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ARCHIVES
Monthly Archives: September 2014
JAMES DAPOGNY’S CHICAGO JAZZ BAND at the EVERGREEN JAZZ FESTIVAL (Part Two)
James Dapogny’s Chicago Jazz Band is one of my favorite groups — whether they are expertly navigating through their leader’s compact, evocative arrangements or going for themselves. The noble fellows on the stand at the 2014 Evergreen Jazz Festival were Dapogny, piano / arrangements; Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet; Chris Smith, trombone, vocal; Kim Cusack, clarinet, alto saxophone, vocal; Russ Whitman, clarinet, tenor, baritone saxophone; Rod McDonald, guitar; Dean Ross (a Denver native), string bass; Pete Siers, drums.
The CJB was one of the absolute high points of Evergreen (which I documented here) and I offer five more tasty main dishes:
DON’T BE THAT WAY was one of Edgar Sampson’s great compositions, most often known through Benny Goodman’s rather brisk performances (it worked even better at slow glide, as Lester Young proved) but one of the most memorable recordings of this song was done by a Teddy Wilson small group in 1938 — featuring those Commodoreans Bobby Hackett and Pee Wee Russell. The CJB pays tribute to both the song and the performance here (although I point out that the CJB is not copying the solos from the record). Tell the children not to be afraid: Mr. Kellso growls but he doesn’t bite:
IS YOU IS OR IS YOU AIN’T MY BABY? is a deep question, whether or not Louis Jordan was asking it. Here Professor Dapogny and the Chicago Jazz Chorus make the same inquiry with renewed curiosity:
She just got here yesterday, and already she made an impression (I hear Ethel Waters pointing out these facts) — that’s SWEET GEORGIA BROWN:
I know that pianist / composer Alex Hill, who died far too young, is one of Dapogny’s heroes — mine too — someone responsible for memorable melodies and arrangements as well as fine piano. DELTA BOUND is (for those who know the lyrics) one of those “I can’t wait to get home down South” songs both created and thrust upon African-Americans in the Twenties and Thirties, but its simple melody is deeply haunting — especially in this evocative performance, as arranged by Dapogny:
Valve trombonist Juan Tizol’s CARAVAN has been made in to material for percussion explosions for some time (perhaps beginning with Jo Jones in the Fifties) but here it is a beautifully-realized bit of faux-exotica (camels not required) harking back to the late-Thirties Ellington small groups:
Splendid playing and arrangements. And more to come.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Jazz Worth Reading, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Alex Hill, Bobby Hackett, Chris Smith, Commodore Records, Dean Ross, Duke Ellington, Edgar Sampson, Ethel Waters, Evergreen Jazz Festival, James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band, Jazz Lives, Jim Dapogny, Jo Jones, Jon-Erik Kellso, Juan Tizol, Kim Cusack, Lester Young, Louis Jordan, Michael Steinman, Pee Wee Russell, Pete Siers, Rod McDonald, Russ Whitman, Teddy Wilson
MUSIC FOR A DETERMINED MAN (October 6, 2014)
You could say many things about Eric Offner. You could note his birthplace (Austria, 1928) or the date of his death (June 3, 2014). You could sum up his distinguished career in trademark law, or refer to his autobiography. But what might be most important about Eric is that he was transformed by the experience of jazz, and, as a result, founded the Sidney Bechet Society which produced 17 seasons of live hot jazz concerts. (The true-to-life photograph of Eric was taken by our friend, photographer Geri Goldman Reichgut.)
We know that people can contribute greatly to the health and vitality of an art form without being artists themselves, and Eric was one of those people. His distinguishing characteristic, to me, was a determined focus on an ideal: the kind of music his hero Sidney Bechet both played and embodied: hot, intense, impassioned, reaching back to a New Orleans past but simultaneously alive in the present.
The Sidney Bechet Society is honoring its president and founder with a concert this coming Monday (at the late-twilight hour of 7:15) at Symphony Space, which is at 95th Street and Broadway in New York City. It features the clarinetist Evan Christopher, trumpeter Byron Stripling, pianist Bobby Floyd, string bassist Kelly Friesen, and drummer Marion Felder. I know they will fill the room with music that both celebrates and mourns a man wholly devoted to the sounds that have so often healed us.
