Cedar Walton Sounds Ageless on The Bouncer

Cedar Walton has a new release, The Bouncer (High Note) that fans of hard bop and modern jazz piano will find of interest. Walton has had an impressive career starting with his days with J.J. Johnson and Art Blakey, than the numerous sessions with bassist David Williams and the late drummer, Billy Higgins. Whether leading his own sessions or backing the likes of the late Clifford Jordan or Dexter Gordon he was predictable in the sense that one would expect rhythmically swinging, solid and fresh melodic playing and music. On this date he is joined by Williams and drummer Willie Jones III with Vincent Herring on saxophones and flute on five of the eight selections, Steve Turre on trombone for two and Ray Mantilla on percussion for one.

The opening title track is a melodic Walton original based on its tempo with Walton, Herring and Turre each taking solos that establish a lively feel. J.J. Johnson’s Lament is the first time Walton has recorded this with only a trio, and his clean, relaxed touch helps establish the mood before we are engaged with his lengthy solo. With Herring featured on tenor, Walton provides another lively swinger, Bell For Bags, followed by a lovely waltz, Halo, that showcases Herring woody tone on flute. Underground Memoirs is a sextet performance with Turre, Mantilla and Herring on board for a bossa nova tinged rendition of this somber composition with Turre featured prominently here. Drummer Jones is featured on the trio swinger, Willie’s Groove, with Williams also prominent. Williams composed Got To Get To The Island, a driving number with herring in a bluesy mood before the leader’s solo over bassist Williams firm bass lines and Jones’ rock solid groove.

Another trio number, Martha’s Prize, is another lively and youthful sounding performance that closes The Bouncer in a lively mode. While Cedar Walton may be nearing eighty, but on this recording he plays with a vigor with equally engaged players for a recording that is quite striking.

This review was originally drafted for Jazz & Blues Report and my review copy was sent to me by them. The review appeared in the February 2012 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 340). Here is a video of Cedar, David Willaims and Jimmy Cobb.

Kennedy Center Audiences Want To Hear Music Not Camera Shutters

This past Saturday night I attended the Kennedy Center’s NPR Christmas Piano Jazz concert at the Terrace Theatre here in Washington. I have enjoyed the Jazz at the Kennedy Center shows I have attended. I had the misfortune to sit in Row W in front of the photographer who had two Nikon DSLRs on tripods and telephoto. It is curious that the Kennedy Center rules against photography does not apply to the Kennedy Center itself. Furthermore, to have the loud shutter and mirror slap noise during solo piano performances in a room of attentive listeners shows no respect for people who paid to see and listen to the performances. Every time she took pictures, it completely distracted me from enjoying the performances. The fact that she did not show restraint in shooting the performances but shot during every song at that show (Each of the two numbers by the four pianists) showed total disregard for those sitting near her.

I will acknowledge that I was told that I could be moved if I wanted, but as my wife stated to me afterwards, they shouldn’t sell any seats near the photographer. I would assume the Kennedy Center’s policy against people taking photographs isn’t merely proprietary, but also to prevent the visual and aural distractions of camera shutters and flashes. Yet the Kennedy Center impacted the enjoyment of my wife, myself and I would assume those sitting adjacent to me by the highly distracting shutter sound.

I understand the Kennedy Center wishes to document performances, but certainly they can do it less obtrusively than with a noisy DSLR (She used a Nikon although I suspect Canon DSLRs would also be similarly loud). If they insist on shooting from far away from the stage they must look into using quieter equipment or find ways to totally muffle the sound. Additionally, during a jazz performance such as this one, the photographer might be on stage using a quiet camera like a Leica. While some in the audience may be briefly visually distracted by a photographer on the side of the stage, at least no one’s attentive listening will be interrupted by a loud shutter.

One other point is that in future shows of this type, the photographer be restricted in when they take pictures of each performance. If the photographer had limited herself to simply shooting during the first of the two performances, it would have been somewhat tolerable. However, my evening of seeing and listening to wonderful solo jazz piano was spoiled by the Kennedy Center itself.

Since I posted this initially, it was suggested that whoever is shooting be required to use a sound blimp around the camera to muffle the sound. In any event, there are solutions that the Kennedy Center needs to implement

Archie Shepp's Free Jazz Had Strong Cultural Roots

Among the Universal reissues celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Impulse Records is For Losers/ Kwanza by Archie Shepp. Among those inspired by John Coltrane, Shepp brought together a fiery, passionate style but one rooted both in traditional as well as funk and soul music of the time while also bringing a strong focus on his culture and community. These two albums were recorded at the same sessions in 1969 or so.

For someone associated with ‘free jazz,’ the music has strong foundation the funk of James Brown and Junior Walker. This is clear on the opening track from The Losers, Stick it Up which has a Leon Thomas vocal with Doris Troy and Tasha Thomas providing backing vocals while Mel Brown adds guitar. Even better is Abstract with some nice trombone from Graham Moncur III. Chinalin Sharpe takes the vocal on Ellington’s I’ve Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good), with Shepp’s tenor embellishing the vocal with a Ben Webster-styled vibrato and alto saxophonist Clarence Sharpe solos marvelously. Cecil Payne adds flute behind Shepp’s robust tenor on Cal Massey’s lovely ballad What Would It Be Without You. The centerpiece of The Losers was Shepp’s Un Croque Monsieur (Poem: For Losers), an extended composition opening on a tight, funky, rhythmic vamp leading to strong energetic and at times free ensemble playing followed by a segment Shepp playing a sour sounding soprano sax, followed by Claritin Sharpe singing Shepp’s poem about everybody loves a winner and who gives a damn for losers. Others on this very strong performance include trumpeter Woody Shaw, Payne on baritone sax, and Clarence Sharpe on alto sax.

While recorded at many of the same sessions, the music on Kwanza was inspired by celebration of ‘Kwanza,’ which Shepp refers to as ‘our traditional African holy week.” In the reproduced liner notes of Emilan Sudan, it is noted that Shepp’s three contributions reflect the sounds of the African communities in the US. With selections such as Back Back, we get more heavy James Brown inspired funk as Shepp solos over the funk groove of Dave Burrell on organ, Wally Richardson on drums and Bernard Pretty Purdie on drums as he preaches the funk blues like a frenzied mix of post-bebop and Screaming R&B honker while Graham Moncur III adds his tailgating trombone. Leon Thomas handles the vocal as well as scatting and yodeling on Spoo Pee Doo, on which Robin Kenyatta’s flute stands out. One of the centerpieces of this album was Moncur’s New Africa, from a session Bob Thiele supervised and is a freer performance with Burrell on piano,Walter Booker on bass and Beaver Harris on drummers providing the foundation with Moncur’s blustery trombone and Shepp’s tenor (and yodels) joined by Jimmy Owens trumpet and Charles Davis’ baritone making for a highly animated and impassioned performance. Shepp’s Slow Drag includes Woody Shaw, Matthew Gee, Clarence Sharpe and Cecil Payne, Cedar Walton, Wilbur Ware and Joe Chambers for another passionate performance built upon a funky rhythmic figure with solos from Shaw and Shepp being especially galvanized. Cal Massey’s Bakai closed the original album as well as this reissue of the two albums and is another example of his marvelous compositions in his all to brief life. It mixes a rhythmic foundation with a strong melodic theme. Shepp plays impassioned here.

