The Count Basie Quartet

by | Aug 30, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Most of us are used to hearing the Count Basie big band, and when you’re a musician in an orchestra of that size, it’s easy to get lost in the power of the other 15 or so instruments … even if it’s your orchestra!  As a result, Basie himself became, arguably, one of the most underrated piano players in jazz.  In fact, few of his fans even realize that he has recorded with a trio, quartet, and even a septet. Twenty Minutes After Three (above), Untitled Blues (below left), and Squeeze Me (below right) are a testimonial to The Count’s actual keyboard prowess. His sidemen are drummer Sonny Payne, bassist Norman Keenan, and Freddie Green on guitar, retaining the trademark Basie sound even in a small combo. The recording was done in 1968 as part of the Jazz Casual series on National Educational Television (NET now PBS).

The Christian Thing

by | Aug 24, 2024 | Big Band, Trio

He blazed an extraordinary trail as one of the most preeminent jazz musicians of our time. As a dynamic musician, composer and arranger, as well as a dedicated educator and mentor, bassist Christian McBride has an exceedingly wide wingspan! He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner.

The upper video, Fried Pies, features pianist Christian Sands, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. and McBride, of course, on bass. It was recorded in 2012 at the KNKX performance studios in downtown Seattle, Washington. The lower video, Black Narcissus Part 2 recorded in 2019, represents a sequel to Black Narcissus Part 1 written in the early 70s by George Duke for Cannonball Adderley … and is something of a departure for McBride into big band territory.

The Genius of Gil Evans

by | Aug 18, 2024 | Big Band

Gil Evans (no relation to Bill) was a Canadian-born composer, arranger, and band leader who is considered to be one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz history. Evans had a long and productive career, but remains best known for his celebrated collaborations with trumpeter Miles Davis. Two prime examples of that collaboration can be heard in the videos below, recorded at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival. These performances also combined the talents of Gil and his orchestra with Quincy Jones, in addition to featuring Miles brooding solos.

The topmost video, My Ship is a popular tune written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The second video is Evans’ brilliant arrangement of Gershwin’s ever popular jazz standard, Summertime, from Porgy and Bess. Miles Davis soulful solo captures the essence of the song and the mood of the 1935 opera. The audio below, La Nevada, is from Gil Evans’ 1960 album Out of the Cool … one of Impulse!’s first four albums, released together.

La Nevada

by Gil Evans | Out of the Cool

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.

Swift Jazz

by | Jul 21, 2024 | Big Band, Orchestral, Vocal

Veronica Swift (no relation to the popular diva) is an amazing 23-year-old jazz and bebop chanteuse, who has already appeared with some of the biggest names in the idiom.  From a family of musicians, she cut her first album, Veronica’s House of Jazz, at the age of 9 and her second at 13! She has a most amazing voice and exciting style … as evidenced by the topmost video with Chris Botti and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, There Will Never Be Another You.  Bottom left, she appears with the Steven Feifke Big Band, rehearsing an unusual treatment of On The Street Where You Live, while bottom right Veronica stretches out with the Feifke band on the time honored standard, Until the Real Thing Comes Along.

Shades of Mahogany

by | Jul 14, 2024 | Trio, Vocal

Since I Fell For You

by Kevin Mahogany | Double Rainbow

Kevin Mahogany became prominent in the 1990s and became particularly known for his scat singing. His singing style has sometimes been compared with that of Billy Eckstine, and Joe Williams, with many of his more mellow tones containing a touch of Johnny Hartman. Since I Fell For You (above) is from Kevin’s first album Double Rainbow in 1993, where his vocals were paired with the piano of Kenny Barron, sax of Ralph Moore, drums of Lewis Nash and bass from Ray Drummond.

[On] Green Dolphin Street features Kevin Mahogany with the vocal chores, Larry Fuller playing piano, Ray Brown on bass, and George Fludas on drums.

Like Green Dolphin Street, My Foolish Heart was recorded with The Ray Brown Trio at Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen 2001 in Germany.

One If By Sax, Two If By Flute

by | Jul 7, 2024 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

More than a jazz saxophone and flute player, James Moody was something of a vocalist and composer as well. While playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles, Moody took up the alto sax at the age of 16, eventually adding the flute and tenor to his tool bag, for its deeper resonance. He played with Dizzy Gillespie in 1964, where his colleagues in the Gillespie group––pianist Kenny Barron and guitarist Les Spann––would become important musical collaborators in the coming decades.

Mmm Hmm (top video) is a Moody original, with James playing flute, Christopher White on bass, Kenny Barron at the piano, and Rudy Collins on drums. It was recorded on the French Riviera in 1965.  Parker’s Mood (lower video) is from “Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall,” a 1996 live performance recorded for both record and video. Moody plays the sax on this one and the tune, of course, references ‘Bird’. Along with James Moody are Barry Harris on piano, Christian McBride on Bass, Kenny Washington playing drums, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, plus strings under Lennie Niehaus..

Gettin’ Dizzy

by | Jun 30, 2024 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

John Birks Gillespie got the name “Dizzy” because of his offhand manner and outlandish antics. He got the unusual-looking bent-bell trumpet in 1953, when someone accidentally fell on his trumpet stand backstage. Gillespie liked the sound of the altered instrument so much that his trumpets were specially made in that configuration from then on. More than a jazz trumpet virtuoso, bandleader, composer, educator and singer, he was a civil rights advocate who participated in marches and protests … and even ran for president as a write-in candidate in 1964!

No More Blues (top) was taken from a 1966 BBC television show, and features Dizzy on trumpet, James Moody on alto, Kenny Barron at the piano, Chris White on bass, and Rudy Collins playing drums. In the (middle) we have Dizzy with the United Nations Orchestra playing Tin Tin Deo in 1989 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Also included in the mix are such notables as trombonist Slide Hampton, saxophonists James Moody & Paquito D’Rivera, trumpet player Arturo Sandoval, and guitarist Ed Cherry. Finally (bottom) is a tune called Brother K. It was named by Gillespie in1968 as a response to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy that year.

Dexter Gordon Takes Belgium

by | Jun 23, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Dexter Gordon filmed 3 concerts in 1964 while living in Europe … Holland, Switzerland and Belgium. Body and Soul is from the Belgium session, and particularly highlights his classic style and silky tone.

“Long tall Dexter” was an early influence on both John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins,  as well as many other greats.  As above, accompanying Dex on  Lady Bird are George Gruntz on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, and Daniel Humair playing drums.