DANCING, TEARFULLY HOT

The facts.

Joe Venuti And His New Yorkers : Ray Lodwig, Manny Klein, trumpet; Jack Teagarden, trombone; Irving Friedman, clarinet; Arnold Brilhart, alto saxophone; Bernard Daly, tenor saxophone; Min Leibrook, bass saxophone; Joe Venuti, violin; Lennie Hayton, piano; Eddie Lang, guitar; Herb Quigley, drums, harpophone; Smith Ballew, vocal. New York, May 22, 1930. The song’s composers are Joe Burke and Al Dubin, heroes also.

I’ve loved this performance (in two versions) for decades. Jack Teagarden is, as always, the Master of Improvisation, as he shows in two recordings possibly created less than ten minutes apart. When I first heard it, though, the focus of my attention would have been the hot solos by Venuti and Jack.

Thanks to my teacher in such things, Andrew Sammut, I now admire the lovely sound of the dance orchestra, the lilt of the rhythm section, Smith Ballew’s friendly loose-jointed singing, all the good things that happen before the first solo, the way these players inhabit the stock arrangement, Venuti’s violin blending in wherever he would amplify the harmonies the best, Friedman’s obbligato to the vocal, then Mister Tea, sounding ten feet tall, Quigley rocking the choked cymbal behind him (with a by-the-book Lodwig or Klein bridge for anyone unsettled by Jack’s valor), his ferocious return — the equal of Louis or Bix at their finest — before the ensemble, with Hayton and Friedman helping out, rocks to the end, Eddie Lang at the heart of it all. What a musical performance!

and a second go-round. Thank you, anonymous A&R person (Bob Stephens?) or Venuti for wanting a second take. I don’t have my library nearby so I cannot be sure which take came first, but here it is:

Two footnotes, both with Marty Grosz at the center. When Marty would describe, nostalgically, the Chicago “joints” and “toilets” he played in, he would usually comment on the audience, men of a certain subtlety who had imbibed a good deal. One of their typical jokes would be to quote the title of this song with the emendation, “. . . the girl in my arms is a boy,” to raucous laughter. As someone used to say, you can dress them up but you can’t take them out.

This post was motivated by a very clear audio-visual memory of Marty leading a band, perhaps nine people, Vince Giordano on all his instruments, performing this tune at Jazz at Chautauqua, with the proper quarter-note rest between “in” and “my,” of course. I know I saw it. Did I record it or (I hope video-record) it? I must dig through my archives. Until then, keep dancing. And we wish for no tears.

P.S. It was originally a waltz: Ruth Etting tells her tale here, six days earlier:

P.S. I mentioned Andrew Sammut above. His specialty is deep (but never tedious) investigations into the life and music of worthy creators who have gotten ignored: I think of his fascinating research on Darnell Howard, Larry Abbott, Larry Binyon, and, most recently, trumpeter-bandleader Jack Stillman. Truly worth reading, stylish prose with no ideological ballast. And I get no commission.

May your happiness increase!

MARTY GROSZ PLAYS IRVING BERLIN (Part Two): RANDY REINHART, BOB HAVENS, DAN BLOCK, SCOTT ROBINSON, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, FRANK TATE, JOHN VON OHLEN (Allegheny Jazz Party, September 22, 2014)

Marty at an Arbors Records date, 2009: photo by Michael Steinman

A triple delight: the bliss of Marty Grosz in his prime, surrounded by his noble peers, playing Irving Berlin. Marty is most often associated with small-group jazz of the hot Chicago kind, but this session reminds me so happily of a Basie small group, and that is no idle praise. It is seriously impromptu and wholly expert all at once.

The noble peers are Randy Reinhart, cornet; Bob Havens, trombone; Dan Block, clarinet, C-melody saxophone; Scott Robinson, tenor saxophone, taragoto; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Frank Tate, double bass; John Von Ohlen, drums. Allegheny Jazz Party, September 22, 2014.

In case you missed it, here is Part One, with Pete Siers, drums. The songs are WHAT’LL I DO?, ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND, and HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN? Irving liked to ask questions in his songs, but he had the answers.

MARTY GROSZ PLAYS IRVING BERLIN (Part One): RANDY REINHART, BOB HAVENS, DAN BLOCK, SCOTT ROBINSON, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, FRANK TATE, PETE SIERS (Allegheny Jazz Party, September 22, 2014)

And to complete the Musical Offering, two more. Randy has Bunny on his mind on MARIE, which is testimony to his deep musical understanding, but both these performances draw equally on a Fifty-Second Street, now imagined, and the exquisite recordings by Louis and the Mills Brothers. If you don’t know those, dig in and come back: they are peerless.

As are these!

MARIE:

THE SONG IS ENDED, which begins with classic Marty jive:

Oh, the melody lingers on. . .

May your happiness increase!

“EVERYBODY ON STAGE!”: THE FINALE OF THE JAZZ BASH BY THE BAY (Part One): MARC CAPARONE, ANDY SCHUMM, DAN BARRETT, HOWARD MIYATA, DAVE STUCKEY, NATHAN TOKUNAGA, JOHN OTTO, DAVE BENNETT, BRIAN HOLLAND, KATIE CAVERA, PAUL HAGGLUND, GARETH PRICE (March 3, 2024)

Take notes. All of this will be on the final.

The players are Marc Caparone, leader, cornet; Howard Miyata, trombone, vocal; Nathan Tokunaga, clarinet, soprano saxophone; Brian Holland, piano; Paul Hagglund, tuba; Gareth Price, drums, washboard, vocal; Katie Cavera, banjo, guitar, vocal; Andy Schumm, cornet, clarinet; John Otto, alto saxophone; Dave Bennett, clarinet; Dan Barrett, trombone; Dave Stuckey, banjo, vocals.

This was the closing extravaganza of the 2024 Jazz Bash by the Bay, honored guests sitting in with the Sierra Stompers. By that time, I was music-overwhelmed and physically depleted, so when I peeked into the DeAnza Ballroom and saw it SRO, I gave up and went in search of greener pastures.

