… Woody Shaw??? Freddie Hubbard??? I don´t know) 4/5 4.- Big band stuff. Ought to be something from the 70´s???. Shocking electric guitar. 3/5 5.- The Godfather doin´ ballads. Here is the link to my guess: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Aeghe4j575waw (track 11 of that linked CD) 4/5 6.- Wonderful vocals with string arrangements (Nelson Riddle???). Rosemary Clooney is my guess. The track is “How will I remember you?” (Gross/Sigman). Could it be this one???: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Ao1rj284u05na (track 122 of that linked box-set) 4/5 7.- I like the duet alto sax/piano. Steve Lacy??? (I really don´t think so). Another monk-ish tune. Yeah, it´s “Little Rootie Tootie” for sure! 3,5/5 8.- I´m a dummy regarding organ dates!!! But this sounds good. I like the sound of that tenor (I really dig him!!!) over the groovy sounds of the organ. To throw a couple of names: Sonny Rollins –more for the tone than for the phrasing- (did he ever recorded with organ???) or Charlie Rouse. Great theme!!! 4,5/5 9.- What on hell is this? No idea of the drummer not even of the singer!!! 2/5 10.- I think it´s a drummer of the older style (but WTF do I know about drummers? ). I´ve always been bored about drum solos, but this sounds OK to me. Baby Dodds? Zutty Singleton? 3/5 11.- I should say something about this track, because this is a kind of very oooooold stuff that I do like (call me old-fashioned if you want). This songs comes from late 10´s or early 20´s. The singer? I have this guy somewhere on my shelves but can´t throw in a name. 3,5/5 12.- Give “FREE”-dom to the people. This is “too free” for me. Who´s that guy screaming on trumpet? And that one crying “Yeah, yeah!!!!”??? No idea. AEC??? Or anybody from the AACM??? 2,5/5 13.- One of the most beautiful tracks on this disc. Big band sound (late 40´s???) somewhere between swing and bop (nearer swing, I guess). Who´s that tenor? Zoot Sims??? And I should know who´s that clarinetist… I know I should!!! (anyway I won´t bring an obvious name like Woody Herman) Superb music. Five thumbs up for this one!!! 5/5 14.- This is extracted directly from the Lester Young cavern (but it´s not Lester and if it´s Lester, it´s veeeery late Lester, because the phrasing is less fluid). Very Prezidential sax! My first choice would be Stan Getz (did he ever recorded with a guitar in the early 50´s? –I´ll check my shelves- ). Beautiful, very beautiful… but IF YOU CAN HEAR SOME LESTER YOUNG SOUNDS… IT´S ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL, SO BEAUTIFUL… Damn it, I´ll have to take a Lester Young ride one of these days!!! I owe it to him!!! BTW, the song is “Almost like being in love”, I guess… 5/5 15.- Yeah, a vibe date! This sounds (to these ears… don´t believe these ears ) previous to Milt Jackson, so the obvious choices would be Lionel Hampton or Red Norvo, but I can´t give a name. Wonderful music!!! 4/5 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Thanks again to Jim Sangrey for bringing us this music, eclectic music. My first BFT: I´m enjoyin´ it. You really have to concentrate on the music to say something about it! I will listen to disc 2 and post my impressions, and then again back to disc 1 & 2 after reading the other members´ posts.

My Shepp is short. I DO need some more Shepp. Could have searched on AMG but I prefer to know your recommendations and comments. No general thread on Shepp found at organissimo. This is what I have from this guy up until now: As a leader: Four for Trane (Impulse, 1964) On this night (Impulse, 1965) Mama too tight (Impulse, 1966) The way ahead (Impulse, 1968-69) Yasmina, a black woman (Charly-Le jazz, 1969) Attica blues (Impulse, 1972) As a sideman: The world of Cecil Taylor (Candid, 1960) Ascension - John Coltrane (Impulse, 1965) Love his playing. I would place it (I´d like to know your impressions on this matter, I´m sure you´ll put me in my place if this is nonsense ) between Coltrane and Ayler´s. Sometimes Archie´s near mid-to-late Trane (his phrasing, even his tone) and sometimes I find him near Albert Ayler´s "screaming", short phrases, almost inarticulate crying.... What do you think? Thanks in advance

Martial, sporting, rural... a couple of years ago!

Jim (Sangrey): As a distributor/collaborator in Europe... I haven´t received your package yet. I think I read you sent it on Dec 2 and now it´s Dec 10. Let´s wait a few more days... Airmail from USA to Spain isn´t as fast as desirable!

