Gene Ammons - The Soulful Saxophone of Gene Ammons

Gene Ammons is not the best known tenor around. Nor the most loved. But he is good at what he does, and that is that big FAT tenor sound.

What I have for you here are couple of Ammons lps. The first is a Chess release that I don't see round much, the other a Prestige lp that you shouldn't have too much trouble running down.

Since both are short they are being included here together. They will fit on a disc nicely.

Soulful Saxophone
Gene Ammons

1. My Foolish Heart
2. Prelude To A Kiss
3. It's You Or No One
4. Can Anyone Explain
5. Goodbye
6. Pennies From Heaven
7. Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe
8. You Go To My Head
9. Once In A While
10. It's The Talk Of The Town

Gene Ammons, Tom Archia (ts) Christine Chatman (p) Leroy Jackson (b) Wesley Landers (d) Chicago, IL, October 12, 1948
U7142 It's The Talk Of The Town
Gene Ammons (ts) Christine Chatman (p, vo) Leo Blevins (g) Lowell Pointer (b) Ike Day (d) Mary Graham (vo) Chicago, IL, February 28, 1949
U7181 Once In A While
Jesse Miller (tp) Matthew Gee (tb) Gene Ammons (ts) Junior Mance (p) Leo Blevins (g) Leroy Jackson (b) Wesley Landers (d) Chicago, IL, January 8, 1950
U7231 Pennies From Heaven
Bill Massey (tp) Matthew Gee (tb) Gene Ammons (ts) Charlie Bateman (p) Gene Wright (b) Wesley Landers (d) Chicago, IL, May 2, 1950
U7248 Goodbye
U7249 You Go To My Head
U7250 My Foolish Heart
add Sonny Stitt (bars) Chicago, IL, August, 1950
U7266 Can Anyone Explain?
U7268 Prelude To A Kiss
Gene Ammons (ts) Junior Mance (p) Gene Wright (b) Teddy Stewart (d) Chicago, IL, May 3, 1951
U7338 Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe
U7339 It's You Or No One



This second lp was Prestige released with credits listed only as "organ, bass, and drum accompaniment."

This record probably has more soul than the last record.

I don't know if it is the gospel undertones on this lp that make feel so fulfilled...or just that big ole saxophone!

Preachin'
Gene Ammons

1. Sweet Hour
2. Yeild not
3. Abide With Me
4. Blessed Assurance
5. The Prayer
6. You'll Never Walk Alone
7. I Believe
8. Precious Memories
9. What A Friend
10. Holy Holy
11. The Light

Gene Ammons (ts)
Clarence "Sleepy" Anderson (org)
Sylvester Hickman (b)
Dorral Anderson (d)

Chicago, IL, May 3, 1962


Chess Lp - 1442

Prestige 7270

Dizzy Gillespie - Jazz Creations of Dizzy Gillespie

So remember when I said I scored a bunch of lps from a library/school sale? They were all on the ARS label, some sort of subscription service type reissue deal, I found out. Many of the lps I have tracked down to their original releases, but some still mystify.

This Dizzy lp being one of those. I don't see where these tracks were ever released on one lp together. And since I am not familiar with many of the tracks other than here, this is the way I know them.

Around Chez Risk this is known as "that cool Dizzy lp without a cover".

I've tried to track down the proper recording info for you nerds, er I mean, completists. Just kidding, but I don't let a personnel issue stop me from enjoying a great tune.


The ARS lp runs through track 8. After that I tacked on a few odds and ends, properly documented mind you, to fill out a nice disc of John Birks Gillespie.