Our hero, Sunny Tokunaga, had already snagged a fine seat and video-ed the whole thing, all nine videos, spectacularly (as is her habit).

Here’s the first part of the all-you-can-hear hot jazz buffet!

The began with DIGA DIGA DOO, splendidly. (No one called the KRAZY KAPERS riff at the end, but since I wasn’t in the audience, I wasn’t able to telepathically request it.) It’s delicious, anyway — note the 1938 Goodman / Stacy interlude in the middle:

In honor of Bix and Bing and most definitely Louis, FROM MONDAY ON:

Where’s Alphonse Picou? HIGH SOCIETY, scored for four reeds:

SAVOY BLUES, for an octet if my math is right:

You’d yell for more after this romp through WILLIE THE WEEPER:

“Wow wow wow,” as a colleague of mine used to say. Stay tuned for the second half of this gathering, which could have been so unwieldy without proper leadership (thank you, Maestro Caparone) and was glorious.

May your happiness increase!

“BEAUTY DOESN’T CARE WHERE IT RESIDES”: TEDDY WILSON, VIC DICKENSON, BOB WILBER, KENNY DAVERN, GEORGE DUVIVIER, DALLAS TAYLOR (Nice Jazz Festival, July 16,1977)

Where were you on July 16, 1977?

I can’t say, but through the kindness of a friend, I can take us all back to the Nice Jazz Festival to hear some priceless music: for instance, Kenny Davern and Bob Wilber using DIZZY ATMOSPHERE as a riff on I WANT TO BE HAPPY. Vic is in rare form (catch his ROSETTA); Davern is a trumpet-spectacular; Wilber is lyrical and hot. And how lovely to hear Wilson (brilliant on ROSETTA) and Duvivier in this context. (Who knows something about Dallas Taylor?) Davern lectures the crowd, memorably.

Everyone sounds truly happy.

Audiophiles be warned: this is a cassette-recording of an outdoor performance; it may run off speed; there is chatter. But wouldn’t it be ungracious to fuss over these things? This, more or less, is what we would have heard at Nice, and what a treasure it is.

The heroes are Teddy Wilson, piano; Bob Wilber, Kenny Davern, clarinet, soprano saxophone (Davern and Wilson make the announcements); Vic Dickenson, trombone, vocal; George Duvivier, double bass; Dallas Taylor, drums. Nice Jazz Festival, July 16, 1977. The tape is generously provided by Derek Coller. I WANT TO BE HAPPY (late start) / ON THE ALAMO / ROSETTA / [public service announcement] / I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (Vic, vocal) / RUNNIN’ WILD (rhythm) / MOTEN SWING //

The tape is a precious document. Bless Derek and people like him! But he does more than go to jazz oases with a cassette recorder. Derek is a great jazz scholar. His book on Big Joe Turner is a monument:

BIG JOE TURNER: “FEEL SO FINE”: A BIO-DISCOGRAPHY by DEREK COLLER (Hardinge Simpole, 2023)

We owe so much to people like Derek who have made the evanescent beautifully permanent. And to these glorious musicians who give so unstintingly for decades.

May your happiness increase!

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Please make sure that you are securely buckled into your seat. Listen responsibly.

Catch your breath. Check your pulse. Nothing breakable has suffered in the process? Let’s do another. The Reverend Leyland is ready to preach, and Pastor Siers is directing the congregation:

One more? All right. But no more. You’ll fill up on pleasure before supper:

This is an extraordinary new CD — the third in a series of duets between master drummer / washboardist Pete Siers and stellar pianist / vocalist Carl Sonny Leyland. And before you read another word from me, here is the Bandcamp link where you can purchase a download of this stirring music for about the price of a fancy coffee or a two-pound bag of organic carrots. (Other financial yardsticks are there for the imaginative to invent.)

I will only say that I was first dazzled by the swinging creative Mr. Siers in September 2004, when I attended my first Jazz at Chautauqua, and heard his beat (irresistible) and his sound-palette (apparently limitless). He is a percussionist who plays “for the comfort of the band,” as did the great forbears. I encountered the Rev. Leyland later, perhaps in 2011, but he made an impact on me that I have not forgotten: his mastery of the piano, his awareness of the joy to be found in playing and singing the saddest music as well as the most jubilant. Both men are irreplaceable soloists but they understand community deeply, so their duet is more than the sum of two organic entities: they are a portable orchestra that can occupy a two-top at the diner, so remarkable.

Self-care is more than the right moisturizer, so consider a careful purchase of this music and let it help you go aloft. And the legal shrubbery at the start was entirely necessary. You could hurt yourself while having an unrestrained personal festival. Swing out, buy hold on to the banisters.

May your happiness increase!

TOO GOOD TO IGNORE: “THE MOOCHE,” NICK ROSSI’S JAZZOPATERS (April 20, 2024)

Yes, Ellington, authentically, down to the grease and funk: expertly performed by Nick Rossi’s Jazzopaters at Mr. Tipple’s in San Francisco, on April 20, 2024. The flawless video is by Sunny Tokunaga.

THE MOOCHE was a dance, an Ellington standby for forty-five years. The wonderful musicians are Nick Rossi, banjo, leader; Patrick Wolff, alto saxophone, clarinet; Colin Hancock, cornet; Victor Imbo, trombone; Nathan Tokunaga, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet; Kamrin Ortiz, baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet; Rob Reich, piano; Clint Baker, double bass; Riley Baker, drums.

Somewhere, as I write this, a group of earnest musicians is doing their own “Ellington tribute,” which features SATIN DOLL and TAKE THE “A” TRAIN. I am glad that any music is performed in the name of Ellington, but I want Nick Rossi’s Jazzopaters to catch the eyes and ears of concert producers, club owners, swing dance organizers, festival planners. They are the real thing, offering vibrant living history, delightful to dance to.

