Saturn Research

Space age TV: Sun Ra and his interstellar crew go prime-time on NBC's "Saturday Night Live,"
May 20, 1978. From "Jazz: The First Century"

I got to see Sun Ra and his Arkestra a half-dozen times, mostly in Chicago, but later in New York City, too. It was always a trip to be in the presence of Mr. Mystery. You never were quite sure what to expect. Would Ra lead his men into an interplanetary miasma of free-jazz improv with Marshall Allen frantically fanning the keys on his weathered alto and Ahmed Abdullah issuing mighty trumpet blasts while balanced precariously on one leg on his chair? Would Ra revisit his distant past with a raggy arrangement of a hoary Fletcher Henderson number? Would John Gilmore be there? Danny Bank or Pat Patrick?

The Sunrise: Ra fans it for the fans at the 1980 Chicago Jazz
Festival. Photo by Lauren Deutsch

It was different every time. I remember the last time I saw them – in a moldering auditorium on Houston St. on a sweltering evening in New York City. The entire reed section – Allen, Gilmore and the rest – weren't playing saxophones. Instead, they had these odd rectangular tubes with keys on them. Midi woodwind interfaces, I guess they were. I'd never seen anything like it, and the sounds they produced were most definitely other-worldly.

I knew about Ra from my high school days when, at the Boston Tea Party one evening, I was assaulted by a quintet from Detroit. I say "assaulted," because that's what a performance by the MC5 was like in those days. Those greasy guys were positively scary. But they did a tune called "Rocket No. 9" which they dedicated to something called "Sun Ra." I was just beginning to learn about jazz, and it wasn't too long after that encounter that I knew all about Herman Blount and his idiosyncratic approach to music and life.

Fast forward to Chicago in the mid-'70s. I was in graduate school and buying up all the jazz records I could find. One place that was a record-fiend's mecca was the Jazz Record Mart at 7 W. Grand. Home of Delmark Records, the bailiwick of Bob Koester, the place was filled to the rafters with sides of all varieties, formats, styles, conditions and value. If it came over the transom and was playable, Koester would sell it. His pricing priorities were hard to figure, but his wares were nearly always offered at a reasonable cost.

One artist's sides nearly always wound up in the bargain bin. Yeah, that's right – Sun Ra was a stiff as far as Koester was concerned. I guess Bob had seen so many of Ra's privately issued LPs that he just couldn't get rid of them fast enough. They came in all manner of hand-decorated covers, some with liner notes taped to their backsides. There were even original Saturn issues from the late '50s, Classic LPs like "Monorails and Satellites" or "Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy." Most could be had for $1.59. Some I picked up for 79 cents. Good deal.

Bob Koester in his element, a few years before I got there. Wish
I'd been around to grab a few of those Prestige Jams for a quarter.

So here are two of the more obscure Sun Ra sides that I acquired at the Jazz Record Mart those many years ago. If you're hesitant about Ra's music, be assured that these recordings capture the Arkestra at its most conventional (for the most part). "Shield" has the band running through Son's arrangements of some standards with excellent work from John Gilmore and from a fine trumpet player named Walter Miller (unknown to me). "Media" is top heavy with Ra's electronic keyboard gizmos and has a looped drum/bass pattern that's reminiscent of "Surfin' Bird," but there's also terrific Gilmore and more trumpeting from a gent named Michael Ray (also unknown to me). Try 'em out! The covers, by the way, are minimal – Xeroxes colored in with marker and taped to plain white covers, now yellowed a bit with age.

As always, these tunes were ripped from the original vinyl with, in both cases, no tinkering with the sound whatsoever.

The Invisible Shield • Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra
El Saturn Records 144000
1-6: New York, NY, 1962; 7-9: New York, NY or Philadelphia, PA, 1970 

1. State Street (Ra)
Sun Ra, p; Walter Miller, tp; Al Evans, flg; Ali Hassan, tb; Marshall Allen, as, fl;
John Gilmore, ts; Pat Patrick, bs; Michael White, vln; Ronnie Boykins, b; Clifford Jarvis, d.

2. Sometimes I’m Happy (Caesar-Youmans)
Sun Ra, p; John Gilmore, ts; Ronnie Boykins, b; Clifford Jarvis, d.

3. Time After Time 1 (Cahn-Styne)
4. Time After Time 2 (Cahn-Styne)
Sun Ra, p; Walter Miller, tp; Ronnie Boykins, b; Clifford Jarvis, d.

