Friday, February 1, 2008

Cannonball Adderley Sextet - London 1964 - Part I

Rare footage of The Cannonball Adderley Sextet appearing in London on May 12, 1964 at the BBC Television Theatre for legendary TV show JAZZ 625.

Lineup is Cannonball Adderley with his brother Nat on trumpet, Charles Lloyd on tenor, Joe Zawinul on piano, Sam Jones on drums and Louis Hayes on drums.

The program consists of 1)Work Song 2) Song My lady Sings 3) Poor Butterfly 4) Jive Samba 5) Unit Seven. Host is Steve Race, a cult BBC figure, enjoy his stiff upper lip and pure British phlegm.

Viewers are advised to fasten their seat belts as this swings hard.
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Monday, January 21, 2008

Stan Kenton 1962

Many things can be said about Stan Kenton (1911 - 1979) and his boisterous style, one thing that cannot be said though is that this man was boring. Starting his first band in 1941 featuring such soloists as Art Pepper, Stan Getz, altoist Boots Mussulli, singers Anita O'Day and June Christie, in 1950 he put together his most advanced band, the 39-piece Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra that included 16 strings, a woodwind section, and two French horns. Its music ranged from the unique and very dense modern classical charts of Bob Graettinger to works that somehow swung despite the weight. Such major players as Maynard Ferguson (whose high-note acrobatics set new standards), Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, John Graas, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Laurindo Almeida, Shelly Manne, and June Christy were part of this remarkable project, a literal jazz boot camp for players and arrangers alike.

This set from 1962 is the mellophonium incarnation of this great orchestra, featuring a four mellophoniums section (the cumbersome brass instrument with the huge bell), giving as such standards as "Limehouse Blues", "All The Things You Are", West Side Story's grand hit "Maria" and latin tinged "Malaguena" in the unique Stan Kenton way.

Regulars of this blog will no doubt recognize that this is yet another set of the landmark Jazz Scene USA TV series of the early '60s with hipster Oscar Brown Jr as host. Interviews and commentary have been left intact while editing this to preserve that time capsule feeling and to lament the state of TV today as opposed to these historic times, enjoy.









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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Oscar Peterson: In Memoriam

Enough cannot be said about Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (15 August 1925 – 23 December 2007). He was called the "Maharajah of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, and was therefore a member of Jazz royalty.

Heavily influenced by Art Tatum in his earlier stage he progressively established his unique, inimitable style. Above all, Oscar Peterson delivered . Having released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honors over the course of his career, he is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years.

Here's a short glimpse at this man's genius performing in the Berlin Philarmonie on July 2, 1985. Oscar Peterson is accompanied by his long - standing associates, the great late Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen from Denmark on bass and the great British drummer Martin Drew, a long time member of the Ronnie Scott Quintet. First number is Oscar's Salute To Bach.


Next, comes Blues Etude


This is the magnificently delivered jazz standard Falling In Love With Love


This is Cakewalk, one of Peterson's most loved compositions


Another great tune, La Belle Province, a tribute to Québec and Montréal.


Nigerian Marketplace, another great Peterson composition and a glimpse to his African roots.


This is the lavish jazz standard Who Can I Turn To, performed equally lavishly


Likewise for Yours Is My Heart Alone


A medley, consisting of two venerable jazz standards, Victor Young's My Foolish Heart and Duke Ellington's Perdido


And a jaw - dropping rendition of Duke Ellington's Caravan brings this great set to an end. Rest in peace Oscar, you will never be forgotten.
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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra

First of all, my best wishes for the New Year to all of you out there in the big cyber yonder.

Let's start the new year with a trip down memory lane. What can be said here about Duke Ellington and his great soloists that hasn't been said before? My guess is nothing, so I leave you to enjoy these masterpieces without the benefit of my usually prosaic commentary, besides the Duke does it so elegantly himself. First number is "Take The "A" Train", the Duke's signature piece composed by his alter ego and life-time collaborator, the great Billy Strayhorn.


Next comes "Satin Doll", maybe the Duke's second best-known tune.


This is "Blow By Blow", a blues affair featuring tenor sax great and long standing Ellington sideman Paul Gonsalves.


Another blues number, "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", featuring the great Johnny Hodges on alto sax.


Time for the Duke to feature his amazing rhythm players, Aaron Bell on bass and Sam Woodyard on drums in a trio number, "Kind Of Dukish".