And here’s PELICAN DRAG, from October 28, 2023, different personnel but the same groovy heart:

Let me whisper in my most subtle tones: “Don’t sleep on this band!”

And for those who are wide-awake to beauty, you can learn (and hear) more at

https://www.nickrossiarts.com -and/or- https://www.facebook.com/jazzopaters.

I’ll see you there.

May your happiness increase!

MARTY GROSZ PLAYS IRVING BERLIN (Part One): RANDY REINHART, BOB HAVENS, DAN BLOCK, SCOTT ROBINSON, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, FRANK TATE, PETE SIERS (Allegheny Jazz Party, September 22, 2014)

A triple delight: the bliss of Marty Grosz in his prime, surrounded by his noble peers, playing Irving Berlin. Marty is most often associated with small-group jazz of the hot Chicago kind, but this session reminds me so happily of a Basie small group, and that is no idle praise. It is seriously impromptu and wholly expert all at once.

Photograph by Lynn Redmile.

The noble peers are Randy Reinhart, cornet; Bob Havens, trombone; Dan Block, clarinet, C-melody saxophone; Scott Robinson, tenor saxophone, taragoto; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Frank Tate, double bass; Pete Siers, drums. Allegheny Jazz Party, September 22, 2014.

The opening selection of this set, WHAT’LL I DO?, starts late (a camera issue) and we miss the first chorus ensemble and some of Dan Block’s solo, but what remains is choice and beyond:

then, after Marty introduces the band and satirizes the audience, all standard procedure, we have Berlin’s 1911 hit, ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND:

HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN? begins with a peerless moving soliloquy by Bob Havens, before Marty the balladeer asks the immortal questions, slightly out of order, forgivably:

Two more songs were performed in this lovely leisurely set. Watch for them here, soon.

May your happiness increase!

DIZZY WITH BLISS: “BOP FOR DANCING” by IAN HUTCHISON (CHARLIE CARANICAS, JON DE LUCIA, MARIEL BILDSTEN, JON THOMAS, JOCELYN GOULD, JAY SAWYER)

Don’t think. Just watch this.

This post is about the delicious new CD by Ian Hutchison, BOP FOR DANCING. And you don’t have to be an elite dancer to savor the music or purchase it. I, who worry about tripping over invisible obstacles, have been having the time of my life with this vibrant sweet inventive communal music.

If you’re already straining at the leash, skip the words that follow and meet me here. Getting this music for yourself is more important than passing the JAZZ LIVES final exam.

But some details for those who have hung on nobly. Or those who have been to Bandcamp, done the needful, and are now basking in sounds. Here are the people who make the sounds:

Ian Hutchison, bass and arrangements / Charlie Caranicas, trumpet and flugelhorn / Jon De Lucia, alto and tenor sax / Mariel Bildsten, trombone / Jon Thomas, piano / Jocelyn Gould, guitar / Jay Sawyer, drums. The beautiful recording is thanks to Michael Perez-Cisneros, Kevin Thomas, and Andrew Ryan. More details:

Bop For Dancing is equally enjoyable on the dance floor or in your own living room. 20 Bebop and hard bop classics, reimagined for dancing. 10 songs below 180 beats per minute, 10 songs above. Songs by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Weston, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Benny Golson, Oscar Pettiford, Nat Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Curtis Fuller, Tadd Dameron, Milt Jackson, and Gerry Mulligan: THE CHAMP / BE-BOP / DIZZY ATMOSPHERE / BLUES-ETTE / ONE FOR DADDY-O / SEGMENT / RED CROSS / MY LITTLE SUEDE SHOES / MOOSE THE MOOCHE / YARDBIRD SUITE / GOOD BAIT / BLUESOLOGY / COOKIN’ AT THE CONTINENTAL / DRIFTIN’ / BOHEMIA AFTER DARK / FIVE SPOT AFTER DARK / FIVE BROTHERS / HI-FLY / SAUCER EYES / MY JELLY ROLL SOUL //

Ian is donating 5% of all sales to The Black Lindy Hoppers Fund. Learn about their mission and make an additional financial gift: blacklindyhoppersfund.org.

Some more words from me, having listened to the CD half a dozen times already. I know that, to some, there is an artificial divide between bebop (I omit the hyphen) and swing. And if you indulge in the pastime of historical jazz journalism, you can read of ideological warfare between two “schools”; you can even read how “the new music” circa 1947 drove Swing Era audiences away because “they couldn’t dance to it.”

But your ears will tell you differently.

BOP FOR DANCING swings like mad, and even someone glued to his computer chair like me wants to dance to it. The musicianship here is thrilling in ensemble and solo, and the only thing wrong with some of the tracks is that they are concise where I wanted them to go on for twenty minutes. If there’s higher praise I don’t know it.

Here’s another sample. When you’re through admiring the dancers, play it again with the video shut off so that you can enjoy the music:

As they say, get thee hence. Ian and his brilliant players have created something magnificent: a living reminder that all good music is good music, and all well-played thoughtful music is joyous danceable fun. I salute them. And I hope that there will be many more CDs and gigs for this band. They deserve it, and so do we.

May your happiness increase!

EVERYBODY’S ROCKING: HAL SMITH’S EL DORADO JAZZ BAND at the JAZZ BASH BY THE BAY (Part Three): ANDY SCHUMM, BRANDON AU, NATHAN TOKUNAGA, BRIAN HOLLAND, BILL DENDLE, MIKIYA MATSUDA (March 3, 2024)

This is the third set of three performed by this wonderful hot band at the 2024 Jazz Bash by the Bay in Monterey, California. The crowd loved them, and other crowds will have the opportunity through this year and the future. You can see the first set here, and the second, here. I’ll wait if you need to catch up. The superb videos are by the indefatigable Sunny Tokunaga, whose YouTube channel is full of delights.

