JazzWax

Loretta, Nancy and Patsy

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Loretta Lynn for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section. Loretta talked about her childhood, beyond what you know from her book and movie, Coal Miner's Daughter. Turns out she was a homemaker's daughter, too. Her mother, Clara Marie, taught her virtually everything she knew as a child, including singing. The tree-climbing up to the very top was Loretta's doing. Loretta has a new book out, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline here.

Here's one of my favorite clips of Loretta, covering Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley PTA (watch until the end). This is who she is, even in interviews...

Here's another...

And here's Loretta's latest, Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces...

To read my WSJ "Anatomy of a Song" interview in 2016 on Loretta's Fist City, go here.

Nancy Marano. Following my post on Nancy Marano's album paying tribute to the songs of Duncan Lamont, I heard from Nancy Marano...

Hi Marc, I have very fond memories of recording that CD and later, we did a live show at a New York venue. Duncan Lamont played tenor and narrated each song, telling the story of how it came to be written. He was a natural storyteller and so enamored of New York. That is why he had so many tribute songs to the people and sites of New York. We had a lot of fun. The album was recorded in two afternoons at Nola Studies on 57th Street.

I was always a jazz fan and studied classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music. I later taught there for 20 years in the jazz vocal department. It is nice to know some people out there are still listening.

Duncan did appreciate the album. The music sounds easier than it is to sing. Duncan was always encouraging, and I learned a lot,
since some of his music bordered on the cabaret/jazz approach. He was a wonderful person and we became good friends over many years.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Following my post on Rahsaan Roland Kirk, I heard from vocalist Meredith d'Ambrosio:

Hi Marc. I remember seeing Roland Kirk at Lennie's on the Turnpike in Peabody, Mass., before he referred to himself as Rahsaan. I watched him at another club one night when he dismantled a large camera on his break at his table and proceeded to put it back together. No wonder he was able to play several instruments at once. I was fascinated and amused by the whole scene. What a guy!

Thad Jones. Following my post on Thad Jones, David Chilver sent along the following:

Hi Marc. That was a fascinating post on Thad Jones in Denmark! It reminded me of what a good guy Thad was (at least in my experience). In 1969 when I was 18, I had the privilege of seeing the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at Ronnie Scott's in London on several nights. This was arguably the best of their line-ups, including Joe Henderson, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams , Snooky Young, Jimmy Knepper, Richard Davis, Roland Hanna et al.

Anyway, one evening I had been shopping before the club opened and bought an LP. I still had the bag with me later in the club. Thad walked past, paused and said, "What have we here?" I showed the Blue Mitchell album. Thad was impressed. On another day, it might well have been a Beatles or Beach Boys LP! He sat down next to me and gently quizzed me. Which other trumpet players did I like?

Fortunately I was able to draw on my dad's collection at home so I mentioned their names. Then Thad asked if I had heard Freddie Hubbard. I hadn't and he told me to check him out. Than then asked about the big bands I listened to. I listed those we had at home, in particular Ellington, Basie and Gil Evans. Thad's comment was "Well, that's about all you need."

The next night he noticed me again and in the intermission came over and said hello. Referring back to the big band question, he asked me if I had heard of George Russell. I confessed that I hadn't and he recommended I give him a listen. He told me Russell's work wasn't always easy, but that it was well worth the effort. In particular he told me to listen to the all-star big band recording New York NY with Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Jon Hendricks and many others. I was gratified for Thad's advice on all three nights.

Looking back after all these years, it strikes me how nice Thad was to have taken an interest and spent time with this geeky British teenager. A great guy indeed.

West Coast break. We could all use a listen to the West Coast Cool Octet playing Cheerful Little Earful on a clip that Bob McKeon sent along...

Virtual big band. Saxophonist Bill Kirchner passed along these two clips:

Here's the Chad LB Virtual Big Band playing Easy to Love. Each member was sequestered at home but they brought it all together [photo of Chad LB courtesy of Chad LB/Facebook]...

And here's the Chad LB Trio playing Sonny Rollins's Oleo...

Mercer Ellington. Following my post on Bucky Pizzarelli and the clip of him with Joe Mooney playing The Girl in My Dreams (Tries to Look Like You), Bill Kirchner sent along the original by Mercer Ellington as played by his dad's band, the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Solos are by Ben Webster (ts), Herb Jeffries (voc) and Rex Stewart (cnt.) in December 1940...

What the heck. Here's Patsy Cline singing I Fall to Pieces in February 1963, just 10 days before her fatal plane crash...

Home-made mask. Masks are hard to come by now. Here's how to make one out of paper towels and rubber bands if you're in a bind. Special thanks to Pat Philips...

Bucky Pizzarelli (1926-2020)

Bucky Pizzarelli, a rhythm guitarist who came up in the big bands of the 1940s and went on to become one of the most prolific studio players on jazz, pop, advertising and Muzak recording sessions, died on April 1. He was 94. [Photo above, from left, of Russell Malone, Frank Vignola, Gene Bertoncini and Bucky Pizzarelli at the Highlights in Jazz green room in 2006 by Jim Eigo of Jazz Promo Services]

Frankly, it would easier to list who Bucky didn't play with over the decades. Those who were fortunate enough to see him perform live often found their knees moving and forth in tempo with his rhythmic style. When Bucky played melody lines and harmony, audience pulses slowed as people relaxed and felt good. He was among the most gentle and thoughtful jazz guitar players, always angling for the tastiest way to phrase a song.

