patricia

Since we mentioned "PREZ" [Lester Willis Young] in connection with Jimmy Rushing, it seems only fair to talk about him next. Lester was born in Woodville, Mississippi in 1909. LESTER YOUNG's full nickname, given to him by Billie Holiday was actually "The President" He is acknowledged as the greatest tenor-saxophonist of the classic years, along with Coleman Hawkins. Dicky Wells described Young this way, "Prez was such a nice fellow, a beautiful, beautiful person. He was full of jokes, harmless, didn't bother nobody, loved everybody. He was the greatest." In the early days of his career, in the early 1930's, Young played with the Blue Devils, Benny Moten and Count Basie's orchestra. How Young got into Basie's band was interesting to me. Apparently, he sent a telegram to Basie, described as "strange and urgent" in which he invited himself into the band in 1934. His presence, of course, was met with wholesale approval at Kansas City jam sessions. But, after he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra Young was encouraged to find a more personal sound, which he did. He was a natural improvisor, which he had been encouraged to suppress previously, but soon came into his own with Basie's orchestra, setting himself up against Herschel Evans, who was remarkebly similar to Coleman Hawkins in style. As mentioned earlier, Young loved to give his fellow musicians nicknames. His name for Harry Edison was "Sweets", for Buddy Tate, "Moon" and for Basie, a special one, "The Holy Main". Prez was also quite a hit with the ladies. As Tate remarked, "I was tired of looking at chicks running in and out". He was also quite a gambler, crawling back to the bus at the end of the night to what he called the "sweet music of the rolling dice". Many band members remembered a practical joke of Young's, which involved ringing a bell at any of them who made a mistake. He was very self-deprecating and evidence of that was his description of the recording dates with Billie Holiday. He said, "She got me little record dates playing behind her, little solos and things like that." Look for the work he did with Billie. Every side is magic. In 1940 Young left Basie's band, partly due to a downturn in work and partly because of his great friend Herschel Evans' death. He freelanced for a while, as well as co-leading a band with his brother Lee. Then, in 1943 he re-joined Basie's band for almost a year. In 1944 Young had just completed a short film, "Jammin' The Blues" for Warner Brothers when he was conscripted into the military. He described this period in his life this way, "It was a nightmare, one mad nightmare. They sent me down to Georgia - that was enough to make me blow my top." He feared his hostile, racist superiors and ended up in a disciplinary centre where whatever was done to him left him with deep mental scars. When Young came back on the jazz scene, BeBop, new recording techniques and a flotilla of Young imitators, achieving great success with his ideas awaited him. He became very withdrawn and developed his own monosyllabic language to deal with everyday life. He used the terms "eyes" for desires and "bells" for approval and other strange almost code words. But, in 1946 he was still a star and was with Jazz At The Philharmonic, playing against his old arch-rival Coleman Hawkins. He stayed for more than ten years. Young was in and out of the hospital, in the late forties and early fifties, due to poor health. He also smoked like a chimmney, drank way too much, but still managed to put out record after record in his own laid-back style. As his life drew to an end he seemed to get smaller. One night, quite drunk, according to Buddy Tate, he said "The other ladies, my imitators, are making the money." Gil Evans recalled, when talking about a proposed collaboration, "He wanted to make the album, but he wanted to die more. He came in from his home on Long Island and decided to stay at the Alvin Hotel, just across from Birdland. He never ate a thing. Then he got back from Paris, got in the hotel room again and had a heart attack" LESTER "PREZ" YOUNG died in March of 1959. He was fifty years old. Please look for "Lady Day and Prez" [1930 Giants of Jazz] The musical relationship between Billie Holiday and Lester Young was very special and is clearly illustrated on every track on this collection.

Dave, Sounds fabulous. Thanks for the rec. I'll seek this out.

Max Kaminsky, "Dixieland-Chicago Style". This record also has Pee Wee Russell playing like a maniac and the magnificent George Wettling on drums. Love it. Love it. When the final piano has been dropped on me, on a particularly trying day, I just put that LP on and I feel 100% better.

I weep, truly weep for you. It's like a death in the family. Damn!!!

