Search Manic Mark's Blog

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Blues A La Mode - Budd Johnson

 

Foggy Nights

Blues A La Mode
Budd Johnson
His Septet and Quintet
Produced by Stanley Dance
Photography by Mike Youngman
Felsted Records "Jazz Series" SJA 2007
Sessions - New York, February 11th & 14th, 1958

From the back cover: That Budd Johnson knows the blues and likes to play them is something he has been proving for a long time, from Dallas to Kansas City, from Kansas City to Chicago, and from Chicago to his present centre of operations, New York. Budd is one of those invaluable contributors to the jazz story who have not always had the credit that was their due. He was, for instance, a vital member of the Earl Hines orchestra on and off for eight years, and its recordings contains abundant evidence of his prophetic imagination as an arranger and as a performer on tenor and alto saxes. At the end of this first session, he recalled with satisfaction the advice Hugues PanassiƩ had given him years before: "Stay with the blues, Budd."

Jo Jones, the great drummer, is another who likes the blues. Wearing his gravest expression, he called the septet to order with these words: "Now, fellows, we could play a minuet, but we're playing the most difficult music there is – the blues." It was a date he very audibly enjoyed. On another occasion, the last number recorded was also a blues. "We should," he muttered, "have been playing this all afternoon."

Vic Dickenson, that most dependable and consistently inspired artist of the trombone, stressed the importance of vodka and its connection with blues playing. "I like to be high when I play the blues," said he. "I can play the blues sober, the right notes, but not with that kind of expression. You can play a number like 'I Know You Know' and just be gay – no deep feeling." Judiciously lubricated the master proceeded to demonstrate the blues with deep feeling.

Charlie Shavers, another of the great jazz originals, has been widely recorded in an astonishing variety of circumstances and settings, but all too seldom in blues interpretations. The peerless quality of his technique has too often led to demands for its display, but here one major objective was to satire as well the more sensitive side of his musical nature. He leads the ensemble on the first session with an assurance and command that will be no surprise to those who remember him with John Kirby's little band.

Joe Benjamin, one of the most brilliant bassists in jazz today, adds a supple, swinging and very musicianly foundation. Al Sears, remembered for his tenor work with Duke Ellington, here gives depth to the septet on baritone sax.

The pianists are relative newcomers to the scene.

Bert Keyes, heard on the first session, was born in Brooklyn on September 11th, 1930. He had private tutor on the piano from the age of 6, and studied drums and vibes while in Brooklyn High School. He began a professional career as a musician immediately on leaving school – in a nightclub. He played a taxi dancehall on Broadway and modestly sums up his subsequent career as consisting of "gigs," dance and a few recording dates." The competence of his work here tends to belie the fact that he has never played in a regular jazz group. Art Tatum and Nat Cole (Bert also sings) have been his two chief sources of inspiration, and he greatly admires Jose Iturbi "for technique".

Ray Bryant, who played in the quintet, was born in Philadelphia on December 24th, 1931. He hd piano lessons from the age of 8 until he was 14, when he "joined the union and started gigging around." His first experience of a traveling band with Tiny Grimes, but he returned to Philly and more gigs. Then he took a trio into that city's Blue Note, where he not only accompanied singers, but also instrumentalist like Lockjaw Davis, Charlie Shavers, Charlie Parker and Sonny State. He joined Carmen McRae as accompanist for two years and was in Dizzy Gillespie's big band for the last six weeks before it broke up. He then became one-third of the Jo Jones Trio, with his brother Tommy on bass. His favorite pianists are Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson.

All six titles and the arranging, are by Budd. "Foggy Nights", a blues at medium tempo, has an appropriately eerie atmosphere. Budd, Charlie Shavers and Vic Dickenson each take two choruses solo before one by Bert Keyes leads us back into the theme by the ensemble.

"Leave Room In Your Heart For Me" is a pretty ballad at slow tempo. Charlie Shavers has the first chorus, with release by Budd; Bud has the second to himself; and third is dialogued with release by Charlie. This is a moving performance with striking contrasts between gentleness and passion.

"Destination Blues" is a fast one. Budd's opening tenor solo sets the ball rolling in Kansas City fashion, and each of the other soloists keeps it moving along expertly.

"A La Mode" is a swinging affair (not a blues, incidentally), with a bow towards the contemporary idiom to remind us a little of Budd's involvement with the boppers in the early days of their revolution.

"Used Blues" introduces Bert Keyes on the organ. He plays with agreeable finesse and Budd's arrangement incorporates the instrument to excellent effect. The superbly conceived tenor solos are impressive in their dramatic and rhythmic power. A familiar Kansas City riff emerges briefly and both Vic Dickenson and Charlie Shavers take solos of real importance.

"Blues By Five" open its Ray Byrant's driving piano. His plunging basses sometimes recall the left hand of Fatha Hines. Budd and Charlie Shavers then indulge in a kind of high-spirited jam session that romps all the way.

