sleeping lion

Australian sound engineer Robert Parker developed a unique way of making simulated stereo recordings out of old 78s, extracting far more sonic detail from these ancient recordings than one would have ever thought possible. On this disc he turns his expertise to Count Basie.

Jazz snobs and jazz purists refuse to admit it, but the fact is that jazz was once part of pop culture. Back in the late ’30s, swing wasn’t regarded as ultra-intellectual, complicated, inaccessible music for the select few: It reached the masses, and it heated up the juke boxes, neighborhood bars, house parties, and high school dances that would subsequently be dominated by rock or R&B. Count Basie was an artist, but he was also an entertainer, and much like Earth, Wind & Fire in the 1970s or Prince in the 1980s, he provided music that had a brain as well as a beat. Spanning 1937-1939, this superb collection takes you back to a time when Basie’s big band was on the cutting edge of African-American music. This 24-song CD, which Nimbus released in 2000, isn’t the last word on Basie in the late ’30s; some essential favorites from that period are missing, including “Going to Chicago Blues” and “How Long Blues.” But the material that Nimbus does provide is excellent; definitive recordings of “One O’Clock Jump,” “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” “Swinging the Blues,” and “Oh, Lady Be Good” are an essential part of any swing collection. Five-star soloists like trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry “Sweets” Edison and tenor saxophonist Lester Young are employed, and singer Jimmy Rushing (a seminal blues shouter who influenced everyone from Joe Williams to King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson) is featured on about half of the selections (including “Sent for You Yesterday,” “Good Morning, Blues,” “The Blues I Like to Hear,” and “I Keep Remembering”).

Out to Lunch! was Eric Dolphy‘s only recording for Blue Note Records as a leader. Today it is generally considered one of the finest albums in the label’s history, as well as one of the high points in 1960s jazz avant garde and in Dolphy’s discography.

The title of the album’s first track, “Hat and Beard”, refers to Thelonious Monk; the song contains a famous percussive interlude featuring Tony Williams and Bobby Hutcherson. “Something Sweet, Something Tender” includes a noteworthy duet between Richard Davis on bass and Dolphy on bass clarinet. The third composition, “Gazzelloni”, was named after classical flautist Severino Gazzelloni, but is otherwise the album’s most conventional, bop-based theme. The second side features two long pieces for alto saxophone: the title track, and “Straight Up and Down”, intended, according to the original liner notes, to evoke a drunken stagger.

Tony Williams had turned eighteen a few months before this recording, and is listed as “Anthony Williams” on the album cover.

A few months after recording this album, Dolphy went on a European tour with Charles Mingus. He died shortly thereafter of a diabetic coma.

The legendary 4 “Lucia di Lammermoor” (by Donizetti) mad scenes from the Mexico, June 1952 performance by Maria Callas.

“Question: Which is mad, the Callas Lucia or her frenzied public?” wrote Claudia Cassidy for Maria’s, Chicago 1954, performances. This applies, even more strikingly, to Callas’ debut Lucias in Mexico, on June 1952. What we have here are the 3 full mad scenes from the June 10th, 14th and 26th performances, plus the bis from the opening night. Just listen to the first, June 10th, “Pazzia”, then to the demented applause of the lucky Bellas Artes audience and the telling commentaries of the breathless and stunned mexican radio broadcaster and you will understand why Maria had to bis the scene: Not only to please her amazed public but also, and mostly, to please herself by correcting some slight technical problems she had encountered in the first rendition. And perfects herself, if these words mean anything. This “work in progress” is obviously felt by comparing all 4 versions: We can just TOUCH the psychological development of the caracter and CHECK the technical progress, it is there for everyone to experience! Yes, she had never sung Lucia on stage before. Yes, there was not a stage director either. Yes, her conductor and orchestra were excecrable. Yes, after and between her 3 Lucias she had also to perform Tosca (June 28th) and make her debut as Gilda (June 16th). Assoluta? Sacred monster? Super human? Yes, all that and even more! Lucia being thus sung, back in 1952, by a dramatic soprano d’agilita was revolutionary,visionary, utterly beyond anything, anyone could have thought possible, well, then. This extraordinary document should be in every Maria and opera lover’s collection. NB: There is no “previously unpublished material” as the cover proclaims. The sound is 50s mono mexican broadcast, not very good but perfectly adequate to enjoy what’s happening here. I would pitty anyone giving this document a miss on these grounds only.

