Dizzy Is as Dizzy Does

by | Jul 19, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

John Birks Gillespie earned the name “Dizzy” with his playful, even mischievous behavior both on and off stage … his bent-bell trumpet is sort of a reflection of that off-beat character, although its ‘birth’ was accidental. One day someone fell over his horn, and he liked the new sound so well that he had his trumpets constructed with that special bend from then on. Gillespie’s effect on jazz can’t be overstated; his trumpet playing influenced every player who came after him. His compositions have become part of the jazz canon, and his bands have included some of the most significant names in the business. During the early 40s, along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy was one of the major leaders of the bebop movement.

On (top) is a 1951 Gillespie jazz standard, Birk’s Works. Most often heard with a big band, this quartet arrangement has Dizzy on trumpet, Ray Brown on bass, Ed Cherry playing guitar, Tommy Campbell at the drums, and Valerie Capers playing piano. It was recorded in Belgrade in 1981.  While I’m not a huge fan of scat singing, this one had to be shared. Gillespie is joined at the 1985 Jazz Festival in Bern by James Moody (bottom) to give even Mel Torme a run for his ‘scatting’ money on Oop-Pop-A-Da. They’re backed by Gene Harris on piano, Ray Brown playing bass, and Grady Tate on drums.

 

Basic Basie

by | Jul 12, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Septet/Octet, Solo/Duo

In 1950, due to economic pressures, Count Basie disbanded his 16 piece orchestra in favor of a septet, and other smaller combos such as a quintet, quartet, and even a trio. He missed the big band sound and in 1952, as things improved, he reformed the orchestra we are more accustomed to hearing. Mark of Jazz featured the quartet on August 30, 2024 … this post is a kind of sequel to Basie’s ‘between the big bands’ era.

The septet consisted of Count Basie at the piano, Clark Terry playing trumpet, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Wardell Gray on tenor, Freddie Green playing guitar, Jimmy Lewis on bass, and Gus Johnson at the drums. (Topmost) these future stellar artists join together on Basie’s own One O’Clock Jump. (Just below that) the dazzling Cleveland Eaton is featured on double bass, in a quintet setting, on Booty’s Blues. Finally, (below) is The Count Basie Trio at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, with Ray Brown on bass and Jimmy Smith on Drums.

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.

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.

Four Songs – Four Freshmen II

by | Nov 30, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal Group

In 1948, four young men, at Butler University in Indianapolis, created a sound that forever changed the way vocal harmony was sung. Their style embraced the Barbershop Quartet tradition, but took it a giant step further, adding Jazz influences and ultimately even exerting an influence on Rock and Roll. Known as The Four Freshmen, the group started with two brothers … Don and Ross Barbour, their cousin Bob Flanigan, and friend Hal Kratzsch.  With a soaring, true tenor in Bob Flanigan, the group created a sound that has endured for over 6 decades.  This is the second iteration of The Freshmen, circa 1956 through 1972.  Performing are Bob Flanigan, Ross Barbour, Don Barbour and Ken Albers, who replaced Hal.

(See MOJ Post of October 26, 2017 for more Four Freshmen)

Day In Day Out was originally recorded by The Four Freshmen on the 1972 Stan Kenton “Live At Butler University” LP. This version, also a live performance, may actually be even better than the original!

Shangrila is a love song from their 1962 Capitol LP “Stars in Our Eyes” … an album tip of the cap to other vocal groups. The Four Coins had the original hit on this tune, but nobody does it quite like The Freshman!

You Stepped Out Of A Dream was a television spoof, with the foursome in a “Let me take you away from all this” mode. The Stan Kenton Orchestra backs their efforts, creating the classic Kenton-Freshman sound!

Angel Eyes was recorded on their 1964 tour in Japan. As with the other videos in this group, visual quality is not the best … but the audio and the Freshmen’s sound are second to none. (Bill Comstock replaced Don Barbour here).

Cobb Salad

by | Oct 26, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Arnett Cobb was a stompin’ Texas tenor player, in the tradition of Illinois Jacquet … robust and sometimes raw.  He mixed the musical vocabularies of swing, bebop, blues and R&B, and originated the “Open Prairie” tone and “Southern Preacher” style of playing. There was always excitement in Cobb’s uninhibited, blaring style, which earned him the label “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax.” His rendition of Deep Purple (above), as well as the two tunes (below) are typical examples of the sound-salad that made him so popular, even with other jazz musicians.

Just Like That was recorded at the Grand Théâtre de Limoges, in France during March of 1980. It features Arnett Cobb on tenor, Roland Hanna playing piano, Eddie Locke drums, and Jimmy Woode on bass.

In 1987,  Arnett Cobb recorded this video of The Nearness of You … once again proving how a simple ballad can be turned into a masterpiece through the gift of improvisation and soulful sensitivity.

Precision Piano By Drew

by | Oct 20, 2024 | Trio

America’s loss was Europe’s gain. Kenny Drew’s move to Paris in 1961, and then to Copenhagen in 1964 proved to be permanent. Although he sacrificed much of the interest of an American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, but always remained somewhat underrated as a jazz pianist in the USA because of his absence.

His touch was described in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz as “precise,” and his playing as “a combination of bebop-influenced melodic improvisation and block chords, that included refreshingly subtle harmonizations”. You’ll hear typical examples of this (below) in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s It Might As Well Be Spring and (below that) in Sonny Rollins’ St. Thomas. Both were recorded in 1992 at the Brewhouse Theater in the UK. Kenny’s trio includes Alvin Queen on drums and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (NHOP) playing the double bass.

 

The Most Happy Piano

by | Aug 2, 2024 | Trio

“One of the most distinctive of all pianists” is just one of the descriptions accorded to Erroll Garner. His style has rendered him nearly immortal among jazz pianists. He says, “I just play what I feel. Suddenly I hit a groove that moves me, and then I take off.” Erroll even composes––you may remember a little tune called “Misty”––no easy feat, considering he never learned to read music! In fact, Misty is featured below with a rousing rendition of the perennial favorite I Get a Kick Out of You just above it … both from a 1963 concert filmed in Belgium for television broadcast. The classic Garner trio is rounded out, in both performances, by bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin.

Jarrett Gyrations

by | Jul 27, 2024 | Trio

Keith Jarrett is probably the most animated piano player I’ve ever seen! If you’re not familiar with him, you’ll know what I mean from the very first note. Once you settle in with, arguably, one of the finest trios ever put together, Keith’s musical prowess will quickly prevail over any extracurricular exuberance you may witness at the keyboard.  The trio is rounded out by Jack DeJohnette on drums and Gary Peacock on bass.  The uppermost video is a slightly funky rendition of Billy Holiday’s God Bless the Child from Jarret’s Standards Live album.  Below that, It Could Happen to You, recorded live in 1996 at Tokyo’s Hitomi Memorial Hall.