(We played this gnarly solo-piano Mal Waldron rekkid on Sunday)
The Playlist for this past Sunday’s Jazz Show is up! You can find it HERE.
Last week’s (6/19, our Father’s Day show) is up now too. Get that one HERE.
Yesterday was a goodn’ and we got to spin some heavy stacks.
We kicked the show off with tenorman Tina Brooks – a 1960 session with Blue Mitchell, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers & Art Taylor.
(Tina Brooks)
A small universal DJ Secret: It’s important to kick your set off with a real heavy jam, something toe-tappin’. For Jazz, when all else fails, grab ya Blue Note Rekkids.
We played some archival John Coltrane – stuff recorded for the Prestige label but vaulted until later in his career:
(Trane at KTRU…sorta)
We played the brand new High Note Records release of 1976 recordings of the fabulous Woody Shaw-Louis Hayes band. The new CD “The Tour Vol. 1” is out now.
(New Woody Shaw CD? Righteous)
By request, we played some early Jackie McLean, and then for good measure, we played one more. A smokin’ two-fer.
(Jackie McLean’s 1959 LP for Jubilee Records. Who doesn’t like grapes with their hot fudge sundae?)
We ended the set with a beautiful solo piano piece by the great Mal Waldron, the title cut from his 1979 album for Enja Records, “Mingus Lives.”
As we looked for the YouTube video for the song to add to our playlist, we came across this absolute digital gemstone. Ahhh, the wonderful world of YouTube. Featuring Max Roach, Reggie Workman, Abbey Lincoln and footage of Trane, Elvin Jones, Billie Holiday and more. It’s Monday. Here’s some goodness to get you to Tuesday:
Talk about Jazz For a Tuesday. We should be so lucky each week.
The good people at Aquarium Drunkard have posted a real gift for jazzheads today. Two Hours(!) of treasure-trove footage from Charles Mingus’ 1964 Tour of Europe. A tour that has since become absolutely legendary, in part to the story, but mainly to the talent: Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard, Dannie Richmond, and for a time, Johnny Coles. This is definitive Mingus brilliance, live in beautiful black & white, surrounded by players who are all legends in their own right. Do yourself a favor, when you get some time, dim the lights and just watch. It’s not hyperbole. This is one of the greatest jazz bands of all-time, live in action.
https://youtu.be/7LxLpmmaT78
Luckily, Mingus’ work on tour that year has been well documented on record. There are a number of different releases widely available that offer a glimpse of the unit’s output that year. If you’re interested in hearing more, look for these albums – KTRU JAZZ Recommended:
It’s Wednesday. Pat yourself on the back. You’re getting there. You need some good jazz to get you to Thursday. We got you.
First – the YouTube playlist from last Sunday’s show is UP! Find it HERE.
Now.
Sonny Rollins is generally considered one of the all-time great tenor sax players. A giant of the instrument, wildly influential over multiple generations and still putting out critically acclaimed records today (check out his Road Shows series the last few years). Perhaps part of why he’s been able to remain so fresh and groundbreaking is because he knows when to take a break. His two most notable absences came at the end of the 50s and the end of the 60s.
Rollins’ 1962 Classic, “The Bridge” on Bluebird Records
“In 1959, feeling pressured by the unexpected swiftness of his rise to fame, Rollins took a three-year hiatus to focus on perfecting his craft. A resident of the Lower East Side of Manhattan with no private space to practice, he took his saxophone up to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice alone: “I would be up there 15 or 16 hours at a time spring, summer, fall and winter”. His first recording after his return to performance took its name from those solo [practice sessions]. Critical reception to the album, which was not the revolutionary new jazz approach many expected, was mixed. Rollins, who had been considered groundbreaking in his thematic improvisations, was supplanted in critical buzz by the growing popularity of Ornette Coleman’s free jazz.” [AMG]
That said, over time “The Bridge” (Bluebird, 1962) has since become agreed as a classic in Rollins’ storied catalog and is arguably (in this writer’s opinion) his finest album. You can listen to it HERE.
Japanese edition of Rollins’ ’72 comeback album, “Next Album” on Milestone Records
His next notable break came in 1966, when he took a six year “retirement,” likely as a break from touring and to see where he wanted to go musically. ’66 was certainly a time when jazz was in major flux, with fusion just around the corner and Free Jazz in full tilt boogie. In ’72 he returned with “Next Album” (Milestone Records), in a simple quartet structure, with George Cables playing both electric and acoustic piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The album opened with a simple, but wildly enjoyable cut “Playin’ In The Yard.” The electric tones likely spurned critics at the time, hoping for a savior to come in railing against electricity in jazz – by ’72 fusion was all but everywhere – and thumping an acoustic chest. He kinda did and kinda didn’t. At only five cuts long, every track is a searcher, and he takes on classics like “Poinciana” and “Skylark.” But the opener, with Cables and Cranshaw’s heavy-handed thump, is a stone killer for not only sample-searching hip-hop heads, but for anyone digging jazz with a groove. A modal roller, “Playin’ In The Yard” was later covered by Hampton Hawes on a live trio set at Montreux (can’t find the video on YouTube but its another great take) and has been sampled by a number of rappcats.