Here is the link where you can purchase tickets.
Like the music he believed in, Eric was determined — devoted to an ideal. And that ideal will show its durability, its joy and ferocity this Monday night.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Awful Sad, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Bobby Floyd, Byron Stripling, Eric Offner, Evan Christopher, hot jazz, Jazz Lives, Kelly Friesen, Marion Felder, Michael Steinman, obituary, Sidney Bachet, Sidney Bechet Society, Symphony Space
IN FULL STRIDE: DICK HYMAN and MIKE LIPSKIN at PIEDMONT PIANO (August 9, 2014)
Here are two masters of swing and stride piano with impeccable credentials — Dick Hyman and Mike Lipskin. Together they’ve learned from and played with everyone from Teddy Wilson to Willie “the Lion” Smith to Willie Gant, Cliff Jackson . . . not forgetting Charlie Parker, Ruby Braff, Joe Wilder, and many others. They played beautifully on wonderful instruments supplied by Piedmont Piano in Oakland, California, on August 9, 2014. And the buoyant tune is LINGER AWHILE — which we did:
“Sweet, soft, plenty rhythm,” said Mister Morton.
And for the scholars in the audience, LINGER AWHILE — a favorite of pianists and bands even today — was written in 1923 by Vincent Rose and Harry Owens:
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Charlie Parker, Dick Hyman, Jazz Lives, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe Wilder, Michael Steinman, Mike Lipskin, Piedmont Piano, Ruby Braff, Stride piano, Teddy Wilson, Willie "the Lion" Smith
WE HAD A BALL: THE 2014 ALLEGHENY JAZZ PARTY
The first thing you need to know is that the 2015 Allegheny Jazz Party will take place on September 10-13, 2015, at the Inter-Continental Hotel (near the Cleveland Clinic) in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Michael, that’s a year from now. Why are you telling us this?”
I had such a good time at the AJP just concluded that I want everyone to get ready for next year: wonderful music in profusion, comfortable surroundings, a quiet and attentive audience paying serious attention to the good sounds, good food, comfortable rooms in a hotel full of very friendly staff. Ease and friendliness prevailed, thanks to Nancy Griffith and Kathy Hancock, who could run a medium-sized country with gentleness and efficiency.
You’ll notice I put MUSIC at the top of that list. Here’s a sample — the second performance from the informal session on Thursday night, created by Duke Heitger, trumpet; Bob Havens (amazing at 84 or any age), trombone; Nicki Parrott, string bass; Howard Alden, guitar; Rossano Sportiello, piano:
You can keep up with the AJP here or at website.
The experience at the AJP was special for reasons beyond the splendid music: a rare comfort was in the air and the guests were so easy with one another. If you have a 2015 calendar, I encourage you to mark the dates on it now. You won’t be sorry.
More videos to come.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged Allegheny Jazz Party, Bob Havens, Cleveland, Duke Heitger, good times, hot jazz, Howard Alden, Jazz Lives, jazz party, Kathy Hancock, Michael Steinman, Nancy Hancock Griffith, Nicki Parrott, Rossano Sportiello
MICHAEL KANAN and NEAL MINER at MEZZROW (Part One): SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
Wonderful music is being made at the new jazz club at 163 West Tenth Street in New York City, Mezzrow, and I was there to witness some of the beauty on September 16, 2014. The creators were pianist Michael Kanan and bassist / composer Neal Miner, and the result was glorious sounds in an inviting place. Here is the first half of their sweetly inspiring recital. The videos are dark but the music gleams.
IT’S YOU OR NO ONE:
GONE WITH THE WIND:
LULLABY OF THE LEAVES:
WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS:
AUTUMN IN NEW YORK:
I will share the second half with JAZZ LIVES soon, but I’d like this one to sink in. Michael and Neal know that there is deep emotional life in “these old songs,” which have not grown old and will not as long as they are handled with intelligent tenderness. As they are here.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged ballads, Jazz Lives, lyricism, MEZZROW, Michael Kanan, Michael Steinman, Neal Miner, New York City, piano, Spike WIlner, string bass
EDDIE CONDON’S WORLD OF JAZZ: September 4, 1940
This is the first of a series devoted to the wonders created by Eddie Condon and his friends. Unfortunately, I cannot offer rare musical examples. That you will have to do for yourselves, and it is reassuring that so much of what Mr. Condon and his colleagues created was documented on disc so that we can now hear it.
