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Welcome to another 2 hours of jazz on Radio Mecha (now under ^^^^^^ our new, drop shadowed series logo!). As always, I'll be posting some links, comments and credits as the set plays, which I hope are of interest to those listening, as well as to those who come to this thread later.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month! Here in the Westernmost Point of the East Coast of America, we're havin' a Jazz Festival in a couple of weeks, and that same weekend, the "smooth jazz" contingent is gathering out in the panhandle. For those of you comin' down at other times of the year, here's a good list of what's going on, jazz wize, in the Sunshine State, for the rest of the year.

Also, for the rest of the month of April, I'm going to be including some tracks that were favorites of my father, who we found out, 2 years ago today, had Stage 4 lung cancer, that would kill him a few short weeks later, on May 1, 2005. In my mind's eye, I still see his laughing face when I listen to these old tunes, and I imagine him, as a young zoot suited kid growing up in the war torn '40's, his hair slicked back, his eyes bright, his skin tanned dark from working outside, all shined up for a Saturday night date, doing a little buck-and-wing time step down the front steps of the old house on 25th Street, in Lincoln, NE, as he scooted over a couple blocks to catch a bus on "O" street, and go downtown with his friends. So, we'll hear some low down boogie woogie music played on the "heavenly" celeste from his favorite boogie woogie pianist, as well as a classic Benny Goodman tune to which millions of kids of that era danced. And we'll have some smooth music from saxophonist Ben Webster, along with plenty of modern jazz from later times.

But we'll start off, after our introductory theme, with a tune that joins my favorite pianist, Mr. Art Tatum, with my Dad's favorite drummer, Louie Bellson, with Benny Carter on alto sax, to bless this mess.

The tune that I open these sets with, "The Greeting" is from a later McCoy Tyner album, called Things Ain't What They Used To Be.

#2 (I'm Left With the) Blues in My Heart

Art Tatum generally preferred playing by himself, and much of his recorded work is piano solos. But when he did choose to record with others, he had his pick of talent and material. On this tune, published in 1931 by Irving Mills and Benny Carter, he's playing with the songwriter on tenor sax, and the young Louie Bellson, in a 1954 session, later re-issued by Norman Granz's Pablo Records label.

As Rod of WordsAndMusic blog describes this cut:

"Art Tatum was a consummate soloist, of course. But he made some fascinating records with other musicians here with Benny Carter and Louis Bellson. An easy ride into the theme by solo piano before the alto and fairly understated drums join in at the second chorus. Carter - finely-honed elegance with a smear of the blues in unexpected places, understated power one of the great alto players. Tatum takes up the game the usual trade-mark easy swing and virtuoso runs that disrupt and suspend it. A fairly sudden ending. Is this what they mean by 'timeless?' "

oooh! Fancy schmancy, paul!

Thanks, phoenixc! I owe it all to Gimp 2.2 and Script-Fu...

#3 Celestial Express

Meade 'Lux' Lewis was one of my Dad's favorite musicians, from the time Dad bought a bunch of his 78 rpm records as a kid (most of which I still have), to near the end of my Dad's life. I think part of what my Dad liked about Lewis was the drive and energy of the boogie woogie Lewis played. But what I like is the fact that Lewis spent a lot his time looking for some way of making himself, and therefore his music, popular, and that he kept at it, despite not finding the fame he chased, until late in life, and even then, finding that popularity, which meant so much to him, was fickle and fleeting. But his efforts to "stand out," as I've only recently discovered, and which I don't think my Dad ever knew, and his (Lewis'] own musical sensibilities pushed him to play the "lowest" kind of music, as some called boogie woogie, on the most "heavenly" of keyboard instruments, the celeste. The result, as recorded here in a May 2, 1941 date for Blue Note (via the 1997 Topaz Jazz compilation) by the Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet [Edmond Hall (clarinet), Meade 'Lux' Lewis (celeste), Charlie Christian (guitar) and Israel Crosby (bass)], is a kind of sweetly swinging music that is timeless and unique. As far as is known, Lewis was the only artist to ever record jazz or boogie using the celeste, probably due to the rarity of the instrument. But the lovely sound of the celeste, voicing the driving rhythms of boogie music, does create a sense that this may well be music with "higher" meaning.

And somehow, pardon me, it's entirely appropriate today, remembering my Dad.

is it wrong of me to think that the celeste sounds like the bright tinkle of a music box?

#4 At the Jazz Band Ball

Bix Beiderbecke was a head strong Iowa boy who never wanted to do anything but play jazz. Working first on riverboat bands on the Mississippi, and later, throughout the East, the South and the MidWest with a number of famous dance orchestras, including The Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Bix was never much of a theoretician, but was a natural "ear" player, who learned to play jazz by wheedling gigs with better musicians as soon and as often as he could. Although he was fired from several good bands for his poor music reading and his heavy drinking, his love for the music was unmistakable. While it's generally conceded that he drank himself to death by the age of 28 (which was especially tough considering he did it during Prohibition), his recordings still show the heart of someone excited by the music he played, who wanted to be nowhere but a bandstand.

