Work Song

Nat Adderley - Work Song
ORIGINAL JAZZ CLASSICS - OJC20 363-2
Originally Released By RIVERSIDE Records in 1960

Tracks:
01 - Work Song
02 - Pretty Memory
03 - I've Got A Crush On You
04 - Mean To Me
05 - Fallout
06 - Sack Of Woe
07 - My Heart Stood Still
08 - Violets For Furs
09 - Scrambled Eggs

Personnel:
Nat Adderley - Cornet
Wes Montgomery - Guitar
Bobby Timmons - Piano
Sam Jones - Bass, Cello
Keter Betts - Bass, Cello
Percy Heath - Bass
Louis Hayes - Drums

Nat Adderley's career is often overshadowed by his brother Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley whose side man he was for many years. But the cornet player made many fine albums of his own and this, in my opinion, is his finest. Recorded in January 1960 this hard bop album is a classic with a very distinctive sound. On many of the tracks a pizzicato cello is to the fore along with the cornet creating a sound that I've certainly never come across before or since (if there are others, let me know I need to hear them).

As well as a distinctive sound the album contains the first outings of two tracks that would go on to be jazz standards, 'Work Song' and ''Sack Of Woe'. 'Work Song', written by Nat, has been covered by an incredible amount of artists including Cannonball Adderley and lyrics were added by Oscar Brown Jr. (posts on him to come) later in 1960. Nat has described 'Work Song' as his retirement song. 'Sack Of Woe' or 'Sack O' Woe' was written by Cannonball Adderley and again has been covered by numerous artists and not just in the jazz field but soul and rock too. Lyrics were added in 1963 by master vocalist Jon Hendricks (posts on him to come). The rest of the tracks on the album are a mix of uptempo numbers and ballads that really work well together and stand many, many listens, a true classic.

Here are my favourite tracks from the album; 'Work Song', 'Mean To Me' featuring some amazing guitar work by Wes Montgomery and 'Sack Of Woe', and if that's not enough (and it shouldn't be) the whole album can be heard here on Spotify. Enjoy......

Stormy Weather

Various Artists - Stormy Weather
THE SOUNDTRACK COMPANY - SFCD33505

Tracks:
01 - Main Title / Stormy Weather Ballet
02 - Walkin' The Dog
03 - There's No Two Ways About Love - Lena Horne
04 - Cakewalk / Camptown Races / At A Georgia Meeting
05 - Linda Brown - The Tramp Band
06 - Moppin' And Boppin' - Fats Waller
07 - That Ain't Right - Fats Waller And Ada Brown
08 - Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller
09 - Diga Diga Doo - Lena Horne
10 - I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City - Mae Johnson
11 - Nobody's Sweetheart
12 - I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Lena Horne And Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson
13 - Geechy Joe - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra
14 - Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
15 - There's No Two Ways About Love - Cab Calloway, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson And Lena Horne
16 - My, My, Ain't That Somethin' - Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson
17 - Jumpin' Jive - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra
18 - My, My, Ain't That Somethin' - Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Cab Calloway And Lena Horne
19 - Good For Nothing Joe - Lena Horne (Not Used In Movie)
20 - Body And Soul - Cab Calloway And His Orchestra (Not Used In Movie)

This is the soundtrack to the 1943 movie 'Stormy Weather' that has an all African-American cast. The plot (slight though it is) is loosely based upon the life and times of it's star Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Returning from World War I, Bill and his friend Gabe (played by Dooley Wilson of Casablanca fame) return to Harlem to rebuild Bill's showbiz career. Bill meets and falls for singer Selina Rogers (Lena Horne) and vows to come back to her when he "gets to be somebody". The story of their relationship is almost continuously interspersed with musical song and dance numbers, tracing the development of African-American music from minstrelsy to big band swing, and culminating in a big finale.

