Jaws!

by | May 3, 2025 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Virtually from the beginning of his career, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis achieved one of the primary goals of all jazz musicians: to have his own sound. Most jazz fans are able to identify “Jaws” within two or three notes. Was he a bop, swing, hard bop or early R&B improviser? Duke Ellington’s description of a “beyond category” perfectly fit “Jaws” because his highly individual voice always stood apart from everyone else. No one seems quite sure how Davis acquired the moniker “Lockjaw” (later shortened to “Jaws”) … it is thought that it either came from the title of a tune, or from his way of biting hard on the saxophone mouthpiece.

The top video, If I Had You, was recorded live in 1985 at the Jazzhus Slukefter Club in Copenhagen Denmark. Lockjaw was on tenor, Niels Jorgen Steen played piano, Jesper  Lundgaard was on bass, and Ed Thigpen was at the drums. In the middle is the jazz standard Green Dolphin Street from his Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis album … but there is nothing standard about his ‘saxy’ approach to this popular 1947 tune.  Finally, “Jaws” delivers an outrageous solo in this 1965 live performance of Jumpin’ at the Woodside … also featuring Rufus Jones on drums, Freddie Green on guitar and the rest of the Basie Band in its prime!

Green Dolphin Street

by Eddie Lockjaw Davis | Eddie Lockjaw Davis

Brubeck Time

by | Apr 25, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet

Whether solo or with his quartet, Dave Brubeck has become an American jazz icon. His name has become synonymous with unusual time signatures and pure piano excellence. He was also a composer, who delighted in combining different styles and genres, like classic, jazz, and blues … often superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities into his work. In 1951, Brubeck organized the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which featured Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. Eventually, Joe Morello (d) and Gene Wright (b) joined Dave and Paul to form the quartet with which we are most familiar, that sustained through the years, and any number of hit recordings. Above, they perform Brubeck’s own Three to Get Ready … the forgotten little brother of “Take Five.”

Top left is another Brubeck original from a 1962 performance in Sydney Australia, Blue Rondo a la Turk, written in a tricky 9/8 time. Finally, lower left, is the stylistic ‘mother of them all,’ Take Five. This 1972 recording offers a little different cast of characters from the the ones we’re used to –– like Gerry Mulligan (bs), Alan Dawson (d), and Jack Six (b), in addition to Dave Brubeck ℗ and Paul Desmond (as).

Cute / Willow Weep for Me – Mel Lewis

by | Apr 11, 2025 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Mel Lewis was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author, who received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. He did it all! Lewis’s cymbal work, in particular, was considered unique among many musicians … drummer Buddy Rich once remarked, “Mel Lewis doesn’t sound like anybody else. He sounds like himself.” In 1966 Mel teamed up with composer, arranger, trumpeter/cornetist Thad Jones to form the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra.

Topmost, At the 1984 Swiss “Jazz-In”, Mel Lewis teams up with Horst Jankowski at the piano, ‘Toots’ Thielemans playing harmonica, Mads Vinding on bass, and Pierre Cavalli on guitar to perform the bright and breezy Cute. Below that, Is rather non-standard arrangement of the standard Willow Weep for Me, typical of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big band, which played primarily at the Village Vanguard in New York for the next twenty-four years.

Jazz Italian Style

by | Apr 6, 2025 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

Funny, but she sounds awfully American! Roberta Gambarini came to America in 1998 from Turin, Italy, and took the jazz world by storm. Roberta has toured and sung with the greatest in the business … from Dizzy Gillespie to Jimmy Heath, from Clark Terry to Paquito D’Rivera.  I’ll be seeing her perform live for the first time next Saturday, with the South Carolina Jazz Masterworks Ensemble. Keep you posted. (Above) Gambarini is reflective with a heartfelt rendition of Every Time We Say Goodbye. She was recorded live in 2009 at Jazz A Vienne (France) with the Roy Hargrove Big Band. (Below) Roberta steps up the tempo with Joe Lovano (ts), Cyrus Chestnut (p), James Genus (b), and Antonio Sanchez (d) in 2021, singing When Lights Are Low at the 10th annual celebration of International Jazz Day, featuring top musicians from all over the world.

Haruka Kikuchi – Girl with a Horn

by | Mar 29, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

Jazz may be “America’s Classical Music” but it has a strong, worldwide appeal. Trombonist Haruka Kikuchi is a native of Tokyo, Japan, who always had a knack and a love for music, listening to as much of it as she could at a young age, as well as picking up instruments like piano and violin. It wasn’t until she heard an old recording of the Original Dixieland Jass Band that she decided to pick up a trombone, a decision that would inspire her to move the 7,000 miles to New Orleans in 2014, where she has been “making her bones” ever since. You first heard Haruka –– also known as Queen of Tailgate because she continues the tailgate style trombone, which is a tradition of New Orleans Jazz –– on Mark of Jazz a few weeks ago performing with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. I was floored by her playing and felt compelled to feature her this week.

The tune (above) is Wabash Blues, presented live in 2020 from the studios of WWOZ, with Haruka Kikuchi on trombone, Z2 at the piano, Nobu Ozaki on bass, Mishi playing trumpet and Gerald French on drums. (Left upper) they cut loose on Hold That Tiger … in 2015, also live from WWOZ in New Orleans. (Left bottom) is the old favorite Margie, recorded at the Jazz and Heritage Center in 2023, with a Satchmo style vocal by the drummer.