On this tune by Larry Shields and Nick LaRocca, recorded October 5, 1927, 2 years before the Wall Street Crash of 1929 (and the end of what some call "The Jazz Age"), Bix is at the height of his musical powers, playing with His Gang, before his 1929 breakdown.

As Hector Stewart wrote of these Bix and His Gang sessions:

"These records are amongst the best Bix ever made. The ensemble drive of At the Jazz Band Ball is truly amazing. The rhythm section, as such, has been bettered many times, but there is no getting away from the general rhythm push of this little band, as a whole."

Via the Academy Sound and Vision compilation CD.

#5 The Touch of Your Lips

This November 6, 1959 meeting of Ben Webster and Oscar Peterson for the Verve label was an early stereo release by a label that had cut it's first commercial stereo record in 1957. In doing these programs, I'm occasionally reminded of the "Wizard of Oz" effect "modern" recording techniques have. There's a point in time, in the 50's, where the introduction of wide band electronic amplifiers and post war tape machines made possible by captured German technology, that is audible to most listeners. For recordings before about 1954, we have older recording technologies, generally, but from 1955 to 1960, there is a rapid qualitative improvement in the quality of recorded sound, that is just obvious to anyone with decent reproduction equipment. With the introduction of single groove stereo records in 1957, which encoded 2 separate channels of music in the wave form of a single record groove, the essence of the modern experience of home music reproduction which most people living today have, finally emerged. By the time of this recording, with the introduction of stereo records that could still be played on older monophonic equipment (with some wear on the record, of course), stereo was here to stay.

But I hope that people listening to these programs (or finding these threads later) won't be put off by the limitations of older recording technology, as that kind of attitude closes the door to so much interesting and important early jazz music. Instead, let's just enjoy the Technicolor when it comes along in each program, mkay?

This tune by Ray Noble is a lovely melody, of which both saxophonist Ben Webster and pianist Oscar Petersen take full advantage. There is also impressive, swinging bass work by the incomparable Ray Brown, and some very tasteful cymbal and snare sounds from drummer Ed Thigpen.

I just finished reading your comments above - I'm sorry about your dad. But it's great to have these memories. My dad died when I was still a kid and he always worked, so I don't have very many memories of him. The ones I do have I hold very dear.

Thanks, phoenixc. My Dad and I didn't always get along, but in the last decade of his life, we mostly made up, and in the last few years, especially, we made up for a lot of lost time.

Sorry you don't have the same chance, and I'm glad, now, that I did.

#6 I Concentrate on You

Another Cole Porter tune from the Beegie Adair Trio's 2000 recording, Dream Dancing. You can really hear in this recording, how people that have been playing together for years work off each other, even in a studio setting. There are the little percussion touches from drummer Chris Brown, which seem to cue chord roots from bassist Roger Spencer, which Beegie fleshes out in full chords and arpeggios on the piano, all in timing that comes from playing together a long time. Good stuff, from good people, with a life long dedication to performing and teaching this music.

#7 Tutu

Tutu was the first album Miles Davis made for Warner Brothers, after nearly 30 years of recording for Columbia, and it was another step away from traditional ensemble jazz, and perhaps, in its way, even more of a slap at the critics of his experiments in fusion music than the earlier efforts from the 1970's, like Live-Evil ,had been. And it was the last studio album on which Davis would attempt to reshape his approach to music, to fit changing popular norms. Only on 1991's "Amandla" would Davis again record jazz, without any tie to larger projects, such as collaborative works or film projects.

In this 1998 Tribute to Miles Davis, the World Saxophone Quartet with guest drummer Jack DeJohnette take on the title tune of Tutu, as described by reviewer Andres Jones, in April of 1999:

"...And in this swaggering "Tutu" - truly Miles' last laugh at his naysayers - we see the whole arc of the jazz tradition telescoped into one great rollicking blast. Recalling the great spontaneous collective improvisation - rolling along like a fired-up New Orleans front-line - that characterized Miles greatest ensembles, the baritone walks a funky line while searing barrelhouse solos are let loose over a deadly bed of polyrhythmic funk."

I don't know that I would've chosen such purple prose to describe this cut myself, but you get the idea...