The film is very entertaining and definitely worth watching, but it's the music that makes it great. For me the highlights of the film are Fats Waller and Cab Calloway (playing themselves) and the two dancin'est dudes that ever were or probably ever will be, the Nicholas Brothers. So here's a zoot suited Cab Calloway singing 'Geechy Joe', Fats Waller singing 'Ain't Misbehavin' and the finale that features Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers performing what Fred Astaire called the "the greatest movie musical number he had ever seen", 'Jumpin' Jive'. The Nicholas Brothers' eye-watering way of getting down stairs is probably best not tried at home........

Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk

Kenneth Rexroth - Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk
BGP Records - BGP 1019
Originally Released As FANTASY Records 7008 In 1960

Side A
Married Blues
Quietly
Nicholas
State And 32nd
The Deserted Courtesan
In The Wood
Go, Lovely Rose

Side B
The Shadows
The Orchard

Poetry set to jazz is considered a very 1950's and particularly Beat Generation phenomena, but Kenneth Rexroth had been doing it as far back as the 1920's. This album from 1960, finds him setting his own poems and his translations to some very cool west coast jazz at San Francisco's Blackhawk club. Despite his, at times, peculiar delivery I think this album works really well and I've enjoyed it for years. 

Unfortunately the original LP did not list who the band were and this reissue by ACE Records does nothing to put that right. After a bit of research I found a chap on line who has an original copy of the LP with guide notes inside by drummer Hank Uribe. These notes (you can see them here) list the group as:

John Mosher - Bass

Clair Willey - Piano

Dickie Mills - Trumpet

Brew Moore - Sax

Hank Uribe - Drums

Whether this is the group that appears on the album or performed it soon after the album's release, using the LP as a guide, is still not 100% definite. However, Brew Moore was associated with the Beat scene, recorded for Fantasy and regularly worked at the Blackhawk so there's a very good chance he's playing sax on this album. 

Kenneth Rexroth was not really a part of the Beat Generation. As an already published and recognised poet, he acted as a kind of elder statesman and mentor for many of the Beat poets, and certainly did a lot to help Alan Ginsberg and Gary Snyder gain recognition. He was master of ceremonies for the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery, San Francisco in 1955 that first publicly introduced the Beats, was a witness for the defence at Alan Ginsberg's obscenity trial and appears in Jack Kerouac's 'Dharma Bums' as Reinhold Cacoethes. Sadly he would end up being critical of the Beat Generation and when called the 'Father of the Beats' by TIME magazine, he replied "an entomologist is not a bug" (so there!).

Whether he was a cool patron of the Beats or a grumpy old man, this album is very cool. Listen to a couple of tracks and see.....

Red Hot On Impulse!

Various Artists - Red Hot On Impulse! - 1994
GRP Records - GRP 11512

Tracks:
01 - Journey Into Satchindananda - Alice Coltrane
02 - The Creator Has A Master Plan (Edit) - Pharoah Sanders
03 - A Love Supreme (Part 1: Acknowledgement) - John Coltrane
04 - A Love Supreme - Alice Coltrane
05 - Astral Traveling - Pharoah Sanders
06 - Stolen Moments - Oliver Nelson
07 - Garvey's Ghost (Edit) - Max Roach
08 - Hora Decubitus - Charles Mingus
09 - Upper Egypt And Lower Egypt (Edit) - Pharoah Sanders
10 - Le Matin Des Noire - Archie Shepp
11 - Blue Nile - Alice Coltrane

Apart from John Coltrane's 'Love Supreme', which I already owned, this album was my first real exposure to Impulse! Records. When I bought it back in 1995 I had never heard of Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders or indeed any spiritual jazz outside of 'Love Supreme'. I was completely blown away, particularly by Alice Coltrane and I began investigating more of this fantastic music. At the time I had gone back to university and money was tight so I didn't buy many more albums for a while. I did listen to this one though, a lot, and so did anyone who happened to be around me at the time. I spent a lot of time trying to convince my fellow students, most of whom had never listened to jazz before, that they really needed to listen to this amazing music. Unsurprisingly it mostly fell on deaf ears, didn't stop me trying though.

