BFT #55 Answers

[Stereojack]

For my first BFT, I decided to include some of my all time favorite tracks among the selections. I expected that several of them would be guessed right away, although I was hoping there will be a few stumpers! Some of these are dubbed from LP, others are from CD’s. The tracks were selected totally at random, and it's just a coincidence that George Duvivier and Charlie Persip each appear on three tracks!

1. Coleman Hawkins – “Cloudy” (composer unknown) (from “The Hawk Swings”, Crown) Rec. 1960 Thad Jones (tp), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Eddie Costa (p), George Duvivier (b), Osie Johnson (d) (vinyl)

This was one of the first Hawkins albums I ever heard - picked it up for short money back when I was in high school in the early 1960’s. Hawkins just smokes on this session, which yielded two fine LP’s. Hawk was recording prolifically at the time, and I’ve always felt that this session is overlooked, perhaps due to the “budget” nature of the Crown label. The original pressings were poor, and I replaced my noisy originals with nice Japanese LP’s some years ago. Unfortunately, the Japanese reissues and subsequent Fresh Sound CD’s reprogrammed the tracks. This track led off the original album.

2. Pony Poindexter – “Cattin’ Latin” (Poindexter) (from “Pony’s Express”, Epic)

Rec. May 10, 1962 Pony Poindexter (ss), Phil Woods, Gene Quill (as), Dexter Gordon, Billy Mitchell (ts), Pepper Adams (bars), Gildo Mahones (p), Bill Yancey (b), Charlie Persip (d) (vinyl)

Pony leads an all-saxophone band (with several lineups) on this rare classic. It has been pointed out that Koch has reissued this, but I dubbed it from my original LP.

3. Jesse Belvin – “It’s All Right With Me” (Cole Porter) (from “Mr. Easy”, RCA Victor)

Rec. December 8, 1959 Jesse Belvin (vo), Conte Candoli, Jack Sheldon, Al Porcino, Ray Triscari, Stu Williamson (tp), Frank Rosolino, Harry Betts, Vern Friley, Marshall Cram (tb), Red Callendar (tu), Art Pepper (as), Russ Freeman (p), Larry Bunker (vbs/perc), Joe Mondragon (b), Mel Lewis (d), Marty Paich (arr/cond) (vinyl)

Jesse Belvin was widely known as an R&B singer, but was looking toward the mainstream when he cut this LP. Unfortunately, he was killed in an auto crash just two months after recording this session, and the LP was issued posthumously. The arrangements by Marty Paich are sublime, Art Pepper plays wonderfully, and Mel Lewis’ drumming is really uplifting.

4. John Handy – “Soulesson” (Handy) (From “Excursion In Blue”, Quartet)

Rec. 1988 John Handy (as), Jim McNeely (p), Rufus Reid (b), Billy Hart (d) (CD)

Have loved John Handy since first hearing him with Charles Mingus on the classic “Wonderland” LP when I was a college freshman back in 1963. This comes from a fine album from the late 80’s that came and went pretty quickly.

5. Budd Johnson – “Falling In Love With Love” (Rodgers-Hart) (From “Let’s Swing”, Prestige Swingville) Rec. December 2, 1960 Keg Johnson (tb), Budd Johnson (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), George Duvivier (b), Charlie Persip (d) (CD)

Budd Johnson was a timeless player, and he’s in fine form on this session. Reissued on OJC.

6. Plas Johnson & Red Holloway – “Go Red Go” (Arnett Cobb) (From “Keep That Groove Going”, Milestone) Rec. April 25-27, 2001 Plas Johnson, Red Holloway (ts), Gene Ludwig (org), Melvin Sparks (g), Kenny Washington (d) (CD)

Plas Johnson has been heard on hundreds of pop, rock & roll, R&B, and soundtrack sides since the late 1950’s. Here he goes head to head with another strong tenor veteran, Red Holloway.

7. Freddie Redd – “Thespian” (Redd) (From “Lonely City”, Uptown)

Rec. January 18-19, 1985 Don Sickler (tp), Clarence “C” Sharpe (as), Clifford Jordan (ts), Gerry Cappuccio (bars), Freddie Redd (p), George Duvivier (b), Ben Riley (d) (CD)

Freddie Redd originally cut this tune for Blue Note on “Shades of Redd”. I like the arrangement here. A rare opportunity to hear the legendary alto player Clarence “C” Sharpe.

