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.

One Part Chivas, One Part Cement

by | Jan 12, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

Roy Hargrove was known as one of the premier players in jazz for the past quarter-century.  As an incisive trumpeter, doubling on flugelhorn, Roy was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s.  He embodied the brightest promise of his jazz generation, both as a young steward of the hard bop tradition and a savvy bridge to both hip-hop and R&B.  His assertive sound embodied a tone that could evoke either burnished steel or silk and satin.  Here we have both.

The topmost video I’m Not So Sure, recorded in 2007 at the New Morning in Paris, features Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Justin Robinson on alto sax, Gerald Clayton playing piano, Danton Boller at the bass, and Montez Coleman on drums.  It’s funky beat is guaranteed to treat your feet!  Below that to the left, Top of My Head moves all your parts with some straight ahead bop and features Roy adding a bit of vocal.  The performance was for a public radio gig … and along with Hargrove on trumpet and Robinson on alto, Tadataka Unno played piano, Ameen Saleem played bass, and Quincy Phillips was at the drums.  Finally, at the lower right, silk and satin are served well as flugelhorn replaces trumpet and Chivas replaces cement in the very mellow What a Wonderful World, recorded by the quartet in 1999.  Roy Hargrove takes up the flugel, Mulgrew Miller is on piano, Pierre Boussaguet plays bass, and Alvin Queen is at the drums.

Movin’ Wes

by | Aug 11, 2023 | Quartet/Quintet

A wonderfully natural improviser, Wes Montgomery’s octave playing was more like the sound of the jazz frontline saxophone and trumpet, rather than that purely of a guitarist.  He had a double-jointed thumb that enabled him to play up and down strokes effortlessly –– he chose not to use a plastic pick because he felt it got in the way.  As a jazz musician, his personal habits were as unique as his playing in that he didn’t drink or do drugs. In fact, at one point some of his fellow musicians even called him Reverend Montgomery.

The first two videos were recorded in Belgium in 1965.  John Coltrane’s Impressions (top) features Montgomery on guitar, Arthur Harper on bass, Jimmy Lovelace on drums, and Harold Mabern playing piano.

Here’s That Rainy Day (left) features the same group as above … however, Four On Six (below) was recorded in England with Rick Laird on bass, Jackie Dougan playing drums, and Stan Tracey on piano.

The Very Classic Carmen

by | Jul 14, 2023 | Vocal

With her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics, Carmen McRae is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century.  Her heartfelt rendition of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight in 1962 (above) was only a precursor of the greatness to come.  Carmen is joined here by pianist Norman Simmons, bassist Victor Sproles, and drummer Walter Perkins. 

Nearing the end of her career in 1990, she performed one of my personal favorites –– On Green Dolphin Street –– in Tokyo (below left) at the Good Day Club, together with Eric Gunnison (p), Scott Colley (b), and Mark Pulice (d). 

In 1980, during what some say was her “prime” (never figured how anyone can determine that, especially with the great ones), McRae paints some vivid word pictures (below right) with Miss Otis Regrets; she makes you feel like you personally missed a lunch date, but fortunately, we don’t have to miss Carmen’s impassioned performance of the Cole Porter tune.

Chelsea Bridge – Joe Henderson & Kenny Drew

by | Jun 30, 2023 | Quartet/Quintet

Chelsea Bridge is yet another jazz standard written by the wonderfully prolific Billy Strayhorn.  The tune was originally recorded by Duke Ellington in 1941 –– fast forward to 1968 and the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway, and an impressionistic interpretation of the impressionistic song by Joe Henderson and the Kenny Drew Trio.  Sometimes soft, sometimes swinging, this most creative arrangement features Joe on tenor, Kenny Drew at the piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (NHOP) on bass, and Albert “Tootie” Heath playing drums.

Big Band Mulligan

by | May 19, 2023 | Big Band

Gerry Mulligan fronting a big band is a long way from his pianoless quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker … still historically regarded as one of the best cool groups in jazz.  Out Back Of The Barn [left] features Gary Teller on tenor trading fours and more with Mulligan, while Song For Strayhorn [right] offers a captivating piano solo by Harold Danko.

Although the original quartet  lasted fewer than two years, it had a profound effect upon jazz that extends even to this day.  It was comprised of Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax and Chet Baker on trumpet, with a rhythm section of either Larry Bunker or Chico Hamilton playing drums, and either Joe Mondragon or Bob Whitlock playing bass … depending upon the session.

Walkin' Shoes

by Gerry Mulligan | Complete Recordings

Transitions – Jon Hendricks/LH&R

by | May 14, 2023 | Vocal Group

Vocalese is a technique by which a jazz singer adapts the human voice to an instrument. In 1957, Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross –– LH&R –– applied the style beyond the usual intimacy of a small combo, to full big band arrangements … with special emphasis on music of the Count Basie Orchestra. Lambert, Hendricks and Ross’ 1961 treatment of Four (Above) is a classic example.

From 1962 to 1964, Yolande Bavan replaced Ross and they became Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan. After the group disbanded in 1966, Jon Hendricks continued to perform into the mid-1980s, with the ultimate incarnation of Jon Hendricks and Company, consisting of his wife Michele, Daughter Judith and vocalist Bob Gurland. Their 1982 rendition of Count Basie’s Jumpin’ At The Woodside (Below) testifies to Hendricks’ enduring excellence and dedication to this unique musical genre.

Hank Mobley – The Middle Man

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Quartet/Quintet

Hank Mobley has been described as “the middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone” … a metaphor used to describe his tone, which was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Lester Young.  His style was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.  At the risk of sounding like a name-dropper, I’ll also point out that, like Charlie “Bird” Parker, any video of Hank is extremely rare.  Mobley’s 1968 performance of Summertime at the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen is the only one I could find.  His tenor is joined by Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (NHOP) on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath playing drums.

The two tunes just below that are Remember where Hank is joined by Art Blakey on drums, Wynton Kelly playing piano, and Paul Chambers on bass … and Flirty Gerty with Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Jackie McLean on alto, Bob Cranshaw playing bass, Billy Higgins at the drums, John Hicks on piano and, of course, Hank Mobley out front with his tenor.

Remember

by Hank Mobley | Soul Station

Flirty Gerty

by Hank Mobley | High Voltage

Joseph Anthony Pass & Edward Kennedy Ellington

by | Feb 27, 2022 | Quartet/Quintet

Hearing Joe Pass and Duke Ellington together would normally be a rare treat in itself, but put them together in a small group setting and you have reason to celebrate!  Ellington was always an underrated piano player, probably because he is usually lost among 15 or 16 other incredibly talented musicians in his own band and you don’t really hear him.  After all, as the leader Duke is often buried in plain sight.  Now add bassist Ray Brown and drummer Louie Bellson to the mix, and what you have is the amazing quartet performing Cottontail in the video above and Love You Madly below on a cut from Duke’s 1974 “Big 4” album. Joe Pass?  Well, he sets fire to any group of fine musicians … large or small, slow or fast!

Love You Madly

by Joe Pass & Duke Elliington | Duke's Big 4