5. Easy to Love (Porter)
6. Sunnyside Up (DeSylva-Brown)
Sun Ra, p; Walter Miller, tp; John Gilmore, ts; Ronnie Boykins, b; Clifford Jarvis, d.

7. Island in the Sun (Ra)
8. The Invisible Shield (Ra)
9. Janus (Ra)
Sun Ra, p, org, Mini-Moog syn; Marshall Allen, as, fl, picc; Danny Davis, as, acl;
John Gilmore, ts, perc; Danny Ray Thompson, bsn/ Neptunian libflecto/ lunatic fagott
(on The Invisible Shield), perc; Ben Henderson (Jaribu Shahid), b; Art Jenkins, ancestral African vocal and space voice (on Janus), other members of the band, bells and percussion.

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?pfidddt2kjd6x1d

 

Media Dream • Sun Ra and His Arkestra
El Saturn Records 19783 

Sun Ra, org, p, Crumar Mainman organ, drum box, etc.;
Michael Ray, tp; John Gilmore, ts; Luqman Ali, d.
Live in Italy, January 9, 1978

1. Saturn Research (Ra)
2. Constellation (Ra)
3. Yera of the Sun (Ra)
4. Media Dreams (Ra)
5. Twigs at Twilight (Ra)
6. An Unbeknowneth Love (Ra)

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?zzjb2tbp8oo0wuc

Guys and Charts

An impression of Teddy Charles and his frequent collaborator, Charles Mingus, by artist David X. Young,
done no doubt from life at Eugene Smith's Jazz Loft, circa 1958. From the Jazz Loft Project

Arrangers aren't always the best players. Think of Tadd Dameron or Gil Evans. But sometimes jazz arrangers are really good on their instruments, fine soloists as well as excellent writers. Two that come to mind are Teo Macero and Teddy Charles.

Macero is perhaps best known today as the guy Miles goads in his hoarse whisper – "Teo ... Teeeoh" – at the conclusion of "Gingerbread Boy" on "Miles Smiles." Teo did indeed have a remarkable second career at Columbia in the sixties as a producer/A&R man, overseeing some of Davis's most important sessions. But he was an excellent tenor player, too. He held a Masters from Juillard, dabbled in Third Stream styles along with Gunther Schuller and made some very fine records along the way. He also helped Charles Mingus organize the bassist's first Jazz Workshop group and played an important part in Mingus' arrange-as-you-go composing concept.

The Manhattan Jazz All-Stars' brain trust:
Teo Macero and Teddy Charles.

Teddy Charles also worked with Mingus, both as a sideman and as a leader. He met Macero when he too was a student at Julliard. His work on vibes was featured on numerous records in the fifties and his own recordings offered a forward looking glimpse of jazz's future. But today he is even less well known than Macero. A fate shared by many artists showcased here on Gems, unfortunately.

Teddy Charles led and arranged numerous sessions in the fifties that brought together some of jazz's finest, usually under the unifying concept of a particular genre of music – Russian classics, for one – or a Broadway show – as is the case here. Record companies were (and still are) always on the lookout for a way to market jazz to the dreaded general audience, and five decades ago they were inclined to assemble jazz's elite and have them do popular show tunes and musicals. "Porgy and Bess" was a decided favorite, with "West Side Story," "Oklahoma" and "My Fair Lady" running close seconds. It was no doubt with marketing in mind that Columbia got Charles and Macero to organize these sessions.

So here's "Guys and Dolls," rendered by an all-star cast that includes Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer and Zoot Sims along with the leaders. There's even a young Mose Allison on piano, having just signed with Columbia. And Sir Charles Thompson is here on several tunes to add historic weight to the album. The charts are excellent, breathing life into the all-too-familiar melodies and, in Teo's case, are fairly adventurous. 

Albums like this took a huge effort to produce, what with all the writing and organizing. The players no doubt had several quick rehearsals before the session and then played the pieces down in one or two takes. Sales of the ensuing release were almost certainly modest, as was the musicians' remuneration, and critics ho-hummed the album in their reviews. But this is great, if not groundbreaking, stuff and thus is worthy of inclusion here on Gems. So say I, and I think you will too.