What I have to offer you are snippets of print documentation — new to me at the time I discovered them, and I hope to you. Perhaps a decade ago, at work in the microfilm archives of my college’s library, I was searching the New York Times archives for something literary. On a whim, I typed in “Eddie Condon” and found perhaps thirty or forty mentions of him in that newspaper. I remember putting dimes into the printer and copying each page. The file folder with the copies turned up not long ago — reason to begin a series for JAZZ LIVES.
Eddie’s wife, Phyllis (born Smith) was an invaluable part of the D’Arcy advertising agency (she handled the Coca-Cola account, which should tell you something about her stature at the firm). Eddie was ambitious about getting the music heard — by people who might not come down to a night club where the clientele was drinking liquor and smoking — so Phyllis made connections. A New York Times advertisement from September 4, 1940, is one of my favorite Imagined Delights.
John Wanamaker
Fashion Show
Today at 3 P.M.!
Cum Laude Clinic
(A line drawing of a guitarist, string bassist, trumpeter, clarinetist, trombonist)
Do you know what Bennington girls bowl in? what Smith seniors snooze in? what the Princeton stags think of black? of red? Do you know of what stuff Daisy chains are made–and what about knees? and prom-bees? Get the lowdown insight straight from the shoulders of our cum laude clinic–five brainy beauties from Sarah Lawrence, VAssar, Michigan State, Swarthmore, Mt. Holyoke. See big men from Virginia, Williams, Cornell, M.I.T., Stevens turkey-trot down the runway in tweeds and tails. Learn how pink-snuggle-bunnies can help you get an A-double-plus in Pol. Sci.; learn what clothes distract half-backs, shot-putters.
* * *
Hear swing as swung by Bobby Hackett’s All Star Band from Nick’s-in-the-Village — hear jive experts Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, Pee Wee Russell, Brad Gowans, Artie Shapiro, Joe Sullivan, George Wettling. Come early and hear the music, today at 3! Fourth Floor, Fashion Store.
We could deconstruct this advertisement for all the obsolete assumptions about young women and young men, about college life, about materialism in the United States, but I’d rather think about the band.
If I had been twenty in September 1940, I’d be ninety-four now. Had I a Presto disc cutter or a 16 mm sound camera . . . that way sadness lies. Better to bask in the whimsy of one of the best bands ever playing hot those gorgeously and expensively-dressed young men and women.
And, yes, there was once a time when hot music was popular music.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Jazz Worth Reading, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Things We Love
Tagged Artie Shapiro, Bobby Hackett, Brad Gowans, Eddie Condon, fashion show, George Wettling, Jazz Lives, Joe Sullivan, Michael Steinman, New York Times, Nick's, Pee Wee Russell
DUKE HEITGER’S STEAMBOAT STOMP (November 14-16, 2014)
I had a wonderful time at the inaugural Steamboat Stomp last fall — the pure pleasure of hearing hot New Orleans jazz on a steamboat cruising up and down the Mississippi River. Mark Twain, Fate Marable, David Jones, and young Mister Armstrong all combined.
I cannot go to this year’s effusion of good times and good music (three festivals in one month is too much for me while I am attempting to hold a full-time job), so there will be an empty seat. So I urge you to go in my place, and bring your jazz-loving friends.
Musical evidence here and here — and there is more from the 2013 Stomp if you search JAZZ LIVES.
And here is what Duke Heitger, the generous beacon of hot jazz, has to tell us:
The second annual Steamboat Stomp is about 2 months out (November 14-16). This is a wonderful time of year to be in New Orleans, and we have added some marquee names to the already stellar roster including Evan Christopher, Jon-Erik Kellso and Hal Smith. This will surely be a weekend of great music and great fun. Weekend packages and a variety of exciting sponsorship opportunities are still available. As you know, the support and participation of folks like you are key to the success of events like Steamboat Stomp. Please visit www.steamboatstompneworleans.com for more information. If you have any questions with regards to hotels, reservations, etc… I will be happy to assist you personally at dukeheit@bellsouth.net. This promises to be a very special event. I hope to see you there!