That's all for now, enjoy!
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Jazztet 1997

The Jazztet was the brainchild of tenor saxophonist Benny Golson (b. 1929) and trumpet player Art Farmer (1928-1999). This stellar hard bop sextet lasted for 3 years (1959-62) being as influential as Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at the time. The year is now 1997 and its founding members reunited for a concert in Salzau, Gernamy in the company of such giants as Milt Jackson on vibes, Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen on bass, Kenny Kirkland on piano, the ever - present Ulf Wakenius on guitar and Jonas Johansen on drums of which the first three are sadly no longer with us. First number is a classic Milt "Bags" Jackson hard bop blues, Blues For Diahann.


Next number, Thinking Of You, a beautiful ballad originally included in the 1958 Milt Jackson masterpiece Bag's Opus with Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Connie Kay, Paul Chambers and Tommy Flanagan. Here Bags and Art Farmer really shine in his patented flumpet, a trumpet - flugelhorn hybrid.


This is Benny Golson's masterpiece (and one of my personal favorites) Whisper Not, originally recorded when Benny was a member and main composer of the Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.


This is I Remember Clifford, another Benny Golson masterpiece dedicated to the great late trumpet player Clifford Brown, originally recorded when Benny was a member and main composer of the Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, which Bags and Benny Golson make, well ...their own.


It's time for Benny Golson to summon to the bandstand the great late pianist Kenny Kirkland to contribute with his magnificent talent to the classic Milt Jackson hard bop blues SKJ written for the lucky Mrs Jackson.


This is Afternoon In Paris, a cool jazz composition by John Lewis who was the piano player and co-leader with Milt Jackson of the Modern Jazz Quartet, the famous jazz outfit that flirted with classical forms.


This is Bag's Groove, Milt Jackson's archetypal hard bop blues and perhaps his signature composition with surprise guests master harmonica player Toots Thielemans and drums genius Max Roach.
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

West Coast All Stars - Stuttgart 2001

Conte Candoli, Carl Fontana, Teddy Edwards, Pete Jolly, Chuck Berghofer, Joe LaBarbera. Do these names ring any bells? If not, look elsewhere as these West Coast giants gathered for a magnificent concert at JazzOpen Stuttgart in 2001 to show the world what separates the men from the boys.

Sadly, not one of the elder members of this great outfit is any longer with us, reason enough to cherish these moments even more. Opening number, Miles' "Four".


Time for THE classic West Coast Mike Stoller - Bernie Miller composition, "Bernie's Tune".


Conte Candoli's beautiful, latin-tinged "Secret Passion".


This is E. Harburg's "If Only I Had A Brain" which aptly describes me and this internet jazz crusade of mine, featuring a show-stopper trombone solo by Carl Fontana showing that he belongs up there with Frank Rosolino and J.J. Johnson.


This is Teddy Edwards' nod to the blues and former Stan Kenton bassist Howard Rumsey,leader of great West Coast outfit The Lighthouse All Stars. The whole band really shines here.


This last number is Roger Ramirez's famous ballad "Lover Man" rendered here in an exemplary manner by Teddy Edwards, one of the greatest tenors ever who was 77 at the time this concert took place.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Joe Turner - Champion Jack Dupree

A rare French TV gem from the Sixties featuring two greats: Joe Turner born in Baltimore, 3 Nov 1907 died in Montreuil, France, 21 July 1990 (not to be confused with his great blues singer namesake "Big" Joe Turner), a dazzling stride pianist who played with all the greats in Harlem during the Twenties, Louis Armstrong amongst them, and the great "Champion" Jack Dupree (1910 - 1992), the embodiment of of the New Orleans blues and boogie woogie pianist, a true barrelhouse "professor" and a great showman to boot as these videos attest. The show is left in its entirety to preserve the period feel and to marvel at the level of mass culture back then compared to now. First number, a James P. Johnson original, "Keeping Out Of The Grass".


This is an original, "Cloud Fifteen" followed by James P. Johnson's "Carolina Shout". Just watch this man's complete mastery of the instrument and its nuances and his incredible time feel -- there are moments when Oscar Peterson, no less, comes to mind.


This is W. C. Handy's classic, "St. Louis Blues" preceded by a small Joe Turner interview in French, as Joe was already a French resident by then.