There is plenty to get the listener invigorated on this forty-odd years old recordings that have held up well over the years and remind us that Archie Shepp has been always rooted in the past but always looking forward.

I received a review copy from Jazz & Blues Report for whom this review was initially written. Here is Archie Shepp on youtube. 

Sinatra. A Choice Of The Best By The Best

Best of the Best is a new CD compilation for the first time collects Frank Sinatra recordings from both Capitol Records and Reprise Records. The 23 tracks (13 from Capitol and 10 from Reprise) collect his most memorable and iconic recordings. One is hard-pressed to say anything new about this music which should be familiar to many.

From I’ve Got The World On A String to Theme From ‘New York New York’ listeners are treated to classic interpretations of songs from the great tune smiths like Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen. These are presented in arrangements from such masters as Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, Billy May, Quincy Jones, and Ernie Freeman. From spectacular big bands to lush orchestra stylings, the voice, the songs and the performances are timeless and marvelously mastered.

Despite the familiarity of the material, some tunes are gong to come off as almost new to the listener such as In the Wee Small Hours Of The Morning, Angel Eyes and Summer Wind. Then there is Fly Me To The Moon from a session with Count Basie that Quincy Jones arranged. At the same time, one appreciates nuances in the songs and the arrangements that one might have missed hearing Sinatra over a Car radio.

Frank Sinatra Jr. provides commentary on each performance, providing insights on how the material was selected and the imprint his father’s recording left. For example, I was unaware that a Kingston Trio recording was the basis of Sinatra’s classic,It Was a Very Good Year. As his son notes, Frank Sinatra was unequalled in recognizing great lyrics. Sinatra’s music has been anthologized, subject of box sets, and prior “Best Of” collections. Let others quarrel about specific songs that are not included. I will simply continue to enjoy the Best of the Best.

Incidentally, this is available as simply a CD, or in a deluxe package that also includes a DVD of a long out-of-print Seattle concert. I did not receive a copy of the DVD so cannot comment on it.

I received a review copy from a publicist. Here is a you tube clip of him singing perhaps the song most associated with him (except for Yankee fans).

Bid Daddy Stallings Throws A Blues Party

“I’m Charles’ Big Daddy’ Stallings and I approve these blues,” the gentleman from Baltimore proclaims on the introductory track of his third CD, Blues Party (Tai Jeria Record Company). Stallings, who became prominent in the Baltimore-Washington scene about five years ago, brings a down home blues style with a band that mixes traditionally oriented Chicago blues with classic sixties and seventies rhythm and blues. There is a variety of folk handling the backing here including Gail Parrish or Ronald Bland on bass; Russell Hayward II or Bill Pratt on drums; Joe “E Flat” Thomas on saxophone, and Clarence Ward III on trumpet, and Steve Levine on harmonica. Mark Wenner of the Nighthawks adds the down home harp for the Intro, and Down on the Farm. There is plenty of music here, with 16 original songs bookended by his intro and thank you tracks

The title track is a nice good times track, followed by the somewhat salacious “Horny Bee, with a Jimmy Reed groove and some biting lead guitar from Leroy Flowers, Jr, has Stallings grittily delivery the vocal. Riffing horns embellish the simple groove of Fine Lady, that displays Stallings’ simple lyrics and rustic vocal with him taking a stinging solo. Down on the Farm, a lazy, rustic piece of blues story-telling is perhaps the most memorable track here, as he recalls growing up on the farm and the hard life down there with Mark Wenner contributing the harmonica here. Swing 2010, is an instrumental (perfect for dancing) with Washington keyboard legend Jackie Hairston on organ, a hot trumpet solo from Ward and sax solo by Carlos Johnson. 

She’s Gone is a lament about Big Daddy’s baby having gone and left him all alone because he did her wrong, while Knocked Up, has his wondering about why so much teenage pregnancy. In Love With Yourself, is a nice soul ballad about one’s marriage ending and no fun to be in love by yourself. After a brief spoken introduction, organist Hairston and saxophonist Johnson are featured on the jazzy The Lucy Number, while Clarence Ward’s trumpet blasts off James, a funk tribute to the Godfather of Soul,” with tough horns and a strong groove, followed by a couple nods to disco-life, I Wanna Dance, followed by his salute to Latin Girls, another number with a dance groove and a percussion break down. Big Daddy closes  asking us to put some Blues in Your Funk, with nice harmonica (I presume Steve Levine since it is not credited in the booklet) and brassy horns.

On Old Folks, a slow blues with nice guitar, Stallings sings,”Keep those bloomers on Granny, Grandpa ain’t giving up no love tonight.” While it has some catching lines like most of the record, the lyrics sometimes come off as simply strung together by some common theme. In sense, its perhaps best to enjoy the music and songs and not analyze the words too much. Big Daddy brings plenty of heart to his music and the band is tight behind him. There is plenty of music hear (nearly 80 minutes), if one just gets into the spirit, then one will have a Blues Party. This is available from cdbaby or on itunes. Big Daddy Stallings website is http://www.bigdaddystallings.com.

My review copy was provided by Charles ‘Big Daddy’ Stallings and this review appeared in the June 2010 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 326).

Kelley Johnson's Vocal Gems at Home

Kelley Johnson has become a highly regarded vocalist on today’s scene, a reputation that likely will be further boosted by her new album,Home (Sapphire). Nine of the twelve tracks find her backed by a piano trio, with either Geoffrey Keezer or John Hansen handling the keyboards. Jay Thomas contributes horns to three selections.

Johnson possesses a lovely voice, sometimes sweet and at times slightly smoky, while using horn-like phrasing to make the songs come alive. Her singing off the beat and extending her phrase is quite effective. There is a freshness in much of the material. She has an affection for Abbey Lincoln as she opens with Lincoln’s Should’ve Been, and Lincoln’s Living Room is party of a medley with the Lerner and Lowe standard Wouldn’t It Be Lovely. Thomas adds some nice muted trumpet on Irving Berlin’s Be Careful, It’s My Heart.

