The Artistry of Stan Kenton Pt. 2

by | May 16, 2025 | Big Band

Stan Kenton’s music has been described as “combining formal education with big-band jazz.” Blending jazz with other musical genres, he created what became the popular stage (or concert) band movement of the 1960s and ’70s … and each of these tunes is a prime example.

(Above) is Malagueña … an old Spanish folk song with flamenco stylings,dating back to the 1800s, by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona. It’s the story of a man telling a woman––from Málaga, Spain––how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor. (Below) the Kenton Orchestra’s rendition of George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue. The Rhapsody is one of Gershwin’s most recognizable creations, and a key composition that defined the Jazz Age. The video was shot with a personal camcorder during a 1972 Copenhagen concert, but was never produced commercially. Chuck Carter is out front with a memorable solo on baritone sax.

The Artistry of Stan Kenton Pt. 1

by | May 10, 2025 | Big Band, Vocal

Several years ago, it became necessary for me to lay over in Chicago. I was traveling with a fellow who liked folk and country music, and even took his banjo on the road with him for entertainment during sometimes lonely nights in a strange town. Reggie had not ever really listened to jazz. To my profound delight, I discovered that Stan Kenton was playing at a supper club called Mr. Kelly’s … and I conned him into going. Kenton was his usual brand of spectacular. During the first show, all my friend could say was “Outrageous! Outrageous!!” Reg was hooked, and it took absolutely no arm twisting to get him to stay for the second show, which elicited equally enthusiastic responses from the newly christened jazz buff! Such was the magnetism of Stan Kenton and his orchestra. For anyone else who is somehow not familiar with the excellence of Stan Kenton––bandleader, pianist, and composer––you’re in for a treat.

(Above) The riveting Kenton rendition of Jimmy Webb’s Grammy Award winning song, MacArthur Park … recorded during the band’s 1972 European tour. (Top left) is There Will Never Be Another You, a 1976 throwback to the vintage Kenton sound, with Anita O’Day and The Four Freshmen. Finally, (Bottom left) is Intermission Riff, the Stan Kenton standard that was the tune that hooked me on his full, rich style and exceptionally creative arrangements.

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

Gambarini Carolina Style

by | Apr 20, 2025 | Big Band, Vocal

On April 12, 2025 three time Grammy nominated, international vocal powerhouse, Roberta Gambarini joined forces with eighteen of the most outstanding jazz musicians, soloists and band leaders from across the Carolinas at the Harbison Theater in Irmo, South Carolina. Together with the South Carolina Jazz Masterworks Ensemble she brought the house down … and I was lucky enough to be there!

Of eleven songs, in two sets, Roberta performed nine of them … ranging from uptempo scat to gentle classics straight from the heart. Meanwhile, the SCJME orchestra, and their uniquely creative arrangements, demonstrated why ‘the house’ is always packed when they play. I was able to record three of the numbers that evening from row G, seat #118. Since I was working only with my I-Phone, the audio and video quality isn’t as professional as I would have liked –– but all of it is most enjoyable, and the best I could do to put you in the seat next to me! The first tune is a Slide Hampton arrangement of Hammerstein/Romberg’s Lover Come Back to Me.

Next is a change of pace with Roberta and the orchestra tweaking our chordae tendineae with their rendition of Thelonius Monk’s 1943 jazz standard, ‘Round Midnight.

Finally some cool scat from Roberta as she joins the SCJME orchestra for a walk On the Sunny Side of the Street. Pay particular attention to her incredible vocal range!

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.

Maynard Ferguson with Sid Mark

by | Mar 22, 2025 | Audio, Big Band, Vocal

What’s in a name?  Well, The Mark Of Jazz is more than just a name it was an actual, living person.  It was also an upbeat song and a highly successful 1950’s radio show.  Specifically, the person’s name is Sid Mark and the song, written as a tribute to him, just happens to be called The Mark Of Jazz.  You can hear some of the Slide Hampton arrangement, performed by the Maynard Ferguson orchestra, in the podcast below. The (top) video offers a bit of banter between Mark and Ferguson before launching into I Can’t Get Started, with Maynard actually attempting a vocal!

Sid’s long running Mark of Jazz radio show was heard locally in Philadelphia, where he established himself as a popular disc jockey, before coming into widespread prominence with his nationally syndicated Sounds of Sinatra … a program which has run for more than half a century! He developed a close friendship with both Frank and Maynard that spanned nearly half-a-century. This website is intended as a salute, not only to jazz music, but to the man … The Mark Of Jazz..

Thanks to Sid Mark, the music of Francis Albert Sinatra has become an integral part of our lives.  I believe he is the only disc jockey with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  A button on his studio wall pretty much said it all: “It’s Sinatra’s world.  We just live in it”. But the videos above are pure Maynard Ferguson.  On The (left) is a nearly signature Ferguson song––the theme from Rocky––Gonna Fly Now. To me, Maynard owns the definitive version of it. On the (right) the big band cuts lose on a tune called Got It … and below I’ve brought my Whydat Podcast forward from our Podcast Page, to explain why we named our website as we did, and what my own connection was to the man and the legend.

Whydat?

by Fred Masey | Podcast #002

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.

The Annual New Year’s Show

by | Dec 28, 2024 | Audio, Holiday, Video

While it’s okay to look back, be careful not to stare. Remember we are celebrating “out with the old” and “in with the new.” To set the mood for The Holiday, I’ve brought Days of Auld Lang Syne forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page. It features everything from a peek at the great dance bands of the 30s and 40s, to my interview with Fay Wray –– the lady who did all that screaming in the classic horror film “King Kong” –– and, at last, a reasonable explanation of just what the heck Auld Lang Syne actually means. All this is to offer my sincerest wishes for a most Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by Fred Masey | Podcast #018

First, I’ve blended together some wintry pictures to accompany the spirited New York Voices rendition of the classic Let It Snow … written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne during a heatwave in July 1945! Next, Kenny G returns with Auld Lang Syne as the background for an historical retrospective, to which I’ve added an opening door to infinity that signals the perpetual changing of the calendar.

Manhattan Transfer Christmas II

by | Dec 14, 2024 | Holiday, Orchestral, Vocal Group

In 1969, Tim Hauser formed a vocal group in New York City called The Manhattan Transfer. The videos below feature the fourth edition of the group, consisting of Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne, who performed mostly cool and smooth jazz, tinged with pop, soul, funk, and even acappella. These cuts are from The Transfer’s 2005 DVD, “The Christmas Concert.” (For more Manhattan Transfer Christmas, see our MOJ post of December 21,2018)

A special MHT arrangement of Mel Torme’s The Christmas Song.  Listen to the rich blend of mellow harmonies, smoothly combining all four voices into one.

Happy Holidays adds some upbeat flavor to the Christmas season that celebrates all the magic and merriment of the jolly old elf himself … and it’s all just ’round the corner!

The foursome captures the warmth of a cozy fire against the backdrop of a cold wintry night with their uniquely gentle version of Let It Snow. Oh … the song was written during a California heatwave!