Record Store Day Delights (Part 1)

What does a writer do when he fractures his arm?  I can't answer for anyone but myself and tell you the writer listens to myriad of Historical Jazz albums released by Resonance Records, Cellar Live/Reel to Reel, and Jazz Detective Records.  2024's Record Store Day welcomes 12 (!) new recordings all touched by the genius that is Zev Feldman. Here's a quick look at three of those albums.

In February of 1959, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins went on a European tour bringing bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Pete LaRoca Sims along. "Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings" (Resonance Records) is a four-

LP/3-CD package that presents music from radio concerts and live dates in Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Germany. Along the way, Sims is replaced by Joe Harris (new name to me) and, in France, by Kenny Clarke.  Some of this music has shown up on bootlegs over the decades; however, the sound quality was spotty and here it's downright stunning.  Grimes and Sims are perfect accompanists who are attuned to Mr. Rollins every move, every zig and zag. Harris, a native of Pittsburgh, PA, was a first-call drummer in New York City in the late 1940s and early 50s but moved to Sweden in 1956 and to Germany in 1961.  He fits in perfectly with the Trio on the nine tracks – interestingly, he and Sims switch seats on the Radio Zurich date and several of the club/concert dates.

If you're a fan of Sonny Rollins, buying this set is a no-brainer. For new arrivals, "live" Sonny is a good place to start. His solos are most often delightful stream-of-conscious explorations Several of the songs are repeated but, of course, each version has its charms and highlights.  The saxophonist is three-to-four months away from his self-imposed sabbatical but never sounds as if he's struggling.  The three side-long tracks with Clarke and Grimes, recorded March 11 in Aix-en-Provence, France, are notable for the long sax solos, for the veteran Clarke's interplay with Rollins, for Grimes' solid foundational work, and for the playfulness of the Trio.  

Three hours of Sonny Rollins is a gift that keeps on giving. It's great to hear his voice on the radio broadcasts, his musical "quotes" on the long interactions with Clarke and during many of the solos, The booklet that accompanies has great interviews. never before seen photos, and more.  "Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings" is certainly worth your time and attention!

For more information and to purchase the CD release (on 4/26), go to either https://resonancerecords.org/product/sonny-rollins-freedom-weaver-the-1959-european-tour-recordings-cd/ or https://sonnyrollins.bandcamp.com/album/freedom-weaver-the-1959-european-tour-recordings (where you can also purchase the digital release).

Here's the title track:

When one mentions Art Tatum to a jazz aficionado, chances they'll remember his amazing facility, the speed of his lines, his ability to transform all kinds of material into party. If one really sits and listens, his creativity and wit come shining through. Resonance Records has just issued "Art Tatum: Jewels 
In The Treasure Box – The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings", a three LP/three CD set that features the great pianist with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart.  

This is a delightfully formulaic program.  The pianist introduces the song, the bassist enters sometimes with the guitarist, sometimes a chorus later.  What makes it so easy to take is that Messrs. Tatum, Barksdale, and Stewart are such good musicians – Tatum's virtuosity can often be overwhelming but his Trio mates are more than up to the task. Especially Stewart, whose foundational lines and swing are so strong, the pianist's left hand is free to help create dazzling solos.  Many of Stewart's solo are bowed with him "buzzing" right along and every one is pretty impressive.  The guitarist is also a strong rhythm player and he digs right into each solo – Barksdale does not worry about overshadowing the leader (as if anyone could) so he swings with glee every opportunity he gets. 

The sound quality is quite good with Stewart's bass high in the mix. Barksdale's solos come through loud and clear but pay attention to how closely the pianist listens and responds.  Just about every tune they present features "quotes" liberally sprinkled through the solos. There are several ballads in each set (the program is built from tapes made by the club's owner Frank Holzfeind over the two-week run of shows) yet even those tunes have a playful edge.

"Art Tatum: Jewels In The Treasure Box – The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings" is most definitely a "treasure". Art Tatum's milieu was the performance space. That's not to say his studio recordings don't shine but there's something about an audience, about the smells and sounds of the nightclub that brings the best of the pianist.  The booklet features an excellent essay from Brent Hayes Edwards plus interviews with Ahmad Jamal, Spike Wilner, Sonny Rollins, and others.  Great music is timeless as are the artists who create the music. Search out and enjoy!