Quote above from unknown (but passionate) Internet opera expert. Give these recordings a chance, they are transferred from the shellac originals that formerly belonged to Callas herself.

Bill Withers must be one of the best modern american songwriters ever. His songs tend to be intensly melodic yet quite simple constructions with a irrestible funky beat. Withers started his singer/songwriter career at 30 years of age after a 10 year stint in the army and had his first big hit with “Ain’t No Sunshine” making it to number three in the pop charts and certified gold in the September 1971. Withers began touring and recording in 1972 with a band assembled from Los Angeles-based members of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band: drummer James Gadson, guitarist Bernoce Blackmon, keyboardist Ray Jackson, and bassist Melvin Dunlap and recorded “Live at Carnegie Hall” in 1973 for Sussex Records. It finds finds Bill at the top of his game and is considered one of the best live releases from the ’70s . He is now retired from performing and is running a publishing company in Beverly Hills, LA.  A documentary, “Still Bill” was made about him in 2008 where he can be seen jamming with his old band.

From Allmusic.com: “Australian sound engineer Robert Parker has developed a unique way of making simulated stereo recordings out of old 78s, extracting far more sonic detail from these ancient recordings than one would have ever thought possible. On this disc he turns his expertise to 20 old 78s by Billie Holiday recorded between 1935 and 1949. Working with both big bands (conducted by Sy Oliver, Gordon Jenkins, and Toots Camarata) and smaller groups (most of them led by Teddy Wilson), Holiday simply comes alive on these tracks; the imaging brings the music more alive than it’s been probably since the day it was recorded. Obviously, some discs fare better than others on this set, but you simply haven’t heard these sides until you hear what Robert Parker has done with them here.”

Check the link to ‘Jazz Classics in Stereo’ to the right for more on Robert Parker.

1972 debut album from this largely unknown band. A very solid record, no weak songs, fantastic tempos and strong players. The two violins (one of them Alfredo de la Fe) blend beautifully with the horns and there is something for everyone, montunos con charanga for dancers, slow son in Draculita with flutes and violins, electric guitar in Comparación and in very funky Ri-Ki-Ta-Tun and violins again plus heavy horns in Tumbando Caña and Aqui Esta Mi Rumba.

Not much known about the band, they made 2 more albums and then vanished, no CD reissues, not much info in the Internet. Mike Martinez is musical director, Ira Herscher is arranger and Roberto Torres is on vocals. Killer album, don’t miss it.

‘Serves you right to suffer’ is probably the best sounding album by John Lee Hooker I ever heard and is a absolute joy to listen to. Recorded in 1965 (just like ‘Hodoo Man Blues’) on the Impulse label and produced by Bob Thiele, its a John Lee tour-de-force in raw and earthy blues. John Lee is on this album backed by an interesting band of session musicians and maybe this is what makes the album stand out a bit. On bass is Milt Hinton, regarded by many as one of the greatest jazz bassists of all time. Drummer Panama Francis played with Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington and also played on many pop hits like Buddy Hollys ‘Peggy Sue’ and the Platters ‘Only You’. On guitar is Barry Galbraith, again a jazz musician who played with Miles and Billie Holiday and appears on the ultra-hip Stan Getz/Eddie Sauter-led soundtrack to Mickey One.

There is a wonderful light feel to this album that shines through John Lees hard and hypnotic narrative. The re-mastering also makes a fantastic job in making this CD sound as if it was made today.

