In 1972 two stars collided to make wonderful music together! Of course, they didn’t do it alone. The great Ben Webster on tenor and the incomparable Oscar Peterson playing piano were joined in Hannover, Germany by Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen (Aka The Great Dane with the Never-Ending Name) with his bass, and Tony Inzalaco on drums. Here is just a sample of the results. It’s called Poutin’ … but it left the crowd smilin’ and wanting more.
Here is a sort of bonus this week as the same Benny Goodman Quartet — different year, 1937 — plays “I Got A Heartful Of Music”. Compare it with the 1972 performances. They haven’t lost much of a step in all those years … and Krupa is nuts!
This is the Original Benny Goodman Quartet! Except for guest bassist George Duvivier, it’s the same amazing group, along with the rest of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, that brought down the house with their Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938! The concert has been described by critics as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history … jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.” The Quartet, which went on to perform for years to follow, was one of the first integrated jazz groups to achieve popularity during a era of pervasive racial segregation.
In 1972 Timex reunited clarinetist Benny Goodman, pianist Teddy Wilson, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, drummer Gene Krupa — adding Duvivier on bass — for a television special from Lincoln Center in New York. Like Timex watches, which were always said to “keep on ticking”, this timeless group still kept on swinging. Goodman’s “Avalon” (Top) and the ever popular “Moonglow” (Lower) are here to prove it.
I’ll Remember April was recorded in 2005 at the Marciac Jazz Festival in France. Phil Woods and his alto are joined by Ben Aronov (piano) Reginald Johnson (bass) Doug Sides (drums) and the lush strings of The Orchestre du Conservatoire National Regional de Toulouse.
Señor Blues is a Horace Silver composition that has become something of a jazz standard. This recording is from the Legends Of Jazz television series hosted by Ramsey Lewis on PBS in 2006. This arrangement adds the distinctive sound of David Sanborn to the already solid Phil Woods Quartet.
Like Someone In Love is a jazz standard. Chuck Loeb was a guitarist with one foot anchored in traditional jazz and the other tap dancing its way around the [so called] smooth jazz genre. John Patitucci is an award winning bassist and composer, who was inspired by the likes of Ray Brown and Ron Carter … but who frequently likes to dance to the beat of his own drummer. Put all three together and you have a couple of old friends just noodling on a familiar tune that makes everyone within earshot feel like “dis must be da place!”
As a sort of bonus, I’m including Red Suede Shoes as a sample of Chuck’s smooth jazz virtuosity. Notice the orchestration reaches beyond the usual “death by saxophone” or “death by guitar” sound that seems to dominate the genre.
Wesbound was written by Lee Ritenour as a tribute to the late, great guitarist Wes Montgomery. Lee is joined in this video by the very versatile Patrice Rushen playing keyboards and Terry Crews delivering a driving bass.
Ritenour’s guitar stylings are usually considered to be acid or club jazz, which for the uninitiated is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, soul, funk, and even a smattering of disco. While it is a bit of a departure from our emphasis on more traditional, straight ahead jazz, I think you’re gonna like what you hear. Listen for an ear-popping solo by Patrice!
From virtually the beginning of his career, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis achieved one of the main goals of all jazz musicians: to have his own sound. One can always identify “Jaws” within two or three notes. Was he a bop, swing, hard bop or early R&B improviser? Duke Ellington’s phrase of “beyond category” perfectly fit “Jaws” because his highly individual voice always stood apart from everyone else.
S’ Wonderful was recorded in Copenhagen, 1985 with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (TS), Niels Jorgen Steen (P), Jesper Lundgaard (b) and Ed Thigpin (d).
The Sidewinder is a tune born in minutes, destined to last a lifetime! It became one of the defining recordings of the soul jazz genre … a jazz standard that set the tone for an entirely new style of funky jazz that is a driving force even today.
The session was being recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s famous Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio. Although the album was essentially finished, the musicians felt they needed one more song. Lee Morgan suddenly disappeared into the washroom and emerged about twenty minutes later, passing around a sheet of music with notes on it that turned out to be Sidewinder!
That original date included Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Joe Henderson on sax, Barry Harris at the piano, Bob Crenshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins playing drums. The album they recorded that day became Blue Note’s best-selling record ever, breaking the previous sales records roughly ten times over! In addition to the original, two other compelling arrangements of the title tune are presented here by Gene Harris and The Turtle Island String Quartet.
The Turtle Island String Quartet is an unconventional musical ensemble which plays jazz standards and original compositions that cross several styles, including blues, classical, jazz, and world music. Violinist David Balakrishnan got the idea for a jazz string quartet in 1985.
As a child, David was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and later discovered jazz through the music of the David Grisman Quartet. The group has performed with the likes of Billy Taylor, Manhattan Transfer, Modern Jazz Quartet, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and many others. Since its founding, TIQ has had many members come and go, but their uniqueness, intensity and musical integrity has always remained.
Moment’s Notice, a John Coltrane composition, was recorded live in Brussels featuring David Balakrishnan playing violin, Mark Summer on cello, Mateusz Smoczynski also on violin and Benjamin von Gutzeit on viola.
Roy Hargrove is known as one of the top trumpet players in jazz for the past quarter-century. As an incisive trumpeter, doubling on flugelhorn, Roy was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s. He embodied the brightest promise of his jazz generation, both as a young steward of the hard bop tradition and a savvy bridge to both hip-hop and R&B. His assertive sound embodied a tone that could evoke either burnished steel or a soft, golden glow. Here we have both.
Angels (Above), features the quintet with Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Justin Robinson on alto sax, Tadataka Unno playing piano, Ameen Saleem on bass, and Quincy Phillips playing drums.
I Remember Clifford (Below) displays Hargrove’s softer side, with the flugelhorn as a contrast to his big band backing.
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