Dizzy Gillespie
Jazz Creations of Dizzy Vol. 1

1. Bout To Wail*
2. Flamingo **
3. Rails ***
4. O Solow ****
5. Blue Mood ***
6. Devil and the Fish *****
7. Shout By Rail*
8. Caravan*****
9. Say When +
10. You Stole My Wife You Horsethief +
11. Tally Ho +
12. Don't Try To Keep Up With The Jones #
13. Paris Swing ~

*Dizzy Gillespie, Taft Jordan, Ermit V. Perry, Ernie Royal (tp) Jimmy Cleveland, Matthew Gee, Jimmy Wilkins (tb) Gigi Gryce, Hilton Jefferson (as) Budd Johnson, Ernie Wilkins (ts) Sahib Shihab (bars) Wade Legge (p) Nelson Boyd (b) Charlie Persip (d) Herb Lance (vo)
NYC, September 12, 1955


**Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Melba Liston (tb) Willie Smith (as) Curtis Amy, Ed Beel (ts) Clyde Dunn (bars) Carl Perkins (p) George Bledsoe (b) Al Bartee (d) Toni Harper (vo)
Los Angeles, CA, November 8, 1955


***Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Jimmy Cleveland (tb) Hank Mobley (ts) Wade Legge (p) Lou Hackney (b) Charlie Persip (d)
Fine Sound Studios, NYC, June 8, 1954
Norgran 135



**** Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vo) John Barrows, Jim Buffington, Jim Chambers, Fred Klein (frh) Danny Bank (bars) George Berg, Jack Greenberg, Tom Parshley (woodwinds) Wynton Kelly (p) Percy Heath (b) Jimmy Crawford (d) Johnny Richards (arr, cond) 9 strings
NYC,
September 16, 1954



******Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Bennie Green (tb) Ray Alonge, Richard Berg, Joe Singer (frh) Jay McAllister (tu) Robert DiDomenica (fl) Ernest Bright, John Murtaugh, Paul Richie, Stan Webb (woodwinds) George Devens (vib) Hank Jones (p) George Duvivier (b) Charlie Persip (d) Clare Fisher (arr, dir)

NYC, April 27, 1960
MGV 8386 _ A Portrait of Duke Ellington


+ Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vocals) Willie Cook, Don Slaughter, Elmon Wright (tp), Mathew McGee, Sam Hurt, Charles Greenlea, (tb), Jimmy Heath, John Coltrane (as), Jesse Powell, Paul Gonsalves (ts), Al Gibson (bs), John Acea (p), John Collins (g), Al McKibbon (b), Specs Wright (d).
NYC, 11/21/49 taken from Capitol Jazz Classics #13 - Strictly Bebop


# Dizzy Gillespie (tp) - uh... I have to find this record.... oops


~ Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vc), Bill Graham (bs), Wade Legge (p), ; Lou Hackney (b), Al Jones (d)
Taken from the CORE lp A Jazz Salute To Freedom


Diz fans look no farther.

Coleman Hawkins - Compilation Vol.2

Christmas Eve. Hope y'all are enjoying yourselves.

Here's some Hawk that I burned back around his birthday that never got posted. Odds and ends, so to speak.

I'm listening to these tracks as I type. And I am filled with Christmas spirit.

These tracks are culled from a couple of lps.

Now go to bed so Santa can leave gifts.

Coleman Hawkins
Compilation 2

1. Caravan
2. Sweethearts On Parade
3. My Blue Heaven
4. Organ Grinder's Swing
5. Honeysuckle Rose
6. Perdido
7. When Day Is Done
8. The Drag
9. Ole Man River
10. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
11. Battle Of The Tenor Saxes
12. Picasso
13. Lover Come Back To Me
14. Blue Changes
15. Body and Soul
16. Rifftide
17. Sophisticated Lady
18. Get Out OF Town

If you really care - the personnel will be listed in the next couple of days.


Some more Hawkins

Showcase For Modern Jazz

Here's one that I surprisingly have no recollection of where I picked it up.

A reissue, this has one track that was not on the original release, Lady Like. I'll take it... a John Graas tune featuring perennial favorite Art Pepper.

Pepper features prominently on several tunes as well as other West Coasters as indicated in the lp's subtitle. As far as Lucraft goes, I know very little other than the purple prose of the liner notes but he seems to be relegated to a footnote in jazz history, (much like the very blog you are reading if I were to reach such dizzying heights.)

