patricia

Next up we have the clarinet player/leader, "MONTY SUNSHINE" [John Hyman] who was born in London in 1928. Sunshine was a founder member of the Crane River Jazz Band, in 1949, moving on to being a star performer in Chris Barber's 1950's band. Monty's clarinet was a huge factor in Barber's band's two gigantic hits, "Hushabye" and "Petite Fleur" in the late fifties. In 1960, Monty left Barber's band and formed a strictly New Orleans-style band and released several solo albums. Monty jumped right in to a highly successful career with his group, which was large and performed a repertoire of this very distictive jazz. I smiled when I read about a German record album cover which said, in part, "Although Humphrey Lyttelton has never reached the stardom achieved by Monty Sunshine..................." The list of musicians who have worked with Sunshine is long and distinguished and includes, Rod Mason, Ian Hunter-Randall, Alan Gresty, Charlie Galbraith, Eddie Blashfield, John Beecham, Ken Barton, Barry Dew, Mick Ashman, Tony Baghot and Geoff Downs. In 1994 Monty was still busily working away, still finding time to play reunion concerts with Barber. That year, he did almost nothing else, but play concerts marking their fortieth anniversary. The only collection I could find was "Gotta Travel On" [1991 Timeless], but it's a good one. This is a collection of five live sessions, which featured the lead trumpet of Alan Gresty, as well as some great work on drums by Geoff Downs.

And now we have "TOOTS" [Jean Baptiste] THIELEMANS, who was born in Brussels in 1922. Toots, who is best known for his bringing the harmonica into the jazz idium, also plays guitar and whistles as well as being a composer. Thielmans started playing music at the age of three, on a home made accordian. The harmonica came later, at seventeen, at college, where he was studying maths. The inspiration for his taking up the guitar came after hearing Django Reinhardt and after the war he played at American clubs and was seduced by the new development in jazz, Bebop. In May, 1949, Toots shared the bill at the Paris international jazz festival with Charlie Parker. Parker had befriended him earlier in New York, on 52nd Street when Toots sat in with the Benny Goodman sextet. In 1951 he moved to the U.S., working with Dinah Washington, then joining George Shearing's quintet in 1953, staying until 1959. After that, Toots formed his own groups, but mostly worked freelance and as a studio musician. His big break came in 1952 with his recoding of his composition, "Bluesette", which featured him on guitar and also whistling. There have been over a hundred versions of this recorded since. Because of the huge success of Bluesette, Thielemans was once again discovered in the U.S. and studios were climbing all over each other for his services on guitar, and harmonica, as well as for his whistling virtuosity. By the 1960's Toots was associated with the great Quincy Jones and he played on soundtracks, notably on "Midnight Cowboy" and "The Getaway". He also can be heard on Quincy Jones' albums of the period. Thieleman toured Russia in 1972 with a quartet. Toots is an extremely versatile musician, his work ranging from pure bebop to whimsical work, such as that for the children's TV program, "Sesame Street". Toots' work can probably be considered the most compelling reason that the harmonica has gained respect in the jazz genre. As Clifford Brown once said to Toots, "Toots, the way you play harmonica, they shouldn't call it a miscellaneous instrument". Check out "Man Bites Harmonica" [1957 OJC] to hear just a taste of Toots' approach to hard-bop. He is teamed up with Pepper Adams, Kenny Drew, Wilber Ware and Art Taylor. Wonderful!!!

Next up is a drummer, CHARLES "BOBO" SHAW, who was born in Pope, Mississippi in 1947. Bobo studied drums with some of the most famous and well respected drummers in jazz, such as Joe Charles, Ben Thigpen and Charles Payne. Shaw is also a fine trombone and bass player as well. I'm always interested in the many musicians, who are known for their skill on one instrument and are also often equally as skilled on other instruments as well. Bobo has played with blues and R&B artists, such as Oliver Sain, Ike and Tina Turner and Albert King. The collective called Black Artists Group was co-founded by Shaw . In the 1970's Shaw led a group of creative artists, which was comprised of saxophonists Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and Luther Thomas, the Bowie brother [a trumpeter and a trombonist]. The name of the group was the Human Arts Ensemble. Bobo has appeared on a huge number of records, including Lester Bowie's "Rope A Dope", and he also recorded in 1984 with Billy Bang on his album "The Fire From Within" . Although I'm pretty sure that Shaw is still up and around, I couldn't find anything about him after his work on the "...Fire..." collection.

