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One Hundred Years of the Hot Five

Posted in History, Jazz with tags , , , , , , , on November 12, 2025 by telescoper

Exactly one hundred years ago today, on 12th November 1925, five musicians gathered in the Okeh studios in Chicago to create musical history. The band was Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and they were about to embark on a series of recording sessions that would result in a rich treasury of 20th century music in the form of 33 sides recorded between November 1925 and December 1927.

The band (pictured above) consisted of Louis Armstrong (on cornet on this track, although he switched to trumpet by the time of the later sessions). Kid Ory played trombone Johnny Dodds Clarinet. Lil Hardin (who was married to Louis Armstrong at the time and credited as Lil Armstrong) played piano and Johnny St Cyr played banjo or guitar. For many people, the collective imagination and sheer drive of Armstrong, Dodds and Ory made them just about the perfect front line. The way they take this one out at the end is a great example.

I won’t even try to write a detailed analysis of this historic record. I’ll just make a couple of points about the Hot Fives.

First, this band never played together as such in live concerts; they were strictly a studio band. In fact, they always sounded like a bunch of friends getting together to have fun making music, which is no doubt because that’s what they were. Most of the records they made were done in a single take, too.

Second, the line-up was unusual because it didn’t have a full rhythm section. At least part of the reason for this was that, at the time, drums were very difficult to record. In Louis Armstrong’s recorded reminiscences he talks about the fact that drums would often make the needle jump when cutting a record if they were were positioned close to the recording equipment. On the other hand if they were too far away to avoid that happening then they often couldn’t be heard at all. The low-frequency response of old fashioned recording systems made bass lines largely inaudible too. Anyway, it was decided that the excellent combination of Lil Hardin’s piano and Johnny St Cyr’s banjo would provide a sufficient framwork. So they were, though later on, in May 1927, a brass bass and drums were added to create the Hot Seven who made a further 11 sides, including the all-time classic Potato Head Blues.

Finally I’ll just remark that according to Satchmo’s memoirs, this track Gut Bucket Blues was the first to be recorded. It does sound like it too, as he introduces the members of the band. I wonder if they knew at this first session what a sensation these records were going to create?

P.S. I know it’s a bit scratchy, but it’s 100 years old. It’s amazing to me that you can hear anything at all.

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Ravel, Dessner and Beethoven at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2025 by telescoper

Yesterday evening I made my way through a rather rainy Dublin to the National Concert Hall for a very enjoyable concert by the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland conducted this time by André de Ridder. Incidentally, the Orchestra has been searching for a new Principal Conductor for some time and as now made an appointment in the form of Alexander Shelley, but he won’t take up the baton until September 2026 so until then there will continue to be a number of guest conductors and, it has to be said, a rather piecemeal programme.

Last night’s performance followed a very typical programme for a concert of classical music: a short piece as an appetiser (often an overture or similar), an instrumental concerto featuring a guest soloist, then a wine break, followed by a full symphony or some other large work. They don’t all follow that format, but many do. I always like it when at least one of the pieces is something I’ve never heard before. That was the case last night.

We started with the orchestral version of Pavane pour une infante défunte, played very well but, as always seems to be the case, rather too slowly for my tastes. That particular piece was on the menu at NCH in March this year and I made the same complaint then. I like the piece a lot, but I wish orchestras wouldn’t take it at a funeral pace!

Next one up was the world premiere of a brand new composition by Bryce Dessner called Trembling Earth. This is a cello concerto and it was written for Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina. One never knows what to expect from a world premiere but this turned out to tremendous. It’s not a cello concerto of the traditional style – divided into movements – but is in a series of sections, with the cello introducing each theme which is then taken up by the orchestra followed by another, and so on. The texture varies from tough and sinewy to soft and lyrical and the solo passages require great virtuosity, some thing Anastasia Kobekina definitely has.

The composition was apparently inspired by a set of landscapes by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, so I suppose each section might relate to a particular painting. The sections are very varied, with one based on the theme of Dido’s Lament (When I am laid in Earth...) by Henry Purcell, another with very distinct echoes of Ravel, and another showing more than a nod to Philip Glass in its ostinato sections. At the end of the piece, which is about 25 minutes long, there were immediate cheers and a standing ovation, and the composer came on stage to receive the accolades. “Prediction is very difficult”, said Niels Bohr, “especially about the future”, but I think this work will quickly establish itself in the repertoire. I’d love to hear it again.