The vigor and enthusiasm brought to the performances by Budd Johnson are somewhat explained but he fact that opportunities for playing this kind of music are increasingly rare, even in record studios. Like so many other well-equipped musicians who came up through the big bands of the 1930's, economic necessity often compels him to play in idioms other than that in which he excels. Budd's talents as an arranger and an imaginative, swinging improviser should certainly ensure him a prominent place in mainstream jazz today. – Stanley Dance

Foggy Nights
Leave Room In Your Heart For Me
Destination Blues
New York, February 14
A La Mode
Used Blues
Blues By Fire

Music From Star Wars - Electric Moog Orchestra

 

Imperial Attack

Music From Star Wars
Performed by The Electric Moog Orchestra
Arranged & Conducted by Jimmy Wisner
Produced by Tom Owen
Recorded & Mixed at Minot Sound (June 1977)
Mastering by Masterdisk, New York City
Art Direction: David Artaud
Music Records MUS-8801
1977

Star Wars Main Title
Princess Leia's Theme
Imperial Attack
Ben's Death And Tie Fighter Attack
Cantina Band
The Throne Room And End Title

Jumpin' At The Woodside - Buck Clayton

 

Broadway

Jumpin' At The Woodside
A Buck Clayton Jam Session
Jam Sessions on Count Basie Favorites
Photographer: Bill Huges
Columbia Records CL 701
1955

From the back cover: More jamming by Buck Clayton and his all-stars, and this time, appropriately enough, the repertoire comes from the books of the great Count Basie band of the late thirties and early forties, which was not only home for Buck but also several other sidemen on these improvised performances. Moreover, several members of Basie's present band are also on hand in these recordings.

The title piece of this collection is a rarity. Jumpin' At The Woodside was originally recorded at the end of the session in which Woody Herman sat in for kicks on the eve of his take-off for Europe in 1953, and contained some great blowing but fell apart at the finish. Everybody was rather beat, so the date was called off without another try at this number. On the next date, however, an ending was made for it, and finally four sections (two from each session) were spliced together for a complete performance. This kind of splicing is common enough in arranged popular music, but piecing together music from two jam sessions is probably unique. The rhythm section on the first part of the completed montage consists of Jimmy Jones (piano), Steve Jordan (guitar), Walter Page (bass), and Jo Jones (drums). At Buck Clayton's solo following Al Cohn's first two choruses, we switch to the later session, where Billy Kyle, Freddie Green, and Milton Hinton replace Jones, Jordan, and Page. Joe Newman solo closes this stretch and Al Cohn's second two-chorus solo marks a return to the first date. Then back again to the second session with the Clayton-Newman chase.

Broadway, recorded on still a third session, features some new faces to Clayton jam sessions: trombonist Benny Green (who leads his own band) and Dicky Harris (sideman with Arnett Cobb), trumpeter Ruby Braff, who was working at the time with Benny Goodman octet at Basin Street, and pianist Al Waslohn, whom Buck Clayton had heard out in Columbus, Ohio, and had last been around town with the Jimmy Dorsey band. This group also plays on Rock-A-Bye Basie, which has the extra added attraction of the recorded debut of tap dancer Jack Ackerman. Jack had broken it up in a surprise appearance with the Chet Baker quintet at the Charlie Parker benefit at Carnegie Hall a few nights earlier. It seemed like an interesting idea to ask him to come down to the studio for this session, and it turned out to be even more than that. Jack's career has included touring as the soloist in Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto (recorded by Danny Daniels and composer Gould with the Rochester Orchestra on Columbia ML 2215).

Blue And Sentimental, which was Herschel Evana' tenor sax showpiece with the Basie band just before he died in 1939, features Coleman Hawkins, who still stands as one of the great giants of jazz. In the thirties, Hawkins' only real rivals were Chu Berry, Herschel, and Lester Young; this is a kind of reverse tribute from the master. (Oddly enough, this recording took place on a session which did not include Buddy Tate, who not only replaced Herschel in the Basie bands but also came from his home town of Sherman, Texas.

From Billboard September 24, 1955: Trumpeter Clayton and a flock of good jazz men, including several Basie alumni and undergrads, give out in free fashion on four all-time Basie favorites including the title riffer. Three previous Clayton albums, all of a similar nature, have sold well, and this should also. Musically, the invention is uneven, but the spirit is unflagging. Good contributions from trumpeters Clayton, Joe Newman and Rudy Green: from tenorman Al Cohn, and a great trombone chase by Urbie Green and Trummie Young. George Avakian's usual schedule of choruses is a great help to the listener.

Schedule of Choruses

Rock-A-Bye Basie (12 choruses, time 8:10)
March 15, 1955

Intro
Ensemble (release: Tate)
Waslohn
Braff
Tate
Harris
Clayton
Hawkins
B. Green
Ackerman
2 choruses of 4-bar alternations with Ackerman (in this order: Braff, Hawkins, Clayton, Clayton, Tate, Green, Waslohn, Clayton)
Ensemble (release: Waslohn & Hinton)
Coda

Jumpin' At The Woodside (23 choruses, time 10:40)
March 31 and August 13, 1954
Intro
Ensemble (release: Davis)
2 Cohn
2 Clayton
2 Fowlkes
2 Kyle
2 Newman
2 Cohn
3. U. Green & Young (4-bar exchanges)
2 Herman
2 Clayton-Newman (4-bar exchanges)
2 Hawkins
Ensemble (release: Hawkins)
Coda

Blues And Sentimental (5 choruses, time 6:30)
August 13, 1954
Intro
Hawkins
Clayton/Fowlkes
U. Green/Davis
Newman/Young
Kyle/Hawkins

Broadway (14 choruses, time 9:25)
March 15, 1955
Ensemble (release: Clayton)
2 Tate
Waslohn
Hawkins
2 B. Green
Braff
Harris
Tate & Hawkins (4-12-8-8)
Tate & Hawkins (8-8-8-8)
Waslohn/Hinton/Waslohn/Jones (4's)
Clayton
Ensemble (release: Waslohn)

Rock-A-Bye Basie
Joe Newman
Ruby Braff
Trummy Young
Urbie Green
Benny Green

Jumpin' At The Woodside
Dicky Harris
Woody Herman
Coleman Hawkins
Al Cohn
Buddy Tate

Blue And Sentimental
Lem Davis
Charlie Fowlkes
Jo Jones
Billy Kyle
Al Waslohn

Broadway
Freddie Green
Steve Jordan
Walter Page
Milton Hinton