I haven’t had any of my Dad’s favourite musician, Humphrey Lyttelton, on here for a while so here’s an old favourite. This is Humphrey Lyttelton and his Band vintage 1955, i.e. after the departure of brilliant trombonist Keith Christie, which consisted of Humphrey “Humph” Lyttelton himself (trumpet), John Picard (trombone), Wally “Trog” Fawkes (clarinet), Bruce Turner (alto sax), Johnny Parker (piano), Freddy Legon (guitar), Mickey Ashman (bass), and George “Hoppy” Hopkinson (drums).
Follow @telescoperArchive for the Jazz Category
Hang My Tears Out To Dry
Posted in Jazz with tags Dexter Gordon, I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry, tenor saxophone on June 11, 2013 by telescoperEver since Coleman Hawkins recorded his famous version of Body and Soul in 1939, the yardstick by which tenor saxophonists have come to be measured is by their playing on ballads. By that standard, and indeed by any other, Dexter Gordon must be right up there with all the greats. This is his lovely version of the Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn composition I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry, from the album Go, which is an object lesson in not trying too hard when you’ve got a great tune to work on.
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Posted in Jazz with tags Jazz, Rahsaan Roland Kirk on May 12, 2013 by telescoperThe term “musical genius” is over-used to the point of absurdity these days, but if it ever applied to anyone at all then that man was Rahsaan Roland Kirk. I saw a version of his Serenade to a Cuckoo on TV last night and it made me realize I haven’t posted nearly enough of Kirk’s music on this blog, so here’s a different version; only a part of the one I saw last night is available on Youtube. This version, followed on this clip by an abrupt edit into another number, was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1972.
Kirk was one of the few jazz musicians of the “modern” era to win wide acclaim outside his own genre: Jimi Hendrix idolized him, for example. And who wouldn’t? He could play umpteen instruments, often several of them at the same time, with a joyous creative energy that would have been wonderful to experience in a live performance. As well as playing just about every wind instrument under the Sun, he was also adept at the difficult art of circular breathing, i.e. in through the nose and out through the mouth in such a way that air is kept moving through the instrument continuously. Kirk could play for as long as 20 minutes without apparently pausing for breath. His extraordinary technique is almost enough to make any aspiring saxophonist give up altogether. But Kirk was never just a technician – he had a wonderful musical imaginative, peppered with originality and wit. And for those people who think modern jazz takes itself far too seriously, this is so obviously full of fun I hope you change your mind. Above all, just bask in the wonder that was Roland Kirk.
Follow @telescoperManhã da Carnaval
Posted in Jazz, Music with tags Baden Powell, Latin Jazz, Manhã da Carnaval on May 7, 2013 by telescoperI travelled back to Brighton this morning and spent the afternoon in a series of meetings in my sweltering office. I now haven’t got the energy to post anything but some music, so here is some rare footage of Brazilian guitarist and pioneer of Latin Jazz Baden Powell (full name Baden Powell de Aquino) recorded in Germany in 1970. The lovely tune with a melancholy edge is called Manhã da Carnaval. He not only plays it beautifully but also displays admirable dexterity in holding his cigarette in right hand as he does so..
Follow @telescoperSpring Cleaning
Posted in Jazz with tags Fats Waller, Spring Cleaning on April 26, 2013 by telescoperWe’re nearly at the end of a long week and I’ve got neither the time nor the energy for a lengthy post, so here’s a bit of a pick-me-up in the form of a classic bit of Fats Waller. Thomas Wright Waller was born in 1904 and died (of pneumonia) on a train travelling across the United States in 1943. Although he’s usually thought of as an entertainer who specialized in comic versions of popular songs, he was undoubtedly a brilliant jazz musician and an especially accomplished exponent of Harlem Stride piano. Anyway, I heard a bit of this track on a TV advert last night and it seemed both fun and topical so I thought I’d share it and see if people enjoy it as much as I did; in the famous words of Mr Waller “One never knows, do one?”….
Follow @telescoperLet’s call the whole thing off
Posted in Jazz with tags Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz, Let's call the whole thing off, Louis Armstrong on April 12, 2013 by telescoperI’m up early to travel up to the Big Smoke where I’ll be all day todayday today so here’s something nice while I’m away. Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and vocals by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Who could ask for anything more? Take it away, Ella & Louis!
Follow @telescoperDo you know what it means….?
Posted in Jazz with tags Billie Holliday, Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?, Jazz on March 20, 2013 by telescoperOut of the office today so in lieu of a post from me here’s two minutes and twenty seconds of exquisite sadness delivered by the voice of the great Billie Holliday. No singer in history ever managed to express so much through such slender lyrics. The piano is played by Charlie Beal on this recording.
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Posted in Jazz, The Universe and Stuff with tags ALMA, Atacana Large Millimetre Array, bebop, Dizzy Gillespie on March 14, 2013 by telescoperWell, Herschel may be going blind but it seems that just as one observatory gets ready to close its eyes on the Universe, another one gets ready to open them. Yesterday saw the official opening of the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (known to its friends as ALMA). What better way to celebrate the opening of this remarkable observatory than with an appropriately-named piece of music.
Con Alma is an original composition by Dizzy Gillespie who plays it on this track made with his big band in 1954, a period when Dizzy was experimenting with various fusions of bebop with Latin-American rhythms. It’s a deceptively complicated tune, with lots of changes of key to keep everyone on their toes. It may be more Cuban than Chilean in influence, but that’s the closest I could think of!
Follow @telescoperBlack is the colour of my true love’s hair
Posted in Jazz with tags Black is the colour of my true love's hair, Emile Latimer, Nina Simone on February 20, 2013 by telescoperNina Simone. Emile Latimer. Live in 1969. Magical.
Follow @telescoperMy Funny (and very sad) Valentine
Posted in Jazz with tags Chet Baker, My Funny Valentine, St Valentine's Day on February 14, 2013 by telescoperI suppose I should make some concession to Valentine’s Day, so here’s the classic 1954 Chet Baker version of the Rodgers & Hart tune My Funny Valentine. This was a big hit during the period when jazz switched from the frenetic pace and jagged angularity of bebop to the smooth cocktail bar sounds of the Cool School; its popularity owed as much to Baker’s youthful good looks and attractive singing voice as to the trumpet solo on this recording.
But that was 1954. A lifelong addiction to heroin exacted a terrible toll on Chet Baker. Here’s a harrowing and heart-rending reprise of My Funny Valentine recorded, just a year before his death, at a concert in Tokyo in 1987.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
In the Dark 