Akiko Tsuruga & Lioness

by | Feb 28, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

Lioness is a collective of six very jazzy ladies from New York City, whose mission is to inspire and educate by sharing music created by past and present women of jazz.  Most members of the band have been headlining artists at Dizzy’s Club … saxophonists Lauren Sevian and Alexa Tarantino have also worked extensively with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.  Their music has been called “post-bop” but to me it’s just wonderfully surprising and needs no other label than cool!

While the exciting organist Akiko Tsuruga more or less drives the ensemble with her Hammond B-3, watching the most able Lauren Sevian deftly handle the huge baritone sax is a sight to see … and most especially to hear!  Akiko is front and center in the second video in a live performance with a very funky quartet, which includes the incomparable Lou Donaldson on alto.

Funky Girl by Lioness features Akiko Tsuruga on organ, Lauren Sevian on the barry, Alexa Tarantino playing alto, Jenny Hill on tenor, Amanda Monaco, guitar and Sylvia Cuenca on drums,

On Alligator Bogaloo we hear Akiko Tsuruga at the Hammond, Randy Johnston on guitar, Fukushi Tainaka on drums and Lou Donaldson playing alto. The tune is from Lou’s 1967 album of the same name.

Eric’s Gale / Moonlight In Vermont – Houston Person

by | Feb 21, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet, Trio

As one of the unsung heroes of the tenor sax, Houston Person’s role in life seems to be as a show stopper and spotlight stealer, whether performing live or recorded.  Eric’s Gale is one of those occasions.  His silk and cement style added to the likes of Lonnie Smith on organ, Ron Carter at the bass and Grady Tate on drums makes you want to say “Wow!” and play it again, just to make sure Houston really did that.

Eric's Gale

by Houston Person, Eric Gale | In A Jazz Tradition

Moonlight In Vermont is a standard but Houston Person‘s incredible solo is anything but!  It may be Joey’s album but, that evening, Person was once again a thief in the night.  In 1993 at The Five Spot Cafe in New York, he joined Joey DeFrancesco at the organ, Paul Bollenback with his guitar and Byron “Wookie” Landham playing drums to make a statement that teases legendary status. Personally, I’ve always liked what Houston has had to say.

Moonlight In Vermont

by Houston Person, Joey DeFrancesco | Live At The 5 Spot

Poutin’ – Ben Webster and the Oscar Peterson Trio

by | Jan 24, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

In 1972 two stars collided to make wonderful music together!  Of course, they didn’t do it alone.  The great Ben Webster on tenor and the incomparable Oscar Peterson playing piano were joined in Hannover, Germany by Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen (Aka The Great Dane with the Never-Ending Name) with his  bass, and Tony Inzalaco on drums.  Here is just a sample of the results.  It’s called Poutin’ … but it left the crowd smilin’ and wanting more.

I Got A Heartful Of Music – Benny Goodman Quartet

by | Jan 20, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

Here is a sort of bonus this week as the same Benny Goodman Quartet — different year, 1937 — plays “I Got A Heartful Of Music”.  Compare it with the 1972 performances.  They haven’t lost much of a step in all those years … and Krupa is nuts!

Avalon / Moonglow – Benny Goodman Quartet

by | Jan 17, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

This is the Original Benny Goodman Quartet!  Except for guest bassist George Duvivier, it’s the same amazing group, along with the rest of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, that brought down the house with their Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938!  The concert has been described by critics as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history … jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.”  The Quartet, which went on to perform for years to follow, was one of the first integrated jazz groups to achieve popularity during a era of pervasive racial segregation.

In 1972 Timex reunited clarinetist Benny Goodman, pianist Teddy Wilson, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, drummer Gene Krupa — adding Duvivier on bass — for a television special from Lincoln Center in New York.  Like Timex watches, which were always said to  “keep on ticking”, this timeless group still kept on swinging.  Goodman’s “Avalon” (Top) and the ever popular “Moonglow” (Lower) are here to prove it.

I’ll Remember April / Señor Blues – Phil Woods

by | Jan 10, 2020 | Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet

I’ll Remember April was recorded in 2005 at the Marciac Jazz Festival in France. Phil Woods and his alto are joined by Ben Aronov (piano) Reginald Johnson (bass) Doug Sides (drums) and the lush strings of The Orchestre du Conservatoire National Regional de Toulouse.

Señor Blues is a Horace Silver composition that has become something of a jazz standard.  This recording is from the Legends Of Jazz television series hosted by Ramsey Lewis on PBS in 2006.  This arrangement adds the distinctive sound of David Sanborn to the already solid Phil Woods Quartet.

Diana Ross Sings Billie Holiday

by | Nov 22, 2019 | Vocal

Her true versatility is on full display as Diana Ross moves seamlessly from R&B to jazz in the 1972 motion picture Lady Sings The Blues … the life story of the legendary Billie Holiday. My Man is one of the featured songs.

Riding atop the power of a big band, with All Of Me Diana shows she can swing with the best of them, in addition to melting your heart with her poignant approach to a ballad.

Give Me A Pig Foot And A Bottle Of Beer is a familiar Billie Holiday song that unquestionably distances Diana Ross far from her original Motown days with The Supremes.

God Bless The Child (That’s Got His Own) has been recorded by several top artists but NOBODY ever did it like Billie Holiday … although Diana comes pretty darn close.  Another tune featured in Lady Sings The Blues.

Wesbound – Lee Ritenour

by | Nov 15, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

Wesbound was written by Lee Ritenour as a tribute to the late, great guitarist Wes Montgomery.  Lee is joined in this video by the very versatile Patrice Rushen playing keyboards and Terry Crews delivering a driving bass.

Ritenour’s guitar stylings are usually considered to be acid or club jazz, which for the uninitiated is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, soul, funk, and even a smattering of disco.  While it is a bit of a departure from our emphasis on more traditional, straight ahead jazz, I think you’re gonna like what you hear.  Listen for an ear-popping solo by Patrice!

S’ Wonderful – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis

by | Nov 1, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

From virtually the beginning of his career, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis achieved one of the main goals of all jazz musicians: to have his own sound. One can always identify “Jaws” within two or three notes. Was he a bop, swing, hard bop or early R&B improviser? Duke Ellington’s phrase of “beyond category” perfectly fit “Jaws” because his highly individual voice always stood apart from everyone else.

S’ Wonderful was recorded in Copenhagen, 1985 with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (TS), Niels Jorgen Steen (P), Jesper Lundgaard (b) and Ed Thigpin (d).

The Sidewinder

by | Oct 25, 2019 | Audio, Quartet/Quintet

The Sidewinder is a tune born in minutes, destined to last a lifetime!  It became one of the defining recordings of the soul jazz genre … a jazz standard that set the tone for an entirely new style of funky jazz that is a driving force even today.

The session was being recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s famous Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio.  Although the album was essentially finished, the musicians felt they needed one more song.  Lee Morgan suddenly disappeared into the washroom and emerged about twenty minutes later, passing around a sheet of music with notes on it that turned out to be Sidewinder!

That original date included Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Joe Henderson on sax, Barry Harris at the piano, Bob Crenshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins playing drums.  The album they recorded that day became Blue Note’s best-selling record ever, breaking the previous sales records roughly ten times over!  In addition to the original, two other compelling arrangements of the title tune are presented here by Gene Harris and The Turtle Island String Quartet.

The Sidewinder

by Lee Morgan | The Sidewinder

The Sidewinder

by Gene Harris | Brotherhood

The Sidewinder

by Turtle Island Quartet | Metropolis