#8 Since I Fell For You

This is from the first jazz record I ever bought with money I'd earned myself. It helped that the title track was playing on pop stations all over the country (eventually reaching #5 on the Billboard pop chart), but hey, I was only 14 at the time. At one time, I could whistle every note of every melody on this record, and I still have it. Recorded live, at The Bohemian Caverns, Washington, D.C. May 13-15, 1965. Ramsey Lewis (piano), Eldee Young (bass, cello), [who, as I learned researching this entry, died on February 12, 2007. Link is to an obituary that ran in The Chicago Tribune. I note his passing with great, if belated, sadness, as the humorous musical interchanges you hear between him and the audience on this album were my first inkling of what jazz as communication could really mean. He taught me to listen to music as conversation.] and Issac "Redd" Holt (drums).

#9 Question and Answer

Pat Metheny has recorded his 1990 tune "Question and Answer" several times, but never better than on this album with Dave Holland and Roy Haynes, for which it served as the title track.

Any thoughts on Joel Harrison? I'm going to Denver for a long weekend at the end of the month and he's performing at Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge.

#10 I Got Lost in Her Arms

On this Irving Berlin tune from the Broadway show Annie Get Your Gun, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is joined by a rhythm section composed of Eric Reed (piano), Reginal Veal (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). Originally recorded September 15-17, 1997 in NYC and released on the album Wynton Marsalis, The Midnight Blues: Standard Time, Vol. 5.

I liked "Free Country" his 2003? CD. I think you'd have a fine evening seeing him in Denver, phoenixc. Here's an interview he did last year for AllAboutJazz.com, in which he talks about his influences, and approach to jazz.

#11 Blue Bossa

A Kenny Dorham tune from the 1999 CD McCoy Tyner and the Latin All Stars. McCoy Tyner (piano), Johnny Almendra (timbales), Gary Bartz (saxophones), Ignacio Berroa (drums), Giovanni Hidalgo (percussion), Claudio Roditi (trumpet and flugelhorn), Avery Sharpe (bass), Steve Turre (trombone and shells), and Dave Valentin (flute).

I love that a guy like Kenny Dorham, who loved playing jazz until he wasn't physically able, is still being remembered by guys like McCoy Tyner!

#12 Lava Flow

Bright people sometimes do pretentious things, and when I bought this Bob Moses CD back in the mid-80's, after meeting Bob a couple of times, I thought it was another one of those "high concept" albums that was destined to be a "critical success" and a commercial flop. I listened to it a few times, and it was clear that Bob Moses was not only the very, very intelligent guy he seemed in person, but was able to draw some pool of considerable talent about him, including Pat Metheny (who shares the producer credit for this album), Steve Swallow (bass), and Gil Evans (arrangements and album blurb) into his projects. But frankly, for all the creative juice that must have gone into it, as an album, it just didn't "speak" to me. So, I put it on the shelf, and carted it around for 20 years.

And recently, dug it back out, and played it again. It's better than I remembered!

Funny that, because, of course, I'm just the same as ever I was.

#13 It Might as Well Be Spring

August 19, 1964 was a good evening for jazz. In New York, at the Cafe Au Go Go, Stan Getz was unveiling The New Stan Getz Quartet consisting of the then 21 year old Gary Burton (vibraphone), Gene Cherico (bass), and Joe Hunt (drums). And he also had on hand Astrud Gilberto for some bossa nova and samba vocals. And Antonio Carlos Jobim dropped by with his guitar. As did Kenny Burrell. And Helcio Milito. And Chuck Israels.

So, it was really fortunate that Rudy Van Gelder happened to be there to record it all, or we'd have several minutes of silence, where this Rogers and Hammerstein II tune ought to be, in this set. On this tune, Astrud Gilberto is obviously singing, Kenny Burrell joined the Quartet, and Helcio Milito replaced Joe Hunt on drums.

#14 Bolivar Blues

Originally recorded by Thelonious Monk in 1957 as "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are" on the Brilliant Corners album, the tune's title refers to a Manhattan hotel of that era, near Central Park, now converted to an apartment building. On this October 31, 1962 session for the "Monk's Dream" album, The Thelonious Monk Quartet consisted of Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (percussion).

I'm still reading the article - very interesting stuff! Thanks! :)

And I love this song. I'm thinking of getting this box set.

#15 No Blues

The 1998 re-issue of the May 19, 1961 recording of Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall is a worthwhile CD, chronicling, as it does, one of the most important groups in jazz history, at a pivotal point. But it's not full of easy listening music. Case in point, this Miles Davis tune, done just by the Quintet members [Davis (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums)], without the full Gil Evans led Orchestra on tap that evening, for other tunes. It's a good tune, featuring some great stretched out solos from Miles himself, but also, and maybe more importantly, from tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Filling as he did, for a short time in 1961, the spot in previous versions of the Quintet once taken by John Coltrane or Coleman Hawkins, Mobley never benefited, in the columns of critics, by comparison. Many didn't get or like his "behind the beat" pull, and others thought him not original in his approach to harmony and extension of melodic ideas. Even Miles Davis later spoke dismissively of Mobley's contributions. But this take does as much as anything recorded while Mobley was part of the group, to point up what he was capable of contributing.