For more a link to purchase the CD, go to https://resonancerecords.org/product/art-tatum-jewels-in-the-treasure-box-cd/.  For the digital download, go to  https://arttatumresonance.bandcamp.com/album/jewels-in-the-treasure-box.  

Here's a taste of the Tatum Trio in flight:

If drummer Shelly Manne had so chosen, he could have made a very good living in the 1950s as a session player and in the film studios.  Instead, he did all that plus owned a nightclub ("The Manne-Hole") and led an acclaimed band ("His Men"). The son of a drummer, Manne was known to all as a consummate musician, generous with his time and praise. He also write the scores for several movies and television shows. "Live From the Pacific Northwest' (Reel-to-Reel) is a bit of a misnomer in that one of the two Lps/CDs is from the inaugural edition (1958) of the Monterey Jazz Festival based in California. The second disk does come from the band's September 1966 extended stay at The Penthouse in Seattle, Washington. No need when the music is as solid, swinging, and witty as the nine tracks in the program.

The Monterey session features Manne with his constant bassist Monty Budwig plus pianist Russ Freeman, tenor saxophonist Herb Geller, and trumpeter Stu Williamson.  The highlight of the three-song set is the 18-minute "Quartet (Suite in Four Movements)". Composed by Bill Holman, whom Manne met when both played in the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the late 1940s, the piece offers smart melodies, fine solos from all involved including a long drum solo interrupted near its close by a low flying plane.  Overall, a pleasing journey of hard bop, blues, swing, and more. Geller is a facile tenor player while Williamson leans more to the Clifford Brown school of clean, clear lines. Pianist Freeman, whose long career included stints with Chat Baker, Art Pepper, and the Manne "Men", also recorded great albums with Andre Previn. Here, he shows how, like Budwig, is a stalwart of the rhythm section plus he's a fine soloist.

Disc two was recorded live by Seattle radio station KING-FM, featuring half of the songs recorded on September 7th 1966 and the other three on September 15th.  Besides Budwig, the Men now consist of pianist Hampton Hawes, flutist and alto saxophonist Frank Strozier, trumpeter Conte Candoli - vocalist Ruth Price appears on two songs. Like the 1958 band, this group really swings and often shines. That said, they also create unique takes on several standards.  "Summertime" is introduced by a fascinating drum pattern before moving into a swinging blues. Strozier's flute is out front for the first third of the 12-minute tune followed by a sweet muted trumpet solo from Candoli (sounding a lot like Miles Davis). Hawes' "Funny" leads off the later date – it, too is a blues but has a funkier edge. Candoli dances along with the drums until Strozier jumps in alto sax here. His Memphis, TN, roots come flowing through his rapid-fire phrases. The composer creates a joyful solo that is gritty as well as smooth.  

As stated above, Ruth Price, who sang with for better part of the 1950s through the late 1960s, is featured on two songs. First, she and Hawes swing through Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer's "Dearly Beloved".   he horns sit this one out allowing for a rippling solo from the pianist. The album closes with Ms. Price leading the rhythm section through "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" – note how Manne plays the edge of his snare in the same fashion as he opens Sonny Rollins take of "I'm An Old Cowhand" on 1957's "Way Out West".   

Overall, 'Live From the Pacific Northwest" is a treat from beginning to end. If you think that Shelly Manne & His Men played lightweight Pacific Coast jazz, just listen.  This music is alive from start to finish. Sound quality is downright pristine; it feels like you're sitting right next to the bandstand! Classy album and you should dig right in! Enjoy the interviews in the booklet with Ruth Price, Bill Holman, Joe LaBarbera, Peter Erskine and Jim Keltner

For more information and to purchase the CD and the digital version, go to https://shellymannehismen.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-from-the-pacific-northwest. 