Do not be fooled, these are inspired tracks. I'm betting that if I had been more than a glimmer in my mama's eye at the time I would have been floored by this new "West Coast" thing.

I don't know how this dude assembled this cast for this session but he deserves to be showered with love.

Showcase For Modern Jazz
Featuring Outstanding west Coast Jazz Men - directed by Howard Lucraft

1. Blue Moon
2. I'll Never Say 'Never Again' Again
3. California Zephyr (Howard Lucraft)
4. I May Be Wrong
5. Larissa (Howard Lucraft)
6. Lady Like (John Grass)
   
7. Midnight Sun (Sonny Burke, Lionel Hampton)
8. Smog a la Mode (Howard Lucraft)
9. Jazz for Gene (Howard Lucraft)
10. Two Part Contention (Dave Brubeck)

Personnel:

• Bud Shank – flute (1,8), alto saxophone (4,8)
• Buddy Collette – clarinet (1), baritone saxophone (4,8)
• Conte Candoli – trumpet (2,5,9)
• Stu Williamson – trumpet (2,5,9)
• Frank Rosolino – trombone (2,5,9)
• Charlie Mariano – tenor & alto saxophones (2,5,9), baritone saxophone (5,9)
• Bob Cooper – oboe (3,7), tenor saxophone (3,6,7,10)
• Art Pepper – alto saxophone (3,6,7,10), tenor saxophone (7)
• Pete Jolly – piano (2,9), accordion (2,5,9)
• Claude Williamson – piano (3,6,7,9)
• John Doe – guitar (1,4,8)
• Howard Lucraft – guitar (5,9)
• Red Mitchell – bass (1,4,7)
• Leroy Vinegar – bass (2,5,9)
• Monty Budwig – bass (3,6,7,9)
• Mel Lewis – drums (1,4,8)
• Shelly Manne – drums (2,5,9)
• Stan Levey – drums (3,6,7,10)

Recorded June 8, 1957 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Decca DL 8679 (WEA 1986 vinyl reissue)

Cannonball Adderley - Fiddler On The Roof

Its the change of seasons..the snowfall actually makes it feel like winter. And for some reason, early winter makes me feel like Fiddler On The Roof. I watch the movie once a year maybe, but always at this time.

Fiddler On The Roof is one of Broadways most beloved musicals and Cannonball makes it uniquely his own.

It would be hard to single out any solos on their own but this lp abounds with plenty. Instead just listen to the album in its entirety to feel the special mood, one like I said is fitting for this time of year.Titles of three selections in this package do, however, require explanation.Fiddler on the Roof in the show itself is also called Tradition. The Bolero-tempered Chavalah is strictly a dance sequence in the show, and does not appear in the original cast recording. Cannon, however, found it perfect in the context of this recording. Sewing Machine was deleted prior to the Broadway opening, but Cannon liked it so much he felt that it too should be included on this date. *

1. Fiddler On The Roof

2. To Life

3. Dabbath Prayer

4. Cajvalach

5. Sewing Machine

6. Now I Have Everything

7. Do You Love Me

8. Matchmaker

Cannonball Adderley - alto sax
Nat Adderley - trumpet and cornet
Charles Lloyd - tenor sax and flute
Joe Zawinul - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Louis Hayes - drums

recorded 10/19-21/64
in glorious MONO
vinyl rip

Capitol T 2216

*the last paragraph is culled from the liner notes.

Saturday Swing Shift - A Christmas Special

Alright man, the first big snow storm hits us here on the east coast and things are feeling very Christmas-y. Other than the obligatory booze run, looks like I am staying indoors tonight and what better opportunity than to upload this...which truly qualifies as a Gem.

Years ago I spent sometime in the Chicago area. The host of this radio show not only ran the Saturday Swing Shift but was the afternoon host of daily programming. He single handedly revived and expanded my interest in jazz music when it had all but fallen by the wayside.

And the most important thing he did for me was to make me look backwards. His Saturday morning show made me look deep at the roots of jazz and opened my eyes like no one ever had before.

