Kenny Barron - Jazz in Marciac 2010

Mesmerizing Kenny Barron set filmed in 2010 at the renown Jazz in Marciac Jazz Festival in France. Kenny is surrounded by young lions David Sanchez on tenor sax, Darryl Hall on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums.

Tracklisting:
1. Body and Soul (0-17:50)
2. Well, you Needn't (17:51-34:26)
3. Ellington - Strayhorn medley (34:27-41:39)
4. Theme No 1 (Barron) (41:40-53:28)

Zoot Sims Quartet Live at Donte's, LA, 1970

Tenor sax giant Zoot Sims joined by pianist Roger Kellaway, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Larry Bunker, is seen at the late lamented Donte's in Los Angeles, 1970. The quartet jams on a cooking 'Zoot's Piece' (based on 'Doxy'), a tender 'My Old Flame' and a medium-tempo 'On the Trail.' Sims is in typically brilliant form, Kellaway is particularly creative on a fast blues piece, 'Motoring Along.'

The Sound Of Jazz

The Sound of Jazz, considered by many to be the best jazz TV program ever, was part of CBS Seven Lively Arts series. The program aired December 8, 1957 live from CBS Studio 54, aka the Town Theater, located at 851 9th Avenue in New York City - now demolished. The show was hosted by John Crosby and produced by Irving Townsend, George Avakian and Michael Brooks.

It featured a stellar cast of the top East Coast Jazz musicians of the day, playing styles from dixieland to bebop and twelve-tone. This dazzling array of musicians included Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Jimmy Rushing, Red Allen, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, 'Papa' Jo Jones, Jimmy Giuffre to name but a few.

Performances were mostly improvised, but then again these musicians were no strangers at doing this, what is interesting here is that the direction of this show was improvised as well, with odd camera angles etc.

According to noted jazz critic Nat Hentoff who was present, during the Billie Holiday number, everyone was crying.

So, to put it in a nutshell, great musicians, great performances, great TV days, sadly not with us anymore, because, and make no mistake, that was mainstream TV.

Miles Davis: Isle of Wight 1970 - Repost

Miles Davis passed away 20 years ago today, so some kind of tribute is in order. Here's mine.

Upturn every jazz stone after the 1940s and chances are that you will see the name Miles Davis written underneath more often than not.

He started his meteoric musical career as a young trumpet player beside Charlie Parker, and it has been upwards ever since.

His Birth Of The Cool sessions of 1949 with his nonet first introduced jazz audiences to the notion of cool jazz. His subsequent quintet of the mid fifties featuring John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb et al, showed the world how hard bop should be.

As if these were not enough, his 1958 "Kind Of Blue" album, THE most successful jazz album of all time, gave the world modal jazz.

His second great quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams of the 1960s explored the new territory of post and freebop.

And finally, his 1969 Bitches Brew album, turned the jazz world on its head with its reckless electric experimentalism, and fusion music was born, not to mention that musicians in the caliber of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul and many others won instant recognition. Not bad at all.

The 1970 Isle of Wight festival was by far the largest and most famous of these early festivals indeed it was said at the time to be one of the largest human gatherings in the world surpassing the attendance at Woodstock. The most notable of over fifty performers were The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Ten Years After, Joni Mitchell, Melanie, Donovan, Free, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Leonard Cohen, Jethro Tull and Tiny Tim. The unexpected level of the attendees (tickets holders accounted only for 50.000) was beyond that which the festival organizers and local authorities could supply adequate amenities and guarantee public safety for. Such concerns led in 1971, to Parliament passing the "Isle of Wight Act" preventing gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the island without a special license.

The festival was revived only in 2002.

A piece of music history then, Miles Davis in the company of jazz superstars to-be Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira and Gary Bartz, in a 35 minute free form improvisation which Miles, after being asked the title famously replied "oh, call it anything".

