Mark Stryker

Nobody is sticking their head in the sand. You wanna talk Wynton and sexism? Fine. You wanna coyly suggest that ANYONE is guilty of abuse or harassment ("might easily be women out there"; "I did have one engagement which suggested") without a shred of evidence? Not fine.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has had a woman in the saxophone section for a couple of years now -- Camille Thurman plays tenor and also sings. Via Twitter I've seen pictures of the band on its current tour in Eastern Europe and while I don't see Camille, I do see another woman playing alto whom I don't recognize. If you want to explore institutional sexism at J@LC, you are of course free to do so and mount whatever evidence you like, You are also of course free to explore sexual harassment in the jazz world too -- the recent rather complicated case of Steve Coleman suggests a number of potent threads. Misogyny, sexism, and harassment are real issues in and out of jazz. BUT dropping speculative hints and conjecture on this site, with not a shred of evidence, that Wynton (or ANYONE) has engaged in behavior that crosses the line into physical/mental abuse or sexual harassment is bullshit. It's out of bounds and should be removed by a moderator.

He's a young kid -- late 20s I think -- with a background as a musician and as a writer. He's got a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and eclectic tastes -- and he has an ear and instinct for getting down, as Cannonball would have said, to the nitty gritty of a subject. He also listens and knows what he doesn't know, so he does what a reporter is supposed to do -- seek out those who do know. He's a sponge. One to watch ...

Finally, the Seattle 'Love Supreme' story I've been waiting to see. Grammy.com's Morgan Enos looks at the two saxophonists (beyond Trane) responsible for first taping and then excavating the tape -- Joe Brazil and Steve Griggs. (Full disclosure: I'm quoted quite a bit here.) https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/john-coltrane-a-love-supreme-live-in-seattle-steve-griggs-why-joe-brazil-matters

The one with the multi-colored cover I presume ...

FWIW, the reference to 1965 is either a mistake or a typographical error. The band made its public debut at the Village Vanguard on Feb. 7, 1966, though it is true that rehearsals began in late 1965 in a rehearsal studio in Manhattan. What's the source of the quote, please?

Yes -- the shout chorus on Splanky was part of a group of arrangements by several writers (Foster, Wilkins) that helped codify the New Testament Basie sound. "Splanky" in particular has become such a part of the common language in jazz because you hear it all the time outside of a big band context -- organ groups use as a shout chorus on innumerable blues tunes and soloists and/or rhythm sections quote it all time, often without knowing what the source. Cued up here as a reminder ... Some really terrific charts on this LP -- "I'm Beginning See the Lights," "Tangerine" (particularly the second chorus), "I Get a Kick out of You."

Short answer: I don't know. Label was based in Toledo, but haven't done the research to learn anymore.

Frank sounds excellent -- a lot like Sonny Stitt on those Prestige sides with Bud Powell. Also, one tune they play is "Bouncing with Bud," which had only been recorded and released by Bud with Sonny and Fats months before the tape was made. Frank starts his solo by quoted Sonny's solo from the record. What you hear are the cats assimilating the latest bebop from NY n real time. Tommy Flanagan sounds amazingly assured -- a full six years before his recognized recording debut in NY. Not a great piano so hard to hear his touch, but it's definitely a smooth articulation. But back to Frank, here's a record he made at the same time, 1950, with Barry Harris. This was Barry's first recording too.

Cosign

Because Miles doesn't play on Prince's records.

Uh, what? The verbal interruptions are the whole fucking point. "Here's the CD version of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 but we've cut out the pesky scherzo because its jokey mood is inconsistent with the rest of the piece."

What did they do on the CD? I only have the LP ... Coda: I didn't realize there was so much extra music from the Golden Circle. Again, only have the LPs so never paid attention to the CDs.

Speaking of peak Jaws (and Sweets) ...

I hear what you're saying about April in Paris. It's a foundational record of the New Testament, and the band is in peak studio form. Yet I also prefer the subsequent live renditions of the key material so I find I don't return to April in Paris that often. But when I do, yeah, baby, one more time! Basie Meets Bond? With a recommendation, yeah, I believe. I'll look for it.

Yeah -- I saw your post that came about almost exactly the same time as mine, and there was significant overlap in our choices! FWIW, I talk about a bit about One More Time in this recent column on Quincy Jones. https://jazztimes.com/features/columns/chronology-quincy-jones-in-1950s/

Don't forget Thad. NEVER forget Thad.

