Charlie Parker 10th Memorial Concert 3-27-65

On March 27, 1965, at Carnegie Hall, March 27, a concert was held to honor the tenth anniversary of the passing of Charlie Parker.

The musicians who played that night were a "who's who" of the Jazz world:

Dizzy Gillespie  — trumpet
James Moody — tenor sax and alto sax
Kenny Baron — piano
Chris White — bass
Rudy Collins — drums
Roy Eldridge — trumpet
Coleman Hawkins — tenor sax
JJ Johnson (credited as C.C. Siegel) — trombone
Roy Haynes — drumsDave Lambert — vocals
Billy Taylor — piano
Tommy Porter — bass
Lee Konitz — alto sax
Kenny Dorham — trumpet
Howard McGhee — trumpet

This album is way more than just a Charlie Parker tribute.  A few highlights include two of the best cuts by Gillespie's mid 60s group with James Moody on "Um-Hmmm" and "Groovin High", both of which have James Moody playing in an incredibly passionate tone that's just outstanding!  Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge fronting a group with Billy Taylor on a long version of "Now's The Time".  Billy Taylor also makes an appearance on Dave Lambert's  (on what would be his final recording) scatted vocal version of "Donna Lee", Lee Konitz solo version of "Blues For Bird", his own composition, played as a spare solo tune on alto, and a and a medley of "Bird Watcher" and "Disorder at the Border".  Bud Powell played "'Round Midnight" at the concert, but this track was released separately on the album 'Ups'n Downs'.

Tracklist
1. Um-Hmm!(Ode to Yard)
2. Groovin' High
3. Blues (From Gillespiana)
4. A Night in Tunisia
5. Now's the Time
6. Donna Lee
7. Cherokee
8. Blues for Bird
9. Medley: Bird Watcher/Disorder at the Border

This album was originally given to me for my eighteenth birthday, in 1965, which I still have.  In the freeload, which is from a CD, I've included scanned original artwork (it's worth seeing), with liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

For the freeload, what albums (in any format) do you still have from your teenage years?

Lowell Fulson - 'The Complete Kent Recordings 1964 to 1968'

Lowell Fulsom was a big-voiced blues guitarist and songwriter who became one of the leading figures of the West Coast's influential postwar blues scene.

He was born on March 31, 1921, in Tulsa Oklahoma, to parents of Choctaw and African American descent.  He grew up around Ada, Oklahoma, where his grandfather played violin and two of his uncles played guitar.  Lowell played in church and at picnics as a boy and in Ada clubs as a teenager.  During military service from 1943 to 1945 he learned of the music scene in Oakland, California, and moved there in 1946.  That year he recorded "Cryin' Blues" and "You're Going to Miss Me When I'm Gone," including his brother, Martin Fulson, on guitar. 

In 1947 Lowell recorded the R&B hit "Three O'Clock Blues".  He moved to Los Angeles in 1949 and recorded "Everyday I Have the Blues", which rose to Number Five on the R&B charts.  During this period, his addition of a horn section to the standard electric blues combo of bass, guitar, and drums defined the West Coast "Uptown Blues" sound.

Lowell hired young up-and-comers like Ray Charles and Stanley Turrentine for his back-up band.  His songs have been covered by the likes of B.B. King with "Three O'Clock Blues", Otis Redding and Carla Thomas with "Tramp", Ray Charles with "Sinner's Prayer", and even Elvis Presley with "Reconsider Baby".

'The Complete Kent Recordings 1964 to 1968' is a 4CD 96 track set, released in 2001 by the Japanese label P-Vine Records.  It has the complete 60s recordings done by Lowell Fulson for the Kent label, including rarities and unreleased material.

The set is not arranged chronologically, but by style and rarity.
CD 1 is titled 'Deep blues with lots of soul'.
CD 2 is titled 'Ain't No Tramp Now! Some Funky Stuff'.
CD 3 is titled 'Unreleased Rare Tracks and some remixes'.
CD 4 'Alternate Takes and some more'.

It also has a very nice 43-page booklet (included in the freeload).

The sense of rhythm on these cuts is terrific, and Lowell's got a nicely sinister vibe to his vocals, and his guitar playing is "tasty".

Thanks to P-Vine's remastering, these tracks have never sounded better.

For the freeload, if you could magically gain the ability to play any musical instrument well (other than one you might play), which would you choose?

Miles Davis - 'Stockholm Live 1967 & 1969 Revisited'

'Stockholm Live 1967 & 1969 Revisited' is a CD that features two shows recorded a mere two years apart, yet spanning almost a lifetime in terms of the musical presentation.  It nicely juxtaposes two Miles Davis Quintets recorded live at Konserthuset in  Stockholm, Sweden on October 31, 1967 and November 5, 1969.

