Some time ago, Rifftides reader Steve Sherman wrote, more or less in haiku form:
Jack Sheldon, unpretentious,
one of the best living singers, trumpet players,
always swinging, often touching.
Maybe write something.
I agree with Mr. Sherman’s evaluation of Sheldon. I am happy to write something, but first here are passages from a message that came even longer ago from the trombonist, singer, bandleader and alcoholic beverage maven Eric Felten (he is the author of the the “How’s Your Drink?” column in the Saturday Wall Street Journal). Mr. Felten was responding to what I wrote about a solo that came fairly early in Sheldon’s career.
I am in total agreement with you that the Jack Sheldon solo on “Then I’ll Be Tired of You” is one of the great moments in jazz.
The solo was on the The Hi-Los and All That Jazz (dumb title), a 1958 album that has been in and out of print (mostly out) for decades. Sheldon plays the bridge of the song, eight bars of melody. By inflection and a few grace notes, he makes it an endearing personal statement. I wrote in that 2005 posting:
Inexcusably, Columbia has allowed The Hi-Los And All That Jazz to go out of print, but “Then I’ll Be Tired of You” is included in this compilation.
Here’s more of Eric Felten’s message:
I resisted the urge to mention my own recent disc during the Bill Perkins discussion (though my record is dedicated to Perk, who was supposed to be part of the session and died a month ahead of the recording date) because I enjoy being part of the Rifftides discussion and haven’t wanted to muck that up with self-promotion.
Oh, go ahead, promote away.
Let me mention my disc to you in the Jack Sheldon context. Jack is on the record and he plays brilliantly. He still has that big fat swaggering sound, and still alternates between broad melodic statements and tumbling bebop lines. And in the studio he keeps everyone in stitches with the bluest jokes imaginable (the sort of jokes that have gotten him barred from a number of L.A. jazz clubs). In other words he’s still Jack Sheldon.
Perhaps because he’s on the West Coast; perhaps because he was so involved in television; or perhaps because of the blue humor: whatever the reason, Sheldon has never received the credit he deserves as an essential jazz musician. But to me he achieves one of the most important things a jazz musician can do — he has an original and distinctive voice. This is a discrete thing, in my mind, from the question of being an “innovator.” As crucial as innovation is, I think that it is just as valid for a musician to find his own distinctive voice even if the idiom in which he is working is not at the cutting edge.
I won’t give you Sheldon’s history as a trumpeter, singer, comic, television star, motion picture actor and swimming instructor. The biography on his web site will supply all of that. I will tell you about a few recordings of the hundreds he has made.
This Amazon.com page has all four of the albums Sheldon made in the 1950s as a member of the Curtis Counce Quintet with bassist Counce, tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Carl Perkins and drummer Frank Butler. He was a brilliant soloist in a brilliant band.
Capable of drive, hard swing and humor in his playing, Sheldon has a quality of wistfulness that has made him attractive to film composers and producers. He is part of the music that made two abysmal movies worth attending. One was The Sandpiper, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and a bird. Sheldon plays “The Shadow of Your Smile.” His treatment of Johnny Mandel’s main title theme is as unforgettable as the song itself. Fortunately, you don’t have to see the movie to hear the sound track. If you’re lucky, you’ll find it here. The other film was The Subterraneans, a Jack Kerouac story about the Bohemian life in San Francisco. It translated badly to the screen, despite the presence of Leslie Caron. André Previn’s score was sublime. Sheldon’s playing in the orchestral portions of the soundtrack is memorable. The directing and acting are not. After I wrote recently about Previn’s music for the picture, he sent a message:
I always liked The Subterraneans score, although the film was dreadful. I am pleased and flattered that you remembered the music so kindly.
Who wouldn’t remember it kindly?
Now available only as a fairly pricey import CD, drummer Shelly Manne’s interpretation of My Fair Lady features Sheldon singing as Henry Higgins, with Irene Kral as Eliza Doolittle. It’s a classic.
Here are a few CDs I recommend from the many Sheldon has made as a leader:
Jack Sheldon All-Stars. Mid-fifties big band with Chet Baker, Herb Geller and Conte Candoli, among others. Sheldon plays ravishing melody on “I Had The Craziest Dream.”
Class Act. Sheldon in duets with the late Ross Tompkins, his piano sidekick of decades. You will have to imagine Tompkins’ deadpan reactions to Sheldon’s beyond-the-edge humor. You’ll have to imagine the humor, too. But the playing is gorgeous.
Hollywood Heroes. Sheldon singing and playing in 1988 in superb form, with a quartet that includes the stompin’ pianist Ray Sherman, a secret too well kept.
JSO Live! Recent Sheldon with his big band. Exhilirating.
California Cool. Even more recent, with his quartet featuring pianist Milcho Leviev, bassist Bruce Lett and drummer Nick Martinis.
Jack Sheldon in New Orleans. This is a DVD made at a club on Bourbon Street with Dave Frishberg on piano, bassist Dave Stone and guitarist John Pisano. There’s nothing quite like Sheldon live, and this catches him at his playing and singing best.
My choice scrap of Sheldon live — as the “lovely young vocalist” with the Bill Berry LA Big Band (at Concord Jazz Festival): “Hello Rev” (Concord Jazz, CJ-27). He does
“How to be your own best friend,” then a quick segue into “Tulip or Turnip” a vocal and some of that mordant trumpet. “Priceless. For everything else there’s Master Card.”