What Duke’s letter does not say is . . . the Yerba Buena Stompers, Banu Gibson, Tim Laughlin, Topsy Chapman, Solid Harmony, the Dukes of Dixieland . . . joy-spreaders all. Don’t let this weekend event steam right by you.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Banu Gibson, David Jones, Dukes of Dixieland, Evan Christopher, Fate Marable, Jazz Lives, Jon-Erik Kellso, Louis Armstrong, Michael Steinman, Mississippi River, New Orleans, steamboat, Steamboat Stomp, Tim Laughlin, Topsy Chapman, Yerba Buena Stompers
MEREDITH AXELROD, CRAIG VENTRESCO, LEON OAKLEY, ROBERT YOUNG, ARI MUNKRES (The JAZZ LIVES House Concert Series, August 24, 2014)
Two very creative souls are singer / guitarist Meredith Axelrod and guitarist Craig Ventresco — wonderful elliptical individualists who energetically and sweetly reinvent the larger musics (the plural is intentional) of nearly-forgotten times. I’ve known and admired them for nearly a decade now, but was often slightly frustrated because they send out extraordinary music that has to battle with conversation. I know this is a fact of playing and singing in this century, but I was involved in a little house party that featured Meredith and Craig. And there were friends making music, too: Leon Oakley, cornet; Robert Young, saxophone; Ari Munkres, string bass. I asked this group if they would perform a few tunes just for you — the JAZZ LIVES audience. They did, and here are three delicious unbuttoned but precise offerings:
NEW ORLEANS HOP SCOP BLUES:
EGYPTIAN ELLA:
I’M GOING TO MEET MY SWEETIE NOW:
I wish there were some way to hear Meredith and Craig with a small cast of strolling players on a regular basis, and several ideas come to mind.
If this music appeals to you, contact Meredith at her whimsical email address, meredithanthraxelrod@gmail.com and she will respond promptly. They love the idea of coming to your home and making merry.
Or you can check her website to see videos of the two of them in performance, to learn their current schedule, to have deep metaphysical queries answered — perhaps with more queries, but that’s metaphysics. Here is Meredith’s website, a very educational experience.
If you live near North Beach in San Francisco, in Berkeley, or Oakland, you have a good chance to see these two — and friends — on a regular basis. But I hear the New Yorkers whimpering, “What about US?”
Good news. Meredith and Craig will be making a brief but intense New York tour in less than two weeks, and on Saturday, September 27, they will be appearing at the Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn — along with Dennis Lichtman, Matt Munisteri, and Tamar Korn — for a 9 – 11:30 PM show. Buy tickets here. Jalopy is at 315 Columbia Street, and their many-splendored website is here.
East or West, Meredith and Craig and their exalted friends make refreshing music.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged Ari Munkres, Craig Ventresco, Dennis Lichtman, house concert, Jalopy Theatre, Jazz Lives, Leon Oakley, Matt Munisteri, Michael Steinman, Robert Young, Tamar Korn
SWEET AND SALTY: EDDIE ERICKSON’S AMERICANA at the 2014 SAN DIEGO JAZZ PARTY
This version of SIDE BY SIDE, performed by Mr. Erickson at the February 2014 San Diego Jazz Party, has some surprises.
Eddie’s co-conspirators (some of them who may not know the script) are Johnny Varro, piano; Nicki Parrott, string bass; Chuck Redd, drums; Bria Skonberg, trumpet; Antti Sarpila, clarinet. But the spotlight is justifiably on Mr. Erickson, great guitarist, seductive vocalist, splendid improvisatory-theatre director and comedian, creating a sweet collective experience that turns comic at the end:
I read what I could about the closing verse and one source says that of course the author is Anonymous, but this set of lyrics is said to have originated during the Second World War. Seems right to me: the sort of thing that soldiers could sing to amuse themselves, that children could learn and horrify their parents, and that we could all remember — a sort of guilty pleasure.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Irreplaceable, It's A Mystery, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Antti Sarpila, Bria Skonberg, Chuck Redd, Eddie Erickson, Jazz Lives, Johnny Varro, Michael Steinman, Nicki Parrott, parody, San Diego Jazz Party, SIDE BY SIDE
AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FROM ORAN THADDEUS PAGE
On eBay!
