Tuesday, April 24

This One's For Doris

Sitting in my car. Lunchtime. Shelley Manne's "Live at the Blackhawk" is playing. Wonder Why. Victor Feldman has a light touch on the keys in this one. The band's channeling the Ahmad Jamal Trio.

(Though let’s be honest: I enjoy Feldman’s playing, but it doesn’t have those astonishing otherworldly moments of Jamal.)

The season is finally turning over. I think spring is here to stay. A lot of change in the world right now. A new day job for me in a few days. A new book percolating and maybe ready to come out.

Lets agree that Wonder Why will be my soundtrack for the coming weeks. Upbeat. Cool. Relaxed yet propelled forward at a steady pace.


Turn off the news, sweet Doris. There’s nothing we need there today. 


Ahmad Jamal smiles, as we all do when we hear him play

Wednesday, April 18

Woody 'n' Me


Woody's deep into it
I love Woody Shaw.

Every time someone starts going on about how Miles Davis is the one and only trumpet god (remember when Tim went on about that? The whole Dark Prince thing?) I sputter and say Louis Armstrong! Art Farmer! Lee Morgan! Charles Tolliver! And of course, Woody Shaw!

My love for Woody came from his recordings with other leaders including Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, the early 1970s incarnation of the Jazz Messengers, and especially Mal Waldron's amazing "The Seagulls of Kristiansund" (Soul Note, 1987), which I will have to write about in detail some time soon.

I love that Live at the Village Vanguard album and it marks another concert that I wish I would have attended. I wish I could have sat there and had a dry vodka martini (does the Vanguard make a decent martini?) and let myself get pulled away by the 26 minute title track.

one of my favourites
Woody's playing is fresh and modern and to my ears, his songwriting places him near the top of jazz composers.

As I write this, I'm listening to "Night Music", which was the first album by Woody that I ever owned. The track is Orange Crescent. It's a great place to start. The fact that the great Bobby Hutcherson guests on the album certainly helps. Steve Turre, who might be the best trombonist you've never heard of, also adds some melodic fire.

Woody's recordings under his own name came in the 1970s and 1980s when jazz was starting (or continuing) its decline in popularity. I think that's the only reason he isn't a legend. Well, he's a legend to me. He was consistently strong and he put out some incredible albums including "The Moontrane" (Muse, 1974), "Little Red's Fantasy" (Muse, 1976) and any of the live albums he recorded. His Columbia recordings are also musts. "Rosewood" (1978), "Stepping Stones" (1979), "Woody III" (1979) "For Sure!" (1980) and "Untitled" (1981).

This is creative, energetic, beautiful music and I urge you to sample some of the riches that he left for us.

This is quite a list of incredible music, and all the more amazing is that he put it all out there before the age of 44, when he died tragically, but let's not talk about his sad end, okay? Let's focus on the music.

Tuesday, April 17

Albums That All Humans Should Own #9

I've never denied the fact that my jazz tastes peak in the late 1950s. I think a majority of jazz fans feel the same. How many books have been written about 1959 being the greatest year in jazz history? A lot of great music was made in the decades before and after, but if I had to pick only one decade of jazz to listen to until the end of my days, of course it would be the 1950s.

An example of a great album that I'd never listen to in that scenario, would be my next recommendation for Essential Album.

'Souvenirs de Django Reinhardt' by Django Reinhardt (1947) is my ninth pick of essential albums that all humans should own.


Man...Django can play! Anyone who is familiar with his music is rolling their eyes at the obviousness of my observation. Like saying water is wet. 

The thing that strikes me about this recording, beginning with the first track, Minor Swing, is how modern his playing sounds. He got incredible tone from that electric guitar and he sounds like he was loving this new toy he's been playing.

The story goes that he first played an electric guitar during his first visit to America in 1947, but wasn't terribly impressed with them, calling them "tin pots". Back in Europe, he had an electric bar pickup added to his Maccaferri, and that fantastic electric archtop sound is born.

