Another gem from the 78 era, this time it's Glenn Miller and his orchestra on the September 11, 1939 session issued in the UK under HMV 5822. Side A is Benny Carter's and Edward Heyman's Melancholy Lullaby, side B is Dana Suesse's beautiful Blue Moonlight. Both tracks feature Ray Eberle on vocals. Once one gets used to the sound of these, he realizes how much more natural they sound compared to CD remasterings that sound artificial. I even included the original raw file for the brave to experiment, enjoy.
This is the legendary November 30, 1949 session, meticulously transferred to digital from my original Mercury 78rpm 3-record album. The Verve remastered CD always sounded too artificial to my ears, so there you go, enjoy a slice of recorded music history.
319-5 Just Friends - Mercury 11036
320-3 Everything Happens To Me - Mercury 11036
321-3 April In Paris - Mercury 11037
322-2 Summertime - Mercury 11038
323-2 I Didn't Know What Time It Was - Mercury 11038
324-3 If I Should Lose You - Mercury 11037
Charlie Parker Quartet With Jimmy Carroll Orchestra
Mitch Miller (ob, ehr) Charlie Parker (as) Bronislaw Gimpel, Max Hollander, Milton Lomask (vln) Frank Brieff (vla) Frank Miller (vlc) Meyer Rosen (harp) Stan Freeman (p) Ray Brown (b) Buddy Rich (d) Jimmy Carroll (arr, cond)
Ray Bryant's cover of Miriam Makeba's 1957 signature hit Pata Pata, released in the US in 1967. On this same year Cadet released the Take a Bryant Step LP consisting of covers and Bryant originals, a joyful affair, mostly targeted for airplay. Ray is backed by the Richard Evans Orchestra. This LP has never made it to CD to my knowledge.
Track listing
A1 To Sir With Love 3:05
A2 Ramblin 3:10
A3 Natural Woman 2:35
A4 Ode To Billy Joe 3:13
A5 Up-Up And Away 3:18
A6 Paint It Black 3:17
B1 Pata Pata 3:07
B2 Poochie 3:07
B3 Yesterday 2:40
B4 Paper Cup 2:55
B5 Doing My Thing 2:40
B6 Dinner On The Grounds 3:27
personnel
Arranged By – Ray Bryant (tracks: A1 to A4, A6, A3), Richard Evans (2) (tracks: A5, B1, B2, B4 to B6)
Engineer – Doug Brand
Orchestra – Richard Evans Orchestra
Piano – Ray Bryant
Recorded August & November, 1967, at Ter Mar Studios, Chicago
A small tribute to this piano jazz legend who left us on June 3. Ray Bryant has had an unflinching love affair with the blues idiom throughout his career as this video of the composer of "Little Suzie" and "Cubano Chant" asserts. Taped at Montreux, Switzerland in 1977.
This is Ray's famous composition "Little Suzie" in a small edit by yours truly. Groovy as hell, propelled by one of the best left hands in the jazz piano business, enjoy.
This blog laments the loss of jazz piano giant Ray Bryant on June 3. This is Ray Bryant's blues opus from 1978. Magnificent playing from a Ray at the peak of his powers on compositions by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Percy Mayfield. Bryant includes a new version of his 1950s classic “Blues Changes” which created a subtle new shade of the blues - now a standard feature of the jazz canon. With Sam Jones on bass and Grady Tate on drums. RIP Ray.
Stan Getz celebrated his 60th birthday -- as he had his 50th -- with a gig at the renown Cafe Montmartre Jazzhus in Copenhagen on July 6, 1987. Backed by a stellar rhythm session consisting of Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass and Victor Lewis on drums the delivery is nothing short of exemplary as one would expect. Sadly, Getz had only four more years to go before losing a long battle with cancer. This enhances the status of these magnificent sessions from essential to mandatory listening for any serious jazz aficionado.