The concert would have been worth it just for that one piece, but after the interval we came back for the main course, The Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major (“Eroica”)  Ludwig van Beethoven. I’ve blogged about a number of different performances of different Beethoven symphonies over the years, so I’m quite surprised to discover that I’ve never written about this one. It’s hard to know what to say about it really,, except that it’s a magnificent work in its own right as well as being historically important. Before this one, which was published in 1806, symphonies (including not only Beethoven’s First and Second, but those of Mozart, Haydn and others) were much shorter (typically around 20 minutes) and much more constrained in form. This composition – which shares some elements with Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and was apparently inspired by it – ushered in the era of the epic symphony that culminated with the likes of Mahler and Bruckner. The duration performance we heard last night was about 45 minutes. The first movement, in sonata form, is especially complex.

An interesting point about last night’s performance was the arrangement of the orchestra on stage. From the point of view of the Conductor, the first violins were on the far left (as usual), the cellos and basses were to the front and left, violas to the front and right, and second violins on the far right. I am not sure of the reason for this departure from tradition – second violins are usually adjacent to the firsts, with the cellos and basses on the right – but it was interesting how different it sounded compared to the usual layout.

This superb concert provided a great finish to a very tiring week. Thanks to the NCH for putting on such a wonderful programme. As an added bonus, the rain had stopped by the time it was over so I didn’t get drenched on my way home.

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Autumn Leaves – Cannonball Adderley

Posted in Jazz with tags , , , , on October 23, 2025 by telescoper

It’s been a cool autumn day so this seems appropriate. It’s from the classic 1958 album Somethin’ Else which was Cannonball Adderley’s first as a leader, and one of Miles Davis’s last as a sideman (also a rare recording for Miles on the Blue Note label). Adderley went on to play alto sax with the great Miles Davis sextet that recorded Kind of Blue, and Miles obviously influenced this album enormously, but the rhythm section here is different from that band’s – Art Blakey on drums, Hank Jones on piano, and Sam Jones on bass. Miles Davis was also responsible for this arrangement of the standard Autumn Leaves, which he based on a version by Ahmad Jamal.

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Clyne, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Biographical, Music with tags , , , , , , , , on October 18, 2025 by telescoper

It had been over a month since my last visit to the National Concert Hall in Dublin so I was happy to be able to attend this week’s Friday night concert last night. It was great to see that the venue was very full too. I think that was at least partly down to the fact that one of the pieces featured Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey who has a sizeable local following. Conductor for the evening with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland was Anna Rakitina (who was born in Russia).

The concert began with a short piece by Anna Clyne called Restless Oceans. This is an energetic and an excellent way to get the orchestra revved up for the rest of the evening. I’d never heard this work before and I think it must be the first time I’ve seen a performance in which the string section sang or hummed a wordless accompaniment in one part and, in another, the whole orchestra provided extra percussion by stamping their feet.

After that zesty appetiser, Mairéad Hickey appeared on stage, resplendent in a green dress, to perform the first course proper, the Violin Concerto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This is a familiar work but it was ravishingly played by Mairéad Hickey, who seem to revel in the virtuosic elements of this work, as well as bringing out the lyricism in the more romantic passages. The only things I don’t like about this composition are the gratuitously showy cadenzas which go on far too long, in my opinion. The audience clearly loved the performance, though, as did I, and we were treated to an encore in the form of some traditional Irish fiddle playing which was lovely.

After the wine break, we had the main dish for the evening, the Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This is a very famous work and one of the higlights of the entire symphonic repertoire. It is also perhaps the most accessible of all the Shostakovich symphonies. It was an immediate success with Soviet critics and public alike when it was first performed in 1937, and though it marked Shostakovich’s return to favour with the authorities after his denunciation by Stalin, this work has the composer’s very characteristic sense of things not being quite as they seem on the surface. Indeed, in this and many other of his compositions, seems to manage to say one thing at the same time as saying the exact opposite of that thing; nowadays this might be called `constructive ambiguity’. This is especially true in the finale, in which the sense of triumph it ostensibly portrays seems rather forced, so it approaches a parody of itself. This tension between possible interpretations gives the piece a palpable sense of danger.