For this set, the band was Andy Schumm, cornet; Brandon Au, trombone, vocal; Nathan Tokunaga, clarinet; Jeff Barnhart, piano, vocal; Bill Dendle, banjo; Mikiya Matsuda, string bass; Hal Smith (leader), washboard. Here are ten — count ’em, ten! — rousing performances:

SALTY BUBBLE:

EARLY HOURS:

WEARY BLUES:

PERDIDO STREET BLUES:

TAILGATE RAMBLE:

SAVOY BLUES:

SHAKE THAT THING:

STORYVILLE BLUES:

DARLING NELLIE GRAY:

CAKE WALKIN’ BABIES FROM HOME:

You don’t have to be a musicologist to hear the freshness this band brings to sometimes-familiar repertoire. They know the conventions given through earlier recordings but they are playing these tunes as if they were new, which is always enlightening.

Keep your eye on this band! There’s not a repeater pencil in the bunch.

And not to ignore the other members of this sterling hot ensemble, those readers who will outlive me will be saying, decades hence, “I saw Nathan Tokunaga before he graduated from high school, and he was a great player then!”

May your happiness increase!

“FLORIDA BARN, 1958”: JOHNNY WINDHURST, EDDIE HUBBLE, RED BALABAN

The trail of home-grown jazz recordings winds back more than a hundred years, if you begin with the 1926 Earl Baker cylinders. If you’ve never heard them, they are impressive. Here’s one:

Recording jazz outside the studio, in a club or your living room, became easier as technology progressed. We have hours of home-recorded radio broadcasts, some smaller amount of living room jam sessions, perhaps more done on site in clubs. It is obviously the smallest fraction of what was performed. In our time, we have reel-to-reel magnetic tape (coming after wire recorders), disc cutters, cassette recorders, smartphones and more. I have the first recording of live jazz that I captured, from 1971, and a good deal of JAZZ LIVES is devoted to such miracles.

Still, jazz remains elusive and the music captured informally is to be treasured. What follows is the only session I know that was recorded in a barn, although I am sure some readers will write to inform me otherwise. And it is shared for the first time (aside from a few fortunate collectors) here.

We remember acts of kindness long after the person performing the kindness has moved on. I offer this hot interlude as tribute and gratitude to two men I knew, John L. Fell and Joe Boughton, and to three musicians, all of whom have gone on ahead. The next six minutes of music are luminescent in themselves: Johnny Windhurst, cornet; Eddie Hubble, trombone; Red Balaban, banjo and vocal interlude. The recording supervisor, interjecting his approval, is one Jack Rooster. The two songs are IF I COULD BE WITH YOU ONE HOUR TONIGHT and YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME, recorded 1958 in a Florida barn:

It is possible Boughton recorded this, but I don’t know. And it also sounds as if the original source was a disc rather than tape. But none of the five or even six participants is around to tell us. So pull up a folding chair or a bale of hay, and be transported.

May your happiness increase!

AND SO IT CAME TO PASS THAT FOUR STARS CAME ONCE MORE TO BETHLEHEM (Part One): DANNY TOBIAS, VINCE GIORDANO, ARNT ARNTZEN, RANDY REINHART (Pennsylvania Jazz Society, April 14, 2024)

It was even more gratifying than we had any right to expect: the inventive swinging orchestra these four unaffected musicians created, song after song; the friendly camaraderie the music inspired in the room; the reassuring creativity; the sweet musical surprises; the refreshing humility and delightful versatility. All of this in the space of a Sunday afternoon.

Here‘s some evidence already shared (if you missed my recent post with Bette Davis adding her own music).

The band. Danny Tobias, trumpet, flugelhorn, Eb alto horn; Vince Giordano, bass saxophone, tuba, aluminum double bass, tenor guitar, vocal; Randy Reinhart, trombone, euphonium; Arnt Arntzen, banjo, guitar; vocal. The place Brith Sholom, 1900 West Macada Road, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Jazz Society!

This marvelous expandable quartet offered hot and sweet in equal measure.

EMBRACEABLE YOU, with Arnt’s sweet vocal:

For Signore Capone, MY GAL SAL:

Arnt asks, endearingly, WHAT’LL I DO?:

For Louis and Lillian, STRUTTIN’ WITH SOME BARBECUE:

A aong that always touches me, HOME:

There’s more from the second half. But what a band! And hooray for the Pennsylvania Jazz Society, whose good works aren’t limited to one concert.

May your happiness increase!

THREE COMPACT MIRACLES: JIMMY RUSHING SINGS, DONALD LAMBERT PLAYS (Wallace’s Tavern, West Orange, New Jersey, c. 1958-62)

Without further ado: three location recordings of Jimmy Rushing with Donald Lambert at the piano, recorded some time in the late Fifties or early Sixties at Wallace’s Tavern. We don’t know much more than that. Wallace may have been the recordist, and the late Peter Ballance (trombonist at Arthur’s Tavern with the Grove Street Stompers for years and a friend of Lambert’s) may have been the catalyst. The pianist and scholar Sterling J. Mosher III just posted these on YouTube, and they are frankly miraculous. The recording microphone was closer to the piano than to Jimmy, but the piano is in better shape than on some Lambert recordings.

There is some drumming here also. I wonder if that is our friend and Lambert’s, the remarkable Howard Kadison. I hope it is and I can add his name to the credits!

To me, this is a meeting of giants who never recorded together formally. Miraculous, like eavesdropping on Moses and Buddha playing gin rummy.

Thus. THERE’LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE:

GOIN’ TO CHICAGO:

SENT FOR YOU YESTERDAY:

Aural blessings. And we can all thank Sterling by taking a fond long look at his YouTube channel, a treasure-chest of stride piano, ragtime, interviews, and his own romping work.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to play these three performances until I’ve memorized all the delightful nuances.

May your happiness increase!

