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AOTW, Nov 14-20


Nate Dorward

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It's EKE BBB's turn at the moment but I thought I'd start this thread in case people wanted extra time to dig out this album from their collection (or purchase it). It was a difficult decision between picking this one & Helen Merrill's first Mercury disc with Clifford Brown, but given that this board already seemed to have a lot of Merrill & Brown fans I thought I'd go with this less celebrated gem.

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Probably my favourite purchase this year--found it on vinyl at Around Again, a mere $5, but it's easily available as an OJC reissue on CD. The kicker here, besides Humes herself (in really good voice), is the band: where else can you hear Ben Webster & Art Pepper (just before his enforced retirement in San Quentin) on the same track? All the arrangements are by Marty Paich, using two different lineups: eight of the tracks feature Webster & a West Coast big band; the other tracks feature Webster, a small combo (Previn, Kessel, Vinnegar, Manne) plus a string quartet. Recorded in September 1960. The track listing:

1. If I Could Be With You

2. Don't Worry 'bout Me

3. Mean to Me

4. Every Now and Then

5. I Want a Roof Over My Head

6. St Louis Blues

7. You're Driving Me Crazy

8. My Old Flame

9. Million Dollar Secret

10. Love Me or Leave Me

11. Imagination

12. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

Personnel:

on 1, 4, 8, 11: Humes, v; Ben Webster, ts; Andre Previn, p; Barney Kessel, g; Leroy Vinnegar, b; Shelly Manne, d; James Getzoff & Joseph Stepansky, vn; Alvin Dinkin, vla; Eleanor Slatkin, clo.

on all others: same personnel as above, except omit the strings & add: Al Porcino, Ray Triscari, Stu Williamson, Jack Sheldon, t; Harry Betts, Bob Fitzpatrick, tbn; Art Pepper, as, cl; Teddy Edwards, ts; Bill Hood, bari s.

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It's recorded in Contemporary's Studio, yes, but the engineer is Howard Holzer, who also recorded Art Pepper + 11: Modern Jazz Classics and Shelly Manne's At the Blackhawk.

Judging from the Pepper, he was good! I like the sound of Contemporrary albums much more than that of Rudy Van Gelder's from the same years - much more natural.

I will order this, but probably will not get it in time ... :(

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Yes, most Contemporary discs sound great! I was particularly struck by how nice my vinyl copy of this one sounded. A lot of my Art Pepper is on vinyl too, & again sounds pretty good.

Don't sweat it about getting it in time for next week. But I'm a trifle surprised the disc isn't better-known, given the sterling personnel (Pepper's easily as good here as he is on Mel Torme's Swings Shubert Alley, but really it's Ben Webster who's the standout instrumental voice). & Humes is great--you'd never guess she was almost 50, given how clear & youthful her voice sounds.

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This sounds intriguing, I have just begun exploring Humes through the stuff on the Lester Young Aladdin recordings 2-fer and even moreso her leader sessions in the BLUES, BOOGIE, and BOP: THE MERCURY 1940s RECORDINGS box. Very tasty vocal stuff. If I can get 5 minutes to pick it up sometime soon I will.

BTW, do we get to hear Webster and Pepper SOLO on those tracks or is one or both mainly just doing section work?

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I ordered this, but can pick it up at the shop only next Monday ... :(

Please keep the discussion burning on small fire til then.

I used to play with a local saxophone guy who was proud he did a gig with Humes in the 1960's shortly after he had started playing ... I should send him a copy of this. I think he never bought any of her albums ...

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OK, just spinning this....a few quick notes.

"If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)"--a tune by Henry Creamer & James P Johnson which you don't hear so often. Slow, rocking, softly aching opening with strings & cocktail piano, Humes giving a slight Billie Holiday tinge to the risque lyrics (full of sexual longing), though she has a very pure voice (unlike Holiday's rasp & ambiguity). Then it snaps into mid-up tempo--the mood shifts from wounded/tender to vampy & there's a strutting Ben Webster solo that exactly captures the brazen/pleading mood.

"Don't Worry 'Bout Me", another rarely heard tune, by Rube Bloom & Ted Koehler--a breezy big band chart, with Humes giving a thrilling vibrato to her voice. Paich's charts unmistakable, esp. a polytonal moment behind Humes on the first chorus! Pepper gets the solo here, with that peculiarly heavy bent tone he had just before his enforced retirement at San Quentin--it reminds me more of Ornette or Bird's work on the plastic alto than the metal sax.