Official Website Of The Museo Nacional del Prado CVC Cervantes: Museo Nacional del Prado

Duke Ellington´s recording sessions on July 14: July 14, 1933. London. English Oriole recording session at Oriole Studios. Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington, p. 538 BluDisc 1003 AT4:11 Souvenir Of Duke Ellington (Ellington) [Duke Ellington, Percy Mathison Brooks, vocal] 539 Oriole unnumbered C33:20 Souvenir Of Duke Ellington (Ellington) July 14, 1960. Los Angeles. Columbia recording session at Radio Recorders. Duke Ellington: Ray Nance, t; Lawrence Brown, tb; Johnny Hodges, as; Paul Gonsalves, ts; Harry Carney, bs; Aaron Bell, b; Sam Woodyard, d. RHCO46703 Columbia JC-35342 US:1 Everything But You (Ellington-James-George) RHCO46704 Columbia JC-35342 US:2 Black Beauty (Ellington-Carruthers-Mills) RHCO46712 Columbia JC-35342 US:3 All Too Soon (Ellington-Sigman) RHCO46716 Columbia JC-35342 US:4 EsCo:3/14 Something To Live For (Ellington-Strayhorn) RHCO46720 Columbia JC-35342 US:5 Mood Indigo (Ellington-Bigard-Mills) RHCO46725 Columbia JC-35342 US:6 EsCo:3/15 Creole Blues (Ellington) RHCO46726 Columbia JC-35342 US:7 Don't You Know I Care (Or Don't You Care To Know) (Ellington-David) RHCO46727 Columbia JC-35342 US:8 A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing (Strayhorn) RHCO46728 Columbia JC-35342 US:9 Mighty Like The Blues (Feather) RHCO46729 Columbia JC-35342 US:10 Tonight I Shall Sleep (With A Smile On My Face) (Ellington-MEllington-Gordon) RHCO46730 Columbia JC-35342 US:11 Dual Highway (Ellington-Hodges) RHCO46731 Columbia JC-35342 US:12 Blues (Ellington) July 14, 1969. New York. Duke Ellington recording session at National Recording Studio. Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington, celeste. Pablo 2310-815 Inte:1 Moon Maiden (Ellington) [Duke Ellington, vocal]

According to my discography, these are the only dates with Dexter plus organ: Wardell Gray - Dexter Gordon Quintet Wardell Gray (ts, 1-4) Dexter Gordon (ts, brs) Gerald Wiggins (p, org, cel) Red Callender ( b ) Chuck Thompson (d) Gladys Bentley (vo) Hollywood, CA, June 9, 1952 1. The Rubaiyat Fontana FJL 907 2. The Rubaiyat (alt. take) - 3. Jungle Jungle Jump - 4. Citizen's Bop - 5. My Kinda Love - * The Master Swingers! / Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon (Fontana FJL 907) Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars Howard McGhee, Clark Terry (tp) Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt (ts) Jimmy Smith (org) Gary Burton (vib) George Duke (p) Al McKibbon ( b ) Art Blakey (d) `Newport Jazz Festival', Newport, RI, July 6, 1972 Blue 'n' Boogie Cobblestone 9026 2 * Newport in New York, '72 - The Jam Sessions, Vol. 3/4 / various artists (Cobblestone 9026 2) Dexter Gordon Quartet Grover Washington Jr. (ss, 1,2) Dexter Gordon (ts) Shirley Scott (org) Eddie Gladden (d) Philadelphia, PA, March 8, 1982 1. The Jumpin' Blues Elektra/Musician E1 60126 2. For Soul Sister - 3. Besame Mucho - * American Classic (Elektra/Musician E1 60126)

Kenny Drew (look at AMG "appears on" to see an impressive list of good recordings). Sonny Clark is very close (if only for "Go!" and "Swingin´ affair"). And special mention to the great Tete, who appeared in many SteepleChase dates.

LIONEL HAMPTON

During his period in Europe (1934-39), Hawk did some vocals. Well, at least I remember one, included in the Timeless release "Hawk in Europe 1934-39". Must check the song.

And talking about trumpet/cornet players, we have Rex Stewart (he made some vocals in Duke´s men small ensembles) and Ray Nance (with the whole orchestra i.e. Newport ´56)

Earle Warren did many vocals for Basie´s band... but I prefer his alto sax playing!

I ordered "Live Tatum vol.1" from CDUniverse. It hasn´t arrived yet. Will post when I listen to it. My hunger for Tatum grows and grows dangerously. PS: No need to worry for being an egoist, ubu. Who´s not an egoist nowadays?