This album was released in conjunction with the charity the Red Hot Organisation to raise awareness and money to fight the spread of AIDS. Initially the project was a reworking of the Impulse! classics by contemporary and original artists and was released as an album 'Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool' with a related TV show. Despite the amount of hip hop (not my bag at all) the album worked well and I may do a post about it at a later date. This album was released to highlight the original versions, and saw the start of a long over due re issue campaign for Impulse! In fact some of the tracks on this CD had never been re issued since their original release.

Anyway, there's this really amazing music you have to listen to........

Voodoo Session

Tubby Hayes - Voodoo Session - TRUNK Records TTT005

Side A
Voodoo

Side B
Give Me Love (Kenny Lynch vocals)
Bailey's Blues

This is something special, Tubby Hayes' previously unreleased music to low budget British horror flick, Dr Terror's House Of Horror. Released by Trunk Records, only 666 of theses EPs were pressed, this is 219. The music as you would expect is superb, and there are comprehensive notes by Tubby expert Simon Spillett (who's no slouch on the sax himself). The music was recorded at Shepperton Studios in 1964 and features Shake Keane on trumpet, not Roy Castle as the film would have you believe.

I came to own this record by complete coincidence. I watched the film for the first time and was very excited to see the Tubby Hayes Quintet, the Radio Times hadn't mentioned it so it was an unexpected treat. I set about seeing if this music had been released, I didn't have the internet then so all I could find out was that the Rare Record Price Guide listed one very expensive single credited to Roy Castle. The following Saturday I went to my local record shop and while paying for that week's selection of albums, I saw this EP in the back room behind the counter. I asked to see it and was amazed to find that it was the music to the film I'd watched a couple of days earlier! Obviously my next question was "can I buy it?". The girl who worked there on Saturdays had ordered it for herself but said she would order another but I couldn't have it yet as it wasn't released until that Monday. They put it by for me, and I shot down there on a slightly extended lunch break that Monday to pick it up. I spent the rest of the day counting the minutes until I could go home and play it.

As I mentioned earlier the music is superb although my, now sadly departed, cat would disagree. Over the years he heard a lot of music, probably more than most cats, and he never really expressed an opinion either way about any of it. That is until he heard Tubby's 'Voodoo'. When Tubby makes his flute 'roar' it would cause his ears to flatten back and he would run from the room as fast as his legs would carry him!

Here is 'Voodoo' (cats may wish to leave the room) and a clip from the film featuring Kenny Lynch singing 'Give Me Love', enjoy.......

Sun Song

Sun Ra - Sun Song - DELMARK Records DD-411
Originally released as Jazz By Sun Ra by TRANSITION Records - 1957

Tracks:
01 - Brainville
02 - Call For All Demons
03 - Transition
04 - Possession
05 - Street Named Hell
06 - Lullaby For Realville
07 - Future
08 - Swing A Little Taste (bonus track)
09 - New Horizons
10 - Fall Off The Log
11 - Sun Song

This is Sun Ra's very first album. Recorded in July, 1956 at Universal Studios, Chicago by an eleven piece Arkestra, it was originally released in 1957 by Transition Records with an extensive booklet. The booklet of Sun Ra's poetry, philosophy and notes on the tracks along with photos of Sun Ra and the Arkestra has been reproduced in the CD booklet. Sun Ra says "music paints pictures that only the mind's eye can see" and indeed his music does take you to other world. The music itself is largely rooted in big band swing with a bit of exotica thrown in the mix but it is so much more than that. There are no jolting 'space chords' on this album and the music is not really 'out there' yet but it definitely contains something 'other'. The music mesmerises you and takes you on a journey away from the world you're living in. When I bought this album I couldn't stop playing it and had to force myself to stop so that I could listen to the other albums I'd purchased that week. Very few albums have that much of an effect. I think Sun Ra sums this up very well in the booklet with his poem 'Enticement'.....

Imagination is a magic carpet

Upon which we may soar

To distant lands and climes;

And even go beyond the moon to any planet in the sky.

If we are here, why can't we be there?

Imagination is a living moving thought

Which seeks to be and do,

Forever pioneering like an eternal vehicle of joy.