I would not want to be without these New Testament band records. Essential in my book: Chairman of the Board Breakfast Dance and Barbecue Live at Birdland Basie One More Time Kansas City Suite Also, a slightly later record that is easy to overlook but truly fucking fantastic is Standing Ovation (Dot) -- recorded live in 1969 with Lockjaw and Sweets back on hand and playing their asses off. Band roars through New Testament classics ("Corner Pocket," "Shiny Stockings") and Old Testament staples ("Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Blue and Sentimental') arranged by Chico O'Farrill and Sammy Nestico. Harold Jones is the drummer. Seriously, this record is a total firecracker. Finally, one from 1976 that is a cut above is I Told You So -- arrangements by Bill Holman, many of them superb. Maybe the best Basie big band album of the '70s and the last great Basie album period.

This 60 Minutes piece is quite moving. It lets you see exactly what Tony can and cannot do. I would add that among the extraordinary and deeply emotional aspects of witnessing Bennett's ability to sing while otherwise barely being able to communicate due to Alzheimer's, is that at 95 his voice is still in good enough to shape physically to sing at all. So beyond the pondering the miracles of the brain and the power of music, when I see Bennett it reminds me that I don't know if any one in any idiom sang so well so late in life -- he sound so great even in his 80s -- check out the record of Jerome Kern material with the Bill Charlap Trio. He really took care of his voice. I asked him about this once, and he told me that after WWII, when he studied at the American Theatre Wing, he was taught some fairly simple bel canto warm-up vocal exercises and he continued to do them everyday of his life for about 15 minutes. They were focused on vowel sounds, and he didn't sing them full out. He basically hummed his way through them until he could feel the center of his voice. I wonder if he's still doing these daily vocal calisthenics. I bet he is. He was/is a great artist but also a PROFESSIONAL musician.

Don't have time to go through all of these at the moment, but quickly : 1) That's got to be early Jug, and with the boogie piano, I suspect this is father and son, Albert and Gene, on St. Louis Blues, c. late '40s 2) Not sure. Need more time. 3) Sounds like early Phil Woods on alto, but the tenor player is confusing me. Could be Al or Zoot but something tells me it isn't. Pres-influenced but not always supple -- some spots where his fingers and articulation aren't in sync. Maybe he was having an off day? Hungover? Might be one of those Manny Album productions as composer/arranger. Deductive reasoning suggests Eddie Costa is the vibes player. No idea who that is on guitar. 4) Hmm. First thing is I don't like it. Got a smooth '70s Latinish/fusionish vibe with the percussion and all. Was this recorded on the West Coast? Was going to guess Chuck Mangione for a minute, but then the flugelhorn played some high shit that doesn't sound like Chuck. These are jazz players -- the pianist after the 2 min mark plays some McCoyish tremolos and there's some intentional dissonance in the soprano solo. Stumped. 5) That's Airto's CTI record "Free" and Keith Jarrett's bossa "Lucky Southern." Always interesting to hear Keith as a sideman. I wish he had kept doing other folks' record dates. Ron Carter on bass -- only a few records with Jarrett and Carter together. I like the tune. Blissful D major -- but with some some harmonic bite snuck in there and enough movement to add meat to the bone. Also like the fact the performance is short, which helps keep the melody in the forefront. Did Keith ever play this with the Standards Trio? Would've made a nice encore piece in a similarly brief version.

You don't lose the skills, but they can get rusty, and I think it took a minute for Wayne;'s chops to get back up to speed in this language -- those were muscles he hadn't exercised in a while, especially compared to Freddie and Herbie. He sounds more comfortable and fluid on the subsequent albums after the black-cover double LP that was the band's coming-out party in America.

I was alerted today that there's actually video of Elvin with the Ellington! Now I want to see the rest of the concert ...

I wasn't there, but I have a bootleg tape of Frank Foster at the Blue Bird Inn in Detroit from 1950 with Tommy Flanagan, Phil Hill, and Art Mardigan.

These are amazing documents, Jim. Thanks for posting. Two quick follow-ups: Are these both from the same publication? What are the dates?

I think that's the same interview that I reference above re: Giant Steps.