Hi Doug, I went to LA City College with Sheldon. Recently married, my wife and I stayed at a 5 unit court owned by Jack’s aunt. His aunt taught babies how to swim and one of Jack’s first albums has Jack, trumpet and baby swimming underwater. His jazz talent was obvious even then (as was my lack of same). He was a character back then also. We traveled to school in his old Packard convertable and he would often stand up in the car while driving.
What was said about Jack being off limits in some clubs is definitely true. I went to see him at Jazz Alley some years ago when Jack was there with Red Holloway. Jack’s “not politically correct” humor was not appreciated by Jazz Alley management and that was it for Jack at the Alley, one night, one joke, and he was gone.
I would include Jack’s CD for Uptown, Playing for Change with Jerry Dodgion, Barry Harris, Rufus Reid and Ben Riley. Terrific arrangements by Don Sickler, especially of the neglected Paul Chambers composition, Dear Ann.
Thanks so much for the Jack Sheldon posting. I’m happy to report that I have a copy of the original LP (“The Hi-Los and All that Jazz”) and there were periods when I listened to it non-stop, as much for the band as for the Hi-Los. Weren’t the arrangements from Marty Paich? I think Bob Enevoldsen was on the recording and played very well.
Ah, but Jack Sheldon….Even now, I can sing his solo on “Then I’ll be Tired of You.” (I have some Canadian brass player friends who call JS the original Guido Basso…) Many others–yourself included–can write much more eloquently about JS’s work but here is an unusual element. I coach a number of professional players some of whom are early music people. One person, I’ve been coaching for many years is a North American natural trumpet player and I’ve always pushed him to listen to JS for ideas about rticulation, breathing, phrasing and line, and (his ever elegant) legato. JS’s approach to the modern instrument is unique, and young/developing players could not find a better player to pay close attention to. In my view, very few jazz musicians can teach as much when they play.
Thanks again for making me smile as I remember why American jazz is so rich.
Ummm, no, Mr. Kountz. I hope I’m wrong to take your note to mean that Guido Basso is a copyist.
Uh Uh. Just ’cause they are both supreme caressers of melody doesn’t mean one is a follower of the other. Guido Basso is the original Guido Basso, as JS is the original JS.
I’ve heard LOTS of both of them, and while there of course are similarities you’d have to have a tin ear to confuse them.
No, no,no..not at all…I mean that Guido Basso and Jack Sheldon are both original and both unique and yet that there are similar ways in which they approach their instruments. Neither one is a copyist….and I think there are no two other players quite the same as GB and JS. For my taste, these are THE two players…and musicians.
I do apologize if I gave any offense, especially if I seemed to slight GB. Never!
Abject-on-your-knees-apology accepted, Peter. I’m in full agreement that they’re both marvellous jazz players, and criminally underappreciated.
I’ve long considered Jack Sheldon a national treasure for his playing, his singing, and his humor, all of which hit me exactly where and how I like to be hit.
As good as he is on trumpet, I find Jack’s latter year singing equally satisfying. No accident — he studied it seriously, and, I think, was strongly influenced by Chet Baker. Jack and Chet Baker were running buddies in their early years, and Jack clearly admired Chet musically.
Some years ago, I wrote a piece for the Chicago Jazz Institute’s newletter about soloists who committed grand larceny, stealing the show from the star or leader they supported. I gave three examples. First was Prez, who stole Blue and Sentimental from his section-mate Herschel Evans with a gorgeous clarinet solo. Second was Clifford Brown on Sonny Rollins’ Valse Hot. Third was Sheldon on “Then I’ll be Tired of You” and “Small Fry.”
Sheldon’s talent as a comedian should not be underestimated. His Capitol LP of standup comedy, “Ooh But It’s Good,” recorded live in a club abetted by guitarist Jack Marshall is a quirky delight. So is “Out,” a collection of equally kinky songs. In 1964, I was finishing an engineering degree in Cincinnati when the local jazz station (WNOP) picked up on “Ooh–” and started plugging it. Before long, Sheldon the comedian was a star in Cincinnati; the station had sold thousands of tee shirts emblazoned with artwork and the punch line from one of his routines; and the station’s program director had booked Jack for a week at his popular downtown jazz club. Jack arrived with his trumpet, planning to work all week with the local rhythm section that had been assembled for him. But the crowd came to hear his comedy, and knew his act better than he did. Here’s a link to the Jazz Insitute Piece.
http://www.jazzinchicago.org/Internal/Articles/tabid/43/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/389/JackSheldon.aspx
Jim Brown
As a kid, growing up in the late 50s and early 60s, Jack Sheldon was a hero of mine. I knew him mainly from his TV appearances, and thought he was a comic who just happened to play trumpet, the way Jack Benny played violin.
I remember one performance though, where Sheldon was telling some jokes–he was a verrry funny comic–and then after the laughs were over he started playing his trumpet, and I was electrified; I got goosebumps. (It may have been “The Shadow of Your Smile”.)
I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but Jack plays and sings on a couple of tracks on the new Tierney Sutton album, ON THE OTHER SIDE.
Now I have to find a copy of the HI-LOS and ALL THAT JAZZ…
LCK