Big T and the Pirates

A serious and youthful Jack Teagarden posing for the photographer in the late 1920s, a time when all jazz players naturally dressed in formal attire. From "Jazz: A Photo History"

A few months ago my son, who has just graduated from college and is camping out at home trying to decide what next to do with his life, suggested we take a day trip over to New Paltz, NY. He'd been there several times before and he said the town had a couple of really good used record stores. "Record stores?" said I, doubtful. "Yeah," said he. "Just like the ones you're always telling me about." This I had to see, so off we went one Saturday to check out the vinyl in this college town near the Shawangunk Mountains.

Jack's Rhythms Records in New Paltz, shown in
funky Google Street View image.

New Paltz is only an hour away from where I live in the Catskills, so we left in the late morning and had lunch at a Thai restaurant on Main Street. Then we strolled over to Jack's Rhythms at 54 Main Street. We walked in and there we were in a record store just like the ones I remember: bins of LPs arranged alphabetically by genre, music posters on the walls and a bespectacled geek behind the counter playing some esoteric rarity over the house stereo system. Most of the records were covered by polyethylene sleeves (these were used records, remember) and most were priced between $8 and $12. There were jazz LPs as well as rock, folk, blues and world recordings. Jack's also had CDs and a healthy selection of music books, but I went to work pawing through the jazz record bins. 

Bins! Just like in the old days.

There were the usual Blue Notes, Impulses and Riversides at reasonable collector prices, but I already have most of those. I was looking for the mistakes that even knowledgeable record dealers make – the Ira Sullivan album filed in the bargain bin, the Claude Thornhill LP stuck in the cheapo Easy Listening section, things like that. Jack's appeared to be more aware than most of the record stores from my past (thanks no doubt to the Internet), but eventually I came across a few boxes in the back that were mark "$1 each." Pay dirt!

I looked through boxes and came up with a number of interesting sides, most in acceptable shape. One I was very pleased to find, even for a collector's price. It was a Jack Teagarden from his early days as a leader on an obscure label – and a 10-incher. The label was Jolly Roger, one of the very first jazz bootleg outfits. 

Started by jazz fan Dante Bollettino in 1950, Jolly Roger featured reissues of unavailable classic jazz and blues sides in the then-modern 10-inch microgroove format. Artists like Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet had their music "pirated" by Jolly Roger (get it?). Bollettino even contracted with RCA Victor's pressing plant to produce his sides. It wasn't until Louis Armstrong and Columbia successfully sued Jolly Roger that production ceased and the company was put out of business. But hundreds of sides had been sold and a precedent had been set. Boris Rose would carry on the tradition of pirating in grand style a decade later (see our previous post) .

A sampling of some of the releases on Jolly Roger. Burt Goldblatt, who drew many
of the label's covers, did the Goodman and the Armstrong/Bechet jackets here.
He also did the cover for the Teagarden LP that is this posting's download.

Jack in the early '50s as a member
Louis Armstrong's All-Stars.

So here we have a Jack Teagarden on Jolly Roger. The recording showcases early Brunswick sides that Tea did with a variety of large groups that feature some notable sidemen – Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey the most prominent among them. Jack was working with Paul Whiteman's orchestra at the time, but he had made a name for himself as a vocalist as well as a fine trombone soloist with Ben Pollack's band and he was occasionally contracted to do pop tunes for labels Columbia and Brunswick. These numbers all include Jack's distinctive laid-back vocalizing, undistinguished arrangements and some very fine (if brief) solos. The performances are, without exception, all excellent examples of the trombonist's approach to jazz. I'm not sure they're currently available, but in the early '50s they were certainly rarities. 

So our sojourn to New Paltz was indeed a productive one. As one of the earliest examples of a fan making music available to the greater public after it had been abandoned by its parent company, this LP is a marvelous historical artifact. It's fitting that it should be offered here on Gems because – whaddya know? – we're doing much the same thing. And for a buck, I couldn't pass it up.

The selections were dubbed from the original vinyl as always, with just a little bit of cleaning. The sound is excellent, given the recording's vintage. Note that only the front of the LP is shown because the back is blank (as it is on most Jolly Rogers.)

Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden and His Orchestra 
Jolly Roger 5026

Jack Teagarden, tbn, v on all selections.

Orchestra with Jimmy Dorsey, cl; Joe Venuti, vi; Nappy Lamare, v; others.
New York, NY; March 2, 1934
1. Fare-Thee-Well to Harlem
2. Ol’ Pappy

Orchestra with Charlie Teagarden, tp; Benny Goodman, cl; 
Frankie Trumbauer, c-mel; others.
New York, NY; Sept. 18, 1934
3. Stars Fell on Alabama
4. Your Guess Is as Good as Mine

Orchestra as 1, 2.
New York, NY; Nov. 11, 1933
5. I Just Couldn’t Take It Baby
6. Love Me
7. A Hundred Years from Today
8. Blue River

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?jqqfqvhpax0u3d1

Not so RapidShare

Well, sports fans, our pals at RapidShare are again behaving in mysterious ways. Their server has been off-line repeatedly in the last few days, resulting in error messages whenever users try to access files. Which means, of course, that many of the downloads offered here are out of commission for the time being. We at Gems hope this is only a temporary state of affairs, but with these semi-legal file-sharing sites one never knows. I suppose those who avail themselves of free services (as we do at Gems) have no real cause to complain, but RS also has many paying customers who have been stiffed as well. We'll let you know when RS is again up and running, but in the meantime you check for yourself at this site: http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/rapidshare.com.html

Update: RS seems to be back up and running. Get those downloads while you can!

Shining Light on the Dark Angel

Eddie South was perhaps best known as a master violinist in Europe where he spent most of his musical career. But he was a Chicago native, and in later years he returned to the Windy City where he was a frequent guest on Dave Garroway's TV show. Photo by William Gottlieb

Here's another posting that comes by way of a request. A while back, Gene, a dedicated Eddie South fan, asked that Gems put up Eddie's 1959 Mercury recording, "The Distinguished Violin of Eddie South."  Now that the holidays are behind us, we have the time to honor that request.

Lovers of jazz fiddle certainly know Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith and Joe Venuti. Most know that Ray Nance played a mean violin in addition blowing fine trumpet. But many jazz listeners may never have heard of Eddie South. Why? Probably because Eddie's career extends back to the early days of the swing movement and because he did most of his playing and recording in Europe. His career as a classical concert violinist was nixed early on in this country by his race and, like many of his contemporaries, he found more accepting audiences abroad. There, he was a major star. 

A 1937 promo card for a concert with the Hot Club of France, Django
Reinhardt's group.

South was particularly taken with the folk music of Hungary and the Roma culture (gypsies, in non-PC parlance), and he frequently performed with Grappelli and guitarist Django Reinhardt. A tune he picked up on a trip to Budapest in the late '20s became his theme song, and he played it right up until his death in 1962.

In the late 1950s, the Mercury/EmArcy record label began making recordings in Chicago under the "Wacker Series" imprint (after Wacker Drive in the Loop, the location of Mercury's studios). They did several with Eddie South, and two of those are offered here. The second comes courtesy of Gene, the gent whose request inspired this posting.

"The Distinguished Violin" features Eddie in 1958 working with an all-Chicago rhythm section that includes pianist Eddie Higgins, guitarist John Gray and bassist/producer Johnny Pate. These gents are modernists, several generations removed from South's days as a member of Freddie Keppard's South Side group, but they perfectly complement the violinist's Fritz Kreisler-esque pyrotechnics.

Eddie's back in town! A clipping from Down Beat
from 1948, around the time South was working
as a soloist with Earl Hines' orchestra.

The second recording was released on Mercury's budget Wing label, and I believe it may be a reissue of the original album. It was released in 1959, as far as I can determine. Curiously, none of my discographical sources have a listing for "Music for the Birds," so the personnel remains unknown, with the exception of flutist Mike Simpson who shares cover billing with South. Simpson was apparently a local flute player who recorded as a session guy for Argo Records and who was part of the CBS music staff in Chicago. He was active in the '50s, but beyond that there isn't much known about him. He sounds fine here, but is far more conventional than the liner notes would have you believe. This record has the dubious distinction of providing the only example of a jazz rendering of "Red, Red Robin." The performances, though brief and burdened with the title concept, are uniformly delightful and show off Eddie's South's extraordinary ability with harmonics. 

