World of Jazz – Stan Getz Special – 7th March 2013

With a career covering five decades it’s hard to distill the work of the man they called “The Sound” down into just over 60 minutes of music so I’ve taken a random dip in the back catalogue for a selection of the work of one of the greatest tenor players of jazz who  is best known around the world as the saxophonist featured on one of the biggest-selling jazz singles of all time, the The Girl From Ipanema.

Listen here……

• Desifinado – Jazz Samba  (1962) Classic Getz along with Charlie Byrd on guitar and a signature tune which topped the charts.
• O Grand Amor – Sweet Rain (1967) his first big album after he had concluded  his bossa nova period, featuring a young group that propelled  his playing  to new heights. The band is pianist Chick Corea, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Grady Tate all of who are  well versed in rhythm-section freedom, and open things up for Getz to deliver some fascinating soul drenched solos.
• Exactly Like You – Diz and Getz (1955) Sparks fly as Dizzy’s be-bop chops meet Getz’s cool school approach.
• Three Little Words – Award Winner (1957) with his mid-’50s right-hand men pianist Lou Levy and bassist Leroy Vinnegar, plus drummer Stan Levey. A mixture of  cool, swinging ballads, and simmering, low-key grooves. A break through album for Stan cementing his reputation as a great player.
• Night Rider – Focus (1961) Eddie Sauter tunes and arrangements with orchestral backing and Getz improvising over the top. A cinematic feel with stunning playing makes this arguably his finest moment.
• E Luxo So – Jazz Samba (1962) another track from this landmark release – the first full-fledged bossa nova album ever recorded by American jazz musicians.
• Samba De Uma Nota So – Big Band Bossa Nova (1962 ) Fresh from the sudden success of Jazz Samba and “Desafinado,” Getz asked Gary McFarland to arrange a bossa nova album for big band as a follow-up. Jim Hall on guitar and Hank Jones on piano are two of the stars on this release.
• All The Things You Are – The Song Is You (1969)   a summertime 1969 concert festival performance from Italy featuring pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Miroslav Vitous, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Getz approaches the Hammerstein/Kern show tune with a lot of gusto and Jack’s free style on the drums makes this something a bit special.
• A Handful of Stars – West Coast Jazz (1955)  Lou Levy (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), and Conte Candoli (trumpet) on an album punningly titled given the musicians were from the east coast.
• Apasionado – Apasionado (1990) some critics were a bit sniffy about this one – likening it to “elevator music” and describing Herb Alperts production as too rich. What shines through is – despite his advanced years  Getz still had the power  deliver “The Sound”.
• Night and Day – Stan Getz and Bill Evans (1973) The only studio meeting between Getz and Evans took place over two days in May 1964, with drummer Elvin Jones and either Richard Davis or Ron Carter on bass – Carter in this instance  . Oddly Verve shelved the results for over a decade before issuing any of the music. Elvin is in his usual fiery form and delivers a brisk and muscular solo.
• Out of Nowhere – Imagination (2002) Drawing on Stan Getz’s work for the Roost and Prestige lables , this CD documents his early days as a quartet-leader, following his  success with Woody Herman.

World of Jazz – 19th July 2012

On this weeks show – which you can listen to here……

1	Stan Getz and Bill Evans	Night and Day	Stan Getz and Bill Evans
2	Bugge Wesseltoft	Black Pearl Makes Dream	IM
3	Dinah Washington	Caravan	Swingin’ Miss D
4	Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins	The Jeep Is Jumpin’	Duke Ellington meets Coleman Hawkins
5	Billie Holiday	What A Little Moonlight Can Do	Stay With Me
6	Woody Shaw	Zoltan	Love Dance
7	Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard	Desert Moonlight	Double Take
8	Freddie Hubbard	Byrdlike	Rollin’
9	Donald Byrd	Bup A Loup	Fuego
10	John Coltrane	Dearly Beloved	Sun Ship

World of Jazz – 15th March 2012

On this show we have classic jazz cuts with a brand new track from Dave Shank – listen here

1	Stan Getz & Luis Bonfa	O Morro Nao Tem Vez	Jazz Samba Encore!
2	Art Taylor	Epistrophy	A.T.s Delight
3	Bill Evans	Polka Dots and Moonbeams	California Here I Come
4	Sonny Red	Stay as Sweet As You Are	Out of the Blue
5	Donald Byrd	Dixie Lee	Mustang!
6	Paul Chambers	What’s New	The Paul Chambers Quintet
7	Thelonious Monk	Crespescule With Nellie	Criss Cross
8	Dave Shank	A Minor Distraction	Soundproof
9	J.J. Johnson	Groovin’	The Eminent Volume 2
10	Miles Davis	Fran Dance	Kind of Blue 50th Anniversary Edition

Music Diary #19 – 19th January 2012 & World of Jazz

A new AAAK EP on its way to us shortly – love the moody cover of Paul and Ding and looking forward to hearing the Violent Snog mix of I assume “Sweet Sweet Kiss” – difficult to see as the reflected flash is in the way…..

Those merry funsters Well Wisher  have a new EP out on 25th January 2012 called “Summer Gangs”  – you can stream it on Bandcamp at this moment in time. As usually their breathtaking post-hardcore slacker indie punky pop is a refreshing antidote to the tired playlists wombled out by the so-called “taste-makers” out there. Highly recommended.

