Don't Be Sad; There Are Still Wonders Out There To Be Found

Thinking about Bob Brookmeyer a lot over the past few days and listening to plenty of his music.  I stumbled across this great interview by Marc Myers on his fantastic site Jazz Wax (which I encourage you to explore).

In an earlier post I talk about the trombone (like the baritone sax) being difficult to love, so I enjoyed this exchange from the interview:

Marc Myers: Why didn’t you like the slide trombone?

Bob Brookmeyer: Who likes the slide trombone? Sax players got all the girls because they were seated in the front row. Trumpeters got all the money because they were driving the band from the back row. Trombones sit in the middle and develop an interior life [laughs]. Trombonists didn’t get the money or the girls.

Gerry & Bob laying it down

Bob was unique in jazz as far as I know for playing the valve trombone rather than the more common slide variety.
 
Though it is easy to get discouraged that so many of the greats have passed away, don't forget that there is so much great jazz out there that we haven't heard yet. After all, I wasn't even aware of Bob Brookmeyer before last year. Sure, I had heard him with Gerry Mulligan and Jimmy Guiffre, but I hadn't sat down and asked 'Who is that great trombonist?' and tracked down some more information on him; I hadn't yet heard his wonderful group with Clark Terry.

We'll keep our chins up, my friends, and not get too sombre even in the face of another jazz death. Don't forget, we focus on the positive here on Beginning With Mingus!  How about another great song from Bob? Moonlight in Vermont from Dutch TV with John Scofield on guitar? Wonderful.

Bob Brookmeyer is no more

Clark Terry & the great Bob Brookmeyer

Sadly, Bob Brookmeyer has died.  In his honour, let's listen to three great songs from three of the top trombone players of all time.

First, let's listen to Bob playing with the great trio he was in with Jimmy Giuffre and Jim Hall. I love this track.

Secondly, Bennie Green, who I have been listening to a lot lately, playing 'A Bun Dance'. I am a fan of Jimmy Forrest, who plays some fine tenor on this one.

And lastely, who can forget the wonderful Curtis Fuller, seen here in all his glory with The Jazz Messengers, one of the top jazz bands of all time.

The Best Pianist You've Never Heard Of

The best pianist you've never heard of just may be Herbie Nichols.

play it, Herbie

(If you haven't heard of the great Lennie Tristano I might place him first, making Herbie the second best pianist you've never heard of...) Friends, surely you'll remember those jazz cliches I have spoken about several times and Herbie fits the 'never received the acclaim he deserved during his lifetime' (he also died too young, so fits two cliches).

Let's make sure he gets plenty of posthumous attention shall we?

As I was driving west on Water Street this afternoon I was happily listening to the wonderful 'Rif Primitif' which displays his divine sense of rhythm. Truly a masterful trio. How did the jazz public of the 1950s not realize the genius that was recording at Blue Note? Was it just that he was one of many and got lost in the shuffle? 

Blakey brings the thunder

It took me a long time to come around to appreciating the piano trio in general.

Perhaps I had never heard the best ones and associated it with lounge music and always found myself missing the fire of a horn-player. I liked piano players like Monk and Brubeck but never focused on them in the trio format. Bill Evans changed it for me, and then I discovered that the piano trio offers the jazz lover a wide variety of soundscapes. Bill Evans offers a gentle mood with the bass sharing centre stage (especially in his recordings with Scott LeFaro), the exquisitely talented Ahmad Jamal is a joy to listen to (are you getting tired of me talking about the masterful drumming of Vernel Fournier?) and his exploitation of the dynamic range is astonishing, and then there is Herbie Nichols who is completely different. There is a logic to his playing; effortless and beautiful runs that I know you will appreciate. He seemed to have an affinity with drummers the same way that Bill Evans had with bassists. It doesn't hurt that Art Blakey, one of the two or three greatest jazz drummers all time (and I know some of you are at the moment shocked that I wouldn't immediately place him at #1 but you know that there are so many incredible jazz musicians and how accurately can one rank them?) played with him a freat deal.