Some years ago, there was wonder and amazement, when Ann Murray, a Canadian singer, was offered a multi-million dollar recording contract. The wonder and amazement were due to her "only" being a singer and not a singer who wrote her own material. This was during the period when almost all the singers being signed to mega-contracts wrote their own stuff. It seems to me that song-writing and singing are two different skills. Having a marvelous voice does not pre-suppose that one is also a poet/songwriter. If the two talents are possessed by the same person, it's almost a lucky accident.

It seems to me that the calculations that the record industry has made, with regard to their loss of revenue, assumes that if the public was unable to share files, that they would buy the CD's. That's not necessarily true. In fact, many of the artists whose work has been downloaded by listeners, would never have been heard and have their CD's subsequently bought, had the consumer not heard what amounts to samples of their work. The comparison made by the ruling here compares downloading songs from the internet with a library having a copying machine on which library users make copies of material which is copyrighted for their own use. Technically, that is against the law also, but they don't expect the public to buy their own copies of whole, expensive, reference books, in order to have access to sections of those books. No money is being exchanged when people share music files, so the large record companies are experiencing an estimated loss on projection figures which are certainly open to interpretation. Can those of you who previously downloaded music say that you would have bought the CD had you not been able to download selected tracks??

Thank you EKE BBB. Yes, Jimmy was certainly a "fine figure of a man", as my grandfather used to say. His voice though was truly unique. I particularly liked the comment about his moving in a "balletic" way, as many large people do. Your picture shows him to be a fashion-forward cat, as well as being very handsome. I thought it was interesting that he went from being "Little Jimmy" to "Mr. Five by Five". He got voluptuous, instead of taller. Even at the last, he still had the voice. Look for his records. Thank goodness Prez and Sweets nicknamed him, or he wouldn't have qualified for this particular "hang" of fine artists.

Jim very ably fixed my sign-on problem and I have abandoned my temperary "newbie" handle [patricia d] and am once again me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Next up we have JIMMY [Mr Five-By-Five]RUSHING, who was born in Oklahoma City in 1902. Both of Jimmy's parents were musical and his uncle played piano in a sporting house. When Jimmy was a young boy, he was known as "Little Jimmy" and was the official pianist the the school dances, or "hops" at Wilberforce University. Although he made a living, while still at school, playing piano, he described his skill at the time this way, "I could only play in three keys. After a time everything began to sound the same to me and it was then that they asked me to sing". Jimmy's voice, which was unique in that it had a dramatic, near operatic vibrato, became familiar through his association with Walter Page's band, the Blue Devils. Jimmy recorded "Blue Devil Blues" with the Benny Moten's band in 1929 on Vocalion. Many of Walter Page's young stars had joined Moten's band, among them Count Basie and Eddie Durham. After Bennie Moten died in 1935, Rushing joined Count Basie's band. Rushing stayed with Basie's band until 1948 and by then, besides singing with the band, he had also appeared in films, including "Funzapopping" in 1943 as well as doing some recording with Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby. When Basie scaled down his organization, Jimmy toured with his own band, which included Buck Clayton and Dicky Wells. He was at the Savoy for two years and was extremely popular when he appeared opposite Basie. Jimmy then freelanced, producing several hits for John Hammond and touring all over America. He also travelled in Europe and when he was in England in 1957 George Melly said of him, "Jimmy's bulk and it's attendant problems, getting in and out of cars for example, soon appeared irrelevant except to give his movements a deliberation, an almost balletic adjustment of weight in relation to gravity which suggested his inner calm." As the 1960's blew in, Jimmy was still working hard, appearing with Harry James, Benny Goodman and Eddie Condon, as well as again with Basie. Later in the decade he appeared at the Half Note with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. Toward the end of his career, he became a little disappointed in the new generation of accompanists and said, "I never thought the time would come when I would go up on the bandstand, call this or that familiar number and have some of the cats on the stand say 'I don't know it'." Billie Holiday had said much the same thing fifteen years earlier. Jimmy's last recording was "The You And Me That Used To Be" and his voice on that recording was noticibly tired. But, that recording was chosen as the number one recording in the Down Beat poll in 1972. Also, in 1972, sadly, JIMMY RUSHING died of leukemia. He was seventy years old. Please check out "With Count Basie and Bennie Moten" [1930-8 Giants Of Jazz] and also, the afore mentioned, "The You And Me That Used To Be" [1971 RCA] You'll be glad you followed my advice.