I cordially entice you, I diligently tempt you:

Step upon my magic carpet of sound,

And share my adventures

On the land of pleasure Hi Fi....!

You can listen to the whole of the original album on Spotify here, or just dip your toe in with 'Brainville', 'Call For All Demons' and the sublime 'Sun Song' below.....

The Directions In Jazz Unit

The Directions In Jazz Unit - Directions In Jazz - 1964
PHILIPS Records BL 7625

Side A
Night Talk
Morning Theories
Lady Day
Honky Tonk
Caber Dance

Side B
Milestones
Monkey Business
New Orleans
Times 2 1/2
Rustic Gait






The Directions In Jazz Unit - The Road To Ellingtonia - 1965
PHILIPS Records - BL 7673

Side A
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Git That Swing)
Progressive Gavotte
Hiawatha
Prelude To A Kiss
C Jam Blues

Side B
Midriff
Upper Manhattan Medical Group
Come Sunday
You Better Know It
Lay-by





The Directions In Jazz Unit are -

Bill LeSage - leader, vibes, piano, arranger
Bob Burns - clarinet, alto sax
Johnny Scott - flute, alto sax
Ronnie Ross - baritone sax, bass clarinet
Spike Heatley - bass
Tony Carr - drums
The Freddie Alexander Cello Ensemble - Freddie Alexander, Maurice Westerby, Francis Gabarro, William De Mont

The Directions In Jazz Unit were one of the most inventive and adventurous British jazz groups of the early sixties. Featuring a sextet of jazz luminaries and a cello ensemble the group played 'third stream' music, the fusion of jazz and classical music, and the results are fantastic. Sadly only these two albums were recorded, although a slightly modified (and uncredited) version of the group did record 'Twice Times Keyboard' in 1965 for World Record Club. Largely their music has been forgotten over time which is a crime as they were so good.

The first album is mostly compositions written by Bill LeSage, Ronnie Ross, Johnny Scott or Spike Heatley with arrangements of Miles Davis' 'Milestones' and Hoagy Carmichael's 'New Orleans'. The Second album, recorded a year later, is made up entirely of new arrangements of songs made famous by the Duke Ellington orchestra.

Despite recording the albums the group were not really a working unit and in the time between recording the albums the group only made a few university dates, a television appearance and one major concert. Perhaps this lack of exposure is why they are largely unheard of today. A search of the internet to find clips to share with you only resulted in finding two videos of footage from the 1960's BBC program Jazz 625. One of them being the whole of the recent BBC4 documentary and the clip (also from that documentary) of the group performing 'Night Talk', which I've included below. I wish there was more to share with you and that this great music was still available and it's worth recognised. If you want to hear more check out the Jazz 625 documentary on YouTube (while it's still there) or track down the LPs they are still available at reasonable prices but I'm sure soon they will start to attract the ridiculously high prices of other British jazz classics from the 1960's.

Here is Steve Race introducing The Directions In Jazz Unit on BBC's Jazz 625 in 1964.....

Pure Genius

 

Ray Charles - Pure Genius - The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959)
Luxury Box Set 7 CD, 1 DVD & 80 Page Hardback Book
RHINO Records - R2 74731 - 2005

If there was an award for the best designed box set ever, this would surely win it as it really is a thing of beauty. Designed to look like a vintage portable record player with the Ray Charles single 'Mess Around' on the turntable, this set contains 7 CDs, 1 DVD and an 80 page hardback book. The first 6 CDs contain every track Ray released on Atlantic records, both studio and live and even includes the album 'Fathead' by David 'Fathead' Newman that Ray played piano on. Disc 7 contains a rehearsal session with Ahmet Ertegun from 1953, recording session outtakes from 1958 and Ray's arrangement suggestions for 'The Genius of Ray Charles' album also from 1958. Most of the tracks on this disc were previously unissued at the time. The DVD contains previously unissued footage of Ray performing 9 tracks at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival and an interview with Ahmet Ertegun from 2005. The book contains essays about Rays time with Atlantic, the sleeve notes from all his Atlantic albums and a comprehensive discography/sessionography.