Here is his Christmas show from 1996, the Saturday before Christmas, diligently recorded to cassette at 10 AM on Dec 21st. This show specializes in tunes from the "swing era" so we are looking at the '30's and '40's.

From WDCB, 90.9 - NPR from the College of DuPage, Il. Bruce Oscar - host.

Disc One
1. Radio intro
2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
3. Let it Snow - Vaughn Monroe
4. con't
5. radio break
6. Rudolph The red Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
7. The Christmas Song - Nat Cole
8. All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth - Spike Jones
9. radio break
10. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Little Jimmy Boyd
11. Christmas Island - The Andrews Sisters
12. Silent Night - Bing Crosby
13. Here Comes Santa Claus - Gene Autry
14. radio break
15. A Christmas Medley - Glenn Miller Orchestra
16. Home For The Holidays - Glenn Miller Orchestra
17. radio break
18. Let It Snow - Woody Herman
19. Trim Your Christmas Tree - Les Brown
20. Brazilian Sleighbells - Harry James
21. White Christmas - Harry James
22. Jingle Bells - Duke Ellington Orchestra
23. radio break

Disc Two
1. radio break
2. Snowfall - Claude thornhill
3. Jingle Bells - Benny Goodman
4. Santa Claus Came In The Spring - Benny Goodman
5. radio break
6. Winter Wonderland - Ted Weems
7. Santa's Swingin' - Louis Prima
8. Jingle Bells - Fats Waller
9. radio edit
10. Hello Mr. Kringle - Kay Kyser
11. I Like The Winter Weather - Peggy Lee
12. When Winter Comes - Eddie Duchin
13. Sleighride In July - Les Brown
14. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Sammy Kaye
15. The Christmas Song - Doris Day
16. radio break
17. Silver Bells - Bob Hope
18. Santa's Secret - Johnny Guarnieri/Slam Stewart
19. Christmas Medley #2 - Glenn Miller Orchestra
20. What Are You Doing on New Years Eve? - Kay Kyser
21. radio outro

The big disclaimer - there are some dropouts because this was recorded on a receiver in my basement hideaway straight to cassette.
Disc one's track listing is also a bit screwed as the cassette jammed and I had to reburn some tracks and because I suffer from a lackadaisical attitude I did not remember to fix the tags before uploading. Good luck.
And of course the disc jockey fucks up once proving we all all human.

Saturday Swing Shift Christmas 1

Saturday Swing Shift Christmas 2

This is a great Christmas show - please don't discount it because of my limitations.

Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers

By all accounts Zoot should stand a head and shoulders over his accompanists on this session. I've never really been a fan of Joe Pass or Oscar Peterson. Yet somehow everyone manages to sound inspired on this fantastic session. Zoot Sims plays like he is having the time of his life, perhaps because of the material, there is certainly something to be said for the Gershwins legacy. It must have been infectious because the normally stoic Peterson actually sounds as though he is enjoying himself.

Of all the Gershwin themed lps in my collection, this is probably the one I like the most.

This lp was recorded the day before my 17th birthday. I wonder what I would have thought of it then?

Zoot Sims
and the Gershwin Brothers

1. The Man I Love
2. How Long Has This Been Going On
3. Lady Be Good
4. I've Got A Crush On You
5. I Got Rhythm
6. Embraceable You
7. 'S Wonderful
8. Someone To Watch Over Me
9. Isn't It A Pity
10. Summertime

Zoot Sims - tenor sax
Oscar Peterson - piano
Joe Pass - guitar
George Mraz - bass
Grady Tate - drums

Pablo 2310-744

Wynton Kelly - Smokin'

Try searching the internet for Wynton Kelly - Smokin'. You'll get a bunch of hits for his lp with Wes Montgomery..you know...the famous one. But you will not get anything for the cheapo Trip lp which actually has a couple of great sets from the early 60's.

I have rearranged the tracks into chronological order as opposed to the haphazard way they were compiled. Guess I'm just anal that way.