The door opens and suddenly, you know what passion really is.

My best friend's parents hit a moose on the highway years ago and it took out their windsheild when it was boosted by the hit, right up on to the hood of their car. Lucky they didn't get killed. Car totalled. Glass everywhere, including in their faces. A mess. Moose got killed. They were probably going around 70MPH. We have to remember that urban sprawl has taken away much of the deer and moose' natural habitat. BTW, Moose are HUGE and they can walk easily through four feet deep snow.

Thank you EKE BBB. As usual, great pictures. Johnny Wiggs looks somewhat annoyed. I'll bet there's a story there!! Also, there's no such thing as a bad picture of Joe Williams. couw, Thank you for the background on CANNONBALL ["cannibal"]. He was indeed a "fine figure of a man".

In Brooklyn New York, in 1922, the jazz-pianist/composer, "DUKE" [irving Stanley] JORDAN was born. Although Jordan's career, because of his long absences from the jazz scene, appears to have been a little erratic, he started out working with Coleman Hawkins and with the original Savoy Sultans in the mid-forties. Then, in the late forties Jordan spent a year with Charlie Parker and nine months with Stan Getz in 1952. During the 1950's he recorded regularly right through to the 1970's. There was a renewed interest in jazz during the 1970's and Jordan toured extensively in Europe as well as recoding his compositions for the Steeplechase label in Denmark. Duke still lives in Denmark, unless he's died and I didn't know about it. Many of Duke Jordan's compositions have become standards, such as his "Jor-du", which was published and credited to a fictitious composer. Jor-du was part of the soundtrack in the French film, "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" in 1959. DUKE JORDAN has a wonderfully crisp touch and a melodic style in improvisation which is very delightful to hear. There is a really nice album available, that you might want to look for. It's called "Two Loves" [1973 Steeplechase] and on it is "Jor-du", but also a collection of standards that I think you might enjoy exploring.

One of my favourite trumpet-players is "FATS"[Theodore] NAVARRO was born in Key West in 1923. Fats played trumpet mostly, but sometimes doubled on tenor saxophone. He toured with Andy Kirk from 1943-1944. After Kirk, he went with the Billy Eckstine band, replacing Dizzy Gillespie in 1945 an settled in New York. Fats then recorded with Kenny Clarke, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Davis and Illinois Jacquet between 1946 and 1947. He then began his association with Tadd Dameron and also toured with Jazz At The Philharmonic, as well as with the Lionel Hampton band. Fats also recorded and rehearsed with Benny Goodman, but never recorded with him. Fats worked with the Dameron sextet, as well as his ten-piece. He also recorded with Bud Powell. Fats Navarro was articulate and highly intelligent, but unfortunately, became addicted to narcotics. His style and his tone are unmistakable. He was seen as one of the most gifted of the bebop era trumpet-players. The most unique quality he displayed was what has been described as a clarion quality which set him apart from other Eldridge-inspired sounds which were adopted by Howard McGhee. Navarro played with McGhee in Andy Kirk's band. Navarro's style is reminicent of the fullness of tone which is associated with Charlie Shavers and Freddie Webster. But, what is different is what could be called a brassy attack that perked up one's ears. He is said to have a sound that is sculpted and not as impetuous as that of Parker, Powll or Gillespie. Because Navarro had a very short life, he didn't have time to reach his full potential, but his disciple, Clifford Brown picked up his baton and ran with it some years later. FATS NAVARRO died in 1950, having contracted tuberculosis at twenty-seven years old.

Right now my vinyl is *arranged* if you can call it that, in the order in which I acquired them[!!!!]. So, that means that they range from jazz, to classical, to r&b, in no particular order. It's a dog's breakfast. I will organize them alphabetically, period. I'm amazed at the care and attention that you all take in organizing your collections. The reason that I prefer strictly alphabetical is that I tend to get positively apoplectic if someone puts a record [or a CD] back in the wrong place. If they had the music out for any length of time, they wouldn't know all the other sub-catagories in which they may fall. If I did that, I would be asking for the house gun, within a week.