Pleased to see 50FOOTWAVE have released a new EP which is called “With Love From The Men’s Room” and it’s free from here – as usual K Hersh is on fine form and it is to be hoped they can make it over to the UK for some gigs in the near future.

Mr MJ Leigh has made four more Kill Pretty tracks available for download  here – suffice to to say they are all rather marvellous…..really looking forward to next weeks gig at the Kings Arms. The lyrics on some of these are NSFW.

And so to this weeks World of Jazz at the hail stones thunder down outside the Half Edge Recording Studios……..

I felt in a fusion-y sort of mood this week so I opted for some Weather Report  to kick of the show. Featuring a track from the eponymous album which saw the last time Pastorius, Erskine, and Thomas Jr would play together as a rhythm section – some would argue they rather lost the plot after this album – not sure I agree there are some highlights in the later work.  I’ve recently been introduced to the work of Dag Arnesen and I was drawn to the album featured on this show through the presence of Palle Mikkelborg on trumpet. Beautiful melodies and great playing.

Always pleased to feature the great James Spaulding on the show and the bluesy cut played on this show demonstrates his ability to adapt. Australian Mike Nock has been around for a while and he always delivers great albums – never gets the attention he deserves I reckon. Marcus Millers re-invention of Miles Davis’s first Warners album “Tutu” is interesting – whilst it’s appreciate he contributed considerably to the original one wonders why he felt it necessary to put together this mammoth slab of work around it. I’m sort of conflicted on the need for it but it’s always good to hear George Duke’s wonderful “Backyard Ritual” and Christian Scott does well fitting into MDD’s shoes.

Sonny Criss working with Horace Tapscott has to be a bonus and the nonet cut from the “Sonny’s Dream” album is rather groovy. Following that with some Stan Getz from an album produced in collaboration with (Big A&M)* Herb Alpert towards the end of the great mans career. Concluding with some ECM ambience from Don Cherry and friends, a great ballad from Dexter Gordon and a mood piece from Manchester based jazzer Matthew Halsall.

(* Gratuitous Fall Fan Reference c.f.  CnC-S Mithering from Grotesque After the Gramme)

Enjoy here.…..

1	Weather Report	Volcano for Hire	Weather Report
2	Dag Arnesen	Astrid Mi Astrid	Norwegian Songs 3
3	James Spaulding	Gerkin for Perkins	Blues Nexus
4	Mike Nock	Symbiosis	Almanac
5	Marcus Miller	Backyard Ritual	Tutu Live
6	Sonny Criss	The Golden Pearl	Sonny’s Dream (The Birth of the New Cool)
7	Stan Getz	Amorous Cat	Apasionado
8	Don Cherry, Lennart Aberg, Bobo Stenson	Prayer	Dona Nostra
9	Dexter Gordon	I guess I’ll hang my tears out to dry	Ballads
10	Matthew Halsall	The Journey Home	On the go

World of Jazz – 10th February 2011

A mix of old and new on this show …….

Bill Frisell & Vinicius Cantuaria – a couple of cuts from the new album “Lagrima Mexicales” – tunes that that evoke hispanic life in and around New York. Bill and Vinicius have worked together a lot – most notably on the Internationals album. What you get is the usuall Frisell wild mix of blues, country and electronic but this time with more of a latino feel.

Jadid Ensemble – the new album “Sigh of the Moor” is out on March 10th and you can see them at a free concert at the Royal Exchange in Manchester at 6pm on 11th February. Follows on nicely from the Frisell with a mix of hispanic and turkish idioms.

Stan Getz –  Getz was known as “The Sound” because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. He recorded continually between the 1940s and the 1990s  “West Coast Jazz” – was recorded in Los Angeles in August 1955 with trumpeter Conte Candoli, pianist Lou Levy, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Shelly Manne.  In 1955 the stylistic differences between East and West Coast jazz was the topic of some debate, with critics and fans arguing vehemently over the two camps . The title of the album was a joke,  all musicians involved were originally from the East Coast and did not play in the laid-back, commercially profitable, cool style, as pigeonholed by some. Getz just happened to be in LA filming the Benny Goodman story.

Jaga Jazzist have moved from their modernist exploration of jazz into a more progressive/post rock style since their long lay off but there are still elements of jazz in their frenetic and repetitive playing. The new latest album “One Armed Bandit” could easily find itself tucked away in a rock collection and there are definate elements of Zappa type composition in the music.

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who fronted his large group continuously for almost 50 years. There is a great box set called “Masterpieces” which contains three CDs of his earlier compositions which is well worth checking out.

Dennis Gonzalez is a talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates, his playing is somewhere in-between advanced hard bop and free jazz. The 2009 album “A Matter of Blood”  is full of marvellous brooding work from  Gonzalez – easily one of the darkest, most powerful albums he’s ever recorded – thanks in part to an excellent lineup that features Curtis Clark on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Michael TA Thompson on percussion.

Led Bib – as featured on the last show another track from the new album from the young lions of the British Jazz Scene.

Bill Evans – the “Conversations With Myself” album was deemed as  controversial for no good reason other than the usual jazz purists getting hot under the collar because the pianist utilised the sound-on-sound technique of reel-to-reel tape recording available in the 1960s to play simultaneous twin pianos. N.Y.C.s No Lark is the sole Evans composition on the album.

Listen to the show here

World Of Jazz – New And Old by Bobonscr on Mixcloud