And now, we have "SNOOKY" [Eugene Howard] YOUNG, who was born in Dayton Ohio, in 1919. At five years old, Snooky took up the trumpet. Later, he played in the Wilberforce College Band, although he never attended the college as an undergraduate. In the mid-thirties, Young was with Clarence "Chic" Carter's territory band, playing in Michigan, then went with Jimmie Luncefords orchestra in 1939. Snooky was with Lunceford for three years and he had a feature with that band, "Uptown Blues", which was very well-known. In the early forties, he joined Count Basie's organization. He went from there to Lee Young's band, Les Hite's band, then back to Basie, then with Gerald Wilson and then BACK to Basie in 1945. Snooky replaced Basie's high-note man, Al Killian and stayed for two years. But, he left Basie's band in 1947, forming his own well-respected, top-class band., in Dayton, Ohio, and was very successful for the next ten years. This band included featured players, such as Slam Stewart and Booty Ward. Then, in 1957 Young once again joined Count Basie's orchestra and stayed for the next five years. The next phase for Snooky was as a studio player and, in 1979 he finally produced a wonderful solo album "Horn Of Plenty" for Concord. The album which Snooky recorded in 1979 is really worth looking for and listening to. It is a collection which has Snooky, playing trumpet and fluglehorn, in a quartet with Ross Tomkins on piano, John Collins on guitar and the great Jake Hanna on drums. SNOOKY YOUNG, as far as I know, is still with us, although he would be eighty-five years old now.

Michelle Shocked?

ALREADY in the mark-down bin. I'm shocked. Shocked.

I blush. . I don't know what I was thinking and I've corrected my grevious error. SLIM GAILLARD Gorgeous photo of Sonny, EKE BBB. WOW!!! Thank you!!

The most embarrassing record I ever bought was a 10" LP called "Voices of Haiti", when I was about 15, from a bargain bin. Now, it probably doesn't sound that bad, and you all are probably thinking that it might have been interesting. Or maybe not. But, that's how I justified throwing away 99cents, which was way overpriced. It was an entire record of discordant chants, shouts and really horrible drumming. Chants, shouts and drumming are quite often very enjoyable, in fact, I'm quite partial to drums, but this was noise and, not in a good way. My brothers would put it on the record-player and make fun of me. That's how bad it was. In Haiti, the indiginous music is not at all like reggae, or native South African music.

I think on the first page of this bohemoth of a thread I profiled, at the request of Pete C., Slam Stewart. So, it's only fair, though long overdue, that I now give some space to Slam's other half. SLIM [bulee] GAILLARD was born in 1916, either in Detroit, or in Santa Clara, Cuba, depending on who you ask. He teamed with Slam Stewart as a comic variety act in the mid-1930's and they were a sensation. Slim presented his routines in what was an invented style he called "vout", which was a kind of Spanish-inspired jive-talk which finished off every other word with "oreenee". [well, you had to be there.] His songs tended to revolve mostly around food, such as "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony", Matzoh Balls" and "Yip Roc Heresy", which was inspired by an offering on an Armenian menu. Sometimes he veered into the mystic world of machinery and created such gems as "Cement Mixer" and "Poppety Pop". But my favourites are the sheer nonsense titles, like "Ya Ha Ha", "Laughing in Rhythm" and of course the monster hit, "Flat Foot Floogie". By the time he teamed up with Stewart, Gaillard had already appeared films, such as "Star Spangled Rhythm" and "Hellzapoppin' " In 1947 Gaillard had a few personal things going on, not the least of which was a pending divorce and he tapped it light for a while, working as an MC from time to time, as well as as a comedian and a singer. Then, in the 1960's he was running a motel, then bought an orange farm near Seattle. Then, there was a revival of his work and he made several TV appearances, including a role on "Roots - The Next Generation". He also toured the UK to sellout crouds in the eighties. He played guitar, played the piano with the backs of his hands [!] and sang his old hits. Slim was a looker and had a wonderful voice, both speaking and singing as well as a kind of surreal comedic approach to performing which appealed to audiences, throughout his long career. But, in 1991 Slim contracted cancer and it was all over. He was eighty though, so he had certainly given his all to life and to entertaining. His last recorded performance was with the Dream Warriors in 1990. Please look for "Legendary McVouty [1945-46 Hep] which is side-splittingly funny. As a bonus, there is a guest appearance by Harry The Hipster Gibson. I really like this collection.