As always, the files dubbed by Gems come from the original vinyl. Those provided by Gene also sound like they were taken from the original LP. Many thanks for the suggestion and for "Birds," Gene!

The Distinguished Violin of Eddie South

Eddie South

Mercury MG 20401

Eddie South, vi; Eddie Higgins, James Todd*, p; John Gray, g; Johnny Pate, b; Al Duncan, d.

Chicago, IL; July 14 or July 15*, 1958

1. C-Jam Blues

2. Around the World in 80 Days

3. Currant Jelly (Johnny Pate)

4. I Hadn't Anyone Till You

5. 1166 (Johnny Pate)

6. Czardas

7. Liebesfreud

8. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

9. Assurance (Johnny Pate)

10. Fiddle Ditty (Eddie South)

11. Hejre Kati

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?1wiwygltiw606bl

Music for the Birds

Eddie South and Mike Simpson

Mercury Wing MGW 12225

Eddie South, vi; Mike Simpson, fl; others unknown (probably similar to above)

Chicago, IL; 1959(?)

1. When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along

2. Skylark

3. The Hot Canary

4. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

5. Blues for the Birds (South/Simpson)

6. Flamingo

7. Listen to the Mockingbird

8. Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Do

9. Robins and Roses

10. Bird Bath

Find it here: https://anonfiles.com/file/21110872246121594770ae2a449416a7

Betty Bebop's Best

Betty Carter in the mid-'80s, going full bore at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco: Movin' on indeed! Tom Copi photo

Every recording that has been posted here at Gems has artistic merit – at least, I believe they do. Some are unjustly obscure, others offer examples of extraordinary musicianship, some are simply fascinating curiosities. This album, though, is different from those. It not only has merit. I think I can say without qualification that it is, from start to finish, an absolute masterpiece.

"Inside Betty Carter" ranks right up there with "Kind of Blue," "Blue Train," "Blues and the Abstract Truth" and any other contemporary jazz classic you might think of. Why "Inside" has never received its due – and why it remains generally out of print – is one of jazz's great mysteries. In an effort to rectify this egregious oversight, Gems offers this download for your delectation and enjoyment. 

James Moody and Betty Carter at the Chicago
Jazz Festival in 1982. Marc Pokempner photo

Recorded by the enigmatic Alan Douglas, a producer who had worked with Eric Dolphy and who later got into hot water for altering masters made by Jimi Hendrix, this album originally came out on the United Artists label in 1965. Ms. Carter was known among hipsters at the time as an extraordinary jazz vocalist, but she was largely unknown to the record-buying public. Several albums on ABC and Epic in the late 1950s and early '60s hadn't improved her visibility, and even a duet recording with Ray Charles did little for her career. It wasn't until she started her own label that Betty began to be recognized for the giant that she was. 

"Inside Betty Carter" was her last album before going out on her own, and it's a first sign of great things to come.

At a total length of 27 minutes, the record's entire program is shorter than some of the tunes Ms. Carter would sing on stage. But each of these performances is a flawless wonder, filled with nuance, brilliant improvisation and delightful surprises. The backing trio of Harold Mabern – not normally thought of as an accompanist – Bob Cranshaw and Roy McCurdy swing hard and push Betty as much as she pushes them. 

The standards here are deconstructed and revitalized as living things – you can suddenly hear the lyrics and the emotion behind them. A Carter original, "Open the Door," one of her signature tunes, is debuted on "Inside," and the singer's reworking of "My Favorite Things" is a 90-second encounter with genius. 

Betty Carter never had the instrument that Ella or Sarah had. Her voice was high and her sound was sometimes breathy and thin, but her range and musician's ear led her to develop a style that was stunningly adventurous and purely expressive. That style gets its start with this recording. If you've never heard it before, get thee to Rapidshare!

