The Fat Babies Uptown

The Fat Babies
Uptown
Delmark

The Fat Babies are an eight-piece jazz band interpreting classic styles of the 1920s and 30s. Founded in 2010 by string bass player Beau Sample, its members include Andy Schumm (cornet), John Otto (reeds), Jonathan Doyle (reeds), Dave Bock (trombone), John Donatowicz (banjo and guitar), Paul Asaro (piano), and Alex Hall (drums).

This is their fourth album for Delmark. Like their previous ones, this recording is a gem of traditional jazz, whether reworking King Oliver, some early Kansas City Jazz, James P. Johnson, and others or playing some original compositions that sound like they were from the 1920s and 1930s. A prominent example is "Uptown," composed by Andy Schumm. It evokes Bennie Moten, and the lesser-known George E. Lee Orchestra, with its steady gait and an opening solo from Bock on trombone working into trading licks between Bock and the other horns. Schumm wrote most of the arrangements. Doyle did arrange Bennie Moten's "Harmony Blues," with the vibrato-laden horn lines, hot cornet from Schumm, growling trombone, and a stately piano solo while Donatowicz provides a crisp rhythm on banjo. It is followed by Schumm's transcription and arrangement of Jesse Stone's "Ruff Scufflin'," with The Fat Babies transversing the intricacies of the melodic elements of this tune. The original George E. Lee Orchestra recording was one of the classics of Kansas City Jazz.

Asaro sings in the fashion of a crooner of a twenties sweet band on "Out of a Clear Blue Sky," with handsome backing and a clarinet trio chorus. After an evocative Doyle original, "Sweet Is the Night," there is the jumping James P. Johnson, "Thumpin' "N" Bumpin'." On the latter number, Bock and Schumm add a bit of heat with their short breaks. "The Spell of the Blues" is more of a torch song than an actual blues song that features crisp alto sax and cornet breaks. The spirited cover of Clarence Williams'"Harlem Rhythm Dance" features Schumm's fiery plunger mute cornet, Asaro's vocal, and Doyle's tenor sax.

There are few bands (Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks in New York is another) that play the music of the twenties and thirties as well as do The Fat Babies. "Uptown" is superbly played and an absolute delight for fans of early jazz.

I received my review copy from Delmark Records. Here are The Fat Babies in performance performing "It's Tight Like That," which is not on this recording.

 

The Fat Babies Solid Gassuh

The Fat Babies
Solid Gassuh
Delmark Records

The Chicago classic jazz band The Fat Babies have a new release from their extensive repertoire that includes more idiomatic renditions of songs from the twenties and thirties. The Fats Babies is comprised of leader Beau Sample on bass; Andy Schumm on cornet; Dave Bock on trombone; Paul Asaro on piano and vocals; Jake Sanders on tenor banjo and guitar; Alex Hall on drums; and John Otto on clarinet and saxophones, the same personnel that were on their first album, "Chicago Hot," accounting for the crisp ensemble sound and assured solos. Unlike that earlier album, the songs here are lesser known songs of the era than those on the earlier album. Like that recording, they inject a definite spirit in their recreations.

Ricky Ricccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, notes that band soften playing such music get hot as playing "nostalgia" or "museum pieces," but suggests that the appeal of The Fat Babies is that they "treat this music as a living, breathing thing." This is something that is difficult to accomplish while trying to say stylistically true to the recordings that are the source for these performances. A lively rendition of the Luis Russell-Paul Barbarin "Doctor Blues" opening this album is a joyful reaffirmation of the quality of their performancers of these vintage numbers. Schumm, who arranged this music, plays his cornet in the spirit of Bix Beiderbecke like on "Slow River," a lesser known Clarence Williams composition.

In its playing, The Fat Babies generally avoids being 'nostalgic,' and also  being campy, but there are exceptions in the vocals. Pianist Asaro's crooning on "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?" is appealing with Sanders' guitar adding a nice touch here, although his Ted Lewis styling on "Egyptian Ella," comes off as a bit campy. The spirited rendition of Thomas Morris' "Original Charleston Strut" (with Hall's drumming standing out with his rhythmic accents), and the lively rendition of "Alabamy Bound" (one of the most familiar numbers here), are other standout selections. Also noteworthy is the rendition of Arthur Schutt's "Delirium," which Ricccardi suggests they provide "an almost Bix-meets-Raymond Scott treatment," taking what was originally a unique chart and performing "something surprising, unpredictable and even a little haunting," although I might suggest evocative as the mood engendered.

