Relatively Lucky

A dapper Lucky Thompson, decked out ala mode Parisian. In the end, despite being one of America's greatest tenor players, he had little to smile about. Photographer unknown

Here's another jazz treasure, courtesy of WJFF's annual music sale, held every year right around Thanksgiving time. It's an event definitely worth giving thanks for if you're a vinyl hound like myself. We've posted record sale items here on Gems before, and this year's haul was especially good. Chief among the rarities was this long-out-of-print, wildly obscure LP by Eli "Lucky" Thompson. I snagged it, and now you can have a copy, too.

A few more gems from the music sale. Note the other Lucky Thompson, this one on ABC, made just prior to Lucky's heading off to Europe. A must-have LP, too, and readily available.

After spending half-a-dozen productive years in Europe, Lucky returned stateside in 1964 to have another go at making a living in the land of his birth. He waxed several very good LPs for Prestige and then somehow hooked up with a start-up company called Rivoli. The label's output was limited to a few short years before it went under, but in that time span Thompson recorded two excellent albums for Rivoli. This is the second of the two and it is Lucky's tribute to his roots – his "kinfolks."

In other news, gang, your humble interlocutor has returned to the airwaves at the esteemed broadcaster mentioned above, namely WJFF 90.5 FM in Jeffersonville, NY. That's right, I'm back hosting a weekly two-hour radio show, this time featuring 60 minutes of jazz followed by 60 minutes of blues. The program's called "Blues Connotation" (thank you, Ornette) and so far my tens of listeners seem to like it. You may remember that I ended my previous show on the station a few years back so I could spend a more time with my family (that's what what you're supposed say). I'll post a link to the new one on the column to the right in case you should find yourself with nothing else to listen to one day.

One other thing – WJFF has the distinction of being America's only hydro-electrically powered radio station, courtesy of nearby Jeffersonville Hydroelectric Co. There's a lake next to the station that lets Jeff Hydro generate the juice that lights up the board in Master Control and allows jazz-obsessed gents like myself to disseminate America's classical music for 60 miles in all directions. What power!

The mighty dam on Lake Jefferson in Jeffersonville (can you tell our little burg likes the country's third president?), the power source for WJFF. To give you a sense of its size, the spillway is about three stories high. Gems photo

So here's another Gem to celebrate this blog's host returning to the airwaves, and to share a once-in-a-lifetime find with all our screen-staring friends in the blog-o-sphere. As always, these files were ripped from the original vinyl with no, nada, cleaning of the sound. Dig!

Kinfolks Corner
Lucky Thompson and Friends
Rivoli 44
Lucky Thompson, ts, ss; Tommy Flanagan*, p; Frank Anderson, org; Wally Richardson, g; Willie Ruff, b; Oliver Jackson, Walter Perkins*, d.
New York City, NY; 1966

1. You Stepped Out of Dream*
2. Kinfolks Corner (Thompson)
3. Open Haus* (Thompson)
4. I'll Be Around*
5. Star Eyes*
6. Poor Butterfly
7. Anthropology*
8. Who Can I Turn To?
9. Caressable* (Thompson)

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?nsxno7hci2x6wn9

Battle of the Sexes

Norma Carson and Clark Terry go blow for blow in a promo shot, possibly taken around the time of the recording featured in this posting. Photographer unknown

I don't know about you, but I'm not a real fan of concept albums. The organizing conceit usually causes the music to play second fiddle, with the resulting whole often sounding less than the sum of its parts (if that makes any sense). But this record piqued my interest when I saw it offered at shopgoodwill.com and I had to pick it up. Girls vs. boys in a best-of-four jazz donnybrook? Find out which sex plays better jazz!

Ridiculous, I know. But still, haven't you always wondered what a direct performance comparison between male and female jazz players would sound like? No? Well, me either until I got this disc. After listening, I was surprised to find that the differences were ... essentially nil. Each group swings, plays well together and solos with conviction. That was a surprise, especially considering the line-up for the guys' team. Clark Terry? Lucky Thompson? Horace Silver, Urbie Green, Tal Farlow, Percy Heath AND Kenny Clarke? That just didn't seem fair. 