Tracks 1 through 4 are from 1967.

Miles in '67

The 1967 show has Miles and his classic mid 60s quintet: Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. This is my favorite band of all time! 

Just listen to how they make the special kind of creative magic that really graced Davis in a live setting at the time, as they soar over versions of "Gingerbread Boy", "Footprints", "Agitation", and "Round Midnight"

Tracks 5 through 9 are from 1969

Miles in '69

The 1969 show showcased Miles' more electric side, partly due to the use of an electric piano in the group.  Also, the longer form of some tracks marked a shift towards a more open and expansive sound, which would later define Miles' music in the 1970s.

The only players that remain in 1969 are Miles (natch) and Wayne Shorter.   Chick Corea plays both acoustic and electric piano, Dave Holland plays double bass, and Jack DeJohnette plays drums.  This is the so-called "Lost Quintet" on tour after the groundbreaking 'Bitches Brew' recordings sessions in August.  The 'Bitches Brew' album would not be released until April 1970.

Chick Corea plays electric piano on the opening "Bitches Brew" and on his tune "This" to close the set, while playing acoustic piano on the three Wayne Shorter pieces "Paraphernalia", "Nefertiti" and "Masqualero" in between.  Speaking of Wayne Shorter, he mainly plays tenor, but when he turns to the soprano saxophone, his sound is much like the distinctive Weather Report which would soon be assembled.

When I bought this CD, being unfamiliar with the "ezz-thetics" label (a division of the Swiss label, Hat Hut Records), I was somewhat leery of how it might sound.  However, to my surprise, the sound quality is superb.

For the freeload, tell us about some of your favorite bands, who made a major stylistic change, in a short period of time.

The Byrds – 'The Columbia Singles '65-'67'

Formed in Los Angeles in 1964, the Byrds are credited as the first Folk Rock group, pioneering a sound that bridged the gap between popular Folk acts like the Kingston Trio and the bands of the British Invasion. But you already knew that, so I'll "cut to the chase".

'The Columbia Singles '65-'67' released in 2002, is a limited edition 30-track 2-LP set pressed on 180 gram Virgin Vinyl, featuring landmark recordings in their perfectly constructed, original mono mixes, including all A & B sides from 'Mr Tambourine Man' (April 1965) through to 'Goin' Back' (October 1967), plus five cuts originally intended as single sides which were withdrawn last minute.

Track list:

1. Mr. Tambourine Man

2. I Knew I'd Want You

3. All I Really Want To Do

4. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
5. The Bells Of Rhymney
6. Chimes Of Freedom
7. She Don't Care About Time (I)
8. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
9. The Times They Are A-Changin'
10. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)
11. She Don't Care About Time (II)
12. Set You Free This Time
13. It Won't Be Wrong
14. He Was A Friend Of Mine
15. Eight Miles High
16. Why
17. 5D (Fifth Dimension)
18. Captain Soul
19. Mr. Spaceman
20. What's Happening?!?!
21. So You Want To Be A Rock n' Roll Star
22. Everybody's Been Burned
23. My Back Pages
24. Renaissance Fair
25. Have You Seen Her Face
26. Don't Make Waves
27. Lady Friend
28. Old John Robertson
29. Goin' Back
30. Change Is Now

This is an extraordinary sounding collection, with Kevin Gray cutting the lacquers for this repress.

For the freeload, when and where did you first hear The Byrds?

Bettye LaVette - 'Child of the Seventies'

 

Bettye LaVette was born Betty Haskin in Muskegon, Michigan in 1946.  Unlike most soul singers, she didn’t learn to sing in church, but instead with her family in Detroit.

Betty began her recording career as a teenager in the 1960s for Atlantic Records, and had a couple hits on the soul charts, including “My Man—He’s a Lovin’ Man” (recorded when she was just 16), and the simmering, lovelorn “Let Me Down Easy.”

In 1972 Betty signed once again with Atlantic Records, and hit the road with Ben E. King, and Barbara Lynn.  Unfortuatley, Bettye couldn’t find the same kind of exposure her Detroit contemporaries like Martha Reeves, Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin were seeing.

On December 12th 1973, Bettye went into FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record the album "Child of the Seventies".  The album recorded in the same studio that produced hits for Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Etta James, and countless others was to be her comeback album for Atlantic Records.

