The Grasso’s Always Greener

by | Nov 9, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Trio, Vocal

Pasquale Grasso is an Italian-born jazz guitarist now based in New York City. He is known for a pianistic approach to jazz guitar, largely influenced by Bud Powell’s style; he has somehow managed to transfer the essence of piano language onto guitar. Grasso’s innovative blend of classical-guitar and bebop influences have helped him create a sound that’s completely his own, setting him apart as a one-of-a-kind jazz guitarist … in 2016 Pat Metheny told Vintage Guitar magazine that Grasso was “the best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life.” Recently, he has been getting more public exposure with several of his own recordings released by Sony Masterworks, and teaming up with super-vocalist Samara Joy on two of her recent hit albums.

(Below upper left) Pasquale Grasso adds his personal touch to the American Songbook Standard, Just One of Those Things, live at The Cutting Room in NYC. Pasquale is on guitar, Phil Stewart plays drums, and Ari Roland is on double bass. Charlie Christian’s Seven Come Eleven (Below upper right) was recorded at Birdland,also in NYC, and features the guitars of Pasquale Grasso, Frank Vignola, and Olli Soikkeli … with Gary Mazzaroppi on bass, and Vince Cherico playing drums. Finally a video (Bottom) with Grasso’s guitar and Samara Joy singing Ellington’s In My Solitude, from his Pasquale Plays Duke album.

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.

Emily, Wendy and Cassandra … The Girls

by | Sep 27, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Paul Desmond is usually associated with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, but he achieved quite a body of work of his own, including his composition of the classic “Take Five” for the Brubeck Quartet. He was a modest, retiring man, known to his friends for his wit and charm. For example, when asked why he changed his surname to Desmond, with a straight face, he replied that Breitenfeld sounded too “Irish.” Such witticisms were as typical of his demeanor, as “soft and liquid” were typical of his sound … a tone that Paul, himself, once described as imitating a “dry martini.”  (Above) he demonstrates that tender touch with a wonderfully gentle version of Johnny Mandel’s Emily, recorded in 1975 at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Mundell Lowe is on guitar, Richard Davis bass, Roy Burns playing drums, and John Lewis at the piano. (Below) are two more tunes based on the names of girls.

Cassandra proves that even when Desmond swings, it’s mellow. He is joined by The Quartet, with Dave Brubeck on piano, Joe Morello playing drums, and Eugene Wright on bass, in 1965 at the Newport in Paris festival.

Here, Paul romanticizes Wendy with his quartet around 1975. Ed Bickert plays guitar, Jerry Fuller is on drums, and Don Thompson is at the bass. Will that martini be straight up or on the rocks?

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).

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..

A Horn Named Shirley

by | Jun 15, 2024 | Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet, Trio

Shirley Horn was both a jazz singer and pianist.  She formed her first jazz trio at the age of 20, and collaborated with many legendary musicians, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis, and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with near-incomparable musical independence on the piano as she sang.  This was an ability described by arranger Johnny Mandel as “like having two heads.”  Her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, was once described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as “like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice.”

The video above is Nice and Easy, recorded in concert at the 1990 International Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland … and, as the title indicates, it swings comfortably.  Below [left] Shirley  performs an uptempo Just In Time, at the 1992 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island … while below [right] she eases back with a haunting rendition of How Insensitive.

Finally, [bottom-most] Shirley Horn reaches for your heartstrings and tugs a bit with a quiet look at life, as she performs Here’s to Life at the 1994 North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.  She is backed by the Metropole Orchestra and a sea of lush strings.

The Sweet and Swingin’ Sonny Stitt

by | Jun 9, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Sextet

Sunny Stitt is often compared with the great Charlie Parker. No wonder … he speaks “Bird!” Everything Happens to Me was recorded in Tivoli, in 1971, with Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass.

During a 1964 memorial tribute to Parker in Berlin, Sonny Stitt, J.J. Johnson (tb), Howard McGhee (t), Walter Bishop Jr. (p), Tommy Potter (b), and Kenny Clarke (d), play his composition My Little Suede Shoes.

Lover Man [Oh Where Can You Be] has become a standard … laid back and mellow. Sonny is joined once again by Walter Bishop, Tommy Potter, and Kenny Clarke. More Sonny Stitt … March 15,2019. Compare his Lover Man solos.

Billy Taylor – America’s Jazz Ambassador

by | May 5, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Stuff

Musician, composer, teacher and all around jazz ambassador, Dr. Billy Taylor’s musical career is legendary. More than just an avid spokesman for “America’s Classical Music”, he fought for the recognition of Black musicians as key contributors to the American music scene … promoting jazz as a commentary against racial prejudice. Despite being one of the most remarkable jazz pianists of all time, the recipient of honors and awards worldwide, through it all, Billy always managed to remain a true gentleman of honor and humility.

The top video is The Way You Look Tonight, at a 1997 Anniversary Concert with Dr. Taylor accompanied by his trio, plus Stanley Turrentine and Gary Burton. In the center is my updated 1989 interview with Billy, brought forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast Page. Finally, bottom most is a light Bossa-Nova rendition of Here’s That Rainy Day … recorded in 2001 with Billy Taylor (p), Chip Jackson (b), and Winard Harper (d), joined by jazz violinist John Blake, Jr.

Time Out With Billy Taylor

by Fred Masey | Podcast #007

Big Boss Tenor – Houston Person

by | Apr 19, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo, Trio

In Texas they have a town they call “Houston.”  New York has a street named “Houston” but they pronounce it “Howstin.”  In jazz, there’s a particularly noteworthy Person, and no matter how you say Houston, he’s been playing his big boss tenor both hot and cool for more than half-a-century!  Houston Person’s musical role seems to be as a show stopper and spotlight stealer, no matter who he plays with … he can touch you and growl at you, equally well, during the same electrifying passage.  I have described his style as silk and cement, and you’ll find examples of both––and everything inbetween––in the three videos below.

Topmost is a 1998 performance of Blues Up and Down with David “Fathead” Newman and the Rein deGraaff Trio.  Below that is a tune who’s name is not listed, and which I can’t seem to identify, but Houston’s duo with John Clayton is comfortably energetic nonetheless.  Finally, At Last is a tune with Emmet Cohen (p), Kyle Poole (d), and Russell Hall (b) that has just enough silk and just enough cement to prove my point.

Recorded live in June of 2023 at the Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Person and Clayton … a unique duo with a combined swinging sound will find a place in the heart of any jazz fan.

Recorded in 2021 at Emmet’s Place, in Harlem, NYC. The weekly performances are by invitation only … and they entertain only around 8 guests per show.

Fiddlin’ Around With Brown

by | Mar 9, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Regina Carter began taking piano lessons at the age of two but, as she grew, so did her need for broader expression.  She eventually switched to violin, because it was more conducive to her creativity.  At first she studied and played classical music … and as a teenager, played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While still at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin.  Regina was studying classical violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when she decided to switch to jazz. She has become a master of improvisational jazz violin, though her work draws upon a wide range of musical influences, including Motown, Afro-Cuban, Swing, Bebop and Folk.

Reets and I is an uptempo tune featuring Carter with the Ray Brown Trio –– Ray on Bass, Larry Fuller at the piano, and George Fludas playing drums.

As with the video above, Lady Be Good is from Ray Brown’s 75th birthday concert in 2001. Again, we hear The Trio with, of course, Regina Carter swinging easily on violin.