WILLIE WAS WEEPING BUT THE ROOM WAS ROCKING: DANNY TOBIAS, VINCE GIORDANO, RANDY REINHART, ARNT ARNTZEN — with a cameo appearance by BETTE DAVIS (Pennsylvania Jazz Society, Sunday, April 14, 2024)

The band. Danny Tobias, trumpet, flugelhorn, Eb alto horn; Vince Giordano, bass saxophone, tuba, aluminum double bass, tenor guitar, vocal; Randy Reinhart, trombone, euphonium; Arnt Arntzen, banjo, guitar; vocal. The place Brith Sholom, 1900 West Macada Road, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Jazz Society!

and

Here’s a hot tune from early in the concert: the tale of a chimney sweeper who enjoys every moment of his opium dreams and “cries for more.”

© 1927 Melrose Music NYC Illustration : N.E. Kassel

and here’s Sunday’s delicious hot rendition:

If that weren’t enough, here is an irreplaceable film clip from Bette Davis’ CABIN IN THE COTTON, supremely relevant to poor Willie:

You understand why “Marvin Blake” (Richard Barthelmess) is completely transfixed.

I’ll post more from this wonderful Sunday afternoon concert. But I must thank the diligent splendid people who make the Pennsylvania Jazz Society swing along in the nicest ways: Gary Lader, Pete Reichlin, Mike Kuehn, Joan Bauer, Anne Lutkenhouse, and others whose names I haven’t memorized. They do great work!

More to come.

May your happiness increase!

PETE BROWN’S AUDACIOUS PASSION (1941)

It’s reassuring to know that musical treasures are out there, waiting to be discovered. And the man to discover them is our own Fat Cat, Matthew Rivera of The Hot Club of New York, someone I admire: see him in action at the Louis Armstrong Center on March 22, here. Matthew in the wild and more sedately. (And the record is WHO? by Frank Newton; details matter.)

and

Very recently, Matthew found a set of Recordio 78 discs — “home recordings,” we might call them, of a searing hot band led by altoist James Ostend “Pete” Brown, in 1941. Pete is one of our heroes: he recorded a good deal with Frank Newton in the late Thirties and then with Joe Thomas in the early Forties — a combination that couldn’t be bettered. He was a singular musician, and I know that phrase is overused, but he had a ferocious staccato attack, “pushing the beat,” a distinctive tart tone, and a facility matched only by later altoists. In his time, placed alongside Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Earle Warren, Hilton Jefferson (and I could go on) he is the closest thing to a focused and controlled tsunami.

Pete, by William P. Gottlieb:

I am pleased to say that I shared some live performances by Pete, courtesy of the late John Clement on JAZZ FROM THE ARCHIVES, a program on WBGO-FM. Here they are, either from January 2, or February 1, 1943.

But Matthew’s new discoveries are frankly astonishing. They document a working group, one with energy and variety. Pete sings on two of them, and I think him a superb singer; they nod to Basie, to the Ink Spots, to the common repertoire of 1941, and to what would come to be called bebop. Remember that this was four years before Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made their recordings together. And when you listen to OPUS FIVE, somewhere between a chainsaw and a locomotive in its power, know that Pete was busy innovating along the same lines without getting credited.

Here is the treasure Matthew has so generously shared (and beautifully annotated) with us, twenty-two minutes of delightful shocks, including a CAROLINA SHOUT scored for piano, alto saxophone, and rhythm that has to be heard to be believed. All the details are in the description:

Here’s “Leonard G. Feather,” writing in the July 15, 1941 DOWN BEAT, about Pete’s triumph at a summer residency in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

This is a treasure for other reasons beyond rare music. Recordio discs were not usually this well cared for, or documented (you’ll notice two kinds of annotations on the labels, suggesting that someone was interested in accuracy and posterity). I don’t know who owned the recording machine or who preserved the discs, and it is tempting to wonder if both sets of discs, 1943 and 1941, were done by the same person. Someone with recording equipment (far more unwieldy than your smartphone) was up at the Allen Inn in Canada Lake, New York, when the hot band from New York City was burning the wallpaper. We must be forever grateful to that person, their name now lost, for what they did and what they saved. And to Matthew.

A postscript that those deeply involved in such things will understand. Talking about this discovery and this music, Matthew and I agreed that this event was the handiwork of the magnificent jazz-solographer and guiding light Jan Evensmo. Jan left the planet on February 4 of this year, but those of us who knew and loved him do not doubt that he is continuing his great generous work from another neighborhood. So thank you, Jan. You won’t be forgotten.

May your happiness increase!

SEE YOU IN SEDALIA: THE SCOTT JOPLIN INTERNATIONAL RAGTIME FESTIVAL (May 30 – June 1, 2024)

I’ve been to the Joplin Festival in Sedalia once, in another life, 2018, and had a lovely time. Sedalia is a sweetly different world. Perhaps it’s changed now, but on a sunny morning there, when I was on my way to enjoy a piano recital in the open air, people were talking to each other, no one had their head down into their phone. Dinosaur-pleasures to be sure, but rare and delicious in 2024.

This year’s Festival is a generous banquet of sounds. Piano ragtime is, understandably, the main dish: Terry Waldo, Neville Dickie, Martin Spitznagel, Brian Holland, Andrew Oliver, Bryan Wright, Virginia Tichenor, Charlie Judkins, Royce Martin, Sam Post, Richard Dowling, Adam Swanston, Eve Elliot, Marty Eggers, Bill McNally, Monty Suffern, Peter Bergin, Isaiah Burton, Terry Parrish, Bill Edwards, Dave Majchrzak, Steve Hicks, Will Perkins, Tadao Tomokiyo, David Reffkin, and others.

But my internal compass needle points to hot jazz as well as Joseph Lamb, so what draws me is / are Hal Smith’s San Francisco Jazz, All-Stars, Brian Holland and Friends, Valerie Jo Kirchhoff (“Miss Jubilee”) and Ethan Leinwand, Andy Schumm, the Chicago Cellar Boys, Miss Maybell, Colin Hancock, the Andrew Oliver – Smith – Schumm trio, T.J. Muller, Tom Bartlett, John Otto, John Gill, Dan Anderson, Natalie Scharf, and others.

The music venues for this festival are easily accessible: I remember getting from one to the other in the sunshine, and, once there, being able to enjoy music in the open air, which is as close to band concerts in the gazebo as I will get in this century.