Overall the Fifth Symphony is a sombre work, the dark undertone established right at the start with an imposing theme on the cellos and double basses, but it has passages of great beauty too, especially in the slow third movement. Like all great symphonies – and this is one of the greatest – it takes you on a journey full of of excitement and interest. It was a compelling performance by the NSOI, with outstanding playing by the whole orchestra, but especially the woodwinds.The 45 minutes or so of this performance seemed to fly by. It’s ending ending was greeted with rapturous applause and a standing ovation from many in the audience.

It’s interesting to consider that only 60 years had elapsed between the composition of these pieces by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, but what different musical worlds they represent!

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“Celebrated Air” on the Piano

Posted in Music with tags , , , , on September 30, 2025 by telescoper

A while ago I went to a concert that featured a Mozart Piano concerto with soloist David Fray. I mentioned then that his encore was a piece by Johannn Sebastian Bach, arranged for piano. I thought I’d post a performance of the same piece today.

Originally the second movement  “Air” from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, this piece became known as the Air on the G string when it was arranged for solo violin and orchestra, by August Wilhelmj, which involved transposing it down from D Major to C Major so that the violin part could be played entirely on the lowest of the four strings. It’s also sometimes called the (and sometimes “Celebrated Air”, which is more appropriate when it is played on anything other than a violin. The piano version performed by David Fray was arranged by Alexander Siloti and I think it’s very beautiful, based on a beautifully simple bass. Bach’s keyboard pieces often have a left-hand part which is interesting on its own. You can also see hear why jazz musician’s like Bach so much; the left hand provides such a steady but rich foundation for improvisation with the right hand.

Anyway, here is a nice performance of the same piece, at a gently swinging tempo, not unlike a slow blues, by Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa.

One of the Youtube commenters calls this version “melancholy”, which I don’t agree with at all! Whatever it is, it’s a nice way to spend 5 or 6 minutes relaxing in between lectures.

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McTee, Mozart & Strauss at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2025 by telescoper

As it was foretold, last night I went to the National Concert Hall in Dublin for the opening performance of the new season by the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, this time under the baton of veteran conductor Leonard Slatkin.

The appetiser for this concert was Timepiece by American composer Cindy Mctee. It’s a short piece, quite new to me before last night, with a slowish introduction leading into a very energetic main body of the work. This piece brought out some fine playing by the orchestra, especially the percussion section. You can read more about this intriguing and enjoyable composition in the composer’s own words here. She was in the audience last night, and came up on stage at the end of the performance to receive the plaudits.

Next we had a very familiar piece: the Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with David Fray at the piano. Mozart apparently composed this in a rush to meet the deadline of its first performance, but it doesn’t seem that way. The three movements (marked Allegro, Romanza and Allegro Assai) are very different in mood: the first (which is quite long) is brooding and rather Sturmy and Drangy, while the second is much gentler; both these movements feature memorable tunes; the third is much more pyrotechnical, with a very propulsive start and some virtuosic cadenzas. I think the last was played the best. David Fray is a curious performer to watch: he sat in the same sort of chair as the members of the orchestra – one with a back – rather than the usual stool, and had a very unusual posture. He slouched, in fact; he often turned round to look at the musicians behind him too. Anyway, he played very well indeed and for an encore he gave us some Bach (a solo piano arrangement of Air on the G String), which was lovely.

After the wine break we came back for a performance of Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”) by Richard Strauss. I had never heard this piece in full before last night, and I have to say I didn’t like it much. There are some very nice passages in it, and there was some excellent playing by the brass and solo violin by NSOI leader Elaine Clark, but overall I found it a rather aimless reworking of some of Strauss’s other tone poems (some of which are actually very good). It’s also far too long for what it has to say.

The “Hero” of the title is of course meant to be the composer himself, which says something of the high regard in which Strauss held himself. At times the piece is tediously bombastic. The composer was 34 when he wrote this piece; about the same age that Mozart was when he died. I don’t think had he lived the latter would have written a self-indulgent piece like this crowing about his own achievements, which were far greater than those of the former.