Do yourself a favour and have a listen.

The Mysterious Gigi

that must be a hilarious arrangement

I have been thinking a lot about Gigi Gryce lately. One the finest writers, saxophonists and arrangers of the 1950s and '60s, he walked away from jazz to teach public school for reasons that remain mysterious. I love Gigi and could listen to him all day long. There is something extremely intriguing about his playing and I could listen for a week straight (why stop at a single day?) and I'm not sure I'd be any closer to explaining just what it is about his music that pulls me in.

His recordings with Donald Byrd are essential (you can get a good set from iTunes for next to nothing!), but then again, Gigi recorded so little that anything he was involved with is a worthwhile purchase. He also recorded with some of the other finest trumpet players of the era, Art Farmer (another one of my favourites), Lee Morgan (how can you not love Lee?) and Clifford Brown (who died to young, (25), as did Lee Morgan (33) for that matter, but we don't dwell on the negative here, do we? No, let's focus on the music instead of car accidents and murder.)

Not only did he prove that glasses and sweater-vests are extremely cool, (thanks for paving the way, Gigi!) but he left behind a scattering of wonderful music that is just screaming out for someone like Mosaic Records to pull together in some multi-disc retrospective that will help ensure Gigi's lasting legacy.

sweater vests are cool

As a songwriter he wrote a few songs that have become standards including 'Minority' that has been recorded by just about everybody.

Enjoy the music my friends and perhaps you too will become enthralled by Gigi who may or may not have had his house firebombed by gangsters, would have a public school named after him and would change his name to Basheer Qusim. Intrigued? I thought so. Since I miss you so much, I will offer another musical present: Gigi and Monk playing another of his standards, 'Nica's Dream'. I look forward to hearing how much you love it.

It's Easy To Forget Jimmy Giuffre

How many times have we sat around and discussed the greats? Too often to count. Let's face it though, we talk for an awfully long time before anyone mentions Jimmy Giuffre.

Jimmy showed us clarinets can be cool

Surprising isn't it? Perhaps he was always overshadowed by other players, but he was pushing boundaries and expanding the limits of jazz and everyone that followed him benefited from his explorations. I could go on about his history, about how he was part of the whole 'cool jazz' thing and played with Mulligan and was a great arranger and that he is my favourite clarinetist of all time, (who, as you can see from the clip, can also play a fine baritone and tenor and could probably swing on every instrument ever made if he set his mind to it) but instead I'll just direct you to this great song, 'The Train and the River' with his stellar trio featuring the wonderful Jim Hall on guitar. They two were certainly like minded and recorded a lot of wonderful, highly-recommended music together.
Don't you love the recording Giuffre made with the Modern Jazz Quartet at The Music Inn? That's another essential recording isn't it? Oh yes, and the album Sonny Stitt recorded with him is also wonderful. Jimmy, I could go on and on. Let's talk about him more often, okay?

The Man With the Baritone, pt 2

Friends, I was going to say it's been too long since we've spoken about baritone saxophones, but let's be honest: it's been too long since we've spoken about anything at all. How are you? I hope you have all been good and happy and healthy and have been listening to lots of great jazz. Have you been enjoying the Mosaic box sets and the Henry Miller trilogy? Me too.

Donald & Pepper made a great team

Busy here today, so let me simply add to a previous discussion on how difficult it is to love the baritone sax by pointing out another player that joins Gerry Mulligan in elevating the instrument: have a listen to Pepper Adams play a great number with Donald Byrd.

We will discuss the music soon my friends. Over strong coffee perhaps? I can make a cappuccino if you'd prefer.

Frankly, it's becoming

After my recent post about Frank Sinatra, the man has been present in my life not only through his music, but in words as well.


I don't have much time to read lately yet on the same day I ran into old Frank in two different books.