One of my favorite selections here is the lively rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s A Lovely Night, with her horn-like delivery of the lyrics matched by Hansen’s marvelous accompaniment and solo. Moon River comes off a bit dreamy with Thomas’ horns (I assume he multi-tracked his backing here) helping set the mood, while her delivery comes across too deliberate and a bit languid. Rose Colored Glasses in contrast bubbles with personality followed by a medley of her reciting her poem, From Here which launches into a lovely interpretation of Where Do You Start? with Hansen’s spare accompaniment adding to the mood she sets.

Produced by Johnson with pianist Hansen and drummer Jon Wikan, Home, is another welcome addition to the many worthy vocal releases that have come out recently. She caresses the songs she selects and given sympathetic backing has produced a multi-textured album that brings out new facets each time one listens.

This review was originally written for Jazz & Blues Report although I do not know if the review was published. I likely recieved a review copy from a publicist or from the publication..

Travis 'Moonchild' Haddix Finds Daylight At Midnight

This writer first became aware of Travis ‘Moonchild’ Haddix from his recordings for the Ichiban label from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s as well as his songs, that found their way in the repertoire of such great singers as Artie ‘Blues Boy’ White. Playing the Cleveland R&B circuit, he had an opportunity to play with Johnny Taylor on the road, but raising a family took first place so he worked for General Motors and the Post Office for over 40 years.

When Ichiban folded, he started his own label, Wann-Sonn, and since 1998 has issued 8 albums, the latest, Daylight at Midnight, has just been remastered and repackaged by Earwig. With a pretty sizable band including a four piece horn section, Haddix presents ten new songs that illustrate his use of humor, irony and clever wording on a variety of blues themes of relationships as well as good and hard times. On the opening Word A Lie, he tells he isn’t telling his women a ‘word a lie, everything I say is true,” as he recounts allowing his women to move in and then how she was doing everything she could to get him out.

The title track is a reworking of the theme about strange things happening as they did when Travis’ moved into a new town and where there is daylight at midnight. Nine Behind, illustrates how clever he can be with a lyric with the song about the number nine, waking up at Nine, having 9 cups of coffee, call 9 different ladies and his woman from 1 to 9 is a 9 and then takes a solid guitar solo. Who Could I Be? is a soulful ballad with nice piano from Robert ‘Red Top’ Young who was in the late Robert Lockwood’s band, as Haddix sings if he could be anyone else who he would be, he would still rather be me.

One of Haddix’s main guitar influences is B.B. King, as his solos throughout this album show. One choice solo is during Way Back in the Country, where he recounts growing up and learning about the birds and bees and becoming a man. “Your Kind of Fool,” has a funky groove and the funk continues on What to Do, before returning to a more traditional blues style on Good Buddy Blues, about a friend where creates more problems than help for Travis. Haddix is a solid singer in the vein of a Bobby Bland and Artie White, although perhaps not having the range of the latter, as well as a solid guitarist. He benefits from a fine backing band although the horns provide a simple backdrop with their arrangements being most often simply backing riffs.

Having a number of Haddix’s albums (Ichiban and Wann-Sonn), I do not believe this is his best effort (check out the Wann-Sonn releases Milk & Bread and Blues From Staghorn Street, as well as the live European recording Mud Cakes). Still, Daylight at Midnight, is a very welcome addition to his body of recordings. For more information check out www.travishaddix.net or www.earwigmusic.com.

I received the review copy from either Earwig or a publicist handling their releases. This review originally appeared in the October 2008 Jazz & Blues Report, to which I have made a few minor changes. And here is some Travis Haddix from You Tube.

Musical Wisdom From Pharoah Sanders

Among the recent reissues of classic Impulse releases as part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Impulse, there has been a CD containing two of his CDs, Village of the Pharoahs/ Wisdom Through Music. These albums date from the early 1970s after his path making earlier Impulse recordings that made use of rhythmic trance-inducing vamps and a raw, blues-rooted tenor sax style that on these albums may have some rough edges but also less of the high crying overblowing of some of his earlier recordings including those he made working with John Coltrane. He also made use of vocals including wordless chanting. Wisdom Through Music has a smaller group including pianist Joe Bonner, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Norman Connors and percussionist Lawrence Killian, all of whom are part of the larger group on Village of the Pharaohs which also includes bassists Stanley Clarke and Calvin Hill, drummer Jimmy Hopps and vocalist and percussionist Sedatrius Brown.

The title track of Village of the Pharaohs is in three parts with Sanders on soprano sax sounding like a cross between a snake charmer and a rhythm and blues wailer and in the third part has an exchange in vocalizing and chants with Brown. “Mansion Worlds is another number which evokes The Creator Has a Master Plan, with Bonner setting forth the theme with a driving vamp and percussion with Sanders adding his soprano. Went Like It Came comes off as a rhythm’n’blues gospel infected blues with Sanders on tenor sax and Sedatrius Brown featured on the bluesy vocal. I had the pleasure of seeing this multi-talented woman (a terrific organist as well as singer) over a decade ago in Washington DC, but I understand she has devoted herself to gospel music.

In many respects, Sanders music was world jazz before that term, or ‘world music’ was coined, and heard on Wisdom Through Music. African grooves are most evident on High Life, with Sanders leading the rough house vocalizing of the Afro-Beat grooves before taking a robust tenor sax solo with some honks and squeals, followed by Love Is Everywhere, where he chants (mainly the title phrase) with the band echoing his chant. The title track finds Sanders playing soprano with a bagpipes quality with an intriguing backing.

These are not the best known of Sanders Impulse albums perhaps, but they certainly should be of interest to those who have followed his music (and may have overlooked these when they came out like I did) as well as interested in the important output of the Impulse label.

I received my review copy from Jazz & Blues Report for whom this review was written. Here is a you tube video of Pharoah Sanders. 

Bert Deivert's Acoustic Blues Delight

Born in Boston, Bert Deivert has taken this passion for the blues to Sweden which he calls home and has just issued his tenth album Kid Man Blues (Hard Danger). This writer was not familiar with him but perusing the accompanying booklet I note that my friend Memphis Gold contributes two backing vocals among the twelve tracks and among the albums he has played on was Memphis Gold’s Gator Gonna Bitchu! Three of his earlier albums were collaborations with Eric Bibb and he also is among those who have adapted the mandolin in addition to guitar, acknowledging the influence of such early masters as Yank Rachell and Carl Martin.

Deivert’s skill with the mandolin is on display on most of this release which is my first exposure to his music. It is a varied collection of songs ranging from adaptations of R.L. Burnside’s North Mississippi Hill Country Blues to fingerpicking classics from Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Blake and the deep blues of Skip James and Son House and was recorded in Sweden, Thailand, Mississippi and Germany with a variety of folks assisting Bert. Augmented by backing vocals, R.L. Burnside’s Goin’ Down South, has a string band feel with violin in addition to Deivert’s mandolin 9and he doubles on lap steel guitar. Its followed by some rollicking piano by Willie Salomon for the barrelhouse flavored State Street Pimp, that comes from Carl Martin’s repertoire. Bill Abel adds guitar and the late Sam Carr played drums on Rob and Steal, a nice medium tempo blues recorded at Abel’s Mississippi studio with more hills country flavor. Sven Zetterberg’s nice harp on this was added later in Sweden.