The Festival site, extremely informative, is here.

There are two ticket packages: (1) The Concert, symposia, and dance pass ($199) includes admission to all of the festival’s concerts and symposia as well as the Saturday 2-hour ragtime dance. (2) The “All Events Pass” ($388) includes all concerts, symposia, the ragtime dance, AND the Thursday fundraising dinner, Friday dinner show, and historic trolley tour plus a $25 Ragtime Store credit. Ticket packages (and t-shirts, for those who wish to arrive suitably attired) here or you can buy individual event tickets here.

Each year, the Joplin Festival rotates its selection of artists, so my videos from 2018 won’t show people who are going to be there this time, but, in the spirit of Joplin, here is a duo who will be there, Colin Hancock and Terry Waldo:

If that isn’t an inducement to come hear hot music and sweet sounds in Sedalia, I don’t know.

May your happiness increase!

“OFFICERS, I WANT TO REPORT A CRIME”: VALERIE JO KIRCHHOFF, ETHAN LEINWAND, RYAN CALLOWAY, T.J. MULLER, CLINT BAKER (Redwood Coast Music Festival, October 8, 2023)

There’s never been an episode of LAW AND ORDER that uses this 1935 tune by Sam M. Lewis (lyrics) and Pete Wendling, but we’re waiting.

As Valerie says, it was done by Red McKenzie, and in our time, by Marty Grosz.

While doing online research on it a few years ago, I was shocked, but in a good way, to find that it had become part of a video-game soundtrack. Why and how remains mysterious, but I dream of a generation growing up as Red McKenzie fans, no, addicts. Worse things have happened.

Valerie Jo Kirchhoff, “Miss Jubilee,” and her band, “The Yas Yas Boys,” performed this song at the Redwood Coast Music Festival last October 8. The band? Ethan Leinwand, piano; T. J. Muller, cornet; Ryan Calloway, clarinet; Clint Baker, double bass. And, as usual, Valerie lights up not only the stage but three or four surrounding communities:

There was more delightful music from Valerie and her Boys, and I am planning to share it with you. And they will be at this year’s Redwood Coast Music Festival, another reason out of several hundred to be there.

But back to MURDER IN THE MOONLIGHT for a few moments more. I studied Yeats for a long time, so poetry doesn’t scare me. But Sam M. Lewis’ lyrics make me say, “What?!” every time I hear the song. Who’s the perpetrator, and who’s the victim? One, both, all of the above? Consider this (taken directly from the sheet music):

Verse (1): Night / Someone’s holding me tight / Stars are shining so bright / Thru a velvety blue / Night / All the shadows are white / This may sound like a love scene / But it’s something real new.

Verse (2): Dream / It all seemed like a dream / First I wanted to scream / Then I couldn’t say “boo” / Dream / All the stars were agleam / And I heard myself saying / What am I gonna do.

Chorus: It’s murder in the moonlight, another mystery / I’m being killed with kindness / It’s love in the first degree / Murder in the moonlight, another robbery / Someone is stealing my kisses / Who’ll pay the penalty? / Circumstances make romances / The moon is playing his part / Someone’s glances and advances / Take away my heart / Murder in the moonlight, another mystery / Cupid has found us guilty / Of love in the first degree. //

Of course you could say I am making too much of this, and that Lewis and Wendling were at the Brill Building one day, cigars half-lit, ties half-tied, and one of them said, “My girlfriend made me this huge dinner and then gave me a big piece of pie. She’s killing me with kindness. What if we did a love song that was like a police report?”

This was not a new idea: Gus Kahn, Harry Akst, and Richard A. Whiting had created GUILTY in 1931, which begins, “Is it a sin, is it a crime / Loving you, dear, like I do?” and goes on from there. But I still find Lewis’ police-blotter approach confusing.

Maybe I’ll have figured it out By October 2.

But wait! Valerie and Ethan will be at the Scott Joplin International Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival at the end of May into June: I can ask them between sets.

And, because JAZZ LIVES wants to make sure that no one goes away unfulfilled, here are the three pages of MURDER IN THE MOONLIGHT for those of you who want to entertain the neighbors or invite them to join in.

I look at this as my public service.

The verse:

The chorus:

I hope you all feel much more enlightened.

May your happiness increase!

THERE ARE SOUNDS THAT MAKE US HAPPY: CARL SONNY LEYLAND, MARTY EGGERS, JEFF HAMILTON (Jazz Bash by the Bay, Monterey, California, March 8, 2014)

I began attempting to video-record jazz performances in early 2006, and I’ve posted more than seven thousand on YouTube: obviously the work of someone obsessively in love with the music. But I would guess that’s less than half the total I’ve shot. Sometimes the performance doesn’t please the musicians, or there’s a technical problem, or I just got overwhelmed.

This morning, because the Eddy Howard recording of SMILES was playing in my mental jukebox, I went a-scrolling through my unlisted videos to see if I had any performances of this sweet old song that I had left in the imaginary vaults. And a treasure appeared to me.

More than ten years ago, I took my camera to the Jazz Bash by the Bay in Monterey, California, and one of the sets I recorded — and delighted in — was the Carl Sonny Leyland trio with Jeff Hamilton, drums, and Marty Eggers, double bass.

I think I shelved this wonderful romp through SMILES because the focus was imperfect. In retrospect, the music is perfect, and I take pleasure in sharing it with you now. Marty’s solid pulse; Jeff’s hilariously orchestral drums; everyone’s favorite twenty-first century locomotive of piano, the Reverend Doctor Leyland:

If you’re not smiling, what’s wrong?

May your happiness increase!

“FREE, GENEROUS, AND RADIANT”: MALO MAZURIE’S “TAKING THE PLUNGE”

There are many ways to encounter the hallowed music of the past with integrity. One is to study it with such reverent adoration that one can become one’s idol, reproducing Bix’s SINGIN’ THE BLUES, Hawkins’ BODY AND SOUL, Lester’s SHOE SHINE BOY. This is not easily done and may be a lifelong quest. When it succeeds, a kind of magic happens: the audience can imagine that their hero is standing arm’s length away and they are in at the creation. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks do this splendidly and have done so for decades.