Mailer hanging out

The first was in Norman Mailer's Harlot's Ghost:


"Do you like Frank Sinatra?" she asked.
"Never met him."
"I mean, do you like his singing?"
"Overrated," I replied.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
- pg 688

The second was in Thaddeus Russell's The Renegade History of the United States:


When a teenaged Frank Sinatra saw Crosby perform in New Jersey, he decided to "do that". 
- pg 201


How fitting, my friends, that considering I compared him to Frank in the previous post, Johnny Hartman should happen to be singing at this very moment 'The Very Thought of You', as if reminding me that Frank may be a bigger part of our greater culture, but that Johnny Hartman has a few killer tracks of his own.

Frank & Johnny

the man could sing

It's easy to underestimate Frank Sinatra. I used to.

He's no Johnny Hartman, I used to say. I know some of you have heard me expound on this point, perhaps over espressos or iced vodka.

It's easy to focus on Frank's mob connections and to give their strong-arm tactics the credit for his success.

Friends, I am pulled from my computer to listen to him sing 'Black Magic.' The song proves the man deserves his reputation as one of the finest voices in the history of jazz.

Johnny, I'm sorry

Yes, I used to say that Frank was good, but that he was no Johnny Hartman... but lately I'm thinking that if I had to choose one over the other I just might go with Frank.

I'm sorry, Johnny! I really am. I feel just terrible. I mean, I love your Impulse! recordings but some of your other discs don't reach to those heights of quality. Perhaps if you had Nelson Riddle arrangements and the support of major label your catalogue would be as strong as his.

Johnny, you made three classic albums and how many musicians can say that?  You recorded with John Coltrane at the peak of his powers and recorded the song 'Joey' which always make my wife try to mimic your low notes. Thanks for that.

You liked Frank's music too, so you must understand. Are you angry at me for choosing him over you? Are you joining Red Norvo? Are both of you scowling at me from beyond the grave?

What's Spinning Today

cool guys wear glasses

I really need to run as I have a short window of time to get work done before I pick up the kids from daycare but I have enough time to point out the cooking Clark Terry & Bob Brookmeyer Quintet.  The music is fun, melodic, uptempo and fabulous.

A perfect soundtrack to a busy day.

Sorry, Red

one of these men does not belong here

I have a confession to make.
When I listen to the Red Norvo Trio playing Move I find myself wishing that Red's tinkly vibes could be wiped from the track leaving us to enjoy the duo of Tal Farlow on guitar and Charles Mingus on bass. I would have liked the Red Norvo Trio, without the Red Norvo.

Sorry, Red, I feel like I'm being extremely blunt and that you're scowling from beyond the grave.

We all know that you helped bring the vibraphone to jazz, so thank you thank you thank you for allowing us to hear the beauty of Walt Dickerson's 'To My Queen' and Milt Jackson on just about every track he ever recorded, yes thank you for the MJQ but please stop looking at me like that.

Modern Jazz vs. Labour Dispute

one of the greatest quartets of all time

Canada Post is on strike again.

Not only will this cause delays with Emmerson Street Press (I was going to send out promo copies this week!) but it will in all likelihood delay me receiving my long-anticipated Father's Day gift (ordered early in case the limited edition sells out) of Mosaic Records' Modern Jazz Quartet box set.

C'mon folks, settle your differences! There are Canadian jazz aficionados out there who need their mail!

Trombone, pt 1

that amazing Blue Note design team...

If you think it is tough to love a baritone sax (as discussed a few posts back...), it may be even more difficult to love the trombone.  Again like the baritone, in the hands of the top few players in jazz it transcends the corniness that one might expect from the horn.


It's almost time to get the kids to bed so I don't have much time to write, but let me direct you towards Curtis Fuller, the fine trombonist who is perhaps most famous for playing on John Coltrane's brilliant 'Blue Train'.  Have a listen to the delightful toe-tapping Quantrale.  Be sure to admire Art Farmer's trumpet work as well as the great Louis Hayes laying down that beat.

My Man Paul Chambers and the great bassists of his time

Mr. Chambers takes a rest

Friends, it's been too long since we've talked about Paul Chambers.  It is not a contentious statement to say that he is one of the top two or three bassists of all time.