As always, these files come from the original vinyl, no cleaning of the sound required. A word of warning: these are wav files and are much bigger than our usual mp3s. The download time may be rather long ...

Inside Betty Carter

Betty Carter

United Artists UAS 5639

Betty Carter, v; Harold Mabern, p; Bob Cranshaw, b; Roy McCurdy, d.

New York, NY; April 1964

1. This Is Always

2. Look No Further

3. Beware My Heart

4. Something Big

5. My Favorite Things

6. Some Other Time

7. Open the Door (Betty Carter)

8. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?4xckaf3obteoz5g

Greetings of the Season

Happy holidays to one and all of Gems' visitors. Here's a souvenir from the heyday of swing, given to me by a jazz friend a few decades back. I don't know where he got it, but he knew lots of musicians so I suspect it may have come from one of them. I know most of the 28 signatories (I think there's 28), but I don't know all of them. Who's Sonny Kendis? Or Basil F-something? If you know, fill me in. In the meantime, best wishes for the season, and prosperous New Year to all of you from all of us here at Gems!

Land of Folk

Mr. Land in action at an Emarcy session in Los Angeles with Clifford Brown and Max Roach. Photo by William Claxton

When I think of the great tenors of the 1950s, Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Coltrane immediately come to mind. Somehow, I always overlook Harold Land. His participation in the Max Roach/Clifford Brown quintet should at least earn him an honorable mention in any list of reed notables from that period. And his work with long-time partner, Bobby Hutcherson, extended his legacy well into the '70s and '80s. If you want proof, you only have to sample this offering.

Land came from Texas, but he made California his home. Even though he'd recorded as a leader in 1949 (for Savoy) and had his own group, he joined Max Roach's band in 1954. That led to national exposure, and though he was overshadowed by trumpet star Clifford Brown, he was generally regarded as an excellent hard bop soloist. He eventually left Roach before Brown's death in 1956 and gigged around Los Angeles, making numerous recordings for the Pacific Jazz, Jazzland and Contemporary labels. His work with Curtis Counce and with his own groups from the early '60s is some of his best.

Which leads us to the present download. Imperial was making jazz records on the West Coast at the time, notably with Sonny Criss, but they also got Harold Land into the studio for a few sessions. In 1963, college students were going gaga over the sounds of folk music (the Dave Brubeck craze had faded), and the A&R guys at Imperial hit upon a brilliant scheme to revive jazz's popularity on campus. They would assemble an excellent hard bop quintet and have the boys play ... folk songs. Yes, that's the hook.

It sounds like a recipe for some pretty lame music, right? Bad folk, worse jazz. Well, not so in this case. Don't let the selections put you off. "Jazz Impressions of Folk Music" is a superb album. The arrangements, which are uncredited, take these hoary melodies, deconstruct them and reassemble them into intelligent and hip vehicles for jazz blowing.

The brilliant trumpeter Carmell
Jones, ax in hand.

The standout soloist, aside from Land, is the trumpeter, Carmell Jones. Originally from Kansas City, Jones had to come Los Angeles only three years before this session, and had been working with numerous other West Coast bands. He was a featured soloist with the Gerald Wilson big band at the time, and his lines here are exceptional. Clifford Brown comes to mind. 

Harold himself demonstrates his complete mastery of the horn, evoking Sonny Rollins at times, and running the changes with the fluidity of Sonny Stitt. John Houston, on piano, is the least well known of these players, but he'd worked numerous sessions with, among others, John Coltrane. Jimmy Bond is a familiar figure from his many Pacific Jazz recording dates, and Mel "Lee" is perhaps better known as Mel Lewis. I don't need to tell you about him.

So here are eight folk chestnuts, transformed into jazz classics. I think I found this obscure album in a used record store many years ago, but it's in pristine shape so no cleaning of the sound was required. As always, the tunes are ripped right from the original vinyl. 