A breakneck tempo rendition of "Maple Leaf Rag," closes "Solid Gassuh," which Riccardi observed would be quite a very high compliment from Louis Armstrong and appropriate to use describing the music herein. If this listener has some reservations about several vocals, there are none about the consistent solid performances by The Fat Babies.

I received my review copy from Delmark Records. Here The Fat Babies perform Jelly Roll Morton.

Marty Grosz and the Fat Babies Diga Diga Doo - Hot Music From Chicago

In an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, guitarist and vocalist Marty Grosz proudly states that "proudly that his art has always sought to entertain rather than lull audiences into a stupor with what he calls "egghead jazz."" Grosz, who is 85, has a new album on Delmark with the traditional Chicago Jazz band The Fat Babies entitled Diga Diga Doo - Hot Music From Chicago. As Grosz notes in the liner notes for the CD, he last recorded for Delmark in 1959 as a sideman for an Albert Nicholas and Art Hodes session. Matching him with string bassist Beau Sample's "Fat Babies" made sense although he already had pianist Jim Dapogny, while at the time of recording tenor saxophonist Jonathan Doyle was in town and his pal Panic Slim played on the 2014 session (the album was recorded in 2013 and 2014).

Grosz brought his guitar and banjo for these sessions and the presence of Doyle along with the reeds of John Otto make for some fascinating and fun listening. Cornetist Andy Schumm impresses throughout as does Doyle's robust old-school sax. Grosz is primarily a chordal acoustic player and his solos are really more in the nature of short breaks. There are plenty of musical delights, and fans of hot Chicago-styled jazz will find so much to enjoy. While Grosz may be limited as a vocalist, he does have a Fats Waller-ish charm on Sweet Sue. A delight is Prince of Wails, a number I am familiar with from the incendiary Benny Moten Band version (at the session that also included Moten Swing). This is a marvelous rendition with pianist Dapogny putting this together and contributing some fine piano while Doyle and Schumm excel. The title track by McHugh and Fields was a staple of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club revue and Schumm opens playing a comb wrapped in newspaper while pianist Asaro shows some stride influence with Otto on clarinet. Plenty of fun.

A couple of numbers include Grosz's vocals including The Lady of Red, as he scats and conjures a club with these lovely exotic ladies before the Hot Babies add their spirited playing. There is the charm and humor of Rose of Washington Square, a feature for Fanny Brice from the 1920 Ziegfeld Follies and a lovely rendition of Irving Berlin's How Deep Is The Ocean. There are tunes from the repertoire of the Louisiana Five, Red McKenzie and Eddie Lang as well as the chestnut, A Good Man Is Hard To Find.

After The Lady in Red, this CD concludes with Marty Talks as he reminiscences and indicates his preferences for hot music. Tagged on at the end, folks can easily skip if they choose. There is nothing deep, or "egghead" about the music on "Diga Diga Doo," just highly entertaining and well played hot Chicago jazz that will delight those who love "traditional" jazz.

I received my review copy from Delmark. Here is a video of Marty Grosz in performance.

60 Years of Delmark Jazz Celebrated.

Since Bob Koester founded Delmar Records in St. Louis in 1953, Delmark Records has issued many important jazz recordings and over the years has built a catalog ranging from traditional New Orleans and Chicago style jazz to the first albums by members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It continues to produce new recordings that cover the entire range of jazz styles. Celebrating its 60 years, Delmark has issued a new compilation Delmark 60 Years Of Jazz that provides a small sampling of the jazz that is available on the label.

The twelve selections cannot convey the full range of jazz that Delmark has issued, but includes selections that range from the modernism of Josh Berman & His Gang reinventing the Austin Hill Gang twenties classic Sugar, as if it was an out-take from Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch, to The Fat Babies’ traditionalist revival of Fletcher Henderson’s The Stampede, from this ensemble’s most recent Delmark effort.

The earliest selection here is a 1952 rendition of the trad jazz warhorse, That’s a Plenty by St. Louis trumpeter Dewey Jackson and followed by a bouncy original by the marvelous flautist Nicole Mitchell. An early Lockjaw Davis rendition of Lover from a forthcoming “Honkers and Shouters - Volume 4” is followed by Ernest Dawkins’ straight ahead take on Coltrane’s tribute to Paul Chambers Mr. P.C., and Ira Sullivan backed by the Jim Holman Trio on Benny Golson's Along Came Betty.
 
Free bop can be heard on Rob Mazurek’s Spiral Mercury, Kahil El Zabar’s Ritual Trio on Crumb-Puck-U-Lent, with saxophonist Ari Brown and the late violinist Billy Bang, and Jason Adasiewicz’s vibes led trio on Bees. Other tracks include a strong Red Holloway track with organist Chris Foreman and the great Sonny Stitt tearing into Miles Davis’ Four with Don Patterson on organ and Billy Pierce on drums.