But I love Mary Osborne, the little I've heard of her playing (there isn't much), and I've always appreciated Terry Pollard and Beryl Booker (the little I've heard of their playing – not much of that either). So maybe the match-up was more equal than it first appeared.

As I was listening, I did a little research into the feminine side of the personnel – and came away very impressed! Terry Pollard, for instance. I knew she played with Terry Gibbs, but not much more. Check this out:

Wiki says she also performed with Coltrane, Bird, Miles, Duke, Nat, Dinah and Ella. I can see why. It's a mystery that we don't have more recordings from her. But then, with this record we do.

Then there's Corky Hecht. Or maybe I should say Merrilyn Hecht. Or Corky Hale. I'd heard her name before and knew she played harp (she's on an obscure Kitty White record that I have), but that was about it. Turns out she's a monster talent on multiple levels: harpist, pianist, singer, actress, producer – and centerfold! At nearly 40, she did some demo work for the songwriting duo Lieber & Stoller and wound up marrying Mike Stoller. Around that time, she was a regular on Johnny Carson. Dig:

Mary Osborne we all know (or should). She got her chops directly from Charlie Christian, sitting in with him long before Benny Goodman had ever heard of him. Here's Mary with a few of the boys in an excerpt from Art Ford's Jazz Party in 1958:

And then there's Beryl Booker and Norma Carson, both veterans and both very underrated players. You get to hear them go up against the fellas, tune for tune. Producer Leonard Feather has other critics act as judges and they wind up calling the match a draw. I would agree. See what you think.

This LP was originally issued as an EP with just the "cats vs. chicks" material. When MGM repackaged it as a 12-inch album, they added six more tunes featuring Terry Pollard in trio and quartet settings. She plays both piano and vibes in an impressive set of standards and originals. A most welcome addition.

So here's a concept album that I think we all can appreciate. As always, these files come right from the original vinyl with very little cleaning of the sound required. 

Cats vs. ChicksClark Terry, Terry PollardMGM E3614
Cats: Clark Terry, tp; Lucky Thompson, ts; Urbie Green, tbn; Horace Silver, p; Tal Farlow, g; Percy Heath, b; Kenny Clarke, d.Chicks: Norman Carson, tp; Terry Pollard, vbs; Corky Hecht, harp; Beryl Booker, p; Mary Osborne, g; Bonnie Wetzel, b; Elaine Leighton, d.New York, NY, 1958
1. Cat Meets Chick (Cats)2. Cat Meets Chick (Chicks)3. Mamblues (Cats)4. Mamblues (Chicks)5. The Man I Love (Chicks)6. The Man I Love (Cats)7. Anything You Can Do (Both)
Terry Pollard, vbs, p; Terry Gibbs, p; Ernie Farrow, b; Frank DiVito, d.New York, NY, 1958
8. Good Bait9. I Remember You10. Terry's Blues11. That Feeling12. Terry's Romp13. Emaline
Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?homa8suwxp1fy8x

Purely Inspirational

Wardell Gray was a participant in his last years in numerous West Coast jam sessions, and not just those organized by Norman Granz. Here he solos with altoist Frank Morgan and trumpeter Ernie Royal somewhere in Los Angeles in 1951. Photo by William Claxton

While digging through the stacks the other day, I came across a 10-incher that I'd forgotten I had – which is not unusual these days. I'd bought it many years ago in a Chicago used record store that occasionally had some interesting sides. This one was an EP on the Tops Masterpiece label, another cheapo '50s reprint outfit that mostly issued pop music covers by faceless studio orchestras. But this disc was different.

Called "Junior Jazz at the Auditorium," it featured a quartet of tunes by the likes of Howard McGhee, Lucky Thompson and Jack McVea and was obviously a jam session of the Jazz-at-the-Philharmonic variety. But "Junior Jazz"? That sophomoric title required a bit of looking into.