As an English professor, I shiver at the misplaced apostrophe. But were he in my class, I would have given Mister Page an A. Why? Listen to this:
and this:
and this:
I rest my case. I would have liked to be someone he called “Chum.”
Thanks to friend and eBay spotter extraordinaire David J. Weiner for this treasure.
May your happiness increase!
FLAMING YOUTH: LES RED HOT REEDWARMERS at the WHITLEY BAY CLASSIC JAZZ PARTY (Nov. 2, 2013)
I mean it. In a forest of young people playing and attempting to honor this classic music, Les Red Hot Reedwarmers are both ecstatic and expert — musical racing-car drivers who are also capable of deep lyricism. I caught them in action at the Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party on November 2, 2013.
They are Aurelie Tropez and Stephane Gillot, clarinets / saxophones (married and parents for those who like to know such things); Henri Lemaire, banjo / guitar; Martin Seck, piano; Jean-Phillippe Palma, bass; Julien Richard, drums and percussion.
Alex Hill’s moody, unforgettable DELTA BOUND (one of those songs that, once remembered, sticks in one’s mind):
VARIETY STOMP, where they simulate the fervor of the 1927 Henderson band:
RED HOT STARTERS, a new composition by Stephane:
CANDY LIPS (like VARIETY STOMP, a frolic):
LOVE, YOUR MAGIC SPELL IS EVERYWHERE, in honor of Mike Durham and Jimmie Noone:
LRHR began as a very inspired reinvention of Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra, but they have blossomed imaginatively since their start. Please note how ingenious and multi-layered each performance is — a small concerto for six instruments, with variations in timbre and sound achieved not only by impressive instrument-swapping but also through orchestral textures. Not only are they marvelous technicians, but they have a thoroughly original approach to their music, which makes their performances lively and varied. They’ve also recorded wonderful compact discs for Stomp Off Records: KING JOE (2005); APEX BLUES (2007); RED HOT STARTERS (2013).
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Ideal Places, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged Alex Hill, Aurelie Tropez, Clarence Williams, Fletcher Henderson, Jazz Lives, Jean-Phillippe Palma, Jimmie Noone, Julien Richard, Martin Seck, Michael Steinman, Mike Durham, reeds, Stephane Gillot, Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party
KATIE AND FRIENDS PLAY FATS AND FRIENDS! (KATIE CAVERA, CHRIS CALABRESE, MARC CAPARONE, CLINT BAKER, SAM ROCHA): Hot Jazz Jubilee, August 30, 2014)
Fats Waller created joy.
In the 1939 photograph, he is with his manager Shep Allen at the Howard Theatre: credit to Scurlock Studios and thanks to Chuck Slate.
Although Fats has been elsewhere for almost sixty-five years, he continues to inspire. One example is this sweetly energetic session recorded by the ubiquitous, diligent Rae Ann Berry (all hail! all hail!) at the second annual Hot Jazz Jubilee in Rancho Cordova, California.
This energized band — titled JUST KATIE AND FRIENDS — was, for this wonderful gathering, our Miss Cavera, guitar, vocal; Marc Caparone, cornet, vocal; Clint Baker, trombone, clarinet, vocal; Chris Calabrese, piano; Sam Rocha, string bass, vocal.
Their repertoire for this set was primarily Fats — songs composed / featured by him — as well as by fellow pianists Claude Hopkins and Earl Hines. A ringer, WAITING AT THE END OF THE ROAD, is by Irving Berlin — but both Fats and the Paul Whiteman band recorded it.
Notice that JK&F doesn’t aim to reproduce the Waller-Autrey-Sedric-Casey ambiance; there is a welcome absence of “Wallerisms,” either in rapid tempos or shouts by the ensemble. Chris Calabrese, bless him, can hold his own in any stride session, so the relaxed approach is everyone’s choice.