Still, at least I can now say I’ve heard Ein Heldenleben…

P.S. For those of you wondering: no, the President of Ireland did not attend this concert.

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September in the Rain

Posted in Jazz with tags , , on September 1, 2025 by telescoper

I’ve been seeing the phrase vibe coding bandied about quite a lot these days and it always makes me think of Lionel Hampton. Since it’s now September and it’s raining outside, today it made me think of this recording of Lionel Hampton playing September in the Rain. How’s that for a link?

This track was recorded in Paris in 1953, an LP of which was released in 1956. I have a later issue of it. It features members of Hamp’s band, which was ona European tour at the time, alongside a number of local musicians. For a long time it puzzled me that among the musicians present was clarinettist Mezz Mezzrow whose style didn’t seem to fit. Eventually it was explained to me that Mezzy was the man who could be relied upon to supply appropriate smoking materials. This number however is chiefly Hamp on his own, on vibes (naturally), and frequently accompanying himself on vocals (sort of).

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The Things Are Here – The Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Big Band

Posted in Jazz with tags , , , , on August 20, 2025 by telescoper

Back in the 1940s, early in his career, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie incorporated the theme from a tune called Be-Bop, or sometimes Dizzy’s Fingers, into a swirling big band arrangement and called the resulting piece Things to Come. It was a wild, gyrating score usually played at breakneck speed (often around 300bpm) that invariably proved a handful to perform. The Things Are Here is the eventual sequel to that composition that the Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Big Band played in the 1960s. Many concert performances of this are very long indeed, but this one (recorded in Berlin in 1968) lasts only about 8 minutes. I have this on vinyl but haven’t get got around to transferring it to digital. Here you hear the stunning power and virtuosity of this thrilling band; there must have been a tough entrance examination to get a place in it!

As you’d expect there’s a lot of solo space in this performance for Gillespie himself, but also room for solos and duets from the other musicians, including James Moody and Paul Jeffrey on tenor saxophone, Sahib Shihab on alto saxophone, Cecil Payne on baritone sax, Curtis Fuller on trombone and, right at the end, Otis Finch brings the house down with a drum solo.

It’s a wild, white-knuckle ride, so strap yourself in!

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The Tower Records Experience

Posted in Biographical, Music with tags , , , , on August 16, 2025 by telescoper

I lived in London from late 1990 until the very end of 1998. One of my favourite places for shopping in those days was the excellent Tower Records. There were two stores then, but I only ever visited the one at Number 10 Piccadilly as it was very conveniently placed to skive off from meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society at Burlington House, which is just round the corner.

It wasn’t just the huge selection of records, tapes and CDs across all musical genres but also the extremely helpful and knowledgeable staff. I always found their advice very helpful and often left with many more things than I intended to buy when I went in.

Tower records was acquired by the Virgin Group in 2003 and the store in Piccadilly closed down completely in 2009. I haven’t been past the site recently, but I think it is vacant and awaiting redevelopment.

The reason for mentioning this is that Tower Records is alive and well and living in Dublin. There are two stores in the city but I’ve only ever been to the larger one in Dawson Street. It’s not as big as the one in Piccadilly, but it does have a very good selection of music (including a large section of classical music) and very friendly staff. It also has a wide range of hifi equipment, including turntables for those of us who have a vinyl collection. It also has an online service. The last thing I ordered from them was delivered to my house in Maynooth the next day at no charge.

It brought back a lot of memories when I first went inside as it has the same old yellow and red signage and very much the same vibe as the old London store; you can see some interior pictures here. Tower Records (Ireland) is highly recommended for those who are nostalgic for the old Tower Records (London) as well as those who just want to visit a proper, independent, music store. I hope it not only survives but prospers.

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Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age

Posted in Music with tags , , , on August 12, 2025 by telescoper

I listened to a Proms performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets the other night. It’s a piece I’ve heard dozens of times, but it was definitely the first time that I felt the most resonance with the Fifth movement, “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age“. According to Wikipedia, this was Holst’s favourite section. It comprises three parts, “a slow processional which rises to a frightening climax before fading away as if into the outer reaches of space”. The central part has a touch of Charles Ives about it, I think.

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