Until recently, it may have seemed that the singer and songwriter Anne Phillips had resigned as a performer. She had not. Those who remember her 1959 debut album, Born To Be Blue, may be delighted to know that her years below the radar as a writer, arranger, conductor and studio musician did nothing to dilute her impact as a performer. She has buoyed her undiminished presence with a follow-up to her second rare album, Gonna Lay My Heart On The Line, released in 2000. The new one captures her in person at the venerable Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. In it, she covers several of her own songs and a few standards. Phillips’s exceptional (“Always be sure you really need that adjective,” a newspaper editor used to yell at me). Her (yes, I’m sure…exceptional) accompanists are pianist Roger Kellaway, bassist Chuck Berghoffer, and New York saxophonist Bob Kindred, who died in 2016. From only the third album of her busy career, here is Anne Phillips revisiting Robert Wells’ and Mel Tormé’s “Born To Be Blue
Coincidentally, Kellaway is also out with a new album, The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway. Accompanied by guitarist Bruce Forman and bassist Dan Lutz, he plays works by Richard Rodgers, Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond, Cole Porter and here, the Sonny Rollins jazz standard “Doxy.”
Roger Kellaway’s trio was recorded live at The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. So was Anne Phillips. The Kellaway album was recorded in 2010. Why it was held so long before being released, I don’t know. Your ears may tell you that the problem wasn’t quality.
Sweet music! Thanks, Doug!
Thought I heard a quote from “You Must’ve Been A Beautiful Baby” in the middle of “Doxy”.
Your editor used to yell at you about the word “exceptional”?
No. he yelled about excessive adjectives, as every editor should.
If ever the expression “it rained notes ” made sense it certainly does here with Kellaway having the best time…or maybe it should be reigned notes.
Roger Kellaway inserts a quote from a song right at the end of “Doxy.” I can’t identify it. I almost know what it is; it’s frustrating.
The video playback shows elapsed time. If you note the time of the quote and send a reply, maybe a sharp Rifftides reader will identify the quoted song.
It’s at 9:10 or 9:11 and goes to the end.
As you (reasonably of course) noted, the album was recorded a few years back. The delay in the release was not due to any issues regarding the music or anything else besides the financial resources needed to manufacture, distribute, warehouse, and promote a CD, which were even greater back then when physical delivery was a necessary part of the project. Also, at the time, we had a couple of recent releases with Roger and putting another one out to compete with each other when nothing was moving off the shelves would have been difficult to say the least. I opted to use the limited available resources at the time for the final Frank Wess albums, which I think were invaluable.
When Roger decided to celebrate his 80th birthday at Birdland it brought this material to mind and I thought the release would be a nice contribution to the event. Then, listening to it once more, I realized it’s about as fine as any piano playing I can recall, by Roger or anyone else for that matter (and I’ve heard quite a lot of piano playing). Since Roger’s contributions as a pianist, and in other areas, have flown somewhat under the radar over the years (I’m in a jazz combo group at the 92nd St Y in New York where NOBODY had heard of him), this has been a welcome opportunity to perhaps wake a few people up.
(Mr. Sorin is president of IPO Records–DR)