Pasadena's Civic Auditorium

My trusty friend, Walter Bruyninckx, whose invaluable jazz discography I was fortunate enough to purchase back in 1980, supplied the details. This Junior Jazz date was actually a jazz jam session and dance held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 1946, several years after Norman Granz's first JATP show. It was modeled on Granz's concept and was recorded by pioneer A&R man and producer Ralph Bass for the Black & White record label. Bass started out in jazz, but soon moved on to the burgeoning R&B genre. His single greatest achievement was the signing of the then-unknown James Brown to Syd Nathan's King Records, a deed for which the short-sighted Nathan promptly fired Bass. 

Ralph Bass in 1960

Finding this EP again got me thinking about the other JATP-type shows that occurred in the wake Granz's success. Gene Norman and his "Just Jazz" releases also came to mind, and I decided I'd make this posting about the JATP-wannabes.

In the 1940s, Norman was a jazz DJ in Hollywood who aspired to greater things. He began producing concerts under the rubric "Just Jazz," and like Granz before him, recorded them for his own use. His shows included stars like Lionel Hampton, Dixielanders like Teddy Buckner, and young modernists like Max Roach and Clifford Brown. One thing led to another, and soon Norman was leasing his dubs for commercial release. He eventually formed his own record label, GNP Crescendo, and launched a four-decade career as a record producer. While quality and continuity were never GNP Crescendo's strong suit, there's a lot of good music on the label. 

Gene Norman

For this offering I've pulled selections from two separate Just Jazz concerts, one from 1947 and another from a bit later in the year (although Downbeat, in a contemporaneous review, said it was from 1948). They've been reissued several times over the decades, mostly on budget labels, but here they're from two Crown Records editions. In both cases, the Just Jazz selections were packaged with tunes from other dates and places, but those have been omitted. It's just Just Jazz.

The jazz greats featured on these sides include Wardell Gray, the aforementioned Howard McGhee, Stan Getz, Red Norvo, Dodo Marmarosa, the Nat Cole Trio and many others. The rarer Junior Jazz set showcases the superb Lucky Thompson and is worth grabbing for that reason alone. But there's another surprise on that disc – the alto player. I'd assumed it was Willie Smith – it sounded like Willie Smith – but the reference books (Bruyninckx) list the player as one Les Robinson. He turns out to be the guy who played lead alto on Artie Shaw's "Begin the Beguine." If the altoist is indeed Mr. Robinson, he was one heck of a player!

Ouch!

One other thing. As I was making the dubs for this posting, I noticed to my horror that the Junior Jazz disc had a fine crack running through half of it. It was quite audible, and that meant only one thing – Gems had to digitally remove each and every one of those pesky clicks by hand. Not to worry, though – the sound is now very clean throughout. Don't say I never did anything for you ...

So here's a concert of live jazz jams from the '40s showcasing a number of players who never made it to a Jazz at the Philharmonic show. All the material is rare, and I don't believe the Junior Jazz tunes have ever been reissued. For an added treat, Ralph Bass himself introduces those performances in a studio overdub. The cover's a hoot, too. I've given you just the album fronts as the backsides are simply listings of other schlocky LPs available on the respective labels.

As always, these tunes have been ripped from the original vinyl with, in this case, LOTS of cleaning up of the sound.

The Other JATPs

Junior Jazz at the Auditorium

Howard McGhee, tp: Jack McVea, Lucky Thompson, ts; Les Robinson, as; Jimmy Bunn, p; Irving Ashby, g; Red Callender, b; Jackie Mills, d.

Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA; 1946

Tops Masterpiece L928 (originally Black & White)

1. Sunny Side of the Street

2. What Is This Thing Called Love? (Hot House)

3. Body and Soul

4. Lover Come Back to Me

Gene Norman Presents Just Jazz
Howard McGhee, tp; Sonny Criss, as; Wardell Grey, ts; Dodo Marmarosa, p; Red Callender, b; Jackie Mills, d.
Hollywood, CA; April 29, 1947
Crown CLP 5415

5. Groovin' High

Same date, personnel; omit Callender, add Charlie Drayton, b.

