Lee Konitz Franco D'Andrea - Inside Cole Porter

This thing is too cool to just reside on the Cole Porter blog, which has laid neglected for far too long, so I'm gonna post it on both.

These are really nice duets between Konitz and relatively unknown pianist Franco D'Andrea. I say relatively unknown because our friends at wikipedia have very little information on him but I know he has recorded several lps that are not listed there. He hails from Italy (and damn don't they have a fine jazz scene there?) but even so he rarely shows up on the Italian jazz blogs. He may be on a half dozen Horo releases but always a sideman.

Additionally this was recorded "In celebration of Lee Konitz 70th Birthday" so he takes the majority of the solos. D'Andrea steps up and rolls out some fime solos himself while tastefully accompanying Konitz on these Porter songs that I am sure he was intimately familiar with already.

Lee Konitz - Franco DAndrea

Inside Cole Porter

1. The Song Is You

2. Medley: The Song Is You (intro); What Is This Thing Called Love; Everytime We Say Goodbye (intro)

3. Everytime we Say Goodbye

4. I Love You

5. Love For Sale

6. Medley: Easy To Love (intro); Night and Day (intro); Easy To Love

7. It's All Right With Me

Lee Konitz - alto sax

Franco D'Andrea - piano

recorded at Mu Rec studio, Milano on May 2, 1996

NLJ 0967-2

Coleman Hawkins - Crown LPs

Even if you have never heard these records before they are as comfortable as that jacket that Woodie Allen has worn in his last 15 movies. You can be hipper than Woodie. Swing to these groovy tunes laid down in the early 60's.

Here's a pair of Hawk lps on the Crown label. How the hell do they end up there?
I upgrade these records every chance I get but ya just don't see em around much. As a matter of fact the current copy of the earlier lp was purchased sans cover but was still in better shape than the one I had at the time.


A double dose of Bean...same band both sessions.

Coleman Hawkins and his Orchestra

1. Bean In Orbit

2. After Midnight

3. Hassle

4. Moodsville

5. Stalking

The Hawk Swings

6. Cloudy

7. Almost Dawn

8. Stake Out

9. Cross Town

10. Shadows

Coleman Hawkins - tenor sax

Thad Jones - trumpet

George Duvivier - bass

Eddie Costa - piano, vibes

Osie Johnson - drums

Crown Records CST 206 and CLP 5207

James P. Johnson - Watch Me Go

I know damn well this won't appeal to everybody but I think some of my readers may enjoy it. I really do enjoy stuff like this from the very early days of jazz. While these are all accompaniments, I can't imagine what it was like to hear piano like that way back when.

Some of these songs are just plain silly as so many period pieces can be, it was after all a much simpler time so they say. That said there are still many awesome songs on this record that would never have seen the light of day if it weren't for true jazz collectors. we owe them a debt of gratitude. The back cover liner notes are extensive albeit spotted with typos, so if anyone really wants them e-mail and I will find a way to get them to you.

James P Johnson - Watch Me Go

Rare accompaniments: 1921~34

1. Watch Me Go

2. You'll Never Miss A Good Thing Till It's Gone

3. Original Black Bottom Dance

4. Nobody Worries About Me

5. Black Snake Moan

6. Fortune Teller Blues

7. Doggone Blues

8. Can't Be Bothered With No Sheik

9. Oh, Mr. Mitchell

10. Where Is My Man?

11. You've Got To Be Modernistic

12. Shout On

13. All That I Had Is Gone

14. Lucy Long

15. Jazzbo Dan and his Yodelin' Band

16. Syncopatin' Yodelin' Man

17. Ooh! Looka There, Ain't She Pretty

18. Uncle Sammy Here I Am

1, 2 - Lavinia Baker

3, 4 - Sadie Jackson

5, 6, 7, 8 - Rosa Henderson

9, 10 - Clara Smith

11, 12 - Great Day New Orleans Singers

13, 14 - Perry Bradford

15, 16 - Roy Evans

17, 18 - Clarence Williams

From my vinyl copy of  IAJRC 52

Leonard Feather Presents: 52nd Street with Phil Woods

Don't know much about this record. There  is no recording dates listed on the sleeve, although it is apparent it is from two separate sessions. I'm not sure what was supposed to happen here but this record does a fine job of highlighting the early bop movement, coupling several veterans with some of the young up and comers at the time.

 The liner notes kinda imply that this record is sorta wrapping up the bop movement, a silly idea at any time.

What is there to say about these tunes that hasn't been said a thousand times before. Pure bop standards  performed for the joy of it it seems to me.

Many's a time when I wish I could have recorded and released a bunch of my friends jamming some tunes. Feather did it as well as anyone. Back when it mattered.

Leonard Feather Presents

52nd Street

1. Little Benny

2. Be Bop

3. Lemon Drop

4. Ornithology

5. Anthropology

6. Salt Peanuts

7. Groovin' High

8. Shaw "Nuff

9. Billie's Bounce

10. Hot House and 52nd Street Theme

George Wallington - piano

Phil Woods - alto 

Curley Russell -bass

Idrees Sulieman - trumpet...

Denzel Best - drums (1-5)

Thad Jones - trumpet...

Art Taylor - drums (6-10)

VSOP 12

Pharoah Sanders - The Latin Jazz Quintet Featuring PS

I was going to post this awhile back until someone asked for the Live at The East record so I want to get back to it now before it disappears in the stacks.

I picked this lp up for, not surprisingly, next to nothing. First off it is a reissue of an older scarcer lp and second the very idea may be a bit hard to swallow. I won't snow you and tell you this is a great lost classic or anything but it is a fun record. I'm always interested when I discover something that puts my favorites in a unusual setting. I wonder what the reaction was to this upon initial release.

 Unfortunately there is very little info to go by on the sleeve. What I gather is that PS has actually joined a handful of musicians who play under the moniker "The Latin Jazz Quintet". These fellows hold their own and the compositions are theirs, nothing written by Sanders. One of the things I like about this record is that Sanders plays within the ensemble, and isn't necessarily the focus of the lp. He seems to be having fun playing some swinging solos including a couple on the soprano sax.
 You're not gonna find anything even vaguely outside here.You won't walk away feeling like you have been cheated outta 40 minutes either.

The Latin Jazz Quintet featuring Pharoah Sanders

1. Oh! Pharoah Speak

2. Daria

3. The Dues Payer

4. Harlem

5. Midnight Monturo

6. P's and Q's

PHX309