That being said, when you are talking about that elite calibre of musician, it is difficult to rank them based on skill but purely on personnel preference.  Off the top of my head I'd have to say Charles Mingus is the only player that was his equal in terms of proficiency (or was it just that he was a better composer?).  Well... in terms of skilled players you know how much I love Scott LeFaro with the Bill Evan's Trio, but can a few months recording, even though they were stellar recordings, put him into that elite category?  And what about Ray Brown? Ron Carter?  Percy Heath?  Charlie Haden? maybe even Steve Swallow?  Ah now you see why I stay away from ranking musicians.

Have a listen to the Paul Chambers Sextet's 'Whims of Chambers'  (from the album Whims of Chambers, Blue Note, 1956).

Fabulous!

What's Spinning Today

Hank Mobley's 'Carolyn' from his brilliant album No Room For Squares (Blue Note, 1963).  If I had to pick one Mobley album (no easy task!) it would be this one.

I love you, Hank Mobley

He has a stellar band.  It was the same cats that played on one anothers sessions and helped make Blue Note the finest label in jazz.

Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd alternate songs on trumpet and two of the finest pianists to come out of the 1960s, Andrew Hill and Herbie Hancock alterate songs.  Add the master, Philly Joe Jones on drums and you have the makings of a classic album.  You could pick any track on this album, but 'Carolyn' is playing at the moment.  Lee Morgan wrote it and the band plays it perfectly.  I challenge you to listen to this track and not become, like me, a life-long devotee of Mobley and Morgan.  Enjoy my friends.  I am tired and this song is helping lift my spirits.

Post-birthday party

everyone digs Bill Evans

Whew.  It's over.

Everyone's gone home and babies are in bed after a busy and wonderful day.  Not sure what is in store this evening but I think it would be a good night to chill out with some fabulous Bill Evan's Live at the Village Vanguard.  Perhaps the wonderful song 'Gloria's Step'.  Isn't that a great song?  Don't you love Scott LeFaro's bass?  I could get mournful here and talk about his tragic end shortly after this recording, but as I have said many times, we dwell on the positive here.  Let's focus on his masterful technique and not talk about the tragic car accident.

 I know I have talked about this Bill Evans album before, my friends, and with good reason.

It's one of the greatest.

Birthday Eve

This evening as we get the place ready for the babies' second birthday my wife and I are listening to the new Radiohead album.  That's right, my friends, not jazz.  I mean, 80% of the time it's jazz (95% of the time when I am alone) but there is an awful lot of great music being made these days in the non-jazz world.  I thought I'd let you know about tonight's music choice.  I hope you're not disappointed.

The Felice Brothers

Oh, and to forewarn you, the new Felice Brothers comes out next week, as well as a new Okkervil River so I am sure I will listen to them a lot too.  They are both great bands and not at all jazz.

I will be sure to listen to at least some jazz during that time, okay? I have a good idea about baritone sax players that I can do a few pieces on.  Will that balance out tonight's choice in music?

Blues is the Preacher, Jazz is the Teacher

Lennie Tristano, blind & beautiful

Thinking about idiosyncratic pianists following the comments in the last post.  After Monk, my mind then turned to Lennie Tristano.  He was a genius of composition who taught everyone who played with him and made them that much better.  Lee Konitz, who played with Tristano for years and was a innovator in his own right, said:

'He was an overwhelming influence. I swear that ten years later I could identify someone who had worked with Lennie by the way they drank a glass of water.'

Have a listen.

I have a busy day ahead and I think that the upbeat music of Lennie Tristano will help energize me.  We could all use a little more genius in our life, don't you agree my friends?  It can help balance out some of the drudgery that surrounds us. Yesterday as I was going into a bookstore a man ahead of me leaned over, placed a finger over one nostril, and blew a line of grossness from the other.

Oh Lennie, help me rise up!

The Man With The Baritone

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet

It's hard to love the baritone saxophone - that ungainly twisted beast - but Gerry Mulligan, you got it going on, baby. 