It's time for the Champ to sit in front of those 88 keys and deliver the goods on his own (and aptly named) "The Woman I Love Takes My Appetite".


Champion's own "Diggin' My Potatoes". Check out the zany effect those rings make hitting those ebonies.


"Chicken Baby", a great Champ blues number showing his Louisiana roots.


The Champ displaying his amazing boogie woogie credentials on the first ever boogie woogie hit, Pinteop Smith's "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie", what else?
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Johnny Griffin - Arthur Taylor Quartet , Paris 1971

Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin (b. 1928), affectionately called "the little giant" due to his diminutive stature by his fellow musicians, will certainly go down in history for his dazzlingly energetic solos, played lightning-fast with near perfect technique - one of hard-bop movement's shining stars.

He started his career with Lionel Hampton's big band in 1945 and by the time this French video was filmed in 1971 Griffin had been an expatriate living in France since 1963, same year as the great hard-bop drummer Arthur "Art" Taylor (1929-1995), one of the genre's foremost practitioners, who accompanies him here in Charlie Parker's famous blues "Now's The Time" along with two French musicians, Rene Urtreger on piano and Alby Cullaz on bass.



Charlie Parker's famous calypso - tinged "My Little Swede Shoes"


Thelonious Monk's famous blues "Blue Monk"


"Blues For Harvey" a blazing duet and a display of extreme musicianship by both these masters.


*all videos from my personal collection posted on youtube and elsewhere on the web.
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Monday, September 17, 2007

Joe Zawinul - Leverkusener Jazz Festival November 2002

We continue the tribute to this jazz giant: In November 2002, a historic concert took place at the "Leverkusener Jazztage" in Germany to celebrate Joe Zawinul's 70th birthday. The musical retrospective of Zawinul's career featured the WDR Big Band along with several awesome soloists, including Zawinul's former bandmates from Weather Report percussionist Alex Acunia, drummer Peter Erskine and bass ace Victor Bailey. The program consisted of arrangements of Weather Report compositions by Vince Mendoza, "Db Waltz" fron "Domino Theory" and "Fast City" from "Night Passage" to be followed by a performance of the Zawinul Syndicate of the time proper. This is "Db Waltz".



This is "Fast City" from Weather Report LP "Night Passage"



It's time for The Zawinul Syndicate proper to take center stage in this magnificent 2002 concert. Joe Zawinul aided by Amit Chatterjee on guitar and vocals, Etienne Mbappe on bass, Paco Sery on drums and Manolo Badrena on percussion, all masters in their respective instruments give us wonderful moments with their all encompassing music. This music is indeed a celebration of life but not describable in some kind of style as Amit Chatterjee said.



Joe Zawinul summons Portuguese singer Maria Joao onstage for an exquisite duet which will make your hair stand on end, "Villa Lobos".



This is "Tower Of Silence", featuring amazing vocals from Joe Zawinul and guitarist Amit Chatterjee.



Goosebumps time. Joe Zawinul with Sabine Kabongo, an amazing Belgian - born singer of Congolese roots and long time member of the Syndicate and Etienne M'bappe on Duke Ellington's masterpiece "Come Sunday".



Time for the full Syndicate lineup of Joe Zawinul, Amit Chatterjee, Sabine Kabongo, Paco Sery, Etienne M'bappe and Manolo Badrena to blow the rooftop with their signature burner "Rooftops Of Vienna" as a conclusion of this wonderful concert.

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

In Memoriam Josef Zawinul (1932 - 2007)

Josef Zawinul, pianist, electric keyboard and jazz fusion pioneer and co-founder of seminal band Weather Report, passed away September 11 in his hometown of Vienna, Austria. He celebrated his 75th birthday in July, and had recently completed a summer tour of Europe with his band the Zawinul Syndicate for their twenty year jubilee, after which he entered a hospital in Vienna for treatment of cancer.

"Joe Zawinul was born on July 7, 1932 in earth time, and on September 11, 2007 in eternal time. He lives on," his son Erich said in a statement yesterday.

For all of us who grew up listening to Joe Zawinul's music this couldn't be more true -- the man and his music will continue to inspire.

In this small tribute we get to see what a great musician and wonderful human being Joe Zawinul was -- an amazing life for an amazing man. May he rest in peace.








Career highlights from an Austrian TV special, including a brilliant duet with fellow Viennese pianist extraordinaire Friedrich Gulda and, of course, his mega hit Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.

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