Mark Stryker

Hidden History Here's Sarah Vaughan in 1970 swinging the hell out of "I'll Remember April" at a racehorse tempo with a 22-year-old Jan Hammer, just out of Berklee, playing his ass off on piano. Gene Perla, who got Hammer on the gig, is on bass, Jimmy Cobb plays drums. Have mercy! Gene tells me that the source of the tape is a Vancouver television appearance. There's a second tune that he sent me from the same show -- the Beatles "And I Love Him" (sic). As near as I can tell, Hammer was with Sassy for the better part of a year. This reminds me of the remarkable bootleg tape of Sarah a couple of years earlier with Chick Corea in the band. What a shame that neither Chick nor Jan recorded with her, but their tenures coincided with a tough time in the recording business for Sarah. After her Mercury contract ran out in 1967, she wouldn't sign another deal with a label until Mainstream in 1971. One more amusing Hammer story: Apparently, about a year after he left Sarah's group, he got called to sub one night for her ailing pianist at the Rainbow Room in NY. By then, Hammer was playing with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Imagine playing synthesizers in a rock venue with Mahavishnu one night, wearing blue jeans and surrounded by amplifiers 10-stories high, for an audience of stoned teenagers and college students; and then the next night putting on a tux to accompany Sarah Vaughan on a Steinway at the Rainbow Room for a bunch of swells drinking Manhattans and Whisky Sours. It's a living. In a similar vein, Chick left Sarah to join Miles' quintet with Wayne, Ron, and Tony. A few years earlier, at the same time Bob James was touring with Sarah, he also recorded an avant-garde date for ESP and the challenging post-bop material that appears on "Once Upon a Time," the new Resonance Records release of previously unissued 1965 material. (I wrote the liner note for the Resonance release.) The point is that history often comes down to us in reductive form, with the demarcations between eras and genres drawn in bold lines and musicians' careers seemingly laid out in clear, linear fashion. The truth is that things on the ground in real time were generally a lot blurrier, if not downright messy.

Roy was deeply into Monk -- it was Roy who originally turned Geri onto Monk in the first place -- so the impetus to play Monk started with him and then it was a matter of finding out what common tunes by Monk the group knew and which ones Woody wanted to play. Not a conscious tribute. Coda: Geri told me it was Roy who pushed her to learn Monk's language and be able to use it when she played Monk's songs on gigs with the drummer. She also told me a story about how he once lit into her when she was still a student at Howard for straying too far from Monk when she began to be influenced by other players and ideas like Herbie Hancock. This was all in a larger context of her coming to terms with various mentors -- and those mentors coming to terms with the fact that each wasn't the only one with an impact on her.

"Bemsha Swing" was never a Blue Note project. It was just a gig at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit pairing Woody with a local trio that Roy Brooks put together. Roy was the cat who made the gig happen and he had it recorded. A decade later he was able to sell the the tapes to Blue Note with MIchael Cuscuna the key figure in producing them for release.

BTW, here’s the jury for this year’s music prize as listed at Pulutzer.org William C. Banfield (Chair) Professor of Liberal Arts & Africana Studies, Music and Society, Berklee College of Music Jon Batiste Bandleader/Musician, New York City David Bloom Conductor; Co-Artistic Director, Contemporaneous Kevin Puts* Professor of Composition, Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University William Trafka Former Director of Music, St. Bartholomew’s Church, New York City *past Pulitzer winner

I reviewed the premiere of ”Amistad” in Chicago in 1997. I can’t believe that was 23 years ago! It had issues dramatically—the libretto was too long, wordy, unfocused. Musically, it was more successful, especially in terms of the orchestra; vocally it was more inconsistent, and you could feel Davis still getting a handle on setting text and creating a lyric vocal line within his language. But I think you’ll like it, particularly if you know his other work across idioms.

Anthony Davis won the Pulitzer Prize today for his opera “Central Park Five.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-05-04/anthony-davis-pulitzer-prize-music-central-park-five-opera-long-beach%3f_amp=true

Co-signing on Jim’s comments, I’ll add this film of Richie and Eddie Jefferson made 41 years ago this week at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago in May 1979. Two nights later, the band was in Detroit and Eddie Jefferson was killed by a guy with a gun on the sidewalk outside Baker’s Keyboard Lounge. The then-young rhythm section, all good friends of mine, was a working trio back in the day in Chicago. Pianist John Campbell, bassist Kelly Sill, and drummer Joel Spencer.

Apologies if there is an existing Sonship Theus thread, but I didn't see it. Just today a friend pointed me to this revealing Modern Drummer obituary for Theus, who died in 2011. Thought I'd share it. It's nicely written by drummer Gerry Gibbs and it's both quite humorous and genuinely touching. Theus was a man who certainly knew why he was put on this earth. This paragraph says a lot: "Befitting his unusual approach to sound and technique, Theus was known to carry himself through life in idiosyncratic ways. One bandleader asked him several times to play more softly because he couldn’t hear himself. At the end of the set Sonship told the leader, 'I will go outside and ask God what He thinks.' When he returned to the stage playing as loudly as ever, the drummer explained, 'I asked God whether I should play quieter…and He said no.'" --- This is an approach to daily life I had never quite pondered. "I'm sorry (insert editor's name here), but I asked God whether I should keep it to only 1,000 words and He said, 'no.'" https://www.moderndrummer.com/2011/08/woody-sonship-theus/?fbclid=IwAR0gEsNmcQhF6rYd3sYlqc2JDx1BoJLPmHvmikfvHb9odyuoQyXHtAkmY0E

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/arts/music/electric-recording-co-vinyl.html?referringSource=articleShare

Don’t forget Sonny Clark.