I went on a tear last year after falling in love with this revelatory album and bought many of his recordings, but none of them reached me the way this did.

Maybe the gypsy jazz sound isn't for you. Listen, If that's the case, I urge you to put aside those preconceived notions and listen to this album. It will get into you. You are powerless to resist the vigor with which Django plays.

Recorded Live at The Black Hawk

buy every volume. you won't regret it
Tonight as I get dinner together I’m listening to one of my all-time favourites. I’m making pizza and about to spread some flour and decide whether I should open a Belgian or Canadian beer.

‘Summertime’ is playing. It’s been recorded hundreds of times and with the exception of Billy Stewart’s classic, this might be my favourite recording of it.

Manne is the drummer, but he doesn't dominate the recordings, as someone like Buddy Rich or Art Blakey can do. He put together a killer band and he let them do their thing. They were settling into a long stand at the club and they seemed relaxed together. They played like men who loved what the others on the bandstand were playing, and were uplifted by it.

Other than Manne, they're not very well known outside of jazz circles, though they were all solid West Coast players:

Shelley Manne - drums
Joe Gordon - trumpet
Richie Kamuca - tenor sax
Victor Feldman - piano
Monty Budwig - bass

This band is tight. They sound like they've been playing together for years. For me, the stand out is Victor Feldman, who I listened to a lot after I discovered this recording. An English musical prodigy, he was primarily a vibist and percussionist and the legend goes that he didn't play piano until shortly before this recording was made. I'm not sure if that's true, but I like the story enough that I choose to believe it.

Just now I realize that I have to track down some of Richie Kamuca recordings so we can talk about them next time we get together.

The lovely Blue Daniel just started. Such a great song, especially now that things are feeling pretty heavy at home and around the world.

Head over any time. Pizza will be ready soon.

Belgian it is.

Friday, April 13

Thinking About Flutes

After talking to you about Nathan Davis the other night, I've been thinking about other flautists that I listen to.

(Odd word isn't it? Flautist? Why add the A? Wouldn't flutist be just fine? English is strange.)

There's two tracks that immediately came to mind and I bet you haven't heard them.

you gotta love the cigarette holder...
The first is by A.K. Salim, whose name isn't talked about within our jazz circle, but he put out some fantastic music in the 50s and 60s. Duo-Flautist is a great track that has, you guessed it, two flute players, Herbie Mann and Frank Wess. One of the things I find interesting about Salim's records is that he doesn't play on them. What? How does that work? He's the arranger, composer and director of the records. Whatever works I guess. I suppose that's why he looks so scholarly on the cover of "Flute Suite". Duo-Flautist is great and if you've already started listening to it, you'll see I'm right. I recommend checking out any of his recordings. His "The Modern Sounds of A.K. Salim" combines his albums "Flute Suite" and "Blues Suite" and I know you'll like it.

The other track is by the great Wynton Kelly. I know you know the name since I've talked about him a lot and written about him too. His recording of Bobo is the other flute track that popped into my mind. It's a happy little thing isn't it? It's the first track on The Wynton Kelly Trio's "Undiluted"

I must also mention that one of my all-time jazz faves, the Great Paul Chambers, Kelly's longtime partner, is on bass. Jimmy Cobb is solid as ever on drums and then there's the flute, who appears only on one track on the album. It's  Rudy Stevenson.

Who? I hear you. Who indeed. He's not exactly a jazz luminary but he still played with a who's who over the years including Nina Simone, Grant Green, Cedar Walton, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan, Herbie Mann and Junior Mance. He also named his son Wynton Kelly Stevenson, so I guess he loved his brief time with the Trio.

Tonight I'll spin something else and I'll give you a call to talk about it.

Tell Joe I said hello.



Wednesday, April 11

Kamasi Washington Is Back

...we always suspected he could walk on water
It was good to see you last night. I appreciated the book recommendations and the advice. Yes, I think  you’re right: it’s time for change, though it's easier said than done.