Atlantic released the single "Your Turn to Cry", a retitled cover of Joe Simon’s "Your Time to Cry" on its sub-label, ATCO Records.  Bettye's version is a throat-shredding, and heart-breaking rendition.  For whatever reason, the single failed to chart.  My guess was that someone in Atlantic’s promotional offices was "out to lunch".

Bettye made a phenomenal album, the product of a woman with a distinctive voice, both literally, in terms of her growling, scathing storm-like vocals, and in her cross-pollination of rock, funk, R&B balladry, and country soul.

Then, at the last minute, Atlantic Records decided to shelve the project.  Some say the album may have been shelved over commercial concerns, as genre-pushing music often is.  Others claim it was record company politics, with fears that her success would diminish the stars of other Atlantic artists, including Aretha Franklin. 

"It’s not so much anger, it’s hurt." Bettye said about the decision, speculating it was made because "My voice sounded more like Wilson Pickett than Dionne Warwick. I don’t think they knew how they could package a young, attractive woman who sounded like that."

What ever the real reason was, it certainly wasn’t due to quality control.

In 2006, the Rhino Handmade label released a deluxe version of 'Child of the Seventies'.  It has the original album, plus a couple of unreleased songs from the 12/12/1973 session, mono singles, two singles from 1972 (including a very cool funky version of Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold", and four singles from 1962 thrown in for good measure.

This is one very cool release.

For the freeload, what decade are you a child of?

Joe Henderson - 'Inner Urge' (Blue Note 85 Edition)

Joe Henderson rose to prominence in the 1960s with a unique tenor saxophone voice.  That rich tone and strong rhythmic sense had a profound impact on subsequent tenor saxophonists.  In live performances, his energetic playing was often complemented by a melodic touch on ballads.  Joe’s music bridged the gap between post-bop, soul jazz, and avant-garde music.

'Inner Urge' recorded in November 1964, was Joe's fourth album on the Blue Note label.   His first three albums, ‘Page One’, ‘Our Thing’, and ‘In ’N Out’, were quintet recordings featuring trumpeter Kenny Dorham.  On ‘Inner Urge’, Joe decided to experiment with a quartet setting, with himself as the sole horn player.

The outstanding lineup featured two legendary members of the trailblazing John Coltrane Quartet: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones.  Joining them was Blue Note veteran Bob Cranshaw on bass.

To my ears, 'Inner Urge' sounds like one of the ultimate achievements of Hard Bop, pushing bop formulas as far as they could be pushed.  It's, one of the major statements of jazz in the '60s.  Listening to it today evokes menories of the political, economic, and social realities of those turbulent times.

'Inner Urge' is an absolutely essential listen and a major masterpiece.

Today's freeload is a remastered limited edition from Blue Note Japan, in the UHQCD format, from masterings that Kevin Gray did for the Tone Poet and BN Classic LP releases.  And they sound sweet!  If you freeloaded the previously posted 'Blue Note 85 Reissues', you know what I'm talking about.

For the freeload, if a movie were made about your life, which actor (dead or alive) would you want to portray you?

Babs' Bootleg Bonanza #5

 

Babs' Bootleg Bonanza #5, features shows from J.J. Cale, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.

J.J. Cale from The Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN; April 18, 1990

After Midnight
Riverboat Song
Mama Don't Allow
HumdingerHold on Baby
New Orleans
Lickin' Stick
Sweet Inspiration
Thirteen Days
Harlem Nocturne
Disadvantage
Hard Times
Movin' Blues
Magnolia
Call Me the Breeze
Cocaine

-- Encore

Money Talks
Crazy Mama
Ride Me High

Lineup
J.J. Cale — lead guitar
Tim Drummond — bass
Spooner Oldman — keyboards
James Cruse — drums
Steve Douglas — saxophone
Christine Lakeland — rhythm guitar
Jim Karstein — percussion

The Rolling Stones — Brussels Affair: Definitive Edition
Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
October 17, 1973
A classic among classics.

CD1:

Brown Sugar
Gimme Shelter
Happy
Tumbling Dice
Dancing With Mr. D.
Angie
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Midnight Rambler
Honky Tonk Women
All Down The Line
Rip This Joint
Jumping Jack Flash
Street Fighting Man
Starfucker

CD 2:

Brown Sugar
Happy
Gimme Shelter
Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker
Street Fighting Man
Brown Sugar
Star Fucker
Dancing With Mr. D
Angie
Midnight Rambler
Gimme Shelter
Street Fighting Man
Bitch
100 Years Ago
weet Virginia
Silver Train

CD 2, track 1 - Rotterdam, October 14, 1973
CD 2, tracks 2-5, 8, 10 - London, September 9, 1973
CD 2, tracks 6-7, 9 - Newcastle, September 13, 1973
CD 2, tracks 11-12 - Munich, Germany, September 28, 1973 CD 2, tracks 13-16 - Vienna, Austria, September 1, 1973

Mick Jagger—Vocals,
Keith Richards—Guitar
Mick Taylor—Guitar
Bill Wyman—Bass
Charlie Watts—Drums
Billy Preston—Keyboards
Trevor Lawrence—Saxophone
Steve Madaio—French horn

Van Morrison – 'Dominion Man'

This is a 3CD set of Van's shows at Dominion Theatre in London, England, recorded between 1983 and 1985.