Sometime in the late 70's/early 80's you saw great sessions re-released on crazy little labels, and the digital phenonemon had not even set in. It actually cost a bit of green to release lps back then so I am hoping someone made money off this at some point, cuz you all are getting it for free.

Tacked on to the end are 2 tracks from a quintet session from 1959.

Wynton Kelly - Smokin'
4/27/60*
1. Temperance
2. Weird Lullaby
3. On Stage
4. Skatin'
5. Pot Luck


7/61**
6. Come Rain Or Come Shine
7. Make The Man Love Me
8. Joe's Avenue
9. Surrey With The Fringe On Top
10. Sassy
11. Love I Found You

8/12/59***
12. June Night
13. Wrinkles

* Wynton Kelly - piano; Paul Chambers - bass; Philly Joe Jones - drums
** Wynton Kelly - piano; Paul Chambers/Sam Jones - bass; Jimmy Cobb-drums
***Wynton Kelly - piano; Lee Morgan- trumpet; Wayne Shorter - tenor sax; Paul Chambers - bass; Philly Joe Jones - drums


Trip TLX - 5010
Pt 1
Pt 2
Pt 3

Sonny Rollins - Croydon 1986

Here's another thing that I had to transfer over from cassette. Got this as a member of IAJRC. They had a "lending library" where you could get copies of some odd shows. I got this, a Mingus Big Band show and a long interview with Hawkins, which I erased half of accidentally. Those were the days....

This is originally taken from a BBC radio show. The performance was recorded at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, U.K.

I have taken the original BBC intro and moved it to the end, as well as an interview with Rollins that was the radio "break". This way the concert is all in one piece and you can listen to the conversation separately.

I have not been able to identify a couple of the songs. Help requested.

Sonny Rollins Quintet
Croydon, 1986

Disc One
1. I'm Old Fashioned
2. Autumn Nocturne
3. UT
4. My One and Only Love

Disc Two
1. Don't Stop The Carnival
2. Isn't She Lovely

3. original radio intro
4. conversation Pt1
5. conversation Pt2

Sonny Rollins - tenor
Clifton Anderson - trombone
Mark Suskind - piano
Jerome Davis - bass
Connie Campbell - drums


Part one

Part two

The Soul Of Jazz Percussion

Here's one of those crazy WTF records. Who actually launched this idea? Anyone heard of this label? How did whoever get all these people together for, well for this?

Now I'm not gonna lie to ya, it ain't in the best shape but it is not bad. Records like these are only found in flea markets and garage sales.

While the potential for cheese can be high, just before it hits that point some tasty solos are dished out. No one performer stands out and decent solos are spread around. Even the arrangements are decent and interesting.

The Soul Of Jazz Percussion

1. Construction Crew (Waldron)
2. Ping Pong Beer (Chambers, Evan, Jones)
3. Call To Arms (Waldron)
4. Witch-fire (Little)
5. November Afternoon (MacIntosh)
6. Chasin' The Bird (Parker)
7. Prophesy (Levister)
8. Quiet Temple (Waldron)
9. Wee-Tina (Shaunessy)

(composers)

Curtis Fuller - trombone
Booker little - trumpet
Donald Byrd - trumpet
Philly Joe Jones - drums
Paul Chambers - bass
Pepper Adams - baritone
Bill Evans - piano
Mal Waldron - piano
Armando Peraza - congo
Marcus Belgrave - trumpet
Addison Farmer - bass
Don Ellis - trumpet
Willie Rodriguez - percussion
Earl Zindars - percussion
Ed Shaughnessy - drums

Warwick W5003 ST

This is not in great shape but not bad - I would love to see someone clean this up.

Artie Shaw and The Gramercy 5 - the last recordings

My first thought is "Who doesn't love a great Stone Martin cover?"

What I have here are apparently some of the last recordings made by Artie Shaw before he launched into star-studded retirement. Here's a fellow who knew how to go out on the top of his game. Or was the music world gonna leave him behind and he was smart enough to realize it? I recommend everyone read "The Trouble With Cinderella", a top notch autobiography. But back to the music at hand...