Jim is right on here. I love the term "infrastructure." It's not just that Cedar and Billy so often hit the syncopated eighth notes at the same time; it's the way the accumulation of those accents,-- both those they hit in unison but also the ones that get batted back and forth like a tennis ball -- builds a groove that envelopes the beat and the band. A great example of the dialogue between Cedar and Billy is the way they play behind Dexter and Freddie' on "Milestones" in 1972 on Dexter's "Generations." (The bassist is Buster Williams). Listen especially to the second A section in Dexter's second chorus, starting at the 2:05 mark -- Cedar plays a series of anticipatory off-beats and Higgins' chatter connects them via quarter-note triplets on his snare. Cedar is actually a fairly busy comper. He's building his own strata of melody -- not just rhythm but melody -- that runs concurrently with the soloist-- yet also interacts with the soloist. It's a tricky thing to do because you easily overplay, forcing the soloist to play with you rather than the other way around. Cedar is also reacting as well as leading. Its a two-way conversation. Gotta have GREAT taste to do this. I also think there's something about the way Cedar and Billy both feel their 8th notes in the same way -- they're very even, almost but not quite like straight 8ths, Back in 1994, when I was working for the Dayton Daily News, I interviewed Cedar and asked him about why he and Billy sounded so good together. He described the drummer this way: "I like to describe his approach as immediate in terms of feeling, swing and intensity. It's not gradual. Mr. Higgins' intensity is immediate, which is very soothing to the player. There's no waiting around for the groove to build. It's built in. So it's him that's designing the piece. In a away, it's just flowing through you into the keys and the concept of the group." For the record, I just went through the Tom Lord Discography and counted 135 recordings that have Cedar and Billy together. Tthe first time Cedar and Billy appeared on a record together was in August 1965 on Eddie Harris' "The In Sound" (with Ron Carter). The last was Dale Barlow's "Manhattan After Hours" in late 2000, about six months before Billy died. Only nine of the Walton-Higgins records were on Blue Note (Morgan, Mobley, Byrd), all done within 20 months between Sept. 1966 and May 1968. Another great example, especially the tag. David Williams is the bassist. 1985

I have this one too.

Thanks much

Gang, let's say I fucked up and didn't get the Webb and Lunceford sets on Mosaic when I had the chance (hangs head in shame). I'm now looking for the best way to amass the Decca material from both leaders in packages that have excellent sound (non-negotiable) and good annotation (negotiable if the sound is excellent). Either CDs or LPs. I have the Decca/MCA LPs of much of this material, including some issued in the '60s, but there's too much simulated stereo. I know I can do better. Obviously one option would be to search for the Chronological Classics CDs. Is that the best option or would folks recommend others? Would consider "highlights" discs but am interested in getting it all eventually Thanks

Re: Joe and Chick Chick's "Live in Montreux" set with Joe, Gary Peacock, and Roy Haynes is GREAT. Some video of that performance is available on YouTube. There's surprisingly little documentation of Joe and Roy together -- a great match their springy, loose, bubbling, ever-shifting rhythmic conceptions, Coda 1: In addition to official recording that came out on Stretch, there appears to be a bootleg CD on Jazz File called "Trinkle Tinkle" that, if the Lord discography is to be believe, was also recorded at Montreux on the same day as the other material. Only the title tune seems to be repeated repertoire. Anyone know anything more about this? A second set ? Coda 2: Chick played a week at the Jazz Workshop in Boston the late '60s with the Kenny Dorham-Joe Henderson Quintet. Reggie Workman & Joe Chambers were on the gig. Where are the tapes of THAT?

My 2 cents: I always found the State of the Tenor recordings too tame. Several issues: The mix is unnatural -- the bass too upfront, the drums way too far back -- and the tunes are kept purposely short. Plus, though it's odd to say about a live album, it feels over-produced (by Cuscuna & Crouch). Half the material was suggested by them, and while Joe continued to play "Ask Me Now" and "Beatrice" for the rest of his life, he doesn't sound as in tune with some of the other. (Caveat: I got to know these records via the LPs, and I think the mix might be slightly better on CD.) Far better to my ears -- friskier, more fiery and more fun -- are "An Evening With Joe Henderson" (1987) and Charlie Haden's "The Montreal Tapes" with the same Haden/Foster trio (1989). Slight edge perhaps to the "An Evening With" but I love them both. I don't have any issue with the sound of Foster's drums or the mix on the former; in fact, it sounds much closer to what those three sounded like when I heard them live.