The brilliant trumpeter Malo Mazurie can perform this music with ardor and expertise. On YouTube, you will see him splendidly being Bill Coleman in 1937 or a myriad of fabled hot brass players, in situations where he and other marvelous musicians are asked to play jazz first recorded eighty or a hundred years ago. It is a mystical world where SUMMERTIME is “a modern tune.” And, as Malo shows us in videos of live performance and discs made in the studio, he floats through that world with great style, honoring and summoning up Louis, Bix, Cootie and others.

His is a great art. But many of the musicians I know who can become other people onstage look forward to situations that allow and encourage them to be themselves. “Don’t you want to hear what I sound like?” might be the relevant question, said out loud or stifled. We admire the heroes of this art precisely because they were innovative in their time. Now, innovation within and beyond the tradition, created with ingenuity and affection, feels right.

Back to our hero, alive and flourishing in 2024.

But first, a few mnutes of delightful history. I first encountered him as one of THREE BLIND MICE, an extraordinary trio of Malo, trumpet; Felix Hunot, guitar, and Sebastien Giradot, double bass. Here they explore Willie “the Lion” Smith’s ECHOES OF SPRING with gentle audacity:

When I began to write this post, I soon found out that Malo, even when his name was not on the CD cover in bold type, was an essential part of record dates in the past decade that I love and return to; Felix Hunot’s THE JAZZ MUSKETEERS, David Lukacs’ DREAM CITY, Attila Korb’s THE ROLLINI PROJECT, the second volume of SATCHMOCRACY by the Jerome Etcheberry Popstet. He’s recorded several times with another hero of mine, the tenor saxophonist Michel Pastre. The recorded evidence shows why he is someone the finest players want on their sessions: he is a fluent player, erudite but not stiff, able to read the charts, improvise nobly, and change course in two bars without ever faltering.

TAKING THE PLUNGE is his first CD as a leader. On it, Malo and a splendid yet spare rhythm section of Noe Huchard, piano; Raphael Dever, double bass; David Grebil, drums, offer a guided tour of the country where Past and Future are best friends and go out for breakfast:

Malo is not only a master of his unforgiving instrument but also a wonderful composer. Hear his THE HOUSE OF SISTERHOOD, a gentle homage to the worlds of Billy Strayhorn:

and his gracious, inquiring CANDLELIGHTS:

The first track on the CD is Malo’s version of Morton’s THE PEARLS that I am particularly fond of:

Malo wrote, “This project represents a significant milestone for me, as it has been brewing for about a decade, but its fruition took time. So, after 4 relocations, 3 lockdowns, and 2 children, it was time! It was decided: this album would not be a revolution in jazz history nor a methodical exercise in style. It would simply be an unpretentious reflection of everything I love and that influences me in music.”

The repertoire is deep in what some might call “traditional jazz”: Ellington’s CREOLE RHAPSODY, Louis’ SOMEDAY YOU’LL BE SORRY, Bix’s DAVENPORT BLUES, Morton’s THE CHANT, SINGIN’ THE BLUES, in addition to the performances above. They are both respectful melodic explorations and candid reimaginings. Occasionally the performances of songs we know so well have a slight tilt. What I am reminded of is the sensation I had, as a child, seeing my house from across the street: completely familiar but not in an expected place. When I crossed the street and went “home,” it was reassuring to be there, but I had seen my house be two places at once. A gift.

In addition to the familiar jazz classics, Malo also offers, for good measure, seven original compositions — and they are original, not simply improvisations on more famous harmonies. H also encouraged the rhythm section “to play more open, to be wilder, be themselves (keeping the swing and the groove of course),” while he is playing “himself.” He says, “You can still hear some influences as they are all my heroes.”

Malo’s own words get to the heart of things. “This album represents for me a musical exploration, a journey through the styles and emotions I have felt since my discovery of the cornet at the age of seven . . . . Without attempting to achieve stylistic feats, I have endeavored to bring a contemporary and unique touch while preserving the conciseness of the message.

We sought to make this collective exploration free, generous, and radiant.”

Those are imposing and noble words, but when you hear TAKING THE PLUNGE, I think you will find them an accurate description of the music, lilting, personal, and vivid, that Malo and friends have created.

May your happiness increase!

HE GETS THINGS SPINNING: MATT RIVERA BRINGS THE SOUNDS of the HOT CLUB OF NEW YORK TO THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG CENTER (March 22, 2024)

Matthew Rivera is a jazz enthusiast and scholar devoted to the idea that the best music on records deserves to be heard in its original form: spinnning on a proper turntable at the right speed, played as it was played in the year it was recorded. He isn’t a Luddite: he has a smartphone and knows about lossless FLAC, but he cherishes the 78 rpm recordings that captured jazz up until 1958 or so.

Here he is, at the beginning of a presentation for the Hot Club of New York (https://hotclubny.org/) at the Louis Armstrong Center in Corona, Queens, on March 22, 2024.

The irony isn’t lost on me that I created this brief video using an iPhone, and that everyone will be listening to Bessie Smith and a young man from New Orleans either through their earbuds, their phone, or their computer. But the sounds blaze through loud, clear, and human.

The Hot Club of New York is a friendly thriving organization, with an eager group of people joining in, some who collect records, some who love the music, some who wish to learn more. Musicians, writers, swing dancers, and enthusiasts are part of the group, and Matthew hosts online meetings every Monday night — details here — where a variety of music on 78 rpm records can be heard. He also hosts a Tuesday-afternoon radio show on WKCR-FM (89.9 on the dial or wkcr.org on your computer) — more details here, as well as regular in-person gatherings such as the one above.