Tracklisting:
Anniversary
1. El Cahon
2. I Can’t Get Started
3. Stella By Starlight
4. Stan’s Blues
5. I Thought About You
6. What Is This Thing Called Love
7. Blood Count
Serenity
1. On Green Dolphin Street
2. Voyage
3. Falling In Love
4. I Remember You
5. I Love You
Personnel:
Stan Getz, ts
Kenny Barron, p
Rufus Reid, b
Victor Lewis, d
Recorded live at the Cafe Montmartre, Copenhagen, Denmark on July 6, 1987
It has been well established by jazz pundits that Smokin' at the Half Note is one of the seminal recordings of live jazz guitar. Recorded on June 24, 1965 at the now defunct Half Note in NYC, it paired the legendary guitarist with Miles Davis' 50s rhythm section, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Their playing is the stuff of legend. What is definitely not stuff of legend though is Verve's marketing policy. Of the original LP album only two of the original five tracks were recorded at the Half Note ("No Blues" and "If You Could See Me Now"). At the behest of producer Creed Taylor, the other three were re-recorded on September 22, 1965 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey. To further complicate matters, the remaining Half note numbers were included in the LP Willow Weep for Me, a posthumous 1969 album laced with Claus Ogerman's string and brass arrangements (shock, horror!) added in the studio. For comic relief, Willow won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group. No doubt Wes was smiling in the sky. Our mission here is to demystify dubious artistic/marketing decisions made by clueless record producers and this 1998 version issued for the Japanese market puts things in order as it contains all nine numbers recorded during that historical night at the Half Note. I even went the extra step of adding Rodgers' and Hammersteins' version of The Surrey with the Fringe on Top contained in Wes' the The Verve Jazz Sides double CD as all previous issues of this track were heavily edited (a mid-solo fade-out in our case). This version restores as much of the original performance as possible, as heavy editing of the tape has rendered full recreation of the original an impossibility.
Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill's (1921 - 2001) swan song Carambola was nominated for the 2001 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album and deservedly so. This is what Down Beat (11/00, p.73) had to say : "...The third, and best, installment in a much deserved late career rediscovery. There is clarity, a sense of strength and a coherence in this album that is rare even for a master. It plays like a wise and joyous summation of a career, 5 stars out of 5..."
Tracklisting:
1. Carambola 00:05:18
2. The Aztec Suite 00:15:09
3. Delirio 00:04:24
4. Havana Blues 00:05:28
5. Vanna's Song 00:03:22
6. Crazy City (… But I Love It) 00:03:55
7. Waller Exercise 00:01:47
8. Rhapsody For Two Islands 00:03:35
9. Oye Mi Rumba 00:02:19
10. Enamorado (Falling In Love) 00:04:46
11. Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite 00:15:54
Personnel: Graciela Peréz Grillo (vocals); Lewis Kahn (violin); Mario Rivera (flute, alto saxophone); Jimmy Cozier, Peter Brainin, Marshall McDonald (saxophone); Mike Migliore (tenor saxophone); Matt Hilgenberg, Jon Owens, Kenny Rampton, Michael Mossman, Jim Seeley (trumpet); Vincent Chancey, Chris Komer (French horn); Gary Valente, Papo Vazquez, Sam Burtis, Jack Jeffers (trombone); Arturo O'Farrill (piano); Steve Berrios (drums, congas, bata, claves, maracas, shekere, timbales, percussion); Victor Jones (drums); Joe Gonzalez (bongos, bells).
Recorded at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, New York in July 2000.
There are many, many people who are totally ignorant of the fact that the late Dudley Moore, who as well as being a great actor, was also an extremely talented jazz composer and pianist. Dudley's approach to music, especially jazz was seriously important to him. He liked his music to have a swinging and happy feel. He was strongly influenced by the playing of Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson, who he idolized, and this album, at times is similar to the conceptual styles of these great artists. Dudley Moore's compositions have a lovely romantic and beautiful feel to them. This 1969 self-titled album consists of all-Dudley Moore compositions and was the first album by the Trio that did not feature any cover versions. It is a lovely album and deserves to be heard by a bigger audience. There was an outstanding album "Jazz Jubilee" released in 2004 which featured concerts by The Dudley Moore Trio recorded in Australia and England during the seventies. The revenue from this record's sale was, at the time, going to charities supported by Dudley Moore. I don't know if the album is still available, but if you see it, check that the charity rules still apply, and if so, think about buying the album.