When I was 16-17 years old I used to play guitar in a couple of blues bands and there were a few records we always listened too. ‘Door to Door’ with Albert King/Otis Rush, ‘Chicago Bound’ with Jimmy Rogers and this album, ‘Hodoo Man Blues’ with Junior Wells (on Delmark).

It is Junior Wells’ debut LP (he had previously only released on 7″ and 10″) and became Delmark’s best seller, establishing Wells’ career and receiving critical acclaim as being among the best albums Wells ever produced and even among the greatest blues albums ever made.

Juniors sidemen on the record are Buddy Guy on guitar, Jack Myers on bass and Fred Warren on drums.

The overall sound is naked and economic (almost like they’ve been influenced by the MGs somehow) with Buddy guitar being very clean and upfront and Jack Myers innovative, slightly distorted bass way back in the mix. Listen to Jack Myers imposing both major and phrygian modes on Buddys minor chords in ‘Hound Dog’. Contrasting to the sparse backing are Juniors totally raw and convincing harmonica and vocals. Compelling stuff.

There’s No Place Like America Today by Curtis Mayfield. My favorite album at the moment (this and Bill Withers ‘Still Bill’). Gorgeous music, lovely dry mid-70s production, meaningful lyrics. Phil Upchurch on guitar.. From Allmusic:

“The title is intended in an ironic way, as illustrated not only by the cover — a grim parody of late-’40s/early-’50s advertising imagery depicting white versus black social reality — but the grim yet utterly catchy and haunting opening number, “Billy Jack.” A song about gun violence that was years ahead of its time, it’s scored to an incisive horn arrangement by Richard Tufo. “When Seasons Change” is a beautifully wrought account of the miseries of urban life that contains elements of both gospel and contemporary soul. The album’s one big song, “So in Love,” which made number 67 on the pop charts but was a Top Ten soul hit, is only the prettiest of a string of exquisite tracks on the album, including “Blue Monday People” and “Jesus” and the soaring finale, “Love to the People,” broken up by the harder-edged “Hard Times.” The album doesn’t really have as clearly delineated a body of songs as Mayfield’s earlier topical releases, but it’s in the same league with his other work of the period and represents him near his prime as a composer.”

Right on 🙂

It is summertime and the living is easy. It is also the time for Jazz Festivals and to celebrate this, here are some recent live recordings from Stockholm Jazz Festival and North Sea Jazz festival. Both concerts are grabbed from radio and therefore is the sound quality decent. Enjoy.

First out is: SF JAZZ Collective
Stockholm Jazz Festival
Skeppsholmen, Nya Scenen (outdoor venue)
Stockholm, Sweden
July 18, 2008

As some of you might know SF Jazz Collective is a group that is commissioned each year to arrange and play the works of a jazz great. Past years have been Ornette Coleman (2004), John Coltrane (2005), Herbie Hancock (2006), and Thelonious Monk (2007). This year’s group arranged Wayne Shorter tunes. The band for 2008 is Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Miguel Zenón, Robin Eubanks, Renee Rosnes, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland. Something of a jazz supergroup in other words. Check out Stefon Harris playing his ass off on track 2! Stefon Harris rocks. This is actually a lovely concert 🙂

And then there is: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
North Sea Jazz Festival 2008 (33rd edition)
“Congo”, Ahoy Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Holland)
2008-07-12

Sharon Jones (vocals); Gabriel Roth (band leader, bass); Neal Sugarman (tenor sax); Ian Hendrickson (baritone sax); Dave Guy (trumpet); Tom Brenneck, Binky Griptite (guitar); Homer Steinwess (drums); Fernando Velez; Jordan, Matthew, Kirkwood, Susan, Laurent.

Even if they sound like some 60′ Soul revue, SJ & the DPs consists of bunch of white guys from Brooklyn with a former corrections officer at New York’s Rykers Island on vocals. And the records they make are of this century. Incredible. Enjoy. Live.