The record comes from a cache a friend who cleans houses came across in a cluttered attic. The previous owner numbered each record in the collection – you can see that this one was marked "54" in the upper left corner – perhaps as a way to chart his progression through the music. There were several hundred LPs and 45s in the boxes and I acquired many of them. More, as they say, to come ... 

As usual, these tunes were ripped from the original vinyl with little or no cleaning up of the sound.

Swinging "Guys and Dolls"
The Manhattan Jazz All-Stars with Teddy Charles, Teo Macero
Personnel includes, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, Sir Charles Thompson, Zoot Sims, Ed Shaughnessy, Mose Allison, Dave McKenna, Addison Farmer, Aaron Bell, Jimmy Raney, Teddy Charles and Teo Macero. See cover for groupings and dates.

1. Fugue for Tinhorns
2. I'll Know
3. A Bushel and a Peck
4. Adelaide
5. Luck Be a Lady
6. Guys and Dolls
7. My Time of Day
8. If I Were a Bell
9. I've Never Been in Love Before
10. Follow the Fold
11. The Oldest Established

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?778c6qmc6e62963

Fixing Broken Links

So many sides, so little time! Especially when Gems has to repair links to music already uploaded ... 

Well, a few of the tens of visitors here to Gems have let us know recently that a good number of the downloads offered here suffer from broken links. The curse of the blogger! Suffice it to say that all (or nearly all) have been reuploaded, this time to the dreaded (not so dreaded anymore) Rapidshare. So if you've been interested in Hazel Scott, West Coast Jazz, the Jazztone sampler, KC or Chicago jazz, jukebox tenors, the other JATPs, the Norman Granz two-fer, Benny Goodman or any of the other postings that have gone dark, they should now happily be functioning. Until the next time that is, so git 'em while they're hot.

This just in: Thanks to jazzcat, the blocked files should now be available. Give one or two a try and let me know if there's still a problem. Sorry for all the fuss!

A Visit to Jazzville

The "Springfield Rifles," i.e., the guys who played jazz from Springfield, Mass., circa 1946. From left are Hal Serra, Chuck Andrus, Joe Morello, Phil Woods and Sal Salvador. Photo from local802afm.org

If you tootle around eBay like I do occasionally (well, more than occasionally), and you look for jazz LPs, you've probably seen the record below offered for big money. Why? In a word, cheesecake. Collectors of genteel erotica pony up real dough for albums with over-exposed attractive young women on them. The cover of this Dawn LP is particularly sought after for that reason.

Music? Who cares about the music?

Well, I do (he said self-righteously). And so do you. So that's why I'm posting this album – because it's hard to find, and the music on it is excellent. Not that the comely Vespa jockey isn't an added attraction. But rare sides by Gene Roland and the ultra-obscure Hal Serra are the main reason we (meaning me) here at Gems do what we do.

A funny story about this record. I found it years ago at a church white elephant sale in Connecticut (when I was briefly living there) and listened to it a few times before sticking it in the stacks and forgetting it. Zoom ahead a dozen years to the mid-'90s, and I'm doing my radio show at our newly launched NPR-affiliate, WJFF. I'd pulled "Jazzville, Vol. 4" as part of the afternoon's offerings, and was getting set up for the show when I noticed the name "Dudley Watson" in the album's liner notes. Dudley was the bass player on several of the Gene Roland pieces on the record.

The remarkable Dudley Watson,
performing on WJFF's "Live from
Studio B" in the winter of 1994.
Photo by Able Rae

Dudley Watson was also the bass player on the live, in-studio jazz performance show that followed mine that afternoon.

Yeah, that's right. For about 10 years, I also co-hosted a live-jazz program called "Live from Studio B" on WJFF immediately after my record show. Every week we'd have a different group of local jazz players come by and play for an hour. That week's group included Dudley on bass. Talk about serendipity.

Dudley was an extraordinary character. A true jazz gentleman, he was from the old school, a hipster from the days of Bird and Diz. He'd been playing bass for some 50 years when I knew him, and he'd never missed a beat. He was always attired in a sport coat and tie, and invariably wore a short-brimmed fedora. Being an albino, he had to be careful of the sun and had weak eyes made huge by exceedingly thick glasses. Even so, he managed to get around with the agility of a man half his age – all the while lugging his big double bass.

So ... on the day I brought "Jazzville, Vol. 4" in to play on my show, we had Dudley Watson both on wax and live in the studio. A real treat!