Tracklisting
1 Fanfare
2 120 Plus Optional Magic Exploding Cadence
3 Chimes
4 Love Song from an Imaginary Musical
5 Bags of Chris
6 Pop and Circumstance
7 Romantic Notion
8 Folk Song
9 Amalgam
10 Nursery Tune
11 Hymn
All compositions by Dudley Moore
ABOUT THE TRIO
Dudley Moore - Piano, born on 19 April, 1935, Dagenham, England. Died on 27 March, 2002. A hugely talented comedian, actor, composer and jazz pianist.
Jeff Clyne - Bass, born 29 January 1937, in London is a British jazz bassist (playing both bass guitar and double bass). Some of the great artists he has played with include Isotope, Nucleus, Julie Driscoll, Kevin Ayers, Georgie Fame, John McLaughlin, and Zoot Sims.
Chris Karan - Drums, born October 14, 1939, is a jazz percussionist, primarily a drummer, of Greek descent from Melbourne. He played in Mike Nock's trio. He also worked with Roy Budd and Katie Melua, along with putting out CDs of his own. Other than drums he has an interest in various percussion styles of the world and plays the tabla on some albums.
Everything about this incredible Dizzy Gillespie LP screams "masterpiece". From the classic Manteca Suite (1-4), written by Cuban genius Chico O’Farrill, to the dionysian Caravan, to the incredible list of band members, a virtual who's who of Afro-Cuban jazz luminaries, right down to the stupendous cover art by David Stone Martin. If you enjoy your jazz latin-tinged, this is the one to go for.
Track List:
1. Manteca Theme
2. Contraste
3. Jungla
4. Rhumba Finale
5. A Night in Tunisisa
6. Con Alma
7. Caravan
Personnel
# Quincy Jones Trumpet | (1-4)
# Jimmy Nottingham Trumpet | (1-4)
# Ernie Royal Trumpet | (1-4)
# Leon Comegys Trombone | (1-4)
# J. J. Johnson Trombone | (1-4)
# George Matthews Trombone | (1-4)
# George Dorsey Alto Saxophone | (1-4)
# Hilton Jefferson Alto Saxophone | (1-4)
# Hank Mobley Tenor Saxophone | (1-4)
# Lucky Thompson Tenor Saxophone | (1-4)
# Danny Bank Baritone Saxophone | (1-4)
# Ray Concepcion Piano | (1-4)
# Wade Legge Piano | (1-4)
# Lou Hackney Bass | (1-4)
# Robert Rodriguez Bass |
# Jose Manguel |
# Candido Camero Congas |
# Mongo Santamaria Congas | (1-4)
# Ubaldo Nieto Timbales |
# Charlie Persip Drums | (1-4)
# Rafael Miranda Percussion | (5-7)
# Alejandro Hernandez Piano | (5-7)
# Gilberto Valdez Flute | (5, 7)
# Chico O'Farrill Arranger, Conductor | (1-4)
The attitude of the gallant Six Hundred which so aroused Lord Tennyson's admiration arose from the fact that the least disposition to ask the reason why was discouraged by tricing the would-be inquirer to the triangle and flogging him into insensibility.
F.J. Veale,
Advance to Barbarism
(Mitre Press, 1968).
Music posted here is for information purposes only. I don't subscribe to the notion that record companies are ripped off by the proliferation of blogs like this one. It is my firm belief that quite the contrary happens i.e. by bringing awareness to hitherto virtually unknown artists to the general public the music benefits greatly and a new level of interest is created.
Listeners are therefore kindly requested to buy the original music and support artists if they fancy what they hear - remember: if you like it, buy it!