I neglected to tell you something that made my day. Remember how much I went on about Kamasi Washington’s The Epic when it came out a couple years back? I listened to it for two months straight. Most of us did. The voices, the grooves, the horns.  

As a fan of the bass, Thundercat's presence on that album helped make it for me. It was a huge album and it could have fallen apart under the weight of it's own ambition, but it doesn't.
the man they call Thundercat

The big news that I never had the opportunity to tell you is that Kamasi has new music out and it's as bombastic and brilliant as you’d expect. Be sure to listen to the two advance tracks he released. You’ll love them. Let's get together with a nice Cabernet when the album comes out and listen to the whole fantastic thing. It's another long one, looks like two albums unlike The Epics' three, but I have not doubt, judging form these samples, that we're in for another treat. May need a second bottle.

And about that other thing you told me: hang in there. Things will turn around for you.

Tuesday, April 10

Was Nathan Davis The Greatest Flautist?

Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery is hard to find but worth the search
I can face facts. I know that jazz flute has a bad rap. It's easy to understand why. Maybe that god awful album cover of Herbie Mann's Push Push was the final nail.

You've told me that most people find it difficult to relate to that upper register that doesn't have that same soul as a saxophone. It's not easy to swing on a flute. Maybe you're right.

But friends, Nathan Davis could do it. The man could play any sax too. He could probably rock a kazoo.

If you're doubting me, and I know at least one of you is, have a listen to Uschimaus (from the album 'Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery' (1972) or on the collection 'The Best of 1965-76') and your doubts will be cast aside.

The recording quality is pretty poor, but the band is stellar and they cooked in that Benedictine Monastery. They probably had some of those monks realizing that God was right there, in jazz all along.
yikes. someone toss this man a shirt

Well, Nathan Davis died yesterday, and that's another Great who's moved on. It makes me wish that I was religious like those monks and then I would have some solace in thinking that he's jamming in the great beyond. It would be a great band up there, or down there, wherever.

Who knows. Maybe I'll be lucky and the afterlife is a jazz club in permanent happy hour. Dollar a drink, top shelf only.

Monday, April 9

Listening to Miles With Sadness in My Heart

So goddamned cool
She went quickly and much too soon and of course, we were all heart-broken. You know the details so I won't get into them. I imagine you got an invite to next weekend's memorial gathering.

She didn't think much of jazz, but I liked her anyway. This weekend, since I needed as much comfort as possible, I turned to an old friend, Miles Davis's Prestige recordings.

It's a debate I've had many times in many cities and hope to have another debate soon: namely, what is Miles' best musical period. It's a great debate since there is, clearly, no BEST period. It's all a matter of taste. I love his earliest recordings with Bird as well as his fusion recordings, especially In A Silent Way.

Admittedly, I've never met anyone who would argue that the recordings from his final decade are the cream of the crop, though I still like his recording of "Time After Time" from You're Under Arrest, (or how about this live version?) but maybe that's just because I'm partial to that Cyndi Lauper tune. Now I know that many of you are groaning from much of what I've written in this paragraph, but I'll stand by Cyndi.

As I'm sure I've told you before, I'm partial to Miles' Prestige recordings. Great bands, great songs. Jazz doesn't get much better than albums likeas the classics Cookin', Steamin', Relaxin' and Workin'. The familiarity of these great recordings helped get me through this tough weekend. I could offer up a dozen tracks to prove my point, but how about "Ahmad's Blues"?


Enjoy. I hope to raise a glass with you again soon. Call me.

Friday, April 6

Excuses

Friends, I'm sorry it's been so long. I don't really have a good excuse. I could say that writers are typically self-isolating, or that I've been writing more fiction lately and less about jazz, but those aren't good excuses.

I've still been listening to a lot of jazz, which will not surprise you. I promise to be better at keeping in touch because I have so much to tell you. Nothing remains the same.