Here's Mr. Manne & His Men swinging:

Historical Recordings That Bring Joy & Generate Excitement

Photo: Mark Sheldon

Trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969-2018) and pianist Mulgrew Miller (1955-2013) are both Southern musicians who died far too young.  Hargrove, a native of Waco, TX, who came of musical age in Dallas, and Miller, a native of Greenwood, MI, who moved to Memphis, TN, to attend college, were both considered masters of their respective instruments. The trumpeter was still a teenager when he came to the attention of Wynton Marsalis who had him come onstage at a concert. He attended Berklee College of Music then transferred to the New School in New York City.  He was soon signed to a recording contract with his debut album released on Novus in 1990. Like many creative jazz musicians, Hargrove's musical world spanned numerous genres including jazz, Latin jazz, r'n'b, Hip Hop, and more – he played on genre-bending albums by Common and D'Angelo plus led and recorded with the Rh Factor, whose funk albums were great for dancing.

Photo: Jean-Francois Laberine

Early in his career, Miller played in bands led by Mercer Ellington, Woody Shaw, Art Blakey, Tony Williams, and Betty Carter – talk about learning the history of Black Music from the inside and the innovators.  He went to lead several different sized ensembles, from his Trio to Wingspan, a quintet that released several albums of original material, to his great duos with fellow pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.  Miller was also Director of Jazz Studies and Performance at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, a position he led up until his passing on May 29, 2013.  

Now, the world is blessed with the arrival "Roy Hargrove Mulgrew Miller - In Harmony" (Resonance Records), a two-Lp, Two-CD, set that features selections from two duo concerts: the first, recorded in New York City on January 25, 2006, and the second at Lafayette College in Easton, PA in November 9, 2007.   All but one of the 13 tracks are "standards" from composers and performers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Benny Golson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Blue Mitchell, plus five more that come from movies and Broadway. Both sets on the album were unrehearsed, the New York City show due to a blizzard that only left time for the musicians to reach the venue before stepping on stage. But, the duo's professionalism and love for playing stands out, making the set a true joy. 

This music should be savored. Yes, I understand that many of these songs have been recorded hundreds, perhaps thousands, of time, yet Miller and Hargrove make them shiny and new. CD One opens with Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love" – taken at a brisk tempo, the duo brings the song onto the dance floor (go ahead, listen to the pianist's left hand and try to sit still).  Same for Bronislaw Kaper's "Invitation"; there are so many versions of this song yet notice how the two musicians bring it to life with the dazzling rhythm work of Miller and Hargrove's far-ranging solo. Miller's Memphis roots show up best in his left hand.  "Monk's Dream" opens in a "straight-ahead" vein but during the trumpet solo, the pianist momentarily moves into a stride mode which shows up again during the duo's give-and-take in the last two minutes.  

The ballads really stand out.  The Mack Gordon/Harry Warren-penned "This Is Always" finds Hargrove on flugelhorn. He absolutely caresses the melody and at the end, produces a show-stopping coda (how he utilizes silence to make the listener hang on every note is so impressive). He takes a similar approach on "I Remember Clifford" with a coda that's lovely not sappy, and just the right length. 

The final two tracks, "Blues for Mr. Hill" (composed by Hargrove) and Dizzy Gillespie's "Ow!" close the program in a splendid fashion.  On the former, the trumpeter gets "down" and raises back up again while the pianist's accompaniment is solid "Gospel". When Miller steps out on his own, one can hear traces of Otis Spann, Memphis Slim, and Phineas Newborn, Jr.  Not surprisingly, the final track is a playful "bopper". Miller's piano beneath the trumpet solo (which is playful as can be) is a Jazz "history" lesson. And his solo – you will say "Ow!" as the pianist dances up and down the keys.

Resonance Records does its usual great job on the notes with a history of the two musicians written by Ted Panken plus appreciations from Sonny Rollins, Christian McBride, Common, Jon Batiste, Karriem

Riggins, Ambrose Akinmusire, Keyon Harrold, Chris Botti, Eddie Henderson, Robert Glasper, Victor Lewis, Sean Jones, Kenny Barron, and George Cables.  Pull over a chair, dim the lights, turn up the volume (but don't blast it), and let this music transport you.  "Roy Hargrove Mulgrew Miller - In Harmony" is a gem that shines with creativity and the sheer joy of playing music! 

For more information, go to https://resonancerecords.org/product/roy-hargrove-and-mulgrew-miller-in-harmony/. 