A personal note. In popular culture, and I’m thinking of the film GHOST WORLD, if anyone remembers that, and the comix of R. Crumb, the “78 record collector” is depicted as someone not socialized, to put it mildly, more concerned with the rarest record in the finest condition than with any human being, unless that being happens to hold a prized record. And I’ve met many of the species who lived up to the stereotype. But Matthew is someone with a flourishing life away from the turntable, a person I take pleasure in knowing. If you visited the Hot Club Zoom meeting and you had no idea what 78s were all about, you would be welcomed; you would learn something in the gentlest ways; you would enjoy yourself. I guarantee it.

May your happiness increase!

“NO REGRETS”: ALI AFFLECK and THE SPICY L’IL DEVILS

The recordings that Billie Holiday and her peers (Mildred Bailey, Connee Boswell, Teddy Grace, Maxine Sullivan, Lee Wiley and others) made in the second half of the Thirties are imperishable. For me, they are high points of the previous century.

Although it might be foolhardy to imitate them, this body of recorded work is full of inspiration for younger musicians. Ali Affleck and her instrumental crew are wonderfully inspired, and their new CD proves it at every turn.

Here’s the title song:

To credit yet another surprising artist, I must point out that both the video and the CD cover are by “the phenomenal Sara Lièvre.”

Ali has delighted me since I first encountered her: I am drawn to her very personal phrasing, her intelligent understanding of the lyrics, her sweet adult voice, and the band’s expert evocations of Teddy and Herschel and Carl Kress — how pleasing!

Here’s another:

I know that many people are worshippers at the shrine of Billie Holiday, and who can blame them? But although I admire Billie’s recorded legacy, I find myself more drawn to the Brunswick, Vocalion, Columbia, and Commodore recordings she made from 1933-44 with the finest players. I would not take away from anyone the morose pleasures of GOD BLESS THE CHILD, NO MORE, and LADY IN SATIN, and I have a special place in my heart for the Norman Granz recordings she made with Jimmie Rowles, Ben Webster, and Harry Edison — but — give me the frolicsome sides that, without being didactic, tell us that it is good to be alive, that creating art with friends is better than anything, and that there will be good things to eat and drink and smoke after the session.

It’s this kind of uplifting legacy that Ali and her musicians carry on, no matter what the song or tempo: they create music that feels like a patch of roadside wildflowers glimpsed from the car window, music that unashamedly gladdens the heart. Come and enjoy it.

Here are the details: song titles, the people in the band, and most importantly, how to buy / download this music and her other albums. All the good and essential stuff, so that no one can ask, in classic 2024-social-media-fashion, “Where’s the link?”

You won’t regret it.

May your happiness increase!

IF WE COULD BE WITH HIM FOR (ALMOST) ONE HOUR TONIGHT: NEW MUSIC FROM JAMES P. JOHNSON (1944)

A treasure is offered to us.

That is the cover of a new compact disc. I wrote about it yesterday, on Facebook, about an hour after finding it in the mailbox, after hearing six of the twenty-three performances.

I don’t usually urge readers to rush out and purchase a CD when I’ve only heard six tracks. But this one, long anticipated, is a delight: the previously unheard takes from James P. Johnson’s 1944 sessions for the World Broadcasting System, the master takes issued on Decca. They are split between solos and performances where he is accompanied with subtlety and grace by Eddie Dougherty, drums. The repertoire is in part Fats Waller compositions and SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER, and then a set of James P.’s compositions. He had had a stroke four years earlier, but what we hear is accurate, jolly, expertly articulated, sprightly music. The tracks are origrammed in an order that would please a listener — not three versions of a tune in a row, although I like that also — and there are perceptive annotations from the young master pianist Kris Tokarski. Stride right out and get a copy! (SoloArt Records — c/o GHB Jazz Foundation.)

I’ve been listening to James P. all my life, ever since I discovered the library’s copy of THE FATHER OF THE STRIDE PIANO, a Columbia Records compilation, and his music is joyous, ebullient, a sustained pleasure. So this issue — variations on material so comfortable than James P. can be heard experimenting, taking chances, turning familiar figures on their side — is delightful. I find myself saying, “Wow, he never did that before!” and smiling.

You can buy it https://www.jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=SACD-175 or download also.

And a word needs to be said about alternate takes: some people run from them, but this is not a CD of scraps and failures. They are fascinating views of a great artist at work, and at play. The CD is programmed for listeners: not six versions of the same song in a row, and the sound is fine.

If you asked me, “James P. Johnson wants to move into the next apartment and you will hear him work through these sixteen tunes through eternity,” I would welcome him gleefully. Listen closely and you will understand why.

And a postscript: Scott Brown’s biography of James P., full of good stories and new information, THE QUIET MAN WHO MADE THE 20s ROAR, will be out in 2025 (University Press of Mississippi): he’s a fine writer and researcher and his heart is right in the center of the music.

May your happiness increase!

A JAZZ CONSTELLATION: BENNY CARTER, DOC CHEATHAM, VIC DICKENSON, BUDD JOHNSON, HANK JONES, BILL PEMBERTON, OLIVER JACKSON (Nice Jazz Festival, July 7, 1977)

The personnel assembled for this once-in-a-lifetime live performance would require the best three-dimensional Venn diagram to explicate. If time hangs heavy on your hands you might embark into WHO PLAYED WITH WHOM, and WHEN, a version of Jazz Hero Bingo.

This delightful constellation took place at the Nice Jazz Festival and was broadcast on French television slightly less than a year later. On television, it was rightly heralded as “Benny Carter Special No. 9.” The stars are Benny Carter, alto saxophone; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Doc Cheatham, trumpet; Budd Johnson, tenor saxophone; Hank Jones, piano; Bill Pemberton, double bass; Oliver Jackson, drums.

Nice Jazz Festival: July 7, 1977; broadcast May 20, 1978. JUST YOU, JUST ME / YESTERDAYS (Budd) / ‘DEED I DO / TAKE THE “A” TRAIN //

To quote W.H. Auden, in a different context, “The Old Masters, how well they understood . . . . “

May your happiness increase!