Your piano-less quartet with Chet Baker on trumpet, the brilliant Chico Hamilton on drums and Bob Whitlock on bass is essential listening.

I am loving your California sound as I drive south through Thunder Bay on this cool spring afternoon.

Defending Aurora

Oregon, not the sexiest band in the world

Back when I was in film school I briefly dated a woman whose name I won't mention. I played her a song by the band Oregon called Aurora which may not seem very jazz-like to some of you but it is a lovely song nonetheless.  At 1:30 the band plays a beautiful refrain; that oboe!  Isn't it nice? So I played this song for her, wanting to share that moment of beauty and she hated it and even made fun of me for it!  Imagine that!

'Are you going to play that song for every woman you date and marry the first one who likes it?'

So rude! In defense of Oregon I stopped seeing her after that.  I didn't even like the band that much, just that moment of that song was a favourite at the time.  Just the same, she was out.

I should also point out that I just played Aurora for my wife and she didn't like it one bit and that's okay with me.

Silver's Spinning

the great Horace Silver

My wife and I are making pasta after an hour of pulling up carpet to expose 100 year old oak. Que Pasa by Horace Silver is playing. It's from his all-time classic album 'Song For My Father'.

'You love Horace Silver,' I say to my wife, 'Everytime he comes on you dance.'

'I know,' she replies.

Clifford Brown: Trumpet

Clifford Brown going for it

Busy today with literature.  It's a glorious burden.  Only stopped in to tell you that Clifford Brown is spinning.  One of the greatest trumpet players of all time.  Perhaps you've never heard of him.  There are several cliches in jazz and Clifford fits the bill on two of them:

1. He/she was under-appreciated as a musician.
2. He/she died before their time.

As mentioned yesterday, we dwell on the positive here.  Clifford Brown's trumpet playing is intense, smooth and extremely inventive so let's not talk about how his life ended on that rainy night. Instead let's talk about the fact that he put out some of the finest jazz of the 1950s.

Listen here and prepare to be converted.

How much MJQ is too much MJQ?

the modern jazz quartet

If I have one weakness it is Mosaic Records. Well... I also have a weakness for strong dark roast coffee.  I try to keep it at two cups a day but that 2:30 cup is often the best.

Mosaic Records puts out amazing jazz box sets full of rarities and unreleased material.  I could go on and on about some sets of the past but I will restrain myself.  Okay, I'll just mention that the Ahmad Jamal set is superb.  I will have to write about him soon.  His drummer Vernel Fournier! A revelation!

Coming soon from Mosaic is this:

The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings of The Modern Jazz Quartet 1956-64 (7 CDs)

And here's what they say about the MJQ: "That sound. One group conceived it. Defined it. Perfected it. The Modern Jazz Quartet was certainly one of the most distinctive voices in the history of jazz, thanks to the unique qualities of personal expression and collective vision of its members."

And they are very good. They are one of the tightest bands in the history of jazz.  They preferred the concert hall over the nightclub.  These were skilled and serious men, serious about the music and about presenting it with class and dignity.  And the music is strong!  I admit, sometimes I miss a horn player... but Milt jackson sure can ring those bells.

So the question is this: is seven CDs of MJQ too much MJQ?  The set contains fourteen albums! MJQ is not in regular rotation in this house.  I listen to them for a few hours but then I drift away again.  I should admit that I already own MJQ: 40 which is a four CD greatest hits so there is bound to be some overlap...  Surely four discs is enough, right?

Ahhh, who am I kidding. I'm going to buy it.

The Best Singer You've Never Heard Of

I am working today in our lovely sunroom/library and Beverly Kenney is singing.  She is yet another tragic story from the world of jazz, but in this site's ongoing effort to avoid dwelling on the numerous sad stories in jazz, let's focus on the music.  If you want the full tragic story, you can do your own googling.

poor sad Beverly

Kenney has a wonderful voice; relaxed, cool, and as easy to listen to as a Chet Baker trumpet solo.  Her best known album is 'Born To Be Blue' (listen to the gorgeous title track!) and if you can find it, I recommend it.  She only released seven albums (one consisted of demos and was put out forty years after her heartbreaking suicide - oops! I didn't want to get into any of that....) so all of them are worth getting.