Walter Davis’ Come Back Baby was recorded in Bangkok and this brooding blues originally recorded by Walter Davis has a definitely more modern, electric flavor with guitar from one Dulyasit “Pong” Srabua with some overdubbed mandolin added in the latter part of this performance. The title track was from Carl Martin and is about a younger man being a married woman’s kid man, and features some nice mandolin as well as fiddle and my buddy Memphis Gold is among those adding to the vocal here “if you let me be your kid man I’ll always treat you right.” For some reason, Deivert attributes Keep On Truckin’ to Blind Blake but I believe he meant Blind Boy Fuller, the great Piedmont blues artist of the thirties. A vocal duet with Tom Paley of the New Lost City Ramblers, it is a lively, raggy performance with lively picking from Paley and Deivert and one cannot ignore the resonator slide guitar of Frederick Karlsson here.

Deivert may not be as powerful a singer as Skip James or Son House but his renditions of James’ Cypress Grove and House’s Death Letter Blues, are quite moving. On Cypress Grove, the harp of Mats Qwarfordt helps provide the ethereal quality that James’ vocals and guitar provided. Death Letter Blues is a credible solo cover with rhythmic slide guitar and a solid vocal. Blind Blake’s Diddie Wah Diddie is done as a lively duet with guitarist Lasse Johansson and sports some wonderful mandola playing.

It is often said that blues has become an international music. Certainly the fine music here is evidence of that. Deivert himself notes that this recording was not meant to simply be a solo vehicle, “but, rather a showcase for this fine music that is being made all over the world, and great musicians who are not recognized by a larger audience.” Deivert’s Kid Man Blues is a delightful acoustic blues showcase that it was intended to be. This is being distributed through cdbaby.com and his website is www.deivert.com/blues.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here are some videos of Bert performing.

Hubert Sumlin at 2010 Pocono Blues Festival

2010-0724 Pocono Blues Day 2-2173, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

Just found out that Hubert Sumlin just passed away at the age of 80. The 2010 Pocono Blues Festival was the last time I saw Hubert when he was part of an All Star Chicago blues review that included Willie Smith on harmonica (and Willie recently passed away) and Bob Stroger, in the back, was on bass.

Hubert was best known for his association with Howlin' Wolf as well as on sessions with such other blues legends as Sunnyland Slim. He was alas one of the nicest folks you could ever want to meet which is why he was beloved in the blues community.

Here is Hubert and Sunnyland Slim

Hubert jamming with some well known admirers

Sharon Lewis Is The Real Deal

In David Whiteis’s liner notes to The Real Deal, the new Delmark CD by Sharon Lewis & Texas Fire, there is a perplexing comment about her being annoyed with ‘blues purists.’ I suspect so-called ‘blues purists’ are those most likely to enamored by the powerful performances she performs on this release. She was inspired by seeing Pat Scott and her strong, take no-nonsense approach. Already influenced by the church and Motown and R&B, Scott’s modern soul-blues led her to develop her style and repertoire.

On this, she is supported by a band that includes Roosevelt Purifoy on keyboards; Bruce James on guitar, Melvin Smith on bass and Tony Dale on drums with Billy Branch adding harmonica and Dave Specter guitar on several selections and two tracks have a horn section. She brings originals that strike the listener with the same assertiveness as her vocals opening with the topical What’s Really Going On? and then followed by the title track when she tells like it is that we don’t know what is in her mind so how can anyone say her blues ain’t the real deal. Bruce James takes the nice solo on this as elsewhere, such as on her closing Angel on which Purifoy takes a short solo break as well. On Do Something For Me, Dave Spector takes the guitar solo on a number whose melody will evoke B.B. King’s rendition of The Thrill Is Gone, while her vocal displays her use of dynamics. The late Sam Taylor’s Mother Blues is a “lump-de-lump” styled blues, as fervently delivers Taylor’s lyrics of only the blues can talk to me and tell me how I feel with Purifoy and James outstanding in the backing they provide. I do not mean to slight Smith and Dale who are rock solid throughout this session.

Billy Branch adds his imaginative harmonica to Lewis’ original Blues Train where she invites us to party with her at the party that won’t stop with a melodic and lyrical strain that conjures up “Dancing in the Streets,” as she takes us to Rosa’s and other blues venues, while on Mojo Kings, she has her working in her celebration of her band and how they have that magic king. It is nice to hear new lyrics to Got My Mojo Workin’, a song that has been perhaps covered too bit much, so she makes it sound fresh. Purifoy and James provide a jazzy sophistication behind a low-key vocal on Silver Fox. Indeed, Sharon Lewis may be old school but her love is all we need and she will make it all right. Covers on “The Real Deal” include a soulful rendition of Van Morrison’s Crazy Love, and Wyonna Carr’s fine blues Please Mr. Jailer. Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine benefits from a reggae rhythmic accent while she ably does Don’t Play That Song, but is overshadowed by Aretha’s recording.

Sharon Lewis has been performing world wide and recording over the past two decades including a 2004 album for Sleepy Dog Records and appeared on Dave Spector’s Delmark album Live in Chicago. The Real Deal is a recording that hopefully will lead to her receiving the recognition that her talents merit. This is an impressive talent and recording.

I received my review copy from Delmark Records. Here is a you tube clip of Sharon Lewis performing with organist Jan Korinek and Groove that should give you an idea of how good a singer she is.

Denise Donatelli Is So Nice To Listen To When Lights Are Low

Variety of songs and settings are indeed a spice to the music on vocalist Denise Donatelli’s latest Savant album, When Lights Are Low. With pianist Geoffrey Keezer providing the musical direction, she is joined by Keezer on piano, guitarist Peter Sprague, bassist Hamilton Price and drummer Jan Wikan who are on most of the selections along with appearances by Ingrid Jensen and Ron Blake amongst others with a string section added to some selections and one track being with just Keezer.

A bright, brisk I Wish I Were In Love Again is a nice opening track displaying her clean and crisp articulation and her ability to embellish with some horn-like phrasing and scatting with a smart, swinging background. The mood changes with strings adding a cushion to her sensuous rendition of Billy Holiday’s Don’t Explain. her delivery seems somewhat deliberate here, but not forced and in addition to the strings providing the mood, Ingrid Jensen’s flugelhorn helps the mood of the performance that, Jim Wilke in the liner notes, observes becomes less a song of a lost affair as a song of forgiveness. Ron Blake’s tenor is added to the quartet for a smart interpretation of When The Lights Are Low, while backing vocals, cello and bass clarinet provide accents to the lively bossa nova rendition of Sting’s “Big Lie, Small World, that again displays her ability to sound so natural in her phrasing and enunciation.