NOTE: I'm in the process of moving and am surrounded by boxes and chaos. As usual, I will pack my soundsytem and my computer last, so I will try to tend my nickname "garden" as best I can. In fact, you may not notice any perceptible difference. But, if there is a break of a few days, I'm not dead, just exhausted. Bear with me.

OK, now we have an artist who played piano and organ, as well as being a talented composer and arranger. He was "TINY" [Hartzell Strathdene] PARHAM, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1900. Like most who are nicknamed "tiny", Parham blocked the sun. In 1925 Parham was touring the Pantages theatre circuit. He later was the musical director for a miriad of theatres and clubs. The Apollo was one of the venues in which he was the MD. At the Apollo, Tiny led a showband and that band fetured the high note trumpeter, Reuben Reeves. Parham also recorded prolifically with his own band, leading the band and accompanying blues singers of the day. Some of the compostitions for which he was responsible were "Dixieland Doings", "Blue Island Blues" and "Black Cat Moan". Tiny Parham's work has often been compared favourably with that of Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton. Although Tiny Parham was a well-schooled and dynamic player, during the 1930's, he never moved to New York. He had arranged for King Oliver, Earl Hines and also for club floor shows. By the end of the 1930's Tiny was playing the organ in cinemas, theatres and ice rinks. TINY PARHAM died in 1943.

Peter, I understand what you're saying. But, sometimes you just have to speak up. I, believe it or not, am quite shy and don't like to make waves. But, something as important as whether OUR music has bin-space in a music store would at least have merited a short conversation with those who are in the business of stocking what their present and prospective customers want to buy. There are millions of dollars spent, forcasting what the buying public wants. It's called marketing. Every retailer tries to buy what will sell. And every store judges by what is left in the store at the any of their fiscal year, what they shoud be buying next year. If, at your, and other jazz aficianadoes' urging, they bought jazz and marketed it, and it didn't sell, that would be a valid reason for not stocking it. If, however, the reason that jazz doesn't sell in their store is that they don't have any, then, there's your opening. Just a simple, "Could you show me your jazz section?" might be the impetus for them to justify the omission. Then your enthusiastic pitch may prompt them to, once again, a give our music some bin space. Where I live, it's pointy boot, big-hat central and even the stores with tons of C&W, Rock, R&B and Rap have a small jazz section. So, as I say, I understand your reasoning, but just asking wouldn't cost anything and, who knows?

Now we have the great "CANNONBALL" [Julian Erwin] ADDERLEY, who was born in Tampa Florida in 1928. Adderly, of course, was a master of both the alto and soprano saxophones. Cannonball started out as a music instructor in a school in Fort Lauderdale and took that profession up again after his military service in the Army. But, as fate would have it, he was encouraged by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson to move to New York. Cannonball did and arrived shortly after Charlie "Bird" Parker died. He made a huge impact and formed a touring quintet. That group included his brother, Nat and Cannonball joined Miles Davis from 1957 and stayed til 1959. After his period with Davis, Adderly formed a quintet with Nat. Sadly, Nat died from a stroke and the group broke up. When Cannonball first started out, there were identifiable influences of many other players of the time in his style. There seemed to be echoes of Parker, Benny Carter, Vinson and also Jordon in his early work. Then, as the fifties rolled in, one could hear Coltrane and even Ornette Coleman in that period, when Cannonball played. This is not criticism, but rather a comment on how the admiration of all these earlier artists helped to form Cannonball Adderly's eventual unique style. Cannonball is particularly associated with what came to be known as "soul jazz" and he gave musical substance to that style. Some say that Adderly's music is too commercially motivated, but his work stands up better than many other artists who later came onto the jazz scene. There are two popular tunes, played by the quintet which were written by band members, "Sermonetter" and "Sack o' Woe" and were widely used by other groups. CANNONBALL ADDERLY died in August of 1975.