What you will experience is a congenial group of swinging pals, and you might hear echoes of Henry “Red” Allen, Mouse Randolph, J.C. Higginbotham, Al Morgan, Carmen Mastren, James P. Johnson, Albert Nicholas, Count Basie, the Rhythmakers — an aesthetic roundtrip between 1936 and 2014 — but the individual resonances and loving nods coalesce into a joyous whole.
THAT RHYTHM MAN:
HOW CAN YOU FACE ME? (with Katie’s rather plaintive inquiry):
FAIR AND SQUARE (in memory of Lueder Ohlwein and the Sunset Music Company as well as Fats, with an egalitarian vocal by Marc):
UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG:
LONESOME ME (a feature for the extremely talented Mr. Calabrese):
WAITING AT THE END OF THE ROAD (with hopeful vocalizing by Clint):
ROSETTA (sung by our Sam, with echoes of THE SOUND OF JAZZ):
BABY BROWN (by Alex Hill, who is reputedly the true composer of the next tune as well):
I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, an earnest assertion from Clint:
Fats gave us everything he had, and we are still smiling at what (Just) Katie and Friends have made from his inspirations.
We don’t have to wait for The Real Thing To Come Along. Surely it’s here.
Ms. Berry is essential to our edification, for here is her regularly-updated list of San Francisco / Bay Area hot jazz attractions; here is her YouTube channel, where she has nearly a thousand subscribers (she’s been posting videos since March 2008).
And she’s had a direct influence on my life, because I saw all there was to see of hot California jazz through her efforts, and you know the rest. She’s also on Facebook, displaying the same energies as her improvising heroes.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Hotter Than That, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged Al Morgan, Albert Nicholas, Alex Hill, Bing Crosby, Carmen Mastren, Chris Calabrese, Claude Hopkins, Clint Baker, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Fats Waller and his Rhythm, Henry "Red" Allen, Hot Jazz Jubilee, Irving Berlin, J.C.Higginbotham, James P. Johnson, JUST KATIE & FRIENDS, Katie Cavera, Lueder Ohlwein, Marc Caparone, Mouse Randolph, Paul Whiteman, Rae Ann Berry, Rae Ann Hopkins Berry, RaeAnn Berry, Sam Rocha, Sunset Music Company, the Rhythmakers
MASTERS OF MELODY: MUNDELL LOWE, BUCKY PIZZARELLI, DAVE STONE, ED METZ at the SAN DIEGO JAZZ PARTY (February 23, 2014)
My visit to the San Diego Jazz Party (February 21-23 of this year) was a real pleasure: good music proliferated in comfortable surroundings among very nice people.
But a special delight was seeing guitarist Mundell Lowe in action: melodic, gentle, compelling without raising his volume or playing one superfluous note.
And his graceful playing belies his birthdate: April 21, 1922, which means he was two months shy of 92 when these videos were done. Ponder that. Music keeps him young. And listening to Mundell will surely have the same salutary effect on us.
After these performances, Party founder Dave Cooper presented Mundell with the SDJP Jazz Legend award; it seemed to all of us that Mundell had generously awarded all of us the gift of unforgettable yet unpretentious music.
In this he had some masterful assistance and comradeship: Bucky Pizzarelli, Dave Stone, and Ed Metz — superb embodiments of swinging melodic improvisation.
WHAT AM I HERE FOR?:
A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE:
PUT YOUR DREAMS AWAY:
I’LL NEVER BE THE SAME:
LESTER LEAPS IN:
Please notice: the love of melody, of sweet sound, of floating medium tempo, of taking-your-time ballad playing. These players know how to tell unforgettable stories in one solo chorus. Masterful and memorable.
The 2015 Party will take place at the Hilton San Diego / Del Mar in Del Mar, California, on the weekend of February 20-22, 2015. Details here.
May your happiness increase!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Bliss!, Generosities, Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, It's All True, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, That Was Fun!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love, Wow!
Tagged Bucky Pizzarelli, Dave Cooper, Dave Stone, Ed Metz, guitar, jazz legends, Jazz Lives, Michael Steinman, Mundell Lowe, San Diego Jazz Party