This shit swings. Swings hard. Small group swing. Which was terribly out of favor at the time. The first track "The Grabtown Grapple" wrestles with some new sounds (for the time,) but the rest is firmly entrenched in the swing era. Cool with me.

I know next to nothing about these records, and while the information is out there, I have only a couple of blank cassette cases, with no way of knowing which versions of the songs I am hearing.
Some I am confident on, some not so. Doesn't stop my enjoyment of these records one bit.

Years ago there was a fellow who sold records, jazz records through the mail, G's Jazz outta WI. Guy named Gary, but Gary was cool and if you couldn't afford some of the crazy prices that original jazz lps commanded, he would make you cassettes of them... for a price of course.

Unfortunately you got nothing but a cassette - no lp info. That's where these recordings come from. From his vinyl to my cassettes to disc to you.

Artie Shaw and the Gramercy Five
Sequence In Music

1. The Grabtown Grapple
2. Lugubrious
3.I've Got A Crush On You
4. Tenderly
5. I Can't Get Started
6. Lyric
7. Imagination
8. Sunny Side Up
9. When The Quail Come Back To San Quentin


1. Sequence in B Flat
2. The Sad Sack
3. Stop and Go Mambo
4. Love Of My Life
5. The Pied Piper Theme
6. Dancing In The Dark
7. That Old Feeling
8. Someone To Watch Over Me
9. Besame Mucho

Part One

Part Two

Charles Lloyd - Autumn In New York - Vol. 1

Here's a record I don't see around much. I'm pretty sure this is a private label release.
Man, these records with all those strings only work for me occasionally and this time of year seems best, so that would explain my digging this out about now.
Although no songs on here songs were composed by Lloyd, this is not just an album of standards, he has included songs by Coltrane and pianist Clare Fisher.
There are also a couple of vocal tracks that threw me for a bit of a loop, but I have since really come to enjoy them in the context of the whole record.
I wonder if Volume Two ever materialized?

Charles Lloyd
Autumn In New York

1. Autumn In New York
2. As Time Goes By
3. Wait Till I See Her
4. Nancy (with the laughing eyes.)
5. Naima
6. Stella By Starlight
7. But Beautiful
8. Pensativa

Charles Lloyd - tenor sax
Tom Grant - piano
Kevin Brandon - bass guitar
Kim Calkins - percussion
Suzanne Wallach - vocals

Produced by Charles Lloyd. Strings arranged and conducted by Clare Fisher.

1979 Destiny Records DLA-10003

Thanks porco for the cover

Phil Woods Quartet - Phil Talks With Quill

Can you tell them apart? I can't. No shit, their styles are that similar. It could have made for an outing that was more novelty than not, but these guys managed to avoid it and put out a great little straight ahead post bop lp.
Other than the Woods original, Hymn For Kim, all the other tracks are standards from the bop idiom, oddly enough bookended by a pair of versions of Doxie.
Both are sufficiently different from each other to make this an interesting idea in its own right.
This record is a perfect example of where jazz was at at the end of the 50's. This was recorded in 57 but not released until 60.
Very soon the real fire of post bop would start emerging and jazz would start growing again. Till then there were still some very good records being released. And while not all would set the world on fire, like this one, they still do not deserve to languish in complete obscurity.
Gotta say, I loved burning this record, seeing as how I had not listened to it in many, many years.

Phil Woods Quartet with Gene Quill Sitting In
Phil Talks With Quill

1. Doxie
2. A Night In Tunisia
3. Hymn For Kim
4. Dear Old Stockholm
5. Scrapple From The Apple
6. Doxie

Phil Woods - alto sax
Gene Quill - alto sax
Bob Corwin - piano
Sonny Dallas - bass
Nick Stabulas - drums

BN 554

for the record - Woods takes all the 1st solos except on Tunisia where Quill solos initially.