Released in 2005 shortly after Ray's death in 2004, this box set is a fitting monument to the man they called 'Genius'. However, I think this set can also be seen as one of the last hurrahs of the luxury CD box set. The industry at the time was in decline, the value of CDs were dropping rapidly and it would soon no longer be viable to spend so much time and money creating works of art such as this. In fact this set was released again in 2012 in a much more basic form with no DVD. At the end of the day it's the music that counts not the packaging, but a little luxury doesn't hurt now and then.

Just in case you needed a reminder of why everyone needs Ray's music in their life, here's 'Tell The Truth' from 1959..........

Reckless Nights And Turkish Twilights

Reckless Nights And Turkish Twilights - The Music Of Raymond Scott 
The Raymond Scott Quintette - 1937-1940

Tracks:
01 - Powerhouse
02 - The Toy Trumpet
03 - Tobacco Auctioneer
04 - New Year's Eve In A Haunted House
05 - Manhattan Minuet
06 - Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals
07 - Reckless Nights On Board An Ocean Liner
08 - Moment Musical
09 - Twilight In Turkey
10 - The Penguin
11 - Oil Gusher
12 - In An 18th Century Drawing Room
13 - The Girl At The Typewriter
14 - Siberian Sleighride
15 - At An Arabian House Party
16 - Boy Scout In Switzerland
17 - Bumpy Weather In Newark
18 - Minuet In Jazz
19 - War Dance For Wooden Indians
20 - The Quintet Plays Carmen
21 - Huckleberry Duck
22 - Peter Tambourine

You've probably heard more music by the Raymond Scott Quintette than you realise. In 1941 Warner Bros. licensed Scott's Quintette compositions and by 1943 almost all the Merrie Melodies or Looney Tunes cartoons featured Scott's music. The zaniness of the music perfectly underscored the mayhem of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Roadrunner or Sylvester & Tweety. In more recent times they have been used on Ren & Stimpy, Batfink, Duckman and the Simpsons. By the time his music was used by Warner Bros., Scott had moved on to other things, most notably being a pioneer in the world of electronic instruments and music with his Manhattan Research Inc. (more about that another time).

Click on the YouTube links below of 'Powerhouse', 'Twilight In Turkey' and 'The Toy Trumpet' and see how many cartoon characters they bring to mind...........

City Of Glass

Stan Kenton And His Orchestra - City Of Glass - 1951
CAPITOL Records LC 6577 - 10" LP

Side A
Entrance To The City
The Structures

Side B
Dance Before The Mirror
Reflections

Stan Kenton was always a champion of 'modern' or 'progressive' jazz, indeed many of the big names in West Coast jazz served their apprenticeships in his orchestras. The collaborations he made with contemporary classical composer Bob Graettinger though must surely be his most 'out there'. This album, recorded in 1951, is described by the composer as suggesting "a city in which the structures are shapes of musical sound, transparent and in constant motion, so that one can be seen through the outlines of others - a city of glass-like edifices".

The music is very abstract and by no means an easy listen, but well worth it. Sadly I can no longer listen to it, far too painful, but that's no reason for you not to. Although you can listen to everything Stan Kenton recorded with Bob Graettinger on Spotify here I realise this may be a bit much for the casual listener so I made a Spotify playlist of just the City Of Glass tracks here

Sun Ra - In Some Far Place

Sun Ra - In Some Far Place Roma '77 - STRUT / ART YARD Records

This arrived in the post today! Really looking forward to listening to it, hopefully I will be able to soon. Its my one concession to Record Store Day, I'm still unconvinced as to whether it's a good thing or not. In fact when I was well and able to get to record shops, Record Store Day was about the only time you wouldn't find me in one!
I couldn't resist this though and fortunately they didn't all sell out on the day. It's a double LP (& 2CD) of a never before released concert of just Sun Ra (keyboards & vocals), Luqman Ali (drums) and Thomas Thaddeus (vocals) recorded in Rome in 1977. If it's anything like the other small group live concerts of the era it should be great.