Listen and enjoy "Blues For Mr. Hill":

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Photo: Francis Woolf/Blue Note

Drummer, composer, and conceptualist Roy Brooks (1938-2005) hailed from Detroit, MI, a city that produced numerous jazz greats. He had an career which, in his early days, found him on the bandstand with Yusef Lateef and Horace Silver. The drummer moved to New York City in his Silver days and once he left that group, freelanced with numerous artists such as Charles McPherson, Dexter Gordon, and Charles Mingus (among others). In the late 1960s, Brooks led several groups and recorded several albums; a few years later, he joined Max Roach's drum ensemble M'Boom, remaining a member until 1986.  Due to erratic behavior caused by bi-polar disorder, Brook's career came to a standstill as he was arrested on several occasions, spending time in prison.  Yet, at the height of his creative life, his music and vision pushed the envelope of creative music.

Reel-to-Real Recordings has just issued "Understanding", a two-CD recorded live at The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore, MD, on November 1, 1970.  Besides the leader (drums, percussion, saw), the Quintet included Carlos Garnett (tenor saxophone), Harold Mabern (piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and the fiery trumpet of Woody Shaw. The two+ hours program includes two originals by Brooks plus one each by Shaw, Garnett, Miles Davis, and "Billie's Bounce" from Charlie Parker. The first things you'll notice while listening to "Prelude to Understanding" which is the second track on CD one (the first is a short "Introduction"), is Brook's percussive "toys" and Shaw's blistering trumpet. Shaw, seven weeks shy of his 26th birthday, is on fire throughout the program; the first time you hear his "sound", he's tearing the speakers apart. Brooks is spurred by Shaw's approach so, during the lengthy solo, he's keeping right up with the trumpeter.  McBee holds down the fort while Mabern "comps" a la McCoy Tyner.  Shaw's solo lasts over 11 minutes, has several climaxes, and is a stunning show of his creativity.  Mabern follows with a delightful romp, very much influenced by the afore-mentioned Tyner with a few blues-influenced phrases that display his Memphis, TN, upbringing.  Garnett sits this one out but both McBee and the leader solo, the latter beginning playing a bowed saw!

Photo: Tom Copi

After "Prelude..." comes Brooks's "Understanding", a tune whose rhythm and melody is comparable to that of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage".  The first solo goes to Shaw (pictured left) and he starts as if he's aiming to blow the roof of the Ballroom off. He does take it down a notch or two for the majority of his spot. Garnett is next and one can't help but hear his sonic resemblance to John Coltrane (in the latter saxophonist's Impulse! days).  The Panamanian-born saxophonist moves easily from flowing melodic lines to raucous roars.  The band then tears into a fast-paced rendition of the Parker tune.  Garnett's gets the first solo, proceeding like a getaway car as the drummer chases him around the bandstand.  Shaw follows flying high over the crashing cymbals (Brooks keeps the time perfectly throughout on his ride cymbal). After Mabern's rollicking solo, the trumpet and sax "trade 4s" then "2s" with the leader for several minutes before everyone steps back and gives the drummer spotlight until the fiery close to the first set and disc.  

Photo: H Nolan

CD 2 contains three tracks: the 23-minute Shaw composition "Zoltan", the 32:26 Garnett song "Taurus Woman", and Miles Davis "The Theme", the shortest song in the program at 4:32. The energy does not flag on these tracks and the music continues to jump out of the speakers.  For those of you who love high-energy live music, "Understanding" will make you smile.  You can hear the influence of Max Roach and Elvin Jones in leader Roy Brooks's thunderous performance.  Kudos to co-producers Cory Weeds (Cellar Live Records) and Zev Feldman (Resonance Records) plus a standing ovation to Chris Gestrin for the sound restoration.  You'll learn a lot from the 36-page booklet which features an overview of Roy Brooks story by the great Detroit journalist Mark Stryker plus interviews with Carlos Garnett, Cecil McBee, Reggie Workman, and Louis Hayes as well as remembrances written by Jahra Michelle McKinley, Executive Director of the Detroit Sound Conservancy and journalist Herb Boyd, a lifetime friend of Roy Brooks. All proceeds from the sale of the albums will go to the Sound Conservancy in honor of the drummer.  

For more information, go to https://cellarlive.com/products/roy-brooks-understanding-cd-preorder.  To buy the album, go to https://roybrooksband.bandcamp.com/. 

Hear "Prelude to Understanding":