We’ll spin the wax on the show this Sunday – 2pm. Be There.
The righteous Rollins back cover for “Next Album.”
It’s Wednesday. Almost Thursday. See you on Sunday. 96.1 FM Houston and online live here at ktru.org.
Check us on IG at https://www.instagram.com/mingus.sushi/
It’s Tuesday and you need some good jazz to get you to Wednesday.
On the whole, we normally don’t truck too much big band. By definition, the big band format goes against a lot of what makes many of us fall in love with jazz in the first place – the improvisation, the lack of boundaries, the never-playing-it-the-same-way-twice-ness. Usually Big Band loses all of that in the charts on the music stand in front of the stiff players on stage. But, as with all rules, there’s exceptions.
There’s a new Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra 2xCD out that documents the first ever performance of the band, from 1966 at the Village Vanguard. This was a ground-breaking band in a lot of ways. But the easiest way to put it was this: Thad Jones (trumpeter and leader, brother to Hank and Elvin) had never written big band charts and had always played in small combos. He learned as he went and wrote what he felt, he didn’t “orchestrate.” And the cats who played with them all came to the band with the same vibe. All these cats could PLAY.
(The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra)
Not all Big Bands are created equally. Google Houston’s own historic Kashmere Stage Band for starters…
Try these ones on for size. It’s almost Wednesday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ottc0JAUGzc
Can’t even have this post without posting some Basie – Pops would never forgive me.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a polarizing figure in jazz’s golden era, the 50s and 60s. Some felt he was a gimmick; a sideshow; a blind man who played three or four instruments at once, cheeks puffed out like octopus heads, pulling back on three reeds in harmony. Others felt he was one of a crowded group of certified musical geniuses, supremely influential in his approach as well as his composition. Jazz at that time was in no short supply of genius. Arguments still ensue today.
But the truth to the question likely lies in the answers of those who actually played with him. The high talent he drew to be a part of his world, from Tommy Flanagan and Roy Haynes, to Charles Mingus and Herbie Hancock and Andrew Hill, and so on and so on. “Arguably the most exciting saxophone soloist in jazz history, Kirk was a post-modernist before that term even existed.” (AMG).
We are excited to learn that a documentary about the life and music of this quixotic character of classic jazz has finally come to screen – both big and small. Check out the trailer below:
[vimeo 110507254 w=640 h=360]
We can’t wait to check it out!
In the mean time – here’s some Kirk classics to tide you over:
The playlist for last Sunday’s 2-5pm set is up on YouTube – Click Here! Killer set featuring Clifford Brown, Sonny Stitt, Jaki Byard and a rare John Coltrane interview from 1960.
It’s Wednesday and you need some good jazz to get you to Thursday. Here’s what we got:
“Influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster but definitely his own person, Ike Quebec was one of the finest swing-oriented tenor saxman of the 1940s and ’50s. Though he was never an innovator,Quebec had a big, breathy sound that was distinctive and easily recognizable, and he was quite consistent when it came to came to down-home blues, sexy ballads, and up-tempo aggression. Originally a pianist, Quebec switched to tenor in the early ’40s and showed that he had made the right decision on excellent 78s for Blue Note and Savoy (including his hit “Blue Harlem”). As a sideman, he worked with Benny Carter, Kenny Clarke, Roy Eldridge, and Cab Calloway. In the late ’40s, the saxman did a bit of freelancing behind the scenes as a Blue Note A&R man and brought Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to the label. Drug problems kept Quebec from recording for most of the 1950s, but he made a triumphant comeback in the early ’60s and was once again recording for Blue Note and doing freelance A&R for the company. Quebec was playing as authoritatively as ever well into 1962, giving no indication that he was suffering from lung cancer, which claimed his life at the age of 44 in 1963.” (AMG)
Ike Quebec’s 1960 masterpiece “Blue & Sentimental” was recently reissued on vinyl for a reasonable price, for the first time in a long time. Featuring the work of three giants in their own right, all probably bigger and better known names, Grant Green, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, “Blue & Sentimental” was a late career slam-dunk, “…[a] signature statement…[a] superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads…[his] most exquisitely perfected [record]. (AMG).