Miles Davis At The Isle Of Wight '70 - Call It Anything 1/2
Uploaded by Delta_Mike

Miles Davis At The Isle Of Wight '70 - Call It Anything 2/2
Uploaded by Delta_Mike

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Special Guests - Leverkusen Jazz Fest Oct. 9 1989

German 1989 TV special celebrating Bu's 70th birthday. Stellar lineup including Terence Blanchard, Freddie Hubbard, Brian Lynch (tp) Curtis Fuller, Frank Lacy (tb) Donald Harrison, Jackie McLean (as) Benny Golson, Javon Jackson, Wayne Shorter (ts) Walter Davis Jr., Geoff Keezer (p) Essiet Okon Essiet, Buster Williams (b) Art Blakey, Roy Haynes (d) Michelle Hendricks (v).

Tracklisting:

Two of a Kind
Moanin'
Along Came Betty
Lester Left Town
Mr. Blakey
Drum Duo
Blues March
Buhaina's Valediction
Interview

Louis Armstrong - Body and Soul (1930) + You Can Depend on Me (1931) [Parlophone UK 78 R1355]

Beginning in about 1929 or 1930, Parlophone started a series of American jazz records on their "Rhythm Style Series". Edgar Jackson was the director of this series, which was issued within the existing R- series (the first issue was R-448). Culled from the American OKeh label, artists like Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, Duke Ellington, Miff Mole, and other major artists who recorded for OKeh. These records were usually "split-coupled" (the top and bottom side of each record was usually by different artists and did not correspond with the original American coupling). The "Second New Rhythm-Style" series replaced the first series in about 1931, and there was a separate series for each year from 1934 through 1941, as well as some miscellany series. These 78's were popular and remained in print for years. Even though these records were never licensed for sale in the U.S., they were heavily imported through jazz shops like Commodore and Liberty in the late 1930s and were sold through the 1940s and into the early 1950s. They are treasured by collectors because they are pressed from the original stampers and usually sound much better than the worn and usually rare U.S. OKeh original records.

Side A

Louis Armstrong And His New Sebastian Cotton Club Orchestra
October 9, 1930, Los Angeles, CA

Body And Soul (Heyman, E.; Sour, R.; Eyeton, F.; Green, J.) [master W.404411-D] -- OKeh 41468

Armstrong, Louis (Trumpet, Vocal)
Hite, Les (Conductor, Saxophone)
Orendorff, George (Trumpet)
Scott, Harold (Trumpet)
Graven, Luther (Trombone)
Johnson, Marvin (Alto Saxophone)
Jones, Charlie (Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet)
Prince, Henry (Piano)
Perkins, Bill (Banjo, Steel Guitar)
Bailey, Joe (Tuba, Bass)
Hampton, Lionel (Vibraphone, Drums)

A completely new lineup for the Orchestra (except for the great Hampton).

Side B

Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra
November 5, 1931, Chicago, IL

You Can Depend On Me (Dunlap; Hines; Carpenter) [master W.405062-2] -- OKeh 41538

Armstrong, Louis (Trumpet, Vocal)
Randolph, Zilner (Trumpet)
Jackson, Preston (Trombone)
Boone, Lester (Clarinet, Alto Saxophone)
James, George (Reeds)
Washington, Albert (Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone)
Alexander, Charlie (Piano)
McKendrick, Mike (Banjo, Guitar)
Lindsay, John (Bass)
Hall, Tubby (Drums)

78rpm shellack transfer from my personal collection, enjoy

Hampton Hawes - The Challenge (1968) LPRip 24bit-96khz

Although it does not say it anywhere on this LP (originally recorded in Japan for RCA), the "challenge" was that this was Hampton Hawes' first set of unaccompanied piano solos. Although based in bop, Hawes was always much more than a one-handed pianist, and he proves up to the challenge. The repertoire includes jazz standards, three originals, and the current pop tune "Who Can I Turn To." Throughout the date, the pianist shows that he could create stirring music without the assistance of a rhythm section. Unfortunately, this music (last put out on a Storyville LP) has yet to be reissued on CD.