And now we have the great "SONNY" [Edward] STITT, born in Boston, in 1924. Sonny played both the tenor and the alto-saxophone and began to be noticed when he toured with Tiny Bradshaw in 1943-44. During this period, Sonny met, on separate occasions, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis. There are those who say that Stitt was very influenced by the style that Parker displayed, but there were few saxophone-players, at that time who weren't. In 1945 Stitt settled in New York and was with the Gillespie band for a year. He also recorded, on alto, with the Bebop Boys and with Kenny Clarke. He then switched to tenor, for the next few years and co-led a band with Gene Ammons from 1950-1952. After that Sonny fronted his own groups. After Charlie Parker died, Sonny was in great demand as a visiting soloist with many of the rhythm sections. He also worked with Jazz At The Philharmonic in 1957 and 1959. During that same period, he was with Gillespie. Then, in the sixties, he played with Miles Davis, at Newport, as part of a tribute to Charlie Parker and as the early seventies rolled around he was with the Giants Of Jazz. Sonny Stitt was probably one of the most rewarding and consistant performers of his era, despite his well-known twin demons, booze and drugs. Those who compare Stitt with his chief influence, Parker, miss his personal style, always indentifiable. He was intense, though not as intricate as Parker, with lines which I think are closer to those of Lester Young, if comparisons are to be made. Jamming seemed to be Stitt's forte and he was a fierce musical adversary, in that context. SONNY STITT died in July of 1982 at fifty-eight years old. My favourite Sonny Stitt collection is "Only The Blues" [1957 Verve] which presents the blues in three different tempos. Pay particular attention to the track, "The Eternal Triangle" which has Stitt, Roy Eldridge and the Oscar Peterson trio creating magic. Try it. You'll like it.

Thanks LAL. Yes, without dedicated people to chronicle and preserve the steps which JAZZ has taken, through the years, the picture would be incomplete. There is a lot of great stuff being created now, and new artists emerging, but it's the complete story, continued, that interests me. EKE BBB. As usual, you came through. Fabulous pictures!! Thank you.

Thank you Maren and you too, Paul. INSTRUMENTALISTS does describe what these ladies do, better than my designations.

With all due respect, patricia, I cracked up when I saw your categories- "singers" and "musicians". It's just an old joke, you know, singers aren't musicians......... I know. I know. Of course anyone who says that singers are not musicians has never heard Ella scat.

Singers: Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughan Lena Horne Billie Holiday Cleo Laine Mildred Bailey Ernestine Anderson Musicians: Norma Teagarden [Jack's sister] - piano Ingrid Jensen- trumpet, flugelhorn Lorraine Desmarais- piano, keyboards Beryl Bryden- washboard, vocals Cindy Blackman- drums, composer Dorothy Ashby- harp Jessica Williams- piano, keyboards Annie Whitehead- trombone, vocals Andrea Vicari- piano, composer Leone Thomas- percussions, vocals, lyricist

I completely forgot Paul Anka's "You're Havin' My Baby". Big hit. Why? No one knows. Yuch. Then there was Donovan's "Sunshine Superman". Crap. Absolute crap.

One of the most interesting jazz-guitarists I've heard is BUCKY [John] PIZZARELLI, who was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1926. Interestingly, Pizzarelli is self-taught and was first involved in jazz when he was trying out new ideas with Joe Mooney's small modern jazz group before moving into studio work in 1954, when he went to work for NBC. During the twelve years he spent at NBC, he toured with Vaughn Monroe, before moving to ABC, where he was a staffman for Bobby Rosengarden on one of my all-time favourite talk-shows, "The Dick Cavett Show". It wasn't until the 1970's that Bucky's style evolved into what could be called jazz, but he toured with Benny Goodman and then formed a duo with George Barnes and built up his jazz creds. He spent the seventies busily working on several projects, recording and playing at concerts. Pizzarelli plays a seven-string guitar, as does George Van Eps and his style is described as having an all-music approach. He has worked with a variety of artists, all the way from the classicist, Bob Wilber at the beginnings of the Soprano Summit quintet to Bobby Hackett. The eighties found Bucky forming a duo with his son, John and they have recorded several collections together. One of my favourites is "The Swinging Sevens". Another album you might find interesting is "The Complete Guitar Duos" [1980-84 Stash] This is also a collection of duos with his son and they are in the grand tradition, as established by McDonough and Kress.