The audio varies from 1st generation audience tapes, and soundboard recordings.  If you're a fan, you'll love this.

CD1:

Medley: Baby Please Don't Go >
Gloria > Here Comes The Night >
Brown-Eyed Girl
The Way Young Lovers Do
Astral Weeks
I Will Be There
Jackie Wilson Said
Saint Dominic's Preview
It's All In The Game
Vanlose Stairway
Hard Nose The Highway
Help Me
Northern Muse (Solid Ground)
Haunts Of Ancient Peace
Madame George
Ballerina
Summertime In England

CD2:

Celtic Swing
Cleaning Windows
Dweller On The Threshold
She Gives Me Religion
Into The Mystic
Moondance
Wavelength
Full Force Gale
Bright Side of the Road
It's All In The Game > You Know What They're Writing About
Northern Muse (Solid Ground)
Beautiful Vision
Cleaning Windows
I Wanna Make Love To You
Help Me
Dweller on the Threshold
Haunts of Ancient Peace
She Gives Me Religion

CD3:

Vanlose Stairway
Summertime In England
Cyprus Avenue
Rave On John Donne > Rave On Part Two
Sweet Thing > When Heart Is Open
Ballerina
Send In The Clowns
And It Stoned Me
What Would I Do
Tupelo Honey
Benediction (Thank God For Self Love)
What'd I Say
Gloria

For the freeload, caption the below photograph.

Blind Lemon Jefferson

 

AI-generated portrait

"Blind" Lemon Jefferson (October 26, 1894–December 1929) was a blues singer and guitarist from Texas.  He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s.  Blind Lemon Jefferson stands alone in a category of his own. 

Blind from birth, he wandered the streets of Wortham, Groesbeck, Marlin, and Kosse in Central Texas, playing his guitar and collecting contributions with his tin cup.  In 1912, he caught a train for Dallas, where he performed in the famous Deep Ellum district. He was discovered by a talent scout for Paramount Records and taken to Chicago in 1925.

His distinctive vocals and original, imaginative and inimitable guitar playing not only helped to define the ‘Texas Blues’ style with his influential single note runs, but also made him the first blues musician to enjoy major commercial success.  Jefferson's singing and self-accompaniment seemed only loosely connected, and he appeared to improvise his accompaniment. His irregular vocal style and his freely structured field holler rhythms made the tension between his guitar and his voice wildly unpredictable.

Between 1926 and his untimely death in 1929, Blind Lemon Jefferson was the largest-selling Blues singer in the United States.  His recording career lasted a mere four years, yet he managed to record nearly 100 sides in that time.

As his fame grew, so did the tales regarding his life, often personally involving the teller.  T-Bone Walker claimed that as a boy, he was employed by Jefferson to lead him around the streets of Dallas; he would have been of the appropriate age at the time.  A Paramount employee told biographer Orrin Keepnews that Jefferson was a "womanizing sloppy drunk".  On the other hand, Jefferson's neighbor in Chicago, boogie woogie pianist Romeo Nelson, remembered him as being "warm and cordial," but didn't remember him as being blind.  Victoria Spivey elliptically credits Jefferson as someone who "Could sure feel his way around!"  Most things I've read about Blind Lemon Jefferson are conjecture, contradictory, and basically legend.

The only known photograph of Blind Lemon Jefferson

Speaking of legends, Blind Lemon Jefferson died in Chicago in December 1929. The cause of death is unknown.  Some say that a jealous lover poisoned his coffee.  Others say, is that he died due to a heart attack after being disoriented during a snowstorm. There's also   a variation on the heart attack story that claims he froze to death.
Who knows?

Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by pianist Will Ezell. Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (now Wortham Black Cemetery).  Far from his grave being kept clean, it was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas Historical Marker was erected in the general area of his plot, the precise location being unknown.

By 1996, the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, but a new granite headstone was erected in 1997.  In 2007 the cemetery’s name was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery and keeping his wishes his grave site is being kept clean by a cemetery committee in Wortham Texas.