"Mean To Me" (Turk/Ahlert). Holiday territory here! Just Previn's piano behind Humes for the verse. Humes balances the emotion between pathos & a certain amount of scorn (note the hint of steel in her voice at "you love to see me crying" for instance), & by the end the mood's transformed, becoming positively exhilirated at the point that the key changes upward & Humes edges up into that thrilling high register that bespeaks her background singing blues, I think.

"Every Now and Then" (Al Sherman: which she names as her favourite ballad in the liner notes): out of tempo verse with just Previn again, & then gradually the rhythm section & then strings come in. As with the other songs you get a sense of tenderness but also strength & pride: somehow a sense of optimism comes through even when the lyrics are full of pathos. Webster has a brief but gorgeous little interlude--just a few bars, plus some slow sotto voce notes squeezed out right at the end.

"I Want a Roof Over My Head", Harvey Brooks. A little gospel! Jack Sheldon & Barney Kessel get the spots here. The sense of spiritual uplift & celebration here feeds back for me into the ballads, explaining something of the spirited, bright feeling to the ballads.

"St Louis Blues", WC Handy of course. A bit disconcerting--this is fast! Humes comments that it "has always been my favorite blues. It was just nice to get a chance to record it in a swinging up tempo." Hey, one of Pepper's great out-of-left-field blues solos! (I've never heard a less than terrific blues solo from Pepper.) Pity that they turn over the next chorus to Sheldon, though he does fine too. You can hear Humes really feeding off this busy, charged arrangement, with all sorts of snaky overlapping answering phrases from the horns.

"You're Driving Me Crazy" (Walter Donaldson). She sings this one like she's amused at herself. Brief feathery solo from Webster, Sheldon gets a little more, & then Humes sings the whole final chorus up there as the band struts like a peacock behind her!

"My Old Flame" (Johnston/Coslow), this one is the first piece on here really to aim for pathos, with the strings more prominent/heavy than on side A & lots of portamento (gentle swoops & falls) in Humes' delivery of the melody. Meat & drink to Webster, who gets a brief interlude just before the end. The arrangement ends in minor, unexpectedly.

"Million Dollar Secret" (Humes). A straight-up blues addressed to the gals, with Kessel in virtual dialogue with Humes. Note the funny Previn run that at one point seems to almost make Humes crack up! A laconic Webster solo, &--right at the end of the track--Art Pepper's clarinet pops up.

"Love Me or Leave Me" (Kahn/Donaldson), midtempo swinger with Kessel again taking an important role. I think the sentiment of the lyrics exactly fits Humes' persona on this album--not immune to love but a little brassy.

"Imagination" (Burke/Van Heusen). The last of the strings tracks. I've never liked the lyrics to this tune much--a bit twee, & the feminine rhymes are too cute--but it's a nice tune, & Webster gets in some brief but lovely obbliggatos.

"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" (Stept/Clare). An uplifting end to the album! I love the lyrics to this one, & the tune brings a smile to the face. Typically brash Teddy Edwards solo with a carefully placed wrong note., & a little Sheldon. One of Pepper's quizzical little farewells at the end--almost symbolic, given that he was just about to be put in the slammer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mike--good luck getting hold of it! Hope you enjoy it once you locate it. In North America anyway it's pretty easily found in the OJC series.

Yeah, I'm a little surprised at the tepid response, as I'd thought that the presence of Pepper & Webster would bring a few fans out of the woodwork. Ah well. It really is a very handsome disc--just about every reference book I have (e.g. the Penguin Guide, the Rough Guide) singles it out as Humes' best album. It makes me want to hear her other two discs of the time on Contemporary, which I gather are nearly as fine.

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  • 5 months later...

For me, listening to Helen Humes is a sometime thing. I have to be in the right mood to hear her, as I'm sometimes put off by the little girl quality of her voice. Perhaps I'm changing, because this time out I didn't really hear that sound. Her voice, especially on the ballads on this record, has a mature quality that I never caught before - and I've owned this LP for about 25 years.

Nate has covered the individual tracks pretty well, so I'll just add a few thoughts:

A recording like this must have been a fairly expensive proposition for a small company like Contemporary - 14 musicians on most tracks, a string quartet on 4 others, arrangements by Marty Paich. I'm sure that Lester Koenig didn't see it as a big moneymaker, so he must have had a high regard for Helen Humes.