 

Jazz Impressions of Folk Music
Harold Land Quintet
Imperial LP-12247

Harold Land, ts; Carmell Jones, tp; John Houston, p; Jimmy Bond, b; Mel Lewis, d.
Los Angeles, CA; 1963

1. Tom Dooley
2. Scarlet Ribbons
3. Foggy Foggy Dew
4. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
5. On Top of Old Smokey
6. Take This Hammer
7. Blue Tail Fly
8. Hava Nagila

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?7chc11tpow4c5pp

The Thin Man

Just a bunch of masters playing Just Jazz: Wardell Gray at the Gene Norman concert, offered below, on April 29, 1947. With him are, from left, Irving Ashby, Charlie Drayton, Benny Carter and Howard McGhee. Photo from "Black Beauty, White Heat"

Here's another sampling of from one those "other JATP concerts." It comes from two Gene Norman "Just Jazz" shows at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Shrine Auditorium, one from April and the other from December of 1947. These selections – three of them, actually – feature the immortal Wardell Gray, one of my favorite tenor players and I assume one of yours, too. 

Wardell's on stage with the gents above plus Vic Dickenson, Benny Carter, Jackie Mills and Vido Musso for several of these tunes, but the showstopper is a feature for the tenorist with Erroll Garner at the keyboard on "Blue Lou." Gray's superb tone and cool control are on display throughout the six minute performance and his ease with melody and improvisation evoke Lester Young in modernist guise. According to a very informative Wardell Gray website, Benny Goodman heard "Blue Lou" and was impressed enough to hire Gray for his band, saying, "If he's bop, that's great. He's wonderful!"

Benny and sideman Wardell in 1948 or '49.

We featured a Boris Rose bootleg of Goodman/Gray airchecks a while back, and I thought it was time to give Wardell his own posting. These concerts have been issued in many forms on numerous different LPs, and were initially released by the producer on his own label, GNP. The version here comes from a Crown reissue, but it also came out on Modern and United, and is not currently in print (as far as I can determine). The sound is very good, considering the recordings were made some 65 years ago.

It's unfortunate that Wardell died in Las Vegas in 1955 just as the technology was shifting away from the 3-minute, 78-rpm format to long-playing microgroove records. One would have liked to hear him stretch out in the studio as he does on these concert recordings. As it was, he died mysteriously, either by accident or at the hands of gangsters, several months after his former employer, Charlie Parker, expired in Baroness Nica's New York apartment. Both Bird and Wardell were 34 at the time.

So here is some first-rate Wardell Gray, accompanied by several other giants of the music. The great Benny Carter is on alto, as fluid and suave as ever, and Howard McGhee crackles on trumpet, hitting all the highs and bursting with ideas. There's the Elf, too, Errol Garner, comping along and soloing in his distinctive style. "Tenderly" is all his, one of the very few times he ever recorded that tune, believe it or not. His performance sounds to my ears like a studio recording as no crowd is audible and it's a solo spot, but the authorities say it came from the Civic concert stage so I won't quibble. This record, by the way, is another from that cache that was found in an attic by my friend who cleans out houses for a living. That's why it's got the number "58" on it – all those sides were numbered for some reason by their original owner.

The download comes from the original vinyl, as always, and required no cleaning of the sound at all.

Way Out Wardell
Wardell Gray
Crown CLP 5004
 
Wardell Gray, ts; Errol Garner, p; Irving Ashby, g; George “Red” Callender, b; Jackie Mills, d.
Just Jazz Concert, Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA; April 29, 1947

1. Blue Lou

Howard McGhee, tp; Wardell Gray, Vido Musso, tp; Arnold Ross, p; Barney Kessel, g; Harry Babasin, b; Don Lamond, d.
Just Jazz Concert, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA; December 27, 1947

2.  Just You, Just Me

Howard McGhee, tp; Vic Dickenson, tbn; Benny Carter, as; Wardell Gray, ts; Errol Garner, p; Irving Ashby, g; George “Red” Callender or Charles Drayton, b; Jackie Mills, d.
Just Jazz Concert, Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA; April 29, 1947
 
3. One O'Clock Jump

Errol Garner, p.
Just Jazz Concert, Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA; April 29, 1947

4. Tenderly

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?ykwwook9nwtp0kg