Get some chicken soup (and whiskey) for the soul, it’s almost Friday, almost:
This week we’re doing a series of posts this week on Texas Tenors. What is a Texas Tenor?
There’s a brotherhood of tenor saxophone players from in and around the Lone Star State who, over time, have been grouped together for their similarity in sound – to a point – a style that over the years has become known plainly as the Texas Tenor.
“The Texas Tenor style” is defined by Ted Gioia in The History of Jazz as “a blues-drenched tenor sax style … characterized by honking’, shoutin’, riffin’, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl.”
Cannonball Adderley once described the Texas sound as “a moan within the tone.”
This week we’ll be talking Texas Tenors and posting some tunes. Can you dig it?
(Lionel Hampton and Arnett Cobb, Aquarium, NYC, ca June 1946)
Next on our list is Houston’s own Arnett Cobb – the Texas Tenorman known as the “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax” for his wild, raucous and stomping sound. You really can’t talk Texas Tenors without talkin’ the Houston legend.
“Born in Houston, Texas, he was taught to play piano by his grandmother, and he went on to study violin, before taking up tenor saxophone in the high school band. At the age of 15 he joined Louisiana bandleader Frank Davis’s band, doing shows in Houston and throughout Louisiana during the summer. Cobb continued his musical career with the local bands of trumpeter Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942 (which included a period on the West Coast with Floyd Ray). Among his bandmates in the Larkin band were Illinois Jacquet, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Tom Archia, Cedric Haywood, and Wild Bill Davis. Having turned down an offer from Count Basie in 1939, Cobb replaced Jacquet in Lionel Hampton’s band in 1942, staying with Hampton until 1947. Cobb’s featured solo on Hampton’s theme song “Flying Home No. 2” generated much excitement, his blasting style earning him the label “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax”.”
“Cobb then started his own seven-piece band, but suffered a serious illness in 1950, which necessitated spinal surgery. Although he re-formed the band on his recovery, in 1956 its success was again interrupted, this time by a car crash. This had long-term effects on his health, involving periods in hospital, and making him permanently reliant on crutches. Nevertheless, Cobb worked as a soloist through the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. and abroad. As late as 1988 he played with Jimmy Heath and Joe Henderson in Europe. He died in his hometown, at the age of 70 in 1989.”
This week we’re doing a series of posts this week on Texas Tenors. What is a Texas Tenor?
There’s a brotherhood of tenor saxophone players from in and around the Lone Star State who, over time, have been grouped together for their similarity in sound – to a point – a style that over the years has become known plainly as the Texas Tenor.
“The Texas Tenor style” is defined by Ted Gioia in The History of Jazz as “a blues-drenched tenor sax style … characterized by honking’, shoutin’, riffin’, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl.”
Cannonball Adderley once described the Texas sound as “a moan within the tone.”
This week we’ll be talking Texas Tenors and posting some tunes. Can you dig it?
(L-R: Buddy Tate & Milt Buckner)
Next in our series is Buddy Tate.
“Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, and began performing on alto saxophone. As a teenager in 1925, he played with his brother and their band called McCloud’s Night Owls.” Tate quickly switched to tenor saxophone making a name for himself in bands such as the one led by Andy Kirk. He joined Count Basie’s band in 1939 and stayed with him until 1948. He had been selected by Basie after the sudden death of Herschel Evans, which Tate stated he had predicted in a dream.
After his period with Basie ended, he worked with several other bands before he found success on his own, starting in 1953 in Harlem. His group worked at the “Celebrity Club” from 1953 to 1974. In the late 1970s, he co-led a band with Paul Quinichette and worked with Benny Goodman.”
“Tate was one of the great tenor saxophonists of the swing era, a superbly sophisticated ballad player influenced by both the diaphanous tone of Lester Young, his section mate in the Basie orchestra, and by the urgency and rhythmic muscularity of Coleman Hawkins. These traits could be heard in his first recorded solo with Basie’s band, ”Rock-a-Bye Basie” from 1939, which Mr. Tate felt was one of his best. His force and his flights into the horn’s high registers identified the Texas tenor style, also exemplified by the saxophonists Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet.”
“In the 1950’s Tate played with Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Rushing and Hot Lips Page, and in 1953 he began to lead his own band, which played a regular show at the Celebrity Club in New York for more than 20 years. He worked often in Europe, playing with Jim Galloway, Jay McShann and Al Grey.
In the late 60’s he recorded in France with the organist Milt Buckner and the drummer Wallace Bishop. He and the saxophonist Paul Quinichette were co-leaders of a band at New York’s West End Cafe; Mr. Tate led another band with the drummer Bobby Rosengarden at the Rainbow Room in the 70’s.”
(Buddy Tate in the middle in glasses, with the Count Basie Orchestra)