Art Pepper sounds a bit out of sorts. On this listen, he sounded best to me on "Don't Worry 'Bout Me". Listening to this solo, I was aware of his swing roots which seem as strong as his bebop background.

After Helen Humes, Ben Webster is the star of this recording. His solos are short, but all worth listening to again and again.

Leroy Vinnegar's playing is like a heartbeat. You're not really aware of his playing, but if he stopped you'd know it in a second.

Barney Kessel shines on "Million Dollar Secret".

"I Want a Roof Over My Head" sounded corny to me - pseudo country gospel.

Thanks to Nate for choosing this. I enjoyed it more this time out than I ever had before.

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  • 1 month later...

I had ordered this in November and had to learn last week that the brickheads at ZYX (the German distributor) routinely cancel all backorders on January 1 - that's the profane reason I never got it.

The dealer just had to refresh the order - so there's new hope ... :mellow:

Edited by mikeweil
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  • 10 months later...

Finally got my copy of this, but only through the sales at Zweitausendeins - the brickheads at ZYX obviously had it in stock, but were unable to send it out. My advantage, as I got it for a mere € 2.99 now that they sell all of their stock to Zweitausendeins .......

It's a wonderful album! Humes is as charming as can be, the soloists are in a fine mood, Shelly Manne kicks the band like only he could. Never would have thought Marty Paich could capture the spirit of the old Basie Band that well.

I will look for the other two Humes albums on Contemporary as well - all of them are fun to listen to, if not for the music, just for the wonderful natural sound - but the music is always great. I never was disappointed by a Contemporary album.

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Hey, at last! Glad it was worth the wait/frustration, anyway. Yes it's beautifully recorded--I have it on LP & it sounds marvellous.

I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

Edited by Nate Dorward
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I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

:huh:

I've got all the Helen Humes CDs on OJC scheduled to buy early next year. The only one of hers I have is a compilation of her '40s and early '50s material. Really good!

MG

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Hey, at last! Glad it was worth the wait/frustration, anyway. Yes it's beautifully recorded--I have it on LP & it sounds marvellous.

I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

The three Humes' Contemporary cds are some of the finest jazz singing I ever heard. I love them very much, and Humes maybe never expressed her skills better than this -with such musicians!- in my knowledge. I think the overall Contemporary sound is pretty good, the best being maybe in "'Tis Nobody's Business If I Do", with Benny Carter and A.Previn, in my opinion.

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I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

Just looked it up. Koenig's sleeve notes say that he wanted "to experiment with more interesting, alive and natural sounds", so the job was done in the gymnasium-auditorium of the Los Angeles Police Academy.

I must say, the sound of the album has never made any specfic impression on me. The Hawes album I DO think has a funny sound is "High in the sky", which has a cover photo of the trio playing in some lounge overlooking an airport, but was recorded in the Vault studios. You couldn't be thinking of this, could you?

MG

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I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

Just looked it up. Koenig's sleeve notes say that he wanted "to experiment with more interesting, alive and natural sounds", so the job was done in the gymnasium-auditorium of the Los Angeles Police Academy.

I must say, the sound of the album has never made any specfic impression on me. The Hawes album I DO think has a funny sound is "High in the sky", which has a cover photo of the trio playing in some lounge overlooking an airport, but was recorded in the Vault studios. You couldn't be thinking of this, could you?

MG

I'm probably just misremembering something from Ted Gioia's book West Coast Jazz--anyone have a copy handy? I remember it had a few comments on the circumstances of recording.

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I think the only Contemporary disc I've heard that didn't sound so hot (in terms of the recording) was the first Hampton Hawes trio disc--wasn't that recorded in an airplane hangar? (Seriously.)

Just looked it up. Koenig's sleeve notes say that he wanted "to experiment with more interesting, alive and natural sounds", so the job was done in the gymnasium-auditorium of the Los Angeles Police Academy.

I must say, the sound of the album has never made any specfic impression on me. The Hawes album I DO think has a funny sound is "High in the sky", which has a cover photo of the trio playing in some lounge overlooking an airport, but was recorded in the Vault studios. You couldn't be thinking of this, could you?

MG

I'm probably just misremembering something from Ted Gioia's book West Coast Jazz--anyone have a copy handy? I remember it had a few comments on the circumstances of recording.

In view of what you said, I listened to Hamp's first two albums earlier. I suppose there's a difference, but I wouldn't characterise it as very noticeable.

MG

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