Backed by just Keezer, the ballad Why Did I Choose You? displays her ability to express her feelings in an almost effortless manner. The small string section returns along with Blake on soprano sax for “Kisses (Cantor da Noite), while Julia Dollisson’s Forward, Like So, is the only song not arranged by Keezer, but by the composer (who sings as part of the backup vocals) with Keezer is on piano and Fender Rhodes supporting the delivery of the lyrics along with her wordless solo. The Telephone Song, has her breezily deliver the light lyric as guitarist Sprague and Wikan (on pandeiro) provide lively Brazilian tinged accompaniment. The only prior rendition of The Bed I Made was apparently by Bonnie Raitt but one assumes the blues-rooted rocker lent it a different flavor than Donatelli’s version on this reflective ballad.

Cedar Walton’s Enchantment (Firm Roots) ends this recording on a livelier note as Sprague’s guitar brisk solo serves to echo Donatelli’s horn like phrasing of the lyric here. Its a strong conclusion to When Lights Are Low, which is simply a superbly sung and performed vocal jazz recording.

I wrote this review for Jazz & Blues Report. That publication provided me with my review copy. Here is a promotional video where Denise talks about this recording. 

Smokestack Lightning- Howlin' Wolf's Musical Evolution

Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin' Wolf, was one of the seminal blues artists of all time. Sam Phillips who recorded Wolf’s earliest sides said of Wolf “This is where the soul of man never dies.” Having produced similar compilations of Little Walter, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley amongst others, Hip-O-Select takes us to what is likely two sets of the Chess recordings of the Wolf over four discs, The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960, in an attractive hard back book with sleeves to have ready access to the four CDs that include 97 tracks and a little under 5 hours of music.

The book package contains an overview of Wolf’s music from Peter Guralnick and an overview of the included recordings by Dick Shurman, along with a variety of photos and newspaper clippings with full discographical information. The music ranges from Sam Phillips earliest recordings of Wolf in Memphis that were sent to Chess in Chicago through the 1960 Chicago session that produced Back Dog Man, Wang Dang Doodle and Spoonful. Roughly a third of the recordings on this were recorded by Phillips in Memphis with the remainder in Chicago after the Chess brothers convinced him to move north.

Many of Wolf’s signature recordings are included ranging from the initial release of Moanin’ At Midnight and How Many More Years from his first session in Memphis along with other deep south sounds as Bluebird (Blues), Streamline Woman, Mr. Highway Man and Saddle My Pony, to the Chicago recordings by him including No Place To Go, Forty Four, Smokestack Lightning, The Natchez Burning, Sittin’ On Top Of the World, Mr. Airplane Man, and Back Door Man.

As the selected song titles suggest, there are many impressive sides included that if an artist had simply recorded a couple of songs would be regarded as the basis of a legendary career. In Wolf’s case, his body of work merits this consideration as well as the iconic songs. And the recordings start with the Memphis sides with Willie Johnson on guitar, Willie Steele on drums, Ike Turner, L.C. Hubert or Bill ‘Struction’ Johnson on piano, and on one session James Cotton (who plays on Saddle My Pony). After relocating to Chicago, Wolf’s sessions included Otis Spann and Hosea Lee Kennard on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Otis “Smokey” Smothers and Hubert Sumlin on guitar, Abb Locke on saxophone and Earl Phillips and fred Below on drums.

While Williams and Johnson are very prominent on the earlier Chicago sessions, these recordings also allow us to appreciate the emergence of Hubert Sumlin as an important and original guitar voice whose guitar lines snaking against the rhythm provided a bite in addition to Wolf’s powerful vocals that provided an immediately recognizable as the recordings evolved with the rollicking boogies of the Memphis days to storming shuffles and emphatically performed slow blues that hit like the Chicago winter winds.

All of the issued recordings are included along with alternate takes and several compilations of alternate takes and studio banter. From a listening standpoint, one wishes some of these alternates were not included in the generally chronological presentation of material, but perhaps at the end of the package. While there is a value of illustrating how the sessions shaped what was ultimately released, one wonders if so much of these multi-take tracks was included to fill out four CDs so they could split Wolf’s Chess recordings into two volumes. This is the only fault one might suggest about this reissue. The sound is quite good on this reissue of some of the greatest blues recordings of the past six or so decades. With the holidays around the corner Howlin’ Wolf’s The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 will make a terrific gift.

This was a purchase.

Bad Influence's Solid Blues Under The Influence

Bad Influence is a Washington DC area band that this writer has been following for some time. The core of the band is guitarist Michael Tash, harmonica player Roger Edsall (who also doubles on guitar) and bassist Bob Mallardi with David Thaler on drums. When I first saw them perform they also had a saxophonist bout they have been a quartet for some time and have developed into a tight band that can jump the boogie, swing the shuffle and slow drag a three in the morning blues. 

The fact they have played together for such a long material underlies the bands tight group sound and emphatic playing with each other. They have also developed into quite accomplished players with Tash a versatile guitarist able to channel Elmore James and Albert King with sharply focused and thoughtful solos while Edsall is amongst the DC area’s finest harp players able to distill Little Walter, George ‘Harmonica’ Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson and Slim Harpo into a personal style

They have a new album Under The Influence that consists of mostly originals with Mallardi taking most of the vocals with Edsall handling a few. A bit of Dust My Broom slide guitar from Roger Edsall forms part of the foundation of the opening Man Child, while the band gets a hot shuffle going on Hey Red with Mallardi inviting his lady to party till the break of dawn and it sounds like the band will jitterbug all night long with Tash and Edsall taking incisive solos. A bit of southern blues rock seasoning is heard on the driving Do As I Say, with Edsall adding organ effects on his harp accompaniment and gets to strut a bit during a solo break. 

Edsall handles the vocal on Sugar Daddy Baby, a fine shuffle with Tom Ruggieri added on saxophones in the backing. This performance strikes the right groove and tempo and will be a delight for swing dancers not to mention to some jazzy single note fretwork from Tash. Nothing wrong with a bit of rock and roll (not hard rock) on the rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Run Through The Jungle, with another Edsall vocal. Edsall also adds slide guitar and harmonica while Tash employs some atmospheric tremolo in support. “Cat Fight II:PTP: is a spirited harmonica feature that showcases Edsall’s imaginative and expressive playing with guest Jay Monterose taking the guitar solo here. A nice strutting shuffle follows on Looking Right At Me. 

Bad Influence at Surf Club Live in Hyattsville MD in October 2011.