There is a nice balance of recent and older recordings and the more contemporary styled selections strike me as not being too far out and should be accessible to most listeners. For those familiar with Delmark’s blues recordings, this and other samplers may be a way to get introduced to the diverse offerings available.

I received a review copy from Delmark who have a companion sampler relating to Blues that I will post about in a few days. Here is Kahil El Zabar’s Ritual Trio featuring Billing Bang

Chicago Festival Provided Some Hot Jazz

Hamid Drake - Artist in Residence at the 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival

Circumstances led me to Chicago this past Labor Day weekend where I had the opportunity to sample the 35th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. This was my first time at this event which was for the first time in Chicago’s Millennium Park. In prior years it had been in Grant Park, which is where the fabled Chicago Blues Festival is still held. This festival, while having several performance stages, attracts smaller audiences than the June Blues Fest, which I understand was one reason for the change. The festival is curated by the Jazz Institute of Chicago which also produces and programs other concerts and events and produced by the City of Chicago. 

During the daytime, there are two substantial tent stages that house performances (The Jazz & Heritage Pavilion and the Von Freeman Pavilion) with the evening headline performances featured in the Jay Pritzer Pavilion, a marvelous facility with several thousand seats and then plenty of lawn seating. There were a variety of events including a solo piano concert series that took place prior to the main Festival kickoff. On the main festival site, Chicago Jazz Magazine operated a CD tent

There was plenty of music to be heard covering a range from traditional styled Chicago jazz to hard bop and to free jazz. Drummer-percussionist Hamid Drake was the Artist in Residence and was heard in four different settings. I heard a fair amount of music as well as did not get to hear some acts that I would have liked to but whether and other factors prevented, so I have provided just some few observations of the performers that stood out to me.

Fat Babies at the Chicago Cultural Center

Fat Babies is a traditional band playing in what may be called Chicago style. Influenced by King Oliver, the Austin High Gang and Jelly Roll Morton, this band played crisply and delightfully in this older style of jazz at the Chicago Cultural Center . High points of their set included King Oliver’s “Snake Rag, Eddie Condon’s Sugar, and Jelly Roll Morton’s The Crave. They have assimilated the style of twenties jazz well that even originals come across as songs from that era.

Jack DeJohnette’s Special Legacy Edition Chicago was a special band assembled to celebrate the great drummer-composer and bandleader’s career. With Thursday, August 29 declared by the Mayor Jack DeJohnette Day in Chicago, he brought together legendary Chicago figures pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and multi-instrumentalists Roscoe Gordon and Henry Threadgill. These three, all associated with the AACM all played roles in DeJohnette’s musical development. Bassist Larry Gray completed this group with the ensemble playing a composition by each of the members. The music was demanding and free with a mix of fervor and abstraction in the performance. Compositions by Abrams and DeJohnette struck this listener as the most realized performances and Abrams was especially impressive throughout as was the leader. This performance was professionally recorded so those of you who were not at this performance will have a chance to hear it at some point.

George Freeman played at the dedication of the
stage dedicated to the memory of his brother Von

Guitarist George Freeman was part of the Friday celebration of his late brother Von for whom a stage was dedicated at the Festival. George is perhaps the last living Chicago jazz musician to have played with Charlie Parker. He displayed his considerable chops on an unaccompanied guitar instrumental. He was followed by a band led by saxophonist Christopher McBride for a set of hard bop infused music. I should mention that heavy rain early Friday evening led me to miss Wadada Leo Smith’s performance of selections from his Ten Freedom Summers. Of the performances I did not attend, this was probably the one I missed the most.

Having heard about saxophonist Ernie Krivda for so long and having enjoyed his recordings, I really enjoyed seeing him perform. With a robust attack and a fine band, he would be well better known of he had not chosen to stay in Cleveland. I remember bassist Stafford James from seeing the Louis Hayes-Woody Shaw band in 1976. Having returned from Europe in the past few years, James led a String and Percussion ensemble that included a string quartet, a reed player and M’Boom, the percussion ensemble the late Max Roach founded. While James played arco throughout, his mentor Richard Davis was also part of this fascinating ensemble. James’ compositions and the ensemble’s execution of the arrangements was a fresh listen. 

Gregory Porter and is Great Band

Gregory Porter followed and was spectacular. This was my second time to see him live and the first with his exceptional band. His rich voice with echoes of Donny hathaway and Marvin Gaye, his marvelous original material and his ability to tell stories with his voice were enthusiastically received. He previewed a couple songs from his forthcoming Blue Note recording along with rousing renditions of Painted On Campus, On My Way To Harlem, Be Good, Nat Adderly’s Work Song and 1960 What? He is probably my favorite male vocalist in any genre now. He is that good!