Are you ready for a jazz singer, who played kazoo??? Well, then I have a treat for you! We have "RED" [William] McKENZIE, who was born in 1899 in St Louis. Red did not start out to be a jazz singer, but actually was a jockey. Fortunate for the jazz scene, unfortunate for him, he broke both arms in a fall and couldn't ride anymore. He took a job as a bellhop at the Claridge Hotel in St Louis and met Dick Slevin and Jack Bland, who were guitarists. The three of them, McKenzie, Bland and Slevin formed a "spasm" band, the Mound City Blue Blowers. It was a huge success and worked opposite Gene Rodemich's band in Chicago. There was a recording date, arranged by Isham Jones for the trio. The first single they recorded was "Arkansas Bllues" and featured McKenzie on a red-hot paper and comb, combined with his absolutely captivating, plummy singing. This record sold over a million copies! That monster hit, for the times, was followed by "Hello LOla" and "One Hour", which also featured guest, Coleman Hawkins and Glenn Miller and became classics. There were two other guitarists who played with the blowers, Eddie Lang and Eddie Condon. Apparently, Condon loved McKenzie's feisty spirit. Red McKenzie helped set up Condon's first record date with the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans. Red then moved on to work with Paul Whiteman for a year and worked successfully on 52nd Street, until his wife died. He then moved back to St Louis with his son. He worked there as a beer salesman. But, he did come back to record, twice, with Condon in 1944. Then, in 1947 he was leading a band at Jimmy Ryan's. As Ed Hubble recalls, "His death was the end of the band. It was a stomping band and Red was singing beautifully, but his personal life was very lonely - he was taking it out on the bandstand and drinking entirely too much". RED McKENZIE died of cirhosis in February of 1948.

Well, Peter, it would have been an idea to actually try to talk to the musically illiterate new curators about their decision to pass on music that a large part of the community, with bulging wallets actually likes enough to buy........in quantity. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I suspect that they don't listen to much jazz. Much like a dealer in any other merchandise, in any other retail business, in order to be successful, they should know who their clientele are. Clearly, there were people who bought jazz from the previous people. So they are shutting out a whole chunk of customers who used to buy jazz, when they had jazz . Perhaps you should, next time you're in the neighbourhood, drop by and make a powerhouse pitch on behalf of all of those prospective customers. Just not going there anymore is like not voting. He probably doesn't care if YOU come in, but when he realizes that there are many more like you, he could be swung our way. Do it. You'll be our hero. You'll be worshipped, by us, much as a God would be worshipped.

Now we have "SNOOKY" [Eugene Howard] YOUNG, a wonderful trumpet player, born in 1919 in Dayton, Ohio. Amazingly, Snooky took up the trumpet at five years old!! He played in the Wilberforce College Band, without ever have attended the college! Later, he played with Clarence "Chic" Carter's territory band in Michigan. In 1939 he joined Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra, staying for three years. Snooky had a very famous feature, "Uptown Blues", with Lunceford's organization. In 1942 he was with Count Basie's band for a short time and then Young joined a variety of bands, Lee Young, Les Hite, Benny Carter, Basie again, and then Gerald Wilson. He then joined Basie once again, staying until 1945 - 1947. Snooky replaced Al Killian, Basie's high-note man. Then, for the next ten years he led his own band, which was very well received and it played in Dayton. This band featured Slam Stewart and Bootie Wood. He then re-joined Basie and stayed with his band from 1957-1962. From there he went to studio work, where he produced an excellent solo album for Concord. That album is titled, "Horn Of Plenty" and it is required listening for anyone who would like to hear Young's style and talent on both trumpet and fluglehorn.. His backup was Ross Tompkins on piano, John Collins on guitar and Jake Hanna doing a great job on drums. Away you go to look for this collection. Again, you'll thank me.

A day late and a dollar short. Story of my life. Even though the cake is almost gone and the party hats are strewn all over, let me add my good wishes on your birthday, ROOSTER TIES.