A solid rendition of As The Years Go Passing By, has Tash in part evoking Albert King as Mallardi delivers a heartfelt vocal on a song originally recorded by the great Fenton Robinson for Duke. Besides Tash’s inspired guitar, Edsall has a choice harp solo, followed by a hot guitar chorus. Mark Stephens adds boogie inflected piano behind Edsall’s vocal on Room 111, where it sounds like quite a party is going on. Mailbox Blues has a swamp blues feel with a strong latin accent in the rhythm. 

Under the Influence is a terrific album of blues with an occasional rock and roll accent that is sure to delight Bad Influence’s existing fans and gain them new ones. It is available from the band’s website, badinfluenceband.com and at cdbaby.com, and you can sample this at http://www.reverbnation.com/badinfluenceband.

Bad Influence provided me with a download of this recording.

The Lost Love Cry Of Albert Ayler

Albert Ayler’s music was controversial during his life and today, four decades after his death. One of the ‘free’ jazz patriarchs of the sixties and seventies, Ayler employed a heavy vibrato and made use of overblowing  and shrieks that came off as the saxophone equivalent of speaking in tongues.  As part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Impulse Records, Universal/Verve released Love Cry/ The Last Album, a two LP on one CD reissue of Ayler’s second and fifth albums for the legendary label.

Love Cry has been issued on CD, and this reissue does not include the alternate takes from that reissue. With the trumpet of brother Donald Ayler, Alan Silva on bass, Milford Graves on drums with Call Cobbs on harpsichord, this disc has brief and accessible versions of some of the staples of Ayler’s repertoire like Ghosts and Bells and display the brass band march and folk song roots of Ayler’s music. The longer recordings Zion Hill and Universal Indians (the latter a personal favorite) have a bit of what some would refer to as frenzied chaos.

The Last Album represents Ayler’s final studio recordings and derives from the same sessions that produced “Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe.” These recordings included Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine. This opens with an untitled duet of Ayler on bagpipes and Henry Vestine on electric guitar. Besides Vestine, others on this album include pianist Bobby Few, Bill Folwell and Stafford James on bass, Muhammad Ali on drums with Mary Maria (real name Parks) on vocals). Parks is credited with Again Comes The Rising Of The Sun, which she sings a bluesy lyric with Few’s rumbling piano complemented by Ayler’s bluesy buzz saw toned sax. Toiling co-written by Parks, Vestine and Folwell is a bluesy instrumental with Vestine’s Guitar Slim influenced guitar countered by Folwell’s picked bass and Few’s spare piano before Ayler enters like a sanctified Big Jay McNeely. Desert Blood opens with some raw sax before Ayler and Parks sing a lyric with biblical references in a manner suggestive of Sun Ra and June Tyson.

The Last Album probably is viewed along with New Grass as among the least essential recordings in Ayler’s discography although packaged with Love Cry, one certainly finds more than some moments that fans of Ayler will find compelling.

I was provided a review copy from Jazz & Blues Report for whom this review was originally drafted.

Dorado Schmitt's Gypsy Jazz Family

Having had the pleasure of recently seeing Dorado Schmitt and his brother-in-law, Hono Winterstein, at the Kennedy Center with the Django Reinhardt Festival All Stars, I recently purchased online the 2009 Dreyfus Jazz release Family. This recording includes his children, Amati, Bronson, Samson along with Hono and Dorado’s nephew Brady Winterstein, with Marcel Loeffler on accordion, Gautier Laurent on bass and Stéphane Huchard on drums.

Given the closeness of the families among the Romany and the centrality of music in their lives, it should be no surprised that Dorado Schmitt has progeny that themselves are so accomplished and the marvelous cohesion evident on these recordings. It is not clear who plays on which tracks they play on this. Of course Marcel Loeffler’s accordion and Stéphane Huchard’s drums will be evident and Hono Winterstein can be counted on for providing the strong rhythmic pulse, but which guitarist is taking the lead, or the order on who takes the lead is not clear, although listening to these 15 performances one is drawn in through the virtuosity yet romanticism of the playing.

The music sings and swings throughout. Dorado Schmitt himself composed six of the performances here including the opening Miro Django a lovely mid-tempo number which the guitarists bring alive with a nice accordion solo. Hono Winterstein contributed the lively Bleu Citron with an accordion-guitar lead-in. Echoes of Django might be felt on the rendition of the delightful My Blue Heaven, which is followed by the beautiful Schmitt original, For Grappelli, with such a lovely theme and such a wonderfully articulated solo that shows how virtuosity is linked to such a deep melodic sense. His Gozes Valse is a relaxed performance that he dedicated to his wife. Another lovely ballad is Un Si Beau Jour with Loeffler’s accordion adding delightful coloring.

Many will be familiar with Topsy from swing big band recordings like that by Count Basie, but Dorado and family transform into in Gypsy jazz magic with a brisk, but not too fast, tempo with imagination mixed in with the deft and clean playing. Son Samson composed Samsong a bright, lively piece that showcases his use of single note runs mixed with chords and followed by Minor Swing, one of the foundation numbers of the genre, and the equally immortal, Nuages.

Other pleasures on this marvels CD include a wistful Just a Gigolo, and a lively performance of Reinhardt and Grappelli imaginative reworking of Tiger Rag, Django’s Tiger. Dorado Schmitt’s Family is an acoustic delight that mixes the dazzling musical performances with a melodious quality that is so easy to enjoy.

As stated, I purchased this CD.

Big Daddy's Stallings Blues Evolution

There is plenty of blues talent in many cities of any size. Often responsibilities of raising a family and earning a living derail or suspend musical careers. One of the delightful surprises of the past few years in the Washington DC area has been the emergence of Charles ‘Big Daddy’ Stallings and this review appeared several years back in the DC Blues Society newsletter. A review of his most recent CD will be posted in a few days.

B-Town (Baltimore) bluesman, Charles ‘Big Daddy’ Stallings, has just issued, Blues Evolution (Tai Jeria Music), a follow-up to his praised debut One Night Lover. Stallings is a highly likable performer who brings a bit of down-home flavor to his performances. The strength of the performances are the vocals and the solid accompaniments behind him. The mix of horns and fine down home harp (mostly contributed by Nighthawk Mark Wenner, but Steve Levine is also present on a track or two) is nicely done and saxophonist Joe ‘EFlat’ Thomas, responsible for the arrangements, merits mention.

Stallings is at his best on a nice Jimmy Reed groove like on Going Down South, Hard Times - Good Times and the fantastical 2999. Hobbsville #2 is a slow down-home talking blues that is a follow-up of the talking blues on the first track as he talks about growing up, family and Friday Night Fish Fries with some telling harp from Mark Wenner, although the tempo slowly accelerates during this performance tossing in a bit of Jimmy Reed’s Upside Your Head. Elsewhere there are plenty of good-time grooves and songs like Blues Line Dance and Blues Cowboy certainly will get the dance floor full.