You can listen to this, and miss Mobley's effort, smooth as it is, and in so doing, dismiss Mobley as others have done. Or you can listen more closely, and realize his subtlety, and the wealth of ideas contained in his solo, coming in after Davis, at about the 2:30 mark and continuing for the next 3 minutes or so.

#16 Chairs And Children

A Vince Mendoza tune from the 1989 Reunion CD with Gary Burton (vibraphone), Pat Metheny (guitar), Mitchell Forman (piano and keyboards), Will Lee (bass) and Peter Erskine (drums).

#17 Blues In B Flat [Previously Unreleased]

The great thing about CD re-releases of classic jazz albums is that occasionally you get wonderful tracks, like this one, that have been languishing in record company vaults for years, that finally have room to see the light of day. This Ben Webster tune was one of five "extra" tracks cut for the original vinyl release of Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster, which are all included on the re-issue CD. Ben Webster (tenor sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Jimmy Rowles (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass) and Mel Lewis (drums). Recorded December 2, 1959 at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles.

The Jimmy Rowles link above is to really interesting interview, I hope you'll enjoy as much as I did.

#18 Bird Song

Here's a Thad Jones be-bop tune recorded by Tommy Flanagan for his 1978 Something Borrowed, Something Blue LP. This track, and his signature number "Peace" with his standard instrumentation, save a sometimes unevenly produced album. Tommy Flanagan (piano), Keter Betts (bass) and Jimmie Smith (drums), recorded January 30, 1978 at Fantasy Studios, Berkley.

#19 Stompin' At The Savoy

OK, this Benny Goodman tune is admittedly more swing than jazz, and yet, some of the solos are jazz. But it's a tune that my Dad liked a lot, because of drummer Louie Bellson's solos on other versions. This version is from the 1999 EMI-Capitol Special Markets compilation. Probably originally recorded for the 1954 Benny Goodman in HiFi for Capitol.

What a great story!

I started out with the cymbals and the bass drum and snare drum, but I wanted something that wasn’t hard to carry….

This made me chuckle because this was my main consideration in shortlisting the instruments I did back in my grade 7 music class. I ended up on flute but my first choice was the alto sax cuz I thought it was cool. Brass instruments were out since I couldn't buzz to save my life.

I played alto sax for 7 years in school band, too!

#20 Jimmie

A Diana Krall composition "for the two Jimmies [sic] in her life (Jimmie Rowles [pianist] and Jim Krall)" according to liner notes by Ray Brown, for her 1993 debut release "Stepping Out." With John Clayton on bass, and Jim Hamilton on drums.

#21 I Will Say Goodbye

Once again, The Bill Evans Trio, with Eddie Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums, takes us out with the title track from the 1977 album of the same name. To recap, in this set, we heard:

1. McCoy Tyner - The Greeting (2:27)
2. Art Tatum/Benny Carter/Louie Bellson - (I'm Left With the) Blues in My Heart (6:00)
3. Meade 'Lux' Lewis - Celestial Express (3:54)
4. Beiderbecke, Bix - At the Jazz Band Ball (2:54)
5. Ben Webster - The Touch of Your Lips (6:19)
6. Adair, Beegie - I Concentrate on You (5:26)
7. World Saxophone Quartet - Tutu (6:53)
8. Ramsey Lewis Trio - Since I Fell For You (4:06)
9. Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes - Question and Answer (7:10)
10. Wynton Marsalis - I Got Lost in Her Arms (5:04)
11. McCoy Tyner - Blue Bossa (6:50)
12. Bob Moses - Lava Flow (9:21)
13. Astrud Gilberto/Stan Getz Quartet - It Might as Well Be Spring (4:27)
14. Thelonious Monk Quartet - Bolivar Blues (7:32)
15. Miles Davis - No Blues (10:38)
16. Gary Burton - Chairs And Children (5:57)
17. Gerry Mulligan - Blues In B Flat [Previously Unreleased] (7:22)
18. Tommy Flanagan - Bird Song (4:47)
19. Benny Goodman - Stompin' At The Savoy (3:15)
20. Diana Krall - Jimmie (5:25)
21. Bill Evans Trio - I Will Say Goodbye (3:30)

I have every intention of re-broadcasting this set at 5:00 a.m. EDT, this coming Sunday, for bunnies in Europe. And before then, I'll be back Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. with another, fresh 2 hours of Jazz on Radio Mecha. Under the spiffy, red, drop-shadowed new logo, of course.

Until next time, kids ...

thanks p! it's always a pleasure. :)