GA Russell

Jazz Ensemble of Memphis Playing In The Yard Impacting March 29th, 2024 Format: Jazz "These kids are incredible! I’m so grateful to be a tiny part of their world. And it is indeed their world now." Kirk Whalum — Memphis Musician The Jazz Ensemble of Memphis’ Playing in the Yard has made me one happy Jazz-camper this day! Having just finished reading the biography of one Thelonious Monk, who made it a habit of “playing in the yard” with his historically adventurous, ingenious, yet playful music, I’m smiling from ear to ear as I listen! I’m feeling extra blessed to note the high level of creativity in the writing/arrangement, and of course the improvisation. Yes!! This is such a welcome discovery because mediocrity creeps in unannounced far too often in these endeavors. “Hey we’re only teenagers…” We forget that Monk & his cronies (Dizzy, Parker, et al) were also in their teens and early twenties when they innovated an exalted art form that remains at the center and top of all popular music. Globally. And these kids are bringing that excellence to fore with that unmistakable Memphis seasoning which sets them apart, and in the rarified air of other Memphis giants. George Coleman, Phineas Newborn, Herman Green and so many more — left here with hopes that exactly this would happen! Bravo!!! - Kirk Whalum — Memphis Musician This record began as a conversation between Memphis International Records owner, Jeff Phillips, his father Johnny and producer David Less about the 1959 album, Downhome Reunion: Young Men From Memphis. Recorded in New York, it featured Memphis Jazz legends George Coleman, Booker Little, Phineas Newborn, Jr. Calvin Newborn, Frank Strozier, Jamal Nasser and others before they were famous. The Phillips’ asked Less to produce a new version, recorded in Memphis, of some of the top young jazz musicians that, like on the original record, were at the beginning of their careers but showed promise of future greatness. The Jazz Ensemble of Memphis was not a working group and some met for the first time at these sessions. Their ages range from 17-26. Playing The Yard is that album. This album is dedicated to all of those great Memphis Jazz musicians that came before us. We stand on your shoulders. The Players: Drums: Kurtis Gray was 17 years old at the time of recording this album. Trumpet: Martin Carodine, Jr. was 19 at the time of this recording. Bass/Electric Bass: Liam O’Dell was 21 years old at the time of recording. Keyboards/Percussionist/Vibes/Congas: DeAnte Payne was 25 years old at the time of this recording. Tenor Saxophone/Flute: Charles Pender II was 26 years old at the time of this recording MIR2042-on...

I'm not the man I used to be. Why should I pay off his debts?

Eric Carmen has died at 74. RIP. Eric Carmen, 'All By Myself' singer and frontman of the Raspberries, dies at 74 (msn.com)

I saw this on Twitter over the weekend.

A man had suffered with terrible headaches for seven years. The doctors could do nothing to help. Finally, one doctor explained that the only thing left that would work was castration. So he had his balls cut off. His headaches immediately went away. He felt so good that he wanted to buy a new sport coat. So he goes to a men's store, and tells the salesman that he wants to purchase a sport coat. The salesman says, "You’re a 42 Regular." The man is impressed, and asked, "How did you know?" "That’s my job," the salesman states. "Would you like some pants to go with that?" The man is still excited, and says, "Sure." "OK," the salesman says. "You’re a 36 / 30." The man says, "No, I’m a 32 / 30." The salesman says, "Listen, if you wear a 32, it will squeeze your balls so tight you’ll get headaches."

Ken, the book says that in 1990 Gorbachev allowed the Americans to do a DNA test on Hitler's remains, and they determined that they were the remains of a 40 year old woman.

A collection of quotes, most from America's Founding Fathers.

This is interesting. The author believes that the story we all know regarding the deaths of Hitler and Eva Braun was the work product of Hugh Trevor-Roper (who in 1945 was a major assigned to Military Intelligence). He says that there has never been physical evidence supporting the story. The story is based upon the testimony of a few Germans who claimed to be eyewitnesses, but none of their testimonies match up. In the summer of 1945, two German submarines arrived in Argentina, and surrendered to the Argentine navy. The author believes that Hitler, Eva Braun, Martin Bormann and others were on one of the submarines. Bormann, by the way, is portrayed to be a businessman who was much more savvy than I have seen him shown elsewhere.