The only significant weakness are the lyrics which don’t cohere and some (like 2999) are fantastical. There are plenty of overlooked songs that do merit revival which Stallings performs during his live performances and he should consider addling some in to the mix on his next recording project. Still his band provides very danceable grooves (swing dancers will love this) and Big Daddy Stallings delivers the songs with feeling and humor that the music’s good-time sensibility wins listeners over. This is available from cdbaby.com and downloadable on itunes.

I received a review copy from the artist. Here is a video of Charles 'Big Daddy' Stallings in performance.

Soul Enriching Journey of McCrary Sisters

Singing comes naturally to the McCrary Sisters, daughters of the late Rev. Samuel McCrary --  one of the original members of the legendary gospel quartet The Fairfield Four. The harmonies siblings Ann, Deborah, Regina and Alfreda produce reflect the singing they grew up with in the home and at their father’s church and they have produced a recording Our Journey (McC Records) which is a result of their years of singing music of praise on a program of songs that might draw some comparisons to the Staples (except the material is more straight gospel and less some of the message songs of that legendary group).

While the sisters are the executive producers, they had assistance from Kevin McKendree, Gary Nicholson, Buddy Miller and others. McKendree is among the musicians on this album that also include Buddy Miller, the late saxophonist Dennis Taylor and guitarists Todd Sharp and Bob Britt. Guest vocals are added by Delbert McClinton, Mike Farris and Patty Griffin. Included are some covers as well as six originals penned by the sisters.

The opening interpretation of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ In The Wind is simply stunning with its gospel-inflected arrangement and guitarist Ron McNelley’s stinging fills. This is a performance likely would have crossover appeal. There is a country-soul tinge to the Follow Me Up and original by co-producer of this track, Tommy Sims, that would have been at home on a Staples recording with its message of reassurance and comfort. Kevin McKendree and Regina McCrary collaborated on Bible Study, a hot jump blues melody with its gospel lyric about talking about Jesus and a groove that dancers may find irresistible as they sing mama get your daughter and daddy get your song and get right with the bible.

Julie Miller’s Broken Pieces is given a lovely performance that Alfreda takes the lead on as she sings about one can have her heart if one doesn’t mind the broken pieces. Ann McCrary’s Know My Name is a powerful gospel performance with sparse, percussive backing and followed by the fervent Memphis soul-gospel flavor of Give Him My All, a song collaboration between Regina and Bob Dylan that evokes the Staples at their best. He Cares has a softer R&B flavor as Alfreda leads the sisters in telling us he cares for us with what wounds her heart and soul, followed by the a cappella rendition of traditional Dig a Little Deeper in God’s eternal love where Deborah takes lead. On Other Side of the Blues (Since I Met You), Regina is joined by Delbert on a gospel-uptown blues as they sing about meeting their savior they are on the other side of the blues.

The album closes with more down home gospel a cappella singing on the title track about through song, the sisters journey keeps moving along. One of the sisters comments “That’s the way daddy would have done it” and indeed he would be overjoyed by the performances as they sing “through our song our journey keeps moving on.” And moving listeners and audiences is certainly what the performances do. Highly recommended.

I received a review copy from a publicist for this release. Here are McCrary Sisters on you tube performing Blowin' In the Wind.

Kay Kay and The Rays Produced Strong and Timely Blues

Catfood Records has just issued The Best of Kay Kay and the Rays, a compilation of the three albums the label issued from the big-voiced and big hearted Kay Kay Greenwade and The Rays. Health issues have shortened the career of this powerful vocalist while The Rays can be heard on recent Catfood Recordings by Johnny Rawls with whom they sometimes perform live.

The Rays formed in Odessa Texas and their material was a funky mix of soul and blues with original songs marked by social commentary (as well as commentary on the relations between the sexes). The exhibit strong playing with Kay Kay belting out the vocals. Long Star Justice is an indictment of that state’s judicial and penal system which as Johnny Rawls notes in his spoken intro has more folks in prison than anywhere in the world and where so many are executed, all being poor. as Kay Kay shouts out justice is the best money can buy and where they spend more money on prisons than on social purposes. More topicality is heard in Enron Field where she tells us about going to see a game but not forgetting to talk about the country club justice afforded to white collar criminals like those involved with Enron. Then there’s Texas Justice - Billy’s Story, of a young man who is convicted of murder even though he acted in self-defense, only afforded a legal aid attorney fresh out of Law School.

There are her songs about relationships including not wanting No Mama’s Boys and Hey Big Boy, about one whose tales and approaches she ain’t buying. As she sings, don’t trust no man who has taken his wedding ring off. Of course she can give the others side of relationships as on Big, Bad Girl, a gold digger she warns men to stay away from. Then there is a change in mood with a lovely soul ballad, Don’t Have To Tell Me, and a terrific duet with Johnny Rawls on Rawls’ Hold On To What You Got.

The Rays match her intensity with solid support, although the arrangements at times sound generic. The playing on the duet with Rawls is exceptional. Saxophonist Andy Roman is exceptional on several songs and Johnny Rawls and Junior Jones add guitar on several selections. This writer remembers how impressed was when he purchased “Texas Justice” one of the three albums anthologized here and certainly this collection shows how formidable Kay Kay and the Rays were. Recommended.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is some Kay Kay & The Rays from you tube. 

Sonny Rollins' Birthday Celebration Centerpiece of Road Songs Vol. 2

One of the most celebrated jazz concerts of the past couple years was the 80th Birthday celebration of Sonny Rollins in New York City. Performances from that concert form the core of Rollins’ second compilation of live recordings, Road Songs Vol. 2 on his Doxy label (Doxy/Emarcy). Four of the six selections come from that September 2010, Beacon Theatre concert with the other two performances coming from Japanese concerts, less than a month later. Most of the performances feature Sonny’s band of the time with Russell Malone on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Kobie Watkins on drums and Sammy Figueroa on percussion with one track having a historic collaboration.

Opening up is a rendition of Irving Berlin’s They Say It’s Wonderful, which has a nice solo from Malone after Rollins introduces the theme. Its a typical performance that fans of Rollins live performances from the last few years will be familiar with and centers around the trading of fours with drummer Watkins. It is followed by Sonny introducing Jim Hall with Hall performing (without Sonny) In a Sentimental Mood. If a wonderful performance, it is odd that an actual collaboration between Rollins and Hall is not present on this Sonny Rollins album.

The blues, Sonnymoon For Two, with the rhythm section of Christian McBride and Roy Haynes, was the historic meeting of Rollins with Ornette Coleman, who Rollins teases the audience about as a special birthday guest after his initial solo in a trio vein, and after initially asking him to come out takes another solo before Coleman comes out and the contrast in styles and how a solo is constructed between his approach and Rollins will be immediately evident and not simply because he is playing alto sax. While the interest of the meeting on stage by the two, the performance strikes this listener as a string of a unconnected solos based on Rollins’ blues composition, with some interchanges between the two and some inspired playing from Rollins later in the performance but as a whole this sounds more interesting than it sounds magical.