Our next profile is of CLAUDE "FIDDLER" WILLIAMS, born in Muskogee in 1908. Williams played first with Terrence Holder's band, which later morphed into Andy Kirk's Clouds Of Joy. After that, he went with Alphonso Trent in 1932 and with Chick Stevens in 1934 and stayed until 1935. Count Basie's orchestra was the next stop for Fiddler in 1936, but he was replaced by Freddy Green. From then on, he worked with a wide variety of bands, including the Four Shades of Rhythm and after having lived in New York for years, he moved back to Kansas City in 1953. He spent the next few years playing residencies there. In the 1970's Williams toured with Jay McShann, as well as playing solo at festivals and at parties. Fiddler Williams is described as a jazz violinist of huge, huge energy and great creativity. Many believe that he has been underestimated, when compared to better known artists, such as Stuff Smith. I think that Smith may be more well-know, but Williams' work stands up favourably to any of the other jazz-violinists'. He's still working, unless he checked out, since 1999, while I wasn't paying attention.

Although Louis Armstrong is a household name, at least in jazz aficianados' households, there was a better-known cornet-player in New Orleans to whom Armstrong was second-line cornet in this honouree's marching band. The player to whom I'm referring is "BUDDY" [Joseph Crawford] PETIT, born in 1897 in White Castle, Louisiana. Petit's nickname was a childhood one. To distinguish him from his stepfather, Josepth Petit Sr., he was called "Buddy". In 1916 Petit was co-leading a band with Jimmie Noone and was working up and down the West Coast. His band, mostly because of Petit's extreme popularity, was one of the most in-demand bands of the period. So much so, that quite often Buddy would sometimes accept 4 or 5 jobs in one night. He always took a deposit, but obviously couldn't play them, so he would send other bands to play under his band's name. It got so that prosective bookers were reluctant to hire him, because they never knew if they were going to get Buddy's band, or someone else's. In 1917 Petit moved to the West Coast to play with Jelly Roll Morton. There was an almost immediate personality conflict between Petit and Morton. It seems that Morton considered Petit a bit of a country-boy. On one occasion, Petit had cooked up a big pot of rice and beans at work and Moton made fun of his eating habits. Petit blew up and threatened to kill Morton, if their paths ever crossed again. They went their separate ways, not surprisingly. According to Danny Barker, "A dozen books should have been written about Buddy Petit. The way people rave over Dempsey, Joe Louis or Ben Hogan, -- THAT'S how great Petit was when he played! The kids would come up and say 'Can I shake your hand Mr Petit?' On parades they'd be ten deep around Buddy as he walked along, blowing." Buddy Petit was Louis Armstrong's nearest rival in New Orleans. BUDDY PETIT led a frantic life, working constantly, sleeping little, drinking copiously. He had refused an offer to go to Chicago to play in Bill Johnson's band and King Oliver got the job instead, but he still played regularly on the riverboats. In July of 1931 he was at an Independance Day picnic and overate and overdrank himself to death at only thirty-four. Louis Armstrong was a pallbearer at the funeral.

In 1905, in Little Rock Arkansas, a not-very-well-known trombone-player, "SNUB" [Laurence Leo] MOSELY was born. Mosely was not among the front rank of the very early trombone soloists, such as Jimmy Harrison, or even as recognizeable as Claude Jones. That doesn't mean that he was not a talent to be watched. From 1926-1933 Snub was the featured soloist with Alphonso Trent's territory band. This band was enormously successful and Snub's style was desribed as a stabbing stacatto attack, with amazing high-register work. His highly individual approach attracted a lot of attention. So much so, that he was in great demand by the best big bands of the thirties. Those included those of Luis Russell, Fats Waller and also Fletcher Henderson. Then, in 1938, Snub led his own six-piece band, which played at hotels, clubs and also went on tour. This band produced at least one hit record, "The Man With The Funny Little Horn". This record was remarkable because of an instrument the band included, which Snub Mosely invented. The instrument was called the "SLIDE SAXOPHONE". It looked like a big, metal Swanee whistle and had a very unique spectral sound. For forty years, Snub fronted his bands, which were sometimes r&b groups and sometimes jazz-flavoured. He played mainly in the New York area. He recorded too, for Stanley Dance in 1959. Snub then toured Europe twenty years later and fronted Fred Hunt's trio. There is a collection of the work he did in London, when he was the resident at the Pizza Express. It's "Live At The Pizza Express" [1978 Pizza]. SNUB MOSLEY died in July of 1981 at seventy-six years old.