Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
On the blog known as Brew Lite’s Jazz Tales, Bruno Leicht just posted a piece about jazz vocalese. It is centered on the recordings of Annie Ross and includes a rare video clip of her singing “Twisted,” with Count Basie accompanying. It’s a treat.
Ron Miles: Quiver (enja yellow bird)
Miles’s playing on “There Ain’t No Sweet Man Worth the Salt of My Tears” draws 21st century Denver and 1928 Chicago close. Some of his flurries of wildness on this album are as daring as the work of any modern trumpeter, but the Bix Beiderbecke lyricism in Miles’s soul extends into everything he plays. With just Bill Frisell’s guitar and Brian Blade’s drums, Miles may seem to be operating lean. No, there is richness in their harmonic inventiveness and rhythmic compatibility. The nine pieces are not officially a suite, but unity of conception runs through the performances. This is a satisfying album.
Heather Masse And Dick Hyman: Lock My Heart (Red House)
With The Wailin’ Jennys and the Wayfaring Strangers and appearances on radio’s Prairie Home Companion, Heather Masse has attracted a following among folk and bluegrass fans. This album of duets with master pianist Dick Hyman discloses the jazz foundation that has long been evident in her singing. Their treatments of Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” and Buddy Johnson’s “Since I Fell For You” are ballad perfection. In their delightful “I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key,” she manages to combine Billie Holiday and Marilyn Monroe. Hyman’s accompaniments and solos are reminders that this 86-year-old wonder is one of the most interesting pianists alive.
Miles Davis Quintet Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy)
This three-CD, one-DVD set finds the trumpeter fomenting even more dramatic change than usual. The first volume in the so-called bootleg series of Davis concert recordings found his primarily acoustic 1967 quintet already tending toward electronic music and rock. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter remains from that band. Here, the transition intensifies. Electric pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette accelerate the shift Davis initiated with In A Silent Way. The repertoire is redolent of Davis’s Bitches Brew period. We hear the headiness, excitement and—sometimes—the aimlessness of newfound freedom. The DVD’s superb sound and picture bring the band alive.
Bill Frisell, The Disfarmer Project (La Huit)
Belgian filmmaker Guillame Dero captures the eclectic guitarist Frisell, violinist Carrie Rodriguez, guitarist Greg Leisz and bassist Viktor Krauss in a live performance set to portraits by the 1950s Arkansas photographer Mike Disfarmer. Some of the music was on a 2009 CD mentioned in this Rifftides post. Hearing it in new versions with Disfarmer’s eccentric and vaguely disturbing photos looming over the band is an adventure. Watching interaction and reaction among the quartet increases the fascination. Frisell salts his original compositions with songs by Hank Williams, Arthur Crudup and Cliff Friend.
Paul de Barros, Shall We Play That One Together? The Life and Art of Jazz Piano Legend Marian McPartland (St. Martin’s Press)
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band, Santa Monica 1960 (Fresh Sound)
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
P.S. — I love the funny moment when she cues the Count into his solo, and when he politely asks her for another chorus. Then, watch his finger, as he gives her the cue. — Fantastic!
A friend ( Dave Weiner) tells me that the Annie Ross ‘Twisted’ clip is from a commercially available DVD of ‘Playboy After Dark’.
Thanks for drawing attention to it – wonderful !
I have a question that does not have anything to do with Annie Ross, but it does pertain to 1950′s jazz (I could not find any recent Rifftides post to relate this to!). I have posted to Rifftides before. About a month ago when I was doing my Saturday night jazz show titled “The Gold Standard” on KMHD in Portland, Oregon I received a call from a listener on the studio hotline. I had just played “The Vidiot” by Ken Nordine, from Ken Nordine’s Word Jazz. This track was recorded back in 1957 with the Fred Katz group. In this piece, Mr. Nordine interviews a poor fellow who is addicted to television. The fellow who called me said that back in the late 1950′s when he first heard “The Vidiot” he heard that the voice of the Vidiot was actually Art Pepper. The caller added that he heard that Art Pepper had experimented with acting while in L.A. in the late 50′s. I am an Art Pepper enthusiast and I know what his voice sounds like, and I must admit that the voice of The Vidiot *does* sound like Art Pepper. Do you have any readers who might know for sure?
All we can do is ask. Let’s see what comes back.
I asked Laurie Pepper, Art’s widow. She said, “I just found it online. It’s not Art. Nobody sounded like Art. I’d recognize his voice. I recognize it on the old Kenton jam session tapes from 1950.”