8. Sonny Clark – “Voodoo” (Clark) (From “Leapin’ and Lopin’”, Blue Note)

Rec. November 13, 1961 Tommy Turrentine (tp), Charlie Rouse (ts), Sonny Clark (p), Butch Warren (b), Billy Higgins (d) (CD)

One of my favorite Sonny Clark tunes. A nice lope to it, so to speak.

9. Jon Eardley – “If You Could See Me Now” (Dameron-Sigman) (From “From Hollywood To New York”, Prestige/OJC) Rec. March 14, 1955 Jon Eardley (tp), J. R. Monterose (ts), George Syran (p), Teddy Kotick (b), Nick Stabulas (d) (CD)

I had this on an old Prestige 10” LP for many years. Eventually OJC coupled it with another rare 10” for this reissue. Eardley is a fine, straightforward lyrical player, and it’s hard to go wrong with a Tadd Dameron tune.

10. Clare Fischer – “Miles Behind” (Fischer) (From “Thesaurus”, Atlantic)

Rec. August 26/27, 1968 Larry McGuire, Buddy Childers, Conte Candoli, Steve Huffstetter, Stewart Fischer (tp), Gil Falco, Charley Loper, David Sanchez, Morris Repass (tb), Gary Foster, Kim Richmond (as), Warne Marsh, Louis Ciotti (ts), Bill Perkins (bars), Clare Fischer (piano), Chuck Domanico (b), Larry Bunker (d) (CD)

Warne Marsh and Conte Candoli are the soloists on this track from a memorable big band album. CD reissue is on Koch.

Edited March 14, 2008 by Stereojack

[Stereojack]

11. James Moody – “Tenor Blues” (composer unknown) live audience recording

Rec. October 14, 1979 James Moody (ts), Walter Davis (p), Earl May (b), Alan Dawson (d) (CDR, originally from cassette)

This is from a live recording I made from the audience at Lulu White’s in Boston. Moody always comes to play, although he has rarely been captured fully on his commercially released albums. I gave the tune this mundane title when digitizing the cassette – he mostly performed standards that night, but this sounds like an off-the-cuff “composition”.

12. Matty Matlock – “Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider” (Leonard-Munson) (From “Dixieland USA”, Pickwick) Rec. 1957 Dick Cathcart (tp), Abe Lincoln (tb), Matty Matlock (cl), Eddie Miller (ts), Stan Wrightsman (p), Al Hendrickson (g), Phil Stephens (b), Nick Fatool (d) (CD)

Originally issued on the budget Tops label, this fine session features Dick Cathcart, a superb musician who was buried in the Lawrence Welk band for most of his career, and Abe Lincoln, one of the great trombone virtuosi. Have always dug this old tune, as well.

13. Dakota Staton – “Play Your Hand, Girls” (Staton) (From “Dakota at Storyville”, Capitol) Rec. April 29, 1961 Dakota Staton (vo), Yusef Lateef (ts), Norman Simmons (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Charlie Persip (d) (vinyl)

Uncredited on the LP, brother Yusef Lateef has a booting tenor solo on this track from this classic live album. Dakota can sing a ballad convincingly, and she can shout the blues.

14. Frank Strozier – “Day In, Day Out” (Bloom-Mercer) (From “Cloudy and Cool”, Vee Jay) Rec. October 13, 1960 Frank Strozier (as), Billy Wallace (p), Bill Lee (b), Vernell Fournier (d) (CD)

This is from a session recorded for Vee Jay, but not released at the time. I first had this on a Japanese LP that came out in the late 1970’s, and it finally came out on CD in the US in the 90’s, with a bunch of alternate takes. This is one of the alternates.

15. Kirk Lightsey & Harold Danko – “El Gaucho” (Shorter) (From “Shorter By Two”, Sunnyside) Rec. July 19/21, 1983 Kirk Lightsey, Harold Danko (p) (CD)

This is from a delightful album of Wayne Shorter tunes by Lightsey and Danko. Wayne’s tunes are really special, and I enjoy the treatment they get from these pianists.

Kudos to all the responders – some sharp ears out there! All but two of the tracks were identified.