Crown CLP 5408

6. Hot House

Charlie Shavers, tp; Willie Smith, as; Stan Getz, ts; Red Norvo, vbs; Nat Cole, p; Oscar Moore, g; Johnny Miller, b; Louis Bellson, d.

Hollywood, CA; June 23, 1947

Crown CLP 5408

7. How High the Moon

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/vb23h92csot409s/The_Other_JATPs.rar

Tone Groove

Lucky Thompson always had marvelous tone, a quality that made him instantly recognizable as a soloist. Could his reed's patented parallel tone grooves have been the secret? This ad from a 1957 edition of Jazz Today would have us believe it was so.

Whatever the case, here's Lucky demonstrating that tone on Triumph 904, a side recorded in New York in 1950 with Pritchard Chessman and Shahib Shihab on reeds, Ray Copeland on trumpet, trombonist Ted Kelly and a rhythm section of Ed Swanston, Peck Morrison and Al Walker on piano, bass and drums. Its title is "Coolin' for Collins," a dedication by Lucky to a local DJ. As always, this music was ripped from the (srcatchy) original 78.

Jukebox Jazz: Tenors

The year is 1953, it's July and it's hot in New York City. Especially in your third-floor walk-up aprtment in a Harlem brownstone at 129th and Fifth Avenue. Too hot to even hang out on the stoop. So you stroll four blocks down to 125 and slide into the Lenox Lounge around the corner. They've got air-conditioning, cold beer and, best of all, a hot jukebox. The sides aren't the latest, and they're a little worse for wear – especially the hits – but each one jumps more than the last. You drop a nickle in the slot, punch up A-12, and straddle a stool at the bar as the opening chords to "Robbin's Nest" fill the room. That feels better!

I've been collecting 78 rpm records since about 1970, and sometimes I like to think of them in context. Like the scenario above. Perhaps one or two of these sides actually was in a jukebox in a joint in Harlem, or on South Central, or Cottage Groove and Indiana. So, since the warm months are coming up, I thought it might be nice to assemble a set of lounge-type sides for your summer listening. Each tune features a tenor player – though not always as the leader. They all come from the decade 1944 to 1953, so they mostly qualify as bop-inflected jump blues, precursors to rock 'n' roll. There are some stellar moments, like Lucky Thompson's accompaniment to Lips Page's vocalizing and Georgie Auld's soprano work on "Heaven." And then there's 26-year-old Billy Taylor comping with an organ player while John Hardee takes a chorus – unusual to say the least!

Some of these recordings are available elsewhere, but most are not. You can find the McVeas and Jacquets if you look, but the Ben Webster sides (actually a Tony Scott date) are real rarities (they feature Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy Gillespie). So you may decide this jukebox set is worth your downloading efforts. When the temperature hits 90 degrees, they may be just hot enough to cool things down.

As always, these tunes have been ripped from the original discs with only a bit of sound cleaning. Be forewarned that there is some surface noise.

(Personnel, dates and labels are included with the download.)

Illinois Jacquet
1. Robbin’s Nest
2. Jacquet’s Mood
3. Blow, Illinois, Blow
4. Illinois Blows the
5. Jacquet Bounce
6. Jumpin’ at Apollo
7. Jacquet in the Box
8. Jacquet and Coat

Georgie Auld
9. Airmail Special
10. Here Comes Heaven Again

Lucky Thompson
11. The Lady in Bed
12. It Ain’t Like That
13. Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You?

Ben Webster
14. All Too Soon
15. Ten Lessons with Timothy

John Hardee
16. Take the A Train
17. The Bug

Eddie Lockjaw Davis
18. Chihuahua
19. I Only Have Eyes for You

Jack McVea
20. Don’t Blame Me
21. O-kay for Baby
22. Play It Over
23. My Business Is C.O.D.

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/bw5humdjklh9en5/Jazz_Jukebox_Tenors.rar

Jack McVea and his jumping band, including drummer Rabon Tarrant (next to Jack who is opening the bus door), about to embark on a tour to promote their Black & White hit, "Open the Door Richard." Photo from "Harlem of the West: Fillmore Jazz Era"