Steve Lawrence has died at 88. RIP. I liked Steve and Eydie whenever I saw them on television. I think that many of their records were arranged by Don Costa, whom I was not a fan of. Steve Lawrence, Grammy-Winning Pop Stylist and Actor, Dies at 88 (msn.com)

Jazz Ensemble of Memphis Showcases the Legendary Music Hub's Rising Talents on "Playing in the Yard," Set for April 5 Release on Memphis International Records Album Features a Half-Dozen Standards & Lesser-Known Jazz Compositions Played by an Ace Quintet of Young Memphians On Their First Musical Encounter   March 6, 2024 The storied musical city of Memphis, Tennessee presents its delegation to the rising generation of cutting-edge jazz artists with Playing in the Yard, the debut recording by the Jazz Ensemble of Memphis, hitting April 5 on Memphis International Records. An answer record to the revelatory 1959 album Down Home Reunion: Young Men from Memphis, the new album comprises a summit of five of the city’s freshest jazz talents, here playing together for the first time. (Playing in the Yard is available on CD as well as blue vinyl.) The original album was a milestone for the Bluff City. It introduces the larger jazz world to the best and brightest of Memphis jazz musicians, many of whom would become world-renowned figures in their own rights: Booker Little, George Coleman, Frank Strozier, Jamil Nasser, and Phineas Newborn, among others. But if those players were young—Little, the baby of the assemblage, was almost 21—the new Jazz Ensemble of Memphis is younger still. Drummer Kurtis Gray and trumpeter Martin Carodine Jr. were 17 and 19, respectively, at the time of recording; tenor saxophonist Charles Pender II is at 26 the band’s elder statesman, with 25-year-old keyboardist/vibraphonist DeAnte Payne and 21-year-old bassist Liam O’Dell rounding out the lineup. In addition to their first time playing together, Playing in the Yard documents the young artists’ first time in a recording studio. But their youth is deceptive. Each of the musicians plays with a finesse and perception beyond his years. If their age shows through, it’s only in their seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm. “There’s a lot of joy in the recording,” adds David Less, the producer who spearheaded the project. “They’re playing for the love of the music and that comes through every note.” L. to r. Liam O'Dell, Martin Carodine Jr., Kurtis Gray, Charles Pender II, DeAnte Payne. Both the love and the sophistication are heard throughout the album, whether in Pender’s gravitas-filled solo on “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the lowdown blues of Payne’s vibes on “The Crawl,” or Carodine’s old-soul trumpet voice on “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.” Yet there’s still plenty of room for exuberance, perhaps best captured in the sinuous reinterpretation of the classic “A Night in Tunisia,” on which everyone but the bassist contributes a sly solo, and the funky Sonny Rollins–penned title track, where Payne (on Fender Rhodes), O’Dell, and Pender each submit improvisations stacked with exclamation points. Their enjoyment is contagious, their music brimful of exciting promise. Special guest Jim Spake, a Memphis saxophone mainstay, is heard on soprano sax on the title track. The Jazz Ensemble of Memphis is the fruit of a conversation between father and son Johnny and Jeff Phillips (nephew and great-nephew of Sun Records’ legendary founder Sam Phillips) and veteran music entrepreneur, critic, and producer David Less. The talk centered on the 1959 United Artists album Down Home Reunion: Young Men from Memphis, which had in its time broken some of the city’s hottest young jazz players to a national audience. The Phillipses commissioned Less—the former owner of and current producer for Memphis International Records, now owned by Jeff Phillips—to organize and produce a recording session that would serve as simultaneously a sequel and an update to the original album. A keen observer (and discerning ear) of the local scene, Less rounded up a remarkable quintet of gifted players between the ages of 17 and 26. They included University of Memphis alumni Charles Pender II (tenor saxophone) and Liam O’Dell (bass); Martin Carodine Jr. (trumpet), a Memphian currently studying at the University of Miami; and two young Memphis natives and residents, Deante Payne (keyboards, vibraphone) and Kurtis Gray (drums). While the five had never played together, says Less, “It’s amazing how well they melded as a band.” The fire and polish of Playing in the Yard bears witness to that melding. “These kids are bringing that excellence to fore,” says saxophonist and Memphian Kirk Whalum in the album’s liner notes, “with that unmistakable Memphis seasoning which sets them apart, and in the rarefied air of other Memphis giants.”  

Eleven stories, all above average.