Track Listing

A1 Hamp's Blues 3:50
A2 Summertime 2:25
A3 What's New 4:37
A4 It Could Happen To You 3:37
A5 My Romance 4:02
A6 Autumn Leaves 2:47
B1 Just One Of Those Things 3:32
B2 Who Can I Turn To 3:02
B3 Bag's Groove 5:11
B4 Clementine 1:58
B5 Young People's Tune 3:06
B6 Shinjuku 1:55

Recorded at Lino Hall, Tokyo, May 7, 9 12, 1968
Hampton Hawes - solo piano


New, superior-sounding 24bit-96khz rip of this super rare out-of-print LP!

Art Tatum - Piano Starts Here + Live at the Shrine (1933, 1949) [Zenph Re-Performance 2008]

Sony's take of the Art Tatum 1933 and 1949 classic sets using Zenph's zany technology and using the same Los Angeles Shrine auditorium where these historic performances took place. If you want to hear how Art Tatum would be caught on tape using today's technology, that's the one to go for. For comparison's sake I uploaded the real Tatum performances, you might want to check these out.


Track Listing

01 Tea For Two
02 St. Louis Blues
03 Tiger Rag
04 Sophisticated Lady
05 How High The Moon
06 Humoresque
07 Someone To Watch Over Me
08 Yesterdays
09 I Know That You Know
10 Willow Weep For Me
11 Tatum Pole Boogie
12 The Kerry Dance
13 The Man I Love

Recorded live on September 23, 2007 at the Shrine Auditorium, LA, CA

Original performances
Tracks 1-4 recorded March, 1933
Tracks 5-13 recorded live at the Gene Norman 'Just Jazz' concert at Shrine Auditorium in 1949

Art Tatum - solo piano

Art Tatum - Piano Starts Here (1933, 1949)

There are many Art Tatum records available, but this is the one to pull out to amaze friends, particularly with Tatum's wondrous version of "Tiger Rag," during which he sounds like three pianists jamming together. This CD consists of Tatum's first studio session as a leader in 1033 (which resulted in "Tea for Two," "St. Louis Blues," "Tiger Rag," and "Sophisticated Lady") and a remarkable solo concert performance from the spring of 1949. While "Tiger Rag" dwarfs everything else, the live set is highlighted by a very adventurous, yet seemingly effortless exploration of "Yesterdays," a ridiculously rapid "I Know That You Know," and the hard-cooking "Tatum Pole Boogie." This is an essential set of miraculous music that cannot be praised highly enough. ~ Scott Yanow


Track Listing

01 Tea For Two
02 St. Louis Blues
03 Tiger Rag
04 Sophisticated Lady
05 How High The Moon
06 Humoresque
07 Someone To Watch Over Me
08 Yesterdays
09 I Know That You Know
10 Willow Weep For Me
11 Tatum Pole Boogie
12 The Kerry Dance
13 The Man I Love

Solo performer: Art Tatum (piano)

Tracks 1-4 recorded March, 1933
Tracks 5-13 recorded live at the Gene Norman 'Just Jazz' concert at Shrine Auditorium in 1949

Glenn Miller - Tuxedo Junction + Danny Boy [HMV UK 78 BD5595 1940]

The Glenn Miller Orchestra fronted by The Man himself in Tuxedo Junction, one of the coolest tunes ever to come out of the Big Band era and a smash hit (number one for nine weeks on Billboard's Juke Box chart in 1940) and the everlasting ballad Danny Boy aka Londonderry Air. This is the Glenn Miller Orchestra at its very best. 78rpm record transfer from my personal collection.


Track List

Side A. Tuxedo Junction (Feb. 5, 1940)

Side B. Danny Boy aka Londonderry Air (Oct. 6, 1939)

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Technical info:

Dual 1019 turntable
Shure M78S cartridge
Rotel RHQ-970 Michi Phono stage
A to D: M-Audio Audiophile 192 soundcard via Audacity
Cancelling of RIAA equalization, application of 'correct' eq
Click and crackle removal with Click Repair and de-hissing with DeNoise, the aim being of staying as close to the original without subtracting from the signal.

Unprocessed raw file included for the brave to experiment, enjoy