These Roland tunes and those by Hal Serra are also a real treat. Serra was originally from Massachusetts' capitol city, though he'd been a New Yorker for many years. His credits include stints arranging with June Christy and Ella Fitzgerald, but he remains largely unknown to most listeners today. He unfortunately passed away about six months ago but, as you'll hear on this download, he's a fine pianist and someone well worth seeking out.

The same can be said of Gene Roland, though his music has always been a bit more in the public eye. These arrangements are real swingers, as are the tunes. It's interesting to hear Paul Quinichette outside of the usual Basie-esque setting, too.

A word about the sound quality. I have a dozen vintage Dawn LPs and, though each looks absolutely pristine to the eye, each invariably plays with a fair degree of surface noise. No degree of washing seems to help (as it often does with most noisy LPs). So be forewarned – there is a good deal of hiss in places on this record, especially in the last few Serra numbers. No pops or clicks, just "sssssss." The music, though, is well worth hearing despite the somewhat defective sound.

























Jazzville, Vol. 4
Gene Roland/Hal Serra
Dawn DLP 1122

Gene Roland, comp, arr, tp; Johnny Carisi, tp; Dick Meldonian, as; Paul Quinichette, ts; Robbie Swope, tbn; Nat Pierce, p; Dudley Watson, b; Walter Nolan, d. 
August 20, 1959, New York, NY.

1. Suitcase
2. Minor Scene

Gene Roland, comp, arr, tp; Paul Quinichette, ts; Nat Pierce, p; Freddie Green, g; Wendall Marshall, b; Sonny Payne, d. 
August 26, 1957, New York, NY.

3. Colonel Hodge

Gene Roland, arr, tp; Paul Quinichette, ts; Nat Pierce, p; Doyle Salathiel, g; Oscar Pettiford, b; Osie Johnson, d. 
August 13, 1957, New York, NY.

4. The Creeper (Pettiford)

Hal Serra, p; Bert Collins, tp (2, 4); Ernie Furtado, b (5, 9); Earl May, b (6, 8); Joe Williams, b (7); John Cresci, d (5, 7, 9); Ed Thigpen, d (6, 8)
1958, New York, NY. 

5. Everything I've Got Belongs to You
6. Why Was I Born
7. Irma (Serra)
8. Suddenly It's Spring
9. The Things I Love

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?oocbdqozx1e1i4w

Holidays in Swing Time

Season's Greetings from Hamp and the guys, and also from the crew here at Gems! This full-page ad appeared in the December 31, 1947 edition of the venerable Down Beat magazine (then more of a newspaper). Note the "new creation in a new movement" – "Mingus Fingers." Bebop at its greatest, indeed!

It's that time of year again. This is Gems' second holiday season, and we just want to thank all the many jazz fans who've visited this site and have shared their insight and enthusiasm with us. It's been great fun digging through the collection, uncovering interesting recordings and posting them here. And we promise more to come in upcoming months.

Meanwhile, here's a holiday treat for one and all. It's a jazz version of the old TV fireplace filled with cheerily burning yule logs. The soundtrack, of course, is by some of jazz's great players. So click the full-screen control, hit the start thingie and – viola! – bright and warm holidays in syncopation!

The music starts with Hamp and goes on from there. All of it is readily available, so there's no download this time (though I suspect you can figure out how to get it anyway). Enjoy, and happy holidays from us here at Gems to you and yours!

Holidays in Swing Time  
A Seasonal Mix 
1. Boogie Woogie Santa | Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, vocal by Sonny Parker
2. Greensleeves  |  John Coltrane  
3. Sleigh Ride  |  Duke Pearson Trio
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen  |  Jimmy Smith, Oliver Nelson arrangement 

Hines' Varieties

On the ball: The Fatha takes a break from the keys to roll a few at the lanes. Very
nice form, don't you agree? This was taken about the time these recordings were
made. From "The World of Earl Hines"

Here's another Earl Hines offering – one that's a bit more contemporary than those of our previous postings. Hines has long been one of my favorite players, ever since I first heard his keyboard gymnastics on "Weather Bird" with Louis. His sense of rhythm was far more advance than any of his contemporaries, with the possible exception of James P. He just knocked me out!

I was filing away some records I'd pulled for my radio show when I came across this gem. It's another of those cheapo budget records from the early '60s, but it's not one that you see very often and the music reissued on it comes from an interesting period in Hines' career. Plus, these sides were all originally recorded for the short-lived Sunrise label in Chicago, making them pretty rare (back before the Internet, that is).