Today's freeloads are two of my favorites, with (relatively) good sonics.  Even the best ones sound like they were recorded while someone in the studio was frying bacon.

First up is the Yazoo records classic

Next is from Pristine Audio

This is the best sounding Blind Lemon Jefferson I've heard.  This was done by Pristine Audio founder, Andrew Rose, using the XR remastering he developed.

For the freeload, who are some of your favorite (musical and nonmusical) legendary characters?

 

Charlie Haden - The Montreal Tapes

 

In July 1989, the organizers of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) extended a generous invitation to Charlie Haden to present a series of eight concerts featuring some of Charlie’s frequent collaborators.

How many other bass players would be considered for a week-long series of performances?

Some concerts were broadcasted live by Radio Canada, and made available to the Verve label for release on CD, and are today's freeload.

July 7 was reserved for the trio with Paul Bley and Paul Motian.  

The performances are all one could wish for.  Charlie is closely miked and generates a huge, detailed sound from his bass.  Drums and piano are carefully placed in the sound stage so that every nuance is captured.  FIJM uses major concert halls as venues, in addition to the many street bandstands in the city.  The concert's acoustics are responsible in part for the excellence of the performance.

Most numbers leave a lot of space for Charlie's intimate bass solos.  Paul Bley and Paul Motian have worked extensively with Charlie, so there are no awkward moments.  Everyone seems comfortable and uses the opportunity to stretch out and, of course, keep the spotlight shining on Charlie Haden, the honoree.

This show was recorded on the opening night of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.  While all the other evenings featured stellar musicians and wonderful collaborations, this one stands out because it features Charlie in a trio of players not usually associated with him. The drummer is Al Foster, who had just left Miles Davis’ band, and the late tenor giant Joe Henderson.  For the Verve release of this show, Charlie subtitled the set, "Tribute to Joe Henderson",

There are four extended tunes on the set, the shortest of which is the opener, a gorgeous, wide open rendering of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," on which Joe Henderson begins to display some of the same modal soloing traits he used on his Blue Note recordings 'Mode for Joe', and 'Inner Urge'.

As if this weren't enough, the trio ranges from the lyrically and harmonically sublime reinvention of Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are," to a wildly adventurous free jazz ride on Charlie's tune "In the Moment".  This begins like a classic bop tune and then forgoes all changes and time signatures in favor of pure improvisation.  It also includes a 20-minute take on Charlie Parker's "Passport" to close the set.

This set is a testament to the inherent musical communication between three proficient musicians.  It also demonstrates their intensity and concentration, not mere going-through-the-motions.  This is one of the best live trio dates you'll ever hear.

On July 2,1989, Charlie Haden, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell met to produce this remarkable concert.  This night was a kind of tribute to Ornette Coleman, with six of the eight tracks were written by him.  But more than this, this is a tribute to all the history of jazz.  "The Sphinx" for example, looks so much like a Charlie Parker tune. "Art Deco" is a very swinging melody by Don Cherry, it's seductive music that will give you a pleasant "earworm".  Ornette's "Lonely Woman" is played particularly well by this trio. "The Blessing" and "When Will The Blues Leave?" are among Ornette's best known compositions. "Law Years", another tune by Ornette, is one of my favorites.

This is not nostalgia from the Ornette Coleman's quartet of the early sixties, this is a second reading of a marvelous material, played with love.

I saw all eight of Charlie's shows at the 1998 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, and all were excellent.  I also had the pleasure of being present at the rehearsals for Charlie's set with Paul Bley and Paul Motian, which took place in the loft below mine here in Manhattan.  At the time, I was leasing the loft to Paul Motian.

For the freeload, tell us about music festivals you have attended.

Announcement

 

"Life is what happens to us while
we are making other plans."

― Allen Saunders

I'll be back soon.

Announcement and Some Japanese Press Bruce Springsteen

'Cuz Babs Sez, That's Why',
will be on a short hiatus until April 23rd.

In the meantime, here's some Bruce Springsteen.  The freeloads are 1973-2002 Japanese Press Editions, made for the Japanese domestic market, and released in 2005.  They sound sweet.

Link 1
https://workupload.com/file/9dzWU6gGVc4

Link 2
https://workupload.com/file/AmnxDRtFSbj

Link 3
https://workupload.com/file/4wQufMtXnxE

Link 4

https://workupload.com/file/FGyc3TcvGfG

Link 5
https://workupload.com/file/reTWq22JhWK

Use the comments to talk among yourselves, post music links etc. etc.