Stan Kenton’s Artistry In Rhythm was first recorded and released in 1944. It is one of several songs closely associated with this prolific composer, arranger, bandleader and very underrated pianist.
Like Artistry, Tiare features the high powered Kenton Orchestra and is part of a 1972 London concert. Kenton preferred his bands to not swing, instead employing elements of the popular ballroom and classical concert hall.
Mary Lou Williams was one of the few female jazz pianists to achieve fame during the middle of the 20th Century. She was also a much sought after composer, arranger and mentor. Mary Lou wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Three of her compositions were scored for a Carnegie Hall concert played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946!
The top video, Willow Weep For Me, is a popular 1932 standard from The Mary Lou Williams Collection 1927-59 and features her trio. The bottom two offerings, The Man I Love (1978) on the left and Mary Lou Plays Some Blues (1980) on the right are live solo performances recorded toward the end of her fabulous career..
Late Lament has become something of a standard that was first popularized by Paul Desmond. The Jarret rendition isn’t quite as mellow as Desmond’s and features the gold standard of trios, with each member in clear communication with the other. Keith Jarret is probably the most ‘athletic’ piano player ever to caress a keyboard. He gets a real workout with Rider, which also features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack Dejohnette on drums. Sometimes I wonder how Keith can make so many moves and still maintain contact with the piano!
Chet Baker and Paul Desmond are not a pairing you hear everyday, which is why I wanted to share them here even though the audio-video synchronization seems a bit off. The addition of Bob James on keyboards, Ron Carter playing contrabass and Steve Gadd’s drums round out a combo with a sound that swirls the Autumn leaves to new heights … and is irresistible if your toes or fingers tend to tap!
My Man is another intoxicating performance by Billie Holiday, assisted by Jimmy Rowles at the piano. Her message is delivered with all of the raw honesty that made her so beloved. As nearly as I can determine, this rendition was recorded in the late 50s or early 60s.
Fine and Mellow was recorded in 1957 together with Billie’s All Star Big Band. While a big band doesn’t generally lend itself to a feeling of intimacy, there is no denying Holiday’s ability to rise above the power of all those instruments and pull you up close.
Blues in B-Flat was recorded by The Barry Harris Trio live at Dizzy’s in New York, during June of 2017. At the age of 90 he is still going strong both performing and teaching. When he is not on the road, Harris holds weekly music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano and other instruments. Alongside Barry in the trio are bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Leroy Williams.
Everyday I Have The Blues is a blues song that has been recorded in a variety of styles over the years, with the two most familiar versions by the Count Basie Orchestra and B.B. King. The McGriff/Crawford arrangement brings it back from a big band setting to it’s funkier roots, opening up with Jimmy uncharacteristically playing piano, along with the more familiar Hammond that is featured throughout.
The tune was recorded in San Diego California in 1989 with Jimmy at the organ, Hank Crawford on alto sax, Bob DeVos on guitar and Jimmy Smith at the drums. You can hear the B.B. King and Basie [with Joe Williams] recordings just below the video.
Squatty Roo was recorded in 2002 at the Bern Jazz Festival by the Ray Brown Trio. It’s a kicky little tune written by Johnny Hodges, with Ray of course on bass, Larry Fuller at the piano and Karriem Riggins playing drums.
Five O’Clock Whistle is an exercise in “lyrical bassism” (My term, not theirs). John Clayton joins Ray Brown in a duo setting that will have you wide-eyed and keen-eared from beginning to end. This is something you just never hear … but here it is!
Tin Tin Deo was written by Gil Fuller and Chano Pozo … first recorded by James Moody and His Bop Men. The song has become a jazz standard but I’ve often wondered, “What does it mean?” It could be an eggcorn of “te entiendo” which is Spanish for “I understand you.” Granted, that may be a bit of a stretch but lots of old jazz men named their songs based on what they heard rather than what may have been grammatically correct. It’s no farther out than Charles Mingus’ “Ecclusiastics” or Miles Davis’ “Solar” which many people pronounce so-LAR instead of soler. This recording features Tommy Flanagan on piano, George Mraz on bass and Lewis Nash drums.
The Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band was formed in New York City in 1965, but performed in countries all around the world for decades, including The Soviet Union during The Cold War years. Come Sunday is a Duke Ellington composition written in 1942 as part of the first movement of a suite entitled Black, Brown and Beige. The Groove Merchant is a Jerome Richardson original written for the band’s Central Park North album.
Both tunes performed here are from a September 1969 concert in Soburg, Denmark. The personnel roster reads like a “Who’s Who” of jazz musicians, most of whom went on to individual greatness with their own bands. Featured are Thad Jones (flhrn); Snooky Young, Al Porcino, Richard Williams, Danny Moore (tp); Jimmy Knepper, Eddie Bert, Astley Fennell (tb); Cliff Heather (b-tb); Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson (as); Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson (ts); Pepper Adams (bars); Sir Roland Hanna (p); Richard Davis (b); Mel Lewis (d).
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