There's another reason why I decided to upload these files. The record has an interesting story behind it (are you surprised?). 

When I was living in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago, I spent a lot of time in used record stores and thrift shops. There were great records to be found there as you might imagine, and I found quite a few. One day I purchased an LP with curious notes on its backside written in blue ballpoint pen ink. The notes added information on personnel, and on session dates and locations. They also commented on the various tunes on the LP – things like "Dynamite Blowing – a Real KICK!!!" and "Slow Burner – Tpt. Solo – Bold!!!" Whoever had made the notes used exclamation points freely.

A sample of the mysterious annotations, made
on a Duke Ellington record. The writer put much
effort into drawing lines and curious symbols.

I didn't think much of it until I came across another LP with similar jottings. And then another, and another. I began seeing dozens of records with the ballpoint marginalia in many of my record haunts. I decided that somebody was getting rid of a collection of primo jazz sides piece by piece, selling LPs to dealers as circumstances dictated. The variety of detailed information and the evaluations of the tunes (the writer had an elaborate system of stars and crosses for rating them) made me suspect that the original owner may have been a radio DJ. The notes served as a guide for picking material for his show on the fly – he wouldn't have to preview the music, just grab and go. 

I never found out the true story behind the ballpoint annotator, but I did end up with about thirty of his records. This Hines LP is one of them. The interesting thing about his notes is that he not only knows the correct date and place for Hines' Sunrise sessions, but he knows many of the players as well (more than are listed in my discography). The record itself offers no info whatsoever on the material. My question is this: How did this fellow know these things? Did he have the original Sunrise releases? Did he know one of the sidemen, or possibly Hines himself? Was he a serious hipster on the scene? This last hypothesis seems to be borne out in his liberal use of jive argot – as in "T-pipe" for "tenor saxophone."

Johnny Hartman

Whatever the case, we have here some rare Hines recordings that capture the Fatha in a period of transition. His big band had just been disbanded, a victim of changing tastes and shrinking budgets, and he'd just been hired by his former recording partner, Louis Armstrong, to be a sideman in Satchmo's first All-Stars unit. It must have been a difficult time for Earl. Victor was no longer recording him, so he went with Sunrise and issued a series of tunes in a variety of styles. In this download you'll hear the first gleanings of R&B, sweet ballads with strings and some straight-ahead jazz in the tradition. It's like Hines was hoping something would catch the public's ear but wasn't sure quite what.

The Dark Angel of the violin –
Eddie South

That said, you get to hear the immortal violinist Eddie South on three of these titles (and maybe more if, like me, you suspect it's Eddie South and not Bill Dougherty playing fiddle on some of the other tunes). You'll also hear the first recordings of a young up-and-coming baritone named Johnny Hartman, as fluid and smooth as he'd ever be even at age 24. Then there are the fine arrangements of Ernie Wilkins (or is it Budd Johnson?) on the big band sides. The jump tunes with Wini Brown feature a band pulled from Lionel Hampton's orchestra – with Mingus on bass! "Blues for Garroway," by the way, refers to Dave Garroway, then a nationally known Chicago radio personality and promoter of jazz. Earl no doubt was hoping Garroway would use the tune for his theme.

After 1947, Earl Hines would never again front an orchestra of his own on a permanent basis. Too bad, but then we wouldn't have his many decades of stellar trio and quartet work. So enjoy this last gasp of one Hines tradition. And see if the mysterious annotator doesn't inspire you to form your own theories about his story.

As always, these files were ripped from the original vinyl with just a mild cleaning of light pops and clicks.

 

Earl Hines and His Orchestra
Earl Hines
Hines, p; Morris Lane, ts; Eddie South, vi; Bob Wyatt, org; Ernest Ashley, g; unk. b, d.
Chicago, IL; December 1947
 
1. Honeysuckle Rose
2. Dark Eyes
3. Blues for Garroway
 
Hines, p; Duke Garette, tp; Bobby Plater, as; Morris Lane, ts; Charlie Fowlkes, bar; Bill Dougherty, vi; Bill Mackel, g; Charles Mingus, b; Curley Hamner, d; Wini Brown, unk., v.
Chicago, IL; December 1947
 