I Can’t Get Started opens with Roy Hargrove opening and playing exquisitely before Sonny enters on this ballad with his robust tone providing a counterpoint to Hargrove’s lyricism. It is followed by a lively Raincheck from Billy Strayhorn’s songbook, taken at a lively tempo with a calypso-tinge. Hargrove is bright and incisive here with the two trading fours starting about two-thirds of the way through this performance.

An abbreviated performance of St. Thomas concludes this recording. The editing of the performances is seamless and it comes off to the listener as one concert even though it mixes performances from three concerts, and the order of the Beacon Theatre performances is not in order of performance. The performances sound representative of the performances by Sonny Rollins I have seen over the past few years (thankfully without the sound issues that plagued the first third to half of recent Kennedy Center performances). It is certainly welcome to have this available even if I might suggest other Rollins recordings of live performances of the past decade a bit more consistent and magical. I specifically point to Without A Song - The 9/11 Concert.

I purchased this CD as a download.

Wes Montgomery Kept Movin'

The great Wes Montgomery is celebrated in a new box set, Movin’: The Complete Verve Recordings, from Verve through the Hip-O-Select, which like Verve is part of the Universal Music Group. Like other recent Hip-O-Select box sets, this comes in the form of a hard cover book which contains substantial annotations from Wall Street music journalist Marc Myers (who also does the excellent jazzwax.com blog) along with five CDs that contain all of the substantial musical legacy that Montgomery produced for Verve, after his important, innovative and influential Riverside recordings. My only quibble with the packaging is that the pages used to contain the CDs (which contain session information) hold the CDs in a manner that makes it slightly difficult to extract and return to the sleeves the CDs without getting one’s fingerprints on the shiny side of the CD.

Myers essay is entitled Birth of the Mod, and gives and overview of Montgomery’s career with a focus on the Verve recordings. While comfortable in his hometown Indianapolis, he nevertheless became a major jazz performer through his association with the Riverside label. The death of Riverside’s Bill Grauer was eventually followed by bankruptcy. Without a record label, Montgomery signed with Verve and Creed Taylor who was one of its primary jazz producers who had been working with Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz and others. Myers details the recording of the eight albums by Montgomery on Verve which marked some of Taylor’s earliest jazz-pop experimentations and which turned the guitarist into a jazz-pop avatar to quote Myers.

With Verve, Taylor mixed recordings of jazz standards, popular numbers and show numbers often with big bands that still had Montgomery’s guitar in front. From the first moments of his initial Movin’ Wes to the collaborations with Jimmy Smith, Montgomery’s brilliant fretwork was on display. While some of his recordings like the rendition of People on the Johnny Pate arranged first album employed fadeouts like pop 45s others like his rendition of the Duke Ellington classic “Caravan” were front and center burners. And it wasn’t simply Johnny Pate. Taylor also employed Don Sebesky, Claus Ogerman and Oliver Nelson for other big band sessions.

Not to be forgotten among these big band sessions are the sessions with the Wynton Kelly Trio that included some live recordings. Jimmy Cobb, the trio’s drummer, recalls that Montgomery was somewhat uncomfortable with the commercial material, and felt the material was beneath what Montgomery was capable of. Myers explains how Montgomery, despite initially resisting such material became more comfortable with it employing the example of Going Out of My Head. After first resting the simplicity of the material, Montgomery would make a Grammy winning recording, working out stuff with Grady Tate before the recording.

Yet as the recordings with Wynton Kelly and later the collaborations with Jimmy Smith make most evident, Montgomery had matured but remained the brilliant improvisor mixing single notes chords and octaves and the best of the orchestrations simply add punch to this brilliance, but even when simply embellishing a melody as on Going Out Of My Head, his tone and note placement produced magic. When Montgomery and Smith collaborate on Down By the Riverside or Milestones with terrific Oliver Nelson charts the sparks fire. Then there are the small group sides by Smith and Montgomery with just Grady Tate and Ray Barretto on King of the Road and Baby Its Cold Outside that makes one wish these two had recorded more.

It is almost impossible to find any recording on this that doesn’t possess at least some musical magic, even the tracks with some imperfections that remained unissued at the time of recording. Of course, some of the alternates and other tracks have been subsequently reissued. Unless one has an extensive collection of the source CDs, this is a must for fans of Wes Montgomery and/or jazz guitar.

This was a purchase and I believe it would make a terrific gift for the jazz lover or guitar music lover on your gift list.

With Eddie Taylor Jr, Blues Runs In The Family

A second generation bluesman of note is Eddie Taylor, Jr. One of several children of the late Eddie Taylor, best known as Jimmy Reed’s guitarist, but also an unheralded and under appreciated Chicago blues artist on his own whose music never lost its delta roots. Eddie Jr. has a new CD on the Austrian Wolf label, I Got To Make This Money, Baby. On this his brother Tim handles the drums and sister Demetria (who recently released a well received album on Delmark) sings one song while Harmonica Hinds is present with Greg McDaniel on bass and Anthony Palmer on second guitar.

Its a pretty straight Chicago blues album with Taylor performing several songs in homage of his father, other classic Chicago blues numbers and others in this style. On the opening title track, there is an opening quote of Lester Leaps In, before Taylor and the band launch into a Shake Your Moneymaker groove and sings about playing his guitar and playing the blues. This selection has him playing some nice controlled slide in the vein of Elmore James mixed with Homesick James. Hinds wails in support in support on harmonica here. Echoes of his father’s “Bad Boy,” as well as the lazy Jimmy Reed shuffle groove, are heard in his loving Salute to Eddie Taylor. Hinds is particularly outstanding on this track. 

There is a nice mix of songs including his father’s Train Fare Home, John Lee Williamson’s My Little Machine (from Jimmy Rogers rendition), and a slowed down rendition of Tommy McClennan’s Whisky Headed Woman. There are also a few other originals like his salute to the late bass player and vocalist, Goodbye Willie Kent,” where he notes Willie was a blues solider, a blues soldier going home.” Sister Demetria handles Ruth Brown’s big fifties smash, Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean, with the band providing solid support and an arrangement that does not slavishly copy the original. Similarly the interpretation of Rosco Gordon’s Just a Little Bit, makes that number a walking Chicago shuffle.

This isn’t the first record by Eddie Taylor, Jr. I heard. His earlier recordings had me wanting more and I purchased this. This is a solid, traditionally oriented blues recording. He sings from the heart and plays the old school style of Chicago blues guitar that fewer and fewer still play.

Here is a video of Eddie Taylor Jr, performing Jimmy Rogers' "You're the One."