N’Orleans Jazz with the PHJB

by | Mar 15, 2025 | Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet, Septet/Octet

Preservation Hall Jazz Band has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, keeping the history they were founded to preserve alive and well. This ageless ensemble has toured the world displaying the unbreakable spirit of New Orleans and sharing the joy of its very special style of jazz. The band consists of Ben Jaffe (one of the original founders), Branden Lewis, Charlie Gabriel, Walter Harris, Kyle Roussel, Ronell Johnson, and Clint Maedgen. The PHJB‘s name and mission are directly tied to Preservation Hall, a venue in the French Quarter that serves as a hub for traditional New Orleans jazz. In 2006, The Band was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence. (Above) they perform Bourbon Street Parade together with the Cincinatti Pops Orchestra in a PBS special “Take Me to the River.”

The video below is bit of a mystery. The group is called The Preservation Hall Jazz Quartet … although they perform at Preservation Hall, I cannot find any information affirming or denying a connection to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The quartet consists of Kevin Louis on trumpet, Lars Edegran at the piano, Haruka Kikuchi playing trombone, and Joe Lastie on drums. The tune is a mystery as well. I don’t recognize it, nor can I find reference to a name anywhere, but one thing is for certain … the sound is pure N’Orleans!

Straight Ahead with the MJQ

by | Mar 7, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet

Continuing with the most well known members of with the Modern Jazz Quartet, once again we have John Lewis at the piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Percy Heath playing bass and Connie Kay on drums. They were all pioneer bop musicians who early on pursued separate careers; except for Percy Heath, they had played together in the 1948 Dizzy Gillespie big band. In 1952, Heath was added and the Modern Jazz Quartet was born.

These videos serve-up a bit more standard MJQ fare than our feature last week. (Above) is a 1961 rendition of John Lewis’ Bags Groove … written as a tip of the cap to Milt Jackson. “Bags” was a nickname given to Milt by a Detroit bass player, and referred to the bags under his eyes. The name stuck! (Below) is a Milt Jackson original, True Blues, recorded in 1982 at the Alexandra Palace (Capital Radio Jazz Festival) in London.

Fiddlin’ Around with the MJQ

by | Mar 1, 2025 | Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet

The Modern Jazz Quartet began in 1952, performing music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues, and bebop. They carved out their own special niche playing elegant, restrained music, that utilized sophisticated counterpoint, while retaining a strong blues feel. They performed and recorded jazz, off and on, for some 45 years between 1952 and 1997.  As with any group of musicians there were occasional personnel changes but the core group remained for most of that time.  The personnel probably most frequently identified with MJQ are John Lewis at the piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Percy Heath playing bass and Connie Kay on drums.

A Day in Dubrovnik (top) is a John Lewis composition, and adds strings to The Quartet for a slightly classical, European flavor. Meanwhile (below) Itzhak Perlman lends his talented ‘fiddle’ to the MJQ mix in a most delightful arrangement of Summertime that would capture even George Gershwin’s attention … recorded at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in 1987.

Clark Terry Plus 3

by | Feb 20, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

Clark Terry was one of the most influential swing and bebop trumpeters of our time, not to mention a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz.  He was also a composer, educator, and mentor whose career in jazz spanned more than 70 years, during which he became one of the most prolific of all jazz musicians, appearing on over 900 recordings! Born and raised in St. Louis, he blended the St. Louis sound upon which he ‘cut his teeth’ (as a youth he made a makeshift trumpet by attaching a funnel to a garden hose and using a lead pipe as a mouthpiece) with more contemporary music styles. Terry played with some of the greatest of the big bands, but his years with Basie and Ellington (who secretly recruited Clark away from Basie) in the late 1940s and 1950s established his lasting prominence.

The uppermost video is Mack The Knife, an earlier version of Terry recorded with the Oscar Peterson Trio in Finland during 1965. It features Clark on flugelhorn, Ed Thigpen on drums, Ray Brown at the bass, and of course Peterson playing piano.

To the left is a rare duo between Clark Terry on both flugelhorn and trumpet (watch carefully) and Red Mitchell on bass, with a most unusual rendition of Take The A Train. At the bottom the Ellington/Strayhorn mood continues with Satin Doll, recorded in Copenhagen during 1985 by the Clark Terry Quartet … comprised of Terry on trumpet, Duke Jordan playing piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Svend Norregaard drums.

Jam Session

by | Jan 5, 2025 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Unlike most performances that have a fixed group –– like Duke Ellington and his Orchestra or the Oscar Petersen Trio –– with a jam session, jazz musicians improvise and do something different each time they play a tune.  Producer Norman Granz loved jam sessions, and in his Jazz At The Philharmonic shows during 1944-60, he presented the greatest of the swing and bop soloists, together onstage, in both the US and Europe.

In 1967, Granz had a brief revival of JATP, including a concert for television presented by the BBC in England … the videos below are from that concert.  The all-star lineup speaks for itself: trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, flugelhornist Clark Terry, tenors Zoot Sims, James Moody and Coleman Hawkins (past his prime but worth seeing), altoist Benny Carter, pianist Teddy Wilson, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Louie Bellson.  Topmost is a 1947 Dizzy Gillespie composition called Ow.  Below that is Benny Carter with Duke and Gershwin’s I Can’t Get Started, seguing into Coleman Hawkins’ wistful solo of Body and Soul.