[sidewinder]

9. Jon Eardley – “If You Could See Me Now” (Dameron-Sigman) (From “From Hollywood To New York”, Prestige/OJC) Rec. March 14, 1955 Jon Eardley (tp), J. R. Monterose (ts), George Syran (p), Teddy Kotick (b), Nick Stabulas (d) (CD)

I had this on an old Prestige 10” LP for many years. Eventually OJC coupled it with another rare 10” for this reissue. Eardley is a fine, straightforward lyrical player, and it’s hard to go wrong with a Tadd Dameron tune.

Damn - that very OJC LP has been staring out at me from one of the racks all this time. No wonder it was so familiar !

It's going back on the deck this weekend.

:rsmile:

Edited March 15, 2008 by sidewinder

[Bright Moments]

great bft - thanks jack!!!!

[tkeith]

Agreed -- thanks for including me on short notice. I'm liking these BFTs.

[Nate Dorward]

Thanks for the music!

[JSngry]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

[tkeith]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

I thought the same thing. I love Handy, but that cut didn't have it for me. I was surprised to get as many of the sideman right as I did. I have to reiterate, I love these things!

[sidewinder]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

Have never even seen or heard of that recording. Talk about obscure !

[JSngry]

One of the many perks of the O-Board Community, the BFTs are.

[Stereojack]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

Have never even seen or heard of that recording. Talk about obscure !

This is one of the things I enjoy about the BFT's. I'm sure that Handy is held in pretty high regard around these parts, yet opinions were all over the map about this track. Not knowing the identity of the artist eliminates preconceptions.

[Spontooneous]

Now I see that all but five of the tunes were lurking somewhere in my collection. You'd think I would have ID'd more.

I'll be looking for that Dakota LP.

Heck, I'll be looking for the Matty Matlock too. That was cool.

[king ubu]

crap, I have the Pony, Redd, Eardley and Strozier... the Pony and Eardley though are among the ones I should actually explore more (or rather: play a second time...)

thanks a lot for this great compilation!

[tkeith]

Yeah, I should have nailed Strozier. I gave the test to my father and he considerably better than I did, starting with Frank.

[Big Al]

Nothing really to add other than that this was a very enjoyable BFT! I'll be looking for the Eardley & Fischer CD/LPs.

[kh1958]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

Have never even seen or heard of that recording. Talk about obscure !

If you were a fan of Handy's work with Mingus and his 60s Columbia recordings buying LPs in the 1980s, you would have picked this LP up (as I did) as a return to straight ahead jazz, after his dismal commercial recordings (Hard Work, Carnival...).

[Stereojack]

John Handy, eh? Wow...

Have never even seen or heard of that recording. Talk about obscure !

If you were a fan of Handy's work with Mingus and his 60s Columbia recordings buying LPs in the 1980s, you would have picked this LP up (as I did) as a return to straight ahead jazz, after his dismal commercial recordings (Hard Work, Carnival...).

Yes, it is a fine album. In defense of those who missed it, I don't think it was around for very long. I believe the label, Quartet Music, went belly-up within a year or two, after only a handful of releases.

[mikeweil]

Was there no CD of this Dakota Staton LP? I'd buy this in a minute. Same for the Belvin - always wondered what he sounded like.

I own that Eardley, but have not played it in quite a while - he sounds like a player from an older generation on that track. Hmmm .....

Have the Hawk with Thad Jones, bought it last year but played it only twice so far. Nice album.

Red Holloway came to my mind, as did the Budd Johnson/Keg Johnson date, but ..... thanks for a beautiful BFT.

[Stereojack]

Was there no CD of this Dakota Staton LP? I'd buy this in a minute. Same for the Belvin - always wondered what he sounded like.

Both of these were dubbed from vinyl, but both are out on CD. The Staton is on Collectables, and the Belvin is on Fresh Sounds. The cover of the Belvin I used is actually from the CD, the image taken from the web. The LP does not mention Art Pepper on the front.

[mikeweil]

Thanks!

p.s. ordered the Staton - the Belvin is being reprinted.

Edited March 25, 2008 by mikeweil

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks!

p.s. ordered the Staton - the Belvin is being reprinted.

Most of Dakota's Capitols are available on Collectables. And most are very good. Actually, most Dakota Statons on any label are good. But my fave is "Madame Foo Foo" with Groove Holmes (well, of course...)

MG