In the beginning, Stash Records specialized in songs from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s that dealt with drugs and sex. The first Stash compilation of old recordings, in 1976, was called Reefer Songs. Another of the label’s big sellers was Copulatin’ Blues. Eventually, founder Bernie Brightman, began making original recordings by jazz artists, including singer Chris Connor and pianist Hilton Ruiz. To his eternal credit (he died in 2003), Brightman also recorded two albums by Anita Gravine, an artist whose talent justifies wide fame but who has remained an insiders’ favorite. Here is my mini-review of one of her Stash LPs, from the July, 1986 issue of Texas Monthly.
Anita Gravine, I Always Knew (Stash ST 255). An experienced but little-known singer whose second album is even better than her first, Gravine handles both ballad and up-tempo songs with ease of voice production and rhythmic assurance. Mike Abene‘s arrangements are stimulatingly unclichéd. The album is further graced by the trumpet solos of Tom Harrell. All of the above outdo themselves on a wonderful fugitive from the forties, “The Coffee Song.”
Before you listen to “The Coffee Song,” you should know that the all-star rhythm section is Abene, piano; George Mraz, bass; and Billy Hart, drums. The strings are led by the amazing Harry Lookofsky. Harrell solos majestically over Abene’s rich carpet of dissonance. The arrangement led composer and arranger Bill Kirchner to call this “Bartók Goes to Brazil.” If you’re trying to stay awake, this is better than caffeine.
My research indicates that Stash Records no longer exists. Neither of Gravine’s Stash albums made it to CD, although two of her later albums have. Her Stash LPs are around but hard to find. If you’re interested in I Always Knew, you might try this website or this one.
Among the “two of her later albums” is “Welcome To My Dream”. It’s a masterpiece, one of the finest jazz albums of the past three decades. Anita’s singing and Mike Abene’s arrangements are wonderful, and the accompanying big band (with featured soloist Gary Burton) is spectacular. (Disclosure: I had the pleasure of playing in its six-man reed section–one of the great musical experiences of my career.)
Anita’s brother is trombonist/leader Mickey Gravine, and her sister Mary was the proprietor of the much missed jazz club in Edgewater, NJ, called Struggles, where I played with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims for the last time.
And (disclosure) I wrote the notes for “Welcome To My Dream,” which is everything that Bill says it is. Anita is a great singer, Abene’s big-band arrangements are in the Gil Evans’ class (though Abene is his own man), and the small group tracks have some of Burton’s best playing ever. The rhythmic wave Anita can generate at slow tempos!
Great phrasing and carrying a “big beat”, Anita phrases across the bar with perfect intonation that never wavers. It’s the “character” and integrity of her approach to each and every song that warrants repeated listening to appreciate the nuance. Sign me up for more……
(Mr. Basile plays guitar on Ms. Gravine’s CD Lights! Camera! Passion!: Jazz and the Italian Cinema.—DR)
Def a great singer and a funny gal. We had the pleasure of doing some loft concerts together in the 70’s and it was my last and most musically rewarding collaboration as an accompanist. But I did more than accompany. It was like playing for a great horn player, so a lot of give and take. Great repertoire, great charts, the works you’d expect from a real professional.
My wife carol, Anita and I did some serious “hanging” in the village at the time.
I’ve known Anita Gravine’s singing over the years. She always had a
great beat and her ballad singing was and is rich and dark-hued with a
deep sensitivity to lyrics as well as a deeply touching spontaneous
emotionality. When she recorded with the astoundingly talented Mike
Abene as arranger and pianist, she created albums that are nothing less
than classic. I hope her work becomes more widely appreciated. It certainly deserves it.
Having graduated HS with Anita, I am delighted to find this spot . Enjoyed her Brazilian coffee brew. Obrigado!
Does anyone know her whereabouts??
The last I heard, she was still in New York City.