4. The Sheik of Araby
5. No Good Woman Blues
 
Hines, p; prob. Willie Cook, Vernon Smith, Fats Palmer, Charlie Anderson, tp; Bennie Green, Walter Harris, Gordon Alston, tbn; Clifton Small, tbn, p; Scoops Carey, Thomas Crump, as; Ernie Wilkins, Budd Johnson, ts; Wallace Brodis, bar; Bob Wyatt, org; unk., vbs; Skeeter Betts or Bill Mackel, g; Calvin Ponders, b; Gus Johnson, d; Johnny Hartman, Melrose Colbert, v; unk. string section.
Chicago, IL; late 1947
 
6. Ain’t Misbehavin’
 
Personnel as 4, 5:
7. Bow-legged Mama
 
Personnel as 6:
8. Black and Blue
9. I Need a Shoulder to Cry On
 
Personnel as 4, 5:
10. My Name Is on the Doorbell

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?emw51rme3yyr1n2

Wailin' with Hamp

Lionel Hampton runs through a few two-fingered piano riffs prior to a show in the late '50s.
Photo from "Hamp," his autobiography

Barry O snags a
second shot.

The re-election of President Barack Obama reminds me of a time when I was directly involved in presidential politics, and that spurs me to offer this recording by the great Lionel Hampton. The connection may be a stretch, but I'll go with it since it's nice to have a logic (however contrived) behind these musings here on Gems.

In 1970, I worked for the late Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign, going door to door in the Syracuse, NY, region in an effort to get out the vote. Like many college kids from that era, I was firmly against the war in Viet Nam and believed that George would end it once elected. My canvassing partner and I were assigned to one of the poorer neighborhoods and the work was anything but easy. People answered our knocks – when they answered at all – with half-opened doors and suspicious looks. Nobody wanted to hear us talk about the Senator from South Dakota; they just wanted to get the two white kids from somewhere else off their front porch. 

Lionel Hampton chats with Richard M. during a visit to
the White House in 1970.

The experience impressed upon me just how complex the American political landscape can be. Another example could be found in Lionel Hampton's very public support for former Vice President Richard Nixon, McGovern's opponent. Back then I was just beginning to explore this music called jazz, and the idea that someone of Hamp's stature could support a war-mongering honky square like Tricky Dick just defied all logic. Of course, my eighteen-year-old political reasoning was anything but nuanced. But I really had trouble getting my head around the fact that a jazz giant was embracing a guy who seemed to be against everything that jazz stood for.

Of course, McGovern went down in one of the worst defeats anyone in a presidential election has ever experienced. Nixon went on to run afoul of the Watergate caper and also came up a loser. Our bumper stickers in Boston read, "Don't blame me – I'm from Massachusetts." 

But Lionel Hampton went on to play music for another three decades, swinging just as hard as he ever did. He was clearly a survivor, and that spoke volumes about his decision to go with the Repubs. That and the fact that his politics were pretty conservative to start with.

There's nothing political about this posting. It's just Hamp and the guys blowing for a rowdy crowd at a dance at Chicago's famed Trianon Ballroom. This is how live-in-concert recordings should sound – the crowd is vociferous, hip and paying attention. And Hamp and his men rise to the occasion. No great soloists here – Jay Peters and Jay Dennison are featured, and neither is exceptional. But they have a grand time and, if you can overlook Dennison's repetitious "Casbah stuff," you will too. And Hamp's solo turn on "Stardust" is worth the download all by itself.

As always, these tunes were ripped from the original vinyl, in this case a mono veteran of many years of repeated playings. There was a lot of surface noise that had to be cleaned up, so you may notice some minor digital artifacts here and there. But play it loud, roll back the rugs and pretend you too are at the Trianon ...

Wailin’ at the Trianon

Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra

Hampton, vbs; Billy Brooks, Wallace Davenport, Ed Mullens, Roy Slaughter, tp; George Cooper, Al Hayse, Harold Roberts, tbn; Jay Dennison, as; Bobbie Plater, fl, as; Edwin Frazier, Jay Peters, ts; Oscar Estell, bar; Dwike Mitchell, p; Billy Mackel, g; Peter Badie, b; Bill Eddleton, d.
Trianon Ballroom, Chicago, IL; July 22, 1954; Columbia CL1711

1. The Chase  12:05
2. Stardust  6:34
3. Mark VII  5:28
4. How High the Moon  8:58
5. Love for Sale  5:39
6. Wailin’ at the Trianon  6:17

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?98or5wknnxf28jk