Fast Citizens

Having been impressed by the most recent recording by the post-Ornette group, Fast Citizens, I was impressed by their live performance that exhibited the same mix of composition, improvised playing and empathetic ensemble playing that made that recording so memorable. Saxophonist and Juli Wood gave a standout performance with her robust sax playing and her strong singing backed by some fine players. I enjoyed her so much that I purchased her CD.

Evan Christopher on clarinet and Don Vappie on guitar

Evan Christopher also delights with his clarinet playing as reflected by the fact he was a finalist in the Jazz Journalists Associations Voting. He brought an exceptional quartet of Don Vappie on guitar and standup bass (Vappie is usually associated with the banjo), keyboardist Joe Alpher and drummer Ocie Davis, that provided bright interpretations of songs associated with Duke Ellington (Alex Hill’s Delta Bound) and originals including a number inspired by the creole traditions in Haiti as well and his own boogie woogie number. He received a particularly warm reception from the Von Freeman Pavilion audience.

Hamid Drake, Joshua Abrams, Jeff Parker and Jason Adasiewicz

The final act I wish to highlight was Hamid Drake & Bindu: Reggaeology. Hamid Drake, a drummer and percussionist of note, was the Festival’s Artist in Residence and while his other Festival shows were likely more in the manner of free jazz, Reggaeology was notable for his mix of groove and lively musical textures and colors that likely made this performance more accessible to more casual listeners. His ensemble included trombonists Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Joshua Abrams, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and vocals and beat box by Napoleon Maddox. The performance reprised his 2010 recording (Rogue Art) and all of the persons on that recording were present with the addition of Adasiewicz who provided a solo voice in addition to Parker, Bishop and Albert as Drake was marvelous in his roles as composer, leader and drummer. 

This was ann uusual Jazz Festival that included a significant amount of free jazz m ixed with more mainstream, straight-ahead offerings. The sound was quite good, especially in the Pritzer Pavilion. With a heavy dose of exceptional local talent mixed with its internationally know headliners, the Chicago Jazz Festival was part of a vacation that I ended my summer on a high note.

These informal comments were written for Jazz & Blues Report.

The Fat Babies Are Chicago Hot

Its surprising to hear a jazz band whose members are in their twenties and thirties and devote their talents to the hot jazz that would be heard in Chicago in the twenties and thirties. That is The Fat Babies, whose debut Delmark CD, Chicago Hot, has spirited interpretations of songs associated with Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and King Oliver. The band is comprised of leader Beau Sample on bass; Andy Schumm on cornet; Dave Bock on trombone; Jake Sanders on banjo; Alex Hall on drums; Paul Asaro on piano and John Otto on clarinet and saxophones. Mike Walbridge guests on tuba for the last of the 16 tracks.

There are plenty of youthful bands that approach materials from this era in a campy fashion. One thing to appreciate about The Fat Babies is that they play this music straight. That doesn’t mean that their performances are sterile recreations. There is pretty of life here from the opening Snake Rag, from King Oliver; San, a number associated with Bix Beiderbecke; the pop standard I Surrender Dear, that was so memorably performed by Louis Armstrong; Weary Blues that has become a staple of the New Orleans traditional scene; and Tight Light This, that was a celebrated recording by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.

Schumm’s cornet playing, based in Bix Beiderbecke’s lyrical style, stands out. He is, however, quite capable of generating fireworks as on Tight Light That, where Armstrong’s influence is a bit more prominent while the rest of the band provide support. Snake Rag and Jelly Roll Morton’s Froggie Moore, (another song associated with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band), impress with the band's marvelous ensemble work and the contrapuntal playing between the horns. Pianist Asaro is featured on the Gershwin classic, Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away), as he opens wistfully before picking up the tempo and turning this into a piano stomp. He incorporates ragtime and stride while supported by the understated rhythm section and trading fours with Hall. Asaro also has a nice chorus on Tight Like That as does clarinetist Otto.

Kim Cusack, a veteran of the traditional Chicago jazz scene, observes that not only has this band appealed to listeners old enough to be grandparents of the band members but also have a substantial youthful following. Listening to the performances on Chicago Hot, one can understand the appeal of The Fat Babies crisp and spirited playing that has goes beyond the existing audience for traditional jazz.

I was provided a review copy from Delmark. Here is a video of The Fat Babies performing Snake Rag with a few enthusiastic dancers.