Thanks Jim and Dmitry -- very helpful. .

In 1969, Liberty-era Blue Note put out nine LPs of of the label's early material. Most of it was pre-bop (Edmond Hall, Ike Quebec, John Hardee, Sydney DeParis, Art Hodes, etc.), though there is one that couples James Moody and George Wallington sessions. On the front cover of the handful of these that I have, there's a note in the top right corner that says: "These historic performance have been specially engineered to be playable on both monaural and stereo equipment." Here's my question: What does that mean? I first thought it might mean "simulated stereo" -- but that doesn't make complete sense, because during the same era, Blue Note was issuing 1500 series LPs that were, according to text on the covers: "Electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo." The different wording "specially engineered to be playable etc." suggests a different process. Those simulated stereo 1500 series reissues sound crappy. These 6500 series records do sound better to the extent that they don't really sound like simulated stereo -- but they don't sound like pure mono to my ears either. Any insight as to what's going on here?.

Interesting — thanks. Leads credence to theory that Thad was probably with Connell in Indianapolis.

I restarted my website blog with a document and post folks here will find interesting. https://jazzfromdetroit.com/blog/thad-jones-selective-service

Regarding the Blakey session, I haven't seen any material in which someone is claiming falsely that this material was recently discovered.

I believe that Michael remains a friend of the Blue Note family -- certainly he knows more about the company and the vaults than anyone -- but he has no official role, and this or any other release would not need his approval. Anything in the vaults that was previously "rejected" in any era -- by Lion, Lundvall, Cuscuna, or the musicians themselves etc. can be issued if the current powers (Don Was and his team) decide it makes financial or aesthetic sense to do so. The new Blakey is Zev Feldman's first production for BN under his formalized agreement with the company that was announced in the last year. I'm guessing that some of the other sessions long buried for whatever reason will probably get put out. Whether this is a "good" or "bad" thing, depends on your point of view, but of the remaining titles I've heard, there's nothing that is essential. Some things are interesting, often more for the flaws than for what works. (Caveat: I have not heard the Wayne Shorter date -- that's the one thing that I'm seriously curious about hearing.) I will say that the often hysterical marketing hype over these unreleased recordings is not healthy for the art form in 2020. Not every unreleased recording, even by true masters, is a lost masterpiece. Often they aren't even very good, and in many cases the artists themselves -- who left the studio thinking "Thank God Nobody Will Ever Hear THAT" -- would be horrified if they knew that certain stuff was being released. As a collector and a record junkie, I of course want to hear everything, but that doesn't mean I have a right to hear it and it certainly doesn't mean it should be for sale. It's hard enough for contemporary musicians to compete for marketplace attention in a world where every truly great recording by every great musician is a click away -- but now today's musicians also have to compete with the mediocre stuff by great musicians that was previously rejected from the marketplace for good reason. That's not to say that there aren't truly important, interesting, and valuable discoveries that are being made. But perspective ...

As I recall, Cuscuna rejected it previously, and I agree with him. I've heard it and I don't think it's that good -- definitely below average for a Blakey Blue Note, lacking the band's typical fire, energy, and cohesion. Other than Lee on some tracks, the soloists don't show their best selves. Everybody sounds sluggish, like they were out too late the night before. I can understand why it was shelved at the time in favor of the far-superior Jazz Corner of the World dates with much of the same material. Yes, folks here on the board will want to hear it at least once because of the cats and the era, but don't get sucked in by the hype.

Peter -- I dug up a Detroit Free Press clipping from mid November 1965 that has listing of a Wayne Shorter-Roy Haynes Quartet playing at the Drome Lounge. The rest of the personnel isn't listed, though several months earlier, a quartet consisting of Wayne, Roy, Albert Dailey, and Larry Ridley played at the Left Bank Jazz Society in Baltimore. (Of course, Roy did have a quartet in that era with Strozier, Ridley, and (at least on various recordings) Ronnie Matthews or Sam Dockery.)

I haven't heard it in a long time but I remember quite liking this 1963 Erato recording by violinist Huguette Fernandez, clarinetist Guy Deplus, cellist Jacques Neilz, and pianist Marie-Madeleine Petit. I have an American LP. https://www.discogs.com/Olivier-Messiaen-Quatuor-Pour-La-Fin-Du-Temps/release/5261493. The label is confusing to me but it says Music Guild/ABC Records. In any case, it was apparently made under the supervision of Messiaen -- no guarantee of quality, of course, but worth noting. I assume (but can't guarantee) this is the same recording on CD. https://www.discogs.com/Messiaen-Quatuor-Pour-La-Fin-Du-Temps-Cinq-Rechants/release/4018842 Related. A young Leila Josefowicz recorded the finale with John Novacek on a recital disc in the late '90s -- it's pretty great, but to my knowledge she's never been a part of a recording of the entire piece. However, a few years ago I saw a tremendous performance in metro Detroit of the full work under the umbrella of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival that included Josefowicz, Novacek, clarinetist David Shifrin, and cellist Paul Watkins (the artistic director of the festival). I've seen maybe seven live performances of the piece over the years and this was the most gripping by far.