Mark Watkins Enhances His Celebrated Saxophonist Quartet With "FOUR + Six," To Be Released March 29 On Jazz Hang Records Recording Features the Idaho-Based Saxophonist's Ensemble FOUR With Guitar, Rhythm Section & the Dual Brasses of Brothers Derrick & Vincent Gardner   February 2, 2024 Mark Watkins envelops his long-running saxophone quartet in lush, billowing textures on FOUR + Six, the band’s deliriously tuneful sixth album, set for a March 29 release on Jazz Hang Records. Watkins augments the core quartet of himself (soprano and tenor saxes), Sandon Mayhew (tenor sax), Ray Smith (alto sax), and Jon Gudmundson (baritone sax) with Corey Christiansen (guitar); a three-piece rhythm section of Justin Nielsen (piano), Braun Khan (bass), and Kobie Watkins (no relation, drums); and the esteemed Gardner brothers, Derrick (trumpet) and Vincent (trombone). While the saxophone quartet FOUR goes back more than 20 years, the roots of this particular collaboration lie in the turbulent year of 2020, when Derrick Gardner was forced to cancel a performance at the Brigham Young University-Idaho (where Watkins has been director of jazz studies since 1999) annual jazz festival. With the reinstatement of the festival in 2022 and the re-inviting of Derrick Gardner—as well as his trombonist brother and drummer Watkins—Watkins took the opportunity to formulate this build-out of the original FOUR. “I love composing for a cappella saxophone quartet but have often been intrigued by the possibility of including a trumpet, a trombone, and a rhythm section in my compositions,” writes Watkins in the album’s liner notes. “These instruments add color and variety to the quartet without creating the weight of a big band.” The broadened sonic palette of FOUR + Six demands a broad stylistic palette too, and on this Watkins delivers. The album’s seven tracks (all Watkins originals) include the New Orleans pastiche “On Any Given Day in Summer,” the angular post-bop “The Executioner Is Looking Away,” the gentle ballad “Against My Desire to Imagine,” and the Third Stream–inspired “Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow and Forever.” But a recording packed with so many superb musicians can’t simply be a composer’s vehicle, and FOUR + Six’s soloists appropriately shine. Christiansen, Nielsen, Mayhew, and Vincent Gardner each take a bravura turn on the terse Latin “Shouldn’a Did That,” while the brothers find themselves featured in “Without Another Word” (which also includes solos by Khan and Mark Watkins on soprano). “There’s so much talent in this band,” Watkins notes. “We were able to go off in all kinds of directions.” Which, of course, was FOUR + Six’s intention all along. L. to r. Mark Watkins, ss/ts; Jon Gudmundson, bar; Justin Nielsen, p; Braun Kahn,b; Kobie Watkins, d; Vincent Gardner, tb; Derrick Gardner, tpt; Corey Christiansen, g; Sandon Mayhew, ts; Ray Smith, as. Mark Watkins was born May 29, 1961 in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up on classical, country, and rock & roll records as the family moved from place to place across the country. Partially blind since birth (and today fully blind), he struggled with the disability and attendant prejudice both in and out of school—but not enough to keep him away from the music he loved. Watkins earned a bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance from Brigham Young University in 1988, followed by a doctorate in woodwind performance from Indiana University. Though his concentration in both cases was in classical music, at IU Watkins encountered the legendary jazz educator David Baker, with whom he studied to earn a minor in jazz studies. Originally, Watkins’s vision of a saxophone quartet was a classical ensemble, which he realized while teaching at North Dakota State University in the late ’90s. But when a colleague suggested that they investigate some jazz tunes, the Hard-Bop Saxophone Quartet was born. Watkins has been a jazz musician ever since, taking the job of director of Jazz Studies at BYU-I in 2001, and remaining there until 2022. At the university’s seat of Rexburg, Idaho, he created the sax quartet FOUR, who recorded their debut album With Friends Like These in 2006. Five other albums followed, of which FOUR + Six is the latest. In addition to his performance, Watkins is an accomplished scholar of his instrument and the author of many books on the subject. One of these, 2018’s From the Inside Out: An In-Depth Resource for the Development of Saxophone Sound, has been widely hailed as a landmark and comprehensive study of the human physiology behind playing the saxophone. Listen: jazzhangrecords.com/product/four-six    FOUR + Six: "Don't Care Who Knows It"  Mark Watkins/FOUR Web Site  

Anyone here a ham? My dad was. This is a glorified advertisement for having a portable ham radio.