It's perfect music to work to.  A shame her life went the way it did...  No, no, no, I won't get into it.  Let's just focus on the music my friends!

Poor Eric

It's been a busy day of babies with each spare moment dedicated to Emmerson Street Press and friends, there's been no time for jazz.

Sadness, yes, yes.

But jazz has been on my mind. I am trying to decide what I will listen to in a couple of hours once babies go to sleep.

Okay, I've made a snap decision.

yet another wicked Blue Note cover

I will listen to 'Poor Eric' as recorded by Jackie McLean's killer band from the mid-60s. It's on the album Right Now! (1965, Blue Note) 

The song, with it's oddly slow dirge-like tempo, was written by the band's pianist, Larry Willis, as an elegy to Eric Dolphy who at age 36 died suddenly from undiagnosed diabetes.

Sounds like a fun song, right?

Perhaps you think it odd that I would choose a song that seems so sombre after such a lovely day; and there is no shortage of sadness in this track, my friends.

Here: listen.

 Be honest, how many of you stopped listening after the first ten seconds?

Wait until 2:33 when Jackie starts his alto sax solo.  He's a genius at melody isn't he?
Bob Cranshaw's bowed bass.  Surely you loved that.  You gotta love a great bass player.
Larry Willis plays an exquisite solo before Jackie takes another solo (and when you can play like Jackie McLean you can solo as much as you want and trust me no one is complaining).

The skill with which this song is played transcends any sad motivation behind it.  By the end of the 10:13 min track, you travel from the sombre to the sublime to the divine.

Yes, friends, it's a great track played by a top-notch band and I look forward to it.

Dinner Music

cheesy photo of Bird

I am making risotto, my wife is exercising and babies are in bed. What shall we listen to while I fry onions in olive oil and butter? Charlie Parker's 'I Get A Kick Out Of You' is on at the moment. Parker is one of the giants of jazz, one of the top two or three most influential artists in the genre. It's also energized music rippling with melody. Parker it is. Did you know that his nickname was 'Bird'? One of the best nicknames in jazz. Give Bird a try, friends, and you're sure to love him as I do.

He had all sorts of problems (damn you heroin!) but let's not dwell on the negative as so many people do in this wonderful world. Instead let's enjoy those gorgeous flowing runs that sound so effortless.

By the way, is their anything that stimulates the appetite more than the smell of frying onions?

Charles Mingus

love the cigar!

It's been too long since we've talked about Mingus.

Have you been listening?

Black Saint and the Sinner Lady?


Mingus Ah Um?


The Clown?

What's Spinning Tonight

A lot of jazz heavyweights, Miles Davis among them, put down Chet Baker. They felt that he did not have the chops and was popular due to his good looks, coy vocals and for being white.

Say what they will, but Chet has something. On a night like this when our boy (who is almost two) had a few temper tantrums and my wife and I want to relax with a nice Australian red and read a bit (me a weighty French novel about an SS officer that angered many people a few years back, her a novel about an undercover PLO operative) Chet Baker's Paris Sessions are ideal.

great album, terrible colourization of photo

Sure, he was no match for Miles' virtuosity, but for chill music, Chet is tough to beat. I'll raise a glass to you, Chet!

Friends, have a listen to him playing one of his signature tunes 'Let's Get Lost'.  Enjoy!

So much to talk about!

Well friends, it has been too long. I have been busy but that hasn't stopped me from continuing to explore the wonderful world of jazz. In the coming weeks I will tell you about people like Ahmad Jamal, The Jazztet, Jackie McLean (his stellar 1960s band), Herbie Nichols, Anita O'Day (what a voice!), and so many more.

Are you looking forward to it my friends? So am I. See you soon!