Beautiful pictures, EKE BBB. Thank you so much!!! ___________________________________________ Of course, during the 1920's through the 1940's my favourite players included Miff Mole, Tony Parenti and Joe Sullivan, but a slightly lesser-known cornet player, who was a contemperary, was "DOC" [Paul Wesley] EVANS. Doc was born in 1907 in Spring Valley, Minnesota and worked with Red Dougherty's band in the late 1920's. In Chicago he led his own band in the forties and occasionally played in New York. Doc's reputation was that of a lyrical and technically accomplished player and he played with many of the better-known stars of the day, such as the afore-mentioned Mole, Parenti and Sullivan. There are recordings which were made for Audiophile in the 1950's and co-featured John "Knocky" Parker. This pairing brought Evans into the forefront in the jazz revival which was at it's peak during that period. As the sixties came around, Doc was still hard at it, and he led the Mendota Symphona Orchestra. His last recordings were made at the Manassas jazz festival in 1975. His bandmates on those recordings were Bill Allred and Tommy Gwaltney. DOC EVANS died in 1977 at seventy years old.

"Green Onions" by [i think] Booker T. and the M.G's. I had a record-player that you could set the spindle-arm off to the side and the same record would keep on repeating, indefinitely.

Shouldn't that be in the "Worst songs" thread? (Hey, I kidd, I kidd!!) Perhaps. But, it was hypnotic at the time and I was quite intrigued by Carnes' unconventional, scratchy voice.

Missed your birthday, Joe, but.......................... Be My Valentine?

"You Win Again" - Jerry Lee Lewis "Louie Louie" - Wailers "Bette Davis Eyes" - Kim Carnes

I'll be fair and try to find that version. But, my condemnation of the Marty Robbins version stands.

I have actually made a low-fat, modified version of his favourite sandwich, which I have, occasionally, for lunch. The original involved thick slices of white bread, buttered, both on the inside and the outside, suitable for frying later. The filling was a thick layer of peanut butter, on the inside of both slices of bread, on top of the butter already there. This was topped with a sliced banana and then topped again with as much bacon as the King was able to cram in there. This heart attack on a plate was apparently a favourite snack. My own version is two slices of whole-grain bread, no butter, peanut-butter right to the edges, sliced banana and hold the bacon. Grill in one of those sandwich thingies. It makes a very nice lunch and I don't anticipate reaching three hundred pounds, anytime soon, as it is rumoured the King did. No wonder. Yes, Elvis did turn into a characature of himself, as did Sinatra, toward the end of his career. Neither one of them could remember the words to their huge hits. Sad really. May I nominate Marty Robbins' "El Paso"? This was a song that was I think over four minutes long and played constantly, on every radio station, for months. By the time the torture was over and it had moved down the charts, I was thisclose to paying somebody to kill the D.J.s and have Robbins pummelled.

Now, let's talk about the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, piano, banjo-playing [John R. T.] "RISTIC" DAVIES. Davies was born in 1927 in Wivelfield Sussex, U.K. He started his career with Mick Mulligan's band. In 1949, he joined what was considered a revolutionary band, Crane River Jazz Band, whose mission was to revive the original New Orleans jazz style, preserving it, or as they put it "playing it properly". To that end, Ristic formed the first of two excellent record companies, while spending time playing with bands led by Steve Lane and Cy Laurie. In what Davies described as "the sixteen most valuable months in my career", in 1955, he joined Sandy Brown's band. Four years later, in 1959, he joined the Temperance Seven and was there for nine years, as a multi-instrumentalist and also as an arranger. 1968 found Davies working regularly with the cornettist, Dick Sudhalter in the Anglo-American Alliance, which he says was his favourite band. He also was with the New Paul Whiteman Orchestra, in which he played the Frank Trumbauer part. By 1972, Davies was co-director of Retrieval Records, which is a company that reissues a catalogue of vintage jazz, reproduced with meticulousness, which characterizes Davies' attention to detail, and restores the old masters to mint quality, by special processes. That is not to say that Ristic quit playing. On the contrary. He continued to appear at Crane River Jazz Band reunions, recorded with Jimmie Noone Jr and Dick Sudhalter and led his own band, John R.T.'s Gentle Jazz. His band includes trombonist Jim Shepherd, as well as another senior master, Nevil Skrimshire on guitar. In 1999, Davies underwent major surgery, but he is up and around again and continuing his lifelong mission to bring real Dixieland to those of us who love it.

Blues and C+W. If there ain't no adversity, misery and infidelity, there ain't no song. Love it!