He also was among the friendliest and most accessible. For Bucky, cool was in the chords, not the attitude. But his laid-back approach could be deceptive. He had no problem hitting the gas if he had to, and often did in earlier years, as the last clip below shows.

Here are 10 of my favorite recordings by Bucky:

Here's Bucky with Vaughn Monroe's band playing I Ask the Stars in April 1944...

Here's Bucky with the Joe Mooney Trio in 1951 playing Mercer Ellington's The Girl of My Dreams (Tries to Look Like You)...

The Girl Of My Dreams

Here's Bucky in 1958 with Toots Thielemans (har) and Urbie Green, Billy Byers and Sonny Russo (tb) Hank Jones (p) Bucky Pizzarelli (g) Doug Watkins (b) Art Taylor (d) and Ralph Burns (arr) playing The Nearness of You...

Here's Bucky accompanying Little Jimmy Scott on I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over in 1959...

Here's Bucky playing Henry Mancini's Breakfast at Tiffany's and Dreamsville from Green Guitar Blues in 1972...

Here's Davenport Blues from The Piano Music Of Bix Beiderbecke: The Bucky Pizzarelli Guitar Quintet, featuring Bucky, Art Ryerson, Barry Galbraith, Allen Hanlon and Tony Mottola in 1974. The other tracks follow...

Here's the entire Buck and Bud album with Bud Freeman in 1976...

Here's Bucky playing his Solo Flight album in 1986...

Here's Contrasts with Bucky's son John Pizzarelli in 1998...

And here's Les Paul, Tal Farlow and Bucky on C Jam Blues in 1985...

Sonny Clark: Cool Struttin'

Blue Note's hard bop releases of the 1950s and '60s should be heard on three levels. First were the original compositions themselves. Most featured complex blues with fascinating chord changes anchored to a leathery swing. Each blues had a singular sound based on the composer's esthetic. Second were the solos. They typically wailed with youthful energy and heat as expressed by the artist blowing. Third, and most important, was the mix of artists. Different combinations of musicians produced distinct collective sounds, much like a jazz vocal group. [Photo above of Sonny Clark and Philly Joe Jones at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack, N.J., studio by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

This third macro layer is significant, since in many cases it's what made Blue Note producer Alfred Lion unique. He viewed musicians as singular flavors and loved experimenting by bringing these different ingredients together. For example, imagine hard bop as a red sauce. That sauce would emerge very differently if instead of artichoke you used spinach or basil. Your ear, like your tongue, picks up on bitterness or sweetness, especially if offset and enhanced by other audio flavors. [Photo above of Jackie McLean by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

A perfect example of this three-level Blue Note listen is Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin'. Recorded in January 1958, the album featured Art Farmer (tp), Jackie McLean (as), Sonny Clark (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). This combination was a sterling merging of musicians on all three levels—the originals, the solos and the combined ingredients. Two of the four songs for the original album were strutting blues by Clark, who composed with edge and a liquid grace. The third song was by Miles Davis and the fourth was a standard.

As for the individual ingredients, we have the bitterness of McLean's alto saxophone, the mellow staccato of Farmer's trumpet, the chic bop swing of Clark's piano, the prominent, muscular bass of Chambers and the scattering drum and cymbal patterns of Jones's drums. Brought together, there's a sour-and-sweet front line of McLean and Farmer, with a hurtling force driven by Chambers's thick bass and Jones's jabbing drums. [Photo above of Art Farmer and Jackie McLean by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

But the ingredient that stands out here most for me is Clark's piano. Which makes sense since it's his leadership session. But it's more than that. Throughout the album, Clark's piano adds a fruitiness that allows all the other musical ingredients to sound even richer. [Photo above of Paul Chambers by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

There were just four tracks on the original release each running about nine minutes. The title song by Clark is a walking blues with Clark playing superb keyboard solos. Clark's Blue Minor is just that, a mid-tempo minor blues that resolves in a major line. Miles Davis's Sippin' at Bells was recorded first by Davis in the late 1940s with Charlie Parker based on an altered 12-bar blues with advanced chord changes.

Deep Night is a 1929 standard with music by Charles E. Henderson and lyrics by Rudy Vallee. It opens as a trio number, showcasing Clark's seemingly effortless and fluid playing, with Chambers's bass up strong and Jones switching to brushes. Then Farmer comes in with a solo, followed by McLean, with Jones shifting to sticks. [Photo above of Philly Joe Jones by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

There were two additional songs recorded that day added as bonus material on the CD produced for re-issue by Michael Cuscuna in the early 1990s—Clark's Royal Flush and Lover, the Rodgers and Hart standard.

Challenge your ear to hear all three levels described above. The complexity of the blues, the individualism of the solos and the combined "sauce" of all the artists working together and what their individual tones bring to the whole. [Photo above of Sonny Clark by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Sonny Clark died in 1963, at age 31.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin' here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the entire album...