# Artist and Track Title Time 1. Jim Snidero - For All We Know 07:56 2. Jim Snidero - Naima 05:14 3. Jim Snidero - Love for Sale 06:21 4. Jim Snidero - Blackberry Winter 06:32 5. Jim Snidero - Parker's Mood 05:19 6. Jim Snidero - Willow Weep for Me 06:33 7. Jim Snidero - My Funny Valentine 07:58 8. Jim Snidero - You Go to My Head 07:32 New from Jim Snidero on Savant Records JIM SNIDERO - For All We Know Savant Records SCD 2215 Jim Snidero - alto saxophone Peter Washington - bass Joe Farnsworth - drums Airplay Starts now Suggested Tracks 3. Love for Sale 6:21 • 4. Blackberry Winter 6:32 5. Parker's Mood 5:19 • 6. Willow Weep for Me 6:33 Like our stuff? Let’s hear from you. Record Company Contact Barney Fields • Savant Records, Inc. jazzdepo@ix.netcom.com • (212) 873-2020 • www.jazzdepot.com 2215 Savan... Jim Snider... # Artist and Track Title Time 1. Black Art Jazz Collective - Black Heart 05:50 2. Black Art Jazz Collective - The Fabricator 06:16 3. Black Art Jazz Collective - Truth to Power 08:21 4. Black Art Jazz Collective - It's Alright 07:52 5. Black Art Jazz Collective - Coming of Age 05:30 6. Black Art Jazz Collective - Dsus 05:29 7. Black Art Jazz Collective - Code Switching 05:51 8. Black Art Jazz Collective - Soliloquy (for Sidney Poitier) 04:21 9. Black Art Jazz Collective - Lookin' for Leroy 06:46 10. Black Art Jazz Collective - Blues on Stratford Road 06:30 Just in Time for Black History Month BLACK ART JAZZ COLLECTIVE - Truth to Power HighNote Records HCD 7353 Wayne Escoffery – tenor saxophone • Jeremy Pelt – trumpet James Burton III – trombone Josh Evans, Wallace Roney Jr. – trumpets (track 3) Xavier Davis (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10) - piano Victor Gould (tracks 3, 6, 7 & 😎 - piano Vicente Archer (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10) - bass Rashaan Carter (tracks 3, 6, 7 & 😎 - bass Johnathan Blake (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10) - drums Mark Whitfield Jr. (tracks 3, 6, 7 & 😎 - drums Airplay Starts Now Suggested tracks 6. Dsus 5:29 • 7. Code Switching 5:50 9. Lookin’ for Leroy 6:45 • 10. Blues on Stratford Road 6:30 For its 10th anniversary release, the Black Art Jazz Collective (BAJC), hailed by DownBeat Magazine as “a powerhouse of contemporary jazz talent,” offers ten exciting and unique works that speak to both artistic freedom and musical sensibility relative to the tenor of our times. The band features an all-star line-up, including founding members Wayne Escoffery, Jeremy Pelt, James Burton III, Xavier Davis and Johnathan Blake who are joined by current members Victor Gould, Rashaan Carter and Mark Whitfield Jr. Wayne Escoffery tells us, “I formed Black Art Jazz Collective as an ensemble of African American musicians, celebrating Black culture and the origins of the music through original compositions with unapologetic pride.” Like our stuff? Let’s hear from you. Record Company Contact Barney Fields • HighNote Records, Inc. jazzdepo@ix.netcom.com • (212) 873-2020 • www.jazzdepot.com BAJC DigiB... 7353 HighN...

The Beatles - The US Albums $99.99 (50% off) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H8XF9I0

I stumbled onto this album over the weekend on YouTube Music. It is listed there as Red Hot from Alex.

Great finds, TTK! I am delighted to see that although the Staccato soundtrack is not on CD, it can be streamed by Amazon Prime members. https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0186SF5L6

One of my first jazz albums! I wrote for the Prestige catalogue, and received a simple list with the one artist's name, album title and price. "Herbie Mann - Just Wailin' - $1.99." I didn't know what I was getting.

I got their second album when it was new (1974?), and played the heck out of it! I got that box set for Christmas '22. I have listened to the first two discs, and was just thinking this week that it was time to open up the next one. I saw Frith with Skeleton Crew in Atlanta in '85. I loved it. My date hated it!

Lon, I can see that you are a comic book connoisseur! For many years (decades) I have wanted to read the stories of Black Mask and Dime Detective. A few years ago, an attorney obtained as payment for services rendered the rights to the Black Mask catalogue. He re-published many of the stories. Apparently the sales were good, because now we are seeing the Dime Detective stories re-published as well. Radio Archives is also re-releasing many pulp magazines as eBooks.

I picked up The Doors of Perception when it was brand new (because it was on the Vortex label!), and I've always liked it. I'm very surprised to see it featured for a RSD. I always considered it to be obscure, unknown and unappreciated.

Disc 3

This was a comic book I always saw on the rack, but was never tempted to pick up. Did anyone here like this one?

Was 1972 immediately after Baker got his new set of teeth?